One year later....

A whole birthday has passed since I last posted pictures. Most of my recent pictures are on my phone. I should do something about that.

This is Maggie. She came to live with us when my childhood babysitter moved to town and didn't have room for her 3 labs. She is 10 years old and the sweetest, smelliest dog you ever met. She loves to get in the mud holes every chance she gets. I much prefer it when she swims in the neighbors pond!

These are our other dogs, Polly and Beau. They lead a rough life. Since we've moved to the country we of course had to adopt some barn cats. Our barn cats are actually very friendly, yet fierce hunters. They are on the prowl, so I didn't get their picture.

This is an old one. When we moved there were no teaching positions open in the district of my choice. I passed on applying for one this spring, choosing instead to challenge myself by staying home a bit longer. I am not a good stay-at-home mother. I wish it was something I relished, but I tend to find it extremely monotonous and frustrating. That said, I do like having our own routines and having the chance to do things working families can't....like going to the children's museum on a Wednesday morning. Someday I hope we all look back and are happy that I made the choice to stay home while they were little. It is flying by in the blink of an eye.

Natalie is playing with a trowel of some sort. She is constantly getting into a bag of tools or chewing on a screw. Somehow we have avoided any remodeling related injuries.

 Cookie time!

Madeleine and Baby Greyson. She loves him!

This is after her first dance recital. She took ballet and tap this year. During the summer she is trying out jazz. She told me she also wants to take tumbling and cheer. I told her she gets to choose two, to which she told me I was mean. We also are doing soccer in the spring and fall, and I think that is enough for a 5-year old! She is extremely bashful, but when she gets on stage for a dance performance she nails it. She is equally aggressive on the soccer field. Her private coach (Stephen), trained her well on defense and she takes it very seriously. Maybe she has an alter ego like Beyonce...Maddie Fierce.

Last day of Preschool

Charlie waving goodbye to Stephen and Madeleine on her last day. Almost every morning, no matter the weather, we went out on the step to wave goodbye to Dad.

Stephen put a fire pit in the back yard soon after we moved in. The kids love it and are enjoying a nice cool drink on the deck watching him build one.

Madeleine was a bit sober during her graduation. I didn't realize they were wearing gowns and hats, so I didn't think to prep her for it. She was mad that they covered her dress and headband. Always the diva!

Where have we been?!

I didn't realize I hadn't posted on here for over a year. I've been a little busy. :) That is kind of the understatement of the year. After our dear Natalie was born, I realized that three kids under the age of four was quite an undertaking. I've accepted the fact that Stephen will always be a workaholic. I call his job his one true love...only it is one of those loves that is slightly insane and you think you might need a restraining order for. He sticks with her anyway. After feeling like I was losing my mind trying to take care of the kids by myself in the evenings, I told him something was going to change with the idea of moving closer to his job being the best option. I never thought he would go for it, but he immediately jumped on board. 

After losing out in a bidding war on a beautiful home, we purchased a home with beautiful potential. We moved in last August, started renovations on the entire house in November, and as we close in on one year in the house we are no where close to done.We have mostly finished a few rooms. I'm going to be happy with that. By the time we are done, every inch of the interior will have been painted, resurfaced, refloored, relit, or rearranged. I didn't take any pictures when we moved in thinking we had the realtors pictures from the listing. Stephen deleted those, so the before shots are from after construction got started. The entire downstairs will be repainted once we finish some electrical work in the living room and are able to refinish the ceilings. When we finish this phase, I hope we can get rid of the nasty carpet. We are currently thinking of heated tile in most of the downstairs and carpet upstairs, but are open to suggestions. If you think about three dogs and three kids on a carpeted kitchen, you will understand why I always wear shoes in the house. Yikes! We used to have carpeted bathrooms. Don't even get me started!

This Summer (Outside I have only painted the door. It used to be white.)

This was a pretty shot from one of the big snows we had last winter.

The back deck (Someday I want a pergola. That someday is a long time away!)

Part of the backyard. We have a 3-car garage with an unfinished room over it just to the left of this shot. I just noticed the toilet in the drive. That is not a permanent fixture. Ha!

 We use the door on the left of this picture. This is pretty much how it looked when we moved in. They used the area as a sitting room.

This is the flip shot of the first. The door we use is now on the right. The only changes we made to the kitchen were new appliances, cabinet hardware, and new lights that are still in the boxes waiting on our electrician. They used an apartment sized fridge, which didn't even begin to hold the milk we used weekly. Someday I will have a back splash put in and the counter tops changed.

                                     

We added a mudroom just inside the entrance we use. I wanted it to be the first room completed to help cut down on the shoe/jacket/bag chaos that every mother dreads. This room quickly became the contractor's storage room and will likely be the last room finished. I'm still trying to find the humor in this. :) In this shot the dining room table was temporarily in the space we will eventually make into our office. To the right you can see the edge of the dust wall we lived with for a few months while they reconfigured that corner of the house.

This is a shot of our lived in living room. That back wall used to have a door for the laundry room and one for the bathroom on it. We wanted to create a little more privacy for people walking into the bathroom, so we moved the door around the corner. The doorway on the left leads to the sunroom. That will be a huge undertaking to be taken on later. It will require all new electrical, walls, floors, and hopefully a double-sided fireplace between it and the living room.

        

These are shots of where we moved the door around the corner. There was a full bath downstairs. The first room on the left is going to be a half-bath. The next opening is actually a shower stall for washing dogs and dirty people. The third door is the equipment room (I don't know what else to call it!) for our air handlers, water heaters, and new water softener. The water here is so hard there are actually solids in the tap water. It tastes perfectly fine, but I was tired of build up on everything and my dishwasher not washing. I never thought I would want a softener, but we use it at a fairly low setting and I am happy we did it. You can't see it in this picture, but we added a utility sink and then the washer/dryer are on the right. There is also a door to the back yard hidden around the corner. We hope to get it back to functioning status to reduce some of the muddy dog traffic through the main part of the house.

                          

 

This was Charlie's room in the middle of construction. His room was ridiculously long. We cut it almost in half to add a bathroom upstairs. I don't have a picture, but all of the upstairs room were off the landing and set at an angle. We had them all squared up to make room for a hallway, linen closet, and our bathroom shower. It seemed like the tiniest change, but it made a huge difference.

                  

 This is the new kids bathroom only lacking some trim and a pocket door. The bathroom actually has two rooms. The room you can see has the vanity. The room on the left has the toilet and shower/tub. I said I always hated having to work my shower and primping time around my siblings. Hopefully this will allow for smoother mornings in the future. Charlie's room is finished except for a closet door. He doesn't have a closet system yet because he is waiting on our old one which we can't use until we have a new one. Such is the story of this house!

 The girls' room was also ridiculously long. We were able to break it into two rooms and a hallway.

This is Madeleine's room. She is only needing closet doors and some art on that wall. The color of pink is intense, but it is what she chose.

This is Natalie's room showing the pocket doors that will allow them to share a room when they want to.

This is the master. It was also a very long room. We probably reduced it by a third by adding in another walk-in closet. The old walk-in closet will become storage. This room needs a bit more trim, blinds, and some wall art.

This is the new closet. We are trying to figure out a cost effective way to get the built-in look. Currently we are thinking about an Ikea hack. We are taking suggestions!

 This was the only bathroom upstairs. The tub used to be underneath the window. The toilet and shower stall were where the tub is now.

  

We moved the tub and had a tile back splash added.

 The toilet is behind the half-wall. The new mirrors and lights are somewhere in a UPS facility. I hope to get them up this next weekend.

 This is our new walk-in shower that happened a little by accident. When we rearranged the landing we ended up with a bit of an awkward space. We moved the landing wall out a bit more than planned and we found room for a fabulous shower. It allowed us to have a better layout in the rest of the bathroom, and I think it secretly made Stephen very happy. He complained a lot about the cost of tile and labor, but it was actually his idea.

Natalie is 1 month old!

Time is flying by and Natalie is closer to 5 weeks than 4 as I type this. Pregnancy seems like forever ago, and thank heavens. That is about the worst possible situation for me, and apparently my husband feels the same. He said just last week that he didn't think we would survive another pregnancy because he doesn't like me much when I'm pregnant. I assured him the feeling was mutual! It isn't that I am moody; it is that I am stuck in grouchy from the beginning to the end. I assume he would be grouchy, too, if he threw up on a regular basis for 20+ weeks and had to take a weekly urine test when he long ago lost the ability to see the cup. I better stop there before I tell you what I really think.

Natalie has changed more than I remember the other kids changing, even though I know they did. She has started staying very alert for a few hours at a time. She eats what feels like gallons of formula a day and empties those into never-ending diapers. She can roll most of her body up onto her side, and I swear there have been a couple of almost intentional smiles...for me, of course. The other two are still madly in love with her. She is pretty spectacular. I do wish her nights were spent in her crib a little more, but I also know I am to blame. Last night she was very restless and making a lot of noise. I didn't want the rest of the house to be woken up, so of course I had to sleep with her in the recliner. What choice did I have?!

Here is what you all care about....pictures!

 2 days old

Taking turns loving on the baby

 4 days old

6 days old

 

Looking adorable in the outfit Lucy picked out for her

 This is horrible! Don't tell me that it happens to all babies. I know it does. It still looks ridiculous!

 

 

 

 

1 month old!

 

I like to think she kind of looks like me as a baby in the last two pictures, but I also know that my male family doctor immediately commented on how much Natalie looked like her dad....as do all of my kids, apparently. I'm very happy that they all have eyelashes an inch long like him, but my fingers are still crossed that one of them gets dark hair.

Here is our buster and his first black eye. I took him to the doctor today and the prognosis was fantastic. The fracture was small and will heal in 3 weeks (including the week we have already been through). The splint needs to stay on for that time if we can keep it on, but no further appointments are needed. Charlie has not learned his lesson, as he proved this morning by trying to climb the tricycle to get onto the counter...yes, the counter he fell off of to end up like this in the first place!

Fox February Fiesta

I was able to hold out and get all of the kids' birthdays in one month. I am a planner. Or, I get really excited about school letting out in May. Either way, we have a lot of birthday fun in February!

Charlie's birthday falls on Valentine's Day. My little Cupid turned 2 this year. Have I ever mentioned that I hate 2? The illogical thinking that comes from a 2-year old drives me nuts. I want a cup. Not that cup. This cup. No, the other cup. Yes. No. I want the first cup. Bah! Luckily, this 2-year old is the sweetest cuddlebug ever! We started his day with opening presents and ended with chicken strips from DQ. He threw an absolute tantrum on the way out the door, so we had to bring the dinner to him.

Chillin' with Polly



One of the top birthday gifts....a gun!



Madeleine's birthday came 6 days later. Steve had to go to work early that morning, so her presents had to wait until he got home. I had gotten her a pair of sparkly shoes with flowers and jewels. Well, any shoe lover knows that you need a fabulous pair of shoes on your special day, so I did sneak her one present early. She chose pancakes for dinner even after several offers for Old McDonald's. We had been telling her that a 4-year old has to eat their bread crusts, and believe it or not, it worked! She has eaten all bread and Pop-Tart crust without a fuss since her birthday. We are going to have to think of something better for her 5th birthday....does the dishes?

Good job on the gifts, Aunt Helen!


Charlie thinks the car is for him. Oops!

 

A little bug exploration with a kit from the library.



There was a shared birthday party on the Saturday between their birthdays. They received way to many presents, but I know they had fun. I had overdone it a bit with lifting things that weighed more than my baby and wasn't feeling very well, but I think we all managed to enjoy the night. I was exhausted when it was over, but I am kind of glad that all that work comes at once instead of spread throughout the year. We'll see if that rings true when they start inviting friends.

Charlie was enthralled with blowing out candles. Maddie wished to be a princess.

While I am off from work we decided to keep the kids home 3 days a week. I have survived the first week much easier than I expected. Madeleine has been acting very grown up these days and is much more cooperative than she has been in the past. Believe it or not, the 2 of us can butt heads!

Madeleine never wants to nap at home, but I have figured out that I can use Natalie as a bribe. I can get Madeleine to lay by Natalie long enough to fall asleep. I'm hoping that works for several more months.

Charlie has taken to climbing everything. Yesterday he decided to climb the counter to get a snack. I had asked him to wait until I was done feeding Natalie. I thought he was playing; he decided to get a snack without me. And, then we heard the boom. He had fallen off of several things the day before, but this time he cried longer than usual. Then he refused to use his hand to pick up things. There was no swelling or discoloration, so I thought we would wait it out and see how he acted after his nap. He acted the same only now with a little swelling, so off to the ER we went. I left the girls with my grandma knowing there would be a long wait, and it was. Charlie did not cooperate for the X-rays or the splint. They decided he had a small fracture in the lower part of a bone in his left hand. Until we can get a follow-up appointment, they want his hand stabilized with a splint. What they created was a club. By the time they were done wrapping his arm, he was angry. I tried to pick him up to comfort him (and to get him to shut up and let the lady with heart issues rest her ears) and instead he started beating me in the head with his club hand. Then he reached over and scratched my face all to pieces. I don't think the nurses knew what to do by the time we left. He has tried to rip the thing off twice before I put a sock over it. Luckily, he doesn't seem to be in pain. This morning he woke up with a bruise on his forehead from banging his head for comfort and a black eye from the fall. He was playing a little harmonica before school, because you always need a little more harmonica, and he wiped out and busted his lip. He looks like a bruiser!

 

  

Here is a little brag on my husband. He is not usually romantic, but he does get me flowers for Valentine's Day/Giving him 3 children in February. Aren't these gorgeous?! Not only did he pick the flowers himself, but he had 2 pink calla lillies for my girls and 1 white for my boy. Sentimental to boot!