We visited the local "everything" store (Menards) and Molly fell in love with this recliner. I mean, despite being The Biggest Eyesore I've ever seen, it was incredibly soft and comfortable. I can see why people have these in their homes. I'm sure Steve would appreciate one in his man cave. I'm sure he would also appreciate a man cave. But until we get to the point where we're not side-eyeing the closet above our closet as Sam's future bed, I don't think a man cave is going to happen.
She settled for a new horsey calendar and has it proudly hung at the end of her bed. She is super knowledgeable about what year it is, in case, like me, you still have no clue and think 2015 was last year.
Obviously it was not a school day for Molly and she helped with my various things around the house before and after the big Menards trip. One of the things we did was to clean out the kids' dresser (ooh yes, they all share one, re: tiny house) and sort the clothes that are for summer and are too small/too big. Molly found this (too big) maxi dress and despite there being a few inches of snow on the ground, decided it needed to be worn right that minute. And what goes better with a pretty summer dress than some fresh nails? Glitter of course, because it's fun to watch mama twitch.
The next morning I opened up instagram to see a friend who posted a "challenge" to stop, drop, and take a picture on :44 of every hour. Since it was 6:43, I thought, what the hey! I snapped a photo and immediately set 18 alarms on my phone. Had I not done that, I probably would have failed by hour 2.
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| 6:44am |
That thing about the days being long and the years being short? Is totally true. Big emphasis on the long days part. By the time I actually get to drink some coffee, I usually feel like I've put in a full work day. When is naptime? For me? Oh wait never. Because long days and all. Luckily they are all in decent moods first thing in the morning and seem excited to play together. That buys me some time to sit.
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| 7:44am |
I really thought my laundry load would decrease after we moved into a house with a full size washer and dryer. But it kinda feels like it's stayed the same. Maybe I do one load less per day. That's nice. I still do one to two loads a day- three if it's a diaper day. Not sure I will ever take for granted having a washer/dryer IN my own house (and on the main level to boot!). I just can't fathom having puking/diarrhea kids and having to haul that to a laundromat.
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| 8:44am |
We were headed to Fargo on this day to do some shopping, but Lord knows I can't leave my house with a messy floor. Will really likes the vacuum. Specifically, sitting right in front of it and having the air blow in his face.
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| 9:44am |
We had to stop to pick up some books off the floor for Molly - coincided nicely with my timer going off. Lots of snowmobile tracks all around - for some reason when I see one I call it a snowski. I like for people to know that I'm not from around here and will never fit in. Maybe one day my brain and mouth can get on the same page. (Maybe)
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| Made it to the motherland |
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| 10:44am |
Browsing. Will got himself some disposable sippy cups to test the waters. (He's a huge fan!)
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| 11:44am |
Stopped for lunch at Arby's and Will was not thrilled about the pausing of lunch for a photo. He was thrilled about curly fries though.
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| 12:44pm |
Will taking the dreaded car nap while we pass through a few small towns before getting back to our own. Our town only has about 800 people in it, but the towns around us have less than that.
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| 1:44pm |
Molly trying on her clearance finds from Target. Could NOT pass up these little duck boots for $7! Also, I miss seeing her little legs! They've been covered up for way too long!
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| 2:44pm |
It was incredibly warm that day, something like 43*, and everything was melting RAPIDLY. But I knew it would freeze again that night, creating a nice sheet of ice for me to bust my ass on the next morning. So we got out there and scraped the steps, played in the snow, checked the mail, etc.
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| 3:44pm |
Got our Sam at the bus stop! We pick him up at 3:25 (I mean, when the temperature is above freezing. If it's freezing or below, Mike is always at least 10-15 minutes late dropping him off, ensuring I am about as cool as a popsicle), but that day, we played in the alley behind our house with our neighbors, the boys having a contest to see who could throw snow hunks the farthest in the street.
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| 4:44pm |
We ended up hanging with the neighbors at their house for a while before heading home for dinner. My main hustle times during the day are 5-7. Morning AND evening. It is constant go-go-go for those four hours. Which is awful because those are the hours I'd really love to just lay down and take a nap. Ha!
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| 5:44pm |
The little people clearly weren't going to be holding out for daddy, so I cooked them their dinner first. We typically eat around 5:30 and then go straight into the bedtime routine. I didn't feel like fighting a dinner war with anyone by myself, so chicken nuggets and salad won out.
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| 6:44pm |
Bath time! We normally do showers, but baths tend to occupy everyone longer. I like to keep the good moods going as long as I can when I'm parenting solo, so I let them take a bath together.
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| Gosh isn't he CUTE?! |
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| 7:44pm |
Adult dinner time! Steve got home while the kids were in the tub. He finished them up and brushed teeth while I cleaned up first dinner and put second dinner in the oven. Also, I cannot photograph food to save my life. This salmon was amazing but looks somewhat disgusting here.
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| 8:44pm |
We tend to run out of hot water right after the kids get showered, so we wait a while (and have uninterrupted (usually) adult conversation!) before we shower so the hot water tank can refill itself. Steve is very nice and always lets me go first so I never end up with a cold shower. Isn't he sweet?
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| 9:44pm |
I'm not sure Steve would watch House Hunters if I didn't suggest it, but then again, I don't think I would watch House Hunters without Steve. We love to snark on the homebuyers. And that's our main entertainment from this show. We hit the hay after one episode usually because staying up past 10 is for the birds!
And that was essentially a day in the life. I love seeing "day in the life" through other people's eyes (because I'm nosy), so I hope mine didn't put anyone to sleep.
The next day was a Friday, and we took some frozen pizzas over to Rick and Monica's house for dinner. I also made cream cheese brownies. The recipe sounded fabulous and I had made some brownies a few days before for my neighbor's birthday, so we were all in the mood for some. Well the middle didn't seem to be cooking as quickly as the outside, and I didn't want it to get too crispy in some spots while raw in others, so I covered it.
Prior to the tin foil, it had a pretty, almost marbled look to it. Afterwards, well. You see. #fail Still delicious though, so that was all that mattered.
And Monica and I finally got our ussie. We joke about taking them all the time but neither one of us is ever dressed or showered or without paint in our hair, so we kept putting it off. Finally we coordinated our shower schedules and managed to look halfway decent! Only for my shaky selfie hand to kinda blur us a bit. Ah well. We'll have to try again during the next full moon.
I can't remember which day this was from, but I never ever get tired of staring at Will in the tub. He's so focused on whatever he's playing with and just so sweet and happy. It's so hard to imagine loving a child as much as you love your first because you just can't fathom being able to have such big feelings for someone else like you do for them. And then you have more and the love just keeps on multiplying. That sounds so cheesy, but it's so true. My heart could just bust thinking about how much I love these kids.
Now, I do have a washroom makeover to show soon (we are finishing it up today - hopefully), but for now I have a little bit of a quicker before and after to show ya. The Korea stick ended up in the living room in this house, whereas in NY it was above our bed (we don't have a headboard). So there was nothing above our bed and I couldn't figure out what to put up there, but it looked REALLY naked without anything. So I finger-sketched this out and sent it to Casey. "What do you think of this? A shelf with pictures leaning against the wall on top? Crazy? Normal? Just the right mix of both?" So I figured I'd eventually have to find some way to make a shelf, or find the right one in a thrift stop.
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| I know what you're thinking, and yes, that CPAP is sexy, and also yes, I should have been an art major. |
Lo and behold, Steve had an appointment at the VA in Fargo the next day, so Molly, Will, and I tagged along. We dropped him off at his appointment and headed in the general direction of Target. But on the way, I saw a thrift shop!! Swung a quick U and we went inside. Hanging above one of the doorways was THE PERFECT SHELF. I asked the gal if it was for sale and if so, how much, and she said it wasn't. "But people are always asking about it! I'm not sure why we don't just sell it! Seems silly not to! I can always ask my boss if she'd be ok with selling it. But she's in a meeting right now." I was feeling a little bold after talking with her for a few minutes and asked if I could leave my name and number, and if the boss was cool with selling it, I'd be so so happy to come back and buy it. I told her how I have the perfect spot for it and kinda gushed about how perfect it was. We left the store and I figured it was a bust, but maybe the next time we come to town, I'd go in and ask again. Well. Ten minutes later and I got a call from the boss saying I could come get it. (!!!) And then I had Steve hang it up about ten minutes after we got home because I WAS ON A HIGH. A thrift store high. If you've never felt one, you're really missing out. It's a cheap high too. Ha!
It's part of an old piano!
And New York? We just came from New York! This feels so meant to be!
Check out that ledge- perfect for propping up some canvases, right?? I have my one (overused, admittedly) homecoming photo on a 16x20 canvas that I need to dig out of the basement, and then I'd like to print one of our wedding photos out and put that up there as well. Then it will be finished! Whatcha think?
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| This is apparently my face now |
Took Willie to his appointment in town the other day. He was only a month behind getting his one year shots. Poor baby. He barely even flinched on the first shot, but shots 2 through 4 hurt considerably more. I wanted to cry too! He went from laughing and giggling at me to being stabbed four times. I am usually very pro-vaccine, except in those two minutes when I have to watch my sweet baby cry real tears, and then I am ready to take down whoever invented these horrible torture devices!
You probably remember me talking about how the grocery store here is pretty limited, so if you don't get what you need "in town" you probably will have to do without. Well I opened up the fridge one night and realized that (once again) I forgot to thaw something out for dinner. Luckily I had some organic sausage (which sounds like a complete oxymoron) in the bottom drawer, so dinner was saved. I made up a recipe for garlic cheese sauce, and while I expected it to be a little weird, it was actually amazing. Essentially, I melted half a stick of butter (mmmmm, butter) and then sauteed some minced garlic in it. After that I added about 4oz of sour cream (I had leftovers from an 8oz container from taco night earlier that week) and a few big handfuls of shredded mozzarella cheese. Looked normal, so I added some milk and stirred and stirred, added some garlic salt and a little more milk, and then added in the sausage, cooked pasta, and broccoli. It turned out amazing! Especially for just winging it. Worst case scenario, we chuck the mess and have sandwiches for dinner. Best case scenario, I now have a yummy garlic cheese sauce in my back pocket. (And all over my hips because that wasn't exactly healthy)
Doctor Molly is in. Checking the pulse of my feet. She didn't hear anything.
I told her she was doing it wrong and needed to first massage the feet in order to get the bloodflow going and thus, be able to hear the heartbeat. It'll be sad when the kids wise up.
Related to the piano shelf, we also found the best mug ever for Molly.
She seriously never stops talking. Sometimes it's funny but sometimes (most times) it's maddening. Her latest favorite question is asking where we are. "What state we in? What town we in?" Since we live so close to North Dakota, the state question is legit (and I feel like when we lived in NY, we were constantly going between NY, NJ, and PA) but it doesn't make it any less annoying. Worse is trying to figure out which town we're in because who the hell knows half the time. It's easier if she asks as we're passing a water tower because the name is usually on it, but sometimes we are just driving through corn fields (snow fields) and she wants to know where we are. Not knowing is not an answer either. She knows you have GPS and you darn well better use it to answer her question. What happened to the good ol days when kids were just seen and not heard? I wasn't even around for them and I miss them.
Also, hey. I'm still pregnant. Which I have quite a bit of trouble believing 96% of the time. Surely this is all a joke and that extra birthday cake will melt off soon, right? RIGHT?! Who authorized this?
Approaching the halfway point and I wonder when I will snap out of my denial. TL;DR bumpdate: complete denial, believes it's cake, almost halfway there, refuses to wear maternity clothes because that makes it real, denial, eats cake to pretend this is all cake belly and fuel denial.
