no perfect picture, need photoshop

A good one of Dallas
A better one of Emily

They love sitting on the shoe rack bench in the closet, hiding behind the coats

And delicious Noelle!

Bathroom update... this one is for Dana!

This is what our main bath looked like when we bought the place. Rob removed the shower doors a year or so later in a fit of rage, they never stayed on the tracks! There was significant drywall damage to the left of the toilet, probably from the shower, but Rob always teased me that it was from the previous owners missing the target!
This is our current bathroom! New vinyl, same vanity cabinet, I spray painted it a chocolate brown, I spray painted the hardware Nickel, and bought new handles. The toilet is new, but only because the other one cracked when it was removed to lay the flooring. The sink top is new with new faucet.

The big deal was getting a new shower surround and the dry wall fixed. The wall that the sink and toilet are on was completely stripped down to the studs and new board (the special bathroom kind) was put in place. Same shower curtain, I trimmed it out with some decorator fabric, we needed more length as we mounted the curtain rod much higher than before. We also used a curved rod, it makes the bath seem much more spacious!

New lights, the over head light is actually a fan/light combo. It replaced the existing fan, this new combo fixture moves a ton more air, so basically you can remove stink and moist air quickly.

We replaced the inset mirror medicine cabinet and light. I copied an idea out of Better Homes and Gardens small bathroom feature. They placed a big mirror and centered a light fixture over the sink and toilet, to expand the prep area. It gives much more room to get ready in the morning and also creates more light. I was worried I wouldn't like it since I do like this rather symmetrical, but I love the outcome. Much better than the 13 inch mirror that was centered above the sink before. I also bought little brushed nickel hooks to use for hanging towels.

We splurged and had the drywall, flooring and shower surround installed. I painted, and Rob hung fixtures and mirrors. I think a big difference was made by the shower surround since we went from dingy cream to bright white, and the flooring made a huge difference as well. We didn't buy anything to extravagant. The curved shower rod is about $15 more than a straight rod, flooring was $1.99 a sq ft but Lowes makes you buy a minimum of 12 ft, which was way more than we needed so that was a tad more of an expense. Painting the cabinet and hardware saved us some $$$ too. The fan/light combo was also a splurge, but much better than the piece of plastic that was the fan before. We scored on the mirror, finding one the right size seemed difficult, I was looking into having one made, which wasn't as cheap as I hoped, and then low and behold I found this one at World Market, $69.99 and 20% off! I love the overall look and am glad it is finished!

(it is way better looking in person, hard to photograph and add/edit lighting on such a small space, it really is bright white and pretty!)

We ordered a new fridge today. Hopefully this will help with all of the "sickness" issues we have had the past year. I have had a thermometer in the fridge for a couple of days, and it is indeed running 5- 10 degrees warmer than it should be. The repair guy that came out today, confirmed this by checking the freon level which was 3/4 empty. The repair for this is ship your fridge off to the shop for 2-3 days and the cost for this is a touch less than a new fridge, so new fridge it is!

I am once again super thankful that we have that old fridge in the garage, it has been a lifesaver many a time! We are one appliance closer to replacing the whole house!!!!

the last few days

We tried to get into our new routine this week, but yet another fast acting "sickness" over took Rob and I Sunday night and Monday. I am much better, maybe because I have to be, but Rob came home early from work today to sleep and down a couple of packets of TheraFlu.

Noelle is still sleeping pretty well, although she gets pretty ticked off when she can't burp. She has completely mastered pooping out of every outfit. How quickly you forget the need to soak everything in OxyClean. Her cord stump has not fallen off yet, and seems to have developed some oozy-ness today. I am trying to keep it clean and hopefully it will be better tomorrow.

Emily is really enjoying her big sister role. We had planned to start some pre-school curriculum at home this week, but it looks like recovering from the illness is taking priority. We have new neighbors across the street and she has a new friend who is four years old as well. They had a playdate last Friday and she talks all the time about "her friend that lives in the house across the street". This is week four of Awana, which means she has memorized four scriptures thus far. She really likes going and hanging out with her friend Max, we are also headed back to Bible Study Fellowship this week, assuming everyone feels great tomorrow.

Dallas spends his days trying on shoes and playing. I brought up a hand-me-down Thomas the Train set from the basement last week, he loves playing with it, and can build the track pretty well. It occupies him fairly well if I have to attend to Noelle. He really seems to do best (have the least amount of fits) when we have a routine day.
Today we almost had three napping kids at the same time!

some pictures

Bring Noelle home for the first time, Emily was insistant that we go through the garage, and Dallas wanted to be held too!
Emily holding Noelle, and Dallas today

New configuration in the van, Em sitting in the back, and Dallas sitting closer to Noelle

The Chevelle waiting to take Noelle home from the hospital

Noelle at the hospital right before we left, we have a picture like this of Dallas and Emily as well, both of us holding their hands

Southern Dallas

Sometimes when Dallas talks, and says his little phrases he sounds a little Southern. He has tons of words and can use them in 3-5 word sentences. One of my favorite things he says in his little accident is "I spilled", we hear this a lot! The other night, Rob took Em to Awanna, Mom was hanging out with Noelle, so I took Bo and Dallas around the block. Dallas was riding the trike behind Bo and I. Bo stopped to pee on the neighbors fence, and what do I hear... "Bo spilled"

Tuesday we made it out of the house to pay a visit to Dallas's ENT. Yes I took three kids to the Dr's by myself, but thank goodness Rob met us there from work. I don't know what it is about the ENT, but each time we get called back to the patient room promptly, and then wait at least 45 minutes. Needless to say, it takes at least two parents to feed a newborn, read to a four year old and keep the 21 month year old from opening up each door and drawer and raising and lowering each stool!
My mom came up Tuesday afternoon and stayed through Thursday afternoon. So nice, I slept or tried to each afternoon. She helped me take the kids to Play Pals this morning. It was nice to blow off some steam in a mosquito free environment. After nap we headed to get some pictures taken, it was kind of a bust, but I guess that saves me some money in the long run.

Things are going pretty well. I have my first full day by myself tomorrow. The mornings are the long part. In our pre-Noelle sched. we went to the gym almost everyday or had a playdate or Bible study, so just staying home seems to make the morning drag by. I would love to spend some time outside but the bugs are so bad, even the spray doesn't keep us from getting bitten, and I can't imagine putting chemicals on Noelle so young.
Dallas is really taking up a lot of my attention. He seems to be having a hard time adjusting, and or he just entered the terrible twos on Saturday. He wants to be held all the time, and or throwing fits, or hitting or screaming no, or screaming owie. His new trick is pulling on my arm saying "stand up" then when I get up he asks to be held, and not rocked or cuddled while sitting down, he only wants to be held while standing... lets pray for this stage not to last the next year, and for me to not have too much mommy guilt bringing home this new little one