Ok, moving right along! I woke up this morning more rested that I think I have ever been. I'm really starting to get jealous of Alivia's life. I seriously wish more than ever that I could sleep as much as her now that I have experienced it for one day.
I had a lot of work to catch up on today that didn't happen. I mean I got a lot of work done, but I am no where near caught up. Oh, and as it turns out, when both mom and dad are sick for a couple of days, the house goes to POT! Shawn had to sleep the end of his sickness off this morning, and went to work a little late, but I think we are both better now. I don't know how long it will be before the house can kick this sickness.
As I was rushing to get out the door for dance today (I got delayed by my work and realized I had to shower, get ready, dress 3 kids and load the car all in an hour), Shawn called and told me about a sale going on at the furniture store we bought out bed at. His co-workers were able to get refunded the difference between the prices they bought their stuff at and the current sale price since it was less than 30 days since they made their purchases. I was told to call and see what I could learn. Well, we were not allowed a refund, bummer. But we were given an in-store-credit for the difference which was a whooping $250!!! The only catch was we had to use it today or it would expire since our 30 days were up after today (talk about catching it by the skin of our teeth!).
So, right after work we headed in to see what we could find. I was hoping to get a steel on a cute decorative dresser or something, Shawn had his hopes set high on a desk to help the mess that is our computer area in our family room. We were both dreaming when we though maybe, just maybe we could find a new and very much needed dining set. Well, guess what we found? Yeah, a new dining set! I'm so excited! We didn't have a ton of options when budget IS the deciding factor. But we found a table that had a small ding in the side of it that we were able to get with 4 chairs for $300. The best part is that is it big enough to seat 8 when we are ready, and we can buy more matching chairs whenever we are ready. I'm pumped. Seriously, we are so lucky! And we were able to get all that for basically $50 since we'd already paid the other $250 for our bed. Good day.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Day 86: Still sick
I think it is safe to say that I spent 60% of my day today sleeping. I don't know how I did that, or how everyone is still alive, but that is how my day went. I woke up still feeling crappy. Shawn was feeling sick too. My head felt like a large chain saw was running through the middle of my skull for the entire day and I just had to deal with it. I got up with Alivia, bathed her and loved every little smile she gave me for no reason. I know it wasn't my good looks today triggering smiles, just truly unconditional love because I was on UGLY thing today.
When Alivia slept, I slept. I was mad when she'd wake up and I couldn't sleep. I was mad when Jack fell off the coffee table that he was standing on and woke me up so I couldn't sleep. I didn't even try potty training today, and I did have to pull Jack off the stove while he was crossing it with fists full of Easter candy. I'm telling you, I'm starting to hate Easter candy, but it is triggering a whole new level of creativity in this boy.
Lucy was sick again today. I thought she was better last night, but she spent a good portion of her day with her face in the puke bowl, poor girl. She was so hungry and thirsty, but nothing would stay down. And me, after all that sleep I got today, I'm still tired. Goodnight.
When Alivia slept, I slept. I was mad when she'd wake up and I couldn't sleep. I was mad when Jack fell off the coffee table that he was standing on and woke me up so I couldn't sleep. I didn't even try potty training today, and I did have to pull Jack off the stove while he was crossing it with fists full of Easter candy. I'm telling you, I'm starting to hate Easter candy, but it is triggering a whole new level of creativity in this boy.
Lucy was sick again today. I thought she was better last night, but she spent a good portion of her day with her face in the puke bowl, poor girl. She was so hungry and thirsty, but nothing would stay down. And me, after all that sleep I got today, I'm still tired. Goodnight.
Day 85: Stomach Bug
I'd type more, but I'm sick today. My day started off ok, but over the last few hours, I'm getting sick. Sick means I'm forgetting about accidents that happened, and funny lines that were said. Lucy has been sick all day today too, but over the last couple of hours she has started perking up, and I have started perking down. Thank goodness I haven't started puking down yet, but I'm sure it's coming. I'm going to bed.
Day 84: TWINS
Okay, so I got a little behind again, this is really starting to become a trend. But honestly, once you hear what my week thus far has been compromised of, you will totally understand.
I sat down tonight to type my post for the day which was mainly going to consist of all the ways that Jack has caused mayhem on my life as of late (this all due to the fact that there is Easter candy in the house and no where to hide it where he can't find it) when I got a text message from my sister. Krista asked me if I could come up with a cute growth chart for twins. I instantly froze with curiosity, was this a hint or did she really have some weird need for this like a friend's baby shower gift. Like I said, I was frozen.
After another text to see what the heck she was talking about my sister told me she was expecting twins! At this point I started texting her back when I stopped myself and said "What the heck are you doing? You can't text about something like twins!" So I instantly called her back only to find she was up to her elbow in a messy diaper and couldn't talk right that second but would call me back in one minute. Well, I wasn't waiting a minute to find out more information, so I called my mom. My mom filled me in on the due date and all that stuff, and then Krista called me right back like she promised
So here is the funny thing. My sis and her hubby have been on really hard times for the last oh, 18 months or so. First Jacob (the man of the hour) lost his job back in October of 09. Yeah, economy isn't the friendliest, and to top it all of, Jacob is losing his vision, so he won't be able to work as a mortician after all which is what he has a degree in. Yeah, it's complicated and frustrating, and just flat out not fair. So, because they are out of a job, Krista and Jacob have been living in my grandparents house since they left on their mission back in December of 09. That worked out nicely.
As it turns out, another down side of not being employed is that you don't have health insurance. Health insurance is kind of important when shopping for birth control, at least any birth control that has high success rates. Because lets be honest here, if you were in Krista and Jacob's situation, would you think to yourself "Yeah, let's get pregnant now." No, they are not idiots, but sometimes things don't run on our plan.
So, they find out they are pregnant. Krista is a major stresser, glad I wasn't there for that day. Then, 3 weeks ago they find out it's twins! Really glad I wasn't there for that day. But today Krista was nothing by laughs, smiles and excitement. I honestly think that nothing could have brought this change on her like twins. Seriously, knowing their situation like I do, there has to come a point when you can do nothing but laugh about it, and what isn't funny about going a year and a half with no job, too long to even get unemployment, going blind, coming to an end of your living situation in 3 months, having a 4 year old and a 18 month old, and finding out to top everything off "SURPRISE!!! Its TWINS!!!" I guess when she told my family everyone was laughing with excitement through the words "That's just terrible news!" It really is, but sometimes the worst news is the most comforting. When things are that out of control and unpredictable, it makes you slap yourself in the face and look at the obvious. We're not in control here, so let's just leave it up to the person that is. He does a much better job at handling things that I've ever done on my own anyway.
In the end I can already tell you that I love what Twins is doing to my sister. She finally FINALLY has learned to sit back and not try to run everything. She just sounded so happy. Sure, crap is flying around her like crazy, but things are starting to happen now, and I'm so grateful for twins already because I know this was just the thing that she needed to finally understand all this. All that said, how cute are two little baby twins going to be? Even if the poor girl has 4 kids under the age of 5. :) It's just the happiest, most exciting, terrible news!
I sat down tonight to type my post for the day which was mainly going to consist of all the ways that Jack has caused mayhem on my life as of late (this all due to the fact that there is Easter candy in the house and no where to hide it where he can't find it) when I got a text message from my sister. Krista asked me if I could come up with a cute growth chart for twins. I instantly froze with curiosity, was this a hint or did she really have some weird need for this like a friend's baby shower gift. Like I said, I was frozen.
After another text to see what the heck she was talking about my sister told me she was expecting twins! At this point I started texting her back when I stopped myself and said "What the heck are you doing? You can't text about something like twins!" So I instantly called her back only to find she was up to her elbow in a messy diaper and couldn't talk right that second but would call me back in one minute. Well, I wasn't waiting a minute to find out more information, so I called my mom. My mom filled me in on the due date and all that stuff, and then Krista called me right back like she promised
So here is the funny thing. My sis and her hubby have been on really hard times for the last oh, 18 months or so. First Jacob (the man of the hour) lost his job back in October of 09. Yeah, economy isn't the friendliest, and to top it all of, Jacob is losing his vision, so he won't be able to work as a mortician after all which is what he has a degree in. Yeah, it's complicated and frustrating, and just flat out not fair. So, because they are out of a job, Krista and Jacob have been living in my grandparents house since they left on their mission back in December of 09. That worked out nicely.
As it turns out, another down side of not being employed is that you don't have health insurance. Health insurance is kind of important when shopping for birth control, at least any birth control that has high success rates. Because lets be honest here, if you were in Krista and Jacob's situation, would you think to yourself "Yeah, let's get pregnant now." No, they are not idiots, but sometimes things don't run on our plan.
So, they find out they are pregnant. Krista is a major stresser, glad I wasn't there for that day. Then, 3 weeks ago they find out it's twins! Really glad I wasn't there for that day. But today Krista was nothing by laughs, smiles and excitement. I honestly think that nothing could have brought this change on her like twins. Seriously, knowing their situation like I do, there has to come a point when you can do nothing but laugh about it, and what isn't funny about going a year and a half with no job, too long to even get unemployment, going blind, coming to an end of your living situation in 3 months, having a 4 year old and a 18 month old, and finding out to top everything off "SURPRISE!!! Its TWINS!!!" I guess when she told my family everyone was laughing with excitement through the words "That's just terrible news!" It really is, but sometimes the worst news is the most comforting. When things are that out of control and unpredictable, it makes you slap yourself in the face and look at the obvious. We're not in control here, so let's just leave it up to the person that is. He does a much better job at handling things that I've ever done on my own anyway.
In the end I can already tell you that I love what Twins is doing to my sister. She finally FINALLY has learned to sit back and not try to run everything. She just sounded so happy. Sure, crap is flying around her like crazy, but things are starting to happen now, and I'm so grateful for twins already because I know this was just the thing that she needed to finally understand all this. All that said, how cute are two little baby twins going to be? Even if the poor girl has 4 kids under the age of 5. :) It's just the happiest, most exciting, terrible news!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Day 83: Easter
So today, was Easter, obviously. Shawn and I were up until 12:20 hiding eggs last night. Alivia was awake by 6 again, and I was not to happy about that. She started drifting off again by 7:45, right about the time that Lucy woke up. We told Lucy that she could go look at her basket, but she couldn't find any eggs until Jack woke up. A few minutes later we heard eggs crashing and candy spilling. Shawn had to go down and stop her, but it was all good.
When Jack woke up, he was starving since he was sick all day yesterday. He had to eat a pop tart really quick, and then the hunt was on. The kids were in heaven! I loved watching them climb things and giggle their hearts out when they found eggs in funny places like Lucy's shoe. Jack was so excited when he found an egg in Lucy's shoe by the wall that he dove for it as fast as he could. He hit the wall with his head so hard he bounced off it and fell down backwards. It was one of those moments I wished we had on video so bad. Jack didn't care, he popped right back up and got his egg.
After the hunt we had some crepes for breakfast and played with all our Easter goodies. Jack got a little Buzz Lightyear disk gun, he loves that thing. We played for a while then put Jack down for a nap. While he napped, Lucy made necklaces, and I went up and got ready for church. Like it always does, church snuck up on us and we were scrabbling to get out the door on time, but we did it.
Sacrament meeting was good, especially the closing song. I had to come home in between Sacrament meeting and Relief Society to get the ham in the oven. Shawn had the Easter Cantata again tonight so we had to eat quick when we got home. It was good that I went home too because Alivia was more than ready to eat when I got here and then had a massive blow out. When I got back to church, Jack needed a change.
Relief Society was great. Alivia got a little fussy so I was standing on the side of the room when I noticed Sister Jeffery sitting on the back row with several empty seats next to her. I went and sat down and asked if Sister Jeffery wanted to hold Alivia. As I handed Alivia over, Alivia smiled as big as she possibly could. For the next 15 minutes Sister Jeffery had Alivia cooing, smiling, and laughing. It was adorable, and I know Sister Jeffery Loved it.
Sister Jeffery has a soft spot in my heart. She is one of the nicest, caring people the world has ever seen. Shawn and Brother Jeffery work together in the Young Men's Presidency. When Shawn found his job, he bore his testimony a few weeks later, and while he spoke about the amazing blessing it was to find a job, Sister Jeffery leaned over to her husband and said "That's one less person I have to pray for." That's just the kind of person she is. She is just the kindest person ever. My kids love her too. I just love this lady.
After church we had Jessica and Steve Stoddard over for dinner because they had spent the entire day driving home from Phoenix to get to the Cantata tonight. I was watching their little girl Penny anyway, so I figured we may as well feed them. We ate fast and Shawn, Steve, and Jessica headed out. I was on my own with the 4 kids, and Penny was a ball of energy after being cooped up in the car all day. But we had a ton of fun.
Question of the day: Why does Alivia always puke on my toes? I swear, 82% of the time that Alivia spits up while I'm holding her she makes a direct hit on the top of my foot. I never have shoes or socks on so I get to enjoy the sweet sensation of baby vomit working its way into the crevices of my toes. And since it is my toes, I still have to clean the floor up, don't you worry. I think she is trying to teach me a new work ethic.
When Jack woke up, he was starving since he was sick all day yesterday. He had to eat a pop tart really quick, and then the hunt was on. The kids were in heaven! I loved watching them climb things and giggle their hearts out when they found eggs in funny places like Lucy's shoe. Jack was so excited when he found an egg in Lucy's shoe by the wall that he dove for it as fast as he could. He hit the wall with his head so hard he bounced off it and fell down backwards. It was one of those moments I wished we had on video so bad. Jack didn't care, he popped right back up and got his egg.
After the hunt we had some crepes for breakfast and played with all our Easter goodies. Jack got a little Buzz Lightyear disk gun, he loves that thing. We played for a while then put Jack down for a nap. While he napped, Lucy made necklaces, and I went up and got ready for church. Like it always does, church snuck up on us and we were scrabbling to get out the door on time, but we did it.
Sacrament meeting was good, especially the closing song. I had to come home in between Sacrament meeting and Relief Society to get the ham in the oven. Shawn had the Easter Cantata again tonight so we had to eat quick when we got home. It was good that I went home too because Alivia was more than ready to eat when I got here and then had a massive blow out. When I got back to church, Jack needed a change.
Relief Society was great. Alivia got a little fussy so I was standing on the side of the room when I noticed Sister Jeffery sitting on the back row with several empty seats next to her. I went and sat down and asked if Sister Jeffery wanted to hold Alivia. As I handed Alivia over, Alivia smiled as big as she possibly could. For the next 15 minutes Sister Jeffery had Alivia cooing, smiling, and laughing. It was adorable, and I know Sister Jeffery Loved it.
Sister Jeffery has a soft spot in my heart. She is one of the nicest, caring people the world has ever seen. Shawn and Brother Jeffery work together in the Young Men's Presidency. When Shawn found his job, he bore his testimony a few weeks later, and while he spoke about the amazing blessing it was to find a job, Sister Jeffery leaned over to her husband and said "That's one less person I have to pray for." That's just the kind of person she is. She is just the kindest person ever. My kids love her too. I just love this lady.
After church we had Jessica and Steve Stoddard over for dinner because they had spent the entire day driving home from Phoenix to get to the Cantata tonight. I was watching their little girl Penny anyway, so I figured we may as well feed them. We ate fast and Shawn, Steve, and Jessica headed out. I was on my own with the 4 kids, and Penny was a ball of energy after being cooped up in the car all day. But we had a ton of fun.
Question of the day: Why does Alivia always puke on my toes? I swear, 82% of the time that Alivia spits up while I'm holding her she makes a direct hit on the top of my foot. I never have shoes or socks on so I get to enjoy the sweet sensation of baby vomit working its way into the crevices of my toes. And since it is my toes, I still have to clean the floor up, don't you worry. I think she is trying to teach me a new work ethic.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Day 82: Easter Egg Hunts and Puke
This morning Alivia woke up at 6 am. I know she did this because she knew that it was my one day of the week that I didn't have to wake up at 6, and she thinks this is funny. At least she was very happy about the whole thing and had a lot to say in her baby gibberish.
Even though I was up at 6, I didn't actually get out of bed until Jack started crying. We laid in our bed like lazy people for a while, then Shawn wandered in to get Jack. That's when he learned that Jack had thrown up at some point in the night. I got the bath ready, Shawn handled the puke mess like a man, he always does, and I love that feature in him. As Jack sat in the tub, my sister-in-law called. I spoke with her for a few minutes, but then Jack started throwing up in the tub. Poor little bug. I knew he wasn't feeling well when I watched him sit in the tub and make no effort to play with any toys or splash in any way.
After showering Jack since the bath was a failure, I got him out and dressed him. As I dressed him he got panicky and I could tell he was going to puke again. His natural reaction to this feeling was to run with no particular destination in mind. My natural instinct was to catch him and get him to the nearest utility with a drain, toilet, sink, tub, shower, I so didn't care, just not my bed or carpet. Jack ran for my room of course, and I caught him just in time to get him over the tile floor and almost to the toilet before the moment of impact. I spent the next several hours trying my best to teach him how to puke in a bowl or toilet.
Jack kind of started perking up, so I decided to at least try to get Lucy to the Easter Egg Hunt in the park today. After driving all the way there I noticed all the people leaving and decided that I missed it. As I drove home (and was practically there mind you), the radio station informed me that Lucy's age group's hunt was starting at noon. So, I turned around and went back to the park, and got Lucy there just in time. There were SO many kids and so not enough eggs. Lucy took off when they said go and ran to an egg just to watch another kid snatch it. Then she ran to the next one that a parent snatched. This happened several times and I watched helplessly from the side since I couldn't leave Alivia by herself. After watching three PARENTS snatch eggs as Lucy reached for them, I lost her in the crowd.
When Lucy wandered her way back to me she was in tears with only one egg in her basket and two halves of eggs that no one else wanted because there was nothing in them. My heart was broken for her. One nice little girl gave Lucy a candy that she got in one of her two eggs. I hated that hunt and will never go back to it again. It was pathetic. There were probably 150 kids and about 200 eggs. The age group for this hunt was 4-7, so Lucy was on the younger end, but what I want to know is why in the heck did parents feel like they needed to help their 4-7 year old kid? The parent that bugged me the most was the one that I watched snatch Lucy's third egg and hand it to his kid that I'm pretty sure was too old for this age group. Not okay. I think I'll organize my own neighborhood egg hunt next year.
When we got home Jack was still sleeping. He and Alivia took amazing naps today. Shawn and I used our down time to do a lot of laundry and get ready for Shawn's Easter Cantata that was tonight. Shawn's parents came down and we went to dinner with them, then headed to the Cantata. It was amazing, I'm so glad Shawn can find one time a year to do something like that, even if it demands a lot of time, it is good for him.
Quote of the day:
Lucy: "Oh my gosh! I have to pee!!"
Even though I was up at 6, I didn't actually get out of bed until Jack started crying. We laid in our bed like lazy people for a while, then Shawn wandered in to get Jack. That's when he learned that Jack had thrown up at some point in the night. I got the bath ready, Shawn handled the puke mess like a man, he always does, and I love that feature in him. As Jack sat in the tub, my sister-in-law called. I spoke with her for a few minutes, but then Jack started throwing up in the tub. Poor little bug. I knew he wasn't feeling well when I watched him sit in the tub and make no effort to play with any toys or splash in any way.
After showering Jack since the bath was a failure, I got him out and dressed him. As I dressed him he got panicky and I could tell he was going to puke again. His natural reaction to this feeling was to run with no particular destination in mind. My natural instinct was to catch him and get him to the nearest utility with a drain, toilet, sink, tub, shower, I so didn't care, just not my bed or carpet. Jack ran for my room of course, and I caught him just in time to get him over the tile floor and almost to the toilet before the moment of impact. I spent the next several hours trying my best to teach him how to puke in a bowl or toilet.
Jack kind of started perking up, so I decided to at least try to get Lucy to the Easter Egg Hunt in the park today. After driving all the way there I noticed all the people leaving and decided that I missed it. As I drove home (and was practically there mind you), the radio station informed me that Lucy's age group's hunt was starting at noon. So, I turned around and went back to the park, and got Lucy there just in time. There were SO many kids and so not enough eggs. Lucy took off when they said go and ran to an egg just to watch another kid snatch it. Then she ran to the next one that a parent snatched. This happened several times and I watched helplessly from the side since I couldn't leave Alivia by herself. After watching three PARENTS snatch eggs as Lucy reached for them, I lost her in the crowd.
When Lucy wandered her way back to me she was in tears with only one egg in her basket and two halves of eggs that no one else wanted because there was nothing in them. My heart was broken for her. One nice little girl gave Lucy a candy that she got in one of her two eggs. I hated that hunt and will never go back to it again. It was pathetic. There were probably 150 kids and about 200 eggs. The age group for this hunt was 4-7, so Lucy was on the younger end, but what I want to know is why in the heck did parents feel like they needed to help their 4-7 year old kid? The parent that bugged me the most was the one that I watched snatch Lucy's third egg and hand it to his kid that I'm pretty sure was too old for this age group. Not okay. I think I'll organize my own neighborhood egg hunt next year.
When we got home Jack was still sleeping. He and Alivia took amazing naps today. Shawn and I used our down time to do a lot of laundry and get ready for Shawn's Easter Cantata that was tonight. Shawn's parents came down and we went to dinner with them, then headed to the Cantata. It was amazing, I'm so glad Shawn can find one time a year to do something like that, even if it demands a lot of time, it is good for him.
Quote of the day:
Lucy: "Oh my gosh! I have to pee!!"
Friday, April 22, 2011
Day 81: Going to the Mall
Today was a pretty good day. Alivia didn't sleep last night all that well. This is something she is doing more and more and I'm thinking, that's gotta stop. But I did go to bed at mid-night, and I did wake up at 6, well 5, thanks to Alivia. I've been waking up most mornings at 6 am to work so that I can focus and get stuff done before the kids wake up. Once they are up I work what I call quarter time between making breakfast, chocolate milk, dressing and bathing kids, showering, scripture study (on days that I'm really on top of things), lunch, nursing, rocking, breaking up fights, and herding kids towards a never ending effort to clean up after themselves.
Today was a good day. I try to write between 4 and 5 articles a day, and I had 4 finished by 2:00 today, and that was with an hour and a half trip to Shawn's office for our health screens. Since Shawn works for a Hospital, they offer employee incentives for good health. Just getting our health screenings today earned us $200 that I think we can use toward medical bills, happy day.
Anyway, 2:00 rolled around and I decided to call it a day instead of trying to knock out another set of three articles. That's when I decided I would take the kids to the Mall to go burn some energy on the play place there. Why do I do that to myself? It started off ok, the kids were even little angels while we had some rock chips in my windshield repaired. Then they played for about 20 minutes when Jack lost it. Jack's really been struggling with his naps lately, and bed time too. As a result, he's one over tired little boy all the time. He's a mean tantrum throwing nightmare. Why oh why did they make me take the pacifier away? I miss it so much, that thing was golden! Seriously, I really regret doing that.
After 20 minutes on the play place, Jack threw an all out tantrum as I tried to put his shoes back on. Nothing like a good public temper tantrum when you know all eyes are you. I was suddenly reminded of my last trip to the mall back in February when Jack shop lifted his hat. I don't think we'll be going back to the mall for a while.
After that colossal melt down Jack was fine. So I decided to take the kids to the puppy store, then we hit a couple other stores just for the heck of it. Lucy was ADORABLE at Clairs. She tried on about 10 pairs of sunglasses, picked out a necklace that she wants to save her money for, picked out a bracelet to match, and her eyes about popped out of her head when we got to the princess section. My little girls and I had a lot of fun getting dressed today. I took my sister-in-law Rebecca's courage not only to my own wardrobe, but also to Lucy's. Lucy looked ADORABLE today! She wore what use to be one of my big old 90's style bows as a belt. It was pink with white polka dots and fit her perfectly. We are having a lot of fun with this creative, trendy dressing.
When we got home I went for a run, we had dinner, and then the kids went to bed. And there you have my day. There was something else that happened that I wanted to write about, but I cannot for the life of me think of what it was. It was pretty funny too. Oh well, it will come to me tonight while I'm sleeping.
Today was a good day. I try to write between 4 and 5 articles a day, and I had 4 finished by 2:00 today, and that was with an hour and a half trip to Shawn's office for our health screens. Since Shawn works for a Hospital, they offer employee incentives for good health. Just getting our health screenings today earned us $200 that I think we can use toward medical bills, happy day.
Anyway, 2:00 rolled around and I decided to call it a day instead of trying to knock out another set of three articles. That's when I decided I would take the kids to the Mall to go burn some energy on the play place there. Why do I do that to myself? It started off ok, the kids were even little angels while we had some rock chips in my windshield repaired. Then they played for about 20 minutes when Jack lost it. Jack's really been struggling with his naps lately, and bed time too. As a result, he's one over tired little boy all the time. He's a mean tantrum throwing nightmare. Why oh why did they make me take the pacifier away? I miss it so much, that thing was golden! Seriously, I really regret doing that.
After 20 minutes on the play place, Jack threw an all out tantrum as I tried to put his shoes back on. Nothing like a good public temper tantrum when you know all eyes are you. I was suddenly reminded of my last trip to the mall back in February when Jack shop lifted his hat. I don't think we'll be going back to the mall for a while.
After that colossal melt down Jack was fine. So I decided to take the kids to the puppy store, then we hit a couple other stores just for the heck of it. Lucy was ADORABLE at Clairs. She tried on about 10 pairs of sunglasses, picked out a necklace that she wants to save her money for, picked out a bracelet to match, and her eyes about popped out of her head when we got to the princess section. My little girls and I had a lot of fun getting dressed today. I took my sister-in-law Rebecca's courage not only to my own wardrobe, but also to Lucy's. Lucy looked ADORABLE today! She wore what use to be one of my big old 90's style bows as a belt. It was pink with white polka dots and fit her perfectly. We are having a lot of fun with this creative, trendy dressing.
When we got home I went for a run, we had dinner, and then the kids went to bed. And there you have my day. There was something else that happened that I wanted to write about, but I cannot for the life of me think of what it was. It was pretty funny too. Oh well, it will come to me tonight while I'm sleeping.
Days 73-80: Catching Up is Only Getting Me More Behind
Ok, so I've fallen way behind obviously. The problem with falling behind is that I feel pressure from myself to catch up. Catching up takes too long, so I can never sit down and do it in on night, so I get further behind. So, instead of catching, I'll summarize days 73-80. Shawn just told me this is cheating, but as it turns out, being a mom 365 days a year causes moments like this, that are out of your control.
So, the main reason I have fallen behind is because I've started a new job! It's an AMAZING opportunity, and I've been looking for something like this since I had kids. No, it won't make us rich, that is for darn sure, but it brings in enough money to cover our medical I-just-had-a-baby expenses. After that it will just be good to help us finally tie down our debts. The best part of all is that I can work at home absolutely whenever I have time to do it. If my kids need me, no problem, I can drop everything and spend as much time with them as I wand or they need. I LOVE IT! I'm very excited about this, can you tell? So what do I do? I write SEO and linking articles for a web technologies company based out of Utah. SEO articles are Search Engine Optimization articles. Basically I'm given some of the most random topics you can think of and told that I have to write a 400 word article using certain key words a certain number of times. It's so great.
Other than that, I have a couple of funny things that have happened the last few days that I've wanted to document. These things were said, thought, did, or happened whether I wanted them to or not.
So, the main reason I have fallen behind is because I've started a new job! It's an AMAZING opportunity, and I've been looking for something like this since I had kids. No, it won't make us rich, that is for darn sure, but it brings in enough money to cover our medical I-just-had-a-baby expenses. After that it will just be good to help us finally tie down our debts. The best part of all is that I can work at home absolutely whenever I have time to do it. If my kids need me, no problem, I can drop everything and spend as much time with them as I wand or they need. I LOVE IT! I'm very excited about this, can you tell? So what do I do? I write SEO and linking articles for a web technologies company based out of Utah. SEO articles are Search Engine Optimization articles. Basically I'm given some of the most random topics you can think of and told that I have to write a 400 word article using certain key words a certain number of times. It's so great.
Other than that, I have a couple of funny things that have happened the last few days that I've wanted to document. These things were said, thought, did, or happened whether I wanted them to or not.
- Jack peed on a dining room chair and the floor while I was nursing Alivia. I caught him trying to clean it up himself with my dish towel.
- Jack colored all over my living room couch with a pen.
- Jack stopped taking naps
- Jack had a break through in potty training
- Jack had a set back in potty training
- I threw in the towel on potty training
- Lucy told me all flowers remind her of me
- Jack and Lucy have developed a love of doing the dishes, if only that would last
- Jack pulled his dresser down on himself (actually, the dress itself did not fall, but all the drawers fell on him and his lamp. Lamp Shade didn't make it)
- I sat in the rocking chair nursing the baby and watched Jack give Lucy a ride on the back of his big wheel
- We dyed Easter Eggs
- I hit Jack, my desperate attempt to help him understand why we don't hit
- I got 19 free travel size packages of Purex Complete laundry detergant
- I got 6 free bottles of ready to use Similac baby formula
- I got 2 free air fresheners
- Couponing is going strong
- Jack has turned from my unbelievably adorable get-away-with-anything little boy to a living, breathing, walking monster that doesn't sleep.
- We planted corn and peppers inside to start our garden outside with in a few weeks
- I've started following my amazing sister-in-law's example and started using creativity with my wardrobe. I hate all my clothes, but I'm finding if I combine two pieces that I wouldn't usually think to combine, I can bring new life to my old second hand clothes.
- Alivia rolled over!!! This happened yesterday on Thursday April 21
- Alivia has also started pulling really funny faces when she is borderline mad and happy
- Jack's new word is the F word, I'm a little concerned about this, but I don't know what he is actually trying to say, all I know is that he isn't saying the F word intentionally. I wish that were easier to explain in nursery because once he says it once, he says it at least 15 times in a row without taking a breath.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Day 72: Sending off Haley
Today was sad. I hated sending Haley away. We spent most of the morning preparing to take her up to the airport. We also worked on one final project for her menu board. By noon both Haley and I were ready for a nap. We put the boys down, I started a movie for Lucy, and I laid down with Alivia.
After our naps we packed everything up, loaded the car and headed up to Denver. I got Haley to the airport in one piece and dreaded the moment when I actually had to say by to her. We had a major problem tracking down her ticket because the airline never sent her a confirmation email. We know because we spent at least 45 minutes searching all of our email accounts for it. When we finally figured out it was a Continental flight, and we knew what time it was at. We also knew she had a ticket because of a bank confirmation and a call to the airline.
When we pulled up to the Continental drop off zone our plan was to check in at the curb. Unfortunately no one was there to check us in. So, I sat in the car when you are not allowed to wait and put on shoes and fiddled with car seats so I looked like I was actively unloading something from my car. At one point Haley called and told me she was actually on an United flight, so I backed the car up a few zones (which I'm sure was illegal). Then I put Bennett's shoes back on since he had taken them off again.
Then Haley returned and it was really time for goodbye. It was so hard to say bye because I don't know when I'll see her again. But honestly, this was such a good trip for me. It made me realize that it is so important to make an effort to see old friends as much as possible. Haley's visit was so rejuvenating for me, it was just what I needed right now. I needed those nights that I stayed up past midnight laughing and talking with girls. It was worth every moment, and now I know I have to make these things happen more often. They are so important.
So, when I got back in the car, my really stress began. The car was 7 miles until empty on gas. I was at the Denver Airport. There are ZERO gas stations around that airport, ZERO!!! Now, this same thing happened two days before, so I knew I had a little give and I could actually make it more than 7 miles. So I headed home. I was about 15 miles from the airport when I finally found an exit that I thought might lead to a gas station eventually. After exiting I drove another 5 miles or so, and I was really starting to panic that I wasn't going to find a gas station. Lucy sensed my worry and asked what was wrong. She was getting pretty scared so I told her to say a prayer that we would find a gas station and not run out of gas. It was raining and I getting dark and I really didn't want to run out of gas because at this point I didn't even know where I was. There was nothing cuter that hearing Lucy's little prayer in the back seat, and I said a silent prayer that her prayer would be answered for her faith.
A few minutes later we found a gas station and filled up. It was such a relief! Then I realized I literally had no idea where I was because I had to wander so much to find a gas station. That's when I opened Bob and Pam's storage console in the car and found their Tom Tom. I've never been so happy to find that thing! I typed in their address and it took me home. The rain did complicate my ability to read signs, but eventually I knew where I was.
When we got with in a mile of Bob and Pam's exit I noticed a car wandering into my lane way ahead of me. Then I realized that car wasn't moving more than 10 miles an hour. I slammed on the breaks and the horn at the same time because this car was slowly crossing all the lanes of traffic in the rain and had no hazard lights on. I almost smashed into the back of the and I had to pull onto the shoulder to miss them. Talk about a stressful return trip.
We stayed at Bob and Pam's for about a half hour. Jason, Rebecca, and Jeff were there so it was fun to say hi to them. Then we traded cars and headed back home. I miss Haley. I was sad walking into Lucy's room where she stayed and seeing her stuff was gone. But I did love spending a night with my husband tonight too. Seriously, Haley's visit was just good all around. I would do it again tomorrow if I could. Now it's back to life as I know it. I have a good life.
After our naps we packed everything up, loaded the car and headed up to Denver. I got Haley to the airport in one piece and dreaded the moment when I actually had to say by to her. We had a major problem tracking down her ticket because the airline never sent her a confirmation email. We know because we spent at least 45 minutes searching all of our email accounts for it. When we finally figured out it was a Continental flight, and we knew what time it was at. We also knew she had a ticket because of a bank confirmation and a call to the airline.
When we pulled up to the Continental drop off zone our plan was to check in at the curb. Unfortunately no one was there to check us in. So, I sat in the car when you are not allowed to wait and put on shoes and fiddled with car seats so I looked like I was actively unloading something from my car. At one point Haley called and told me she was actually on an United flight, so I backed the car up a few zones (which I'm sure was illegal). Then I put Bennett's shoes back on since he had taken them off again.
Then Haley returned and it was really time for goodbye. It was so hard to say bye because I don't know when I'll see her again. But honestly, this was such a good trip for me. It made me realize that it is so important to make an effort to see old friends as much as possible. Haley's visit was so rejuvenating for me, it was just what I needed right now. I needed those nights that I stayed up past midnight laughing and talking with girls. It was worth every moment, and now I know I have to make these things happen more often. They are so important.
So, when I got back in the car, my really stress began. The car was 7 miles until empty on gas. I was at the Denver Airport. There are ZERO gas stations around that airport, ZERO!!! Now, this same thing happened two days before, so I knew I had a little give and I could actually make it more than 7 miles. So I headed home. I was about 15 miles from the airport when I finally found an exit that I thought might lead to a gas station eventually. After exiting I drove another 5 miles or so, and I was really starting to panic that I wasn't going to find a gas station. Lucy sensed my worry and asked what was wrong. She was getting pretty scared so I told her to say a prayer that we would find a gas station and not run out of gas. It was raining and I getting dark and I really didn't want to run out of gas because at this point I didn't even know where I was. There was nothing cuter that hearing Lucy's little prayer in the back seat, and I said a silent prayer that her prayer would be answered for her faith.
A few minutes later we found a gas station and filled up. It was such a relief! Then I realized I literally had no idea where I was because I had to wander so much to find a gas station. That's when I opened Bob and Pam's storage console in the car and found their Tom Tom. I've never been so happy to find that thing! I typed in their address and it took me home. The rain did complicate my ability to read signs, but eventually I knew where I was.
When we got with in a mile of Bob and Pam's exit I noticed a car wandering into my lane way ahead of me. Then I realized that car wasn't moving more than 10 miles an hour. I slammed on the breaks and the horn at the same time because this car was slowly crossing all the lanes of traffic in the rain and had no hazard lights on. I almost smashed into the back of the and I had to pull onto the shoulder to miss them. Talk about a stressful return trip.
We stayed at Bob and Pam's for about a half hour. Jason, Rebecca, and Jeff were there so it was fun to say hi to them. Then we traded cars and headed back home. I miss Haley. I was sad walking into Lucy's room where she stayed and seeing her stuff was gone. But I did love spending a night with my husband tonight too. Seriously, Haley's visit was just good all around. I would do it again tomorrow if I could. Now it's back to life as I know it. I have a good life.
Day 71: Garden of the Gods
So today I decided I had to take Haley to Garden of the God's here in Colorado Springs. If you are visiting the Springs, you have to hit at least one of the tourist attractions right? It was such a good idea in my mind, but in my mind I didn't account for 4 kids. Still, it was so much fun, just not as smoothly fun as it was in my mind.
We packed a lunch and headed to the Garden which is all of 5 minutes from my house. As we were driving there I could tell that the kids were a little more tired that I thought they would be this early. Bennett was especially exhausted and I was kind of feeling bad that I had suggested it because I was all worried that Haley felt pressure to go when we would have been just fine to put him down for a nap. But we went. The first 10 minutes at our favorite spot didn't go to smoothly. Poor Bennett was getting so frustrated because he kept slipping on the loss gravely sand and falling. Finally Haley took off his shoes and he had a lot more fun climbing on rocks. Jack was a little off his game too, but thank goodness the blue birds came and started eating our scrap food because they saved the day! Well, the kids did start throwing their food as much as possible at this point, in hopes to get more blue birds to come, but hey, they were having fun.
The weather was beautiful! As we left the wind was starting to pick up and it was cooling off a little, so we picked the perfect time to go. On our way home we swung by the Home Depot for some paint and framing supplies. The kids fell asleep in the car so when we got home we got right to work on the menu board. At this point Haley was asking me why I didn't tell her that my menu board took me two weeks to make. But I loved making one for her mostly because I know how much it has changed my life. We spent the entire after noon making meal tags and I created a frame for her board that I'm in love with. I plan to make three just like it to go over my bed in my room. I'll post pictures once I get them made.
By the time the boys woke up Haley and I tried our hardest to just let them play so we could keep working on tags. That's about when we learned just how obsessed Bennett is with Alivia. He couldn't leave her alone, and being a 2 year old little boy he was having a hard time understanding what we were talking about when we were saying "Gentle." I never could figure out what he was doing that was making her so mad, but we must have finally made him understand that he couldn't do that, because finally he just started poring water water on her face from his sippy cup. That made her really mad. He just loved that little girl so much, and I think he was fascinated that he could make her react like that. But he had plenty of sweet moments with her too, like holding her hand in the car and constantly wanting to know where "Baby Ali" was.
So guess what we did after dinner? Oh, yeah, we kept working on the menu board tags. And guess how late Haley and I were up again? 2:30!!! We are insane. We were so tired but we had to finish it. And it looks so good. Again it was another night of talking and laughing until we almost wet our pants. It was a little sad to know that Haley is leaving me tomorrow. But seriously, I'm so happy we could do this. I look forward to many more similar trips in the future.
We packed a lunch and headed to the Garden which is all of 5 minutes from my house. As we were driving there I could tell that the kids were a little more tired that I thought they would be this early. Bennett was especially exhausted and I was kind of feeling bad that I had suggested it because I was all worried that Haley felt pressure to go when we would have been just fine to put him down for a nap. But we went. The first 10 minutes at our favorite spot didn't go to smoothly. Poor Bennett was getting so frustrated because he kept slipping on the loss gravely sand and falling. Finally Haley took off his shoes and he had a lot more fun climbing on rocks. Jack was a little off his game too, but thank goodness the blue birds came and started eating our scrap food because they saved the day! Well, the kids did start throwing their food as much as possible at this point, in hopes to get more blue birds to come, but hey, they were having fun.
The weather was beautiful! As we left the wind was starting to pick up and it was cooling off a little, so we picked the perfect time to go. On our way home we swung by the Home Depot for some paint and framing supplies. The kids fell asleep in the car so when we got home we got right to work on the menu board. At this point Haley was asking me why I didn't tell her that my menu board took me two weeks to make. But I loved making one for her mostly because I know how much it has changed my life. We spent the entire after noon making meal tags and I created a frame for her board that I'm in love with. I plan to make three just like it to go over my bed in my room. I'll post pictures once I get them made.
By the time the boys woke up Haley and I tried our hardest to just let them play so we could keep working on tags. That's about when we learned just how obsessed Bennett is with Alivia. He couldn't leave her alone, and being a 2 year old little boy he was having a hard time understanding what we were talking about when we were saying "Gentle." I never could figure out what he was doing that was making her so mad, but we must have finally made him understand that he couldn't do that, because finally he just started poring water water on her face from his sippy cup. That made her really mad. He just loved that little girl so much, and I think he was fascinated that he could make her react like that. But he had plenty of sweet moments with her too, like holding her hand in the car and constantly wanting to know where "Baby Ali" was.
So guess what we did after dinner? Oh, yeah, we kept working on the menu board tags. And guess how late Haley and I were up again? 2:30!!! We are insane. We were so tired but we had to finish it. And it looks so good. Again it was another night of talking and laughing until we almost wet our pants. It was a little sad to know that Haley is leaving me tomorrow. But seriously, I'm so happy we could do this. I look forward to many more similar trips in the future.
Day 70: Monday with Haley
In case you didn't get enough ranting about Haley's visit yesterday, don't worry, there is plenty more to come! This morning I woke up and headed downstairs to find Haley taking care of my kids since I'm such a good mom and make them fend for themselves for the first 20-30 minutes every morning. This happens for 2 reasons.
1- I'm too tired. I've never been a morning person, and I find it to be my laziest time of the day. I love my bed, I don't like to leave it.
2- My kids remind me of swarming ants in the morning. Have you ever tried to tell swarming ants that they cant have the piece of juicy watermelon laying on the ground? Well, if you have tried telling the ants no, they react the same way my kids react when I tell them to wait 2 minutes so I can get dressed before I get them their sacred chocolate milk.
So, like a good friend, Haley took care of my kids while I finished nursing the baby. Then we got to work planning our day. Haley wanted to make a menu board for herself like mine, so our day revolved mostly around gathering the needed supplies for that project. Except I did have an appointment in there where Haley saved my life by watching my kids. She took them to McDonalds, and then we headed to Hobby Lobby.
At Hobby Lobby we got out fabric, magnets, and stamps that we needed for our craft. Then we headed to the check out line. I have a theory about kids heading to the check out line. They can sense that their time in the store is drawing to a close, so they frantically begin thinking of ways to stall. I swear, the last 5 minutes of every trip I take to the store are the moments when all Hell breaks loose. I can't decide if this happens because I'm almost done shopping, or if I'm almost done shopping because this is beginning to happen. Someday I can go to the store while my kids are in school, and some crazy people try telling me that I will miss these days. I think those people have lost their sanity from too many final moments of shopping trips with children in their own lives.
When we actually got the the check out stand, seriously 3 of our 4 children went full out ballistic on us. Lucy was good, but she kind of fulled Jack's fire by trying to contain him which unleashed the screams. Alivia started crying, and I decided I would take all the kids out the car and start loading them in (a 15 minute process) while Haley checked out in peace. As I wheeled the kids away, Bennett noticed that I was stealing him from his mom, so he started crying, Jack is still throwing a back arching tantrum, Lucy is puckering up because I snapped at her to let go of Jack's arm, and Alivia is crying because she just feels the need to be heard on an hourly basis.
When Haley came out the car I could see on her face that she will truly appreciate every store that I write about my kids in public places because she has witnessed it first hand. She said watching me walk out of that store was like watching a train wreak on repeat. It's spectacularly terrible and attracts a lot of witnesses. The sad truth is that her little boy wasn't even the problem it was all my kids. Bennett wouldn't have even cried at all if he'd sat there with his mom, he was just busy busy busy, so I decided to take him out. Why is it that my kids have mastered humiliating me in public?
When we got home we had dinner and put the kids to bed, a blessed time in everyday for me.Then Haley and I started making her Menu board. She is so excited about it, and it's going to be adorable. I LOVE the fabric she choose, it's so cute! We stayed up until 1am. We're so irresponsible. Seriously, how are we going to get those precious sleeping hours back with kids? But it was so fun to spend that time together talking again. I've missed her so much and I didn't even know just how much so much is.
1- I'm too tired. I've never been a morning person, and I find it to be my laziest time of the day. I love my bed, I don't like to leave it.
2- My kids remind me of swarming ants in the morning. Have you ever tried to tell swarming ants that they cant have the piece of juicy watermelon laying on the ground? Well, if you have tried telling the ants no, they react the same way my kids react when I tell them to wait 2 minutes so I can get dressed before I get them their sacred chocolate milk.
So, like a good friend, Haley took care of my kids while I finished nursing the baby. Then we got to work planning our day. Haley wanted to make a menu board for herself like mine, so our day revolved mostly around gathering the needed supplies for that project. Except I did have an appointment in there where Haley saved my life by watching my kids. She took them to McDonalds, and then we headed to Hobby Lobby.
At Hobby Lobby we got out fabric, magnets, and stamps that we needed for our craft. Then we headed to the check out line. I have a theory about kids heading to the check out line. They can sense that their time in the store is drawing to a close, so they frantically begin thinking of ways to stall. I swear, the last 5 minutes of every trip I take to the store are the moments when all Hell breaks loose. I can't decide if this happens because I'm almost done shopping, or if I'm almost done shopping because this is beginning to happen. Someday I can go to the store while my kids are in school, and some crazy people try telling me that I will miss these days. I think those people have lost their sanity from too many final moments of shopping trips with children in their own lives.
When we actually got the the check out stand, seriously 3 of our 4 children went full out ballistic on us. Lucy was good, but she kind of fulled Jack's fire by trying to contain him which unleashed the screams. Alivia started crying, and I decided I would take all the kids out the car and start loading them in (a 15 minute process) while Haley checked out in peace. As I wheeled the kids away, Bennett noticed that I was stealing him from his mom, so he started crying, Jack is still throwing a back arching tantrum, Lucy is puckering up because I snapped at her to let go of Jack's arm, and Alivia is crying because she just feels the need to be heard on an hourly basis.
When Haley came out the car I could see on her face that she will truly appreciate every store that I write about my kids in public places because she has witnessed it first hand. She said watching me walk out of that store was like watching a train wreak on repeat. It's spectacularly terrible and attracts a lot of witnesses. The sad truth is that her little boy wasn't even the problem it was all my kids. Bennett wouldn't have even cried at all if he'd sat there with his mom, he was just busy busy busy, so I decided to take him out. Why is it that my kids have mastered humiliating me in public?
When we got home we had dinner and put the kids to bed, a blessed time in everyday for me.Then Haley and I started making her Menu board. She is so excited about it, and it's going to be adorable. I LOVE the fabric she choose, it's so cute! We stayed up until 1am. We're so irresponsible. Seriously, how are we going to get those precious sleeping hours back with kids? But it was so fun to spend that time together talking again. I've missed her so much and I didn't even know just how much so much is.
Day 69: HALEY!!!
I've been looking forward to this day for weeks now. Actually, check that, I've been looking forward to it for YEARS! Today was the day one of my best friends from high school was able to come and visit me! Her circumstances that brought her to me were not the best (she had spent a month at home helping her mom recover from a surgery in which her cancerous tumor was successfully removed), but in the end it brought her to me, so I'm one happy girl!
I woke up this morning at Bob and Pam's so that I could pick Haley up at the hotel she was staying in with her family. By 9 am I had Haley by my side where I intended to keep her for several days. It was so fun to finally get to see her after more than 2 years. I'd never seen her as a mom, but I've read her blog so much that it wasn't weird at all. Her little boy Bennett is to die for, I've always felt this way as I've seen pictures and videos of him, but in person it's even better (and no Haley, I'm not just saying that because I know you are reading this ;) ). So, I picked her up, said hi to all her family, and then whisked her away to all the places of my life.
First stop, my in law's house where Jack and Bennett met and quickly built what I like to call a rocky friendship (as most friendships are amongst two year olds). We had to spend the day in Denver because my little Lucy was finally coming home, and I missed her so much.
We decided to be good little mommies and take our families to church, so we headed to Dave and Adriana's ward. We only stayed for sacrament meeting simply because my track record the last couple of months for meetings actually attended isn't too hot, so I knew it would be pointless to try to make it through 3 full hours. This turned out to be a good decision. Poor Bennett had come down with a cold which kept him up all night, so he was more than ready for his nap. I don't know if I can legitimately blame that on the cold. I think it was more due to the fact that church started at noon. Who ever decided that it made sense to start church at noon is so fired. Especially for this ward. I kept feeling like my kids were so out of control, but then I realized even when we had them all quietly distracted, it was still unbelievably loud in that meeting. Dave and Adriana's ward is about 75% children under the age of 10.
Haley and I were like pop corn in that meeting. Up and down, in and out the entire time. It was one of those moments that you just can't get stressed about because it's like "Is this really happening?" So, after that, we headed back to Bob and Pam's. There Haley and I spent the entire afternoon talking, catching up, reminiscing, and laughing until we cried. It was SO fun, I wish I could come up with a better word to describe how much I loved having her visit. What made it better is that both our boys took incredible naps so we were able to spend this time without the popcorn affect.
When Lucy got home we spent about an hour more up there with the family and had so much fun. Then we loaded up Bob and Pam's car and headed down to the good old Springs. We had to trade them cars so we could all fit. Bennett has a small obsession with Alivia, it's adorable. He'll make an excellent big brother some day.
When we got home, Haley helped herself to a tour of my fairly mess house while we got the kids all situated and in bed. Then Haley and I sat up and talked until after mid night. Talking with her helped me remember what it is that has made us such good friends. We are so alike in the way that we think about life, yet we are still totally different people, you know what I mean? If we were too similar in every way, we'd bug each other, but we aren't. We're totally different, but we agree about everything. We both have the same views on manners, behavior, standards, parenting, and it was just so fun to talk out our social issues and have 100% support from each other. We just loved every second of it and now I want her and Matt to move up here so we can be closer.
All that said, I have to give my husband some major props. He is the best man in the world. When I told him Haley was coming he was so excited for me. He caught up with Haley himself and then let me spend as much time with her as I wanted without ever complaining. I love that boy. He always wants what's best for me whether it be exercising, eating right, or kicking me out of the house when he knows I need a break. I'm telling you, I hit the jack pot with him!
I woke up this morning at Bob and Pam's so that I could pick Haley up at the hotel she was staying in with her family. By 9 am I had Haley by my side where I intended to keep her for several days. It was so fun to finally get to see her after more than 2 years. I'd never seen her as a mom, but I've read her blog so much that it wasn't weird at all. Her little boy Bennett is to die for, I've always felt this way as I've seen pictures and videos of him, but in person it's even better (and no Haley, I'm not just saying that because I know you are reading this ;) ). So, I picked her up, said hi to all her family, and then whisked her away to all the places of my life.
First stop, my in law's house where Jack and Bennett met and quickly built what I like to call a rocky friendship (as most friendships are amongst two year olds). We had to spend the day in Denver because my little Lucy was finally coming home, and I missed her so much.
We decided to be good little mommies and take our families to church, so we headed to Dave and Adriana's ward. We only stayed for sacrament meeting simply because my track record the last couple of months for meetings actually attended isn't too hot, so I knew it would be pointless to try to make it through 3 full hours. This turned out to be a good decision. Poor Bennett had come down with a cold which kept him up all night, so he was more than ready for his nap. I don't know if I can legitimately blame that on the cold. I think it was more due to the fact that church started at noon. Who ever decided that it made sense to start church at noon is so fired. Especially for this ward. I kept feeling like my kids were so out of control, but then I realized even when we had them all quietly distracted, it was still unbelievably loud in that meeting. Dave and Adriana's ward is about 75% children under the age of 10.
Haley and I were like pop corn in that meeting. Up and down, in and out the entire time. It was one of those moments that you just can't get stressed about because it's like "Is this really happening?" So, after that, we headed back to Bob and Pam's. There Haley and I spent the entire afternoon talking, catching up, reminiscing, and laughing until we cried. It was SO fun, I wish I could come up with a better word to describe how much I loved having her visit. What made it better is that both our boys took incredible naps so we were able to spend this time without the popcorn affect.
When Lucy got home we spent about an hour more up there with the family and had so much fun. Then we loaded up Bob and Pam's car and headed down to the good old Springs. We had to trade them cars so we could all fit. Bennett has a small obsession with Alivia, it's adorable. He'll make an excellent big brother some day.
When we got home, Haley helped herself to a tour of my fairly mess house while we got the kids all situated and in bed. Then Haley and I sat up and talked until after mid night. Talking with her helped me remember what it is that has made us such good friends. We are so alike in the way that we think about life, yet we are still totally different people, you know what I mean? If we were too similar in every way, we'd bug each other, but we aren't. We're totally different, but we agree about everything. We both have the same views on manners, behavior, standards, parenting, and it was just so fun to talk out our social issues and have 100% support from each other. We just loved every second of it and now I want her and Matt to move up here so we can be closer.
All that said, I have to give my husband some major props. He is the best man in the world. When I told him Haley was coming he was so excited for me. He caught up with Haley himself and then let me spend as much time with her as I wanted without ever complaining. I love that boy. He always wants what's best for me whether it be exercising, eating right, or kicking me out of the house when he knows I need a break. I'm telling you, I hit the jack pot with him!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Day 68: I'm Popular Saturday
So when I woke up this morning my original plan was to finish cleaning my house and get it all perfect for the arrival of my best friend in the whole world, Haley. Haley is coming tomorrow, and I cleaned all my bathrooms, folded all my laundry (which is saying something, there was a LOT of laundry), cleaned my kitchen, and sold some old furniture yesterday in preparation. So today was suppose to just be a quick finish up. Well, then I remembered that I had a million things going today that I had completely forgotten about.
At 9am I had a track practice with some girls in my ward. It was about 25% fun, 75% miserable to get out on the track again. We ran 8 200's, a work out that is considered mild, but oh so miserable. After 6 of them I was certain that I was going to leave. Alivia was freaking out and the poor timers kept holding her for me. This was my own fault. She had fallen asleep in the car on the way to the track, but when I pulled her out and headed up the hill to the track I thought it was a good idea to run after a ball a kid had kicked into the street. Turns out running with an infant carrier is so not a good idea, and I dropped her. She was totally fine, I was a bit shaken up and totally embarrassed. But after that incident, no wonder she didn't sleep. Jack meanwhile could not figure out why I kept running away from him. He spent the entire time wandering from one side of the track to the other. I felt so bad, poor kid was so confused. It probably would have helped to have Lucy there. But I am happy to report that I did complete all 8 200's, even if my times got progressively worse.
After the 200's we headed up to the Christiansen's Easter Egg Hunt. We did this last year and the kids loves it. Lucy would be sad if she knew she missed out, but I probably just won't tell her. Jack had a blast, and Alivia slept in the car the entire time. I love the Christiansen's, they are some of the sweetest people in the entire world.
After that I rushed home and took a much needed shower. Shawn got home at about this time. He was aerating lawns all day. We both got ready and ran out the door to Denver where we had a babysitter waiting for us so we could go to a movie with Dave and Adriana. It was so fun to go on a date, even if we didn't get to go the movie we had hoped.
In the end, my house is so not up to par. I need to dust in a way you cannot believe, it's been bothering me for weeks. I also need to mop terribly, for reasons we will not mention. Oh, and vacuum, this is something that I always need to do and it never happens enough. But Haley will love me despite the condition of my home. I can't wait to see her tomorrow. I pick her up at 9! After that, Lucy comes home!!! We are so excited, I miss her so much. But honestly, it has been so good to have a little one on one time with Jack, cute little monster.
At 9am I had a track practice with some girls in my ward. It was about 25% fun, 75% miserable to get out on the track again. We ran 8 200's, a work out that is considered mild, but oh so miserable. After 6 of them I was certain that I was going to leave. Alivia was freaking out and the poor timers kept holding her for me. This was my own fault. She had fallen asleep in the car on the way to the track, but when I pulled her out and headed up the hill to the track I thought it was a good idea to run after a ball a kid had kicked into the street. Turns out running with an infant carrier is so not a good idea, and I dropped her. She was totally fine, I was a bit shaken up and totally embarrassed. But after that incident, no wonder she didn't sleep. Jack meanwhile could not figure out why I kept running away from him. He spent the entire time wandering from one side of the track to the other. I felt so bad, poor kid was so confused. It probably would have helped to have Lucy there. But I am happy to report that I did complete all 8 200's, even if my times got progressively worse.
After the 200's we headed up to the Christiansen's Easter Egg Hunt. We did this last year and the kids loves it. Lucy would be sad if she knew she missed out, but I probably just won't tell her. Jack had a blast, and Alivia slept in the car the entire time. I love the Christiansen's, they are some of the sweetest people in the entire world.
After that I rushed home and took a much needed shower. Shawn got home at about this time. He was aerating lawns all day. We both got ready and ran out the door to Denver where we had a babysitter waiting for us so we could go to a movie with Dave and Adriana. It was so fun to go on a date, even if we didn't get to go the movie we had hoped.
In the end, my house is so not up to par. I need to dust in a way you cannot believe, it's been bothering me for weeks. I also need to mop terribly, for reasons we will not mention. Oh, and vacuum, this is something that I always need to do and it never happens enough. But Haley will love me despite the condition of my home. I can't wait to see her tomorrow. I pick her up at 9! After that, Lucy comes home!!! We are so excited, I miss her so much. But honestly, it has been so good to have a little one on one time with Jack, cute little monster.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Day 67: Friday Friday
Yep, you guessed it, I'm behind again. Still, I'm going to try to catch up as best as my memory will allow. I will write as if it were still Friday, just avoid confusion on my part, I don't know why, it's just easier for me this way.
Today I decided to push with the potty training again. Jack spent most of his day sitting on the pink potty chair (much to Shawn's dislike) in front of the tv watching cartoons. We had a very successful day. After about a half hour or so, I heard Jack yell down to me "Mommy! Guess what!?!" I love when he yells this. Every time I hear it I think to myself, I'll never guess! You guessed it, he had gone potty. We were very excited about this. Jack helped me clean it up, we had potty prizes, and then we put on our big boy pants.
He did really well for the first half of the day. I think by 1:30 he had only had 1 1/2 accidents. How do you have half an accident? As Jack put it with his little eyes squinted and fingers held up to demonstrate he had "a little tiny bit of pee pee" come out. Carpet cleaner to the rescue. Then at 1:30 things started to spiral out of control. I sat down to nurse the baby, Jack peed on the floor by the kitchen table. It was a large puddle, and Jack decided it was important to run across the floor to tell me in the living room. I had JUST sat down to feed Alivia, so she really wasn't happy when I had to set her down to clean the puddle and change the pants.
Nap time was rough. Jack is really loving his big boy bed, which means I am really hating it right now. He won't stay in it. If I really want the kid to take a nap I have to either pin him down and rock him to sleep (something with a 50% success rate), or I have to take him for a drive. Honestly, it's not even the bed that is the problem, it's that he is missing his beloved pacifier. He doesn't know he is missing it, but it was such a soother for him. I miss it. Terribly.
After the nap, the potty training was worse, and by zero hour (4:00), I had called it a day. But seriously, I think today we had a little bit of a break through. Jack was excited about potty training, and he told me when he had accidents and all that jazz. Hopefully this tunnel will stop faking me out and I will someday reach that light at the end in the far off distance.
Aside from potty training, I spent my entire day cleaning. I had oh so many things to clean, but the most important thing to clean was the kids bathroom. I gave it the what for in scrubbing and I was so happy with it that I decided Jack would not use it for the rest of the day. Then I went to rock him to sleep and caught him in the act of starting to dirty his diaper. I told him what he was doing and we ran excitedly to the potty. After about 10 minutes (of which Jack demanded his privacy) I heard my favorite phrase, "Mommy! Guess What!!!??!" I ran in and did my crazy stupidly silly excited happy dance and celebrated the momentous occasion that a bowl movement requires. Jack was so thrilled with himself that he peed too. Unfortunately for me and my newly cleaned bathroom, I was so focused on the other end of business that I neglected to make sure that a very vital component of potty time was pointing in the right direction. As a result, my freshly cleaned floor was mopped again. But Jack was still praised beyond reason because this was a very big deal. Hey, now he even understands why we need to make sure to aim.
Anyway, my house is in good shape, my son is slowly oh so slowly showing improvement, and I'm exhausted and ready for bed. Tomorrow we can concur the world.
Today I decided to push with the potty training again. Jack spent most of his day sitting on the pink potty chair (much to Shawn's dislike) in front of the tv watching cartoons. We had a very successful day. After about a half hour or so, I heard Jack yell down to me "Mommy! Guess what!?!" I love when he yells this. Every time I hear it I think to myself, I'll never guess! You guessed it, he had gone potty. We were very excited about this. Jack helped me clean it up, we had potty prizes, and then we put on our big boy pants.
He did really well for the first half of the day. I think by 1:30 he had only had 1 1/2 accidents. How do you have half an accident? As Jack put it with his little eyes squinted and fingers held up to demonstrate he had "a little tiny bit of pee pee" come out. Carpet cleaner to the rescue. Then at 1:30 things started to spiral out of control. I sat down to nurse the baby, Jack peed on the floor by the kitchen table. It was a large puddle, and Jack decided it was important to run across the floor to tell me in the living room. I had JUST sat down to feed Alivia, so she really wasn't happy when I had to set her down to clean the puddle and change the pants.
Nap time was rough. Jack is really loving his big boy bed, which means I am really hating it right now. He won't stay in it. If I really want the kid to take a nap I have to either pin him down and rock him to sleep (something with a 50% success rate), or I have to take him for a drive. Honestly, it's not even the bed that is the problem, it's that he is missing his beloved pacifier. He doesn't know he is missing it, but it was such a soother for him. I miss it. Terribly.
After the nap, the potty training was worse, and by zero hour (4:00), I had called it a day. But seriously, I think today we had a little bit of a break through. Jack was excited about potty training, and he told me when he had accidents and all that jazz. Hopefully this tunnel will stop faking me out and I will someday reach that light at the end in the far off distance.
Aside from potty training, I spent my entire day cleaning. I had oh so many things to clean, but the most important thing to clean was the kids bathroom. I gave it the what for in scrubbing and I was so happy with it that I decided Jack would not use it for the rest of the day. Then I went to rock him to sleep and caught him in the act of starting to dirty his diaper. I told him what he was doing and we ran excitedly to the potty. After about 10 minutes (of which Jack demanded his privacy) I heard my favorite phrase, "Mommy! Guess What!!!??!" I ran in and did my crazy stupidly silly excited happy dance and celebrated the momentous occasion that a bowl movement requires. Jack was so thrilled with himself that he peed too. Unfortunately for me and my newly cleaned bathroom, I was so focused on the other end of business that I neglected to make sure that a very vital component of potty time was pointing in the right direction. As a result, my freshly cleaned floor was mopped again. But Jack was still praised beyond reason because this was a very big deal. Hey, now he even understands why we need to make sure to aim.
Anyway, my house is in good shape, my son is slowly oh so slowly showing improvement, and I'm exhausted and ready for bed. Tomorrow we can concur the world.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Day 66: Potty Training Again
Ok, after a good month and a half off, I've decided to start pushing the potty issue with Jack again. I have to admit, he is doing better this time around. There are at least signs here and there that he is getting it. First thing this morning he told me that he had to go poo poo, so we ran him to the potty. And there we sat for the next hour+. Finally he did go pee, and he was very excited about this. I wasn't even in the room when it happened, but he called to me quickly to inform me that he had gone. It was a big deal.
Then I decided to give it a go with underwear on. Jack didn't have any "big boy pants" so I put him in a pair of Lucy's which were blue. This was good enough for him. He actually did surprisingly well over all. He stayed dry for most of the day. He even brought down Lucy's old potty chair and sat on it while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, all his idea. Then he peed in that potty and told me. This was all very encouraging! I was one excited mama!
Then we hit a wall. About 25 minutes later, I found Jack standing in a corner saying "Oh no mommy!" He was very concerned and I knew he must have had an accident and was trying to figure out what just happened. I went to him and sure enough, he was soggy from the waist down. What was worse was the puddle he was standing in, which I quickly noticed had spread under my coupon binder. Now, if you've heard me talk about my couponing, you know how much time and energy I put into my coupon binder, I don't mess around. So seeing my second career basically laying in a puddle of filth really effected me. You would have been proud of me though, I took care of Jack first and lovingly, he didn't get it trouble at all, I was the idiot who put him in the underwear. Then I cleaned the puddle on the floor, then I proceeded to disinfect my binder. In the end no harm was done, my binder was only touched on the outside, none of the pages.
After the potty puddle, I decided it was nap time for Jack. I put him down. 20 minutes later, I put him down again. 10 minutes later I yelled at him to stay in his bed. Repeat, repeat, repeat. At this point I decided to get the crib ready for Haley and Bennett when they come this weekend. To do that I had to lower the mattress. Why do this now? Because Jack clearly wasn't going to take a nap in his bed, so I was putting him in the crib. I thought for sure this would get him. I was wrong. He was somehow even louder.
When I went in to yell at him again, guess what? He was saying something about monkeys jumping on the bed. I thought it was adorable. Shawn and Jack and Lucy had been singing the Monkey's Jumping on the Bed song a couple of nights ago, and now Jack was acting it out. How cute is that? Well, that's what I thought he was saying, turns out he was actually just throwing around Lucy's sock monkey and threw it out of the bed and wanted me to get it for him. Little monkey.
After 2 and a half hours of battling the nap, I surrendered. I loaded Jack into the car and we headed to Ross to buy some sheets. We didn't make it out of the neighborhood before Jack was asleep. Little terd. But we went to Ross, I got my sheets. Then we went to Target to get Jack his own big boy pants. That is where I found some crystal air fresheners on clearance and got 16 bags of them for free. It was a successful trip I must say. Now, I'd write more, but I'm pretty sure I hear Alivia laughing upstairs, which would be a first, and that means Shawn is playing with her and I have to see this!
Then I decided to give it a go with underwear on. Jack didn't have any "big boy pants" so I put him in a pair of Lucy's which were blue. This was good enough for him. He actually did surprisingly well over all. He stayed dry for most of the day. He even brought down Lucy's old potty chair and sat on it while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, all his idea. Then he peed in that potty and told me. This was all very encouraging! I was one excited mama!
Then we hit a wall. About 25 minutes later, I found Jack standing in a corner saying "Oh no mommy!" He was very concerned and I knew he must have had an accident and was trying to figure out what just happened. I went to him and sure enough, he was soggy from the waist down. What was worse was the puddle he was standing in, which I quickly noticed had spread under my coupon binder. Now, if you've heard me talk about my couponing, you know how much time and energy I put into my coupon binder, I don't mess around. So seeing my second career basically laying in a puddle of filth really effected me. You would have been proud of me though, I took care of Jack first and lovingly, he didn't get it trouble at all, I was the idiot who put him in the underwear. Then I cleaned the puddle on the floor, then I proceeded to disinfect my binder. In the end no harm was done, my binder was only touched on the outside, none of the pages.
After the potty puddle, I decided it was nap time for Jack. I put him down. 20 minutes later, I put him down again. 10 minutes later I yelled at him to stay in his bed. Repeat, repeat, repeat. At this point I decided to get the crib ready for Haley and Bennett when they come this weekend. To do that I had to lower the mattress. Why do this now? Because Jack clearly wasn't going to take a nap in his bed, so I was putting him in the crib. I thought for sure this would get him. I was wrong. He was somehow even louder.
When I went in to yell at him again, guess what? He was saying something about monkeys jumping on the bed. I thought it was adorable. Shawn and Jack and Lucy had been singing the Monkey's Jumping on the Bed song a couple of nights ago, and now Jack was acting it out. How cute is that? Well, that's what I thought he was saying, turns out he was actually just throwing around Lucy's sock monkey and threw it out of the bed and wanted me to get it for him. Little monkey.
After 2 and a half hours of battling the nap, I surrendered. I loaded Jack into the car and we headed to Ross to buy some sheets. We didn't make it out of the neighborhood before Jack was asleep. Little terd. But we went to Ross, I got my sheets. Then we went to Target to get Jack his own big boy pants. That is where I found some crystal air fresheners on clearance and got 16 bags of them for free. It was a successful trip I must say. Now, I'd write more, but I'm pretty sure I hear Alivia laughing upstairs, which would be a first, and that means Shawn is playing with her and I have to see this!
Day 65: A Trip Alone
Tonight I drove up to Castle Rock to meet Shawn's dad to drop Lucy off. She is heading to Utah tomorrow morning with Grandma and Grandad. We've sent her on trips before without us, once. It's silly how much we miss her when she is gone. I will say I'm looking forward to a few days with just two kids again, which is silly because Lucy is my easiest one in most ways. Still, to only have two to load into the car instead of 3, and to not have any fighting, Jack and Lucy have gotten really bad at that lately.
Moving on, today was an amazing day! I focused really hard on keeping my head in the game and focused on my priorities. I did my morning scripture study, said my morning prayers, and from there on out made sure that my kids came first. I didn't let myself get annoyed when the kids needed something when I was in the middle of doing something else. It felt amazing. It did take a ton of concentration and I was constantly checking myself. By then end of the day I was still getting worn out, but I was wearing down from the top of my game instead of the bottom quarter of it, which made for a much better night. I hope I can have more days like today than not.
I took the kids to Costco today. We had to get Shawn some pictures of the baby for his desk and pick up our usual Costco supplies. We discovered a lot of healthy snacks that my kids will eat, and when we got home we ate such healthy foods. I love eating healthy, I just feel so good when I do. I can't wait to get running again, which will hopefully happen by then end of the week, I think my toe has recovered enough. I didn't want to mess with it though, I so didn't need that splitting open again. The kids did amazing at Costco which is saying something for my kids. I don't know if they were any better, or if I was just in a better place to handle them. We'll say it was a combination of the two.
After Costco, we came home, ate, and packed for Lucy. As I drove her up to Castle Rock, I discoved a great game to play with the kids in the car. Jack would unlock his door, so I would lock it from the drivers seat. Lucy and Jack thought this was the funniest thing in the entire world. Jack would be laughing and through his laughter he would say "Mom, guess what?" It was the cutest thing ever! Jack is going to miss his sister so much. They have become quite the little buddies, just like I always pictured them being. They may fight, but they are without question best friends.
Moving on, today was an amazing day! I focused really hard on keeping my head in the game and focused on my priorities. I did my morning scripture study, said my morning prayers, and from there on out made sure that my kids came first. I didn't let myself get annoyed when the kids needed something when I was in the middle of doing something else. It felt amazing. It did take a ton of concentration and I was constantly checking myself. By then end of the day I was still getting worn out, but I was wearing down from the top of my game instead of the bottom quarter of it, which made for a much better night. I hope I can have more days like today than not.
I took the kids to Costco today. We had to get Shawn some pictures of the baby for his desk and pick up our usual Costco supplies. We discovered a lot of healthy snacks that my kids will eat, and when we got home we ate such healthy foods. I love eating healthy, I just feel so good when I do. I can't wait to get running again, which will hopefully happen by then end of the week, I think my toe has recovered enough. I didn't want to mess with it though, I so didn't need that splitting open again. The kids did amazing at Costco which is saying something for my kids. I don't know if they were any better, or if I was just in a better place to handle them. We'll say it was a combination of the two.
After Costco, we came home, ate, and packed for Lucy. As I drove her up to Castle Rock, I discoved a great game to play with the kids in the car. Jack would unlock his door, so I would lock it from the drivers seat. Lucy and Jack thought this was the funniest thing in the entire world. Jack would be laughing and through his laughter he would say "Mom, guess what?" It was the cutest thing ever! Jack is going to miss his sister so much. They have become quite the little buddies, just like I always pictured them being. They may fight, but they are without question best friends.
Day 64: Feeling Guilty
So today I was scheduled to have two different appointments. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. I felt so bad having to call around and find someone to watch my kids. I hate doing that. I hate asking people for favors, and it seems like I always have too. If Shawn wants to do a date, or he decides something last minute, I have to find the sitter. This gives me extreme anxiety, whether we are paying them or not, it stresses me out.
My good friend Jessica not only gladly agreed to watch my kids, she told me she would come to our house! What an amazing girl! I so wasn't asking her to do that. So, at 8:30 this morning she showed up with her little Penny and sat with my kids for over an hour while I went to what I hope to be my last doctor's appointment for a year. So she is a saint in my eyes. She didn't even mind that it took my doctor FOREVER to see me today. I think it took so long because I was suppose to go in on Friday, but she had an emergency c-section or something come up, so they rescheduled me for today. That'll put her behind.
Thank goodness my second appointment was pushed back. I had a sitter lined up, but it was a huge relief to tell her "Thanks anyway!" So now I get to stress about finding a sitter for Thursday. Oh my life, I hate what I stress about.
My good friend Jessica not only gladly agreed to watch my kids, she told me she would come to our house! What an amazing girl! I so wasn't asking her to do that. So, at 8:30 this morning she showed up with her little Penny and sat with my kids for over an hour while I went to what I hope to be my last doctor's appointment for a year. So she is a saint in my eyes. She didn't even mind that it took my doctor FOREVER to see me today. I think it took so long because I was suppose to go in on Friday, but she had an emergency c-section or something come up, so they rescheduled me for today. That'll put her behind.
Thank goodness my second appointment was pushed back. I had a sitter lined up, but it was a huge relief to tell her "Thanks anyway!" So now I get to stress about finding a sitter for Thursday. Oh my life, I hate what I stress about.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Day 63: Projects
So my intention to finish all my projects is seriously cutting into my intention to write daily. But here is my list of projects I have completed since I publicly announced that I am not going to be such an underachiever in my productivity.
1- Planted my herb garden (which are all sprouting nicely I might add)
2- Made Jack's name
3- Made Alivia's Growth Chart
4- Painted a wall
5-Build a blog for my sister-in-law (a never ending work in progress)
6- Organized 2 closets (never mind that was an accident in a desperate attempt to find my sheets)
7- Gave Jack a hair cut (trust me, that is a project, and it turned out adorable)
8- Made Lucy and Alivia's hair flowers into clippies
9-Made the kids Jimmer shirts
10- Created my Growth Chart Pattern
11- Opened my Esty Shop
12- Couponing, Coupoing, Couponing
13- Had interior designer help me with my house and began rearranging furniture according to her suggestions
14- Hacked down a couple of bushes in our back yard
So I just had to get those all put down so I would feel a little better about my progress. Some days my kids simply will not let me work on my projects, but it does feel good to see that I have checked off 13 of my half done projects. It should be 14 except my stupid shirt is still only half done and seems to always take 3 hours longer than I think it will. I'd type more, but Alivia just woke up and I have to go feed her. I'll type two posts tomorrow to catch up.
1- Planted my herb garden (which are all sprouting nicely I might add)
2- Made Jack's name
3- Made Alivia's Growth Chart
4- Painted a wall
5-Build a blog for my sister-in-law (a never ending work in progress)
6- Organized 2 closets (never mind that was an accident in a desperate attempt to find my sheets)
7- Gave Jack a hair cut (trust me, that is a project, and it turned out adorable)
8- Made Lucy and Alivia's hair flowers into clippies
9-Made the kids Jimmer shirts
10- Created my Growth Chart Pattern
11- Opened my Esty Shop
12- Couponing, Coupoing, Couponing
13- Had interior designer help me with my house and began rearranging furniture according to her suggestions
14- Hacked down a couple of bushes in our back yard
So I just had to get those all put down so I would feel a little better about my progress. Some days my kids simply will not let me work on my projects, but it does feel good to see that I have checked off 13 of my half done projects. It should be 14 except my stupid shirt is still only half done and seems to always take 3 hours longer than I think it will. I'd type more, but Alivia just woke up and I have to go feed her. I'll type two posts tomorrow to catch up.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Day 62: Why Do Sunday's Hate Me?
Sunday's and I do not get along lately. I don't know if Sunday's hate me or if my kids do, but Sunday's never go smoothly around here.
Today was General Conference day two, and I was excited and hoping to get a little more out of it than yesterdays. I did get a lot from the second session today, but the rest of the entire day was extremely frustrating. We had a HUGE wind storm blowing through the area last night, so Lucy came into our room terrified last night and slept with us. When we woke up Shawn and I decided to get ready for our new bed that was coming today. It was suppose to come of Friday, but apparently it was broken when it arrived at the store, so they had to order another one.
I got to work making Monkey Bread first thing this morning, and then we headed up to our room to get the old bed out. As we pulled the pillows and bedding off the truck pulled up. So we took the old one out as quickly as possible and the delivery guys set our new one up. After they left we started Conference. That's when it got a little crazy. Lucy and Jack were just not going to cooperate with us. There was a lot of screaming and fighting and inbetween that Alivia would get woken up and cry. Then the best part, our TV decided it is done working for us. It's been acting up for about a week now, but the picture would just give out right in the middle of the talks (it just did it again right now as I'm typing). I got a little overwhelmed by it because we so can't buy a new TV right now. So if it goes, I guess we'll just go without, which is fine. I guess looking on the bright side we wouldn't have to pay for cable anymore.
The other thing, and possibly the most frustrating thing of the day is that when we bought our bed I was so excited because I knew that we wouldn't have to buy new sheets for it because I bought a set of King sheets 3 years ago when we almost bought a new bed. Well, after TEARING through everything in my entire house today, I've decided those sheets do not exist anymore. I don't know what on earth happened to them, but they are gone. I'm so frustrated. So if I gave them to you, please tell me so I will stop looking. I went through every box in our house, I cleaned out my linen closet, I cleaned out my bedroom closet, I've cleaned out everything that comes to mind. I even looked through my Christmas and Halloween boxes. I looked in drawers just in case. I looked in my kid's closets and under every sink in the house. You name it, I've looked. They just disappeared. I'm going crazy.
Anyway, even though my day didn't have any major catastrophes like some of my days do, today was just one of those days to get through. I'm glad I'm through it now. Now I'm ready for bed and hoping tomorrow is a little smoother. Life is good, even if I can't find my dang sheets.
Today was General Conference day two, and I was excited and hoping to get a little more out of it than yesterdays. I did get a lot from the second session today, but the rest of the entire day was extremely frustrating. We had a HUGE wind storm blowing through the area last night, so Lucy came into our room terrified last night and slept with us. When we woke up Shawn and I decided to get ready for our new bed that was coming today. It was suppose to come of Friday, but apparently it was broken when it arrived at the store, so they had to order another one.
I got to work making Monkey Bread first thing this morning, and then we headed up to our room to get the old bed out. As we pulled the pillows and bedding off the truck pulled up. So we took the old one out as quickly as possible and the delivery guys set our new one up. After they left we started Conference. That's when it got a little crazy. Lucy and Jack were just not going to cooperate with us. There was a lot of screaming and fighting and inbetween that Alivia would get woken up and cry. Then the best part, our TV decided it is done working for us. It's been acting up for about a week now, but the picture would just give out right in the middle of the talks (it just did it again right now as I'm typing). I got a little overwhelmed by it because we so can't buy a new TV right now. So if it goes, I guess we'll just go without, which is fine. I guess looking on the bright side we wouldn't have to pay for cable anymore.
The other thing, and possibly the most frustrating thing of the day is that when we bought our bed I was so excited because I knew that we wouldn't have to buy new sheets for it because I bought a set of King sheets 3 years ago when we almost bought a new bed. Well, after TEARING through everything in my entire house today, I've decided those sheets do not exist anymore. I don't know what on earth happened to them, but they are gone. I'm so frustrated. So if I gave them to you, please tell me so I will stop looking. I went through every box in our house, I cleaned out my linen closet, I cleaned out my bedroom closet, I've cleaned out everything that comes to mind. I even looked through my Christmas and Halloween boxes. I looked in drawers just in case. I looked in my kid's closets and under every sink in the house. You name it, I've looked. They just disappeared. I'm going crazy.
Anyway, even though my day didn't have any major catastrophes like some of my days do, today was just one of those days to get through. I'm glad I'm through it now. Now I'm ready for bed and hoping tomorrow is a little smoother. Life is good, even if I can't find my dang sheets.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Day 61: Conference and Painting
This morning my kids decided to wake up at 6:30. Not okay. Jack was up too early, and Alivia was right behind him. Saturday mornings are not to be started before 8 am, so 6:30 was just cruel.
Shawn went and ran the Neilson Challenge today on account that my toe splits open every time I try to run. He loved it. I loved it last month, so next month we have a problem, who gets to go? Working on that.
We watched the first session of conference and Shawn got a hair cut in between sessions. As he was headed out I decided that my project for the day was going to be painting a wall. I told Shawn to pick up some supplies on his way home and painting we did. Well, after I went to the Home Depot and bought paint. I told them I needed one gallon of this color (a charcoal gray just a shade darker than my room), and they mixed me up two. When I told them I only wanted one they offered me the second gallon at a discounted price so I would buy both of them. The first gallon was $25, and they gave me the second for $5. It was awesome.
After the second session of conference, and by the way, both sessions were so good, I only wish I could pay better attention, conference is so hard with 3 kids under 5. Jack would not stop screaming and Lucy was acting as if she were hosting her own craft show as she told us each step of making paper boats and "baskets". I'm looking forward to next month's Ensign. Anyway, after the second session our friends Ben and Sheryl showed up with their ladder and paint brushes ready to help. We painted our HUGE wall in our dining room, the one that goes all the way to the vaulted ceiling about 20 feet high. I could not be happier with the results! It looks so amazing! I'm tempted to paint another wall tomorrow. That's probably because it went so fast with Ben and Sheryl helping. I'll have to make them something delicious tomorrow to show my gratitude. They are awesome.
After we finished painting, Shawn jumped in the shower and threw his suit on and headed straight to the Priesthood session, and Sheryl, Jessica, Megan, Tracie, and I left the kids (except for Alivia) with a sitter and headed out to dinner. It was such a blast! We ate at the most amazing restaurant, it was called La'Au. Loved it, and I can't wait to take Shawn there. And as always, it was to good to go hang out with my friends. All and all it was a good day, and I love my wall.
Shawn went and ran the Neilson Challenge today on account that my toe splits open every time I try to run. He loved it. I loved it last month, so next month we have a problem, who gets to go? Working on that.
We watched the first session of conference and Shawn got a hair cut in between sessions. As he was headed out I decided that my project for the day was going to be painting a wall. I told Shawn to pick up some supplies on his way home and painting we did. Well, after I went to the Home Depot and bought paint. I told them I needed one gallon of this color (a charcoal gray just a shade darker than my room), and they mixed me up two. When I told them I only wanted one they offered me the second gallon at a discounted price so I would buy both of them. The first gallon was $25, and they gave me the second for $5. It was awesome.
After the second session of conference, and by the way, both sessions were so good, I only wish I could pay better attention, conference is so hard with 3 kids under 5. Jack would not stop screaming and Lucy was acting as if she were hosting her own craft show as she told us each step of making paper boats and "baskets". I'm looking forward to next month's Ensign. Anyway, after the second session our friends Ben and Sheryl showed up with their ladder and paint brushes ready to help. We painted our HUGE wall in our dining room, the one that goes all the way to the vaulted ceiling about 20 feet high. I could not be happier with the results! It looks so amazing! I'm tempted to paint another wall tomorrow. That's probably because it went so fast with Ben and Sheryl helping. I'll have to make them something delicious tomorrow to show my gratitude. They are awesome.
After we finished painting, Shawn jumped in the shower and threw his suit on and headed straight to the Priesthood session, and Sheryl, Jessica, Megan, Tracie, and I left the kids (except for Alivia) with a sitter and headed out to dinner. It was such a blast! We ate at the most amazing restaurant, it was called La'Au. Loved it, and I can't wait to take Shawn there. And as always, it was to good to go hang out with my friends. All and all it was a good day, and I love my wall.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Day 60: And Feeling It
Sixty days in. I feel like I'm 60 years old. Last night as I was going to bed I remembered I had a doctors appointment this morning at 9, and I had no babysitter. This was not good news. This was bad news. So I got up first thing this morning and got ready. I got the kids all ready and started loading them in the car when I got a message from my doctor's office telling me they had to reschedule. WHAT A RELIEF! Truly an answered prayer, a tender mercy. A reminder that God loves me.
After spending a good hour peacefully at home, I decided that the kids needed to buy Tangled today before the price jumped. In the end we probably bought the most expensive option out there because everywhere else was sold out. But the kids paid for it, well most of it, it was more expensive that I originally anticipated. Lucy was so proud of herself. Jack didn't really know what was going on, he was just excited to hand the checker some money.
When I tried to go to Walgreens the Jack from last night returned. I don't know why I think for one second that I can take him to a store. Seriously, it's so bad I'm not even going to try to go there. No matter how bad I can make it sound on here, and how unrealistically horrible it may seem to anyone else, it wasn't bad enough. Seriously Jack was screaming laying on the floor in the store while I was checking out. No mother should have to experience that. Embarrassing isn't even the beginning of it. Bleausjkejltiat! Yeah.
When we came home, we ate lunch and Jack and Alivia went down for naps. Lucy watched Tangled and loved it again. Seriously, best Disney movie in two decades! Shawn and I decided it will probably be on Broadway someday. Lucy loves it so much. After watching it I found her velcroing the Ace Bandage wrap to the back of her ponytail and walking around the house with it trailing behind her. She was Rapunzel. It was so cute! She never ceases to amaze me with her imagination. I love this little girl a little more every day. She is such a helper for me, couldn't do this without her.
When Shawn came home we watched Tangled as a family. Yes, Lucy watched it twice today. I couldn't tell her she had to wait until dad got home when she worked so hard to earn it. Shawn and Jack were both watching it for the first time and Jack was riveted. I've never seen him sit for so long. He was strapped into a booster high chair since we did a literal TV dinner. It was a fun night, and such a drastic contrast from last night that I saw hope and a light at the end of the tunnel.
After spending a good hour peacefully at home, I decided that the kids needed to buy Tangled today before the price jumped. In the end we probably bought the most expensive option out there because everywhere else was sold out. But the kids paid for it, well most of it, it was more expensive that I originally anticipated. Lucy was so proud of herself. Jack didn't really know what was going on, he was just excited to hand the checker some money.
When I tried to go to Walgreens the Jack from last night returned. I don't know why I think for one second that I can take him to a store. Seriously, it's so bad I'm not even going to try to go there. No matter how bad I can make it sound on here, and how unrealistically horrible it may seem to anyone else, it wasn't bad enough. Seriously Jack was screaming laying on the floor in the store while I was checking out. No mother should have to experience that. Embarrassing isn't even the beginning of it. Bleausjkejltiat! Yeah.
When we came home, we ate lunch and Jack and Alivia went down for naps. Lucy watched Tangled and loved it again. Seriously, best Disney movie in two decades! Shawn and I decided it will probably be on Broadway someday. Lucy loves it so much. After watching it I found her velcroing the Ace Bandage wrap to the back of her ponytail and walking around the house with it trailing behind her. She was Rapunzel. It was so cute! She never ceases to amaze me with her imagination. I love this little girl a little more every day. She is such a helper for me, couldn't do this without her.
When Shawn came home we watched Tangled as a family. Yes, Lucy watched it twice today. I couldn't tell her she had to wait until dad got home when she worked so hard to earn it. Shawn and Jack were both watching it for the first time and Jack was riveted. I've never seen him sit for so long. He was strapped into a booster high chair since we did a literal TV dinner. It was a fun night, and such a drastic contrast from last night that I saw hope and a light at the end of the tunnel.
Day 59: The Thursday from H***
Wow. That is all I can say about today. Wow. I decided a couple of days ago that I was going to make my kids pay for Tangled themselves. Great idea. I think it is so important for kids to learn to earn things and pay for things with their own money. My parents made me do that and I am FOREVER grateful. Even though Shawn and I don't see 100% eye to eye on this topic, I will win because I run the books around here.But Shawn loved the idea of making them pay for Tangled with their own money.
The kids took to it quite well. They were more than happy to do any job I asked them and we paid tithing and everything. Then lunch hit, we ate and I did my darnedest to get Jack down for a nap. No go. He laid in his bed for may 97 seconds, then came out carrying the full size football he found in the garage and insists on sleeping with and said "I awake!" Not good. By 1:45 I gave up because we had to leave for dance by 2:30.
Off to dance we go. I drop Lucy off, then head to the bank to get a major confusion cleared up. Jack's asleep in the car, surprise surprise. I have to go into the bank of course, I can't just go through a drive through. So I take Alivia and leave Jack in the car. I stand in the lobby no more then 10 feet from the door so I can see Jack at all times. A banker helps me, problem solved. Then as I'm leaving the bank, the speed bumps woke Jack up. So off to Walmart we go.
At Walmart I got 7 bottles of Gain liquid fabric softener, and 7 boxes of Gain fabric softener sheets, and one box of crock pot liners for $3. Then I went to King Soopers where I got 12 chocolate bars, and 3 half gallons of milk for free. Successful day. Pick up Lucy. Baby screaming. Come home, baby still screaming. I start feeding the baby when Jack sees the chocolate bar's we got and wants one more than he wants to live. When I tell him no, that's when it all breaks free.
Jack starts flailing his body on the floor screaming inconsolably. I try to explain to him why he can't have chocolate right now, that makes it worse. I tell him if he stops crying he can have one for dessert, no good. I tell him to go to his room until he's done, yeah, my two year old doesn't get command's yet, still waiting for that understanding to sink in. Jack's screaming is now making Alivia scream. It's all unraveling faster and faster. When I got home it was 5:23, so I knew Shawn would be home in 15 minutes tops. Now it's 5:48 and I can't wait any longer. I call Shawn and say desperately "Where are you!?!?" My hopes are crushed when I find out he is still about 15-20 minutes away.
Thank goodness Shawn is so much better at handling the melt downs then I am. He is so good at distracting Jack. I always try, but I think Jack see's through me, because it just doesn't work when I do it. Shawn talked to Jack on the phone and asked "Jack, why are you so sad?" Jack stopped crying and I watched the wheels working in his mind for a good minutes before he squeaked out an "I don't know." through his hyperventilating gasps. I knew he had completely forgotten why he was freaking out long before I called Shawn, it was just funny to watch Jack realize that he totally didn't know.
Shawn was able to distract Jack for a good 10 minutes, then he hung up and it only took Jack 2 minutes to find something else to melt down about. Alivia was a mess at this point too, I think Jack was stressing her out. When Shawn came in it was probably the most un-relaxing situation he could ever come home to. The kids would not stop screaming! I tried letting Jack help me make dinner, but he kept crying. Lucy threw in a whine here and there, and Alivia screamed the entire time. Shawn was trying to get some calls done he had to do for church and it was such a mess. Dinner was taking way too long to get on the table and Jack was starving. Seriously, I've never seen Jack act like this, it was terrible. He was SUCH a mess.
When dinner was finally ready, we fed the kids and put them to bed ASAP! By this point Shawn and I were both slightly twitchy and in bad moods. It was on heck of an ugly night, and I wish one like it on no one. I'm starting to feel like we are at the point in out lives where we just have to wrap our arms around our faces, close our eyes and run as fast as we can to get through them. There isn't a day that goes by that I wonder why on earth I'm doing this. I love my kids, but seriously, 3? Who's idea was that? Because I have news, I don't think it was the best idea. Wow, just talking about this day has exhausted me. I'm going to bed!
Oh, btw, my project for today was almost sawing down a tree. I started sawing through one of our trees when I decided that it actually might not be a great idea to try and fall a tree all by myself. Then I spent the rest of my day scared to death that I cut through it too much and the wind would take it down into my fence of back window. So I secured it with rope just to be safe. I'm an idiot sometimes. I just want those trees gone so bad!
The kids took to it quite well. They were more than happy to do any job I asked them and we paid tithing and everything. Then lunch hit, we ate and I did my darnedest to get Jack down for a nap. No go. He laid in his bed for may 97 seconds, then came out carrying the full size football he found in the garage and insists on sleeping with and said "I awake!" Not good. By 1:45 I gave up because we had to leave for dance by 2:30.
Off to dance we go. I drop Lucy off, then head to the bank to get a major confusion cleared up. Jack's asleep in the car, surprise surprise. I have to go into the bank of course, I can't just go through a drive through. So I take Alivia and leave Jack in the car. I stand in the lobby no more then 10 feet from the door so I can see Jack at all times. A banker helps me, problem solved. Then as I'm leaving the bank, the speed bumps woke Jack up. So off to Walmart we go.
At Walmart I got 7 bottles of Gain liquid fabric softener, and 7 boxes of Gain fabric softener sheets, and one box of crock pot liners for $3. Then I went to King Soopers where I got 12 chocolate bars, and 3 half gallons of milk for free. Successful day. Pick up Lucy. Baby screaming. Come home, baby still screaming. I start feeding the baby when Jack sees the chocolate bar's we got and wants one more than he wants to live. When I tell him no, that's when it all breaks free.
Jack starts flailing his body on the floor screaming inconsolably. I try to explain to him why he can't have chocolate right now, that makes it worse. I tell him if he stops crying he can have one for dessert, no good. I tell him to go to his room until he's done, yeah, my two year old doesn't get command's yet, still waiting for that understanding to sink in. Jack's screaming is now making Alivia scream. It's all unraveling faster and faster. When I got home it was 5:23, so I knew Shawn would be home in 15 minutes tops. Now it's 5:48 and I can't wait any longer. I call Shawn and say desperately "Where are you!?!?" My hopes are crushed when I find out he is still about 15-20 minutes away.
Thank goodness Shawn is so much better at handling the melt downs then I am. He is so good at distracting Jack. I always try, but I think Jack see's through me, because it just doesn't work when I do it. Shawn talked to Jack on the phone and asked "Jack, why are you so sad?" Jack stopped crying and I watched the wheels working in his mind for a good minutes before he squeaked out an "I don't know." through his hyperventilating gasps. I knew he had completely forgotten why he was freaking out long before I called Shawn, it was just funny to watch Jack realize that he totally didn't know.
Shawn was able to distract Jack for a good 10 minutes, then he hung up and it only took Jack 2 minutes to find something else to melt down about. Alivia was a mess at this point too, I think Jack was stressing her out. When Shawn came in it was probably the most un-relaxing situation he could ever come home to. The kids would not stop screaming! I tried letting Jack help me make dinner, but he kept crying. Lucy threw in a whine here and there, and Alivia screamed the entire time. Shawn was trying to get some calls done he had to do for church and it was such a mess. Dinner was taking way too long to get on the table and Jack was starving. Seriously, I've never seen Jack act like this, it was terrible. He was SUCH a mess.
When dinner was finally ready, we fed the kids and put them to bed ASAP! By this point Shawn and I were both slightly twitchy and in bad moods. It was on heck of an ugly night, and I wish one like it on no one. I'm starting to feel like we are at the point in out lives where we just have to wrap our arms around our faces, close our eyes and run as fast as we can to get through them. There isn't a day that goes by that I wonder why on earth I'm doing this. I love my kids, but seriously, 3? Who's idea was that? Because I have news, I don't think it was the best idea. Wow, just talking about this day has exhausted me. I'm going to bed!
Oh, btw, my project for today was almost sawing down a tree. I started sawing through one of our trees when I decided that it actually might not be a great idea to try and fall a tree all by myself. Then I spent the rest of my day scared to death that I cut through it too much and the wind would take it down into my fence of back window. So I secured it with rope just to be safe. I'm an idiot sometimes. I just want those trees gone so bad!
Day 58: Wednesday Wednesday
Wow, I don't know what I did today. Well, I know what I did, I did nothing. But nothing isn't fun to write about. I really didn't even do a project today. Unless you count laundry, and trust me, that is a project. Well, that and I did some serious coupon organizing. I have to do that once a week and it usually falls on Wednesday since I usually get all my coupon inserts for the week on Tuesday. I planned a pretty exciting trip for tomorrow, I'm just waiting for some coupons Adriana is sending me.
I'm struggling with my project fire. I'm kind of burning the candle at both ends. That said, I do have 3 projects that I can easily finish in 1 day. Time to do it. I'm tired. Wednesdays are way too boring. My fault.
I'm struggling with my project fire. I'm kind of burning the candle at both ends. That said, I do have 3 projects that I can easily finish in 1 day. Time to do it. I'm tired. Wednesdays are way too boring. My fault.
Day 57: Help My House
Yes it is Friday. Yes I am writing about Tuesday. Yes, I forgot to label yesterday's (which was "Monday") project. That was project #8ish? Ok, I'll be honest, I lost count, but I'll fix it, and it's okay because I haven't stopped with the projects, just the counting.
So today (Tuesday) was a day for me. Well, more for my house then me, but what goes around comes around and helping my house helps me, so in the end it was for me. I spent my entire morning deep cleaning my house. You know, the bathrooms, all the little nooks where the clutter has built up where I never wanted clutter, that kind of stuff. I did all the general cleaning yesterday, so today was just for getting down in there. Why was I cleaning at such a thorough level? Because today was the day that I was having an interior consultant come over and help me help my house.
Since we moved in Shawn and I have been a little overwhelmed with choosing colors for our house. This would be so simple except for 3 reasons:
1- Our house has honey oak colored base boards. This is a terrible idea. I've never been a fan of wood base boards, well not in a cheap house. In a nice house, like my in laws, and even nicer homes, like the mansions on the mountain, wood trim looks great. Do you know why? Because they have awesomely beautiful wood doors and blinds to complete the look. We don't. Do you know how cheap cardboard wood doors look? They look like ghetto trash, that's what they look like, and they make you your wood trim look like ghetto trash too. I hate the honey oak wood trim, get it? So I've always hated it, but it turns out that there isn't a color in all the world that looks good with honey oak trim either. The honey oak makes everything look dull instead of popping against the white. We painted out room charcoal. Love the color, hate it against the wood trim. Lucy's yellow also looks terrible, and Jack's BYU blue and tan. All colors that would look AWESOME against white. It's in my future, or so I dream.
2- Our house was designed by an idiot. I love the floor plan, if I didn't I wouldn't have bought the house. But some moron architect decided it would be cool to slop a ceiling here, and put a railing there, and end a wall a foot short of the ceiling, and create a solid back wall with no bay windows or bumped out walls or anything. As a result there is NO architectural cut off for colors. We can't paint our family room one color and our kitchen and dining another because they are all connected. It's impossible to explain. You have to see it to know that I can't have fun with colors from one room to another.
3- Our couches, as much as I love them, they are all chameleons. Every color we have picked for our walls, our couches have turned the exact same color. It's really a frustrating predicament.
As a result we've had someone come to our home to tell us what the heck to do. She was SO helpful. Within 10 minutes she made Lucy's room (which is impossible with all the furniture that has to go in it now with Alivia) feel twice as big as it did the way I had it. Lucy was in tears because we moved her bed, but she got over it quick. She also gave me awesome furniture lay out advice for the living room and family room and dining room. She helped me with color choices, told me how to solve my architectural nightmare, and even worked around what I already have! I'm so excited about all her solutions, and I wish I had all the money I need to get to work. Really, her suggestions don't involve buying a lot, just paint, but I need money for that too as it turns out.
It was so fun to have her come and help me. I feel like I know where to go! Shawn came home and I yakked his ear off for an hour or so. Then we went and bought ourselves a new bed, hence the no money issue. Ours was a second hand piece that we got just after we were married. We were so grateful for it then, and still are today, but we have both been really hurting lately. I thought it was just because I was so pregnant before, but it's only getting worse now that I'm not. Shawn's back has been killing him, and ever since we got this bed we've been saying "We'll get a new bad in a couple more years." I don't know how long I would have gone on saying that. Seriously, I always would have pushed it off. So I'm glad Shawn put his foot down. Now we just have to pay for the thing.
So today (Tuesday) was a day for me. Well, more for my house then me, but what goes around comes around and helping my house helps me, so in the end it was for me. I spent my entire morning deep cleaning my house. You know, the bathrooms, all the little nooks where the clutter has built up where I never wanted clutter, that kind of stuff. I did all the general cleaning yesterday, so today was just for getting down in there. Why was I cleaning at such a thorough level? Because today was the day that I was having an interior consultant come over and help me help my house.
Since we moved in Shawn and I have been a little overwhelmed with choosing colors for our house. This would be so simple except for 3 reasons:
1- Our house has honey oak colored base boards. This is a terrible idea. I've never been a fan of wood base boards, well not in a cheap house. In a nice house, like my in laws, and even nicer homes, like the mansions on the mountain, wood trim looks great. Do you know why? Because they have awesomely beautiful wood doors and blinds to complete the look. We don't. Do you know how cheap cardboard wood doors look? They look like ghetto trash, that's what they look like, and they make you your wood trim look like ghetto trash too. I hate the honey oak wood trim, get it? So I've always hated it, but it turns out that there isn't a color in all the world that looks good with honey oak trim either. The honey oak makes everything look dull instead of popping against the white. We painted out room charcoal. Love the color, hate it against the wood trim. Lucy's yellow also looks terrible, and Jack's BYU blue and tan. All colors that would look AWESOME against white. It's in my future, or so I dream.
2- Our house was designed by an idiot. I love the floor plan, if I didn't I wouldn't have bought the house. But some moron architect decided it would be cool to slop a ceiling here, and put a railing there, and end a wall a foot short of the ceiling, and create a solid back wall with no bay windows or bumped out walls or anything. As a result there is NO architectural cut off for colors. We can't paint our family room one color and our kitchen and dining another because they are all connected. It's impossible to explain. You have to see it to know that I can't have fun with colors from one room to another.
3- Our couches, as much as I love them, they are all chameleons. Every color we have picked for our walls, our couches have turned the exact same color. It's really a frustrating predicament.
As a result we've had someone come to our home to tell us what the heck to do. She was SO helpful. Within 10 minutes she made Lucy's room (which is impossible with all the furniture that has to go in it now with Alivia) feel twice as big as it did the way I had it. Lucy was in tears because we moved her bed, but she got over it quick. She also gave me awesome furniture lay out advice for the living room and family room and dining room. She helped me with color choices, told me how to solve my architectural nightmare, and even worked around what I already have! I'm so excited about all her solutions, and I wish I had all the money I need to get to work. Really, her suggestions don't involve buying a lot, just paint, but I need money for that too as it turns out.
It was so fun to have her come and help me. I feel like I know where to go! Shawn came home and I yakked his ear off for an hour or so. Then we went and bought ourselves a new bed, hence the no money issue. Ours was a second hand piece that we got just after we were married. We were so grateful for it then, and still are today, but we have both been really hurting lately. I thought it was just because I was so pregnant before, but it's only getting worse now that I'm not. Shawn's back has been killing him, and ever since we got this bed we've been saying "We'll get a new bad in a couple more years." I don't know how long I would have gone on saying that. Seriously, I always would have pushed it off. So I'm glad Shawn put his foot down. Now we just have to pay for the thing.
Day 56: Behind, Behind, Behind
Yes, it is Friday. Yes, I'm writing about Monday, then Tuesday, then Wednesday, and so on. I'm behind, did you notice? I blame my stupid projects. Now, back to Monday:
Today I woke up and knew I couldn't put it off any longer, I HAD to work on my sister-in-law's blog for her. So I took care of my kids like a good little mommy, and once Alivia was down, I put a movie on for Lucy and Jack and got to work. Work might be an understatement here. I spent a good 3 hours working on this blog, and now that I've stopped for the day, I feel really good about helping out, but I'm a little annoyed because honestly, I did all this for them, and it will benefit me in no way as it stands right now. So, once I'm caught up here, I will spend an hour making sure it benefits me too, and then my annoyance will go away.
In the middle of fiddling with formats and resizing pictures and all that crap, Alivia woke up. That is when I had the brilliant idea of trying her out in the saucer. I know she is way too young for it, but I wanted to see what she thought. So, I went down to the basement, and started yanking on it to get it out from the middle of a small mound that it was in. While yanking the side of the saucer caught under the lip of a large bucket filled with dry wall mud. As I continued to yank, the bucket came free and fell back to the ground, except for the part that fell directly on my toe and "scalped" it for lack of a better word.
When I saw the damage, I got a little queasy, and that has never happened to me with any wound. I guess the sight of the skin flopping around like that is what got me. I quickly came upstairs and tended to it, and made sure to use it as a teaching moment for a very concerned Lucy. I not only taught Lucy how to care for and clean a wound, but I also seized the moment to show her the kind of owie that actually qualifies for a bandaid.
The remainder of my day was filled with cleaning and all the other mundane activities of my current life as I know it. As I went, I realized that my stupid toe was going to kill my goal of running every day this week. I couldn't even get my shoes on to get the mail. I had bandaids on, but as I came down the stairs too fast or tried to put shoes on, I could feel my wound being ripped open again. Every time it made me nauseous. And so, I'm forced to take a few days off of running to let it heal. I'm not too happy about that.
Today I woke up and knew I couldn't put it off any longer, I HAD to work on my sister-in-law's blog for her. So I took care of my kids like a good little mommy, and once Alivia was down, I put a movie on for Lucy and Jack and got to work. Work might be an understatement here. I spent a good 3 hours working on this blog, and now that I've stopped for the day, I feel really good about helping out, but I'm a little annoyed because honestly, I did all this for them, and it will benefit me in no way as it stands right now. So, once I'm caught up here, I will spend an hour making sure it benefits me too, and then my annoyance will go away.
In the middle of fiddling with formats and resizing pictures and all that crap, Alivia woke up. That is when I had the brilliant idea of trying her out in the saucer. I know she is way too young for it, but I wanted to see what she thought. So, I went down to the basement, and started yanking on it to get it out from the middle of a small mound that it was in. While yanking the side of the saucer caught under the lip of a large bucket filled with dry wall mud. As I continued to yank, the bucket came free and fell back to the ground, except for the part that fell directly on my toe and "scalped" it for lack of a better word.
When I saw the damage, I got a little queasy, and that has never happened to me with any wound. I guess the sight of the skin flopping around like that is what got me. I quickly came upstairs and tended to it, and made sure to use it as a teaching moment for a very concerned Lucy. I not only taught Lucy how to care for and clean a wound, but I also seized the moment to show her the kind of owie that actually qualifies for a bandaid.
The remainder of my day was filled with cleaning and all the other mundane activities of my current life as I know it. As I went, I realized that my stupid toe was going to kill my goal of running every day this week. I couldn't even get my shoes on to get the mail. I had bandaids on, but as I came down the stairs too fast or tried to put shoes on, I could feel my wound being ripped open again. Every time it made me nauseous. And so, I'm forced to take a few days off of running to let it heal. I'm not too happy about that.
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