Pictures with the cousins!

Aunt Suzy (Rob's younger sister) and her two boys, Weston and Logan came to visit last week. Here are a few pictures that I took of them. They were having fun crawling up the end of our log-framed bed then sliding down and doing it again. It can keep Leeann busy for hours and I think she had fun having some company!

The one of Titus is him sitting up in his bouncy. I went to lay him down and he just sat straight up like he's been doing it all of his life! It was cute, and I'm a mom, so I took pictures!

Super-Quick Update

This is for those daily blog readers who have been checking my blog and been met with dissapointment recently (especially you Pam in CA)!

I've just been plain busy! Rob's sister and her boys came to visit us from Wednesday night to Monday afternoon. It was a blast! Needless to say I was too busy to post with 4 kiddies running around!

I took pictures of my first wedding on Saturday which was fun. The unfun part is resizing them and labeling them with a copyright logo. Tedius, but I need to get it done. When? Good question. Soon Jenni, I'm working on it!

I've had several meetings in anticipation of my new job already. I don't officially start until tomorrow but we have a lot of transitioning going on, so I've had to get a jump start on some things (we're hiring new nursery workers, so I'm creating job descriptions and interviewing and such.)

In fact, I have an interview tonight and since I've been so busy I've promised my husband some good quality time between now and then. He'll be home soon so I have to get some dinner started and be wrapping up everything else, which means I've gotta go!

Sorry for the not-so-interesting super quick update!

Since the last time...

The week before last Rob went down to Southern California to a Purpose Driven Church conference. I had the pleasure of attending this conference with him 2 years ago when we went down to Disney Land as my post-graduation/pre-children trip. Oh, it was phenomenal! It's a 4 day conference at an enormous church that just has a lot of amazing things going on in it. They are reaching the world for Jesus Christ and changing the way church is done, for the better in my opinion!

Anyway, many of you have probably heard of 40 days of purpose, The Purpose Driven Life, or other such 'purpose driven' things. The guy who heads all of those is the Senior Pastor at Saddleback and he runs these conferences. I can't say enough good things about it, but I'll spare you details.

So, Rob spent a week there and I went up to St. Helens, which is where my family is from and where I grew up. I wasn't ready to face the week by myself with both kids so I went and stayed with my cousin and her family. She was really great and helped me take care of my babies. Being a 'single' mom is hard work!

It was fun to be home but it was kind of crazy. I used to be soooo busy, with so much to do places to go and people to see. But I found myself with little to do, no where to go, and few people to see. My how things change in just a few short years!

All in all, it was good to go back and spend some time with my friends and family and Leeann, of course, loved all of the attention and kids to play with. You can tell she's getting anxious for Titus to get big enough to play with her!

We came home on Saturday and Rob came home that evening. Leeann was thrilled he was home and he was equally as excited to see her I think. Rob brought me my favorite flowers--yellow roses with red tips. They're beautiful and it's so good to have him home. We missed him like crazy!

This week has been crazy busy too, as they all seem to be. And "like sands through the hour glass, so are the days of our lives."

Dreams do come true...

I got an email last night from my friend Eroica (the one who I take pictures and watch 7th Heaven with) who gave me the most incredible news...

Drum role please...

7th Heaven is back! That's right friends, 7th Heaven will air for at least 13 more episodes on a different channel.

Now, everytime a show that I love ends I get really sad and wish that they would just keep it on for a little while longer. Of course, when a show is done, it's done however. Things like this just don't happen! I'm so excited, so very excited! Through my tearful blog about 7th Heaven ending I have found many fellow 7th Heaven fans, so if you hadn't already heard the good news, you have now!

Monday Night

Oh my my. I love my daughter. I did not enjoy her very much however, at about 1:30 Monday morning! My kids and I stayed the night at my cousin's house so we all slept in the same room. I'm a snuggler so I was in between my kids and somehow I was thinking it would be a magical evening! Well, Titus slept like an angel. Leeann on the other hand...

Aunt Pam had given Leeann some cinnamon bread-sticks from my favorite restraunt in the whole wide world, Sunshine Pizza. I should have known better, but I thought that it wouldn't be a big deal--there isn't that much sugar on those things right? WRONG! And of course, Leeann and Aunt Pam were both enjoying the spoiling/being spoiled fun that was going on between them.

About 1:30 in the morning I heard Leeann climbing up the wall. Kind of. She was up against the wall with her leg straight up in the air and she was rubbing it up against the wall. I tried to tell her to stop and go back to bed, but once she realized I was up she started talking to me too. She had a full-fledged conversation with me telling me all about her day. She kept asking me to 'get-down' (this is what she does when she wakes up in the morning. She stays in bed until we tell her she can get down, it's really cute that she still doesn't realize that she can get out of bed without permission.) I told her that she couldn't get down because everyone else in the house was sleeping. She just kept talking very loudly and I was dozing in and out of sleep. She continued to roll all over her side of the bed, into me and up the wall. Finally at about 3:30 I put her down on the ground with her pillow and a blanket.

She kept talking and in desperation I said to her, "Leeann, it's 3:30 in the morning, everyone is sleeping and you need to go to sleep too." This appeased her for a few short minutes. Just as I was dozing back off to sleep she said, "What time is it?" Great, a new question that I'll spend the next 8 years answering. I ignored her and a few minutes later she asked it again. Great. I regreted ever trying to reason with her about what time it was and why she needed to go back to sleep!

A few minutes later she had grabbed a toy truck off the floor and brought it up to the bed and begun to 'drive' it right next to Titus. She really wanted to play!

Eventually she went back to sleep, after about 2 hours and I went back to sleep too. Not too long after Titus woke up to eat of course, because that's just the way life works!

Again, I ask myself "Why do you read this silly stuff!?" I like it and I will continue to write it because I have the feeling I'm going to love re-living these things in the years to come. I still re-read the adoption story occassionaly and I almost cry every time. I love the adoption story, and heck, I don't remember what it's like to sleep through the night, so what's one night of playing at 1:30 in the morning? This is the stuff that memories are made of!

From the mouth of babes

I was getting ready for church this morning and I decided to wear a skirt. Mind you, I haven't worn a skirt since probably before I was pregnant with Titus. I don't feel comfortable in them and in general, we just don't like each other--skirts and I. If the skirt itself weren't bad enough you have to be super careful how you sit and you have to wear uncomfortable shoes. That's why I tend to go with pants.

I was kind of feeling down last night about the way I look, post-pregnancy and all, so I decided taking a little extra time to get ready this morning and wearing something feminine might help me feel a little more attractive.

So, the first thing that went wrong, and I should have taken this as a sign, was that Titus grabbed my skirt and went to put it in his mouth while I was trying to get him dressed. He spit up on me. Not a huge amount, but enough. I decided to wash the spit up off of my skirt instead of going to back to the drawing board to find a new outfit. I was truly tempted to take off my skirt and pull my faithful jeans out but I perservered!

Well, I then came down to my bathroom to finish drying my hair and Leeann came in and started talking to me. She was insistent that I take my skirt off. "Mommy, take skirt off, take of skirt mommy." I said, "Leeann, why should I take my skirt off?" "Cause you look perdy fat." she said.

I honestly got teary-eyed. Most days it wouldn't have bothered me but I was already feeling self-conscious and my morning just wasn't going well. This was the first time I ever heard Leeann use the word fat, and I don't even know if she knows what it means... but it isn't what any woman wants to hear, from anyone, anyday, that's for sure! Okay, it was kind of cute because she is only 2, and I am sure this story will get cuter and cuter as the years go by and we read my blog together.

I do realize however, that we are now getting into the stage where my daughter is going to say embarrassing things before she realizes they are inappropriate. Oh, the joys of parenting!

Anyone else got any good stories from the mouths of their little ones?

Learning what it means to be scared

Yesterday we borrowed Robots the movie from our friend Allie and Leeann was super excited because she hasn't seen it since around Christmas and she loves that movie! Rob put the movie on for her then he had to go to a meeting. She was content in the living room watching it while I was getting some stuff done around the house. About 45 minutes into it she started crying telling me to "Turn off Robots please, mommy, pleeeeease!" I sat down to talk to her to make sure that's what she really wanted to do because it really surprised me. She said, "That scare Leeann mommy, turn off, that scare Leeann!" She didn't seem utterly frightened but she certainly wanted me to turn it off. She seems fine watching it with one of us in the room though and was asking to watch it again later. So it seems that she's learning what it means to be scared which will open up a whole new chapter in life for us! She's growing so big and she's growing up so fast. She's taller and prettier and smarter than ever! Where has time gone?

In the mouth it goes...

What goes in Titus's mouth you may ask? EVERYTHING! He's definately getting the concept of grabbing everything in sight, and promptly putting it into his mouth. This includes my hair, my nose, my glasses and anything else in grabbing distance! It's cute, but it's just one more thing I have to watch out for now! The battle of keeping my baby away from chocking hazards has begun!

I put him down for a nap today without being swaddled (he's gotta learn sometime and it's getting to hot to do the double-swaddle thing we've been doing). I was determined that he was going to fall asleep without being swaddled. It took about an hour and half, two feedings and re-insertion of the binky every couple of minutes, but he sucessfully took an hour long nap without flinging his arms up to his head (which is what usually happens then he jolts himself and wakes up). Or he did do the arm-fling-thing at least it didn't wake him up! I figure it's better to practice at nap-time than at bed-time, because then it doesn't effect my sanity as much!

Not Again...

Definition of the Norovirus: The virus that just won't go away.

Titus was showing signs of being sick again yesterday. It's hard to tell with him though because it's not uncommon for him to spit up (i.e. vomit) and he doesn't show signs of diarrhea because, well you can't tell that in a 5 month old either. His spit up was thicker than normal and apparently he had a really bad diaper yesterday, although it was a babysitter who changed it so I wasn't sure how out of the ordinary it was. After a night of little-to-no sleep for either of us last night I still didn't think too much of it this morning--until Kajsa got sick. Kajsa is Eroica's daughter and we spent most of the day yesterday at her house. Because it takes 24-36 hours to develop symptoms after exposure it's a darn good bet that Titus was once again the culprit. Where did he get it? Well, it could have been anywhere. We were at 2 graduation parties this weekend, and at the church. I can't even begin to guess how many people held him (i.e. how many others might have been exposed, or who might have exposed him). That'll teach me not to hold other people's babies, I feel sorry for all who have held mine lately!

Hopefully tonight we'll all get a little more sleep and wake up in a better mood. And hopefully this nasty little bug will just go away!

Farewell 7th Heaven

Tonight was the series finale of 7th Heaven. It started in 1996, the year I started high school. Tonight, we said good-bye to the family that brought us so many tears, so many smiles and so many laughs (end sentimental moment).

I've watched it off and on for the 10 years it has been running, but I've been watching it consistently for the last 6 months or so. Eroica has Tivo so she's been Tivo-ing it for me to watch. We've had fun watching it together, but that fun has now come to an end :0( Tonight I went over there for the finale because I simply couldn't wait til later this week. I'm sad, it's one of the few clean, feel-good shows left on television.

Now I'll just have to stick to my Extreme Makeover Home Edition. When that one goes off the air I'm never going to turn on the TV again. Why do they keep taking all of my favorite shows off the air? I guess it's inevitable.

This might give you some insight into my upbringing but here are some shows I have fond memories of watching as a kid/teen. While other kids were watching cartoons, I grew up on these 'classics':

Married with Children
Full House
Roseanne
Boy Meets World
Home Improvement
Baywatch
Beverly Hills 90210
Party of Five
Days of our Lives

Those are the ones that come to mind right away. But the common denominator. Gone. All of them--of the air, no longer in existence. Except Days. Either way it's good that most of them are gone because if they were still on I would never do anything other than watch TV and my mind would be rotting and filled with not-so good things. Looking back most of those shows are full of less-than pure content. I didn't realize it then though, and that's probably a good thing.

Good-bye Camden's, we'll miss you! (okay, end sentimental moment for good now!)

Children's Ministry Coordinator

It was officially announced yesterday that I will be taking on the position of Children's Ministry Coordinator at our church. It will only be 10 hours a week, and I'll be able to do most of my work from home. I'm so very excited about this new job, it truly is my dream job! My degree is in Bible Education and my hope when I chose that major was to use it as a Children's Ministry Coordinator someday. The only problem was that I'm completely limited as to only being able to work where my husband works--being that's where we go to church! So in order for me to have a job like this it needs to be a chuch big enough to be able to hire someone for this position, and to also have a vacancy available.

Well, our church is getting big enough that this is a neccessary staff position, and the position will be opening up as of June 1st with Noah (the current children's ministry/youth intern) graduating and moving to a Youth Pastor position in Washington. I'm soooo excited about this opportunity as it has so many components of what I love to do. It involves kids, activities, planning and providing vision and leadership. All things I would love to do in a job! It'll be tough because as always there will be church politics to deal with, but I can't think of a better job or ministry to have! I'm so excited and I look forward to beginning this job with great anticipation!

An Emotional Moment

For anyone who knows me well, they know that I'm not a very emotional person. Sure I cry every-so-often, but probably a quarter as much as the average woman. I don't typically get in cat fights because I don't take things personally very often. Sometimes I wonder if I have an emotional side to me at all because I find it hard to cry or be sad even when I ought to be.

Well, I didn't cry tonight but I sure became teary-eyed. I was up in Titus's room looking around and I suddenly began to imagine what his room would look like in 15 years. The room that looks huge won't look so big with a twin size bed in it. His dresser will probably have the 15 years from now version of Garbage Pail kid stickers and stickers of bands stuck all over it. He'll have posters on the wall and a basket ball hoop behind the door. I won't remember what color his carpet is because it'll be covered in clothes and other smelly stuff. My kids are going to grow up before I know it. I held him in my arms and rocked him in the rocking chair and just stared at him as I prayed for him and talked to him. He just stared back and caressed my face and smiled at me. I found myself praying for his future spouse and that he would be a good daddy and a good husband. Somehow I just got this incredible picture of him in his 20's, out of the house with a family of his own. What a bitter sweet day that will be. I'm going to be 42 when my kids are both off to college. My dad is older than that with two babies at home. I can't imagine life without my kids. I know I have at least 18 years left, but I know those years are going to fly by right before my eyes.

I snuck into Leeann's room after I tucked Titus into bed. I was hoping she was still awake, and she was. I asked her if I could pray for her and she said yes and grabbed my hand. I prayed for her as a mommy and a wife and for her future spouse too. I try to do that with both of them often. I prayed that she would come to know and trust Jesus at a very young age and that she would walk with him and serve him every day of her life. I said "amen" and she said "Thank you mommy!" It was soooo sweet. Just as the tears began to well up she said "Go out, I'm tired." And then I started laughing and I kissed her and tucked her and her baby doll into the covers.

I love my kids. They are so sweet and so special. We have had Leeann more than half of her life now, and Titus is over 5 months old. It seems like just yesterday it was just the two of us. And it will probably feel like tomorrow when they're both in school. Why do they have to grow up? What a great reminder to treasure every moment and every stage. Kids are so special, and mine are the most-specialest ever!

Car Wash and Spiked Hair

Just hanging out on a Thursday afternoon...

That's his day off ya know... he likes to spend it with me...

Sometimes he's even nice enough to let me help him with his chores...

This is what Titus looks like when daddy puts gel in his hair!

Below is a picture of me hanging out with my two favorite boys. Mommy thought we looked cute together!

A Weekend to Remember

On Monday I wrote all about our weekend away, but when I went to publish the post it said there were errors and I lost everything I had written. It's always frustrating to write the same things again, but I'll give you a shortened version here:

About a month ago Rob and I stopped by the table of a local radio station during a Family Living Expo fair at the mall. I picked up a Weekend to Remember brochure that advertises a marriage conference that is held at various times all over the world. I had heard it advertised in Eugene for the end of April but I knew that the conferences were a lot of money on top of hotel and food, so I didn't think it would really be an option. Besides, it's over a weekend and that makes it difficult because we only get 3 Sundays off a year. Not to mention the fact that we have young kids and yada yada yada...

Well, I picked up the brochure anyway and turned it straight to the page that said "Pastor's register for free!" Sweet! We could do the hotel and food if we didn't have to pay for the conference, and we've always wanted to go to a marriage conference. So, Rob got the time off, I made some reservations and we were able to go!

It was such a blessing and such an amazing conference. A whole weekend just to focus on our marriage and on each other--I don't think we could have made a better investment! There was lot's of time scheduled into the conference to spend alone together and to reflect on the things we'd been learning. There were sections of homework that were really cool and practical that we would do seperately and then come together and talk about our answers. I think my favorite one was something like this:

1.) List the top 5 needs that you precieve your husband to have and write how you think you can help him to acheive those needs.

2.) List your top 5 needs and what you think your husband can do to help you acheive those needs.

3.) Now compare your lists and talk together about how you can best fulfill each others top needs.

WOW! What a concept! It was neat to see that our perceptions were right on with each others, but it was also great to see some actual practical steps that we could take to help meet each others needs. In the homework sections there were also pre-married and re-married tracks, there's something for everyone! I would highly recommend this conference to anyone and I would say it's well worth the money. I don't think you could make a better investment into your marriage!

Our kids stayed with a family in the church for the weekend. It was the first time Rob and I had spent a night away together since Leeann became part of our home. It was so good to get away together and to focus on us as a couple. It was also good to get the chance to miss the kids, and really, investing into our marriage is the best thing we can do to invest into them also. They stayed with a couple that has 3 girls 6, 8 and 10ish. Leeann was in high-heaven! I don't even know if she knew we were gone! I was doing well without them until Sunday morning (the conference started Friday evening). By Sunday morning I was ready to get home and give some hugs and kisses to my precious little ones! I missed them, but they had fun and so did we! It was such a blessing for the Devenports to care for our kids so we could get away. Not many people would offer to take on two more, especially when one's only 5 months old! They were all troopers though, and they did a great job!

Well, daddy and Leeann are out washing the cars on Rob's day off and Titus just woke up. It's almost noon so I suppose I ought to get to doing something productive. After I bathed the kids and got them ready I sat on the couch and read a book for an hour or so. I love Thursdays!

Why do people like blogs?

I love blogs. I love to write them and I love to read them. I have several that I check everyday and I always look forward to updates. What a crazy society it is that we live in that we can use this as a way of communication. But my question is, why do people like them so much? I think it's a stem from the reality t.v. show world we've been living in. We can know what's going on in someone elses world without ever talking to them. Look how much you know about me, and I don't even know who you are. It seems like fairly often I found out about someone else who's reading my blog, who either linked to it or heard about from someone else. What a crazy world we live in. Why am I writing about this? It's simple. I don't have much else to write about!

Except for that my dear sweet Titus has been waking up several times in the middle of the night. He had a while that he was sleeping clear until 7. Then it moved to 4 and the last couple of nights he's also woken up at 2. It's funny but I feel cheated when he wakes up so early! I love him anyway and he always promises to greet me with a smile which ends up making the middle of the night feedings all worth it!

Kind of.

Norovirus

The Health Department called today to confirm that everyone they had 'samples' from tested positive for norovirus (which includes my two little ones!) The last count I heard was 16 so cancelling services seems to have been a wise thing to do. We even made the news in Portland and Eugene which is not exactly what you want to make the news for! They also said it's basically a fancy term for the 24 hour stomach flu. It's a good thing Titus didn't get really sick because of it, because the really young and really old seem to be the most affected by it. He was fine before we even knew what hit us though. Anyway, we're all well and our home and church are both very disinfected now!

A day at the park with my kids

Reading the Bible to her Baby

Reading the Bible to her Baby

Sweet... Potatoes!!!

Jogging With Daddy

Easter

Miss Ruthi

I Confess

I haven't flossed in a while. Okay, probably a long while. This morning I felt the need for a little bit of flossing action and it felt really good. If you are not a regular flosser (shame on you) you should try it today. Go ahead, make your mouth happy!

The Most RIDICULOUS Movie Ever!!!

Mission Impossible 1 and Mission Impossible 2! Can you get any cheesier? I found myself laughing out-loud at several parts of the movies that were so unthinkable they were hillarious. Tom Cruise's rock climbing scene at the beginning of MI2... HA HA HA HA!!! The fight scenes, the helicopter in the tunnel...I could go on and on but I don't want to stoop to the place that I have to replay either of those silly movies in my mind. In my mind the plot's were silly, the stunts sillier and some of the acting silliest! It was good for a few laughs though. And I realized that my husband looks quite a bit like Cruise when he's clean cut (in MI1), which is better than Steve off of Blue's Clues which seemed to be his closest celebrity resemblence til now...

So, Church is Cancelled

Seriously. We aren't going to have any services, meetings or youth group this weekend. At least 11 people that we know of have gotten sick and the exposure beyond that is huge. So, in an effort to tame this thing the Heath Department said that we shouldn't have any child-care or gatherings of children this weekend, and that any mass congregating exposes a massive risk of continued out-break. Crazy eh? So, ask me what the 4 of us are going to do all weekend while we're quarentined at home? MOVIES!!! It will be beyond weird to have a whole weekend, Sunday included that we don't have anything that we can do. We NEVER, and I mean NEVER have a Sunday that we aren't at church (unless we're somewhere else like with family or at a church event). So to have a whole weekend by ourselves seems crazy! It'll be fun though, I look forward to spending some good ole fashioned quality family time together!

A Plague Update

So today has been full of fun. Leeann only threw up the one time this morning and seems to be feeling better. Unfortunately the rest of our church is not and it partially appears to be our fault!

Apparently several members of my family from St. Helens are quite sick also, who we were exposed to on Easter Sunday. We generously brought the virus to the church nursery on Wednesday where we exposed any number of people to this virus too. At the very least, all of the kids who were in the nursery that day have been sick. The two preschool teachers and the Pastor are also sick, and who knows who else! EEEKKKKK!!! So our kids are on a 72 hour quarentine. What that means for Sunday morning, I'm not sure. Sunday is supposed to be a big day for both of us with a big all church meeting, but it looks like at the very least I'll be home loving on my sweet little sick kids!

Robots or Blues Clues?

I just assumed that we would do Blue's Clues for Leeann's Birthday because she really likes Blues Clues. She loves the movie Robots too though and I just found out that they do in fact make Robot party items... hmmm. Decisions, decisions. Her Birthday isn't for 3 more months, but hey, mom's think about these things!

The Plague

A mothers love shines through at it's fullest when you hold your dear sweet daughters hair back as she throws up onto a towel with tears in her eyes. Yup, Leeann's got it too. She slept almost 2 hours later than normal this morning, that should have tipped me off to something. Shortly thereafter she got sick. She's been fine for several hours now though and she even wanted lunch so she's eating some toast as I type this. I hate to see my kids sick, it's no fun at all!

Apparently my kids aren't the only ones that are sick. We had a VBS meeting at my house this morning and one of the moms had to leave to pick up her daughter from preschool because both of the teachers were sick (this is the preschool at the church, the one I used to work at). Pastor Denny's sick too, as well as all of the kids who were in the church nursery on Wednesday for women's Bible Study (mine included). Whatever this is it seems to be spreading like wild-fire! Rob is dilligently trying to get all of his studying done today so he can either pass his lesson on if he gets sick, or so he can preach for Denny if he's not feeling well.

I had several plans today, a babysitting commitment, a lunch date with some ladies and a photo-shoot of some bullet gels (good thing they are inanimate objects, they'll be fine if I don't get to them until later).

But instead, I stay home and write to you about the woes of my day. In anticipation of my own illness I really should make a pretty strong effort to get some more housework done. I've neglected most of my home duties this week because I haven't felt tip-top, but at least I'm not throwing up... yet. I should try really hard to get some things done before I do!

We found a dining room table

After a couple of hours of furniture shopping we found a table that we really like, and because it was at a consignment shop, we found it for a great price! The only problem. No chairs! So now we are on a hunt for some slat-back espresso colored chairs. It's not as easy as it sounds but I have a lead that I'll try to check on soon. I'm really excited because it's similar to the really expensive tables that we've been looking at but it's got some dings (character). The dings are okay with me because if they weren't already there, they'd be there soon enough, so I'm happy to take the price break! It seats 4-8 because it has a butterfly leaf in the middle. I love it! But now we just have to find some chairs and a way to get it home!

Scary Scary

Leeann, Titus and I were sitting on my bed this morning while I was on the phone. Titus was just hanging out like he tends to do and Leeann was crawling around all over the place like she tends to do. All of the sudden I heard Leeann scream. She had gotten caught at the bottom of our log bedframe between the mattress, the top log and two side logs. It's like she tried to get down by escaping between two logs, but she got stuck up to her shoulders. She wasn't stuck too tight but it freaked both of us out pretty well! It's a gentle reminder to keep a good eye on my kids. The scariest part is that I was on the bed with her and she was stuck before I even knew she'd ventured to the bottom of the bed!

I woke up this morning with my throat feeling like its on fire. I still don't feel well enough to function normally, but I don't feel so bad as to stop all of my daily activities either. Titus's constant fussiness has left with a nearly constant headache for the last 3 days which isn't helping matters. Eroica graciously offered to watch the kids for a little while today while Rob and I go out to lunch and do some furniture shopping for a new dining room table. Our current table and chairs scratch the floor and they aren't easily fixed by felt as most chairs are. And the chairs are all cloth which spells trouble with two little ones.

Gotta get the kiddies ready for their trip to Ro's, and mommy's gotta get ready for her date!

I think Titus is sick

I think that Titus might be sick. He's spit up large amounts of mushy liquid today (I even had to change his clothes three times because of it, so it certainly is out of the ordinary). He also had a diaper that overflowed abundantly and smelled like rotten eggs. This was the first time his diaper had stunk like that so I'm going to venture a big guess that he doesn't feel real great. I haven't felt perfect either which only further confirms that there's some sorta bug going around here these days. Sorry I haven't been writing much lately, there really just isn't a lot to talk about. Well, at least not a lot that I can post on a blog that who-knows-who reads :0) Blogging is like a diary of the worst sort, one that anyone, anywhere can read at any time. At least I know that others are reading it so I can be choosy about what I write! I'm finding that it is actually a great way to communicate with friends and family. I have some more pictures to post soon but it'll have to wait until I take the time to down-load and post them. I could keep writing, but it would be pointless because I really have nothing to say!

Rob will home from work any time now so I should go do my 10-minute till daddy comes home routine. You know, where you quickly make the beds and pick up the obvious junk of the floors, neatly stack the dishes (you only have 1o minutes), throw the kids' toys back into their rooms, throw a load of laundry in to make it look like you've spent the day cleaning and wipe the kids faces off so it doesn't appear as if you've been neglecting them all day! Come on, don't tell me you've never done the same thing!

No Longer Safe... and Big Boy Crying

Titus is getting bigger, and with getting bigger means getting stronger. He is no longer safe anywhere and I have the feeling I'm going to have a tough couple of months ahead of me! Even when I'm holding him he kicks off of me and wiggles and squirms and makes me nervous. He got his feet up underneath him the other day and slowly catapulted himself over the top of his swing (it's a little travel one that sits very close to the floor). That same day he wiggled himself out the bottom of his carseat when Rob had set him down in there for a mere minute or two. When I'm feeding him he's no longer content to stay still and even this morning he had wiggled out the top of his swaddle and squirmed to the top of the crib.

Houston: We have a problem.

Titus just won't sleep unless he's swaddled. Period. He's too strong to effectively swaddle anymore though. Any suggestions? Do you know anyone who makes baby straight-jackets?!?!?

When he breaks free from his swaddle he cries and cries and cries. These are no longer cute little baby whimpers, these are kid throwing a fit in the candy isle kind of cries. I heard so many of these cries yesterday I thought I was going insane! He was inconsolable most of the day. I wonder if he's getting sick because I'm not feeling well myself. Hmmm. Or he's teething. Or he's just getting his own little attitude. Maybe he's not getting enough sleep because he's breaking free from his swaddle? All I know is that I hope today is better because if today is anything like yesterday I won't get anything done and I'll fall asleep exhausted on my pillow!

BUT... I love my kids and I'm glad to be their mommy. It's the greatest most rewarding job in the whole wide world and I think my kids are the greatest. They have the sweetest little personalities and the cutest smiles. Hugs, kisses and smiles make all the fussing worth it!

To Grandmother's House We Go (and Grandpa's Too)

Last week we took a family vacation up to Eastern Washington to attend Rob's Grandfather's 80th Birthday celebration. It was a lot of fun seeing family and getting to introduce Titus to most of Rob's dads side of the family. It was the first time he got to meet his Great Grandma and Grandpa Buhl, which is especially special to me because I lost both of my Grandpas this last year before they got to meet Titus. My family goal for the year was to get a 4 generation Buhl boy shot. We had lot's of fun and got to stay a couple of nights at Rob's other Grandparent's house. Grandma and Grandpa D are lots of fun and Grandma is a great cook! Thanks for letting us stay and hang out a couple of days! Aunt Suzy (Rob's sister) and her boys came up Friday which was especially fun because we don't get to spend much time with just them. We enjoyed that a lot, they're a cool family. Leeann loves them lots and she had fun getting to play with her cousins. I had fun too, just relaxing with not a whole lot to do! So in a really short nutshell, with lots of pictures... that was our trip to Grandmother's house...

The Buhl Boys

This is the 4 generation Buhl boy picture that I've been wanting. Rob's brother Dan, his dad Steve, his Grandpa Bob (the original Robert Buhl) Rob and Titus. This picture--priceless!

My first time meeting Great Grandma B

Our pathetic attempt at a family picture!

Grandpa and Grandma B

Uncle Dan and Christiane (she's cute and fun by the way!)

Aunt Suzy and Weston. What is Logan doing to the swing?!?!?

I want to be just like my Great Grandma when I grow up

And I want to be just like my Great Grandpa

Just hanging out with cousin Logan

And cousin Weston

This is me just after I rolled over for the first time. This was Friday, April 7th. Mommy was so proud of me! She tried to get a picture of me in the act, but I wouldn't do it again. Maybe I'm stubborn?

Titus' first crossword puzzle thanks to Great Grandpa D... he's got a lot to learn yet!

Titus is learning the art of sleeping anywhere, just like his big sister!

The Loss of Little One...

Some good friends of ours Noah and Cherish had a miscarriage yesterday. Cherish was 12.5 weeks along with their second child. He will graduate from Corban College (our alma mater) in just a few weeks and is headed into full-time ministry. He currently works with Rob at the church. They are a really neat couple who I'm confident God will use greatly, but they could certainly use some prayer for comfort and healing right now. All things considered they seem to be doing well, they trust in a loving God who has a plan for their lives. Pray that they can continue to fully trust in God through their time of hurting.

Just for a little family connection note this is Toby's (Baby Joel's dad) brother and his wife.

Cranky Pants and TV Junkie

Titus has been Mr. Cranky Pants lately! He's been fussy and inconsolible and that's not like him. It drives me nuts and makes me want to check into the loony-bin! This morning he was super fussy and I put Blues Clues on for Leeann so that I could get a few things done. Titus stopped fussing so he could watch it with her. It's hard to believe that even my four-month old is turning into a Blue's Clues junkie!

Since I Haven't Posted Pictures in a While

This is what happens when you have a big sister

Can we say blackmail? By the way Grandma, how do you like the fur you sent? Leeann insisted Titus got to play with it too...

Part of Titus' room

Our dining room--slightly bigger than our last house!

Titus' room (and one of those boxes I just don't want to unpack!)

Leeann's room. The missing paint is from where a bed was when the room got painted. Oops!

Living Room shot #1

Living Room shot #2

He's just a cute kid. This was taken 2 weeks ago

Daddy and Leeann picked me flowers from the yard!

Leeann's attempts at swaddling Titus. It didn't quite work as well as when mommy does it!

During my trip through memory lane Leeann and I both tried on my old cheerleading uniform. It looks far better on her, so I decided to blog her picture. It's less traumatizing that way!

Grandma R sent this really cute John Deere apron to Leeann. It matches mommys!

I thought I turned this sideways... oops!

This is what happens when Leeann's fed and tired. We had company over for dinner so she ate on the floor in the kitchen and apparently she was done, because she fell asleep. In case you are wondering, this happens fairly often. Rob pulled a chip out of her mouth the other day while she was in her chair. She fell asleep in the middle of putting a chip into her mouth! Rob woke her up and made her swallow what was in her mouth but then she went back to sleep. I missed it because I was sleeping too. Apparantly it had been a long day for both of us!

This was about a month ago, I was showing off his cute baby push-ups!

So here's the deal... my kid is short!

You won't be the least bit surprised to hear that my dear son is in the 3rd% for height. Yes folks, 97% of 4 month olds are taller than him. He truly is his parents child!

Titus had his 4 month Dr. appointment today and everything is healthy and he seems happy. I take that back, he wasn't very happy when they gave him 3 different shots... but other than that things are good!

Height 23 1/4 inches
Weight 12 lbs. 11 oz
Head 16.5 inches

They are supposed to double their birthweight by 4 months, but someone forgot to tell Titus that! His doctor assures me that it isn't anything to worry about as statistics don't take into account short genes. He may not be big, but he sure is cute!

If...

If my house is always about 20 minutes from being company-ready... why don't I just keep it always company-ready? Hmmm...

I find myself doing the 20 minute clean up just before I know that someone is coming over, or just before Rob gets home from work. Our house is never dirty, but it's never usually all picked up either. But it's never more than a few minutes from picked up. I generally just need to put stuff from the living room back into it's proper room, do a quick sweep of Leeann's floor for her toys, pick clothes and towels up off of bathroom floors and do a few dishes and a quick counter swipe. Maybe take a few minutes to make the beds. Not more than 20 minutes worth of work, so why don't I just keep it done all of the time? It's a question worth pondering...

Trying so hard...

Titus is trying so hard to roll over, he just can't quite manage though! He was upstairs in his room playing with a toy and I was sure he was going to make it, but no such luck! That boy smiles like crazy, it's so sweet.

Leeann is watching Blue's Clues... again. I think it's becoming an obsession! I think it's because Steve looks like her dad :0) I'm already planning a Blue's Clues Birthday party and she won't be three until July! Okay, I'm not planning it, I'm just thinking about how to make her special cake. I'll probably order a Blue's Clues cake pan on-line, they are pretty cute. I have a goal to make my kid's Birthday cakes as long as they'll let me. Titus already has a John Deere Tractor pan waiting for his 1st Birthday. I've only made a couple of cakes, but I enjoy doing it a lot, and I even got some special tips for my birthday this year.

I got one more box unpacked today. That felt nice. We only have a couple of them left, but they are boxes that have contents inside that don't have a specific home and that makes me have little motivation to unpack them!

I'm reading a book called "Cure for the Common Life... living in your sweet spot". It's a good book so far, I recommend it! Eroica and I are going through it trying to best figure out what our roles in the business should be. It'll be fun!

Well, I should probably do something. Anything really, I'll write more when there's more to write!

Leeann's New Friends

I have the feeling we're in for it! My daughter is so incredibly social it's almost funny!

Today I went to take thank you notes to some neighbors who had dropped cookies by the other day (I was sad, I wasn't home). So I got to meet to neat young moms in the neighborhood along with some of their children. Well Miss Leeann made some new friends and didn't want to leave, she was having WAY too much fun. So I let her stay and play for a little while and when Miss Jodi brought her home she was just crying and crying when I opened the door. She didn't want to come home, she just wanted to stay and play!

Hopefully when Titus gets old enough to play with Leeann, she'll be more inclined to like being home :0) She loves people a lot... if you've met her you know what I'm talking about! She's got to be the sweetest little girl I ever did meet, I'm so glad God trusted her to us!

SPA DAY!!!

Wait, I do have something good to write about...

The ladies in my church pitch in every year to purchase a gift, usually a gift certificate of some sort, to give to the Pastor's wives on their Birthday. We typically get together for breakfast or dinner somewhere and have a ladies get-together/party. Well, this year it was a little late (yesterday... over a month after my actual Birthday, but who's counting!) and we had breakfast at Elmer's. Strawberry crepes with ice cream on top... yummy! Anyway, I got a $150 gift certificate to a local day spa. Hello, can we say COOLEST GIFT IN THE WHOLE WORLD?!?!? I'm SOOOO excited! I can get a massage, facial, manicure and a cosmetic touch up. I'm not sure what a cosmetic touch up is... but that's okay!

Bottom line is that it's a gift I would never think to get get myself, but I'm grateful that somebody else did! I can't wait to spend the day at the spa, I've always wondered what that would be like, and soon--I will find out!

Daddy's Little Girl

I think every little girl ought to be a "daddy's girl". Maybe I think that because I was a daddy's girl too. Leeann loves her daddy. She very obviously adores him, and he adores her more than I ever could have imagined. Rob just took her out in the yard and they picked me some fresh daffodils to adorn my kitchen table! There's just something about pretty flowers that brighten my day! Now they are on a walk, which they also love to do together. Leeann started loving to be 'working' in the yard with daddy because she would get strawberries for her payment. Now our strawberries belong to somebody else though *tear*. We'll have to get some more. We loved to pick strawberries and put them on top of our homemade ice cream all smothered with chocolate syrup. I'm drooling just thinking about it!

Titus seems to get bigger and bigger everyday. He'll be four months old soon, that's hard to imagine! It really seems like just yesterday that I was anxiously awaiting his arrival. He likes to play in his excer-saucer and he smiles ALL THE TIME! I think he's going to be an optomistic little guy. His eyes are still blue, but they still have a fleck of brown in them so I'm curious if they will change color just yet. We'll see. He still drools and spits up a lot, that's to be expected!

I'm beginning to start working on Vacation Bible School for this year. I'm excited about it, but I know I'm going to have to be diligent with the time that I have to make sure that I'm getting everything done that needs to be done. I have my hands in several pots right now--it just always seems to happen that way. Truthfully though, I enjoy being busy. As I write all of this I feel like I'm repeating myself. Something tells me that if I look back at my last couple of posts, much of this might be in there. Oh well. I guess I don't have much to write about! And with that... I'm out...

Baby Joel's Surgery

Baby Joel had open-heart surgery on the 17th of March and he's doing very well. He is 4.5 months old and from all appearances the surgery seems to have been a success. I am excited for Toby and Stephanie to be able to move ahead in their lives with confidence--there have been a lot of unknowns up to this point. Joel is a fighter though, and I'm convinced that God has big plans for his life! Toby and Steph would still appreciate your prayers as he heals and recovers. I'll keep you updated.

Not Much Going on Here

I haven't posted in a while mainly because there's not a whole lot to post about! That's unusual for our crazy lives, but kind of nice!

Titus is trying hard to roll-over but he just can't make it yet. He's doing a really good job of sitting up when someone's holding him and he has really good head control. Everyone wants their kid to hit all of the major mile-stones early (rolling-over, crawling, walking, talking etc.) but I'm kind of hoping Titus is a little late on getting going. I like the fact that when I set him somewhere, he stays there--it makes my life easier! I know I don't have much longer to enjoy the freedom of this stage though, but I'll milk it for all it's worth! And I don't really hope that he's late, it would just make my job significantly easier though, and who doesn't want the easy way? Titus is sleeping well through the night on most nights, typically waking up somewhere between 7 and 9, but sometimes even 10! He's stopped fighting the swaddle, so that seems to be helping a bit. I had a random 3 am wake-up call the other day and I felt like I had been cheated or something!

Leeann is as gorgeous and gorgeous can be! She's so precious and she loves her little brother so much. She smoothers him with hugs and kisses and sometimes puts things near him so he can 'play' with her. She talks to him as if he understands her and I think that's precious. I stuck him in the bath with her the other day and she thought that was the greatest thing in the whole world! She's talking up a storm these days and will randomly belt out her numbers (1-10) or start singing Jesus Loves Me, or start yelling "No tickle daddy, no tickle", which of course means "tickle me daddy, tickle me!" Those two can run around the house chasing each other and teasing each other for a good hour on some days. She's definately a daddy's girl, she loves him so much and the feelings are most definately returned! It's fun to watch them play...

I'm still enjoying working with Precious Portraits and I look forward to learning more and more about photography. I'm anxious to get my own camera, but haven't figured out which one to buy yet--I'll have to do some more research.

I am directing this year's Vacation Bible School again at our church. I really need to sit down and just diligently put some time into getting it off the ground for the year. I'm hoping it will be far easier to plan this year since I already have a year of planning under my belt. This is one of my favorite times of the year, VBS is so exciting for the kids and workers, and for our church as a whole!

Well, my dear sweet Leeann is 'all done' with her cereal so I must be signing off now. I hope your Monday is fantastic and I'll try to post more short snippets of fun soon!

Robyn

Good Stuff

I've been listening to a CD set over the last couple of days titled Purpose Driven Children's Ministry Conference on CD. It's so inspiring! It's the Saddleback Children's Ministry Conference in its entirety on CD and it's GOOD!!! It challenges the way I think about church, how we do church, why we do church and what church looks like through the eyes of kids. There's so much information it's hard to process it all. There are hours and hours worth of the conference, and I think I could listen to it 10 times and still only grasp the tip of what they do. I won't bore you with details because I'm guessing you're not all that interested... but if you are involved in children's ministry I would like to challenge you to get ahold of this cd set and listen to it. If you go to my church by all means ask me for it and I'll let you borrow it!

That has little to do with what's in my nest, other than the fact that because I have been listening to it so have my kids :0)

Titus is drooling a lot. A whole lot! It's kind of gross... but I love him anyway! He's growing by leaps and bounds and he's doing a really good job of sitting up with just a little bit of support. He smiles all day every day and he's just a happy little camper.

Leeann is learning to have her own will more and more. I'm happy about that, but it makes my life a bit more difficult! She's testing the line of obedience more frequently... just seeing what she can get away with. I have to be on my toes because I know I need to let her express herself and learn by testing us, but I also need to be consistent so that she knows that even though she's 'growing up' that she still has rules that she needs to obey and that she still needs to be kind. She's started kind of yelling when she talks. I doubt she's intending to be rude, but it comes across that way so we're trying to encourage her to speak kindly. She's a sweet little girl and she really is growing up so fast. I can't imagine how quickly their childhood is going to fly by. I like the stage that my family is at right now, this is a good place to be!

My Sweet Little Children

He did it mommy... No, mommy, she did it!

My mommy thinks I'm the best looking kid in town!

My mommy says I'm a princess... can't you tell?

I Need Marriage Advice...

Yeah, I thought that would get you reading further! Rob and I are doing pre-marriage counseling for a young couple starting tonight and I was wondering if you (again, whoever YOU are?) could give me your top piece of marital advice? You could maybe even throw in a funny story of what NOT to do in a marriage? I only have one marriage worth of experience to share, so I think it would be fun to maybe pass along other tid-bits of marital advice that you have found helpful.

Click on the comments link beneath this post and it will bring a page by which you can comment on. If you are not a blogger you can sign in under 'other' and leave your message. I hope to hear from you!

My Little Ones

Leeann seems to be feeling much better and she has kept down all of her food for the last 24 hours. We've only given her little bits, but she seems to be in a much better mood today.

My kids slept from 11-9. THE WHOLE TIME! I finally went up to check on them because I was a little worried. That's about twice as long as Titus normally sleeps without waking up to eat. I didn't mind too much, I enjoyed the extra sleep myself!

Titus moved up to 3-6 month clothes finally! I went 'shopping' in his closet and pulled out a whole new wardrobe thanks to aunt Suzy who passed along her boys' clothes. THANKS AUNT SUZY! I found some very, very cute new clothes for Titus! I am going to miss some of the old favorites however, but I guess that's part of life eh?

I've been a little worried about Leeann being afraid to go upstairs by herself. So today I left her up there and put on a Veggie Tales CD for her to listen to and I came downstairs to do some work in the kitchen. I was hoping she'd stay up there for a while. I got a little worried when I couldn't hear her music anymore. I went up there and noticed she had shut the door, which I was really surprised about. When I opened the door I saw that she was 'feeding' her baby. Of course she needs privacy when doing such a thing! I'm glad she feels comfortable up there by herself, but I hope she doesn't continue to nurse her babies forever. Hopefully we'll start all of our 'babies' on solid foods before too long? Hopefully her babies will grow out of nursing when Titus does!

Well, there's still lot's to do around here, including figure out what to do with memory lane. Rob walked in last night and Titus was in his swing surrounded by wadded up newspaper. He brilliantly said to me, "So, Titus has been reading the paper eh"? Yup, it's our attempt at trying to make our kids smart!

A Giant Trip Down Memory Lane

Three boxes marked 'fragile' somehow made it into our foyer during the move. They were boxes that I had packed up from my aunt's house where I was living, just before Rob and I got married. These boxes contain many great memories for me... but what on earth do you do with it all?

You'll laugh at some of these trinkets from my pre-college life:

Snow Globes--several of them. I love snow globes, they have lovely music. I realize now that the ones that I have collected are somewhat cheap, because they didn't survive being wrapped in newspaper very well. They aren't quite as colorful as they once were!

Ceramics--lots and lots of ceramics. I found my 'early' ceramics that were made without a wheel. They appear to be from my 8th grade crafts class. I have some from my junior or senior year that show far more skill. I have some bowls and cups. Nothing worth noting really, just random trinket holders.

Graduation Box--ah, the memories! In it I found my announcements, the program, my honors medal, two sets of cords, and my cap. I found a box of graduation cards that people had sent me. Most included cash at one point, ah, it would be nice to retrieve some of that now! I also found a really neat plaque that is titled "Louie Abrams Award". This was presented to me for being the most inspirational senior girl at St. Helens High School. I will always treasure that one. It's funny how big of a day graduation seemed, and now it just seems like silly ole memories--no big deal. Oh, how I remember it being a big deal though!

Cheerleading Uniform--I'm not even going to humor myself by trying it on! Yes, there was a short stint of time in which I was a cheerleader. It only lasted a season and I wasn't any good anyway. Please refrain from teasing me for this!

Tiarra's--from the Port O Fun. I know, the port o fun sounds silly, and it is. It's a carnival and parade that comes to town every year. I was Port O Fun queen my sophomore year. I have a princess tiarra, a queen tiarra and a sceptor too. I got to do the little princess wave from the back of a really nice car, loads of fun. Again, a big deal back then, but something almost worth laughing about now!

Trophy's--one from 1993. It was a cheetah trophy from my early soccer years. We were the cheetah's, loads of fun, so many memories! I also have a 2nd place speed for the AWANA grand prix and a trophy from when I was in a beauty pageant when I was 8. I know, gag me with another spoon! Hey, I was 4th runner up, that's gotta say something right? Looking back at the pictures of the 5 winners it really doesn't mean much. Really. Maybe you can contribute that to being in the late 80's or early 90's, but I'm guessing the judging wasn't solely on looks!

Random Things--lot's of glass items. I found a china tea cup and saucer, an antique jewelry box, and some other crazy things I couldn't describe if I tried!

So, there you have it, my trip down memory lane. Now I have to figure out what to do with it all! Is it worth boxing back up so that I can get some time down memory lane next time we move? It seems silly. I don't want to throw it away though. We'll see. For now, I've got to go deal with the pile of newspaper that's knee high in my living room now!

All Moved In

HOUSE

So, we're officially all moved in. Not unpacked, but all moved in! We LOVE our new house, we are both very very happy with our purchase. It already is such a blessing! I would change a few cosmetic things, but I can't think of a single floor-plan thing that I would change as of yet. We really do love it! The floors are in and beautiful. We've decided that we will sand or strip and restain the foyer instead of replacing it. And since we have left over laminate now, we may do our bedroom at some point. The floors are GORGEOUS!

SICK

Leeann has been throwing up for the last 30 hours or so. It makes me sad to see her sick. She's just been laying on the couch watching movies and hanging out. So far she's thrown up on the kitchen floor, on her Pooh blanket, in the middle of Burgerville (all over her, the bench, the floor, then some came off of her clothes into the bathroom), on the towel protecting the couch, and a couple of times in the garbage can thanks to mommy or daddy catching on to an episode about to take place! Hopefully she'll get better soon. I've been doing lots of throw up laundry. I can't imagine what Rebekah's (see my links) mommy and daddy have been going through for the last year. Rebekah often needs clothing changes and sheet changes in the middle of the night... but hopefully that part of their life is now over!

BABIES

Well, two of my friends, Jennifer and Becky are in the hospital about to have babies. Or maybe they've already had them and I just haven't gotten word yet. I'm anxious to hear how they and their babies are doing. I'm so excited for both of them. It's funny because I feel like I can't sympathize with them. I knew exactly when my baby would be born and I knew it would take about 30 minutes from first cut to sew-up and I knew I wouldn't feel pain. They've just been waiting and agonizing and curious (Is today the day? What will the pain feel like? Can I handle it?) I'll never be able to fully understand!

Well, I should be going, just wanted to leave my curious readers with a little update!

Almost Done... Kind Of

We are almost done with the flooring. I say that as if I'm helping, when I'm just 'she who delivers food'! However, we are only almost done with the flooring in the living room and dining room. We are considering leaving the current foyer/bathroom floor which is hard wood and sanding and varnishing it to match the pergo. It would save a great deal of hassle if that's a possibility. If we do that however, we will have probably a good $200-$300 worth of flooring that we can't take back because we opened it to dry it out. Oh well, maybe we'll find something else to do with it!

Approximately 18 hours til the church moving crew comes in and hauls everything out of here. I look around and there's still so much last minute stuff to pack. Tomorrow's going to be a full-full day for me. I just realized a few minutes ago that we are almost out of boxes. First thing on the list tomorrow... get some more! It's so hard to do what needs to get done with kids everywhere. This might sound kind of silly but I dread going anywhere because getting the kids in and out of the van is somewhat painful. Titus is heavy in his carseat and cumbersome to carry for such a little gal like me. Such is life though, such is life!

I'm so excited to get moved into our new house. I still can't imagine in my head where everything will go but I guess we'll see tomorrow. Wow, this is our last night in this house. I really have far more things that I ought to be doing than blogging to who knows who? I really have no idea who reads my blog... but hello whoever you are! I hope your day is great and hey, maybe I'll see some of you tomorrow to help us move? My current house, 6:00! If your really bored, you might even help me clean up this place after everything's moved out? I'm really dreading that part, but I know it's important to leave it in great shape... I'd want that done for me. So, with that being said, I'm off to bed--or packing--or something!

Flooring Snafoo's

My daddy and Tasha and my little brother and sister came down last night to redo the flooring in my new foyer and living room/dining room. Right now he's trying to trouble shoot some issues... of course things can't go off without a hitch!

Currently the carpet is ripped up, but it needs some Kilz painted over some spots where dog's have marked their territory in the living room. No big deal, but a little money and a little time.

The flooring that is now exposed in the living room is far lower than the kitchen or foyer (which has the 1/2 bath and laundry off of it). So do we bite the bullet, pay some money and put boards down on the living room and dining room floor to raise it? Then what about the fireplace that'll sit lower than the flooring? Or do you just have little steps up into the kitchen and foyer or bathroom depending on where we tear that floor up at. If we tear the foyer up before laying the new stuff down then we have to tear up the bathroom but then the toilet is slightly exposed. I don't really understand much of this, I'm just relaying the little I know.

Rob and I made a big mistake. We picked up the flooring from Costco on Monday night and loaded it in the rain and then left it in our friends truck, which is covered. But apparently there was a lot of moisture on the flooring which caused some of them to warp, potentially all of them (which would be a LOT of wasted money!) We dried them out the best we could, but we won't know what kind of damage was done until my dad starts laying th floor. That could have been a very expensive mistake on our part! It's okay, our new house has a money tree in the back right?

Well, I need to get ready for my day and go help my daddy deal with more flooring snafoos!