From Mess to Home...

My laptop died.... it was a sad week.
Happily my husband is a genius and it is back up and running now that he had a little free time to tinker with it.

He has many talents.... speaking of which... our house is starting to look a lot more like a home.
Which is what I was planning to blog about next before all the drama of a nearly dead laptop.

This is looking from the dining room into the living room. The old doorway was about in the middle where the loveseat is and was not nearly as wide as that even.

That is looking back from the living room the steps are still unfinished but I love love love them already. We got the railing and newel post salvaged from my husbands grandfather. He works in demolition and saves all kinds of awesome old stuff. We were told by another friend who refinishes furniture and helped restore them that they are from the 1860's... super awesome. I love old stuff.

The reason we both loved it was the top of the post which is the end of the railing.
I don't have a finished picture yet but here in the before.

Isn't it just the coolest shape? I also told Tom I would have happily kept the shabby chic powder blue paint but he called it insane and never looked twice. I have to admit it does look pretty spiffy all shined up....

He has a lot of good ideas. He put this crown molding in the living room on a whim and it really just makes the space.

I am constantly humbled by him, impressed... amazed by how hard he works, how much he loves us and wants to make our home all he can.

When I count my blessings I count him first.

Ok now that I've gone and made myself all weepy. Back to Monday and boiling eggs to color!
Making a shopping list, catching up on some school work, and cuddling some cute kids.

Six Years Ago Tonight....

Six years ago I was sitting in this same spot but on a second hand leather sofa.... there were a few more walls back then but more about that another day.

I was eating a Chicken Salad... Texas Roadhouse.... love their ranch dressing.
I was barely enjoying it though. I was a nervous wreck.

I was nine months and one week pregnant with my first child and scheduled to head to the hospital to be induced in just a few hours.

I remember crying nearly the whole hour long drive. But in the end it was nothing like I feared and more beautiful than I could ever have imagined

I remember having a moment right when she was born that I felt almost like I could see everything.
Years.
I could see her whole life mingled with mine... the weight of it could have crushed me.
That was truly amazing and I always think that I could never live that way day to day.
I couldn't breathe for the beauty of it all.

 

And seeing the man I love become a Dad. Forget it. 

Nothing will ever compare.

Watching my baby become a big sister three times over... it runs a close second.

Bella holding a newborn Tommy...

Bella holding newborn Daniel...

 

Bella with newborn Vivian.... the sister she prayed for. 

And by this time tomorrow my first baby will be six.
Amazing.

So tomorrow we will eat ice cream cake, and pizza and corndogs at the birthday girls request.
And we will skip school... and we will enjoy a rare birthday in the sun and sandals.
And we will celebrate being six.
Six years of joy and purpose.
Six years of pink and sparkle.
Six years of our beautiful Bella. 

March Madness

My house is torn apart. I am not coping as well as I would like to.

Today is better than yesterday though because I know things are going to start to move along here this weekend.

I am surprised how annoyed I am by all this.
 I can't wait to see it done!
But really I just want to dust and sweep and redecorate my walls!
I have too many cute spring decorations and I NEED to use them....


Life mixed in with mess and power tools....

We have taken out two main walls and the dining room ceiling and there is dust everywhere.
My Aunt Jeanne came in and said "wow."
 Turns out part of her amazement was about how "clean" it was....
that is because I am following Tom with a dust pan and vacuum.

But is it any wonder? Between the two little ones alone any little project easily becomes a big one and this is no little project.

 

I am having mini heart attacks about the kids going up and down the steps without a railing... I keep telling them no walking, sit and scoot. 

And the table has been strategically place to break a fall should the unthinkable occur....

 mother of the year!

Another thing that seems to be taking longer is we keep changing plans and tweaking things. 

We were going to leave that little bit of wall to the left. But then we got cabin fever and decided we were loving the opened up feeling to much to stop where we had planned...

So Sunday after Church down came the other side of the living room wall.

More dust.

But also way more light!
The kids are loving the chaos and seeing Daddy use all the mysterious contents of his tool box.
Bella is constantly concerned about the house falling down.
Daniel has taken to trying to "break" all other walls in the house as Tommy tells him he isn't that stwong yet.

Hopefully this weekend will be less dusty and involve some painting!
One Birthday down and one to go!

And I need to clean!
We have a little birthday bash for our two March girls in just over a week!

Dear Vivi,

You are one year old today.
 How it has flown past me. I feel as though I am always saying that but it is true.

Your Aunt Kristin says we got an extra day of you being a baby because of leap year.

 Time is a funny thing isn't it.
There really is no such thing as extra is there?

I haven't put a moments work into your "first year scrapbook".
Your sisters was done by her birthday.
Even Tommys was almost done.
At least Daniels is started.

But it is not that I love you less. And you are not deprived of attention being number four.
 In fact you get so much from your siblings its often overwhelming.

No my darling you are actually benefiting from your place as the youngest.

You have the luxury of my time. I have found its value now.
I have watched three of my babies first years scream by me at an alarming rate.

I have blinked and found myself graced with a five year old ballerina,
or a four year old with a cellphone where a sleepy newborn once was.

I simply have no time to waste. For it belongs to you and your sister and brothers.
I must spend it wisely for your sake.... teaching, playing, cuddling.
And for my own sake as well, so I will not look back with regrets about these moments.

Vivi... what a joy you are to me.
You seem to fill this perfect  role in our family.
 How can your presence be so strong in this house when you have only been here a year.
When you hardly talk. Barely walk.
I melt when you do say Mama, or Dada or kiss. Your three favorite words right now.
And I could swear that you are trying to say Bella, you are so in love with her and your brothers.

Your spirit seems to so fit your name. Do we grow into our names?
Does a name speak something over us at birth... a truth or blessing that will be ours?

 You seem as thought you fit your name more than most...
 filled to the top with life and sweetness.

On more than a few hard days I will find myself heading in the direction of your smile.
Like magic it can help cure anything.

I can't believe you started walking at eleven months.
You are clearly here to break records and show what you got...

Even your brother Daniel who is the original wild child didn't start till fourteen.

 I know that's late but it is normal for us and our abnormal family.
I think you must know you have big things to do.

Places to go.
Adventures to be had.
Life to live.

Remember baby....  “It's not what the world holds for you. It's what you bring to it.”
~LM Montgomery 

My beautiful bright eyed daughter.
May the years ahead be as sweet as you and as filled with joy and wonder as this first one has been....

Let's paint our room... or gut half the house?

Our weekend was messy....
Have you ever read "Little House on the Prairie"? How about "The Long Winter"?

What we have lacked in snow and cold here we have more than made up for in random illness.
Someone in this house has been sick almost constantly since the new year.  We have had to stomach bugs. Three children with ear infections another with a cold. Three had some kind of virus that caused a high fever for a few days.

So what did we do with all our time stuck in the house daydreaming and dealing with sad sick little kids?

We decided this was the ideal time for some major renovations.
 Ok, maybe not "major" but every little thing is major with little ones underfoot. 

First I wanted to paint our bedroom.

 I made the epic mistake of choosing green when we moved in and we thought we would soon replace the green carpet...
yeah...
we never did, still haven't and it is STILL way way way too much green.

And green is my favorite color so yeah....

We are slowly also realizing that we need much much more privacy than our bedroom has given us. Its the whole second floor and we had no door all these years. The kids have the two downstairs bedrooms.

Tom finally got fed up with the ninja like way our children were creeping up on us and decided that there will be a wall and more importantly a door.... easy when we just painted it already right?

see the door past the debris? yeah me neither.....

And then the train of thought became a run away....

If we are doing that might as well re-wire the lights...
we could build in some shelves too.... never too much storage....
You know why not do something with that ugly chimney that runs through?
 Maybe we should price out replacing this flooring also...
You know since we are already into it why don't we put in a banister on the stairs?
It would really give more light in the dining room!

Somehow we took a left at ambition and landed in "This Old House-Reality Edition!"
 Can this couple survive a remodel on a two week time crunch???"

  That's right. Two weeks.
 We have a birthday party looming on the horizon. I would like to be able to not cringe when people come in. Tom swears I will be beaming and delighted and proud...
and also not exhausted or touching up paint ten minutes before the guests arrive.

Did I mention he just finished building a garage? This may explain my dread a bit more.
I haven't even gotten around to blogging about that one yet... it is BIGGER than our HOUSE.

This is sort of an old picture but you get the idea. 

 I am a little weary of build and fixing and doing every evening. I am sure he is even more than me!
And when it will make my house look prettier how can I really complain?
Also he gets this sparkle in his eye when he makes a plan and I just hate to kill that...

Saying no reminds me of when someone says they don't believe in fairies in the movie Peter Pan...
it's just not ok.

I think we will make it.
 He is an amazing man of many talents, not the least of which is looking good... so even if he doesn't get it done in time it will still probably be ok cause I just can't stay mad at that face...

Icky Day Randomness....

Today I feel just icky.

Nothing I can say can fix anything.

My back hurts like crazy from moving furniture and a sick kid in my bed.

Sickness continues to run rampant here. We have just finished two kids on antibiotics only to begin another today...

Three down and God please strengthen Tommy's poor little immune system.

I don't even have the words really but let just say that I read and article about a cloistered nun and her lifestyle choice sounds so appealing right now...

I wonder if they have any sort of daycare situation in the convent?

ah well. Tomorrow is another day....
Is that supposed to be encouraging???
I think we should be more specific about what kind of day I want tomorrow to be.

I want a day where things get done.
Where there is more giggling than screaming.
Where misunderstandings are nonexistent.
A day in which we learn, we clean, we craft, we create, we cuddle and nap.
I want it all but really its such simple stuff isn't it?