4wheeling

Carl- Jonathans Dad is one of the most talent photographers I know. He has the uncanny ability to take action shots and capture a story and detail like few others Ive seen. Wait till I post some of the soccer pictures hes taken recently. Anyway Jonathan mentioned that for years he was the editor and photographer of the Cody WY paper and would often shoot rodeos and various other things for the city. His work is incredible... Anyway Tristan is with Grandma Cindy during the day and a few months ago she happened across this "pink" barbie jeep at DI. Totally works and Tristan loves it. Who didnt want one of these when they were little! I thought what a great idea but alas when I looked at the prices new( thinking I could get one for the kids at our house...) I coughed a little at the 200.00$ + price tag. Its all good though...because when they are at Grandma and Grandpas guess what even Elijiah/Tristan want to do???? :) Even though Elijiah can barely fit...they make it work!!

We have had Elijiah the last few weeks with Khory out of town.  Its been heaven for the most part.  Elijiah and Tristan have played together very well.  Between playing in the backyard( forts, and slides, soccer, and scooters) its really been nice to see them get a long. 

We have been busy putting the final touches on the yard, cleanup of the space, we bought a VERY old '74 apache hard pop up trailer, ( cant wait to share pictures- its going to be a fun project next spring to fix up and take camping) running around to lots of soccer games each week, and various work and school activities.... 

Its been a busy September and looking at the calendar October will be much the same.  I am now OFFICIALLY 8 months pregnant...32 weeks and counting.  I am fully aware these last 8 weeks will feel like an eternity, so Im trying not to get too hung up on the time.  There will be tons of things to occupy us in the next 2 months. 

For now Im just relishing in these two boys- how happy they make me and how blessed I feel to be their mother.

Quick recap around here

A Sunday hike to Cecret Lake at Alta was a good time for all( except poor Tristan who fell a few times).  Harder for me than I thought being 7 months along, but still a beautiful day and I loved being outdoors.
While we thought we would wait to do the patio till spring...a good deal on pavers created a snowball effect on the project so we went for it.  Im not sure Jonathan would do it again( it took him about 50 man hours to do it all by himself) but its 99% done!  Here is what it looked like a few days ago...now this was taken after he had leveled the dirt, carted in the sand and gravel, leveled it all and began the painstaking task of wheelbarrowing( is that even a word?)  the individual stone.  Each load was about 400 pounds.  I think he must have done 30 trips in all. We got the first level of finishing sand on, but we still have another couple to go, and then the sealant. I have to say it looks pretty darn good. 

this is how my mind works....

...and it gets me in trouble with Jonathan...

haha.  Elijiah was with his dad over labor day weekend...and with Jonathan working on the crib...I thought...mmmm I should probably go through the boxes in the basement to see what I have, what still is in good condition ( after 10 years) and what I may need to buy over the next couple of months to prepare for the baby coming...

So what do I do?  Bring up every single box of clothes, and baby items that have been stored away and start going through them...I put them in piles according to size.  I then had a D.I. pile for clothes that just dont cut it anymore, and then a throw away pile for stained, torn or just plain worn out stuff.

As Jonathan walked in this room he said it gave him anxiety to even look at it all!  We went to walmart and got storage bins instead of boxes and I started to do laundry for all the blankets, and newborn-12 month items.  The rest went back into bins - labeled correctly and down to the basement.  After Jonathan did the paint job in Elijiahs room....we just kept the project going. He took down Elijiahs bedroom, set up the crib, we moved everything to Tristans room and did our best to rearrange so both boys stuff fits.  It was a lot of work, and still lots of work left for both rooms. However Tristan and Elijiah are in one room, and the baby's room is under construction as you can see below.  PROGRESS!

Paint Hell

Jonathan and I always seem to start projects around here...I guess that has to do with all the stuff that we see that needs to get done!  It started with some inspiration photos and discussing the baby room.  I have this vision of what I want, but seriously our money tree died with the backyard.  Jonathan was concerned with the crib first off...its a side drop one that I got for Elijiah 10 years ago.  Its been a great crib but with the recalls, and my change of design likes....I wanted a new crib...HOWEVER I realized that with all the stuff I have, its really not practical to buy new.  So he did some research and he will retro-fit the crib to help with any issues....and we decided to paint it instead of keeping it the old brown color.  We had already purchased a new/used old dresser in a pale yellow and the other colors I wanted to paint the crib wouldnt probably go...so white became the go to.  As Jonathan was painting the crib we talked about what my plans were for the rest of the room.  I have a few bumper and crib skirts but none seem to work...,my mom will make another set I just need to purchase the fabric....anyway I think I have it all put together in my mind...its just a matter of pulling it all together.

So for now...here is the latest in the nursery redo....Looks AMAZING if I say so myself...Jonathan sure rocks the house!

Back at Lourdes

School started 2 weeks ago...a little late in posting a first day back picture.  But better late than never!

As much as Elijiah complained about leaving his friends at public school behind, he got on board with returning to Lourdes and its been a good couple weeks.  Days are long...7am to 5:15 before he returns home, but hes made a few new friends, and got reacquainted with the old ones. Because its such a small school- ONE class per grade and avg class size is 20- everyone knows everyone....hes been welcomed back with open arms and so far so good.  

My friend, and teacher at the school has a son Elijiahs age...in fact they have known each other their whole lives...Kai and he went to YMCA for daycare and it was Karen who introduced me to Lourdes in the first place..anyway she lives about a mile from me, and is helping to drive him back and forth to school.  Its really the only way he could have returned to Lourdes...with Jonathan and I working in Provo and school in SLC shes been a life saver!

Anyway excited for the new year and 4th grade!

How do you eat an elephant?

 

One bite at a time

....so here is one corner of our lot...the upper side.

We had SEVEN pallets of sod delivered...and yes when it was on the driveway I was a bit overwhelmed.  We did hire a few guys to come and help install.  And we were told they were going to arrive between 4-6 pm that night.  By 7 pm and no guys-- Jonathan got to work.  We ( I really should say Jonathan here) were very worried about having to do this job by himself, but an hour later the guys showed up and they finished the job about 1:30 am. 

As a recap this is the before shots of the entire yard, along with the tiers and levels that needed sod.  The middle teir will be full of plants, and the border around the house, so we marked accordingly...but 5000 sq feet of sod - and I see green...not brown so I am super happy!

Nursery thoughts...

Redecorating? Not likely…. When we initially got pregnant I was sure I was going to do lots of redecorating to the boys space. Elijiah and Tristan were going to share a room, and the baby would have his own room. It was a grand idea that I would morph Tristan and Elijiahs stuff together with all these great ideas and new things…and with a nursery to do- I started pinning great ideas for the space. Well…..reality is getting hold of me. I have old items. A bedskirt/bumper from Elijiah/Tristan. Pottery barn rug that I cant stand to look at, but it fits in with all the other décor Ive got….to do what I REALLY want to do would take oodles of time and money and honestly does anyone REALLY see the rooms besides us anyway? I totally want to redo most of the other rooms in the house eventually….our bedroom/bath, the living room, the dining room, office, basement…but the boys rooms? The ones that get trashed only seconds after Ive spent an hour cleaning? The rooms that neither of them spend much time in except to mess up looking for something or sleeping? Its not like they are going to APPRECIATE the expensive redone furniture, or rugs/drapes and accessories. It would be for ME! So in light of this epiphany – Im sure that I will have the most hodge podge rooms for the boys and new baby. I guess there really is something to be said about having kids- it gets less exciting each time to buy anything when you already have stuff that still works. It’s a waste of money! We have gotten a few new items….a highchair, and changing pad! EXCITING! But the rest? Nah its going to be either hand me downs or 2nd hand. Sorry kiddo, I think you may enjoy the backyard space that we are in the middle of vs the new rocking chair, or bedding I had planned…..:) **After checking to see if my leg had a blod clot yesterday, the very talkative tech said it wouldnt be fitting if he didnt check out the baby as well. Jonathan had a hard time seeing what was on the screen, thus the outline...but I laughed out loud when I saw our little one with his legs over his head touching his toes but sucking on his knee! :) Seriously soooo cute.