we're back. and we've moved. i am lovin' the new digs like you would not believe. Tatum hasn't stopped smiling since we first showed her the back yard and I'm pretty sure both kids would burst into tears if we pulled up to the townhouse ever again.
the space is awesome. our moving help was even more awesome. i was beginning to freak out that we weren't going to have enough help but as we were pulling away in a caravan of 6 SUV's, trucks and station wagons, complete with 3 LOADED trailers i was humbled to tears that we would have that many people love us enough to come help us move in 90 degree heat. we got possession at 9am and by 2pm were sending people home with their bellies full of pizza.
the first night i had a breakdown. the man who used to live here smoked but we were told "only in the basement, by a window, with a fan blowing out the window." but i turned on the a/c that evening and was overwhelmed with the smell of .... not quite smoke it was more like foofer cigarellos. when we looked at the house i noticed a kind of smell but our realtor didn't notice it. then at inspection we asked her to unplug her foofers 2 days prior and again i asked the realtor and again she couldn't smell it. then i asked the inspector, he's a friend of mine from when i worked with m'lady, and he couldn't smell it either. i was shocked. but because i was the only one convinced and paul was only half convinced i didn't make a big deal about it. until move in night. we were heading out to dinner and i couldn't get out of the house fast enough terrified of what we had just bought. we did some research while we were at dinner and came home and began tackling unpacking boxes. the backyard neighbors left their dog out to screech/bark for 20 minutes straight. i really started worrying about what we had just bought. feeling totally duped on all sides i went to bed with bleach soaked fingertips exhausted, but still hopeful.
i'm happy to say that we've been in the house 10 days now and the smell is completely gone. my mother-in-law helped me bleach down our bedroom walls and karyssa's bedroom walls and the hallway upstairs. asher's room was finally tackled last weekend. it took me all morning to pull all the screws out of the shelving and rods that had been installed ALL the way around the room. i had to replaster the walls in some spots, oil primer them, tint primer them, trim them, paint the ceiling with killz ceiling paint and finally, paint the walls. it's a whole new room in there. it looks so refreshing. i'll get some pictures up soon. i don't have a good before pic because it was so full of clothes you really couldn't see the forest for the trees in there.
the basement was our biggest project. i bleached the ceiling (it's unfinished) with a sponge mop and we've killzed 2 of the walls but got delirious with fumes and had to stop. the main floor has been bleached on the floors only, we've also cleaned the carpets (that will soon be replaced with hard wood floors) and the kitchen has been bleached from top to bottom. ugh. that thing was only surface clean and that grosses me out. the built in shelves around the fireplace have been cleaned and somewhat arranged but i'm a little stuck until we get the basement finished so we can set up the desk so we can get the office stuff unloaded and off the shelves. the upstairs closet has been totally reshelved since the old stuff smelled so bad like a cheap hotel i couldn't even put a toothbrush in there with clear conscience.
it's coming along.
last night karyssa and i began baking, sort of. i let her stay up late since asher was cranky and now they have seperate bedrooms and can go to bed whenever they want to. she helped me make cookie dough balls and today i made ice cream with goat milk and only egg yolks and no whites so asher can FINALLY enjoy some ice cream. it's pretty tasty but still quite mushy so i'm hoping it finishes freezing in the freezer that stands open 50% of the time because it's on the bottom and asher can open it and it's become his #1 hobby. *sigh* and time outs are an absolute game for him so now he's started getting time outs in the pack n play. cute little stinker.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
i wanted you more than you will ever know...
ugh. you're not gonna believe this.
my cousin has recently announced that she's pregnant for the 4th time and it's actually pretty exciting for me. she told me last year that her oldest son, who was moments from making his arrival at the alter at my wedding, told her "you're going to have a girl and you're going to name her cara, with a "c"." so i wasn't surprised to hear they were pregnant again this year.
and she had mentioned that she is already showing, but let's face it. it's her 4th. not THAT big of a surprise. but then yesterday they went to the doctor and the tech said "you're going to have two!" then my cousin said "and what's this spot down here?" uuuummmm....that would be the 3rd!!!
that means she is going to go from 3 kids to 6 kids. SIX KIDS! SIX! 1-2-3-4-5-6!!!!!!!!!
how in the heck is she pregnant with triplets? no drugs. not really trying trying. like charting trying. i guess when i think about "trying" it involves pee sticks and timing and charts and temperatures and doing it just right on the right day and holding your breath and your legs together for the next two weeks so to my knowledge they weren't "trying" and yet....triplets are on their way?! i'm happy for her but HOW is this humanly possible for this to just hApPeN????
*sigh* stupid ovaries. or eggs. or cysts. or gene mutation. or whatever it is exactly that keeps me from conceiving. not that we're "trying" anymore...i'm still way too tired for all that business!
congrats merry & sammy!! i don't say that lightly. love you guys!
and as i waited for the picture on this post to load i heard a *clunk* come from above me. the room karyssa is supposed to be sleeping in. i ran up there to see what mischief she had found and she's laying in bed. huffing and puffing. no sign of mischief other than a drawer pulled out and all the contents crumpled around. so i kissed her good night and went to pull away and she hugged me so tight. we do this thing where i don't pull away and i let her hug me as long as she wants or needs to. then after she had been hugging me for so long i was crying and wondering if someone was going to come looking for me i whispered my favorite line from my favorite children's book: "i wanted you more than you will ever know." she poked at my tears for a while then rolled over to milk the love for all it was worth by lifting her jammies for a back scratch. *snicker* i love that little girl more than she will ever know, no matter how she came to become my daughter.
my cousin has recently announced that she's pregnant for the 4th time and it's actually pretty exciting for me. she told me last year that her oldest son, who was moments from making his arrival at the alter at my wedding, told her "you're going to have a girl and you're going to name her cara, with a "c"." so i wasn't surprised to hear they were pregnant again this year.
and she had mentioned that she is already showing, but let's face it. it's her 4th. not THAT big of a surprise. but then yesterday they went to the doctor and the tech said "you're going to have two!" then my cousin said "and what's this spot down here?" uuuummmm....that would be the 3rd!!!
that means she is going to go from 3 kids to 6 kids. SIX KIDS! SIX! 1-2-3-4-5-6!!!!!!!!!
how in the heck is she pregnant with triplets? no drugs. not really trying trying. like charting trying. i guess when i think about "trying" it involves pee sticks and timing and charts and temperatures and doing it just right on the right day and holding your breath and your legs together for the next two weeks so to my knowledge they weren't "trying" and yet....triplets are on their way?! i'm happy for her but HOW is this humanly possible for this to just hApPeN????
*sigh* stupid ovaries. or eggs. or cysts. or gene mutation. or whatever it is exactly that keeps me from conceiving. not that we're "trying" anymore...i'm still way too tired for all that business!
congrats merry & sammy!! i don't say that lightly. love you guys!
and as i waited for the picture on this post to load i heard a *clunk* come from above me. the room karyssa is supposed to be sleeping in. i ran up there to see what mischief she had found and she's laying in bed. huffing and puffing. no sign of mischief other than a drawer pulled out and all the contents crumpled around. so i kissed her good night and went to pull away and she hugged me so tight. we do this thing where i don't pull away and i let her hug me as long as she wants or needs to. then after she had been hugging me for so long i was crying and wondering if someone was going to come looking for me i whispered my favorite line from my favorite children's book: "i wanted you more than you will ever know." she poked at my tears for a while then rolled over to milk the love for all it was worth by lifting her jammies for a back scratch. *snicker* i love that little girl more than she will ever know, no matter how she came to become my daughter.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
WHO left me in charge?
today i called my sister on the brink. since we have decided to buy the flip-flop house and not the fix-up house karyssa has been asking to wear underpants again. but she still choses to poop in her pants instead of on the potty even if she's given the opportunity to use the potty 5 minutes before pooping in her pants. it makes me so angry. and i'm not doing well hiding it anymore. so today with poop in her swimsuit i had to drag her into the bathroom and then try to salvage her swimsuit. when it's underpants i throw them away. her brand new swimsuit-i can't do it. this is when i decided i needed to talk to someone who's been down this road before and come out with a potty trained child, girl preferably. we got to talking about when karyssa decided to go back into pants and it really was when we took her to the flip-flop house and told her we were going to buy that house instead of the "blue house". and missy (my sister) said "well, didn't they smoke pot in the blue house?"
"........um. yes. yes they did." with out sharing too much information on karyssa's case, trying to think how to say this tactfully, ........she has smelled pot smoke before and it wasn't in a happy time in her life. there. that's the best way i can think of saying it. and smell is the strongest sense for memories. so everytime we went in that house karyssa's insides froze. and now i feel like the biggest doof for not putting the pieces together quicker. there's no WAY we could have bought that house and had karyssa have any sense of security. i told paul what me and missy put together...ok...what missy put together and we both felt awful that we didn't think of it.
somehow we forget she has a past. in our minds she's ours and she always has been. and i think because so many people tell us "she doesn't remember" or "she was too young" or "it's been too long" that we believe them. but what we have to remember is WE are her parents and WE know she does remember, she's not too young, and forever won't be long enough for her to forget where she comes from. the other night when i was putting her to bed i gave her a hug and whispered "you're my best friend." and she hugged me extra EXTRA long. it's times like that i realize she does get it and she does know where she's come from and what we mean.
and a little part of me gets a little mad at her birth parents for not taking better care of my baby before she came to us.
"........um. yes. yes they did." with out sharing too much information on karyssa's case, trying to think how to say this tactfully, ........she has smelled pot smoke before and it wasn't in a happy time in her life. there. that's the best way i can think of saying it. and smell is the strongest sense for memories. so everytime we went in that house karyssa's insides froze. and now i feel like the biggest doof for not putting the pieces together quicker. there's no WAY we could have bought that house and had karyssa have any sense of security. i told paul what me and missy put together...ok...what missy put together and we both felt awful that we didn't think of it.
somehow we forget she has a past. in our minds she's ours and she always has been. and i think because so many people tell us "she doesn't remember" or "she was too young" or "it's been too long" that we believe them. but what we have to remember is WE are her parents and WE know she does remember, she's not too young, and forever won't be long enough for her to forget where she comes from. the other night when i was putting her to bed i gave her a hug and whispered "you're my best friend." and she hugged me extra EXTRA long. it's times like that i realize she does get it and she does know where she's come from and what we mean.
and a little part of me gets a little mad at her birth parents for not taking better care of my baby before she came to us.
Friday, June 10, 2011
We HaVe A dAtE!!!!!
i've had a lot on my mind the last couple days since wednesday we decided to put an offer in on the flip-flop house and yesterday we came to agreement and are offically under contract. i am so excited and i'm a bit surprised at myself because we so weren't fans of that house the first time we looked at it. i think it's because i had my heart SO set on the fix-up house. but then with the sewer backing up and going back in there and feeling it's delapidatedness and thinking of all that work and all of our savings depleted the math just didn't add up no matter how hard we tried to force it.
we started questioning ourselves the other night after seeing both houses and i said "if we got the flip-flop house, would we ever look at the fix-up house and wonder what could have been?" we both like the idea of the sweat equity but both firmly answered ourselves with "no." and if we got the fix-up house i think we always would have said "i wonder how much money we would have now if we had bought the flip-flop house." and the math only ends up to be about $150 more. which is odd and amazing considering what we would be giving up for that $150 savings a month.
this morning asher woke up with a tiny cry at 5:30 and then paul's alarm went off and i woke up thinking "what color should we paint asher's room?" heehee. right now it's bright red. santa red. and it has closet rods all the way around the 12' x 12' room. and the closet is all shelves, which is actually pretty usable since he has about 3 things that i hang up and no dresser. BUT the red has got to go. we love that color-our kitchen in florida is currently that color but for a baby's bedroom it's a bit angry. we'll need to take down the clothes rods and patch in the holes and primer it and then....green? vibrant green or calm green? or brown? khaki or chocolate? or blue? slate or baby? but then the foster bedroom is a slate blue color and i LOVE it. our friends brian & christina have a slate blue kitchen and it is the most beautiful color of blue. seriously both paul and i have loved that color since we saw their kitchen and it's the closest i've ever seen to that color since. so it will not change one iota. and karyssa's room is already a pale lavender color which is exactly what we wanted. purple means royalty. which she is. and green means healing, blue means peace and brown means stabilizing but also a lazy person and repressed personality. um...i think brown is out.
and the best part is we don't have to wait months and months for a bank to decide our fate. i am so excited.
in cute kid news: they have been doing the cutest things lately i just have to share. on wednesday i took karyssa to see "how to train your dragon" and numerous times i had to remind karyssa we weren't the only ones in the theater as she was standing in her chair with both fists in the air screaming "WOOHOO!" or "THEY'RE FLYING!! MOMMY!! THEY'RE FLYING!!" and "HE DID IT!!" each at the top of her lungs. but seriously how do you not find joy in that. adorable. love that baby girl. she had so much fun she cried all the way home. last night we went to sears to return a microwave that we had gotten in preparation for the fix-up house and karyssa saw the theater door again. she has a CRAZY memory map in her head. and she began to sob all over again. we went in, did our business and came out and again she recognized where we were and started crying all over again. she is so funny!! here she is in her seat at the theater.
asher is getting so smart. when paul puts his shoes on asher goes to the shoe basket and picks out his shoes. not any random shoes-HIS shoes-and takes them to paul to put on him so he can go with him. aaaaaawweee! he LOVES his daddy. and i mean LOVES him.
he's been squealing lately and it is so loud it makes my ears ring. i have sensitive ears anyway but with him squealing all afternoon OMG! i can't handle it. he gets a finger thump on the head but i'm not sure he's connecting "every time i squeal i get thumped on the head" because it's not enough to hurt him, just enough to surprise him out of squealing. love those babies.
and here's just a cute one of the little man doing what the little man does:
we started questioning ourselves the other night after seeing both houses and i said "if we got the flip-flop house, would we ever look at the fix-up house and wonder what could have been?" we both like the idea of the sweat equity but both firmly answered ourselves with "no." and if we got the fix-up house i think we always would have said "i wonder how much money we would have now if we had bought the flip-flop house." and the math only ends up to be about $150 more. which is odd and amazing considering what we would be giving up for that $150 savings a month.
this morning asher woke up with a tiny cry at 5:30 and then paul's alarm went off and i woke up thinking "what color should we paint asher's room?" heehee. right now it's bright red. santa red. and it has closet rods all the way around the 12' x 12' room. and the closet is all shelves, which is actually pretty usable since he has about 3 things that i hang up and no dresser. BUT the red has got to go. we love that color-our kitchen in florida is currently that color but for a baby's bedroom it's a bit angry. we'll need to take down the clothes rods and patch in the holes and primer it and then....green? vibrant green or calm green? or brown? khaki or chocolate? or blue? slate or baby? but then the foster bedroom is a slate blue color and i LOVE it. our friends brian & christina have a slate blue kitchen and it is the most beautiful color of blue. seriously both paul and i have loved that color since we saw their kitchen and it's the closest i've ever seen to that color since. so it will not change one iota. and karyssa's room is already a pale lavender color which is exactly what we wanted. purple means royalty. which she is. and green means healing, blue means peace and brown means stabilizing but also a lazy person and repressed personality. um...i think brown is out.
and the best part is we don't have to wait months and months for a bank to decide our fate. i am so excited.
in cute kid news: they have been doing the cutest things lately i just have to share. on wednesday i took karyssa to see "how to train your dragon" and numerous times i had to remind karyssa we weren't the only ones in the theater as she was standing in her chair with both fists in the air screaming "WOOHOO!" or "THEY'RE FLYING!! MOMMY!! THEY'RE FLYING!!" and "HE DID IT!!" each at the top of her lungs. but seriously how do you not find joy in that. adorable. love that baby girl. she had so much fun she cried all the way home. last night we went to sears to return a microwave that we had gotten in preparation for the fix-up house and karyssa saw the theater door again. she has a CRAZY memory map in her head. and she began to sob all over again. we went in, did our business and came out and again she recognized where we were and started crying all over again. she is so funny!! here she is in her seat at the theater.
asher is getting so smart. when paul puts his shoes on asher goes to the shoe basket and picks out his shoes. not any random shoes-HIS shoes-and takes them to paul to put on him so he can go with him. aaaaaawweee! he LOVES his daddy. and i mean LOVES him.
he's been squealing lately and it is so loud it makes my ears ring. i have sensitive ears anyway but with him squealing all afternoon OMG! i can't handle it. he gets a finger thump on the head but i'm not sure he's connecting "every time i squeal i get thumped on the head" because it's not enough to hurt him, just enough to surprise him out of squealing. love those babies. 
and here's just a cute one of the little man doing what the little man does:
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