Home Sweet (Wallpapered) Home

I know I've been bad about blogging, and the 100% truth is that I kinda feel like I'm drowning.  Which is pathetic because hello, I only have one kiddo to deal with and I'm at home with her.  Like an idiot, I thought once we moved we'd be more settled, and I could get into a routine etc.  While this is still my goal, we are absolutely not settled at all.  Normally by this time I would have everything unpacked, house fully decorated, new routines, etc, but there have been three major factors in why this hasn't happened here.  

First, I never had a 4.5 month old baby to contend with, who has no real set nap schedule, and a questionable nighttime one as well.  I've tried to get her on a good daytime schedule so she'd sleep better at night, but girlfriend has a mind of her own about when she should sleep and when she should not.  I don't think I'm ready to do a 100% parent led schedule, but I also feel like I'm doing a crap job at picking up what her natural rhythms are.  Add in trying to unpack and she's napping when she's not getting attention, which means she's not getting in full naps and is therefore she is Miss Crankypants.  Mama is tired, and frustrated.

Second, the hubs is working a LOT.  He's floating to two other towns and while he was supposed to just be there occasionally, one of the pharmacists in a town 1.5 hours away quit right around the time Blake went full time so he is there multiple times a week and every other weekend.  And, they really were probably already shorthanded, so he's putting in anywhere from an extra 2-4 hours per shift he's scheduled.  They do cover a hotel room for him but this means he's gone a lot, and we don't get that much time to see each other or work on the house.  Which is the 3rd reason I feel underwater.

Our new house is big.  As in 3,300 sq feet big.  And the reason we were able to buy such a large house right out of pharmacy school is that the previous owners had, ummm, adventurous decorating style.  Think jungle themed wallpaper, monkeys painted on the wall, and curtains that match the wallpaper.  We've had all the wallpaper removed, but we're doing the painting ourselves, and its a slow process, what with the baby that needs lots of attention, and a hubby that's having to put in lots of extra hours (and no, he doesn't get paid any overtime).

But, what you really want to see is the house, right?  It has great bones, is well built, and as I mentioned, is very large, so there's lots of room to grow.  I know it will be fabulous when we're done with everything, but it all takes time (and money, boo).

The front of the house (duh).  The garage is on the side.

The entry way.  This picture was taken from the sunken formal living room.  On the left we've got the formal dining room, and on the right is the office.

Formal living room.  Complete with painted monkeys and white carpet.  Oh and that's the central vac that I didn't feel the need to put away for the photos.

Formal dining room.

Office.  If you look closely, you'll see that the curtain rods are held up by cheetah head brackets.

Office bathroom.  Pretty sure we saw flowers like this on our honeymoon.  Where there was a jungle.

Half bath.  Monkeys on the wall.

The kitchen.  They updated this about four years ago and there is (thankfully) not a monkey in sight.  I'm not crazy about the dark red, or the white appliances, but this room will probably stay the same for a good long while because I doubt I'll feel like painting ever again by the time we're done with all the wallpapered areas.  I do love the island, granite countertops, walk in pantry, and double oven.

Family room.  Again, not crazy about the color, but it will probably stay for awhile.

Emersyn's room- which I recently finished painting yellow with white trim.  The DIY websites make it look so much easier than it really is.  Again, with the white carpet.

Guest bedroom- actually a pretty blue that we're leaving.  And, more white carpet.

The full bath between the guest room and E's room.  Note the Elephant border complimenting the animal skin wallpaper.

Master bedroom- this is where a lot of the square footage is in the house.  The master bath and this bedroom are very large.  And full of wallpaper.

Master bath.  To the right is a toilet room, left is a linen closet, Blake's sink area and walk in closet.

The bathroom from my door in.  Yup, two doors into the bathroom.  This side also has a linen closet, sink and walk in closet.

The back of the house. 

Love how the back has so much covered space for entertaining.

So that's the house.  Like I said, the wallpaper has all been removed, as well as all of the curtains, but we have a lot of scraping, mudding, sanding, etc left to do.  Then, lots of painting.  Now you know why I'm having a hard time getting around to blogging when I we have so much to do.  At some point I should have some great afters to show you though!

Dear Emersyn: 4 Months

Dear Emersyn,

This past month has flown by, which could be why I'm late in posting this update.  We finally sold our house in Oklahoma, and moved up to Missouri the day before you turned 4 months old!  I'm sure you felt a bit of our stress, and this resulted in some off days, but for the most part, you've done really well!  I'm ready to be done unpacking so I can get back to the business of snuggling my girl since you're growing so very fast.

Just a few days into this month you mastered rolling over!  You only roll to your right, from your back to your belly, but that's all you really seem interested in for now.  This meant the end of swaddling.  I don't notice that you sleep any differently unswaddled and you look so cute in your footy pajamas.

However, you love to roll over in your crib, and often sleep on your side and belly now, sometimes with your face straight into the mattress.  I tried rolling you back over more than a few times, and you'd just roll right back, so I gave up.  I still obsessively check to make sure you're breathing though.

Another development this month: laughs- true, happy, belly laughs.  The first time I heard it, I swear, my heart went into my throat and I almost cried, I loved that sound (and you) so very much.  You don't laugh very often, but blowing raspberries on your neck right below your chin is our best chance, so we do that a lot!  Also, you can now motorboat with the best of them, and often get some good bubbles going too.  This results in lots of laughs from mom and dad.

You've gotten lots of time with family this month- we went up for your Daddy's 10 year reunion, which was the same weekend as his hometown fair, and you won first place in the baby show, just as your Daddy did 28 years ago.  I don't plan on you being a toddler with a tiara, but this was a fun tradition on your dad's side!  We also went up and celebrated your cousin's birthday and you got to meet your Uncle Cory's family at last!  They live in Kentucky, so we don't get to see them as often as we'd like, but I hope you will still be close with your cousins!

I'm thinking when we weighed you last month at home we must have been off, because at your dr's apt this month you weighed 14 lbs 7 oz, and there's no way you only put on 1 oz in a month.   You also measured at 25 inches long. This puts you in the 75th percentile for height and weight, and is giving mama some muscles.  You've nearly outgrown your 3-6 month clothing and mostly wear 6 month and 6-9 month things.  I'm happy knowing that you're getting plenty to eat as you are still exclusively breastfeeding.  You handled your 4 month shots really well, we did just a bit of baby Tylenol and you slept a lot of the day again, which was handy, as it was the day we loaded the truck to move!

You love to play with your baby gym arch, seeing yourself in the mirror, being outside, chewing on your hands (and really anything else), and being held.  You are definitely a morning person, and coffee is helping mama to be one too.  You now hate your changing pad, but love to roll over while I attempt to wrangle you into a fresh diaper.

When it comes to eating, you still eat every 2.5- 3 hours, sometimes 3.5 hours if you settled in for a long nap.  Your bedtime has moved up to 8pm and you get pretty cranky if you're up later than that.  I still often dreamfeed you at 10pm, but your pediatrician said you really didn't need it, so I don't always do so, but I figure it can't hurt anything.

Sleep is still kind of hit and miss.  Sometimes you'll sleep through the night for a week straight, and then the next week you'll be up a few times a night.  Once we're settled in I hope to work on a better nap routine in hopes of getting a better groove.

We tried taking you off your Prevacid when you ran out of your prescription, and you are definitely NOT over your reflux.  Poor baby, I think it made for a few miserable days.

This month has been so hectic, but so fun too, watching you grow and change.  We love being your parents, and we're excited for this next chapter in our new home.  We love you baby girl!

Love,

Mama

I'm alive!!!

I did not get buried alive under all the boxes!!!  We have officially moved back to Missouri, and while I have a LOT of unpacking left to do, I hope to post soon to keep up to date with things going on in our lives.  Coming soon- E's 4 month post,  and photos of our new house (complete with jungle themed wallpaper).