Before and After

We still have a few minor changes to make in our guest room, but we have made some serious progress. What do you think?

BEFORE



DURING



AFTER



AFTER



It's a lot brighter now, right? I love it. We still need some more decorations and a few other minor touches, but I like it so much better now!

Jealous?

I have this problem that I'm hoping you can help me with.  You see, although I may look like an average thirty-something mother-of-two, in reality I am someone that people just can't contain their jealousy around. 

Take my freckled arms for example.   Some people have a few cute little freckles and they call them angel kisses.  But me?  I have exactly four gazillion....on each arm.  It goes WAY beyond cute and into the realm of other-worldliness.  Of course with arms that boast of this much heavenly love, people  just can't stop themselves from ogling in jealousy. 

Then there's my forehead.  Most people don't think much of their foreheads, but mine is so special that it has a name.  It's called a Crain forehead and pretty much those of us lucky enough to have inherited it, consider it a sign of our royal pedigree.  See below for example: 

Prince William has a Crain forehead too.  

So now that I've bragged about how I'm practically a super model, I thought I'd show off my latest fashion accessory.  It's super expensive and I have to boast a little that this little bling is so exclusive that I'm pretty much the only person I've ever met that has anything even half this cool.  Check out this awesomeness....

How awesome is it?  Let's just say that it's so awesome that my "fashion" doctor says that I can only wear it for exactly 24 hours or  people around me may just start fainting in jealousy.  It's not the most comfortable piece of jewelry I've ever worn, in fact I practically gag with every swallow, but you all know what a slave to fashion I am, so I know it's worth every second.  In my ever-admirable humility and thoughtfulness to others, I've opted to stay indoors to prevent jealousy fits in any unsuspecting friends and acquaintances.  However, I know that you, my dear blog friends, would understand my need to share it here with you.  You know since I'm so awesome and nice like that.

Alright, alright....since you're all dying to know how you, too, can bedeck yourself in tubing, wiring, and electronics as attractive as mine, I'll share my source with you.  Shhh, don't tell anyone though.

1-800-BEING-SICK-SUCKS (be sure to ask for the 'haven't eaten a real meal in a whole year' version)

Quote of the Day

Madeline (enthusiastically): "Mommy, now that I went potty in the toilet, I am YOUR big sister!"

Birthdays and Things

April is a big birthday month in my family. We started out the month by celebrating Andrew's 6th Birthday:


This picture totally cracks me up because both kids have the same silly expression on their face

On Friday we celebrated Tom's 33rd Birthday. We got to go out for the evening, thanks to my Mom's generous offer to watch the kids. 

My sister, sister-in-law, brother, nephew, and 2 nieces all celebrate birthdays this month too.  (Am I forgetting anyone?) Big Happy Birthday to everyone!

As for other things:

• Andrew has his first loose tooth.  He cried all afternoon when he discovered it was loose and refused to eat anything hard. That was several days ago. We expect it to fall out anytime now.
• Madeline LOVES her crib and has been sleeping like a champ and has even started taking naps again. WOW!
• We have two families from our ward within 1 block of us.
• Our chapel is only a couple blocks from our house. We can walk to it.
• We are making friends in our new neighborhood. 
• My awesome friend Sarah is coming to visit tomorrow with her two cute kids and we are super excited! 
• My Mom went home yesterday. So sad!
• Our guest room is almost ready for the AFTER pictures. We still need to put up the curtains and some decorations though.
• I dropped my camera on Tom's birthday and now it doesn't work. Boo-hoo! (Madeline dropped my compact camera a couple months ago and broke it)
• My laptop also stopped working a few weeks ago. Double boo-hoo.
• Peter Vidmar, the gold-medalist gymnast, is in our stake presidency.
• We are mostly unpacked on the inside of our house, but still have a garage full of stuff that we need to go through. It'll be nice when we can both park our cars in the garage!
• I love spray paint. All knobs and fixtures in this house are an outdated gold color, so I've been spray painting everythings silver.

You Do What You Have To Do

You do what you have to do sometimes, right? Even if it means taking a step backwards.  Madeline has been a horrible sleeper since we moved her to a bed several months ago and every time she would see a crib she would ask to have her crib back. So Madeline is now back in a crib and she is delighted about it. (At age 3, she still has NOT tried to climb out.)

Do you see how happy she is?

Hooray for more sleep for everyone in the family!

Saturday

My Mom arrived on Saturday and I am so happy she's here! We spent part of the morning walking around the temple.


Madeline and Grandma





Andrew and Grandma

 

Isn't he hot?

After visiting the Temple, we came home and did a whole lot of unpacking since my Mom is great at keeping my kids entertained. And the best part of the day was going on a hot date with my hubby to play laser tag. Anyone want to join us for a game next time?

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good

• We made it in our new home
• We had tons of help from the Elder's quorum on Saturday and the move only took 1 1/2 hours for both ends of the move including a pizza break
• All our stuff arrived from storage yesterday
• Andrew loves his new school
• There is someone from church in Andrew's kindergarten class, just like at his last school
• Andrew's kindergarten doesn't start until 10:30 AM 
• We love our new place
• My Mom is coming to help on Saturday
• The kids seem to be adjusting to the move a little quicker than last time
• Madeline only asked to go back home for the first two days
• My kids are super excited to have their plasma cars back

The Bad

• We have way too much stuff
• I am completely overwhelmed with things to do
• The movers that brought our things yesterday from storage only had two guys to help and the move took forever (it was an all day event)
• Tom is super busy at work this week and therefore isn't around to help unpack
• I'm such a cheapskate that I insisted on buying my Mom's plane ticket on priceline, which saved me a lot of money, but means she has a 6:30 AM flight. SORRY Mom!

The Ugly

• Out-of the blue my cell phone stopped working on Saturday, right in the middle of trying to coordinate a lot of things. Despite the fact that the phone is still under warranty, Sprint refuses to take responsibility for it, because there is a very small scratch on the phone which to Sprint means I must've inflicted the damage that caused it to stop working. Ummm.no.
• I have a gigantic bruise on my hand and I can't for the life of me remember when I hurt it.

At least the good list is a lot longer than the other two lists, right? I am so, so glad my Mom is coming to help!

Our Hero

One of our top priorities in our new house was to remove the built-in dilapidated fish tank in our kitchen. It's lovely, right?

We tried to take it down but it proved to be a very difficult task because it was connected to the cupboards in several spots on the bottom of the fish tank which we couldn't reach. When the Elder's quorum president from our former ward saw the problem, he jumped right in to help.



That is going over, above, and into the call of duty.

We applaud Chad for his willingness to serve in an unexpected way. (Tom would NOT have fit inside!) And now the darn eyesore is gone and we just have to figure out what to put there instead. We are thinking about just putting a counter top on it and removing the upper cupboards. Do you have any other ideas?