Shop Til You Drop

Some days I just miss Hallie and I hate that she is gone all day. I want her to stay home and be together so Friday I decided to keep her home from school and spend some time shopping with the cousins. Nic and I frequently meet at the DI to browse around and just visit. Its fun to bring out the creative side. To look at things to see what they could become. The kids all seem to gravitate to Nics cart and we end up piling our purchases in mine with Emery. The kids play and tell stories it is just really fun. After the DI Nic headed to Salt Lake to meet Kyle for lunch and the girls and I headed to do more shopping. 

 We went to Shopko to buy Matt some more pants and to Hobby Lobby to look for house stuff. My house shopping is in full swing. I love looking for things and laying it all out in my head. Im really excited to move and start fresh with some fun ideas. I have been waiting for a long time to do this. Luckily since we are using our credit card for our building supplies we are using the cash rewards for all the decorating. So far I have had plenty of money but we will see how far it goes.

Then we headed home had lunch and naps then we decided to go do some more shopping...mostly exchanges actually. We hit up the mall and after all of our shopping we ended up with 4 pairs of shoes for Matt and I, A handful of sweet cinnamon pumpkin fragrances(my fav), a handful of new outfits from Gymboree for Emery. The girls were so good and listened really well so as we were finishing we decided to grab a pretzel before heading home. I have fond memories at the pretzel maker. My mom used to sell crafts at quilted bear. Periodically we would go with her to take her crafts to restock her booth and she would stop to get us all pretzels to share. I don't have very many memories with my mom with her taking us to do things so this is near and dear to my heart so I love sharing that with my girls. I love to shop and I love even more getting a deal when I shop. It was a fun day for all of us

A Night Off

Our lives have been completely taken over by the house. There really is no balance at this point but if we can get thru the 4 way it will be much better. So Thursday night we decided to let the house wait and we had a family night. We took the girls out to Olive Garden(their 1st time) and did some shoe shopping for Hallie. The girls really loved Olive Garden and although they were good they didn't eat much.

 Em slept through the entire dinner and we weren't about to wake her up for a picture.

 When we left the girls wanted their pictures taken next to the building..they thought it was really cool.

Its nice that occasionally we can get away and enjoy a little time away from the craziness of the house and talk about other things.

Week 9-Four Way Inspection #1 Sept 14-19

Oh what a week it has been progress but at the same time at a stalemate. Since we knew bad weather was coming they were able to get the tar paper down to help protect the roof last Saturday and it was a god thing that they did because it rained...ALOT!

 The yard was a complete muddy mess

 Wednesday they started on the shingles...unfortunately they were the wrong color. Luckily for us the roofing estimator stopped by to bring them some product and realized it was the wrong color before they got to far into it. So they had to tear them off and have the right color delivered to our house. But it was still really exciting to see roofing going on.

 Wednesday was our 4 way inspection and lets just say it didn't go as we had planned. Our inspector is a real piece of work and has vocalized that he doesn't like self builds. Im pretty sure he will be difficult to work with thru the remainder of this process. He called Matt and gave him an ear full about how much stuff still needed to be done. After Matt got the call I headed to pick up the list since we were supposed to go finalize our cabinets that evening. When I got there the house was a crazy disaster. Everything was muddy. They were trying to deliver the right shingles and the Sheetrock while the inspector was finishing. The inspector had a come apart that they were delivering the sheetrock and threatened to red tag our project. Luckily Matt is level headed and talked it through with him. They were able to deliver the sheet rock but will have to come back on Monday to delver the shingles. I was at the house for over an hour talking with the inspector about various issues. After talking with him I got pretty freaked out about some of the issues he said we were having so I called Matt. Matt knew what was going on and said the inspector was mistaken and needed to take a closer look at the structural issues he had. After talking to Matt we decided he needed to come up and talk to the inspector to clarify a bunch of the problems. The inspector said he was going to be there so I left to get Hallie and Matt headed that way. Just as Matt pulled into the house the inspector left. Matt tried to get him to stop but he wouldn't! So we ended up with 2 full pages of things that needed to be fixed. some that were valid and some that we so stupid but he is the inspector. Matt was able to get a hold of all of the trades and set up time to get everything fixed. Hopefully we will be ready for another inspection next Wednesday so we can start making more interior progress. After seeing some of the listed issues it is looking like we are going to have to finish the basement at least to drywall unless we want to disconnect the electrical in the basement which seems silly so I guess we will see what happens. I'm hoping and praying that we will be able to find common ground with our inspector so he wont be such an a**. I know he is there to protect us but some of the things he is requesting even our sub contractors haven't heard of. I feel way less stressed about the house and I think that Matt and I have found a place of understanding that the house will be done when its done. I feel like when Matt isn't stressed about the house that I'm not either. We will make it thru this and move on with our lives.

Emery's Sick :/

On Tues Sept 8th Em got her 4 month shots. She did great but by Friday she was more fussy than usual. I called the pediatrician and since she had no fever, was eating, and peeing. They said to watch her but not to worry. Saturday nigh she was miserable and started with a fever but she just seemed uncomfortable and wanted to be held a lot. She also had diarrhea but she had had that previous the her shots but the ped said since she didn't have a fever they were going to give her vaccinations anyways so I wasn't to concerned. Sunday we stayed home from church and just let her rest as much as she could. 

 Her fever was all over the place from 100-102. I gave her a few doses of Tylenol when it got to 102 since it made me nervous and she was hit or miss from her fussiness. Monday I was supposed to go back to work but luckily I got called off which I was grateful for since I was going to call in sick anyways. 

 It was so strange she would be completely fine and they just start blood curdling screaming it was so sad. We tried some digestzen and lavendar as well as a low heat heating pad which seemed to help at times and not at all other times. When she was stil miserable on Monday I took her into the ped. They said they suspected she had rotavirus that she got from her vaccines the week before and to just keep her hydrated and comfortable while it ran its course.

Monday the 21st is the first day she is really back to herself. It has been a long road with her not sleeping, not eating, and just feeling crappy. She has had diarrhea and way more spitty than usual. I have a new appreciation for the parents that had chronic sick kids. It is so hard and Im so glad she is feeling better...finally. She loves bath time and is a major splasher so we may have to start putting her into a regular tub.

She has also started spending some time in her bumbo and I think that she quite likes being able to see everything going on more easily. Yesterday she was so thrilled to be sitting up like a big girl.

She is growing to fast. She is a major finger sucker and a big drooler. She also really likes her binki. After being sick she is off her schedule and unfortunately not sleeping thru the night(I really miss when she did) Although during the day she is great in the evening she gets really fussy at times and I assume is just working thru the remainder of her sickness. Hopefully we will get over that quickly

Beautiful Gracie

 Oh how I love this girl! Her love for life and fun loving personality is contagious. She is a riot and so silly. She is getting so big and is really smart. She is loving preschool and at times wishes she could go everyday. She likes to chew on stuff mostly a part of her clothes which drives me crazy! Although she is getting better.

 She is so spunky and a great helper. I love this little girl and love watching her personality blossom

A Lazy Sunday

 We have had quite a few of these lately. We sleep in and just spend the day in our pjs. The girls nap and we do lots of cuddling and usually taking a trip to the house to check things out. Gracie loves having her nails painted and the slow pace of Sundays are perfect for that. Here she is drying them her favorite way...by kicking her hands and feet

 We have another tummy sleeper. This little girl loves her belly and although it still makes me nervous since she is my 3rd one I am a little less panicked by it

 This picture is no way shape of form shows the beautiful view we have out the back of the fall colors changing. I am realizing more all the time that we have 360 degree views. In the summer I think the best view is out the front at the lake and out the back in the fall with the changing colors. 

Although ditching church all the time isn't a great plan some days you just need to stay in your pjs, cuddle, and just relax.

Taking a Break and Staying Cool

 Saturday after working like crazy Friday we decided to take it easy and do some swimming with the short amount of summer we have left. Since Matt was still out of town and Nick was at work Britt and I took all the kids. They had a great time and I thought it was so cute how they all cuddled up in their towels on the concrete to dry off. I remember doing this as a kid brings back a lot of memories.

 Em even took a rest on her towel in the shade.

Week 8---Are We Done Yet? Sept 7-12

 I really feel just like the title says. I feel like each week we fall further and further behind. If we ever do this again we will be subing out the framing. It is just to much work and stress for Matt. It is looking more finished a little at a time just not fast enough for any of us. By Monday the sheeting was complete and all the windows in. 

 Tuesday Matt and Jon got all the doors in Tuesday. The house looks way different with all the doors and windows.

With Matt out of town for work again on Friday Nic and I headed up to the house to clean and get ready for sheetrock to be delivered. Em was so good and just went to sleep in her rocker in her room which made it much easier to get stuff done. I miss having Hallie around on days like these she is so great at helping to keep track of the other kids and make sure they don't get in to much trouble. 

 The upstairs took us longer than what I was thinking since we vacuumed the entire thing although it looked amazing and so much bigger when it was all cleaned up and everything moved to the garage

 We had to head home to pick up Hallie about 4 from the bus. We only got the upstairs done and so I was planning on going back that evening or first thing Saturday morning. Nic was going to head home but then got a call form Kyle that he was going to go to the football game with his dad.  Knowing that Nic offered to come back up and help me. I was so relieved and grateful that she was willing to give up her entire day to help me and then willing to go back again even though we were both exhausted. So we pit stopped at home for dinner and to get reorganized. Just as we were headed out the door Britt called to see if we wanted to go bowling. I explained the situation and that we would have to come another time. A few minutes later she called me back and said their family was coming up to help us. I was so grateful and once off the phone called Matt crying. It has been so stressful building the house and with Matt out of town and me trying to get stuff on the house done while raising 3 kids by my self is a pretty daunting task so I am eternally grateful for the people that are willing to help me. Nic and I started on the basement and Nick & Brit started moving wood into the garage and filing the dumpster with scrap wood. I have no idea how long it would have taken Nic and I to get it done ourselves. I think we would have run out of light. Luckily with so much help we were finished in just under 2 hours!

 This is how we really felt!

 I don't know that words can really express the gratitude I have for the many hands that have helped us thus far. Matt and I are typically not ones to ask for help so this has been a hard and eye opening experience. Now to move forward.