Thursday, January 10, 2013

The girls move-in together!

***Just found this in my drafts file – ooops! Should have posted this months ago. I’ll move back to 2012 in a week or two.

When we found out there was another baby on the way we started talking about what to do with the rooms upstairs. We had our bedroom, one guest room and Matney and Halle Kate had their own rooms. After talking to the girls we decided to keep a guest room and put the girls in together. Several people had strong opinions about not putting them together but in the end we decided to give it a try….and they LOVE it!

Both girls had begged to share a room and the only concern we had was how well they would sleep. We waited until we got back from Disney and they were out of their routine and used to being in the same room at night. Jared and I were nervous but it has gone so well!!! Listening to them talk to one another over the monitor is the sweetest, cutest thing in the world. They tell each other stories and sing songs. At least once a week we hear them running around, and most of the time we ignore them, and it is SO DANG FUNNY to go check them when they finally fall asleep. We have  found out them in totally different clothes than what they were wearing when we tucked them in and random toys everywhere. So dang funny! 

Going to bed at night hasn’t been an issue but some mornings have been a struggle. They are both supposed to stay quietly in bed until their Mr. Sun light comes on. Then, the first person awake is supposed to tip toe out of the room…which almost never happens. The first girl awake has been known to come flying out of the room like a stampede of elephants while shouting the other girls’ name. Nothing like hearing “Halle Kate? Halle Kate? HALLE KATE!!!! are you awake?” before the sun comes up!

All together it has been a great change. The girls love being together and both have said some version of “I know I don’t have to be scared at night because (my sister) is with me”. So sweet. And, hallelujah! Ever since HK was a baby I have been in her room at least once a night, just to pat her back when she was crying. Now that she is in a room with Matney she almost always sleeps all night long. Whoo hooo! They may fight like cats and dogs a lot of the time but they do love each other a whole lot.

Here are some pictures of the room. Jared cut the headboards out of plywood and I covered them with fabric. And then I made Mom work in my sweatshop and make the curtains. I have some things to go on the walls but all of that will have to wait until after Christmas and after the dust settles on the built-ins downstairs.

 

What our bedroom looked like the morning of the big move. HK went to M’s room, the guest room went to HK’s old room and M’s old furniture went to the nursery which was the guest room. IE – pretty much every single thing upstairs except our room had to be cleaned out – closets, drawers, everything. It took FOREVER to dig through it all!

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Moving the guest room into HK’s old room.

The girls occupied themselves for most of the day and let us work. They were excited by the mess.

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The start of the girls’ room. I’d hoped the painter would be here before the move but he couldn’t come until after Thanksgiving. We promised HK if she went to M’s room that we’d repaint the walls. HK and a pink room was not going to work!

Had to have a picture of J smiling. He worked solid for 2 days moving stuff around and (most of the time) stayed in a really good mood. I love this picture of Jared – I married well, he’s a stud!

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Getting new beds!

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Here is a picture of the wall color changed. Some day I will get up a picture with made beds and stuff on the walls.

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Evelyn Update

The nursery is finished, I’ll be full term (37 weeks) in a few days and we’re almost ready for Evelyn to arrive! With the girls out of school they got to come to the dr with me, and of course they both had to bring their own babies. Nothing like a tiny exam room with 2 wild girls and their baby dolls. And yes, Halle Kate is in a dress. Sometime over Dec she decided she wanted to wear tights….which means she is wearing dresses. We went right to the store and got the girl some tights! If you see her do NOT say anything to her about it, just admire the cuteness.

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Here are pictures of the nursery. The color looks blue in these pictures but it is actually a light green/teal color. It looks exactly like its name, “watery”.  I found the curtain material at a fabric store and loved it right away. After the girls bright, girly rooms I was ready for something soothing and calm. I LOVE this room.

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I put mom in the family sweat shop again and had her make the curtains. A lady on etsy made the crib bumper. If I end up with time I am making the crib skirt but I forgot how much it won’t show in this crib so making it hasn’t been high on my priority list. Once that mattress drops down again it will have to come out anyway. The furniture was Matney’s for the past 4 years.
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If you enlarge this you can see the prints above the beds. They are the words to “You are my Sunshine” and again, I used etsy. I mailed the woman paint/fabric swatches and she made them to match. That bottom left picture is darker than the rest….maybe not to anyone but me but it is driving me nuts so she’s sending a new one.
The table and lamp I pulled from another room and painted white, then covered the shade with the curtain fabric. Spray paint and hot glue are miracle makers!

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The opposite wall from the crib. The white lines in the mirror are reflections from the window and not something on the wall. Putting wipes and tiny diapers in that basket sure made it all feel real!

I am still looking for something to put on top of this piece of furniture. The thing on the wall is an old piece of foam board covered in the bumper fabric with a painted “e”. Cheap and easy.

View from the door. This room is pretty small but the big window and vaulted ceiling provide so much light. It is such a peaceful room…or will be until that screaming baby girl arrives!

I went to my 36 week appt yesterday. Ev is head down and has dropped but I’m only 1cm. My iron is really low, which explains why I can’t ever catch my breath, so I’m waiting for a call back to see if I have to go start iron shots or can just add another iron pill. Fingers crossed for the pill! If we want to induce we can by the 31st of Jan or we can wait her out. As ready as we are to hold her, I don’t want to induce unless we have to so I’m going to have to be patient (J can tell you that is not one of my best qualities!) and she’ll get here when she gets here. Hopefully I will be further along by next week’s dr appt!

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And here is a picture of the belly at 36 weeks. I took my huge self to the gym with Jared and the girls last weekend. More than once I have had a fabulous running dream. I am so ready to go for a run outside in the sun and get moving again!

Monday, January 7, 2013

shark!

We met friends at Bass Pro Shop over the Christmas break just to get out of the house. All the kids LOVED playing in this shark. Funny kids!

 

 

 

 

The best part about getting into the mall before the stores open is having all the fun stuff to ourselves!

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There are so many people we know with the flu/strep right now and I do not want us to get sick! Until this morning we’d stayed home the entire break – no food playgrounds, no mall, etc – I’d rather stay home deal with the girls trashing EVERYTHING than I would take the chance of us getting sick. This particular store opens before the mall and we were able to let the kids hang out before anyone else was really there... and we used lots of hand sanitizer. School started back today and we’re all well. My fingers are crossed that we can stay this way until Evelyn comes! Baby update coming Wednesday after my dr. appt.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning came really early in our house! Since Mom and I went to the movie  late Christmas Eve and didn’t get home until 1am, the guys waited up to make sure we were home safe.  Needless to say as soon as were home everyone crashed. By 5am I was in the girls’ room trying to get HK back to sleep, she was so excited.
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Matney’s most requested item was the American Doll McKenna. Lucky girl – McKenna showed up with lots of extra clothes and a sleeping bag.

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HK wanted a boy baby with blue footie jammies, Bucky’s pirate ship and the Pop the Pig game. Santa was good to the girls this year!

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Santa enjoyed his milk and cookies!

While trying to get HK back to sleep at 5am I finally just curled up in bed with her. See my pillow and the space I got to sleep in? Remember that I have a GIANT belly? Want to guess if I got sleep or not? Matney was awake by 6:30 and I finally had to wake HK up at 7. I guess cuddled up with Mommy works wonders for going back to sleep!

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Here we come!!!!
The next hour was a whirlwind of packages, squeals, trash and smiles. We had very happy girls when everything was opened!

Jared and I have changed enough baby doll clothes in the past 2 days to equal what we’ve worn this year. AGH! And if anyone is keeping up with HK’s clothing choices for the past 24 hours you’ll notice her in 6 outfits at this point. By the end of the day that number was more than 10. She exhausts us!

Yay! HK got a Ken doll. So glad she has boys to get married now!
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The girls picked out gifts for each other and Jared this year. They have been so eager to exchange presents and so proud of their choices. Matney made the sweetest cards to go on the tops of them. In fact, I saved the cards, I will try to remember to take a picture and post them. HK’s had a robot and J’s had balloons with something about how much she loved her Daddy.
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OK – so this will show you how much time the girls and I spend in pjs in this house. Both girls were let loose with money and got to pick out whatever they wanted for one another. Matney found these awesome Spiderman footie jammies for HK. And HK picked out a princess nightgown for Matney. PJs are better than toys any day, right? So funny and so sweet!

Nothing like going through the pictures from the camera and finding one of your big belly. Thanks, Jared! I am HUGE already. If this baby waits until her due date I am going to be down to 1 shirt and pair of pants that fit...and those clothes will be Jared's!
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The girls got Jared a Wreck It Ralph. We went to see this at the movies last month. HK only made it 10 minutes and I took her home but M and Daddy stayed and loved it. When they saw Wreck It Ralph in Target they were determined that he had to have it.

Time to unwrap!
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They got a wedding set from their TX aunties….and it had a bride and groom. Very exciting!
Watching the girls open gifts is so much fun. And the next most fun? Watching Jared open gifts. He’s always so excited!

Several gifts were labeled “share” like the Dream Light they’ve been begging for for months. There are benefits to kids sharing a room when you only have to buy one gift!
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I think I should have gotten a hooded blanket too. They are so soft and comfy!
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HK named her boy baby Grayson which is funny because that is my best friend’s son’s name. Over the past two days I’ve sent her several funny pictures of things Grayson is “up to”.
Soon all the gifts were unwrapped and the guys were in charge of opening packages/installing batteries. At one point I found Jared and Josh in the kitchen with the robot HK got from TX.
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Poor MoMo. She was in the kitchen trying to cook breakfast for everyone and the guys were using her as robot shooting target practice!

Now that we had boys to get married the weddings were on before we even ate breakfast!
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Yummy breakfast! It is two days after Christmas as I type this and it is time for a sugar detox in this house!
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Playing a game of Pop the Pig! Don’t know why but HK has been obsessed with this game for months.
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After breakfast it was time to clean up and calm things down. My family headed back home and we spent a lazy day playing with toys and yes, as usual, taking down the Christmas tree. It drives me more than crazy to have all that Christmas stuff out with new toys and not be able to clean up…so the tree comes down while Jared is home to help and the girls are distracted by new toys. In fact, now it is 24 hours later and I am looking a clean, organized living room. Ahh, deep breath after a month of craziness!
We really didn’t need more toys so I tried to be practical on many of their gifts. Both girls got new sets of sheets. They have cute ones that match their bedding but we’ve had enough stomach bugs now to learn that one set of sheets per bed is not enough. M picked out Rapunzel and HK wanted rocket ship sheets. The girls are happy and those sheets will be hidden once the beds are made!
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By the end of the day even McKenna was ready for bed!
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We had a wonderful Christmas again this year. Everything about the Christmas season was exciting for the girls and their excitement rubbed off on the rest of us. Thank you, thank you to everyone who helped make it special and fun for our family this year!