everyday life

feels like home

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

I’ve really neglected the before&after pictures of the house, I know.  But mainly it’s because they wouldn’t really be “after” pictures yet since nothing’s totally done. (I’ll let you steal a couple sneak peeks in the pictures below).  However.  As I mentioned in my Halloween post…we DID officially move in!  We started staying at the house on Sunday 10/28.  Three months + 1 day after closing.  After we made this decision I started thinking it was super dumb because Theo is transitioning to a big boy bed AND both boys are transitioning to sharing a room with each other.  On a Sunday night.  Genius.  Seems like something you’d want to get a handle on starting on a Friday, right? Eh.

As it turns out, so far it has been fine.  Our big boy really has proven to be just that so far by staying in his bed, not partying all night, and not keeping his brother up all night.  They are fine if we put them to bed at the same time, but they will talk/yell to each other for about 30-45 minutes.  It seems to work better if we put Dexter to bed about 20-30 minutes earlier than Theo.  He has been really good about staying quiet when he knows Dexter is asleep.  Theo is a pretty sound sleeper, so even on the days Dexter wakes up early for milk (yes, we still heat up milk for Dexter at 5:45 am most days), Theo sleeps in.  Saturday both kids slept til almost 8.  EIGHT!  Couldn’t believe it.

So the big bed and room-sharing is great.  The mom/homemaker/nurturer in me has been happy as a clam for the past week.  Theo and Dexter have been getting along so well.  My heart bursts every time they hug each other.  Every time I catch Theo trying to teach Dexter something.  Every time I sneak a peek into their room because it’s too quiet and see them sitting on Theo’s bed playing with something together.  It feels amazing to just cook their dinner and give them a bath here and do the most normal, ordinary, mundane, boring things.  That’s all I wanted.  They love this house.  It’s far from done, but it’s home.  It’s already our home sweet home.  Blood, sweat, and tears have all been shed here to make this place our home.

The OCD person in me still sees unpacked boxes and piles of tools and unpainted cabinets, etc.  But those things can wait.  We’re home now.  We’re with our kids every day.  I never have to miss a bedtime or dinnertime or storytime.  It’s all I’ve been wanting for the past 3+ months.

Best friends.  Two peas in a pod.

It’s home.

xo,
~C~

a new old toy, long hair, and decorations

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest
We’re still staying with Ryan’s parents, and they have a huge driveway with a long hill.  The boys love driving their riding toys up and down the hill.  Dexter was feeling pretty good about swooping in and calling dibs on Theo’s current favorite – the Radio Flyer tricycle.  
Theo didn’t care, he’d already called dibs on the Cozy Coupe police car.  He likes both the Radio Flyer trike and the Cozy Coupe because they both have a little “trunk” he can keep his collection in.  His collection changes from day to day.  On this day, it was Chuggington die cast trains.  Some days it’s screwdrivers.  Some days it’s coconuts.  And by coconuts, he means acorns.  
We’re enjoying mild weather, so as the boys played, I admired my mother-in-law’s new decorations. 
I remembered that we had yet to open one of Theo’s belated birthday gifts.  It was so hot all summer so I never bothered with it.  My sister got him a little bubble mower.  This thing is so cute and it does not require batteries (and can I get a HOLLA for tool-free assembly?). The boys LOVED it.  It didn’t take long before the dear ol’ Chuggington collection was tossed to the ground.  Sad situation. 
Dexter was watching Theo dart across the yard with the mower.  I was staring at Dexter’s curls, debating whether I should cut them off or not.  Guys – his hair is so long.  Ponytail long.  No lie. But it’s so cute and so curly and so blonde.
That’s Theo’s concentration face.
And that’s his “whatchu talkin’ about Willis?” face – the one he gave me when I told him to give Dexter a turn. 
It was a fun night.
xo,
~C~

we’ve had the sickies and other randomness.

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Last weekend, Dexter had a fever that crept up to a scary 103.8.  Luckily we were able to manage it with medicine and tepid baths, but I won’t lie.  It really was scary.  It only lasted about 48 hours.  This weekend, it’s been Theo’s turn.  He has had the exact same symptoms and hopefully is on the mend now.  Thank goodness for a best friend who is an ER nurse with peds experience.  She has saved me a trip to the ER more than once.

We finally got a tile saw so Ryan’s dad has been working on the boys’ bathtub. I need to get over to the house and take some pictures.  I also painted a wall red in our bedroom.  I’m not loving it yet, but I think it will look a lot better once we get some furniture and curtains in there.  It took so many coats that I dread the day I have to cover it up.  The biggest hold up right now is… us.  We’ve yet to figure out our flooring.

We were thinking about having carpet in the bedrooms.  Initially, because we thought it would be cheaper and because it would go down fast.  Upon doing some research, we learned that it’s not cheaper.  Faster yes. Cheaper no.  So no we’re going back and forth between whether we wanted carpet because it would be nice for variety or if we only wanted it because we thought it would be cheaper and faster.  Sure, it feels nice under your feet.  But after having a house with all hardwood floors (with a puking baby and puking cats present), we know how nice it is to clean up a mess with a clorox wipe and be done with it.  I have no interest in finding dried chunks of cat puke on the carpet when I get home from work.  Kids puke.  Potty training kids pee and poop.  I think we are leaning towards having hard floors throughout the house.

Decisions, decisions.

Everyone wants to know when we think we are going to move in.  We. Don’t. Know.  I wish we did.  All I can say is … as soon as possible. As soon as reasonable.  We have to get the boys’ bathtub finished and we have to get some flooring down throughout the home.  We can do the kitchen after we get moved in.

Week two of work is under way.  Still loving it and appreciating that I made the change, even if the timing was not optimal.

I think it is safe to mention it here – I am going to be an AUNTIE again!  My sister is over halfway through her pregnancy and we should know if I’ll be having a niece or nephew within the next few days.  This is exciting news!

I will get some new pictures of the house up very soon.

xo,
~C~