Just because

Last week at work a flower shop brought in a delivery ... for me! I thought maybe it was an early b-day present, nope, just "I miss you" flowers from my sweet husband. Cause sometimes you just need flowers on a Wednesday. I love that he can spoil me ever from hundreds of miles away. I think I'll keep him:)

Little helping hands

Bread baking with Marshall = huge success. He loves appliances, pouring, helping, and anything in the kitchen so it was the prefect combo. He was so excited to help pour in the ingredients:




And of course "working on" the mixer was fun too.



Just when he thought it couldn't get any better, Jerad let him help make smoothies with the Vitamix. I'm pretty sure Marshall thought he was in heaven.

9 months later

6 Months:


15 Months:



When did my baybeeee turn into such a little man?

And by "little man" I of course mean "little ham:"

Park Day

Picnicking, swinging, sliding, digging, and blowing bubbles. The perfect way to spend a Sunday.

This is what happens when mommy gets desperate

So, Jerad has been out of town again this week. The hour or so before Mars's bedtime is really draining for me. I'm tired from working all day, he's tired from being a kid all day... I'm pregnant and its 8 million degrees outside so evening walks have lost their glamor. I got brave and checked out a Redbox movie for us. We don't have satellite anymore and the only time Jerad or I ever watch anything on Netflix or Hulu is after Marshall is in bed. For some reason I always thought Redbox was scary or hard to do or something so I've never used it before.

I made breakfast for dinner, and we ate in the living room (another big no-no). I think he was kind of in love...



He was only interested in the movie for about 20 minutes, but it was still a good time:)

Kicked AND peed on all in one day.

Yesterday the baby really kicked for the first time. I've been able to feel him moving since 14 weeks or so, and the pokes and jabs have been getting stronger but still something I can totally tune out. Yesterday was the first time that he kicked so hard it surprised me in the middle of a conversation. Also now I remember how much I didn't like feeling Marshall move and kick (seriously, its a weird sensation). And I'm only 21 weeks. Its going to get a lot worse as the baby grows, yikes. By the end of being pregnant with Marshall I had started to think he was just going to bust out of my stomach all Alien style.

Last night I woke up because my leg felt wet. Apparently one of the kittens PEED ON ME in my sleep. Well, peed on the bed which soaked onto me. Seriously, wtf?!? It better by a one time thing. I adore animals, but have no tolerance for accidents in the house. I know how to potty train dogs, but what do you do about cats? They haven't had any other accidents so I'm hopping it was just a bad night. I couldn't sleep the rest of the night because every time a kitten would jump on the bed I had to make sure they weren't peeing. Oi.

Also, washing and changing sheets and bedding in the middle of the night is not my favorite.

Coffee making

Jerad always talks about how he can't wait until our kids are old enough to mow the yard. *I* can't wait until they can bring me coffee in the morning:) We let Marshall grind the coffee this weekend and he was in love... maybe my dream isn't so far off after all!





Just look at that focus:)

A break

Well, Jerad didn't fall off the roof or anything. In fact he made it back yesterday night, so even ON TIME! He was a few hours later than he had been planning on... but it seems like usually its a few days so I'll take it. This last trip was almost perfect (for me). He left at 6:30am Monday morning, so he was here late enough to help me feed all the dogs and cats, pack Marshall's bags up, and load him in the car. Usually he leaves at 3 or 4 am which is brutal because he always wakes me up and then as soon as I fall asleep the alarm goes off. Then he came back Tuesday night about 11:45.

I know I always talk about how him working on out of town projects is hard on ME when in reality its also hard on him because he is doing a ton of driving, and working really long hours. But lets be honest here, he is also swimming in hotel pools, getting to eat out for every meal, sleeping through the night, and in the morning the maid comes and makes the bed. Sometimes him and the guys go to a comedy show or karaoke. He's working his ass off... but also is kind of on a vacation.

Him being gone one night is perfect. As long as Marshall and the pets don't decide to be high maintenance, its enough time for me to catch up on some extra sleep. Two nights is fine and I usually manage to get a few extra things done around the house. 4 starts pushing it and anything over 5 I am just in survival mode.

Its much easier if he's gone during my days off than when I am working. Hanging out with Marshall at home, on our own schedule is cake. The house stays clean, we go to the park or the pool, I bake, the pets get lots of attention. Its the packing all the bags and being out the door at 6:30am, working all day, having to pick him up, having to make dinner and deal with all the animals the second we walk in the door, while still making sure there are groceries in the fridge, I've paid the bills, and the laundry is clean that kills me.

So, this 2 day 2 night trip was perfect. He's been working a lot and I've been going stir crazy so the day before he left he offered to watch Marshall while I went and saw a movie (Cowboys and Aliens). I LOVE going to movies alone, love SciFi, and love Harrison Ford so it was a winning combo.

Tonight Jerad made dinner while I played with Marshall, then he took over for the bath and bed routine. The house is smashed but we're pretending we don't notice and are going to get a RedBox movie and make root-beer floats. I decided to be gracious (aka was too lazy to go myself) and let Jerad pick the movie. Last time he brought back Yogi Bear, so I have no idea what to expect. No matter what it is I feel like I'm on a little Wednesday mini-vaycay. I could get used to this.

And since this is what you all come here to see:

Brain Dump

Man, is it just me or is this summer FLYING by? I can't believe we're in August already, sheesh! This is going to be a bit rambling, its just what's been going on lately.

Jerad has been working almost every week out of town. Things have been going so much smoother for me being a 'single mom' since we finally finished the majority of our unpacking and decorating 2 weekends ago. I finally feel like this is OUR HOUSE and its a nice place to live instead of like I'm just treading water trying to stay afloat between his trips.

I am a complete somewhat control freak who needs things to be a certain way otherwise I obsess them so... having 2 rooms full of unpacked boxes and not knowing where half of our stuff was had been literally making me lose sleep at night. Now maybe we'll actually have a housewarming party before the kids graduate.

Jerad's sister and her family were visiting from Nebraska last week and he volunteered to have a big family dinner one night and then breakfast another day at our house. 8 adults and 8 kids! At first I was kind of stressed out about it, cause our house was still full of unpacked boxes and stuff, and not really "kid friendly" or something I wanted to show off, but it ended up being such a blessing. It was just the push we needed to finally get in gear and get the house up to snuff. It is soo nice walking around and seeing pictures hanging on the walls! We are down to one closet that is 1/2 full of boxes plus a few things in the garage... seems manageable.

Last week Jerad had to come home early from Santa Barbara because his eye was bothering him so badly he didn't feel safe working on a 3 story building. He went to the eye dr. and they diagnosed him with pink eye. Man, that guy is the king of childhood diseases! First Mono, then ear infections, now pink eye. At least he manages to space them out every few years. Luckily he is feeling much better now and I *think* Marshall and I skated by without getting it.

This huge Santa Barbara project seems to be bringing bad luck. First Jerad messed up his arm and somehow tore his bicep muscle. The chiropractor was able to adjust it to bring down the pain a little but it was still bothering him for over a week. The next week the company that subcontracted his team sent them all the wrong materials AND forgot to let the building manager know that they would be working so he had to drive all the way there then basically turn around and come home. Then last week he came down with a terrible case of pink eye that made it too hard to work in the sunlight so an employee had to drive down and pick him up. Hopefully this week he doesn't fall off the roof or something.

We got 2 new kittens, Monster and Beest (short for Wildebeest). Just another reminder why my husband is banned from naming our children. In case you've forgotten, he was dead set on naming Marshall "Rooster." They're cute and full of personality and we really are enjoying them except for at 4am when they start running laps around and over our bed. Hopefully they turn into boring old CALM cats soon?

Last night Marshall had a terrible night. We've been spoiled because he's been consistently sleeping through the night for awhile now. Last night he woke up SCREAMING at 1am. Then 2am, then 2:30am... yeah. Usually he saves that stuff up for when Jerad goes out of town but this time Jerad was around and volunteered (aka I kicked him out of bed) to do all the comforting. I have no idea what was wrong. He was hysterical. Nightmares maybe? Upset stomach? Finally he passed out on Jerad's chest on the floor bed around 4:30am and was in a good mood by the time I had to wake him up at 6am.

I'm sort of dragging at work today, it was super nice having Jerad there to take care of the baby drama, but I still woke up every time he would cry so I don't really feel like I got any extra rest. Hopefully Marshall got it all out of his system and will sleep peacefully the rest of the week while Jerad is gone and I'm the only one "on call." Being pregnant and sleep deprived at the same time doesn't really go over well with me.

My great aunt is visiting this week and I'm really excited to see her and for her to meet Marshall. I haven't seen her in years and I have so many great memories of her from childhood. She's a crack-up.

If Jerad and I have any time this weekend I think we are going to try to make our itty bitty laundry room somewhat functional. To say that I'm excited might be the understatement of the year. We were going to focus on the guestroom next, but the laundry room will be cheaper, quicker, and it gets used every day so it makes more sense to do that room first.

Tonight I have high hopes for a comfort food dinner (grilled cheese on sourdough with a red pepper/tomato/eggplant bisque), and early bedtime. Crossing my fingers!

The good life

Making a house a HOME

Well, we've finally unpacked (for the most part). Here is what we started with 2.5 months ago, and here is where we are now:

Living Room:




We didn't do anything except move in furniture and decorations we already had. There are still a few things that need to be hung up (like the big blue window leaning against the wall). I bought the cabinet and TV from a friend, and the small round table on Craigslist. Eventually we'll paint this room, and change out the curtains. Someday we plan on replacing the carpet.

Kitchen:

Our only change in here so far is the built in microwave. Looks so much better than the whole that was there before right? When we bought the house, a microwave was the only thing we "needed." It turns out that the kind that look built in are really freakin expensive! Eventually we'll upgrade the appliances, so I didn't want to buy a stainless microwave yet because it might not match the other upgrades. I sure didn't want to pay a few hundred dollars for a white one that we'd have to replace later either. So I soured and scoured Craigslist and finally found this one and the trim kit for $100.
Short term kitchen plans are to refinish the cabinets. Long term plans are to upgrade the appliances, lighting, counters/backsplash, and flooring.

Family room:



We didn't do or buy anything new for this room. We plan on painting soon, and building a different surround for the fireplace.


Downstairs Bathroom:


We painted the walls with paint that the previous owners had leftover from the living room. I don't love the color, but at least this bathroom fits in with the rest of the house now. And it was free! Jerad also spray painted the light fixture black with paint that we already had. We'll be refinishing the cabinets, retexturing the walls, adding beadboard and painting soon.

Laundry room:

Oh the laundry room. I can't believe in such a big house they made the laundry room so freakin small! The ceiling is only 7ft, and the washer and dryer barely leave enough room for the doors to open. The hookups were backwards so the washer and dryer doors open into eachother making it hard to switch the laundry over. I do a LOT of laundry, and this drives me insane. Jerad is going to buy some kind of something (I dont pay attention) that will make it so we can switch the washer and dryer and slide them closer to the wall. Then we'll paint, refinish the cabinets, and hopefully wash laundry happily ever after.

Guest Room:

This is our next big project. I'm pretty excited! Painting, paneling the wall, flooring, new furniture. For now we threw an air mattress on the floor, bought a headboard and nightstands that some of Jerad's parent's friends were getting rid of and called it good.

Upstairs Hallway:

Again, just re-purposed things we already had.

Office:

Jerad's dad painted over the crazy red that was in here before. We haven't done much yet because we are still deciding if this is going to stay an office or become Miller's room. Jerad said if he hauls all of our books up the stairs he refuses to ever remove them so... haven't done much in here:)

Upstairs Bathroom:

Since this is "Marshall's bathroom" I wanted it to be kid-ish but not crazy. We bought a few things at Target, and plan on refinishing the cabinets, painting and replacing the yucky linoleum with tile soon.

Marshall's room:



Jerad's dad painted this room. The electric blue wasn't the most peaceful bedroom color... We moved Marshall to a toddler bed right after we moved (13 months I think?) We decided to keep the floor bed too because its nice for us to be able to lay on it if we're playing with him in there:) He plays then gets into the toddler bed for most naps/bedtime, but occasionally he'll decide to sleep in the floor bed.

Master Bedroom:


Dresser was from Craigslist, pictures above the bed from Ikea, floor length mirror from Ross. Everything else we had. We're hoping to get a king size bed soon (the queen will move to the guest room), and I need to get something for the wall at the end of the bed. I'm trying to decide between an armoir, and an electric fireplace. Leaning towards the fireplace...

Master Bathroom:

This is the room we're working on now. Jerad refinished the cabinets in a nice espresso color. He also built a frame to go around the mirror but it still needs to be painted. New hardware, faucets and light fixtures are next, then hopefully new flooring. I'm just not a fan of carpet in bathrooms.

So, that's where we are! I've been feeling like we haven't gotten anything done in the last 2 and a half months but looking at all these pictures we have accomplished a lot.