The Bad, Good and....Big

First thing's first...

"The Bad"
We are getting kicked out. Bummer. We've gotten so "spoiled" living in our apartment. Not like we haven't had to work for our keep, but I'd say the good definitely outweighed the bad. Now we're going to have to go back to doing things normal people do, like pay rent and utilities. Ugh. And no free Dish? Maaaan! I think it's going to be really hard to leave this apartment. We've been here for almost 2 years (longest place we've lived somewhere) and we've become quite attached to all the quirks and wonderful things about this apartment. I'll try not to get all sentimental on ya'll, but suffice it to say, it's been incredibly fantastic to live here and it's going to be more than difficult to leave.

"The Good"
The silver lining around that big, black cloud is that we are going to be ok! :) There is an apartment in the ward opening up sometime toward the end of April. The owners here have agreed to make it work so that we can keep living here until then. This new apartment is owned by great people in the ward and there will be access to a lawn! Wahoo!! I won't have to stick a sign on the door if I need to run a quick errand or deal with people complaining about their doors being frozen shut. (We live in Idaho people.) This new apartment is also just down the road from us and isn't in a wall-to-wall complex, thank goodness. We're SO glad we get to stay in the ward!! We're also just glad to have a plan and to not be up in the air about this whole thing. We feel very lucky that we get to stay in till the end of April so that our moms can come to help with Gwen and have a little space to themselves and that we won't be moving when I'm great with child. We've also negotiated that we get a free storage unit here at least until December because we figured any apartment we move into now will be smaller than what we've been used to. Even with my crazy nesting that is causing me to get rid of things left and right, I'm still amazed at how much stuff we have. Which brings me to...

"The Big"
That would be me. I can't sleep; one of the reasons being little miss Gwen is having what seems to be an awesome party inside my tummy. My back isn't hurting as much and I'm not as sore these days so the nesting is coming back again, just at a slower pace. I'm almost sick of being pregnant enough to want her to come out. Not quite. Give it a week or two and I'm sure I'll be DONE. I don't know if this is normal, but the thing I'm most nervous about is Miles. How will he handle a new sibling and a new house in such a short space of time? Eeek! I'm starting to ramble. The pregnancy is still going well, I've been having cravings again, (this weekend it was whoppers and OJ) and I hate doing the dishes with such a protrusion out front.

Guess that's it. Time to try and sleep again.

Big Reveal??

I was all excited to do a "big reveal" of the kid's room once I got around to doing everything I was planning on. Curtains, painting, shelves etc... And then I had a conversation with the owner the other day that went something like this:

Owner: "It's not a for sure thing, but we may have an offer on someone who wants to buy this place and if the offer goes through, they would want to bring in their own managers."

Me: "Oh! That stinks, when would that all happen?" (In my head I'm thinking probably in about a year, since that would coincide perfectly with all the plans Richie and I have wishfully made)

Owner: "Probably about the end of March. I didn't want to just give you 30 days notice or anything, so I thought I'd let you know now."

Me: *stunned silence, with plastered smile on my face. My thoughts however are going a million mph, and I'm thinking... Oh how nice of you to give us 40 days notice instead of 30, you're a peach. I'm also thinking, you've got to be kidding me??? End of March? That's probably the worst timing on the face of the planet considering that's about the exact time little bundle of joy is coming.

Me: "Oh ok, that's really bad timing. Do we know if this is going to happen for sure?

Owner: "Yeah I know the timing isn't ideal, isn't that when your baby is due? Well, let me know if we can do anything for you guys! I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything." And he leaves.

Me: Immediately call Richie, tell him what's going on. I think the only thing either of us said on the phone were things like, "well....ok then." and "Hmmmmmm."

I guess we just needed a reminder that we're not totally in charge here. :) We can make all the plans we want, but ultimately....

SO, we'll keep you posted. But until we hear anything, any more plans for doing fun things in the kid's room is on hold. However, I did finish the new quilt for Miles's bed, and I must say, it's fabulous. It turned out exactly like I had pictured in my mind. And it makes the room so much more bright and cheery. Not too girly or boyish, perfect for a shared room. At least that's what I think. :)



So here's the "big reveal" for now. The furniture is moved around etc so this is about half way to where I wanted it to be.

Before:


After: Imagine with cute curtains over the window



Before:

After: Imagine this with cute curtains covering the mess


Before:

After: Imagine with some sort of mural of big graphic above the crib and a mobile



Before:


After: Instead of just the one little picture, there should be a long shelf across this wall with all the previously hung pictures sitting on it and all the old books etc I've collected for the room. Oh and the entire room should be painted a light yellow.

Can you feel the love?

To spare you so many unnecessary details, our weekend went like this:

Friday:

*Richie and Rachel swapped babysitting with some friends so we could go out to dinner and use a gift card to Olive Garden!

*Richie kept rolling his eyes at how expensive it is to buy a plate of noodles. Don't let him fool you, he totally enjoyed the food.

*We laughed when the waitress assumed we didn't want wine because I'm pregnant, and vowed never to take our kids to a restaurant like that. We'd rather be able to enjoy the time out and not chase kiddos or listen to clapping games.

Saturday:

*We cleaned the house because Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday.

*Rach got the heck out of there to go get part one of my amazing Valentine's Day present; a one hour long pedicure at the beauty college here in town. It was fantastic. My feet are still soft and my toenails are all sparkly and cute-ified. She is currently looking forward to getting part 2 of her present, a maternity massage!

*Rach came back to a house full of boys playing Frisbee golf in the house with sour cream lids! :) We watched 3 boys for a friend of ours in the afternoon and Richie ran them, and himself ragged.

*Miles has nap time, Rich and Rach have plan-our-lessons time.

*Miles's friend Lily and her little brother come over to play so that their parents can have a night out too!

*Rach thinks she is so cool and decides to make heart shaped pizzas that the kiddos can decorate for dinner.

*Rach is let down when both kiddos just want to eat the shredded cheese then leave.

*After the extra kiddos leave, Rach goes to the grocery store to pick up some necessities such as milk, juice..and ice cream.

*Rach comes home and a shameful Miles tells her he pooped in the tub. Thinking Richie already took care of it, she gently scolds him and continues on her merry way, until she goes to use the bathroom and finds yucky evidence still in the tub with all the toys.

*Rach scolds Miles more harshly.

*Put Miles down for bed, then Rich and Rach start the real party when we break out the ice cream.

Sunday:

*Miles can't wait for church all week. He insists on wearing a tie many times throughout the week and tells Rach he's going to church.


*Rich and Rach are both surprised when the excited Mr. Miles doesn't even make it to the opening hymn in sacrament meeting before having to go to "THE ROOM" to work on some reverence skills. dun dun dun...

*Fast Forward to the evening when we have to leave our weekly dinner with friends early because Miles has a meltdown. He didn't eat any dinner, so he didn't get any cookies. This is proving to be a very hard lesson for Mr. Miles to learn and mommy and daddy to stick to.

Monday: Actual Valentine's Day

*Rach actually wakes up with Richie before 6 in the morning sometime. Miracle??? Yes, a Valentine's Day Miracle. She even makes him heart shaped french toast. Best wife ever??? Yes, best wife ever.

*Rach and Miles do the normal things in the morning, then we steal Richie's truck to show the vehicle and it's driver some annual Vday lovin. One oil change later...

*Deliver a little homemade present to Richie at work. Rach thinks she should just forget the homemade stuff...Rich doesn't seem to really get it. Next year?? Oil change and a car wash perhaps?

*Lunch time! Heart shaped PB&J! Miles doesn't even acknowledge it.

*Rach finishes up second "homemade present" for Richie. Laminated and bound copies of all the conference ensigns since we got married. Makes french bread for our "fancy dinner".

*We have our fancy dinner. Miles thinks the best part is the candles we lit. Easily pleased.


*Deliver some sugar cookies to the "single ladies" in the ward. Rich and Rach enjoyed the process, Miles however was outraged. How dare we give cookies to someone else, right?

*Ahhh, beloved bedtime. Rich and Rach get some ice cream and watch "Wonder Years".

So there you have it in a nutshell somewhat. :) How was your love weekend?

You're 2 already Miles?

We now have a two year old in our home! Crazy! This year was super fun because he actually understood the concept of a party for him and opening presents etc. We threw a little party for Miles and some of his buddies last Saturday and I'd say it was a hit! I was totally worn out afterward, but that's to be expected right? We actually "partied" all weekend. Here's Miles opening a card from G&G Crosby that is the music kind. It played the Mickey Mouse Hot Dog song and every time he opened it he got this surprised look on his face. We also got some extra spending money from Grandparents so we took him to get ice cream and rent a movie on Friday. Pretty much his dream night.



We had been slowly preparing for the party during the week so by Saturday morning when I was putting a tablecloth on the table, he ran into the kitchen saying "Party! Party!" And once his friends got here he couldn't contain himself. There was lots of running around in circles, jumping, screaming, giggling. It was so fun to watch.
We let the kids loose in the office area which was complete with a "ball pit" (balls and balloons in our tent) a slide (table on it's side) and a car making station. I painted the tops of fruit boxes with chalkboard paint, strung some string through them so the kids could wear them on their shoulders after decorating them with chalk and "drive around". I think that one was a little out of their range, but that's ok.





After some play time, we came in for a light lunch of bean dip with chips, fruit dip with fruit, PB&J, lemonade, and cookies. Everyone was so thoughtful with presents so we opened them and had cake and ice cream and that was it! Would you believe Miles didn't even want to eat his cake and ice cream because he was too busy playing with a new toy? My jaw was on the floor for a while. His Rexburg Grandma gave him a fishing game and it was the hit of the entire party. Nevermind the car mat his mom worked on tirelessly for a month. :) I knew that would happen.







It was a car themed party so each child got a hot wheels car to zoom around with and I made a car cake. I guess for never making one before it kind of looks like a car. ? It was supposed to be red....I ran out of food coloring, so Richie lovingly called it the Mary Kay Chrysler Car. :) Here's some pictures of the car mat that consumed my life the entire month of January. It's complete with all places important in Miles's life right now including: The temple, our "house", our garden, Paul and Lahni's, the DI, Ace Hardware, the Library, the grocery store, the park, the duck pond where we frisbee golf, dixie, G&G Crosby's house, G&G Garner's house, Wasatch mountains, sledding hill and the river we feed the fish at. Whew!