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!