Day #7 SAHM

Back to our new normal...Evan slept till 6:20am and Paeton crawled downstairs well after 8.  Rockstar.  Evan woke up in a fabulous mood - so snuggly, talkative and of course, hungry.  I was up at 5:30am so I had a peaceful shower and got almost all the way ready before his arrival...just needed to do my hair which could easily be done downstairs while he was dining...I mean, eating breakfast.  He fed himself his yogurt and didn't make much of a mess.  He's cleaner with yogurt than he is with applesauce.

Beautiful sunrise today...

Evan occupied himself with books while I got 3 crockpot recipes going...Mexican Dinner Party tonight, chez Ulrich!

By 8:45am, we were out the door and off to church for my Tuesday morning bible study.  I'm so happy I joined this study...and I love that I get to see so many friends there!

After W.O.W., the kids and I stopped to pick up some flowers for our dinner party.  Paeton chose red roses - probably because we've been talking about Valentine's Day.  I felt like the Bachelor prepping these vases.

During Evan's fabulous nap today, I finished up a bunch of projects I had been working on.  One was my 'Fruit of the Spirit' subway art for the laundry room.

Second was my Valentine's Wreath - the lighting wasn't great for this picture.  I'll try to grab a better pic tomorrow.

Lastly was my photo wall that I mentioned yesterday I've been working on since Christmas.  There's still a few holes so I need to hunt a little more in the basement but it's coming along.  I'm determined to do this wall for no cost.

Evan woke up from nap in a good mood and played nicely till our friends arrived for dinner.  We had 6 guests and a great time.  It was so nice to see my friends from work and catch up.

I'm exhausted now and ready for bed.

Day #6 SAHM

Hi Friends!  Missed you this weekend.  We had a busy weekend with the family.  Some highlights include Jodi's 'Holiday' work party Friday night, a visit to Oshkosh for Grandpa's Birthday on Saturday and the purchase of our new indestructible Evan-proof t.v. on Sunday.



Evan really enjoyed cupcake time as well as playing 'high-fives' with Aunt Joanie.

Now it's Monday...are you wondering what time the kids were up??  Evan started yelling at 4:30am, but I won't say why.  Well ok...after asking Jodi to put the 2nd diaper on him last night before bed, he announced, "he'll be fine".  Um, no.  He was drenched.  Jodi got him at 6:08am after Evan cried off and on from 4:30am.  I didn't even have to ask what had happened when I got up...evidence of the wet pjs was in the hamper.  Jodi did breakfast with Evan while I showered.  Paeton slept till 8:20am.

Before P got up, Evan and I tackled some laundry folding.  He brushed his teeth while I stood at the bed folding.  He is getting so big - almost 18months already!

Paeton came down for breakfast in a decent mood today - yay!  She LOVES birthdays so she immediately dug out her crown from when she turned 3 at the Kohl's Daycare and wore it during breakfast.  The kids were thrilled that I picked up the promised animal crackers during my shopping trip yesterday.  And no, they didn't have those for breakfast today...morning snack :)

So I'd like to announce that last week was the week of broken in our house.

In order:

1. The roller on the dyson stopped rolling...in the shop.
2. Jodi's car had a loose clutch...in the shop.
3. My car had the check engine light on...in the shop.
4. Evan threw a block into the flat screen in the great room...in the basement.
5. The cable went out so the one other t.v. we had also wasn't working...I went to the basement.

I just knew that after all those major things happened, this week would be much better.  I went to make some rye toast for myself this morning...pushed the handle down on the toaster and the handle was in my hand.  Awesome.



R.I.P. Toaster



The kids played hide-and-seek and peek-a-boo this morning - I love watching them play together.

Here's a sneak peak at my almost finished project from last week, or last month (started this after Christmas)...just have to hunt for a few more frames in my basement to make sure my wall redo is zero cost. 

Our afternoon was not fun :(  It was borderline awful today!  Evan screamed for 45 minutes in his crib when I put him down for nap.  He sounded like someone was hurting him.  I finally went up there, brought him to the couch of which he immediately fell asleep.  Paeton refused to 'rest', 'sleep' or not make noise - therefore I had no break.  Ugh - I need that break.

Evan woke up in a toddler rage 45 minutes later.  He screamed for another 20 minutes at which I decided it was time for a car ride.  We needed to get the emissions test done on our car and I needed to pick up a prescription.  This saved my afternoon.

When we got back from running errands, I attempted to get into the house soon realizing the door from the garage to the house was locked.  Paeton.  I had no key to the house on me...we were officially stuck in the garage.  Called Jodi and he came home to save us.  The kids played in the garage while we waited and luckily I had my camera.

Well, Jodi's home, dinner is made and time to start the evening.  Hopefully tomorrow goes a little better! 

Day #5 SAHM

Today...up at 5:55am.  Not bad.  Needed to shower, wash my hair and get a lot of stuff done before Carol arrived at 7:30am.  Carol is our FABULOUS cleaning lady.  We hired her a year ago when the housework was piling up and no one was home to do it.  We are hoping to continue using Carol but we've been honest with her that if we need to make budget cuts, she's the first to go...but just from the budget, not from our hearts.

Before I continue, here's a few shots of my quick redo of the kid's playspace.  Not too bad.  Now I want to add a magnetic board to the right wall for some newness. 

Paeton slept till 8:20am this morning.  Love it.  I woke her up saying, "Let's go to Lilly and Calvin's house!"  She jumped out of bed, cooperated getting dressed and we were off.  We listened to KidBop on the way there - I have to be honest that I think I like that CD better than they do.  Honesty is the first step in recovery right?

Gretchen and I wanted to get together to A) celebrate the fact that I can! and B) to make some fabric applique tees.  The kid's played great just as long as Gracie the dog didn't come near Evan and as long as Evan the great didn't torment Hazel.

We made a mess...

I'll post pictures of my tees for the kids when I finish them!

Date night tonight (first time in a long time I don't feel guilty leaving the kids) and btw, I'm not counting my weekend days as my SAHM days so my journaling will continue on Monday :)

Umbrella Play

The kids had been in the house ALL day so by after dinnertime, they were stir crazy.  They had played with every toy and nothing was exciting.  So...we got umbrellas out and had some fun.

Hope this doesn't mean we're going to have more bad luck with things breaking...

Day #4 SAHM

Starting today with a few highlights from yesterday.  The kids wanted to do some crafts so we got out the dotters and made some pretty pictures.  Evan had more paint on his face and hands than on the paper so we bathed before dinner.  It was pj night at Awana so that worked out perfect.

Just before dinner last night, the kids were playing in the living room and I was putting the finishing touches on the meal.  I came over to where they were playing just in time for Evan to make his best throw yet - a perfect pitch into the plasma on the wall.  The screen went black but the sound continued to play.  I immediately started to cry.

24 hours later I have recovered, explained things to Jodi (this was my Christmas gift to him 2 yrs ago), called Samsung and have a technician coming in a few days to see if it's repairable.  One of my goals for 2012 is to watch less t.v.  That shouldn't be hard now.

Paeton continues to not want to eat her dinner.  She looks at it each night, takes maybe one bite and then walks away.  I leave it on the shelf above the stove till she's in bed. If she says she's hungry, that's her only option.  Still hasn't worked - she won't eat any of my dinners.   

On to today...up at 6am.  Slept in!  Showered assuming Evan would be screaming when I got out.  He wasn't!  In fact, he slept till 6:45am.  Was it the double diaper??  I gladly fetched him out of his crib so proud of his improvement.

We ate breakfast and started our salad for the very sad Matt Hill Funeral, a young 34 yr old man who's life was too short.

I think Evan ate half a pepper and multiple cucumbers while I was making this.  He's so weird.

No plans on the calendar today so I decided to take on redoing the kid's playspace.  Here's the before picture.

What a mess.  And the kids' tree is still up!  I've got some ideas for this space so we'll see how it turns out.  More to come!

My favorite picture of today...

Dinner Tonight: Steak (nope, that's just Jodi...not jealous at all)

Beef Tacos, Spanish Rice, Fresh Pico & Chips

Today I had my first feeling of loneliness.  I don't enjoy being alone; never have.  Eating dinner with just me and the kids felt lonely.  Normally I'd turn on the t.v. to fulfill my craving for noise but that wasn't an option.  Oh well.

Oh, forgot to mention my Dyson is back!  The roller in the front stopped spinning so we took her in for a tune up.  Luckily it was still under warranty.  I L.O.V.E. when things break under their warranty.  BTW, the t.v. warranty ended in November. O.U.C.H.

The many faces of Paeton Violet.  My daily prayer is to love her for all she comes with and to use grace.

I'm getting better about packing Jodi's lunch when I'm putting dinner away at night. 

Alright, the kids are fed and we've got 2 hours till bedtime. 

Oh boy...