Day 188

 

July 7th, 2010

 

July 7th, 2011

 We started this morning by heading to Kristen's for a playdate with Grace and the triplets. It was such fun!! I loved watching the kids interact with each other and seeing how totally different all five of them are! Here are some of my favorite pictures from today:

 

Hadley

 

Reagen

 

Maddie

 

The sippy stealer strikes again!

 

Gus cannot resist the fun of a towel!

We got in the car to leave and within a few minutes Gus was sleeping. We got home and had lunch and then I watched Teen Mom from Tuesday (DRAMA). It was good but don't get me started on the show... anyway, I put Gus down for a nap and he slept for two hours! YAY!

After he got up, we played in his playroom for a bit and then headed downstairs. Here are some pictures of him being silly with a bowl on his head:

 

Trying to keep the bowl on...

Then Gus played with his magnet board... and enjoyed taking off all the pieces that I had JUST put back on!  >:)

Steve came home and we went and got Chinese for dinner. It was okay-- but I don't think it matters where we get Chinese from anymore, it's lost its luster and I just don't like it anymore. BLAH!!

I had an 8:00 conference call tonight, and just before, my mom called. She told me that their power and air is back on and all is good. My dad just needs an electrician to help with some things, but the tree is cleared and it's all good at their house. :)  She said her hip still hurts, but it's all part of the recovery. I can't wait to see them next month!!

Here are some other fun pictures that I found from a year ago today. My cousin Derek is in them (he lives in France and was home for the summer last year for a friend's wedding. I was lucky enough to also be in MI at the same time, and got to see him a few times while he was home!!)

 

Derek and Gus

 

Heather and Gus (Heather is my cousin Corey's wife-- and Corey and Derek are brothers)

 

Gus and his Aunt Christie (my twin brother's fiance)

 

Gus and Uncle Scott having a stare-down... (Gus won)

I don't know if I'll post tomorrow... maybe in the morning, but I'll have to post about our night on Saturday! Jen is coming over to watch Gus while Steve and I go to the Angus Barn for dinner and a movie after to celebrate our fifth anniversary!!!

>^..^<

Day 187

 

July 6th, 2010

 

July 6th, 2011

I.

Am.

Exhausted.

Let me start my blog with two pictures from 10am...

Nope, not a "Find Gus" in this picture game... (although, he IS in there... do you see him???). This is my livingroom after Wendy came over and said, "I totally want to go through the pack and play." I should have known better than to think that a simple statement like that could be taken lightly. LOL

I agreed and told her that the pack and play (that was acting as a make-shift toy box) was out of control and needed organizing. I'd been looking EVERYWHERE for the Tigers onesies that my parents gave Gus for his birthday... couldn't find them at all. (I found them today.)

So we started a movie for the kids, and then she and I unpacked the pack-n-play and tried to organize the toys into piles (baby toys, current toys, etc.). Then Wendy said, "I totally want to take the pack-n-play up to the FROG, put your teaching books (chapter books) into it and then use the book shelves for Gus's toys." I said, "No... I don't want the FROG to become the playroom... I'd rather move everything from the guest room into the FROG and use the guest room as a playroom."

That was all I had to say and the wheels started spinning and the plan was set into motion. We started by moving things around in the FROG and then measuring the bed in the guest room (using a string because I couldn't find measuring tape or a ruler). We moved the dresser from the guest room into the FROG and moved the TV from the guest room next. Then we took the bed apart and moved it... then we moved the night stand and the only thing left in the guest room was the fridge. 

We cleaned out one of the closets in the guest room and moved all the linens into the pack-n-play in the FROG. Then we assembled the bed... moved the tv stand from the FROG into the playroom, and then the rest fell into place. 

The livingroom was still a disaster (had not been touched since 10am). We decided to go grab some lunch and take a break. We headed to Wendy's and it was so nice to sit and eat and just relax for a while. We headed back home and went back to work.

After we had all the furniture moved, we started moving the toys from downstairs up to the playroom and organized it. The last thing we did was to rearrange the furniture downstairs in the livingroom. Ahhhhh... at 5:00 we finished and it was just as Steve walked in the door!!

He absolutely loved it all and was so thrilled that all the work was done by someone other than himself. :)

Here are the before pictures of the FROG:

 

View from the door looking at the window

 

Now the guest bed is here!!

 

BEFORE: View from window to door

AFTER: A few things in the room now (like the rocking chair and table)

 

BEFORE: Guest room with bed

 

BEFORE: Guest room with dresser and tv

 

BEFORE: View from the door

 

AFTER: View of left side of playroom

 

AFTER: Closet with shelving unit with toys on it

 

AFTER: Toys, fridge and television

I am absolutely thrilled to have a playroom!!! Not only will Gus love it, but it's across from my desk and I will be able to see him and maybe work on the computer this summer when I get C4 orders. It looks incredible and now I am on the hunt for a table and chairs... though I love the ones at IKEA, so I might just wait until we head to MI in August and pick them up while we're there. 

Last but not least... the livingroom:

 

BEFORE: View from stairs looking at room

 

AFTER: My new seat

 

AFTER: It looks so much bigger!!

 

AFTER: Where the big couch used to sit

 

AFTER: View of livingroom from the kitchen

 

AFTER: From the same spot that the before picture was taken!

Isn't it incredible? I'm going to be paying for it tomorrow when I can't move... but it looks great and I won't need to move furniture like this again for a LONG time to come (got it Wendy???). She wanted to attack our closet but I said not today. I mentioned it to Steve and he said, "I'd let her organize our closet... and I'll go a step further. If she wanted to buy some racks and stuff to organize it, I'd give her the money to buy it!" So... Wendy might have a new project for when we head to MI!!!

Here are some other pictures of Gus from today:

 

Pulling the box all over the room

 

Sitting INSIDE the box

 

Hee hee hee!!

 

Using the box to reach the chair that Kaitlyn was sitting in...

 

Playing with his magnet board

I'm beat. I'll write again tomorrow... we're going to a 9:30 playdate at Kristen's and Lacey will be there too with her triplets!! I can't wait to see them!! There will be five kids all born nine days of each other!!! Gus is the 11th of May, Grace is the 15th of May, and the triplets (all fraternal girls) were born on the 20th of May!!! The pictures should be fun and I can't wait to see Gus interact with four girls all around his age!!! Now if only I could find some boys for him to play with!!!

>^..^<

7-5-11 Gus and the Blinds

Day 186

 

July 5th, 2010

 

July 5th, 2011

While Gus was a rockstar last night and slept through the BOMBS that Gary and Karen shared with the neighborhood, he wasn't quite the rockstar this morning. He was up at 6am and ready to face the day. I, on the otherhand, was not.

I was able to get him to go back to sleep for about thirty minutes, but by that time I was awake. I decided to take advantage of the time I had and work a little more on my anniversary project. 

When I asked Steve a few weeks ago what he wanted for our fifth wedding anniversary (which is this Friday), he said, 'Something handmade." I took that to me, "Don't spend any money." LOL   I racked my brain thinking of the perfect thing to give him, and then it just hit me. It's taken me several days to work on it, but between the time this morning and then when we got home this afternoon and I put Gus down for a nap, I was able to complete the project and wrap it. It's ready for Steve to open!!

This morning was a little "off" for Gus. We had breakfast and had a little bit of time to play. I was completely bummed to see that The Bachelorette wasn't on last night. So, instead of me watching that, we listened to music and played all morning.

We met Steve and Yola and Beth at Tossed in Morrisville for lunch today. We met them at 11:30 and Gus is usually in his crib napping between 11 and 12, so I was VERY nervous about how he'd be in a public place... and being so tired. He did really well, all things considering. He did NOT like the sauce on the pizza that we got him... and refused to eat it. He had the fruit that came with his lunch, some of the juice (WHAT IS WITH THESE PLACES THAT DON'T SERVE MILK???) that came with it (diluted with water) and then I brought him some mandarin oranges (his new favorite). He ate a decent amount, but not enough for me to be totally satisfied.

Here's a picture of Steve and Gus with Yola and Beth:

We said goodbye and headed home and within five minutes, Gus was asleep. He slept all the way home (about 35-40 minutes). When we got home we played for a little bit, but he was rubbing his eyes, so I put him down for a nap. He fought me on the nap,but eventually slept for about an hour.

When he got up, we came downstairs and he had a snack and played until Steve got home.

 

"Get your own box..."

We had dinner (marinated grilled pork chops, some noodles and peas) and then there were some stroms rolling through, so we went outside to watch the rain. Gus wanted to play in the rain, so we let him. It was thundering so we were extra careful. He was out in the rain for maybe five minutes total, but he got soaked and was a very happy boy!!

 

Gus playing in the rain

 

On the screened porch watching the rain

 

Playing with daddy

 

:)

We called it a night and put Gus to bed. I'm exhausted. Tomorrow Wendy and the girls are coming over around 10 to watch a movie. I'm super excited! It's been MONTHS since they came over to watch a movie with us and I can't wait!!!

**UPDATE ON MY PARENTS**

So my dad called me tonight (actually my mom called and passed the phone to my dad).. their box that connects the power line from outside to the inside of the house caught on fire!!! Thankfully, his neighbor saw it and told him before anything happened... but still. So now they're without power AGAIN and this time they don't know when they'll get it back.  :(

>^..^<

7-5-11 Gus in the Rain