the craigslist killer

 

when we bought our new washer and dryer,

i told ronnie to hold on to our dryer and i would sell it online.

he wanted to let the guys that dropped off our new stuff

take our old stuff, but i only let them take our broken washer.

i figured i could get a little bit of money out of a perfectly

fine dryer, albeit old, dryer.

so a month later, ronnie started bitching about the dryer

that was STILL in the garage and in his way...

the one i never actually posted online.

whoops.

so i put it up last week on craigslist and asked for $75.

ronnie said take whatever for it as long

as they come and get it.

deal.

i had a person ask what year it was...

and then never texted me back.

i had another person ask if i would take $50

for it, which i said yes and they were set to pick

it up that night.

they never showed.

blah.

i reposted it this week and had someone respond the next evening.

they wanted to come get it right now.

ronnie wasn't home, but i knew he wanted it

gone as soon as possible, so i agreed they could

go ahead and come since i was there.

they lived about 45 minutes away.

an hour later, long after the sun had set,

they pulled in my driveway.

reid was in bed upstairs and i told brette to stay

put inside the house.

when i went outside there was an old, small suv.

a lady and her husband got out.

she spoke broken english and her husband didn't speak

english at all... only russian.

they are talking back and forth, but i couldn't understand anything

and she just keeps asking me if the dryer works.

umm, yes.

then they pop the back hatch of their car and i swear to god,

this is what is laying out:

2 hammers

a pair of black leather gloves and

a tool belt.

 

i'm already a little bit nervous about having people come

to my house at night when i'm home alone with the kids and

then this is what they have in their car??!

are you f-ing kidding me?

my thoughts are this - do not let them attack me with a hammer.

that's like, the worst way to die.

no thank you.

so i think i should get to it first and

take away their weapons.

i grabbed both hammer and the tool belt, and say

i'll move this stuff to make room.

i'm pretty sure the guy was thinking,

"this crazy bat is touching my tools!"

i know he wasn't happy about it because some

of the stuff dropped out of this belt, but whatever,

look who's in charge now.

they put the dryer in the suv and then i put his tools in

the back seat and he gives me EIGHTY dollars.

more than asking price.

it was confusing and a little scary and i'm

pretty sure i sidestepped being murdered,

but i did make $80 so....

 

 

ps- ronnie laughed when i called and told him.

he has no concern for my safety.  dick.

but really, that will be the last time i sell something when

i'm home alone.  i get a little jumpy.

 

pss- we had just got done watching the OJ documentary and

i'm pretty sure bloody gloves were still on my mind.

2017: week eight

sticking with the theme,

it is now brette's turn to get sick.

i guess that's what we're doing this winter:

taking turns being sick.

brette doesn't have what we had though,

she's running a fever and not eating a thing.

she's been drinking water, gatorade and sprite and

that about covers her meals over the last few days.

poor girl.

she's been sleeping a lot too, taking

a nap everyday.

that part is nice.

also sticking with the theme:

in between bouts of sickness, we've been

working on the house.

since ronnie finished the entry way, we 

decided the next and last thing to tackle would

be the back door and bathroom.

we were looking into a new counter-top and tile for the bathroom,

but once i really thought about it, 

i decided that i wanted to rip out the whole

vanity and just have a pedestal sink. 

normally, i'm against pedestal sinks because they

have no counter and no storage, 

but i don't think either are needed in this small half bath.

there are no bedrooms downstairs so i can't see anyone

needing those things on a regular basis.
i plan on putting in a corner shelf so
when we do have a guest use our pullout couch,
they have somewhere to sit their toiletries.
but really only my parents or cale ever spend the night and
my parents monday's with the girls is
coming to an end in a few short months and
lets be honest, cale doesn't pack toiletries.

 this will give us a lot more room to clear the door and
make the bathroom feel bigger.

i'm excited about it. 

i'm sure it will be a total mess before it gets any better,

which will drive me crazy,

but it should be nice in the end.

(pictures to come)

in other news, 

ronnie decided to start by building a mud bench. 

he had cale come up today and they got most

of it hammered out. 

we still have to finish the actual bench seat, 

but the beadboard, the shelf and the trim are up.

it looks SO MUCH BETTER than that stupid desk.

i mean really,

who is going to sit at a desk by the backdoor?

it makes no sense. 

i don't have pictures of all of this and

i'm too lazy to go downstairs right now,

but i promise next week's update will include pictures

of our house projects.

in the mean time, you

can look at the picture i keep showing ronnie and cale

for inspiration.

in other news...

we took the girls to a hockey game last weekend.

it was so much fun.

they did really good and ronnie and i took turns 

running out for bathroom breaks,

beer runs and concession stands buys.

we took two friends with us so we had extra hands, 

which made the whole thing a little more relaxing

than what it could have been.

its nice to get out a do fun stuff and i

finally feel like reid is getting to the age

where more things like this are possible. 

maybe our social life will start looking up???

have a great week!

i'm back to my old work schedule so 

i'm excited to have three days off again.
ps- here's a few pictures of reid from this week,
just because she's cute.
(brette doesn't believe in sitting still or smiling for a camera.)

weekly wrap up

i wrote all about valentine's day, but

i didn't actually have any pictures of the girls yet.

and i couldn't resist but share a few of them from

yesterday because the girls really did love the holiday.

what's not to love?

pink everything, cookies, new sunglasses and hearts everywhere.

both girls were a fan and they looked so cute in their new outfits.

in other news, my mother-n-law isn't coming 

to visit this weekend anymore.

(his grandma fell and she wants to stay to keep an eye on her)

ronnie and i really need to find time to go back there to visit.

we haven't been back since i was pregnant with reid.

it's just so hard to find a free weekend, especially with my work

schedule AND obviously, a seven hour road trip with two kids

is never at the top of my list of things i want to do.

but still, we need to.

now ronnie and i have a free weekend with no plans.

i can't decide to start a new project on the house or

try to find something fun to do.

maybe both?

my valentine

i actually don't have to work this tuesday,

so i get to spend the day with my little valentine's.

they're still sleeping, but i'm kind of used to getting

up around 6 and now i can't sleep.

of course.

i put their little presents out last night.

i bought everything off amazon prime last week.

a new outfit, sunglasses, a book and

brette's new obsession, the troll movie.

i'm sure i'll be watching that a few million times.

 (i ordered reid the red and brette the pink)

i planned on ordering papa john's heart-shaped pizza

tonight, but we had pizza over the weekend and its

not exactly diet friendly.

(i've been dieting for two weeks and i'm down 6lbs.)

instead, i'm going to whip up some pancake batter and 

use my heart cookie cutter to at least make them a little festive.

breakfast for dinner is always a hit and i can have

eggs and sausage and skip the pancakes.

speaking of heart-shaped cookie cutter, i was also thinking

of making some valentine's day sugar cookies.

we're having a playdate here tomorrow so it's always

good to have cookies in the house.

ronnie's sister's birthday is on thursday and she LOVED

those cookies at christmas time so i thought about 

taking her a batch too.

ronnie and i don't get each other anything for valentine's, but 

i feel like i have the best gift coming my way.

i scheduled cale to come to the house next weekend and

they're going to build a mud bench by the backdoor.

i'm super excited.

we're literally so freaking close to being done with this house.

i'm so happy with the entry way.

it looks so much better with white trim and painted walls.

hope you have a happy valentine's with the one(s) you love!

a slow winter

its not that i haven't wanted to blog,

its just that our laptop is giving me hell

and i'm not patient enough to write out a whole

post on my phone.

lately, the screen turns black except for a pink

line across the bottom and you can't do anything with it.

finally today, since brette is asleep with ronnie

and reid is passed out in her crib, i decided

i would give this laptop another spin.

whoop whoop, its working.

we obviously need to look into getting some sort

of tablet, but ronnie could give two shits about

electronics and i feel bad spending the money.

but really, my blog suffers.

so let's see what's been going on...

in true winter fashion, everyone is sick.

reid did her best to make sure i was covered 

head to toe in her vomit  yesterday, so that was fun.

we quarantined her to the shower until we both

were hosed down.

disgusting.

ronnie and i felt awful too and after putting the 

girls to bed at 6:45 (!) so we hit the sack at 8:30.

i'm feeling much better today and i think reid is

too, but ronnie is still a little gray.

i'm hoping this nap will help.

(no one felt great and everyone needed hugs.)

(after we got the puke off ourselves, she passed out on me while watching tv)

as for the house,

i did end up buying two new end tables (target)

for the family room and purchased

two leather chairs for the front room. (world market)

 (i still need a small drum table to go between the chairs, so

if anyone sees one out that is priced well, let me know)

it makes me happy to have some new stuff and 

get rid of the hand-me-down/college furniture we still had.

ronnie has also used these last two weekends to finish up

the walls in the entry way.

it sucks because we've missed out on a few social invites

so we could hang around the house and get it done,

but it does make me happy once the paint is dry.

next up, the walls in the back hallway, the downstairs bathroom

and building a mudroom bench area.

ronnie and i have been looking on pinterst for ideas and

i think we've settled on a bench that is open underneath so

we can have the dog beds in there.

then we'll have wainscoting up the wall with hooks

for coats and backpack with an open shelf at the very top.

i think it should be pretty easy for him and cale to build and

i can't tell you how excited i am to see it finished.

right now, it's a desk and basically we use it as a spot to 

throw all our junk.

it's not cute.

(our current disaster)

 (what i hope for one day - - on a smaller scale.)

i decorated the house last week for valentine's day

and i'm trying to come up with a cute little card the

girls can send out to family.

i haven't found one i love yet, so that's on my list of to-do's.

i also thought about doing another round of sugar cookies

like we baked for santa, except this time all hearts.

i think brette will love cookies that are all pink.

(because let me tell you, she will make sure you know

that her favorite color is pink. pink, pink, pink.)

remember this blog?  read #2. did i call it or what?

that's really all that's going on right now.

i hope we can get this house done soon so

we can just relax and enjoy some time off. 

maybe actually do something fun when we're asked.

i know ronnie is already looking forward to spring.

aren't we all...

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.

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)