Lesterfamily.com

Sorry for the hiatus. Things have been a bit of a whirlwind here for the past month or so. Due to a series of unfortunate events, we came very close to not closing on our new house before the holidays. I learned that a few tears go a long way and on Christmas Eve-Eve we finally closed on our house. The next two nights we hosted 18 people for dinner. It was pure craziness, but JP and I were very happy to see that our new house seemed to have enough room to hold everyone comfortably. We’re still in the process of settling in – but it already feels like home. We’re going to make lots of great new memories here (most of which will hopefully be recorded by this blog).

Much love and happiness to everyone in this New Year. Consider this an open invitation to come visit (we even have a guest room with an actual BED thanks to Kristin and Dan). And at long last some photos…

We are scheduled to close on the new house on Friday 12/16 and move into said house on Saturday 12/17 – less than 2 weeks from now. We were fortunate to find that our moving company charges the same regardless of whether it’s a weekday or weekend – so there really wasn’t any reason to wait.

There isn’t anything major left to do with the house – the appliances are mostly in, the carpet has been installed, all the paint and trim work is done, most of the closet shelving has been installed, the plumbing fixtures are all in, the lights are all in, the counter tops are all in, etc. They put the stain down on the floors yesterday and will be putting down the final coats over the next few days It’s going to be hard not being able to walk into our home-to-be and see everything – fortunately we have lots of windows…

Evan and Erin are doing well. They received their “report cards” from school last week. All good stuff. Evan’s teachers see academic success in his future; Erin’s teachers remarked at how she participates in everything and patiently sticks with a task until she gets it. Erin has also sprouted some new teeth and now has a total of 10.

Tucker and Madison are doing alright. Tucker’s starting to show his age (he’s almost 10) though. He’s had some rare accidents in the house and we’re starting to worry that maybe he doesn’t have as much control over his bladder/bowels as he used to

Tonight was Rumson’s official tree lighting cermony where they light up a big tree in Victory Park. The whole family and all the cousins, aunts and uncles were there to witness the event. It was really quite neat – my first ever tree lighting. It started out with FREE hot chocolate and FREE cookies, followed by a FREE concert given by the local 3rd graders and then additional songs by the famous local band, The Holiday Express. The kids had a blast dancing around and just being with each other. It really is the most wonderful time of the year…

this thanksgiving we stayed put in our rental house in rumson. we had toyed with the idea of heading down to florida or up to rhode island to be with relatives – but we are in the final weeks of the construction of our new house and didn’t feel comfortable being too far away for so long…

moving to rumson we had all these romanticized notions of big family get-togethers with jp’s sisters; we forgot to take into account that the in-laws have families too – families that don’t live very far from new jersey. so this thanksgiving we found ourselves – well – by ourselves, in our rental house – the house that i am growing to hate more and more with each light bulb that goes out, each time i try to use our useless refrigerator with drawers that can’t fully open, each time i try to use the crappy oven/stove with the sloped top, each time the toilets clog (which happens even if you’ve only gone #1), each time i get zapped in the shower as i shut off the water (we’re talking full on electrical shock, which can’t be good). [in spite of this rant, i must confess that the rental house FAR exceeds our flat in austria, and is still a blessing as it fits our stuff and was one of the only places in the area willing to accept two dogs].

given how much we loathe our rental house kitchen with the lack of lighting, bad oven, worse refrigerator – we decided not to stress ourselves out by trying to cook a thanksgiving meal. instead, we had the local sickles market make one for us, we just had to heat it up. apparently we aren’t the only ones trying to take the easy road to thanksgiving dinner – we were order # 100 – and i’m sure we weren’t the last.

i wish i could say the meal was wonderful and we had a blast. yes, it was nice not having to cook, but the meal was just so-so and thanksgiving is just not the same without a bunch of family around – laughing too loud, eating too much, drinking too much, enjoying each other. watch out family – if you don’t come to us we’ll be coming to you thanksgiving 2012.

It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to give any real updates on the goings-on with the Lester family.

Erin update: She came down with a stomach bug this week. I ended up having to pick her up from school – she had gotten sick during nap time and it was all over her hair, her clothes and her sleeping bag. She got sick again while waiting for me to come get her and unfortunately her teachers were both wearing it when I arrived. She got sick in the car ride home (it took FOREVER to get it out of her car seat and the car still smells of the clean-up spray which just reminds me of the vomit smell). She got sick as I was about to put her in the bath and then I became the lucky one wearing it. But it was finally out of her system and she was fine after that.

She’s been talking more and more. It might just be the age, but I do think the tounge-tie surgery helped. Notable first words: Bye, Daddy, Mommy, Nose, Eyes, No, More, Mine and our all-time favorite “iPad”. She’s definitely her father’s daughter. She also knows a bit of sign language (the school teaches them). She’s got the “more” sign down pat, and we’ve seen the “all done” sign from time to time – but this evening she busted out the “please” sign (with the verbal “pees” accompaniment) when I told her to “Say Please” after her millionth demand for more cheerios. I don’t recall if I’ve mentioned this already, but she’s also got more teeth – 6 total. They came in the strangest order (2 front top, followed by 2 top molars, followed by 2 front bottom) – but we’ll take it.

Evan update: He continues to amaze us with his way-beyond-3-year-old wisdom. The other day he explained that “4 quarters make a whole”, he can count to 20 in SPANISH, he can count to 100 in English with a little help (he understands the repetitive 1-2-3 sequence fine but needs help remembering fifty, sixty etc). His teachers are always telling us that he knows all the answers in circle time (days of the week, months, what words start with the letter “H” etc etc).

Yep, he’s a smarty. Sometimes he’s too smart. After Erin got sick, she stayed home from school the next day. This fact was not lost on Evan. So the following day as I was getting him ready he asked, “Is there school today?” to which I responded, “Yep, it’s Friday, we go to school on Fridays”. He was quiet for a moment and then said, “No, I’m sick today, I need to stay home.” Only 3 years old and he already knows how to play the “I’m sick” card. Uh oh.

He is outgrowing some of the cautiousness that used to dominate his playground activity – today I actually saw him climb UP a slide. But he remains frightened of a few things (hand dryers being one of them). Today we ate lunch in a restaurant and Evan needed to use the potty. It was one of those automatic flushing ones. When Evan had finished his business, he hopped off the seat and then jumped a little at the WHOOSH sound. He then looked up at me and said earnestly, “That was a close one.”

JP Update: He just celebrated another birthday on Saturday (Happy Birthday!) – and for those that weren’t paying attention he managed to turn back the clock slightly. I suspect he’s going to be the big 4-0 for a few years now. He’s also been traveling quite a bit. In November alone he’s already gone to LA, he’s on his way to Seattle now, he’s in London next week and he’s in Salzburg the week after. Sigh. Fortunately he’ll be sticking around in December (which is a good thing b/c we’re supposed to move).

House update: Speaking of moving – construction on our new house is supposed to wrap up around the 12th of December (fingers crossed). We have a front door now, the kitchen cabinets are in, the bathrooms are being tiled, we have garage doors, etc. We’ll try to post new picks next time.

Tucker & Madison Update: These masters of getting into the garbage and the pantry continue to frustrate us – but it’s hard to stay mad at them for long.

That’s about it for now. Time to bathe the kids.

Just a little over a month to go!

sorry for all the silence. i usually carve out a little time on weekends to update you all on the lester family goings on – but lately our weekends have been busy with other things.

the weekend after my grandparents passed we had a nice visit from my uncle tom and aunt peggy. jp was in austria on business, so it was very nice to have family around. of course, i neglected to take any pictures.

the next weekend jp and i made last minute plans to spend a night in nyc. gee and geeda were in town and available to babysit, and we haven’t had a night alone since before evan was born. 3 years is a long time to wait. we took the ferry into the city and made our way to the theater district where our hotel was. i think we must have walked almost 10 miles that day…we walked through central park and did some people watching; we walked through time square; we walked to and from restaurants; we walked to see “book of mormon” (uncomfortably funny show). it was nice to get away but my mind was always on the kids and all the chores i had back home.

the next weekend i had to travel back to the bay area for work. fortunately i was able to meet up with ron and gay rene for dinner one night. it was really good to see them and catch up on our lives. hopefully we’ll meet up again soon.

this past weekend my father and his girlfriend came to town for a visit. my kids were excited to see their grandaddy and loved all the spoiling and attention that went on. we went to the pumpkin patch and went on a haunted hay ride; we went to various playgrounds and watched both my kids tackle things we’ve never seen them do before; we went to many a restaurant. my dogs were equally happy my father was in town – they were treated to hour-long walks every day.

In the span of 4 days, I went from batting a thousand to batting five hundred in the grandparents department. On Friday, September 30, 2011 my Pepere (that’s French Canadian for grandfather) passed away. Unlike my Memere – whose health had been slowly declining for awhile – my Pepere’s sudden decline took us a bit by surprise.

My Pepere had been in and out of ICU for several weeks; he was bleeding internally and needed 4 different transfusions. While he was in the hospital he contracted MRSA, so that took a toll as well. Eventually he said enough was enough and refused further medical treatment. He was eventually transferred to the same Hospice Center that my Memere was at. An hour after he arrived, she passed away.

I had flown down to Florida to be with my mother following the death of my Memere. While I was there, the family paid a visit to my Pepere. When I first walked into his room I remember being shocked and saddened at how frail he was. He was having trouble talking because he lost so much weight his dentures were falling out, but we muddled through somehow. Eventually he let it be known that he would like to go outside (his room had a nice lanai attached) and enjoy a beer and a smoke. This would obviously be a no-no in a hospital setting – but we were in hospice – and they like to cater to their patient’s wishes (within reason).

So the nurse helped to move him outside and the family gathered around. As strange as it seems, being outside with a cigarette and beer seemed to instill new life into my Pepere. He was very appreciate that we had all come to see him; he remembered that I recently moved to New Jersey and that I had two children. He was coherent, full of kind words, and I began to forget how frail he looked when I first saw him in the room. He was going to last awhile, or so I thought. I flew back to New Jersey on Thursday and on Friday I got the message that my Pepere had passed.

Folks keep commenting on how strange it was for them both to go so quickly. I received a beautiful card from JP’s aunt and uncle that explained that God must have known how much they loved each other so he took them both at once. Having recently learned that they had to run away and elope to get married (my Memere’s father was apparently not a big fan of a non-French husband), this is what I choose to believe. I hope they found each other again in the afterlife…

For most of my life, my Pepere was the quiet grandparent that didn’t talk much. But then one day he found his voice and all these fantastic stories came forward. I learned of his time as a Merchant Marine in WWII (he lied about his age to join) and how two of the ships he was on were sunk by German U-boats. I learned about his time at Area 51 in Nevada and his encounters/conversations with intelligent life not of this world. Maybe he just spent too much time in the sun, but it was an amazing story none-the-less, one that I hope to get down on paper someday.

I will always remember the joy on his face when he met my children. I will always remember his fantastic stories. I am grateful that I got to see him one last time before he went. I am grateful that he was able to have his final beer and final cigarette and say his peace to everyone. He was so happy that we had all come. He was frail, but coherent, and I will treasure that memory always. RIP Pepere, I love you.

William Robert Bigelow: 24-Apr-1928 to 30-Sep-2011.

My heart is heavy as I write this; I stop, delete, type again, delete, stare at the blank post and try to figure out what I am going to say. Eventually I come to the conclusion that even if what I write is crap – folks will forgive me – I’m still reeling from the loss of my memere (that’s French Canadian for grandmother in case you were wondering…though technically it should have the right accents over the “e’s”).

Jacqueline Claire (Napert) Bigelow passed away this Monday at the age of 84 after battling a long illness. A beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother – she was quite the character. Her feisty personality belied her diminutive size. She never let any notions of being politically correct get in the way of speaking her mind (loudly) – and she backed up her words with actions – she had a bb gun and wasn’t afraid to use it.

For all her feistiness she was equally kind and caring. She had a way with animals in particular – and they seemed to know they had a friend in her – the injured always found their way to her doorstep and she lovingly nursed them back to health.

I’m glad she got to meet my children and they got to meet her; even if they were too young to remember, I have the pictures and the memories to hold on to forever. She’s in a better place now, she’s not in any pain – but her family still feels the pain of her absence. Rest in peace Memere, I love you.

Jacqueline Claire (Napert) Bigelow: 22 April 1927 – 26 September 2011.