Spring Cleaning

Every once in awhile I get a "wild hair" and I just clean. This time though, it's different. I'm getting projects done that I've been wanting to get done for quite some time. I have been painting some furniture that has been in desperate need of some TLC for years. One item is an old hutch from my mom, which has served many, many purposes in it's time. I had previously painted it, but now the color is a tad off (YIKES!!) from the current decor in the house. So. . . I'm painting again. Of course, when you take on such a project, you have to empty the piece of furniture before dragging it out to the garage to paint it. Which means, everything that was so neatly hidden away in the hutch is now strewn about through the kitchen, dining room, living room, etc. for everyone to see. (cringe) You know the saying - "you have to make a mess to clean a mess". We are living proof!

We've also been the VERY proud recipients of some beautiful hand-me-down furniture from my in-laws. This is totally great, except for having to carry all the heavy stuff into the house and moving all the yucky stuff out that we had before - not so great. Other than that, it's been great.

So, between new furniture, old furniture, and painting furniture, the house is not lookin' so good these past few days. I'm motivated though. I've got some of the ladies coming over on Friday (yes - THIS Friday), so I absolutely have to be put back together in some fashion. Who knows - maybe everything will be hidden in the garage. (For those of you coming over, please don't ask to see the garage when you get here. ) : )

And of course, I'm trying to accomplish this whirlwind task while caring for a (almost) 3 year old and a (almost) 9 month old, as well as the husband and the dog. Wish me luck - I'm off to clean and paint!!

Progress

Well, the yard is really coming together. We've been feverishly working on things to make it liveable in the backyard. A couple of weeks ago we had our curbing installed, I've planted some plants and shrubs. . . and yesterday the sod arrived. The three of us (myself, hubby, and (almost) 3 year old Amanda) spent a good part of the afternoon laying sod. When we stopped to take a break about halfway through, Amanda decided to show us just how happy she was. She ran around the yard singing "Graaaaasssss, Graaaaasssss". I never thought a toddler would be so excited about getting the grass put down. It made me feel that she had somehow been deprived for the past 9 months without it. We were all very proud of our hard work yesterday, and it has definitely paid off. We are just that much closer to being complete.

Fish Medicine

As previously mentioned, my little ones have not been feeling up to par this week. Yesterday was no exception. When we got up for the day, I noticed that Amanda was wheezing. I had her stay in the bathroom with me while I showered, hoping that the steam would do her some good - but it didn't help, so I called the pediatrician and somehow was lucky enough to get an appointment early in the day. We went to our appointment and sat in the waiting area for our usual 15 or 20 minutes past our appointment time, and of course whenever Amanda would cough, you could feel the judgemental eyes upon you asking what kind of mother takes their sick kid in public?!?! Well, the kind that are waiting to see the doctor. : )

The doc checked her out and said that she would classify it as a viral infection "gone bad". She said that she wouldn't classify it as asthma yet, because it is the first instance. But of course, in my heart, I know that it probably won't be the last. When Amanda was just a newborn, the pediatrician told me that she had eczema, which is associated with asthma - so it's no surprise that asthma may be on the horizon for our little Amanda. Besides that, there is a family history, so. . .

Well, the doctor prescribed nebulizer treatments for Amanda and told me that we needed to do the treatments every 2 hours for the next 2 days - even at night. Yikes!! My precious sleep was doomed. We sat in the exam room and did a treatment right then, and I have to say that I was pretty proud of Amanda - she sat still and did an excellent job. They've made the nebulizer a lot easier to use for kids than the "old days". I remember when my mom was sick with asthma and emphysema and had to use the machine - it was gigantic. Anyway. . . the mask for kids now is a little fish face, so convincing her to wear it was a whole lot easier.

So we have spent our afternoon. . . and evening. . . and night. . . and morning. . . doing treatments - pretty close to every 2 hours. Amanda has always been good about taking medicine (sometimes asking for it even when she's not sick, since nowadays they make it all taste so good), so she calls it her "fish medicine". Whatever works, right?

I know that I'm not the only mommy in history to have to do late night/early morning nebulizer treatments with their kids, but it doesn't really make it any easier. I also know that there are mommies out there dealing with much worse illnesses for their kids, believe me, we've had our share. We've had her in for an emergency visit at the clinic (when she fell on a hardwood floor and we thought maybe she had broken her nose). . . the emergency room when she was having, for lack of better words, seizures. . . Children's Hospital in Seattle a few times for EEG tests. . . and of course lots of bumps and bruises. Somehow God always gets us through with a healthy girl in tow. I have faith in him that he'll do the same for us this time, too. I'll just plug along with the prescribed treatments and leave the rest to him, isn't that what I'm supposed to do?

My Glamorous Life. . .

This morning I awoke to the sound of my little Amanda greeting her daddy in the bathroom while he was taking a shower and getting ready for work. He took her downstairs with him while he made coffee for us and got Amanda some breakfast. So far, a pretty darn good way to wake up, wouldn't you say? Soon, I heard Taylor making some noise in her crib, so I thought I'd go and get the little one out of bed. As I approached her crib I saw it. . . My little Taylor had gotten a runny nose during the night and the result of that was all over her face! Did I mention Amanda? She spent the day yesterday with a little bit of a runny nose, but today would be worse. After bringing Taylor downstairs and cleaning her face with a nice, warm washcloth she finally resembled my chubby-cheeked baby.

My day will be spent on snot patrol. Picture this. . . One kid on each side of me on the couch, each with their runny nose. . . me in the middle holding tissues and an aspirator. . . my hair in a ponytail and wearing the little butterfly clips in my hair that Amanda was so gracious to adorn me with. Obviously I am without shower and clean clothes - or even breakfast at this point. I chug coffee in between bouts of snotty and sneezing kids.

Ahhhh. . . The good life!

Spring has Sprung!!

In August, we moved into our brand new house, a mere 35 days before our little Taylor was born. From the day we signed papers to the day she was born I was frantically trying to get the whole house put together in anticipation of her arrival. I painted and decorated like crazy. Even as I was going into labor and waiting for my brother-in-law to come and watch Amanda, the UPS guy delivered more items for me to decorate with - it was all coming together. Then came Taylor. . . and fall. . . and winter. . .

Now spring has sprung!! We have begun the process of landscaping the backyard (otherwise known as the giant sandbox- I even got Amanda a set of sand toys). We decided that instead of just throwing down some sod and calling it good, we've decided to make our backyard a bit of a sanctuary for our family. The plans include a retaining wall, a stone patio and walkway, a gas firepit, and lots and lots of plants.

I'm excited as we've begun putting our ideas into motion. My husband, along with the help of 2 1/2 year old Amanda, built the retaining wall in just a couple of days - and I have to say, it looks wonderful. Next comes the curbing, sprinklers, and grass. We'll see what we get done this week - it could be a really busy one for this family.

I plan to take some landscaping magazines with us on our trip next week to get some additional ideas. I'd love to have the "WOW" factor in my backyard. Any ideas?

It's not a passion. . . It's an obsession!

Any woman out there who has spent any amount of time in a house where The Outdoor Channel was on (we call it the kill 'em channel), knows that what they say is true - "It's not a passion. . . It's an obsession". And my house has been no exception. In fact, our entire living room is devoted to displaying all of my husbands trophies from years past. Currently in our collection is a black bear, a few sets of deer antlers, some ducks, a couple of geese, and a red stag that my husband got a couple of years ago while on a trip to New Zealand. We are still waiting for a couple of things to come back from the taxidermist to add to the collection.

Right now we are in the midst of preparing for a hunting trip to South Africa. My husband has been frequenting the website for the guide that we'll be using. He looks at the list of available animals, along with their prices, and has been crunching numbers to figure out just how much money we actually need to take with us so that he can get as many of the animals as he wants. Currently, I think he's accumulated a list of 3 or 4 animals that he'd like to get. A friend told me that the stuffed elephant would look great in my living room (everybody's a comedian, right?). I did put my foot down with the giraffe, though. Where would we put that? In the stairwell? Yikes!

The Way We Were

Well, this is us - at least it used to be. We were on our honeymoon in Jamaica, and I can't believe it's been almost 6 years. We've definitely had our ups and downs - but at the end of the day, I couldn't imagine my life without him. He's been a great husband and father (in spite of his sometimes moody and hormonal wife). I won't say that he's perfect, because seriously - that's just not realistic. Love you Honey!