Thursday, September 29, 2016

backstory

here are a few tidbits about this week:

1- i made two new dishes this week.
i think both of them were really easy and 
everyone at it well.  
(not brette, but i don't count her because she 
really doesn't eat meals anymore.  good times.)
i used thighs instead of breasts in the chicken dish
and cut the tomatoes in half in the ham dish,
both were good modifications for us.
i have a recipe for ham and apple quiche that 
i'm going to try over the weekend.
(ronnie thawed out a 10 lb ham like we
were having freaking easter dinner, so 
i've been trying to come up with ways to use it.)

2- i was doing laundry on tuesday and when 
i was bent over getting clothes out of the washer,
the lid fell on my face.
literally, landed right on the bridge of my nose.
i would never survive any sort of attack.
the instant someone comes at my nose, i'm out.
it was the worst freaking pain. 
i'm assuming its comparable to getting punched in the face, 
only you can't fight back so it just leaves you 
super pissed with watery eyes.
for real, i still can't touch it its so tender. 

3- i dropped brette off at school on wednesday and
the teacher asked me if brette talked at home.
saaaaay what?
my child?
the one that never shuts up?
apparently my kid doesn't talk at school.
this just goes to show that you never actually 
know your kids like you think you do.
i was sure brette was a little social butterfly.
here i was worried that she was overusing the word "booty"
when in fact, she isn't saying hardly anything at all.
the teacher said she will only speak when asked a direct question
and even then, she only whispers.
my little freak.

4- in other brette news,
she is getting worse at night.
she is now refusing to sleep in her room at all.
since i'm not down to share my bed, she 
is currently spending her nights in the hallway.
i still cannot believe this is brette,
my little super sleeper.
she never gave me any troubles and now i can't even
keep her in her room.
ronnie and i decided to buy her a new bed.
we're thinking/hoping she's outgrown her crib.
i'm praying that once we get a new bed in there she
finds a new love for her room and her bed.

5- i'm recommending an author.
Liane Moriarty
i've read four of her books recently and loved them all.
seriously.  if you're a reader and looking for
something good, check her out.

6- i'm on a curtain kick.
curtains for the dining room, 
curtains for the living room,
curtains for the master bedroom.
i'll post pictures when i have them all hung.
right now, the only ones we have up are in the dining room.
i love the finishing affect curtains have on a room.

7- lastly, here are the girls from this week looking
extra adorable and sweet.


i'm done.
let's just go ahead and start the weekend.



Tuesday, September 27, 2016

finally, the family room

i made it clear that september meant 
"get back to work."
the family room was my top priority.
we're in that room all the time and i was ready
to see my vision come to life.
so ready.
i did what any girl would do:
i used my birthday as cattle prod.
i told ronnie, i don't want anything for my birthday,
except for the family room to get done.
how can he say no to that.


i made a list:
fill nail holes
bondo trim
calk
sand 
prime/paint

i even started the first 
project myself and got the wood filler out to 
start filling nail holes while the girls napped.
i figured i would lead by example and
pray to god it lit a fire under ronnie's ass.
i wouldn't say there's a bonfire burning,
but i at least lit a match under him.
satruday morning i finished filling all the nail holes while
he caulked all the doors, corners, ceiling and trim.
next up, ronnie bondo'd the trim
so it would look nice and smooth.
we let everything sit while we headed out to lunch with cale.
and then came back to sand it all down, wipe everything clean
and start priming.
ronnie and i primed the trim first while cale
was busy putting up an edge piece we needed.
we started priming the walls but the girls woke up
and since it was a mess, i decided to
take the girls down to warrensburg for dinner so
ronnie and cale could finish up without
four extra little hands getting involved.
i came home that night and they were completely done priming,
but had no actual paint on the walls.
the next morning,
ronnie and i waited until reid went down for her first nap
and got started on trim paint.
we managed to get both coats finished that morning.
during the afternoon, while both girls slept,
i finished rolling all the walls twice while ronnie
worked on trimming.
it took him a long time because we couldn't use painters tape
since everything was still wet from earlier.
he didn't end up getting finished until around 7 that night.
but it was nice to have the room back in order by the time
we went to bed.





throughout the next week he switched out our receptacles and
switch covers from almond to white.
we re-hung our steer photo and
i also had him secure the television.
(it's always freaked me out that it might fall on the girls and
since we were "finishing" this room, i wanted it done.)
since my parents were up that tuesday watching the kids
while i had my hair done, i scammed them
into helping paint the big backdoor.
it was the one thing that was left unpainted.
i love this room SO MUCH MORE now.
i know the wood was really pretty, but
i always envisioned it painted and it's more "my style."
i think it makes it look so much more polished and complete.
 love love love.
happy birthday to me.
thanks ronnie!





the lighting in this room is horrible, so it's
hard to get a great picture.
the paint is the same color as what we have on every wall upstairs...
two shades darker than what we used on the other walls downstairs.
i also need to buy a new rug now, this
orange one is not working with the color. at all. 
but i'm happy.

now on to the next!

Sunday, September 25, 2016

so about last week

last week got a bit busy.
on monday, it was my birthday.
another year under my belt and
another number added to my count.
t h i r t y - t h r e e
ugh.
i do not like getting older.
but i had a nice day at work full
of treats, including my bff, kassie, stopping by
with an added dessert. 
then a normal monday night dinner with
the fam, including my favortie foods:
chicken pot pie with reese's peanut butter
yes, it was amazing.

here are the girls baking for me.

tuesday, my parents watched the girls all
morning while i went to get my hair
cut and colored. 
it was a nice, relaxing few hours to myself.
they also finished painting the back door
in my family room, which is now FINISHED!
(i'll do a complete recap on our finished room later.)

my hair length before.

and after.

wednesday and thursday, i actually got to watch 
baby elle, kassie's little 11 week old.
it's the first time i've been around her on my own and
i loved getting to know this little peanut,
which i lovingly started calling "butter."
it fits her. 
wednesday, we went to kassie's.
brette was in school, so it was me, reid and elle.
at one point i actually had elle in my left arm, while
reid was in my right arm, both asleep.
i really wish i had gotten a picture.
it was so sweet. 
thursday, elle came to our house.
she basically slept the whole time because
she took a three hour nap.
it was killing brette because she just wanted
to hold, feed, play, watch baby elle.
obsessed.
and reid was so sweet with her, just giving her kisses.
(open mouthed, licking kisses, but still.)
             


friday, it was back to work and that
evening i worked the octoberfest in town,
then woke up and worked saturday morning.
busy. busy. busy.
and here we are on a new week.
let's get started.




Sunday, September 18, 2016

elbow grease


there is something about being around a year old,
that my kids get injured.
well, a few days ago i had to run 
reid to children's mercy for a dislocated elbow.
i had actually heard of kids getting their elbow
dislocated (nursemaid elbow) because kassie is an OT and we had
talked about her having to calm down a crying
mother when kass had given her the news about her son.
i distinctly remember picturing this poor boy's
arms hanging awkwardly, while he screamed in pain.
in actuality, it's not like that at all.
in fact, i didn't notice it for a few hours.
(which i feel horrible about, ps)
i think i have a memory of pulling her up by her arms 
while we were playing in the playroom.
that's the only thing i can think of that would have caused it,
unless brette did something that i don't know about.
i guess it's pretty common and it CAN happen from 
something as simple as lifting them wrong.
(you should pick up kids by their trunk, 
never by their arms or legs.)
and i KNOW that.
i guess i just assumed that it would be ok and 
she would have had to be yanked on in order for it to do any harm.
not the case.
she was being fussy, but her front teeth are coming in,
so i blamed that.
i decided to give her a popsicle to snack on.
still fussy.
hmmm...
it was time for her morning nap, so 
i chalked it up to teeth + sleepy.
i gave her some ib profin and laid her down.
she tossed and turned and fussed in her crib, but
never actually fell asleep.
that is super odd for reid.
she takes a morning nap like a champ.
so i'm a little flustered because i don't know 
what's bothering her so much.
i go ahead and get her back up and it was
going on lunch time, so i decide she must be hungry.
(i mean really, what else is there?!)
THAT is when i finally noticed she was favoring her right arm.
not just favoring it, but would not move her left arm at all.
she was trying to eat everything one handed and 
lift her sippy cup with one hand.
her left arm stayed straight against her body.
so literally two and half hours later, i finally catch on.
i call kassie first, because hello, she's an expert.
if she lived closer i would have just had her come
over and fix it herself, but she told me to take her into the pediatrician.
i call them, but of course, everyone is at lunch.
the lady at the front desk can't get me in until 2:00.
um no.
she suggested i take her into a pediatric urgent care, 
which is located in children's mercy hospital.
i load up both girls, cussing that i had cleaned the 
house that morning and i look like trash.
i feel like if i'm going to take my child in for
an injury i (may or may not) have caused, i should at least look like a
person that would never purposely hurt their kid.
not, lets say, like someone that forgot to shower this week.
we get there and everyone is super nice.
can i just say how impressed i am with children's mercy?
their facility and staff were on point.
once we see the doctor, 
her little elbow is fixed in literally less than 10 seconds.
she immediately bends it which is a huge relief and
isn't crying or anything.
yay!
and then i'm pretty sure i side-stepped getting social 
services called on me by hair.
the doctor steps out of the room to print off our paperwork and
brette is "reading" a book next to me.
out of nowhere, she looks up and
says, and i kid you not, 
"why are you so angry?"
um? whaaa?
can you imagine if she had said that in front of the doctor
as i hold my baby that i (may or may not) have injured?
i would have died. 
DIED.
i wasn't mad or scolding her or anything.
she just said something random.
i'm telling you, my three year old is trying to get me.
be on the lookout.
all in all, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
i would feel better about it if:
A- i could blame this on brette.
B- realized she was hurt within the first five minutes.
but it's a good lesson and reminder
that even though kids are resilient,
they're little bodies are still growing and 
we have to be careful.

here's children's mercy-east.
it was seriously so perfect for kids.
(but i'm hoping i never have to go back. ever.)







Wednesday, September 14, 2016

apples to apples


we found an adorable little 
apple orchard up north by a
recommendation from a friend.
brette was only two and reid, just a few months.
and although it was cute and brette had
a good time, this year was even better.
we brought madeline and eden along
for the day and the three girls had a ball
running around the whole farm together.


i am already excited for next year, when
reid will be able to keep up and really
enjoy herself too.
(i actually think she could have done more this year,
but wasn't feeling very well, so she sat on me a lot.)
the girls were most excited about picking apples
to fill their very own baskets
and going for a hay ride.
eden decided she was going to make an apple pie,
while brette and madeline just wanted me to
let them eat them right off the tree.
(i did a little washing first)
we had a picnic lunch,
shopped around their little store,
played pretend in the playhouses,
fed the chickens, and 
had a special treat from the cafe on site.
(the girls chose a rice crispy treat instead of the 
apple fritter i was pushing. its disappointing i didn't raise my girls better.)

it was a good day and i'm glad these 
girls are so close.
i didn't have any cousins my age growing up
so this feels like a such a bonus for our girls.




ronnie took turns lifting the girls up to the 
top of the trees so we could find some better apples.






and then of course, we had to eat some.






the girls were so funny while feeding the chickens.
brette and eden had no fears and went at them,
meanwhile, madeline and i tried to be brave but decided
we're not huge fans.
and ronnie thought it was pretty cool you could hand-feed
a turkey, so he stayed busy doing that.








its was the perfect day and a
great way to start off the fall season.





Tuesday, September 13, 2016

more teeth, more sleep

reid's been sick since sunday.
we took the kids to the apple orchard
and i thought she felt hot after.
she slept the whole way home, but even
after we made it home she
was so tired she couldn't get her head up.
she fell asleep in my arms at 5:45.


we had dinner without her and made
it all the way until 7:45 when she woke back up.
i did a quick diaper change, threw on her pj's, 
gave her some medicine and laid her back down.
she was up for maybe 10 minutes.
she woke up at 5:30am, so i gave her more medicine 
and popped that pacifier back in and
she didn't get up until almost NINE.
holy cow.
that little one slept almost 15 hours.
and then last night i laid her down about
7:45 and she didn't get up this morning until 9:30.
another 14 hours night.
it's teeth.
she's not throwing up, she doesn't have a cough
or a snot nose, no diarrhea - just a fever at night
with lots of sleep.
i checked her mouth this morning and i can feel
her one of her top teeth coming in. 
i don't remember brette being so affected by teeth,
but it's really taking it out of poor reid.
i am excited though.
i've been dying to see what she'll look like 
with an actual mouthful of teeth.

hopefully, all this sleep means
she's getting more than just one.




Wednesday, September 7, 2016

it's cooling off

september.
a good month.
my birthday month.
it starts feeling like fall.
the holidays start rapidly approaching.
my calendar starts filling up with 
family fall day,
an afternoon at the apple orchard and 
a field trip to the pumpkin patch.
i just love this time of year.
in fact, yesterday was my first day 
home after a weekend away, so 
once all my laundry was done, i
immediately started decorating the house.
i needed some pretty leaves and pumpkin
spiced candles in my life.
AND now that summer is over, it 
also means ronnie has to get back 
to working on the house.
i think he enjoyed his three months of summer off,
but i am ready to get a few things done around here.
don't worry, i already made him a list.
top priority and first on my list:
get the family room painted.
i am ready to cover our wood paneling and
hang some pictures.
i'm really excited to have all our trim finally match.
after the family room, then comes the entry way.
i'm excited. 
i left a few weekends open on our calendar, so
hopefully this can get done sometime SOON.
i'll keep you posted on our progress. 



Tuesday, September 6, 2016

summer sets


we went campering this weekend.
monday was labor day and since no
one had to work, it was a nice time to go.
unfortunately, i drew the short straw and had
to work on saturday.
ronnie went ahead and left friday.
he took reid to my parent's and
he and brette went down to set everything up.
i picked up reid saturday after work and met
them down there in time for a boat ride.
we had a nice afternoon swimming it just sucks because 
the girls never nap.
no nap is normally a recipe for disaster.
it's nice because we do community dinners
with everyone else down there so it takes
the stress out of mealtime when the girls hit a wall.
fortunately, there are so many other kids to play
with that brette never really gets awful and
they're both so tired after a long day in
the sun they go to bed after dinner with no fuss.
yessssss.
we spent the next day relaxing and
spent another afternoon out on the boat.
i took reid in the water for the first time.
jason and amy have a little intertube with a mesh 
bottom so i can sit in it and hold her.
she loved it and she 
would have stayed out a lot longer but
i got nervous about having her in the sun.
for real, i don't know how fast red-heads burn.
it freaks me out. 
brette pretty much stays in the water the whole time.
she is a little fish. 
oh, except for when she came on the boat to tell me she had to poop.
perfect.
i swam her to the ROCK shore,
where i killed my feet.
 i stripped her down,
let her sit on my arm and she took a huge shit in
front of the whole boat.
that's my girl.
next time, i'm sending ronnie.

it was a nice weekend away.
perfect weather.
fun company.
and a great end to the summer.





we had a similar day last year...
maybe next labor day reid will 
actually be awake for the family photo.