Boys' Room

It is hard to take pictures in small rooms. I had this trouble capturing the bathroom remodel pictures. Also, I was planning on picking up the clutter to take pictures of their room, but why hide what their room looks like 90% of the time? This is real life, not a magazine insert. Just imagine a few more books on the floor and you have the normal state. :) 

* Nursing/reading chair. We spend a lot of time piled in this chair. Sometimes two of us, sometimes four. 

* Blanket on back of chair crocheted by a dear friend for our wedding. It makes a great tent. :) 

* Bunkbed (imagined by me, designed and built by Jared). 

* white, nine cube organizer from Lowes. 

* Wainscoting (on bunkbed) leftover from bathroom. We left the top three cubes open so that they could be accessed from either side. The baby's clothes and burp clothes are stored here. 

* Boxes from Garden of Eden peaches. :)

* Quilts by GC. 

* IKEA crib thrifted for $40 when Warren was born. 

Under the bunk bed. 

Books books books!! You can never have too many good books in the house. We spend a lot of time each day putting away books. This was Jared's idea. He suggested turning the crib, under the bed, so that the boys could have a little reading nook under the bed.  

* Changing table is a dry sink that some friends were getting rid of years ago, before Martin came along. Jared wanted it because it was solid wood. I wanted it because it would make the perfect changing table. We use a towel on it instead of a changing pad because the pad is too high and takes away the effectiveness of the edge. Diapers are stored under the table out of sight. 

* Corduroy was painted by my sister for our wedding. It is one of my favorites things in my entire house!!! 

* Print of Bible verse from Mr. Howard. I snagged it from the church when they remodeled the nurseries. 

* Curtains sewn by me when Martin was born. I have been thinking of updating them to navy or grey to match the boys other stuff, but this is real life. I don't have time to make everything in their room match. 

* The baby sleeps to the right. Crib on loan from my in-laws. 

* Dresser used to be Jared's when he lived alone in the house. 

* Bookshelves were made by my Dad and used to be mine. 

* Storage bins for the different size clothes.  I collect clothes two to three sizes bigger than the boys wear right now and throw them in bins. 
* Books on the shelves are mostly thrifted. When I see a good book I buy it and add it to the collection.  I love old science books! * Quilt on the crib was also made by GC when Martin was born. All the babies have used it. 
After five weeks the boys have adjusted quite nicely to having to all share this space. The older two have been sleeping through the baby's feedings.  Having the rocking chair where it is has been perfect because neither boy can see me in the middle of the night from where they sleep.  So, even if they are roused from sleep a bit, they fall back to sleep quickly.

Both Martin and Warren seem to really like their beds.  Martin loves climbing the ladder (so does Warren - they often play up there during the day).  Warren likes to crawl to the farthest back corner of his bed when he falls asleep.  I guess he likes it dark.  

I love this room.  I am so happy with the way it turned out.  :) 

Mono

(The littles)

Last Thursday I had bloodwork done to see why I've been sick. It came back positive for mono. 

In many ways that is reassuring. It is nice to know what is wrong with me. I'm glad all these crazy fevers and rashes and swollen tonsils can be explained. In other ways it is very intimidating. I am hoping I've had it for a few months and just didn't notice because pregnancy is tiring. Because otherwise, I'm not sure how I'll have the energy to take care of three small children while being so tired. But God always provides. These things help us depend on Him for strengthen instead of ourselves. 

(Little hams)

We are very grateful for all the extra meals and help our church family has offered. I just started to break into my freezer meals after almost a month. And we've only ordered out once. :) We have done a lot of breakfast for dinner. 

(birthday present)

And I have a great "school" curriculum that I'm doing with the boys. It is based off children literature. We read a book for five days in a row and talk about all sorts of aspects of the story, from the artwork to counting objects to discussing the plants and animals in each book to baking items similar to the book and all sorts of fun things. I'm doing it less do schoolwork and more just to have planned activities because I've been exhausted and unable to be as creative as normal on the fly. 

The boys have been great helps with the new baby and everyone is sleeping as well as you can with a new baby. God is good. There are so many things to be thankful for. 

(That face!)

 

Happy 5 Weeks!

Sweet Baby James went to ESL with me to visit the staff. I just couldn't stay away; I have missed my staff and students on Thursday nights.  It wore James out. He placed in the bottom English level. He has some work to do. :) 

The boys turned this box into a rock wall and a slide this morning. We have no where to be today until this afternoon. Maybe we'll stay in our pajamas until lunch. :) 

Constant Motion

They pretty much never stop. Also, those cheeks! Those eyes! Oh, Warren! We love you. 

We had the Orange bowl out the night before because Warren was throwing up. Thankfully, it only lasted three hours (12:30-3:30am - always in the middle of the night) and no one has gotten sick since then. 

In the morning Martin decided that the bowl was a "soldier hat". Yes, the bowl was clean and scrubbed out with soap. But still! Ewwww.  He pulled the purple bowl out and he and Warren marched around like soldiers and "helped people because the fire fighters were busy". 

It is certainly never boring around here (or quiet). James seems to be the only one is still and who can sleep through all the noise. :) And for that I am very grateful! I don't think I could have managed a throwing up toddler and a crying baby well. 

Someday I will get back to normal blogging and have stories about things other than illness. 

Happy 4 Weeks!

We love him. 

Smiles

So... The fever is gone after 12 days. However, now my tonsils are super swollen. It hurts to swallow. Ugh.  My mouth tastes horrible. But my energy is coming back now that the fever is over. 

I have a visit with my GP towards the end of next week. I'm guessing I just have a virus. We will see. 

He's such a happy baby so far! He's made being sick not quite as bad. Who can resist sweet baby smiles? 

The chickens find him very interesting. And I have no idea who he looks like either. 

And the other goobers are doing well. I am so thankful that no one else has gotten sick. What a blessing. 

The littles

So, I was reading them poetry and this happened. 

Baby three. Fever three.

This is my third child and the third time that I have caught some illness or infection about 2-4 weeks post baby. The other two times I knew what they were. This time I have no idea. This is going on day FOUR! 

I actually went to the doctor on Friday (when it started) because I didn't want to miss something over the weekend. They didn't find anything unusual. 

What symptoms do you have? 

General achy ness, my eyes hurt, fever, chills, waking up drenched in sweat, exhaustion...

They told me I was fighting something and it would either flair up and they could give me antibiotics or my body will fight it off and it will go away. 

So until either of those happens, the blogging is going to be a bit slow. I have several posts that are 90% written, but I just don't feel like sitting in front of a computer.  One of them is the bunkbed post that I almost had ready for last Friday and was so excited to share with you. Maybe this Friday if I feel better... I'm off to take a nap while Jared's mom is here to help with the kids. :) 

Oh, and I love the Kinsa thermometer and app! If you have kids it is especially helpful because they get to pop bubbles on the screen while they wait for their reading. Very handy. Also, I like all the stored data. It makes this engineer happy to see trends. 

What's in the freezer

Before the baby was born I made a list of everything as I put it in the freezer so I would be able to make meals quickly. I just doubled a lot of meals the last month I was pregnant an threw half of it in ye freezer. Since, the freezer is small I only freeze parts of meals, usually the meat. 

I put other items on the back of the list, such as waffles, fruit, and English muffins. 

And I knew my brain wouldn't be working completely so I made suggestions on what to use each of the items for. 

As I use them I am crossing them out. As you can see, I've only used two meals so far since James was born. I'm using a third tonight and trying to decide which one appeals to me. I had planned white bean chicken chili on my meal plan, but we had burritos brought to us last night and I think we should do something other than more tex-mex. I'm leaning towards grilled chipotle chicken (which is kind of still tex-mex) on salads.  

This looks familiar, strangely familiar...

Martin. Warren. James. 

How do I have three babies?

How do I have three boys? 

Wow. Sometimes it hits be how weird that is. I don't feel old enough to be a mom, yet alone have three kids. 

Look at that hair on Martin's head! He and Jared have such thick hair. 

Jared and I have noticed that around 9 months is when they start to look like themselves. Until that time, they change so much. So, check back in June and I will tell you who the new baby looks like. :)