What a Day!

First of all, I wanted to show you Tyler's room so far. I have nothing up on the wall as of right now but it's getting there. I think he's actually starting to like sleeping in here. We were awoken with a thump this morning around 5:50 when he fell off of his bed for the only time of the night. I actually think he's improving! So, my day. It started off with me just being emotional. I won't blame the pregnancy but I definitely think the back pain/body aches/having to take care of 2 toddler thing is wiping me out but I woke up with thoughts that I might not make it through the day without crying my eyes out. It also definitely has to do with the loss of my Aunt. In addition my kids are a little bit sick with runny noses so I can't hang out with anyone of the human race for the rest of the week while they recover so I thought I'd go out and infect the rest of the neighborhood with germs by going to the market and Wal-Mart. I know, even I will wipe down the carts after this little segment... Anyway, we headed to the local farmer's market store and proceeded to get some necessary veggies. I had just turned around to grab some avocados when I heard a crashing sound behind me. When I turned, I saw Mikayla covered in coke with a broken bottle at her feet. Of course, she went hysterical because she felt so bad but it made me want to cry right in the middle of the store. Why me?? why today?

Then we went to Wal-Mart and bought Mikayla her promised fish for her room. Does it look like a Betta? It is. However, much to my chagrin, they only had FEMALE bettas and we all know that the females are the boring sex in the animal world. Mikayla had her heart set on this one so we bought it (no fancy fins to be found). Right now she's in her room looking at it after she fed it and tried to "pet" it by putting her whole hand in the tiny cup and chasing it until it practically launched itself out of it's container. I've already apologized to the poor fish. Now we'll just have to see how long it can survive in the Lee household.

Here is the glamorous fishbowl that will be housing the new Lee. Yes, the marbles and beads look pretty but as soon as I got it home, I looked up what you're supposed to put in the bottom of the fishtank and it mentioned gravel. I don't know about you but even I can see that this is definitely not gravel. It's also not going to be very easy to clean with all of those tiny beads. The only excuse I have is that, with my already emotional day, standing around Wal-Mart making decisions was just about as appealing as jogging a mile at the gym in my present state. Point made. You'll have to come see our new addition (provided she lasts the week).

In Memory

My beautiful Aunt Leone went to be with the Lord this morning at 3am. Even though our hearts grieve for her loss here on earth, we know that she is rejoicing in heaven with no pain or heartache. I'm sure she's already given my Aunt Lynette a great big hug. This year has been hard for our family and I thank you for your prayers.

I love you Aunt Leone!

It Happened One Night

Will's parents just got back from a trip to China and they asked what we wanted while they were there. Honestly, I don't even know what to ask for from China so all I said was jewelry. I didn't get any of that but the kids got a lot of "Hong Kong" clothing. Receiving clothing from Hong Kong is an interesting experience. Start with the fact that everything is packaged in plastic and smells of moth balls (a great smell when you're pregnant, especially), and then the sizes are larger than even mine. These pajamas for Tyler were a size 18 but they were a little large. Surprisingly, this pair was very well made. Mikayla even got princess underwear which was pretty cool too. The prices throw you off as well. They write things with dollar signs but the ratio is so extreme that it looks like you're paying $15 for one pair of hair clips. I would have a hard time there, being that I can be pretty frugal and it would seem like I'm spending a fortune. Anyway, here's the Car pajamas Mama and Yeye picked up for Tyler. He's pretty proud of them as you can see.

And here's the smile I love so much.

Mikayla and I built a building out of the blocks Tyler got for his birthday. It was knocked down several times in the process but I think it turned out pretty well. Of course, after sitting on the floor for a half an hour I almost had to have traction for my back. That's one thing that is definitely getting worse with this pregnancy. Walking to the bedroom after sitting on the couch for a few hours took almost 10 minutes. Only 5 1/2 weeks to go!!

The Party

We just got back from the Harvest party for our class at church and, let me say, our friends are pretty creative. I'd post everyone's pictures on here but there were so many so you'll just have to believe me when I say I was pretty impressed by the creativity. On to our costumes. I just wanted to show you a picture of Tyler dressed in his "final" outfit with the red shirt underneath. Before we left, he wanted nothing to do with the "ba-boo" (spider) outfit but once we forced it on him out of the car at the church, he kept it on all night. He made mommy proud. I didn't get many pictures of Mikayla because she was running around with her friends the whole night and it was pretty dark in the room. She loved being Ariel!

Here's a shot of our family before we left for the big party. The shiny thing on my forehead is the remnants of white hairspray that really wasn't there but left an eerie glistening spot where I had washed it off. Cheryl, my cousin, and I were almost unconscious after she encased my hair with the entire aeresol can of white hairspray. You did a good job, Cheryl. It just looked like I had dandruff whenever an itch needed to be scratched. This is pretty much the only good picture we have of the family, much to my dismay. The shots in the room came out pretty dark so all my work is portrayed in this single shot. Whoever got a good picture, I'd love to have a copy. It's hard to sit the whole family down and get a good picture. As you can see, Will is completely in character. I couldn't decide what "in character" was for me because my eyebrows certainly don't arch like Ursula and my smile isn't as sinister either so I just looked normal. Sorry, Will.

Here's my impression of Ursula. The red lips really add that pizzazz, don't they? I think my lips will be stained for a few weeks following this application. Well, there you have it. The end of costumes until next year comes around. Now I need to get some sleep. The car ride was the quietest ever since both the kids fell asleep in about 5 minutes. Since neither one took a nap today after waking up at 4:30 in the morning, it was about time.

Up at 4:30???

4:30am is an abominable time. It is also the hour that most of our family woke up this morning. It's not like it's unusual for us to wake up at that time but we can fall back asleep again either on the couch or the bed until the "real" wake up time at 5:00 or 5:30. Certain circumstances have changed this "ideal" setup as of late. Since Tyler's been sleeping in his big boy bed, we find him more often on the floor than the mattress since he's constantly rolling around. This morning, Will found him by the door of his room, a full 4 feet from his bed. We've come to the conclusion that we just need to fork out the cash and buy a bed rail. The pillows are cushioning the fall but not preventing the problem.

Anyway, back to the 4:30 because I've got to vent it out of my system. At about 4:50, Mikayla calls from her room for a kleenex and it must be brought by yours truly. She blows halfheartedly and I go back to bed. No more than 2 minutes later she asks for another one. By the 3rd time, we're all awake and Tyler is pointing to go "outside." Will goes out to the living room, in the dark, to try to pacify Tyler and I attempt to get a little more sleep with Mikayla in our bed. It's useless and it's still DARK outside when the entire Lee family retreats to the couch and watches Monster's, Inc!!!! Since I had gone to bed at about 11:30 after watching the TiVo'd version of The Biggest Loser, my patience level and my sleep level were greatly compromised.

Here's hoping that the rest of the day doesn't go as gloriously as this morning. So, I decided to post some pictures of the quilt my mom made and the butterflies I hung from the ceiling of the girl's room.

The front of the quilt-an irish chain.

The back of the quilt.

The butterflies... I have a little issue with Target on this one. These 2 beautiful butterflies matched the girl's room beautifully so I splurged (it wasn't too much) and bought them. I opened the package and looked everywhere for directions as to how to hang them but found none. The only other item with the butterflies was a little bit of fishing line. It seemed easy enough but getting them to stay facing down and not on their side was like doing an engineering experiment. Needless to say, if you even TRY to take these butterflies down, bring a pair of scissors.

Sneak Peak

So I decided to add even more projects to my list these last few months and thought I'd make Tyler's Halloween costume. My mom had made Mikayla a little Mermaid outfit and, with our class party coming up for church, I had the bright idea of making us all characters of the Little Mermaid. I'm not crazy about my character but I really have no choice with my present girth. Anyway, pictures of that later. I wanted to give you a sneak peak at the costume I made for Tyler. Actually, I'm quite surprised with the results. The picture in my mind actually came out in person! I think that's a first in sewing 3-D things. It is HILARIOUS when Tyler wears it around because the crab feet almost touch the floor.

Now the challenge will be getting Tyler to wear it all night for the party. It didn't take me super long to make but I will be duct taping it to his body if he throws a fit about wearing it. Mommy didn't spend 2 hours making a crab costume for it to sit on the floor with no body in it. I don't think that's too cruel, do you? I'll get a picture of the rest of the family tomorrow when we go, in all of our glory, to the party.

Side View

Back view

Front View

Room Change

Tyler was so excited to get in his new bed with his sister but, at bedtime 10 minutes later, it became a torture chamber. Will was able to calm him down and sit with him and he was ok after a few minutes but I can tell it will take a little time of adjustment to get used to his Big Boy bed. I'll take a picture of the room once I figure out where I want the furniture.

The 2 of them jumping and climbing on Tyler's new bed.

I finally have the back room in some semblance of order. There are still some misplaced items that hang on the wall or go in the garage but here are a few pictures of how it looks. There is so much space back here! Now I would love to get a baby pink rug and a little table and chairs to put in the middle of the room for the kids to color on. I think I need to take a trip to IKEA.

My mom made a baby quilt for each of my kids and I love all of them. This one is absolutely adorable. I'll take a better picture of it soon but I draped it over the crib to give it that girly touch. My friend, Emily, lent me the crib bumper that totally goes with the decor. The room is ready for the baby but I'm not quite sure I am...

Heavy Hearts

When the people you love the most become really sick, priorities have a way of changing. You look at your children different, as precious and fragile beings, and the worries of your home or job seem far less important. So it is with my thoughts these past few days with news of my great Aunt Leone.

My Aunt Leone has been ill for a little while now and has always been in the best of spirits, such an inspiration to all of her family. We last visited my Aunt Leone and Uncle Bill in April of last year and I am so happy that she got to meet my 2 angels. However, she is drawing near to the end of her time here on earth and the way things are progressing, the family believes she will soon meet her beloved Savior face to face. It is supposed to be a blessed time, a time for rejoicing in a life so well lived and a time to thank God for giving her to us but it's hard to do. If you read this blog, please say a prayer for my family, especially my Uncle Bill whose strength is beyond words.

Aunt Leone and Uncle Bill with Mikayla and Tyler.
We love you!!

Butterflies Have Flown In!

Mikayla has made a wonderful new friend this past month named Bekah. They get along so well together. This picture was taken in the only moment of silence between the two-they were so focused on coloring their pictures that there was no girl chatter. Bekah's mom, Emily, has become a good friend to me as well and, because of her, I finished the butterflies in the room in record time! She would disagree that she made that much of an impact but she was my motivation to getting it done. Thanks Emily! I tried to take a picture of the butterflies on the wall but they didn't turn out as accurately as they look on the wall. They looked exactly how I wanted them to look which is a welcome change from some projects taken on in the last few months. Mikayla helped me paint the white base of the butterflies and it was a process. Not only did we have to stamp them on the wall, we had to touch them up with paint because they weren't filled in enough with just the stamp. Needless to say, you can tell which ones Mikayla helped me with but one of them definitely had the Mikayla touch. I had left her in the room while I washed my brush and she came out with a triumphant look on her face. She said, "mommy, I gave my butterfly a head!" When I saw it on the closet door, I had to laugh. I haven't taken a picture of it but it is the only butterfly with enlarged antennae. I figured that it was her room and she should have one specially painted by her. No butterfly needs to look the same as his friends.

My cousin Cheryl came over today to hang out with us which is such a treat since she's getting busier and busier with college stuff. She brought over her Halloween costume so that I could help her draw the Starbucks logo and I had to take a picture of her "drinking" out of the cup while Mikayla tried it on. The cup will look so true-to-form when she's done with it.

By the way, tomorrow will be the big "move" day where all the kid's furniture switches rooms. It's going to be a HUGE accomplishment. Now we'll see if it actually happens.

Shot Therapy

Tyler turned 2 and, with it, came a Dr.'s appointment complete with 2 shots. I had told Mikayla that she might have to have a flu shot and she wasn't thrilled with the idea but I don't think she realized how scared she'd be until the nurse walked into the office with the needle. Panicking was an understatement and I had to wrap my legs around hers so she didn't kick me to kingdom come but it was over in an instant and she had a tweety bandaid to show for it. Tyler was next and he barely let out a whimper. The only thing he wanted was for me to open his lollipop.

Whenever we get shots, we take a trip to our local Rite Aid (which is way too close to the house) and get their 99 cent/scoop ice cream to make us feel better. In this shot, I asked them to show me their bandaids. Tyler had a bandaid on his finger from something that happened in his crib last night so he showed his finger. Obviously that was more memorable than a few shots in the arm. After downing our black cherry and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, life was better.

Mikayla making her silly face. She was so excited for ice cream.

Tyler had to eat it on his own with his own spoon. He gave me dirty looks when I tried to steal some but he did share a little. It's amazing how something so little could eat so much.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Tyler!!!

Tyler turned 2 on Sunday. I can't believe my baby is already 2 but he's such a lovable, wonderful kid at 2 years (even though he does have his tantrums). On Saturday, we celebrated cousin Ethan's 3rd birthday at my sister's house. It was fun to see my Uncle Dannie and my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Gary, who all came down from Washington. We had yummy tacos and burritos too.

The kids climbing on the slide in the Hill's backyard.

Playing dart guns with Uncle Dannie was great fun. He's a kid at heart himself.

On Sunday, we went to my parents house (since mine is in a state of disorder due to the reorganizing). We got take-out Chinese food and pigged out on orange chicken, broccoli beef, teriyaki chicken and mushroom chicken. The aunts and uncles all came over and we had a great time. Cousin Cheryl also came to the parties. Tyler got some great gifts which he has been playing with nonstop since yesterday, including a set of blocks from Gramps that he handmade for Ethan and Tyler. Cara and I used to play with the same set of blocks but dad split up the original group and then made the boys each additional blocks. It was so much fun to watch them play with them.

Tyler's favorite thing is making a tower. Notice the car in his hand. "The King" from the movie, Cars, is his favorite and, thanks to Uncle Dannie, he now has his very own.

Me, Uncle Dannie, Cara and Cheryl.

All of us with Aunt Nancy and Uncle Gary. Sorry, guys, I had a better picture but my memory card is acting up.

Loving the cupcake! He even waited until the end of the song before blowing out his candles. He's been practicing for a while.

Yummy!!!

Colorful Days

This is the scene I came upon when bathtime came around. We just discovered a batch of "bath crayons" in the bottom of the bathroom drawer and we made the mistake of leaving them alone with the kids for a few minutes. I think the maker of these types of toys never had to clean a bathroom after the "fun" was over. Anyway, this was the masterpiece they made. It was pretty quiet in there... It's almost Tyler's birthday and I felt like he needed a haircut. Usually we do it in our back bathroom but he's getting to be a big boy so I decided to do it like I do daddy's. He did a great job with only a little crying. I can understand why he cried since I took a slice out of his ear a few times ago. Mommy's more careful now even though Tyler doesn't think that.

Tyler trying on Mikayla's sunglasses. He loves running around looking "cool."

New Friend

I planned a MOPS day at the park yesterday morning and one mom came-my friend Christie. Another mom came later but I had never met her and didn't know what she looked like so we didn't end up meeting until the end but, anyway, I decided to head over to Christie's house to hang out for lunch before I had to put the kiddos down for naptime. She just had a baby, Ezra, about a month ago and Mikayla loved holding him. I know she's excited for ours to come and can't wait to hold it so Ezra gave her some baby-holding in the meantime. Thanks, Matt and Christie, for the corn dogs. They were delicious!

Mikayla after her bath doing her strong arms. She's been so patient while mommy has been an organizing fiend the last few days. She loves being silly for the camera.

Here is the start of the organizing in the garage. There are some items there that aren't staying there but this is the craft area. Even I can't believe I have so many craft tubs. But if you're a crafter, you have to have a little of everything, right? The hamper is all of the "goodwill" stuff but I have to find some time to drop it off. (I've been saying that for months).It's looking and feeling really good to finally get all this stuff out of the girl's room and make room for what's coming.

Progress

So I was going to find a really cute border from Home Depot and put it all around the room but my budget said, "no, way!!" Once I found one that I could see up on the wall, I priced 3 rolls of it and it was $70!! I decided to save the money and just paint a color on the wall that I had in my arsenal of paints. This is a little off-white color from our hallway. On top of this, I'll stamp the butterflies going up the wall. It's finally coming together and the painting is DONE! I don't think I'll want to paint another wall for a while.

Another view of the wall.

Another project I started today were some canvases that I'm going to put up in Tyler's room. He hasn't ever had wall space to hang anything so I'm excited to get some pictures on his wall. I'm going to decopage 3 8x10 pictures of him on these canvases and then do the same with some fabric from his quilt. They should turn out cute if the picture in my mind comes out right. I also made a run to Target to get some storage containers for our "night of organizing." Will and I will be figuring out what to put in our new garage cabinets and I'm so excited to get it going.

Mikayla helped me paint these. She was so excited to use paint. She loves crafts, just like mommy.