Tour of The Rooms

My list of things to blog is pretty long-- hopefully I'll do doing one of my infamous blog pile ups over the next couple days-- babies are hitting milestones, big kids are starting school, we're all winding down our summer, God is working my heart over in a new way-- but tonight, we're just going to have to let a room tour suffice. Now really, 99.76% of you won't care one bit about this post, but since I do print my blog posts into a book to serve as lovely memories for me some day down the road when blogs and little blonde boys are a thing of my past, I need to post this.

We moved into this house in February when I was big as a house and eagerly awaiting lil Sam's birth while simultaneously doing my best to keep him in as long as necessary. So things basically just got put where they were supposed to get if they were necessary for living everyday life. Life a bed, per say, and clothes. Pictures and decor were a thing of the future... like if/when mama got her head back on straight. Give or take a year or 20. Well somehow, this baby came out a sleeper. And. Gasp. He stayed that way. We are 3 months in and we've barely had a bad night- and only one was him. Which leads to my point.... I've finally gotten all of the boys rooms mostly together and the way I want them- give or take a detail or two.

Now, you should know that all of my boys and Chad were totally losing sleep until I got everything just so. Or not. Whatever.

But I am now resting quite well, because.... Ta da....

Baby Sam's Nursery:

This is what you see when you walk in....

And this is you look right...

This is the twin bed in his room with the banner left over from his baby party... my friend Danielle made it for his munch n' meet and I just love it, so it's a part of his decor now :) And I have a twin bed in their for the nights when it's a waste of time to go back to your own bed. Which hasn't happened yet except for one night when he had a stuffy nose.

Here is Sam's changing table, some pictures and a glimpse of his glider. I feed him about 50% of the time in this chair that was given to us by our wonderful friends the Canups.

And here are his curtains, made by my mama of course! I love them. And she always puts black out stuff on the shades so their rooms are D-A-R-K for naps! That's a blessing in itself.

Here is an "up close" of the pictures on the wall above the twin bed. These were also made by my mama. And no, she's not for sale. We're keeping her.

And his crib. I love how plain it is. It seems so soft and dreamy. That wild things picture is left over from Max's nursery but somehow we ended up with the same color scheme again, so I get a second use out of it- love when that happens! His shelves have a few baby books, a couple bins of baby toys, and lots of how-to mommy books... and of course his sound machine, my clock because I always have to know what time it is and how long he eats, even though he can eat as long as he likes, and my #1 favorite mom thing- his video camera.

Up close of the pictures over his changing table: a picture frame gift, a little cork board, and a picture I painted at one of those painting classes, made to go with his theme-- it says "This is the day that the Lord has made"

Remaining detail that needs done: recovering the glider

Now onto Max and Jack's big boy room:

from the door....

Max's pictures are taken by the one and only BrandelynLee Photography-- she's amazing! And of course their room is sports themed- what else?

This is Max's dresses and both of them have knick knacks on the shelves. Jack has a big dresser in the closet and they both have lots of hanging clothes room in the closet as well. We found the dresser on Craig's List and the knobs on the internet and the shelves from IKEA.

Here is the beloved bookshelf. They both love books- on their own and when I read to them-- they learned this from mom my who is a sucker for a good book. They could listen to her for house. Come to think of it, I could too. She does voices and sound effects and all. They also have a cork board to display all their church pictures-- my fridge just isn't big enough for them all!

The curtains are again made by the lovely and talented Vicki Noblitt and the dust ruffle too- all coordinating with the bed spread and sports theme but not matchy matchy. Jack also has pictures by the aforementioned BrandelynLee-- and those baby rolls get me every time I pause for a peek. What a boy, that Jack. And that Max. And Gabe. And Sam. Chad too. Ok, all my boys.

Here is Jack's bed-- it's also passed down from the Canups- with matching stuff made by my mom. And yes he's 2 and in a crib for as long as it lasts... meaning, as long as he doesn't crawl out. Why? In a word? Containment. And it's a glorious thing. Of course they have a set of golf clubs, my old rocking chair painted to match, and a laundry hamper so they can clean up after themselves.

Remaining detail that needs done: The valances need pinned so that their more squared and the inhabitants of the room need to learn to go to sleep. 

(please send me a note, a detailed letter, some bullet points, or a poem on how to get them to GO TO SLEEP, when sharing a room, if you have any advice on the matter. They think it's a party. Every night. A party that last many hours. But once they got to sleep, they sleep like little angels til morning. Don't you after a good party? Go figure.)

And Gabe's Man-Cave (he named it!)

The view when you walk in....

His bed, and yes, he makes it that neat himself, seriously.

His cute lamp I found at Target, and his picture from Homegoods.

His Hawks banner his Pawpaw won for him, along with his desk. He did lots of his work here when he home schooled, and still does his bible study here, too. His board is for "important things" as he says and not many things make the cut!

And here is his Gabe-collage made from some of my favorite pictures as he's grown up-- I want to keep adding to it, not only because he's adorable, but as a reminder of how God has grown him up. The black dots are wall decals from Target and you can write on them with chalk-- right now they are some great verses from the bible that I want him to focus on during his 5th grade year. There is nothing better than clothing yourself in scripture!

And his shelves are covered in his favorite books, bins of toys, and lots of lego creations.

Remaining detail that needs done: A picture of some sort for over his shelves-- hoping to find a good soccer one but nothing has grabbed my attention yet. 

And that does it for the tour, thanks for visiting!

No Longer Sappy, Just Sticky.

Remember in my last post how I was reminsicing about my sweet babies and how they're growing without my permission. Well, I'm completely over that today. 100%.

It all started on Thursday night. Chad got home late from work, my parents had dropped off a load of furniture to store here, and everyone was wound WAY up. So bedtimes were like 2+ hours later than they were supposed to be. By the time I crawled into bed, it was about 11:30 which is an hour and a half past my own bedtime. The last sound I remember hearing was the rattle of Chad popping a benadryl because something had gotten to him. That was the last sound for about 4 minutes, when all of a sudden, I hear Jack screaming and wailing. I quickly got him and put him in our bed, and I'm pretty sure it was night terrors of some sort. He was cantankerous and not to be calmed. I finally turned on disney junior and rolled over. About an hour later, his eyes were good and glazed over, so I turned off the tv. He promptly went to sleep right in the middle of my pillow. And from there, all 3 boys were in and out of sleep for the entire night. No one was sick. There was nary a boogie man to be found. Yet they all needed my attention in the middle of the night. The only time I got solid sleep was from 2a-3a. That's an hour folks. That's also about 8 hours less than I normally get/ need.

I should've seen the signs. This is so abnormal that I should've kept us in pj's all day and started a fresh on Saturday. Shoulda, coulda, woulda... that's all I can say about that.

So instead, I got up Friday morning on an hour of sleep, and got the 3 boys dressed. Gabe had gone with his Granny for a week-long staycation to end his summer, so it was just me and the littles. I decided breakfast prep was beyond my abilities and offered up Cracker Barrel instead. But no, they would only hear of donuts, and quite frankly, I wasn't in the mood to coerce about which type of sugar they were going to be getting, so I gave in. The was bad decision #1, because taking a dieting donut lover who is desperately trying to lose baby weight to Krispy Kreme when the light is on is like taking an alcoholic to an open bar. It wasn't pretty.

Next, I ran a few errands- took back a picture to Homegoods, mailed at package at the Post Office, ran to the bank, and fed the baby in the car. None of these are for the faint of heart if you're a mom to a 3 year old, a 2 year old, and a newborn. Namely because of those ages, approximately zero of them can buckle themselves and load themselves in and out of the car. But I had a little touch of "I am woman, hear me roar" and "can't nobody hold me down" going on, and I told these errands what was up!

Then I showed up at the Regal movie theater. (Insert laughter here). The plan was to meet 4 other girlfriends and their 8 children and see "Turbo". We had bought our tickets early, planned to arrive before the show started to potty and get popcorn and were all excited for the show. (It's ok if you're still laughing.) My girlfriend Jolynn who is pregnant with #4, and has a 4 year old, a 3 year old, and an 18 meh old even said to me, "you're lucky you still have one in the carrier". I just nodded and smiled because I was under the impression that this was going to be a good experience. I'm an idiot.

We went our own way when we got into the theater-- going potty while everyone got snacks. By the time we were in the snack line, it was long and my little guys were really excited and running amuck! I ordered a medium popcorn for us all to share,  a medium cherry coke for me and Jack, and a small fruit punch for Max. $17 dollars and 95 pounds of sugar later, we headed into the movie. I had the baby in his carrier on one arm, my diaper bag on the other, a bag of pop corn, and a huge coke in my hands. Max was behind me with his cup, and Jack doing his waltz behind us. But Jack has never been to a movie before. And he's kinda skittish right now. And we entered the theatre once it was already dark and after the loud previews had started... Jack flipped, but I had no hands to help. So I went up to the middle, set the baby down, and then snacks and bags, got Max in his seat and went to rescue Jack. I got him comfortably settled in my lap, the popcorn helped him calm down quickly, the baby was on my right, buckled in, freshly fed and changed and ready for his nap, and Max on my left. I was sweating, but breathed in a sigh of relief- we were here, it was a cute mom-moment, and I was relishing my boys.

This lasted for 4 minutes.

Then the baby, my angel baby who never fusses, lost it. And I don't mean started with an easy fuss and worked his way up-- nope, he freaked! I got him out of his seat and moved to the end of the aisle to bounce as quickly I could... and it didn't help one bit. All of a sudden, the theatre of about 40 people morphed into 400 people and then 4000. I was dying. So I set the baby down on his blanket ON THE STEPS and ran back to my bag that was positioned behind Max to help him sit upright and hold the seat down and grabbed my Moby Wrap. The baby loves to be tied to me and it would certainly put him to sleep. During this, Jack decided he was going to the end of the aisle with me and nonchalantly picked up the full-to-the-top huge cherry coke that happened to be bigger than his head and dropped the entire thing. The whole theatre gasped- all 4 million people, and it had nothing to do with the movie. At this point, I was covered in cherry coke, Jack was covered in cherry coke and very upset that he had nothing to drink and my baby was on the floor at the end of the aisle, screaming his brains out.

I grabbed them as fast as I could and ran out of the movie. Without Max. Without my bag. Without my phone. Without my keys. Without the baby's seat. When I got out in the hall I just prayed that Max was ok and that he didn't feel abandoned although that is what he must certainly was! Now of course he was sitting right behind my girlfriends and his little friends, but he's my shy one who only likes to talk to me, so I just pictured him weeping silently. When I got outside, I put the baby back on the floor, no joke, to put my wrap on, and got the baby in it and waited for his instant settling. It never came. I bounced and walked and swayed and held the paci in his mouth, and still he cried. And honestly, I still have no idea what was going on. I eventually crept back in to check on Max with my still crying baby and saw that he was fine and ran back out. Jack was following along, and really as happy and complacent as could be, even though the circumstances were much less than ideal. We walked up and down every hallway, pointing to movie posters and discussing whether each person had a grumpy face or a happy face. We found squares on the floor to leap over. We used the mirrors on the ceiling to talk to and fake laugh at... and yes, we were the only ones in the whole lobby. The movie started at 11:45 and so at 1p, I asked the ticket attendant when Turbo was going to end, certain that time was almost up. He responded "at 1:35". I almost gave him my baby and left. Forever.

I was stuck. Stuck to the floor because of the cherry coke. Stuck because I had none of the things necessary to get me to my car and back to my house. Stuck because I didn't have my phone to call in back up. And stuck because my first born was still in the theatre (with all of my stuff!) enjoying the movie. I couldn't feed the baby to calm him down because there was no where to sit and no leash to tether Jack to me! I couldn't get the stroller because it was locked in my car.  And I couldn't go back in the theatre for fear of my fellow movie goers who might not appreciate paying for a movie with the soundtrack of a screaming baby to go along with it. If the baby would've calmed down for even just a few minutes, I would've gone in and retrieved everything and ran away. But instead, I had to put my big girl panties on and continue bouncing around an empty movie theatre hoping my baby would fall asleep while trying to entertain a very busy 2 year old.

Finally, with 10 minutes left to the movie, the baby fell asleep. By this time, Jack was beside himself with his need for popcorn and of course I had nothing, so I couldn't buy him anymore and he was dying for a drink. So I decided to tiptoe back in and see what would happen... the baby stayed asleep... Jack got his rations... and I leaned back in the seat just in time to........ see the credits. When the lights came back on, and I collected my stuff, I apologized to Max for leaving him and he said "it's ok, I didn't say one word while you were gone." He also said it was the best movie he had seen yet.

Thanks for rubbing it in.

And as I drove home, I went over ways in my head on how to do it better next time. Where to position people, how to manage. I planned and thought and planned some more. Until it dawned on me. There will NEVER be a next time. I hope everyone enjoyed the last movie they will ever see in the theatre.

And by the way, my shoes are still sticky from the cherry coke incident.

A Quick Rewind

So about 2 weeks ago, Chad went on a mission trip for a week-- lots of things happened that needed to make the blog but he warned me not to post anything anywhere about him being gone so I basically remained silent for the week. All I could think was that if I posted something, I might accidentally post something about being a single mom or something and then the boogey man would read it and come sneak into our house in the middle of the night and I'd be all "seriously? I'm so tired, come back later." But he wouldn't so I'd be grumpy and wow, it was just too much. So I chose silence and picture-less instead.

So let's rewind. On Monday of that week, we dropped Gabe at Camp Highland in Ellijay, GA. It's the camp I worked at years ago and let's just say it has gotten quite the facelift from my days! BUT still the same great stuff and same great God working and moving there. He was SO nervous about it- it was his very first time at an overnight thing like that and it was for a whole week- Monday to Saturday- but I pushed because I knew he'd love it and that's exactly what happened! When I picked him up on Saturday, he was exhausted and hoarse and said three things to me immediately:
1) I can't believe it's already been a week, I feel like I've been here for like 2 days
2) When I come back next year.... yadda yadda
3) Can I go to sleep as soon as we get in the car?

It was a hit! And anytime we're on a woodsy road Jack shouts "Gabe, had fun at camp?" And we all says "yes Jack, Gabe had fun at camp" in that for the "1000 millionth time tone".

So it was just me and the younger 3 for the week. I knew that dinner would consist of cereal, mac n' cheese, and the likes, and that Max would sleep with me all week which would make bedtime much easier, and I set my goals really low for the week- for instance: feed the children. Keep them alive. Have some fun. And we achieved all my goals.

On Monday, Maddie, the family dog from my childhood who has lived with us for the past while got old and sick really quick, like overnight, so we had to put her to sleep. I am not/ was not attached to her at all and yet is still made me so sad I couldn't even stop thinking about it. My brother was so sad- she was his dog- and my mom, too. Oh- I am SO bad at loss- and it's not even my heart-- blah! Remind me to avoid feeling that way- I'll stick with joy and butterflies and giggles- I'm way better at that.

On Tuesday our church has mother's morning out- the first one ever- and it was just because and for free. Um, now that's the kind of joy I was referring to! Max and Jack were stoked to go play and made sure I understood I was to leave- funny. It was nice running errands and only loading the baby in and out. That afternoon, my mom came and kept al 3 boys and I even left her a bottle for the baby (I've never been away that long!) but it was for a great cause... getting my hair did! I had hombre going and not the kind you pay for... um, skunk roots! Then we met Danielle and her kiddos for dinner- Matt was on the same trip with Chad and she was doing the single mom thing as well.

Then on Wednesday, a skating rink near our house had what's called "Tiny Tots" which is only for 5 year olds and younger and they get to bring their own riding toys and take over the place and ride all over the skating rink. It was so great because the set up meant I actually got to sit and chill and chat with mom friends because they boys were loving it and right out on the floor in front of me. They're doing another next month and we will SO be there!

I have decided that this is the week that I'm going to move Jack to his new bed in Max's room- it's a big room so they both have their own beds in their now- and then move the baby out of our room into the nursery. My reason for doing it this week was to surprise Chad- he isn't a fan of the sound machine and baby noises in our room and plus, I was going to bed when the baby did in our room which meant Chad had to tiptoe to bed whenever he was ready- kinda like he was a visitor in his own room. Well Jack had done great all week and was so proud of his big bed and so it was time to move the baby. But I was DREADING it. Mainly because he's such a cute and easy baby and since I'm not going back to work, I just don't give a rat's patootie about his schedule or if he wakes me up or if he wants me to hold him all day, so I was LOVING him in our room. I loved his noises and just watching him and smelling him, and oh yummy. But I did it nonetheless. Aren't you proud? Well his first night in his crib was Wednesday which also happened to be the first night in his entire life that he woke up twice in one night to eat. Which reminded me why moms of newborns are tired. Once a night after pregnancy is seriously no big deal, but twice, umm, things get a little more hairy...blurry... foggy! So Thursday is when things get a little interesting. Mainly because I'm sleepy and this was my day that had a plan that mattered...

My mom was coming to get Max and Jack for the night because I needed to clean my house and decorate for a 30th surprise party... Danielle's 30th surprise party... the same Danielle I was hanging out with and checking in with all week... I was SO nervous she was going to stop by so I faked exhaustion and a 7pm bedtime and went to work. And all afternoon and evening as I worked like crazy, pausing to feed the baby every 3 hours, I just laughed at myself. When I just has Max, I could seriously get NOTHING done. It was not an act or perceived- it was just how it was. I could take care of a baby. That's it. But now, after living in my world that includes a big ole' bushel of boys, a whole afternoon and evening with only the baby produced incredible results-- I'm talking deep cleaning, mopping of floors and wiping of baseboards, dusting, vacuuming, and lots of decorating! After confirming with Danielle that she was staying over night at her parent's Thursday night, I even hung the decor and started setting out stuff on the tables, knowing that Friday I'd be busy retrieving my boys from my moms and Saturday we'd be picking Gabe up from camp... perfection.

Friday morning I continued working and cleaning and doing the last grocery run for the party- Danielle is a very loved lady so the party we going to include about 45 of her favorite people including kiddos. I had made lists and lists about my list and by Friday afternoon, everything was basically checked off except for the things that had to be done on Sunday. That afternoon, I drove to my parents for dinner and got Max and Jack and we headed home. I pulled in the driveway in time to put everyone straight to bed which was totally on purpose so that my house could stay in tip top shape. And I collapsed into bed too, exhausted, as well.

Saturday morning we had to hurry out of the house to pick up Gabe. YAY-- another way to keep the house clean :) I fed them an easy, neat breakfast and we were off.  Now, to tell the truth, this part of the week got a bit rough- I'm not sure if it was because I was loading all the boys in and out and driving 3+ hours round trip, retrieving luggage and trying to feed a baby on his schedule, in public, while keeping the others alive and well, or if it was just because I was ready for Chad to be home, but I started wearing down. We had to eat lunch on the way home and got home just in time for naps... which left me only 24 more hours of keeping that house "ready" before the party. At this point, Danielle and I were planning to get together so I just had all these reasons why I had to get out of the house to make sure she didn't suggest playing at our house for the evening. Thankfully, it worked, and the plan was to meet at the park with dinner, let everyone play, and celebrate her last evening in her 20's, It was delightful, for the most part, with the exception of some bugs and a heat stroke while I had to feed the baby, but I'm not complaining, because once again, we made it to another sleep session without messing up my house!

Sunday morning included church, a great balloon pickup... I'm talking 4 boys, a mom, 30 latex balloons and 2 mylar balloons in one minivan. We were all laughing and giggling so hard, I had tears coming down my face. There was some lunch and then more naps and when we got up, CHAD WAS HOME!!!!!! Par-tay!

And then it was time for the actual party! It went off without a hitch... well except for the part where we left the garage door open to "look natural" and so they came in that door like all friends would, but the party guests were all posed by the front door for the surprise- oops!

We had such a wonderful time celebrating such a great friend- I loved every second of the prep and the party. She is such a joy to be around, I'm so grateful that God crossed our paths!

All in all the week was a great success- I enjoyed low key time with my boys and was totally fine on that front, I just missed Chad like crazy at the end of each day, because, hello, he's my person and who was I supposed to talk to?? It's really weird when you're used to knowing the in's and out's of a person's day, and then all of a sudden it's like you live separate lives for 7 days! I also always have great help/ relief/ back up from my mom- the world's best grandmother, so it's not like I'm ever roughing it by any means! So by the time Chad and Gabe got back home, we were super ready, but the nice part was that we weren't run down-- and that's a good thing, because after the party on Sunday evening, a new week started again bright and early the next day!

Sam's Munch n' Meet

When we first decided not to find out if baby Sam was a boy or girl, it obviously put a wrench in any sort of shower or baby party... so my sweet friend Danielle decided that once the baby arrived that we must have a "sip n' see" type party. Of course, if the baby was a girl, there would be a great need for all things pink, ruffles, and girly, and if the baby was a boy, there'd be a need for ummm... nothing... but he'd be precious and people would want to meet him!

So Danielle gathered my list and made a plan on the front end, and then as soon as Sam was born, she sprang into action. First she decided that the sip n' see was a tad bit more girly and tad bit more middle of the day rather than evening so she came up with a "munch n' meet" instead. She enlisted the help of several other wonderful friends (aka Sam's fan club) and we decided that it'd be best to do it at my house so I wouldn't have to pack up and worry about feedings and all that. It was also sort of a drop in- with lots of yummy food- and mostly just chatting and passing the little precious man around... only after slathering on plenty of hand sanitizer of course. 

The party was such a success- it was right in between 2 feedings, it was the perfect length, it was full of wonderful guests loving on my sweet baby, I got to have some adult interaction and feel human for a bit, and did I mention the food?? Yummmmmm!! Sam (me) also got lots of great gifts-- the practical stuff like tons of wipes, which only a seasoned mom truly knows the value of, and then new blankets and picture frames and decor for his nursery and clothes that are just his, not hand-me-downs from his brothers. By the end of the night, I was so overwhelmed with just how blessed I am with amazing friends and family. It was such a sweet time and I enjoyed it so much!