Wednesday, January 25, 2017

house tour: part five

i realized the other day, that
i hadn't done a house tour in a long time.
the last time i did a video was february.
dang!  
where'd the time go?
since my house was picked up and 
brette was in school, i figured now 
was as good of time as any. 
but as always, i recommend watching my first house tour 
so you get a good picture of how far we've come. 
(2 months after purchase)
this tour is in two parts because i 
had to lug my kid upstairs so i stopped recording.

the biggest thing you'll notice should be 
the new decorations or furnishings
new couch downstairs,
no more baby crap out,
new curtains,
the family room walls are done.
new bed in B's room.
curtains in our room.
we didn't really have a big project completed this year
besides the family room because we focused on the outside.
(it's still not done, but i'm waiting on warmer weather.)
i'm just happy there's no more wood rot and i 
don't have to look at that heinous color every time i pull up.
i'm really really really hoping
we can knock out the entry and 
back bathroom in the next month.
i would give anything to finish the inside.
i made ronnie promise to work on 
the walls in the next couple months 
while its too cold to be outside.
i really really really hope he does it.

of course one day, i'd still like to redo
every single bathroom in the house.
the girl's needs a new tile floor,
our needs a total revamp and the 
downstairs one needs a new floor and counter.
one day.




ps- if you go back to look at the video from last
february you will be shocked with reid's growth.
i just love it. 

pss- the pillow that sits in the hallway is to block the
dogs from jumping through the railing to get upstairs and
pee on our carpet. the dogs are banned from the upstairs until bedtime.






Sunday, January 22, 2017

reid: 18 months

** my laptop is broken, so I did this on my phone. the format is all off, but at least it's up. **
 
 
 
i can't believe reid is 18 months old
and it's been 6 whole months since my last update.
this little one has changed in leaps and bounds.

growth:
We have a pediatrician appointment soon so
I'll have to update you on her height and weight then.
She’s in a size 5 shoe and wearing
anything from 12-18 months to 18-24 month clothing.
The 24 month stuff is still too big on her though.
She's in a size 4 diaper, but
when we're done with this box, I'm going to buy 5’s.
Her hair has grown a lot recently and I can now
put her hair half up, in pigtails or a ponytail.
Unfortunately, she doesn't love getting her hair done so
9 times out of 10, I just have her bangs
pulled out of her eyes and that's as fancy as we get.
Her teeth have also started coming in too.
She went so long with just her bottom two teeth
and now she has tripled that, if not more.
Her two front teeth are giving me a little cause for concern.
They're GAPPED.
As in, I'm not sure how cute this is going to be, gapped.
Red-head, gap tooth?
It's not exactly the description I was going for
when talking about my kid.
Turnbow (our friend and dentist) said
gaps are good because they leave space for
the permanent teeth to come in.
But that's in 6-7 YEARS.
We're hoping your gorgeous face will make up for it. 😉
Reid's gross motor skills are so much
more advanced then B’s was at this age, its crazy.
Reid can get off and on chairs and couches,
she can slide off beds and down our stairs.
She runs, dances, twirls and is very physical.
It's made the last 6 months so fun and easy.
Sure, she's into e v e r y t h i n g  but
I don't really mind it because she keeps herself busy
and it makes getting my “chores” done easier too.
Ronnie calls her Fingers and I don't think
he's as big of a fan of her getting into stuff as I am.
He also calls her Scragglemuff and his Chinese Baby... I call her BooBoo Baby.
Our nicknames are definitely lacking. 😂
Of course, when you excel in one area, I've found
you might be lacking in another-
 at least that's true for my kids.
While B was barely walking at this age,
she had over 40 words in her vocabulary.
(I went back and checked and was shocked)
I'd probably let Reid try her hand at an obstacle course, but
we haven't quite mastered the art of conversation.
I can make out more, just because I've picked up on her gibberish,
but for the most part, we think she speaks Chinese.
(Hence Ronnie's nickname)
She quite interested in books right now, so
I'm hoping that will help her learn more words.
All in all, Reid is perfection.

sleeps:
I believe in the power of a schedule.
Always have, always will.
It has a lot to do with the way I'm made – very Type A,
but it seems to have great affects on our sleep patterns.
Reid goes to bed every night like clockwork.
She's down at 7:00, no later than 7:30 and
sleeps 12 hours.
She takes one nap around 1:00 and sleeps for 2 hours.
We do this every day and it just works for us.
One thing that's changed since she turned one has
been our addition of blankets, pillows and her stuffed pal, Charlie.
Is there anything cuter than a baby’s love for there stuffed animal?
I think not.
In other shocking news, we gave up the pacifier last week.
I. Know.
Reid loved her pacifier and honestly, so did I.
There's nothing better than having this miracle tool you
can whip out when shit is hitting the fan and people are starting to stare.
But my goal was always 18 months and then no more. 
That's what was recommended by my pediatrician and
I'm always so crazy worried about jacking up their teeth.
(We don't need a gap AND crooked tooth baby) 😳😆
So one day, I just layed her down for a nap without it
just to see how bad it would be.
She rolled over and went to sleep.
Say whaaaa?
I tried it that night too.
Same thing.
Since she seems fine, then what's the point, right?
I put them all away but one that we keep in
her backpack for her day at the sitter’s.
I still think she might need the extra comfort while she's there.
But honestly, it was way easier than I ever imagined.
Thank god.

eats:
For awhile Reid was eating whatever you put in front of her
AND she would plow through it.
She's gotten a bit pickier and has decided that she only wants to feed herself. 
I've given into this and rolled with the huge messes
and the mass amounts of food that never makes it to her mouth.
(Louie and Leia love life)
But it makes it hard to tell how much she's actually eaten.
Also, having a big sis is no help.
Brette's not eating?
Well then neither is Reid.
It's a challenge.
 Ronnie and I have said several times we can't wait
 for the day they eat like normal humans again.

plays:
As I said before, she's really into books right now.
We read Pajama Time at least 5 times a day.
She loves baby dolls and bottles, Leia and Louie,
lip gloss, magnets, anything that lights up or plays music,
phones, necklaces and everything in our kitchen cabinets.
She's really into music and has favorite songs.
She will dance and squeal when they come on.
She also loves school busses.
When we see them on the road, she points and
yells “school bus!” and laughs.
Her laugh is the very best.
If you follow me on SnapChat I can't help
 but record it every few weeks.
right now, I think she prefers to play without
Brette, rather than with her.
These girls are not exactly quiet, gentle sisters.
There's already been some fights and
I'm preparing myself to the long road ahead.
 
 
it's been a fun 6 months.
i'm so excited for this summer and
what the next 6 months have to bring.
this is my favorite age.
a sweet spot for me  – there’s nothing sweeter
than an 18-24 months old baby.
i just love it.
 
(i tried to do our normal green chair photos,
but reid just wanted to move and play, so a few of these
are her in the playroom.)
 
 
 
(giving kisses to bear)
 


 
 





Thursday, January 12, 2017

2017, week two

weekly recaps seem to be my thing right now.
so lets see...
health:
i was sick, then ronnie was sick, both girls are still
super congested with coughs, so that's been fun.
i made fajitas the other night and ronnie told me
his stomach was too upset to eat, then of course
brette refused to even try it so she had cereal and reid,
seeing her sister eating something else, cried until she got 
cereal too. 
so there was a whole thing of fajitas 
and i was the only one who ate dinner.
THIS is why i don't cook.

career:
i just started working three days a week.
a girl walked out at the bank, so they really 
need some extra hands until they can get someone else hired. 
i should only have this schedule for a month, but
i'm working mondays, tuesdays and fridays.
brette has school on wednesdays so i'll only get thursdays
home with her which is a big change for us.
i've spoke with my boss about changing my schedule to
three days a week starting this summer when 
reid starts at OLP preschool with brette.
i think they'll both be going monday, wednesday, friday so
hopefully i can pick up some extra hours.
this will be a good dry run on how that works.

home:
now that the holidays are over, i'd like to start up 
a few projects around the house.
winter seems like a good time to finish some of the 
last few jobs around here - - like the WALLS. 
you know, the ones i've only been talking about for two years.
blah.
first on the list is the entry way.
if ronnie could get those skim coated, i could paint and 
i think it could actually be done pretty quickly.
we also bought a ceiling fan for the master bedroom, 
which i'm hoping ronnie can get hung this weekend.
right now, its still sitting in its box by the front door.
i have to have a fan at night and our tower fan shot crap
a few weeks ago and we've been living with a big box fan
sitting on the fireplace.
it sucks that its going to be so cold on ronnie in the attic, but
i'm okay with it (wink) just so we can cross something off our list.
i've also been looking for two pieces of furniture.
the first one, are side tables for the family room.
you probably don't notice in the pictures, but the two tables
that sit on either side of the sectional do not match.
they are relics from my college days, spray painted black in the 
backyard of the house we rented my junior year.
one of them was shannon's parent's and the other was my aunt's.
i'm in shock and denial that these pieces of crap are still being used,
let alone moved from house to house because we've never replaced them.
i hate them. 
i'm over looking at them. 
and they will be gone soon.
i don't want to invest in anything too nice because 
the girls are so hard on furniture.
brette stands on them and jumps to the couch. 
snacks are eaten here, drinks are spilled and on and on.
i am hoping to find something at target or world market that
would work for awhile until the girls get older.
the catch is: they need to be the same color at our coffee table.
i'm on the hunt.
if you have any suggestions of another good place to look,
let me know.
the second thing i'm looking for are two small leather arm chairs 
for the living room.
once again, we borrowed chairs - this time from my parent's -
just to fill in the space until we bought something new.
my problem is, i don't know how nice i want them.
like i said before, kids are hard on furniture, but i don't 
necessarily want to replace these in a few years
like i would a side table.
there's a few at world market i like for around $300.
there's one at crowly i like for $600 and it can go up from there.
i guess i need ronnie to help decide this one.
i'm kind of leaning toward getting nicer pieces that will last and
hoping to god the leather doesn't get ripped in some 
crazy girl fight in the next several years.
if i could get these few things done and bought, i would
feel pretty good about the house.
at least for a few months...


girls:
the girls are really good.
reid is popping out teeth like its her job, which
is a nice change because it doesn't seem to be interrupting 
her sleep routine, but it gives me peace of mind when feeding her.
her hair is also getting really long and she is sporting pigtails now,
which, in my opinion, is the cutest thing ever.
brette's hair also got some attention as i gave her a little trim.
her first since she was born.
i figure 3 1/2 years is long enough.
it was almost down to her butt and while i love it and
i'm a huge fan of long hair, it was getting a little crazy.
she is also doing really well with school and loves going.
she's learning her letters and how to cut with scissors. 
they also taught her this great way to put on her own coat.
it makes me laugh every time i see it.
basically she throws it on the floor, upside down.
she puts her arms in, flings it over her head and wah la!
she's ready to go.
hilarious. 



i think that's it for this week.
we're expecting a big ice storm this weekend,
so i'm just praying that we don't lose electricity.
there's not gas lines in our neighborhood, so if we lose power,
we lose heat and then we're screwed.
here's hoping next week is uneventful too... and warm. 


Wednesday, January 4, 2017

last week, wrapped up in a ball.

christmas has come and gone and while
i feel like i should write a whole post to the holiday,
there's not much to say that hasn't already been said.
the girls LOVED opening gifts.
for reid, it was the tearing of the paper and throwing the tissue.
oh and the candy. this girls LOVES candy. 
for brette, it was the actual gift inside that got her going.
we are now proud owners of a million and one troll and 
shopkins items that brette is obsessed with.






ronnie's sister and her family came over and i made
a big turkey dinner, with potatoes, dressing, gravy, corn, 
green bean casserole, rolls, leftover cookies and pecan pie.
i had to make the pie twice because i had too much going on
and put the oven on at 450 instead of 350. 
damn the luck.
but besides that, i'd call it a success.
since then we've celebrated the holiday with my parents too
AND partied it up for new years eve,
how is it january 4th already?
for new year's we went out to jason and amy's
(ronnie's best friend, who we went on vacation with over the summer.)
we normally go to their annual party every other year.
one year with them and then one year with my friends.
although, with the way my friends are popping out kids,
we might never "party" again.
i hadn't been feeling well that day, but i pushed through
and had a really great time.







any party that involves flip cup, is my jam.
plus we played a few rounds of cards against humanity and
had an amazing dinner.
so. much. food.
my kids stayed with my parent's so we headed back to their place,
where i spent the next two days super sick.
(i knew i didn't feel well!)
and here i am today, resurfacing from the sewer and ready 
to start 2017 strong.
and by strong, i mean with at least one or two blog posts a week.
(sorry, i suck!)
as for resolutions?
i really don't have any.
i'm feeling pretty good about where life is headed and
i only plan to make it as fun as i can.

cheers!