Oliver’s Inside Favorites

Oliver is busy.

And lately he likes to get into everything.  Toys pretty much mean nothing.  He instead wants to explore everything about the house – inside and out.

He loves his dogs.

He loves any type of blanket.

He loves his balls.  I call this his Devil smile.

He loves everything in the kitchen.  Especially emptying out every cupboard and making sure it goes on the floor.

And he loves to put things back in cupboards that don’t belong there. 

He certainly keeps us on our toes.

Zombie Time

In an attempt to get my allergies under control I have started taking Allegra-D.  It has worked a little better than the regular version, except that one of the side effects is sleeplessness.  And for the past two nights I have laid awake for 2-3 hours in the middle of the night.  So last night was no different and as I laid awake in bed at 2am, 3am, and then suddenly it was 4am, I was thinking about this clever blog post I was going to write about my silly mishaps this past week.

I didn’t actually get out of bed and write the post, totally should have though.  Should have done anything in those 3 hours than just stayed in bed wide awake.  I haven’t decided quite yet which is better, to have the allergies a little better under control, or to not be a zombie all day long because I am only getting 4-5 hours of sleep a night.

So I was going to talk about what a klutz I have recently become.  I haven’t ever really called myself athletic, but I wouldn’t say I am a clumsy person either.  But last week as I told you I tripped and twisted my ankle.  Which was so bad that early in the afternoon I had to text Jesse. 

“You don’t have to rush home, but if you could come home early today that would be great….I can’t walk”.

Luckily Jesse did come home in about an hour, because by that point I literally couldn’t bear any weight on that ankle.  It was slowly starting to heel and I was pretty much back to normal yesterday when……well a swing hit me in the face.

This is the swing in question, and Bella was the occupant, this picture is a couple years old, but you get the idea.  So to explain myself, Oliver has been running around at night playing with the water in the dog bowl, or in the swimming pool, or chasing the dogs, etc.  Bella swings.  Oliver does not pay attention to the swing and has been hit a couple of times.  I was sitting next to Bella pushing her, and saw that Oliver was headed towards us to get a bucket.  I thought I was being smooth by trying to time the swing and grab the bucket to hand to Oliver so he wouldn’t get hit by the swing.  Except I totally misjudged the timing and the swing hit me square in the nose as it was coming back towards me.

It hurt.  A lot.

Needless to say my nose swelled up a little and I have had a constant headache since.

Don’t all bad things come in threes?  I’m waiting to see what is going to find me next.

Preschool Picture Day

I was complaining yesterday how I had a million things to do and no energy.  Well I did manage to get one thing done, and that was make a run to Target, big surprise I actually got the shopping done. I needed to get Bella a new outfit for picture day today.

We sent her off to school this morning sporting all new clothes and even new shoes.

Bella was tired this morning, I had just woken her up about 10 minutes prior to taking her picture.  I figured I might be able to get another round of pictures in when she made it home from school.  But of course she came home in her extra outfit, which means she peed her pants.  I’m not even sure if she was still wearing her new outfit when pictures were taken.  I guess I will find out shortly when I get the preview prints.  So I’m glad I did take the picture this morning, even if Bella wasn’t totally up for it, and we had quite a few photo bombers.

Grandma’s Help

My mom has been in town the past couple of days to help watch the kids so I could get a bunch of things done.

I haven’t gotten anything done.

Let's see, every day I wake up and feel horrible.  Allergies are really kicking my behind right now.  None of the medicines I am taking are helping.

I should be working, I have plenty to do, but I just can’t concentrate my head feels that bad.

So I tell myself I should just lay down and take a nap, maybe then I would feel better.

I lay down and instead of falling asleep I think about all the other things I should be doing.  I need to run to Target, I need to vacuum the whole house, I desperately need to clean the bathrooms, I have 5 loads of laundry that need to be done, I have a mountain of small projects I could work on, I really need to tackle the bills and paperwork that has overflowed on our entry table……

Needless to say I don’t get any sleep.  And I still feel crappy so I don’t really get much accomplished as far as work or house work goes.

I think what I really want to do is say it’s okay to take a whole day off and lay in bed relaxing, reading, watching tv, napping.  I feel like I need to give myself permission and then maybe I won’t be toeing the line between the two.  Maybe if I give myself one day off, I will have renewed energy to tackle the day tomorrow.

But then can I really do that……..I feel like I would be letting everyone else down.

It was wedding time

Our good friends got married this past weekend, Congrats Dana and Mel.  I thought I would share a few pictures from the reception.

Do you ever look at pictures and only notice the bad things about yourself.  Let’s go through some of these again.

And lastly this was a wedding picture from a couple of years ago.  This is a great picture for Jesse’s college buddies, but I can’t stand that I was holding my purse (awkward!!) and the dress probably should have been retired since I had gained 20 pounds since first buying it back in college.

Don’t you just love awkward pictures of yourself, especially with all the different social media options!!

Bus Drivers

I just wanted to take the opportunity to talk about Bella’s bus drivers.  All the bus drivers and bus helpers have been wonderful with her.  They always say hello and goodbye to her, every single time, even though she can’t answer them.  I don’t think they are taught or told to do this, I just think they do it.

I believe most of the bus drivers do not live around here.  I always wonder what they think when they pull up to our house.  If they think we are spoiled because we live in a “bigger” house and I’m home to be able to get Bella on and off the bus.  Or maybe they think we don’t have it so easy because we do have Bella.

Regardless of what they think on the inside.  They really are some of the nicest people to Bella and we really do appreciate them and the hard work they do with such a cheerful attitude!

A little bit twisted

We got Bella off to school this morning and Oliver and I were going to take a nice long walk with some friends.

As I was getting ready in my room, Oliver was going around making a mess as usual.  It’s amazing that it only takes 5 seconds for him to “play” with something, and then 15 minutes for me to put it back together.  I’m talking about my serger, which he decided would be fun to take the threads off and throw them around the room.  A serger takes a little getting used to when threading it through the machine, so now I have to untwist everything and get it back together.  Apparently this twisting should have been my warning.

Because very soon after that we headed outside and I loaded him into the stroller.  I gave him some cereal to keep him occupied while I gathered all the things I thought we might need on the walk.  I figured this would contain him so I wouldn’t have to clean up any other messes!

To which he proceeded to throw all the cereal on the ground as usual.

So I called the dogs outside to clean up his mess.  In the process of me getting over for the dogs to get through the doorway, as I was also going out the doorway, I miss-stepped and twisted my ankle.  Bad.  I actually had to sit down on the ground it hurt so bad.  I sat there for a few minutes and then tenderly stood on it.  It could take my weight, so nothing broken.  I decided to go ahead with the walk, since my friend was driving over and I didn’t want to tell her to turn around.  Well I think I’m paying for that decision to proceed with a 3 mile walk on a twisted ankle.  It just starting to swell up now, but I can barely put any weight on it.  Looks like it’s going to be a good day over here.  And it’s not that I think my twisted ankle is that great of a story, it’s not.  But I can tell you I’m dreading having to carry Bella around today, especially up the stairs.  It’s those little things that can really put a wrench into your day when you have to worry about carrying around and caring for your 5 year old child that is immobile.

Project Desk

The craft room/guest bedroom is almost done.  As far as the projects go.  I wanted to give you a little sneak peak on the desk/work table we created.

We found these cabinets on the curb, ready to be thrown away from one of our neighbors.  We asked them if we could take them off their hands, and sure enough they ended up in our basement.  Where they camped out for 4 months.  They were unpainted wood, and I believe I primed and painted them back around Memorial Day weekend.

Jesse work changed offices back in June and we found ourselves with some more free office furniture.  One of the things we scored was a piece of stain grade plywood countertop.  So last weekend I stained it, and we brought it up to create our new custom desk.

Not bad for free!  Now I have the rest of the week to get this room in order before it needs to be used on Friday.

No small feat!

Morning Rush

This post should be about Bella’s first day of school today.  We will get to that.  But first we have to lead up to it.  Here was our morning:

6:15am – Oliver wakes up.

6:45am – Oliver is already wanting to go outside, and screaming because I won’t let him.

7:00am – Bella is still sleeping, I get dressed, Oliver is still screaming downstairs because he wants to go outside.

7:15am – Oliver and I go outside.  He is immediately happy and roaming around the yard.  He likes to drag sticks around and poke them into the ground.

7:30am – We head inside, Bella is stirring, so I decide to get her up and dressed and take everyone for a walk.  It is a very muggy and sticky morning.

8:30am – We get back home and get breakfast for Bella and Oliver.  Bella isn’t really eating too quickly, she seems to still be tired.

9:30am – Bella and I are heading to school for her first day orientation.  Bella is not thrilled I am taking her picture….can you tell?

She pretty much refuses to look at me.

I’ll admit I’m a little worried about Oliver’s wanting to go outside as soon as he is awake.  It’s not really going to be feasible when I actually have to get Bella ready for school every morning by 8am.

If only the dogs were more reliable babysitters!!

Off to Preschool

Again.

Bella misses the mark to go to Kindergarten by 2 weeks.  So she will be going to preschool for her 4th year (being that she started when she was 2 years old).  Her first day is tomorrow.

I really wanted to make her something for her first day of school.  I had it in mind to make her a little skirt like the one below, but maybe change the wiener dog into a Labrador retriever.  In case you are in the sewing world and want to purchase this pattern…you can buy it here - etsy pattern.  I have no affiliation with this person, I just thought the applique was cute.

But of course my sewing room looks like this.

I haven’t made it out to buy her anything new either.  So I guess the poor kid is going to have to wear something she already owns.  And I’m sure no one would have known if I didn’t announce it to everyone on the blog.

Bella at preschool Age 5…………..coming tomorrow!!

Chocolate Cake for Dinner

We went out to dinner tonight.  I brought along a pureed vegetable mix for Bella.  She woofed it down in no time and still seemed hungry.  We looked at the menu to see if there was anything we could mash with a fork that she would be able to eat.  Nothing.  That is except for chocolate fudge cake with ice cream.  So why not, that’s an acceptable dinner choice right?

Oliver has been trying to master eating with a spoon on his own.  He is still pretty messy and usually resorts to picking up the bowl and licking the yogurt out of it.

We have also been heading to the park more frequently so he can run around and play.

Bella still enjoys swinging at the park.  And her new skill is driving.

Anyone brave enough to take a ride?

Home Depot Paul

this is a post by jesse...

I like Home Depot... more so than Lowes.  The workers seem to know more when I have questions and I dont feel more confused after talking with them.  Nothing against those who work at Lowes, thats just my opinion based on numerous experiences.  I also tend to find what I"m looking for at Home Depot... I dont know how many times I've gone to Lowes with one thing on my list, and they are out, and when I ask somebody, they either dont know what I'm talking about or it takes 15 minutes for them to track down somebody else to tell me they are out and check back in a couple days.  Every time this happens, I leave the store cussing at myself because 

#1 I was hopeful this time would be different and they would actually have what I needed in stock

#2 I did not say "No" when a worker approached me asking if I needed help finding something

Anywho... enough on that issue.  Today the whole family took a trip to Home Depot in Overland Park.  It was an exciting outing as I needed to pick up a couple light switch covers and an outlet cover for the guest bedroom/sewing room we are working on.  We also needed to walk through the door aisles looking for a patio door that was reasonably priced but not a piece of crapper.  Whenever we have Bella with us, we always venture down the lighting aisles, as that is her favorite.  Oliver doesnt care where we are, just wants to be walking around and stopping to stare at people.  He will just stop 5 feet from someone and stare at them until we make him move on... kind of cracks me up to see people's different reactions.

Well on our way from the lighting dept to the doors, we met Paul.  He was coming out from the breakroom area in the back.  I was chasing after Oliver as Kristen was pushing Bella.  Bella was looking up to the right as she often does.  Paul walked by  us four, but quickly turned around and returned to Bella and said "hello".  Bella's head was down at this time, but instead of looking at Paul, she returned her gaze up to the right.  

Paul was an older gentlemen, I"m guessing around 70.  He had a full gray beard, glasses, and not a lot of hair up top.  When I see these older gentlemen working at Home Depot, I always assume they enjoy working and are very handy individuals who are just passing time because that's what they like to do.  I could be totally off, and some probably need to be working just to get by because wall street / government has screwed them out of their retirement, but I wont vent on that issue tonight.  Back to Paul... he continued to greet Bella with "hello" as he crouched down to her level and smiled at her.  Paul commented that he felt compelled to acknowledge Bella, because most people avoid the situation all together.  By situation, he meant "normal" people vs. "handicap" people interaction.  

As you walk around with Bella, you get many interesting looks.  Usually when I'm jogging with Bella, people smile, but they usually dont have long to stare at Bella because I'm traveling at such high velocity.  However, when you are walking around with Bella in public, you catch many interesting glances.  I've felt compelled on a couple different occasions to comment.  I may or may not have asked a gentlemen who stared at Bella for about 1 minute as I stared at him to see how long he would continue looking at her... "did you want her to pose for a picture?"... he smiled and looked away.  Back to Paul...

He commented that he knew exactly how it was to walk around with a handicap child because he once had one.  We did not get her name but I wish we would have.   I asked Paul if they knew that she was handicapped when they adopted her.... thats when he opened up... Paul told us about his family... his first wife and him adopted this 3 day old baby who was crossed eyed and had club feet.  He said that back in the 60s, the doctors didnt know what they know now, and just told them that everything would fix itself, referring to the crossed eyes.  He told us that his daughter lived to be 43 and had just passed away a couple months ago.  He said she had cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and was also autistic.  This was their life, caring for this severely handicapped child.  We could relate... so we listened as Paul got teary eyed occasionally and we could tell, had needed to get this off his chest and to talk with someone that could relate.  His wife had left him at some point as she could no longer handle the emotional stress of the situation, and he turned into a workaholic to keep his mind occupied.  

I did my best to listen, but Oliver was everywhere during this 10 minute conversation, so Kristen was participating more than I.

Paul said things were really tough with their second child, another daughter.  As even though she had an older sister, she didn't.  It was tough for them all.  He wished that his younger daughter would have had another sibling to interact with, and regrettably told us that had he known back then what he does now, he would not have proceeded with the adoption.  I felt bad... he seemed alone and I wanted to invite him over for dinner to talk some more.  I have so many questions that I know he can't answer specifically but might be able to give me an idea of what to expect.  I hope that Bella will prove me wrong and no offense to Paul, but I dont want to be a  70 year old divorcee working at Home Depot wishing that my life would have been different, in particular, that I didnt have a handicapped child... even though life is very difficult at times.

As we left Paul, I shook his hand and he said "good luck".  I hope that is not the last of him.  I plan to stop by again and I will probably ask if he is working so maybe the two of us can talk some more.  

After we left, Kristen commented that Paul must have been put in our paths to convince us that we need to continue our family, as that exact scenario... a little boy that has an older sister, but one he cant communicate or play with (once again I hope I'm wrong)... has been brought up on more than one occasion.  So hopefully we can continue to give both kids, and ourselves, what God intended for our lives.

Resolutions

I had a resolution this year that I would not buy any new clothes.  Instead I planned to sew clothes for myself, recreate clothes out of things I already owned, and well, just not buy new things that I really didn’t need.

I did fairly well with this resolution.  And then, it got to summer, and I hadn’t bought new shorts for years.  It has been over 100 degrees for months here, and well I really needed to have shorts.  So I bought shorts.  And not one or two pairs like I should have, but more like 6 pairs of workout shorts and 6 pairs of jean/cotton shorts.  Ummm, in other words I went a little crazy.  I also bought a few new dresses and shirts while I was at it.  So I guess I could say I made it half a year with this resolution.  I did though make quite a few clothes for myself, I guess you could say it’s been a little bit of a selfish year for me with sewing.  One of the last things I made before tearing down the sewing room was this mini skirt that I wore in Vegas.

The great thing about a mini skirt is that it is super simple and quick to make.  The bad thing, I don’t really have a lot of opportunities to wear a mini skirt in my normal day to day life.  Here are a few more pictures from Vegas, in case you were curious.

Here was the crazy pool where we drank $10 beers, listened to a DJ play music all day long, gawk at all the women dressed up in bikinis and high heels who didn’t even step a foot into the pool, and well in general had a good time.  We of course were in the pool getting wet, hey we’re Midwestern, a pool is for swimming.

Here was another dress I made specifically for the trip.  I purchased some bargain fabric in a fun color. Although together it looks like we should be attending a Christmas party, instead of seeing the Thunder Down Under.  I did mention this was a bachelorette weekend, right?  This dress cost me $6 total (not counting my time to actually sew it).

I’m not super thrilled with how it turned out.  I used a pattern and I like the pattern, but I think I cut some of the pieces a couple sizes too big.  I would like to make another dress, this time with a sturdier fabric and actually cut to size, and probably a longer hem so I can actually wear it around here!