looking ahead

It has been quite some time since I last wrote! I sometimes think to write, but then get too lazy, if that is even possible. This week I went 9 days without posting any 365 photos.  The last couple weeks have been pretty productive. Slowly we are getting a few things organized in the house-- the bunk beds have been up for a little while and this last week they both started sleeping in them finally. The first night was a little rocky because Maddy kept giggling, but since I threatened to bring her back into her bed I haven't heard any peeps the rest of the nights.  I organized our linen/medicine closet in the hallway.... oh my- I threw out almost a whole garbage bag of old medicines and body sprays/lotions, etc. I usually clean it out twice a year and I still had that much stuff. This year though, i've noticed my attitude with throwing out has changed a lot. Before I would think, "oh, I'll probably use this for.......(fill in the blank)" -- I know better this time.  Bags, and bags, and bags of stuff have been thrown out, including clothes that I normally wouldn't give away were sent to a thrift store and I even sold some of the girls' clothes since most is in excellent condition.

Other things done:  I cleaned out the "yellow" room to make room for kate's old mattress, well not old, we just got it a couple years ago, but now it is being used in another guest bedroom. I cleaned out all the papers and old junk in that room, cleaned out most of the toys, threw out lots and lots of junk, and even cleaned out my sewing/craft area.  Peter finally got the kitchen closet cleaned out and added two more shelves and now we are able to store some of our food/canned goods (use as a pantry) for when the kitchen remodel takes place. We're really trying to be efficient during this time and I have been searching for some frozen slow cooker meals I can put together within the next two weeks to be ready for when we don't have a sink. We still have many things to order, such as our table, faucet, sink, -- mostly everything and we're just not sure when to get all this stuff.  I think the faucet and sink need to be asap, but the table is rather large and Peter is worried that another sale would come up between now and when we need it. Production time is March 16th, which means we're hoping to have them deliver and install the week after and to be safe, for sure around the 23rd (but they can't guarantee the Monday after the 16th, --we're crossing our fingers!)   We are unsure when to start tearing out sofitting,  electrician work, contractor work, and flooring work.  We are also due to replace our living room carpeting due to water damage and ceiling work as well.... so, so much going on. It hasn't hit us quite yet but with all the work in the kitchen going on, it's not like I will be able to be in there making food.... so I will have to have a definite EASY meal plan for several weeks while work is being done. Awkward.

I've also been looking at some photos of myself during the summer, back when I weighed the least in my life since like, 9th grade.  It makes me really sad that I will have to start all over after the baby is born, and who knows how much energy and time I will have. The energy part is what I am hopeful for because I have the motivation... just not the energy. Baby has been terribly active, especially at night and seems to HATE when I lie on my left side! It is so weird, it goes nuts! As soon as March hits, i am hopeful it will go really fast, especially with all the stuff going on in the house! This week, Kate is going to the dentist for fillings (again, poor girl) we are now up to 3 times a day brushing and rinsing for both kids, we'll see if this helps.  Maddy has a concerning mole on her cheek that they (derm specialists we went to) advised us to get removed and do a biopsy on the mole to make sure it's okay.  Scary stuff, but that just adds to this overwhelming March month.   Off to bed I think!

things to think about

We had a great weekend visiting my younger sister Kelsey. It was a huge joy to see how excited Kelsey was to see the girls... how she looked forward to it all week and how the girls woke up early, excited to get on the road. It's sad that she loves being with them so much and is so far away... even when she lived closer (about an hour away) she'd come every weekend to visit them. She doesn't have much money yet she buys them stuff all the time.  She is like a second momma!   Priceless.

We went ahead with the kitchen. It was really a huge praise to us how well it went. We had complete peace and feel really good about it.  On my prayer list this week is that I would be able to go with the flow and just get through the next few months.... they'll be very hard on my personality. I have trouble with things being outrageously messy and I know for sure I won't have energy to keep up.  My prayer is that I can be content and not make it hard for the kids or for Peter. With my fall it has made things a lot harder now to keep up, especially since lifting is really out of the question- though I still do it at times when i'm desperate.

Ecclesiastes 1:3: What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? 

That's what I need to seriously think about the next couple of months. 

I'm so thankful for my Triad group for encouraging me tonight. 

latest photos

Wish I had more time to write, but I don't. I'm awfully tired and we've got a big day tomorrow- so here's just a couple of pictures to get me by til next time....

another weekend

another weekend gone by! We had a good day at church - my Sunday school class was plump full and church was really good too. Our plan is to go to Bismark this weekend to visit Kelsey. Kate is experiencing an upset tummy today.....so i had to cancel her dentist appointment. I am really not sure what it is with the flu or bad weather landing on the days we all have appointments but it really seems to be doing that a lot lately. I am a bit sad actually even though it would have been tough with both the kids and my sore back with lifting and all, but it is probably for the best. I just had a couple things i was planning to get but they can wait. Peter has meetings again today so he plans to pick up some of the groceries we needed. I am hoping to make it to a chiropractor appointment this week because it's been really hard to move around lately. I'm also experiencing more braxton hicks contractions. I feel like i am at least 8 months pregnant already! It can't come soon enough.

Things with the kitchen are looking up. Hopefully our kitchen planner is still able to come tomorrow for final measurements and then we will submit the kitchen to see how long it will take to get everything back. I'm still looking for shelving that would be less expensive but still want it to look really nice... it's so hard!  The picture to the right is what i'm looking for, only it costs so much for it to be "custom made" - i just want to find somewhere that has this. Help!  We're working on pendant lighting, stools, counter-top color, drawer organizations, paint color... carpet for the living room-- all these things we have to figure out within a month. Plus, I am really wanting to get things organized... it's going to be such a big and messy project. I hope I can handle it.

new pictures

I've had a chance to take some really fun photos over the last week...and it's been especially fun to put a 'watermark' on them! Of course when I print them it won't be on there, but to me it makes the photo look more dramatic and real. I had ordered a bunch of photos the other day and a photo book too, and as I was looking through the pictures I had a huge smile on my face the whole time. Yes, a photo a day is sometimes a burden, and editing can be too especially when you don't feel like it or busy...but it is TOTALLY worth it! I just love doing 365... it makes me accountable to taking pictures. I was hoping today to get kate in some of the frosty ones... but we'll see. My tailbone is really hurting today for some reason so it is hard to move around. We plan to go to my nephews game tonight so I'll be sitting on hard bleachers.. hopefully it will go okay! Here's the rest of them.

not ours

It has really been a blur the last day or so. I had a really yucky fall yesterday afternoon around 12:30. I remember going to my appointment and driving to Target for groceries, and along the way I was praising God aloud in prayer just for allowing me to go, the health and safety of the baby and other prayers that were on my heart. I was just in such a happy mood, and soon I would be able to figure out more kitchen stuff!

I got groceries, hurried to eat a sandwich from Target I got, and arrived to do more kitchen stuff.  I put one foot on the ground and totally wiped out. I landed really hard on my tailbone and all I remember was leaning back in so much pain. It felt like I had fallen right from the height of my Yukon seat all the way to the slippery ice. Somehow I hurt my foot which I still have no idea how that happened and my arm is bruised a bit. My first few thoughts were: Oh my word, this is really bad, my baby!, and what will I do now?  Two men rushed over in their car (they must have saw me from the road and drove in) but they said they saw me fall and I remember them slamming their car door and running to help. They asked if I was okay and I just kept crying and said, I'm pregnant....  I'm so, so, thankful that I didn't hit my head or even worse, my belly.

I hadn't even gotten into the store to plan out kitchen stuff yet and I was already calling my doctor which they advised strongly to come right away to be checked out. I didn't know I would be there for 5 hours! It was a long day but it also felt nice to just sit and watch t.v.  I was in a lot of uncomfortable pain but not anything severe, and by the time the tylenol kicked in, I was able to walk fairly normally and probably could have driven myself home. The only thing that really scared me was falling on ice again and I didn't know how I would feel as the day progressed.  When I got home I had a really hard time walking before bed so I took another Tylenol and really today the pain is better, which I expected to be worse. So that is definitely a praise. I can't really bend, lift, or walk fast but hey, I am really happy about that! Peter is at his meetings today (boo) so hopefully the day will go well with the kids. He plans to bring home supper so I don't have to cook. My prayer last night was for supernatural power to have a good attitude with the kids and to see them through Jesus' perspective (which is all love) instead of "Grrr you kids, stop fighting!!". It has gone well so far.

When I visited with our kitchen planner last night, I was pleasantly surprised at the price-- we had no idea with all the things we added (pull-outs, different stain, etc) it would be that low, which is INCLUDING installation, counter-tops, handles, the stain we wanted, no tax, etc. We have a little more room to get different counter-tops if we wanted, but I am really feeling guilty about it. I am hoping God will really reveal to us what we should do because it's been extremely confusing so far, not exactly IF we'll do the kitchen, because we will, but WHEN is the biggest thing. And of course needs vs wants. There are lots of things we don't need... all the pull outs we don't need (which really aren't a lot but still, some), we don't need expensive counter-tops-- those are just wants. We're just really praying for wisdom. I just hope that whenever she submits the layout for production, that will tell us when we'll be able to have them installed and then it will be an easy decision on our part. We have included God in almost all of our decisions, even if its a small one and so we're hoping we can really be listening to Him. After all, it is HIS money!

weekend

Well, we have the flu now.  Maddy threw up just before bed. I was really worried about getting it before my appointment tomorrow which is very important I go....I have tons of questions and really need to get checked out.....Peter says we'll wait and see if she throws up during the night or the morning before my appointment to determine if he'll stay home with her... Just please pray that I don't get stuck bringing a sick child with to my appointment who would most likely throw up sometime during my trip to GF.

In other news: We have been working really hard lately with house stuff. It is all humongously fun, but overwhelming too because it's all basically at once. Last year we had some water damage to our ceiling and our carpet - so insurance will be helping pay for under half of the carpet and ceiling repair. We're picking out carpet and my dad came over to measure. About a month or two ago, we bought some bunk beds for the kids and a dresser. Today we got the dresser put together, but that also meant cleaning out closets, refolding, going through clothing, vacuuming, and we're still not done yet. It might take a while to put the bunk beds together but I am okay with doing things one step at a time. My goal this week is to get every unnecessary item out of the kids' room, separate all the toys that they don't play with much, and just declutter! It is so much work to keep up the house. I have to find a solution to the living room and the toy situation in there. They mostly play in their rooms or sometimes (very rarely) go upstairs, but I feel like they have enough rooms in the house to have toys in, so that might help with the mess in the house.

Thursday Kelsey came over after naps and we were all fighting over who could talk/play with her. It was so much fun. She took all of the photos in the previous post. Friday we got the pleasure of going to Grand Forks without kids while Kelsey babysat, which is so nice to be able to do once in a while. We talked with our kitchen planner for two hours and went through our cupboard layouts, stain, we talked about countertops, and the timeline. Tomorrow I have a doctors appointment so I will be able to go back there to see what the estimate is and if this is possible to get done before the baby is born. I'm not sure how this will go if I take Maddy so we'll see. We'll hopefully pick out some handles and other little things too. On Friday we picked out a sink, possible faucet, microwave, and possible back splash.  Possible carpet too. By the time we were at our last store, I nearly fainted again... I really don't know what the problem is but I think it has something to do with overheating.  From there, we went to Owens game which was also very fun. Here's some pictures of that: