Our House

So we've had a little time to settle a bit more. It's not perfect around here, not yet. And, if I'm honest, it will probably never be perfect, because I'm in charge of unpacking. And I tend to make piles rather than find homes for absolutely everything. But! At this point, my ugly spaces are confined to the upstairs. I don't yet know what to do with the space across from our washing machine and dryer. The best use of it is as a storage spot for towels and linens and diapers, but it just looks so messy no matter what I do to it. Ah well. I'll figure it out soon enough. Probably in time to move again. Here are some areas that are at least passable. We are really beginning to love our little home!

Each time Nate is gone, I have a goal in mind for another area to tackle, another few boxes to unpack. This round (he's on trip four currently) my goal is to  have the garage organized. The empty, broken down boxes were beginning to creep up to the door into our living room. We had gorgeous weather on Thursday so I spent some time shifting everything around. It looks so much better! I need to spend probably another hour or two in there this next week to finish it up. By the time I'm done, I'll have my car parked in there, which will be so wonderful. Except my car is not running right now (no idea why), so I've been dragging my heels (yeah right) and driving us around in Nate's truck. So when he gets home, I'll have the truck parked in the garage. Then he'll be really amazed that I fit it in there! My plan is rock solid.

This picture here is the only one I'll write about (as the others seem pretty self-explanatory). It's the girls' room. (So. very. yellow. Even the ceiling.)

I have a plan, although I'm not sure exactly how I'll execute it, to paint their ceiling white. And maybe two of their walls. The yellow is overwhelming. They don't mind too much, obviously.

Their room is coming together quite well! I don't really put anything on their dresser - Hazel stacks books there that she wants to read during nap-time. I came across a ceiling fan in the garage so I think I'll assemble it and ask Nate to install it in their room for the time being. Even with a window and a floor fan, their room gets super stuffy. It's the hottest room in the house during Summer and Fall.

Spring is almost here! Just a few more days. Nate experiences some weather confusion every time he comes home from a trip. His first three trips were to Florida. In January. When he'd get home, it'd be freezing here, or snowing, or threatening to snow. He never even unpacked his suitcase during those weeks home - it was all shorts and sandals! The bum! He's currently in Arizona, back to a warmer climate. It's nice that we're facing only an hour's time difference rather than three. He'll be home in 11 days but who's counting.

Going back a bit...September 2011

I took two hours this morning to transfer photos from my phone to my computer...Simply so that I could, uh, gift you with, like, twenty new posts. Not really. Well, hopefully not really. I just found some super cute pictures (if you can look past the obvious camera-phone blurriness). They scream to be shared.

So to start. September 2011.

 This other kiddo is Naomi. Piper and Naomi became fast friends. Believe it or not, Naomi is 6.5-months-old in this picture. She was easily double Piper's size. And she could walk. At six months. I wanted to cry for her mom. I don't know what in the world I would do with a walking 6-month-old.

And this reminds me of a conversation I recently had with Chris, Piper's in-home ESD therapist. Apparently Nate and I are doomed to have late walkers. Something in our combined genes has resulted in two kids who walk later than desired. With those numbers in mind, our future children will more than likely be exactly the same.

As for this second picture, I had stuck Piper in her carseat while I loaded some items into the trunk of my car at the store. When I was bending down, shifting stuff around, I glanced up to check on Piper. I peeked at her through the crack between the raised trunk lid and the frame of the car. I saw her watching me watching her. She started to laugh.

This was the first time she stood up by herself and I was so proud of her! And she was so proud of herself. I walked around to her door and opened it up to snap this picture. I wish it was better - her utter delight at her newly discovered ability was pretty exciting.

 This third picture is from a day at OMSI. Mom drove the girls and I in her Mini Cooper. Hazel has never been one for wind blowing in her hair. Usually it elicits screams of terror and frustration. She was a trooper for this particular car ride, though, which was nice.

On the other hand, Piper is typically ecstatic when she has the wind shaking up her, uh, locks. She will laugh and laugh when we drive with the windows down. Hazel, though. Man, that girl. The other day my smart little cookie was trying to work around a straight question/negative answer situation (she wanted me to close my window because she didn't like the breeze). Instead of asking outright (knowing I'd say no), she asked if we could "listen to music, please, and then, so, Mom, we should turn down the wind. Yes?"

We had so much fun wandering OMSI. Hazel could focus on one station or another for 15 minutes at a time, or longer. Piper was much less content with that time-frame. She wanted to boogie. We compromised. If I remember right, Hazel was visitor to fewer activity stations, and Piper was bounced and jiggled constantly.

Nate couldn't go with us (worker bee that he is), so I snapped this astronaut picture of Hazel and sent it to him. It's a keeper. Especially her little tongue hanging out.

At this very moment Hazel is tracking me down, looking for some lunch. She's stomping past Piper's bedroom where she's napping. I should probably feed Hazel so her inner food monster can be satisfied. Up next: More delinquent posts.