Browse Author: beakatude

We got a minivan!!!

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I grew up traveling in a minivan and it was so much fun!! I always thought it would be fun to have my own kids and drive them around in the dopest ride in the neighborhood. Well, Jesse has finally come to his senses and made the decision to take us out to the dealer to buy the Honda Odyssey that I always wanted my dad to get for us when we were kids.  We picked up this 2014 Touring model with only 17K miles on it last Saturday (7/15/17) from a Toyota dealership in Walnut Creek. These two kids have no idea how lucky they are but they certainly love their new car…just as much as I do.

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And we managed to get it to fit in the garage with the black car! Yay!

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We wanted to see what the car could do so we drove down to Southern California this past weekend. The kids had a comfy ride with an entertainment system and all.

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We also took a back road and tested it on some steep hills. Check out this wind farm that we drove through in Livermore!!

Littlest Chimmy

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I met my newest niece today and she is so cute. She is 5 days old today and Brother says she’s a textbook baby – eating, pooping, and sleeping as you would expect from a newborn.

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Leela

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Leela was born on 5/21/17 at 1:35 pm at Kaiser Anaheim. She weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and measured 20 3/4 inches. So cute!!

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I’m so excited to meet the newest family member this coming weekend.  We fly down on Friday morning.

SOLD

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I took this photo on 2/10/17, the day after our offer on the Alameda house was accepted. It looks like a mess but we made it work.

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Once we moved everything out, I cried.  Then it was time to have the condo cleaned, painted, and staged. We listed on 4/6/17 and we sold it on 4/13/17 – exactly one month after we moved out. Crazy fast.

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They did a nice job. I’d live here. I’m happy that others wanted to as well. We got 4 offers with one guy making a counter to match the highest offer ($86,000 over asking!!!). We are so happy and relieved that it all worked out well so far. Hopefully escrow will close smoothly and we’ll be able to move forward with our new life in suburbia.

Alameda Residents

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On 3/13/17, we became residents of Alameda. We picked up the keys and Peanut had his first day of daycare.

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On 3/14/17, the moving company came and took all our belongings to the new house. We had dinner at Angel Fish Sushi and then stopped at our new Safeway for some milk and other essential items.

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My mom came to help watch the kids while we did lots of trips back and forth across the bay to pick up the remaining items. We’ve also had to make a few trips to Target and Home Depot. Best of all, she helped out with getting Peanut ready for school and doing the drop-off/pick-up during the first couple weeks.

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KK has adjusted to her new suburban life and loves it. She comes home afterschool and looks forward to playing outside.

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Her commute to the city everyday with Dada started out a little rough but they’ve figured out the TransBay Bus and Ferry schedules over the past couple weeks. When they’re stuck in traffic on the bus, KK plays some reading games on her iPad. Thankfully the bus has WiFi.

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Most days, they take the Ferry across the bay since it’s more comfortable and a short 25-minute trip versus 45. They also allow you to eat and drink on the ferry and has a bathroom.

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It’s funny that KK is literally the only kid on the boat everyday.

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One of the benefits of this new house is having a greenbelt away from the street and a playground structure right out front. This is the welcome mat that we got from the bank when we closed escrow. Haha.

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While KK is outside playing, we’ve trained Peanut to sit in the doorway while Mama is doing housework.

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KK also made a friend. His name is Gavin and lives next door. He’s turning 5 in May and they may end up in the same Kindergarten class together in the fall!  Here they are playing with the water hose and catching earthworms in the puddles that formed after the rain.

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These two play together everyday. Gavin often rings out doorbell asking if KK can come out and play. It’s pretty hard getting them to come back in for dinner lately. His mom is really nice and has given some insight on the families that live around us. We also help each other watch the kids while they’re outside.

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So far, we’ve enjoyed the Mexican restaurant that is walking distance from the house. They made a pretty good house margarita and their free chips/salsa are tasty.  So far, the carnitas and enchiladas are pretty good!

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My commute takes longer than it used to but it’s nice to know that I am on the same side of the bay as at least one of my kids now. I leave the house between 7:00-7:15 with Peanut, drop him off, and get to work by 8:00. Jes leaves around 8:00 to catch the 8:30 ferry and KK gets dropped off around 9:15 everyday. I get to Peanut’s school after work around 5:15 to pick him up while KK and Jes get on the 5:35pm ferry and get home by 6:15pm.

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Peanut probably had the toughest transition to the new house and schedule.  He still cries at drop off but it only takes 2-3 minutes for him to settle down. His teachers tell us that he enjoys school and only need Boo-Boo for nap time. His naps have also lengthened to about 2 hours everyday.  Unfortunately, he’s totally pooped by the end of the day and barely lasts through an early dinner. Bedtime has been closer to 6:30 or 7:00 now. On our first night in the house, he woke up and cried at least 3 times. Now he sleeps through through the night and can go almost 12 hours!

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The past month has been rough and filled with lots of changes but in the end it’s worth it. These two kids have more space to play, their own rooms, and a whole new world to explore. Best of all, they have 13 years of good free public education ahead of them.

Too many changes

Today was definitely a day of changes. First, we finalized our loan and title for the new house. We gave them our down payment and signed a big stack of papers. The purchase will be recorded with the county on Monday morning.

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Second, it was Mirian’s last day with us. In the morning, KK gave Mirian a big hug and Mirian said to her “tell your Mama to take a picture of your new house and send it to me, ok?”

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Andrea and Peanut had their last day together and Mirian got this really cute photo of them together at the playground.

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Third, I had my own goodbye today at work. My long-time PT partner, dear friend, and fellow trouble-maker had her last day as a full-time employee. She accepted a part-time position at Kaiser Oakland and will be returning to work only on Tuesdays. Although I know she will be back once per week, it will be sad to look over at her desk on the other days and see no one (or someone else!) sitting there. At least I know we’ll still see each other outside of work.

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After work, we did our usual meet-up in the garage and we had to say our final goodbye to Mirian. We’ve been blessed to have such a consistent person in our life for both kids. She has taken such good care of them, taught them Spanish, and gave them such fun experiences around the neighborhood. We wish her the best of luck in finding a new family soon.

With so many changes happening at once, it’s hard to really process it all in the moment. We’ll see if I have a meltdown in a couple weeks when it all sinks in.  We get the keys on Monday and the movers come to take our stuff across the Bay on Tuesday. This move is really happening!!!

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