Ta daaa!

I am very excited to reveal our new bathroom makeover. This bathroom, along with all of the others in our home, has bothered me since day 1. There was previously wallpaper on the walls, which the previous owners were kind enough to remove for us. However, after doing so, the remedy was to paint or spray an incredibly coarse sandpaper texture on the walls, which was uneven and would actually hurt if you rubbed your arm across it. The result was a bathroom which looked very much under construction and one for which I always made excuses for when showing someone our home for the first time.

Before: Sinks/vanity/mirror/walls

After: New mirrors, vanity top, sinks, painted wall

Before: Ugly linoleum floor

After: New tile floor

After: Shower curtain with curved rod instead of shower doors

I love my new bathroom!!

And they're off....

The big boys are off to school. They were pretty ho-hum about the whole back to school thing until Back to School night, where they got to see their rooms, meet their teachers and drop off supplies. After that, they said they wished school started that day. So I had little doubt that the first day would be greeted with anticipation and excitement.

Note dead hummingbird behind Jack. Even he was shocked Jack's in 3rd grade already.

Even though I look constipated, I am still excited about kindergarten!

My hope is that after this, the longest summer of their school years, they remember all of the fun things we did. The forts they built, the lemonade stands they held, days at the pool, trips to see family and friends, our big trip out west, ice-pops, slip n' slides, sleeping in, and all of the general lazy days we had. Because I gotta tell you, driving home from school, I felt like we'd just done this yesterday.

I think I might start to listen now to all those older and wiser parents who keep warning us that it goes fast.

You know, I think they might be right.

Perspective

Why is it that it usually takes someone else's tragedy to offer the rest of us perspective?

I had a lot of errands to run this morning, something I usually enjoy but during the summer takes on the extra challenge of small people who enjoy arguing once we enter a store. I was so discouraged and exhausted after three stores that I gave up on the grocery shopping idea which was supposed to happen after the other errands. I was all set to complain at full pitch to Rob about it when he got home until he called to tell me he's just gotten one of the worst phone calls ever.

A coworker of his was calling to tell him his 9 year old son had just passed away so he wouldn't be coming to work for a while. He was struck by a boat while waterskiing and waiting for the boat to pick him up. The mother was in the boat at the time.

Can you even imagine this? This is the worst day these parents will ever have. This is the worst day the man driving that boat will ever have. So now I see that taking two arguing kids with me while I run errands is actually a gift that someone else will never have.

Please keep these parents in your prayers tonight as we thank God for all of our blessings.

Rock on

We co-hosted an 80's party last weekend with friends of ours. It was her brainchild, and she brought me along for the ride thanks to our spacious garage. Plus, I'm, like, the perfect, like, person to have an 80's party with because I thought it would be like, totally, RAD and I only listen to 80's music everyday anyway, so, whatever.

I had three costume changes. I started out with this jumpsuit number:

If it looks like the buttons are almost popping off, you are right. No maternity 80's stuff to be found.

Then, I shook it up with a prom dress:

I looked like Ginormous Woman in this dress

I finished the night with this sporty little number. Note the actual GM seat belt belt I am wearing. It was awesome. I was told I looked really safe.

Angela, pictured here on the left:

really knocked herself out with planning, decorations, and music selections for the night.

We had a totally awesome time. Our legs were actually sore the next day from dancing.

 Can you tell how short his cutoffs were? The pocket hung out in front lower than the jean shorts. That is what made them so classic. He got my vote for best male dressed.

 And this got my female vote. There was just so much going on here it was real eye candy.

And yes, we finished the evening with keg stands. Only because our maturity levels are actually that high. Do we like to relive our college days? Maybe sometimes.

I'll finish my post with this picture. Why? Because it just makes me laugh every time I look at it. And we all need a good laugh sometimes.

How does this happen?

Can anyone please tell me how this child goes to bed unscathed and wakes up with this?

I mean, honestly! That is long and deep! And it's gonna leave a mark!

And when I ask him what happened, he says he doesn't know, and then he says he doesn't want to talk about it?

I'd think if I got a gash like this overnight, I would probably wake up and let someone know.

Oh child, you are a mystery to me.

Thank you for keeping it interesting.

I don't think having a girl has really sunk in yet.
Honestly, just the fact that I'm having a baby is making an imprint on my brain, so the girl part will probably take a while.

But I'm so excited.

Is it wrong that I lie in bed thinking about the clothes that I can buy now? I mean, let's face it-beyond about 2T, boys clothes get pretty boring. But girls clothes? Oh my. And, I keep thinking about how different it will be to change a diaper, with no worries about the shooting geyser of pee at 3am when you are too tired to remember to cover it.

Jack is elated. Luke has accepted. Luke was sure it was going to be a boy. Before we found out via cake cutting, he said,

"Mom, I just know it's a boy, because when you had to take your doctor appointment, and we could see those pictures, I didn't see any long hair."

Before we cut the cake, we made wagers on what we thought it was. Luke and I both thought boy, and Rob and Jack thought girl. Jack has taken that to mean that I wanted a boy, because when he ran to tell the neighbors, he said that I'd wanted a boy, but I wasn't totally bummed. Ah, from the mouths of babes.

Frankly, I'm glad it all turned out all right. To be honest, the young girl at the bakery seemed utterly perplexed with my whole request. Rob had heard this cake idea from someone at work and really liked the idea, so we decided to go with it. We had the ultrasound technician write it down on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope. Then, I took the envelope to the bakery, and asked her to open it, look at it, and then make the cake either pink or blue inside. I also had her put it back in the envelope and give it back to me as insurance that she understood this whole thing. She did....

So, now I'm just starting to get a bit freaked out at all that needs done between now and December. I need to figure out how I want to decorate/paint the room, move my current office downstairs (sigh... I love my office), and turn this into a bedroom. Oh, and there's the whole name thing. Holy cow.  We had lots of boy ideas but this one is a bit trickier. And, dare I dig into the 6 totes of boy clothes I've saved to put out for a garage sale yet? What if she was wrong? Oh, the drama.

But, it's a girl, right? Better get used to some drama real fast.

Editor's note: I'm honestly not too freaked out about upcoming drama. {See previous post about my son having the emotional makeup of a teenage girl and you will understand why.} Not sayin' it's bad, I'm just sayin'.