So, the thing that's been so annoying about this move...  is that everything that's supposed to 'just work'- doesn't.  Take for example, voter registration.  They got our address wrong, and only by a miracle - our cards arrived at our residence.  So, we had 10 days to call this in to fix it.  So, now we're waiting again to see if our new cards arrive, corrected, in time for the election.  Our mail doesn't always make it, or when it does, it may be drenched- unceremoniously left out during hurricanes, you know..  no big deal.. it's only mail.  It's only the paperwork stating that we paid off our house. 

And... our phone/internet did not get properly turned off, even though Verizon has records of us asking for the disconnect to occur August 6th.  Michael has already spent about 2 hours on the phone trying to resolve this issue... which they can all call up on their end/s and see what's going on... apparently this is OUR problem, and we have a mile-long to-do list to check up on the various parts of verizon.. you see it's OUR fault that THEY didn't do the work they said they'd do, now they're trying to charge us $90 for phone service we asked them to shut off.  Ok...

Plates?  Well, we went to AAA to get the new plates, and all seemed fine until a few days ago, AAA called back to our place to tell us they needed proof that we paid off the loan.  I had *asked* them while we were standing there if we needed to show them this documentation, but the woman said 'no, you've owned the car long enough'.  So, this is causing just a small run-around with the deed.  But at least AAA is good enough to call *us* to sort this one out.

HSBC has our address correct somewhere and incorrect somewhere else, even though I asked them to update.  Standard nonsense. ok.

ETS has my address correct somewhere and incorrect somewhere else, even though I asked them to update.  Standard nonsense. ok.

Our refund check for our leftover homeowners insurance was lost in the mail.  It wasn't huge, but it's one more thing we have to track down if we care about it.

When we first moved into the apartment, there was that whole week without showers or laundry which was annoying b/c we didn't have hot water and the washer was installed incorrectly.  On the plus side, the A/C worked, so we didn't need showers as often :)  We had a gas leak in the process of their trying to install the new water heater, but they fixed that quickly.

Anyhow, we are *still* trying to sort out these details which ... just soaks up hours of time randomly, and makes you feel like you haven't really done anything useful all day.. and now we're missing our 4:12 train b/c Michael's on the phone to Verizon :(  We'll have to get the kids a half-hour or so later than we had planned.  I miss you guys!!!!

Edwin's speech is getting better each day, unlike mine........  I've been so tired that I can't remember basic nouns lately....  But I do know this actually happened way back in college too, so I guess I'll just have to live with it!  Today is the third consecutive day that I've been basically able to pump the same amount as Zachary demands in roughly the same amount of time.  I'd been pumping about 12 oz over the course of 7am to 3pm (roughly daycare hours for him) but for the past 3 days I've been doing the following: 1) making sure to nurse him *well* before I leave him at daycare, by giving him several opportunities in the early morning and at dropoff 2) pumping *in* the *morning* as soon as I wake up and shower 3) just generally being careful to watch the clock and give myself time to pump every 2 to 3 hours.  The pumping in the morning seems to be a pretty significant key to jump-starting the pumping thing.  Otherwise, I've had to pump several times in the evening and on weekends to play catchup.  Zachary has taken 16 ounces these 3 days and also Wednesday and Thursday last week.  I'm hoping that's a stable thing for him.  It seems like it will work for me. It has been stressful waiting for his demands to stabilize into a recognisable pattern that I can respond to. 

So, my mom asked about Zachary's bottles, because of the new studies showing harmful toxins in various plastics used for baby bottles.  Well, before we left Ithaca, I stopped by Jillian's Drawers (http://www.jilliansdrawers.com) and got these glass bottles (http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/store/weegoglassbabybottles.html) one "sky" and one "ocean" one, as well as two of these safe-plastic bottles (http://www.greentogrow.com/).  So, what's Edwin drinking from?!  Sometimes his little plastic drink box (http://www0.epinions.com/content_146306666116) which is way too convenient, but more often, we try to use one of his four SIGG bottles (http://www.mysigg.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=26). Now, of course, one well-meaning activist saw us using ours and informed us that cheaper aluminium bottles exist somewhere, and that the SIGG bottles are lined with plastic... yes, they are.. but it's "better" plastics than what our plastic containers are made of...(http://www.mysigg.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=5#What%20exactly%20is%20the%20SIGG%20liner%20made%20of?) but we know that they're approved for use in Europe and they don't taste like plastic.  So, that's the best we can do for now.  Unlike Zachary, Edwin's entire meal doesn't live in bottles.  We think he's probably safe with the SIGG bottles.

Ok, Michael's putting dinner on the table now!  It's fresh pasta from Talluto's on the Italian Market (http://www.phillyitalianmarket.com/market/9thstreet.htm). Since we visited last week after church (http://www.christchurchphila.org/).

So, Zachary learned to sit up last week!  Kindof, anyhow.  He does topple, but he stays up awhile.  Did I blog that already?  I also wanted to note that today we realized we are in USDA Hardiness Zone 7.  SEVEN!  Ithaca was a balmy 5b. Can you believe it?!  No wonder Rose (our leasing agent) was amused to see us come in with snow shovels.  Just like an 7 year old carrying arond Kotex "just in case"....  You never know, do you?!  Gosh.  We are SOOO used to snow!  I guess we can send the skis and boots and heavy coats into storage or back to parents' houses.  I don't know.  The thing that's been so hard about this transition is losing things one at a time, totally unaware.  We just suddenly realize "one more thing" that we have to mourn or change.  And this time it's the snow.  We also had to come to a realization this week that we probably won't be using cloth diapers.  Although, maybe we will, but probably not.  The dryer is too inefficient.  We'd have to run the AC alot more to make up for it, too.  So, it makes little sense to spend all day running both a heater and an A/C to dry diapers.  If the weather turns out to be too dry, we can possibly hang-dry diapers, but not that we have alot of space to do that with!

Zachary kindof sits up when placed in an upright position now.  He topples over when distracted, like when he looks around at things.  Both boys have been exceedingly cute lately!  Also, Edwin is starting to say "want" instead of his own "moo moo".