Our "new" couch

It is probably no secret that I wanted a new couch...we had a couch given to us in San Antonio - which I was so grateful for - but with Josh's allergies and the previous owners' multiple cats and our previous dogs...we had to get rid of it and needed an inexpensive piece to hold us over.  It was after that we realized we'd be moving...so we'd just wait til we moved.  Well then it was the fact that the house hadn't sold...and then hadn't been rented.  Well then it rented (YEAH!) but of course there were other things and it was working and life was moving on.  Suddenly I was getting impatient though, we have a huge living room (awesome, so nice to have open space) and our furniture of a futon and love seat just didn't fill it.  I was being impatient...and then just honestly was a grouch about it.  I felt we deserved to have a couch - yet we don't want to finance a couch...that seems silly when we have furniture that works.  But did I mention I was a grouch?  Anyway, thankfully Mike is not impatient (I think he has more patience than any one person is allowed to have - it's really such a strong trait of his!) and thankfully he's also a saver and big picture person (I'm getting there, but not as good as him).  He works so hard to take care of our family and I don't want to be  unappreciative of that just because I feel entitled (which is ridiculous because we have been so immensely blessed beyond what we deserve to begin with) and have become a spoiled brat impatient.  After some grumbling/whining from me discussion we decided we'd make it a priority for the end of the year.  We'd go and look and see what options were there and have a real feel for how much to save.  We went to Lazy Boy first - we both fell head over heels for one of their metro couches; but remember we have 3 small children who are loud, rowdy, full of life.  We had lunch and talked about it...definitely a couch we want sometime - but not now.  So then we see a furniture store going out of business close to lunch.  We hopped over there, found one that was comfy, but way too traditional for my taste and it reclined.  Remember those 3 small children?  Can you imagine life every day with reclining ends to the couch?  Yeah, me either!  It was at the high end of what we wanted to pay right now too - for not being in love with it and envisioning the constant annoyance of the recline part we walked out. On the way to the 3rd store of the morning, we saw a home consignment store.  I ran in to see if there were any possibilities.  Mike waited with the kids in the van so they weren't too antsy.  Well I saw this couch...I loved the lines, I liked the color an awful lot, it looked almost new.  I sent Mike a picture, he said they'd come in.
So we were looking at it, looking it over, checking out all the angles, laying down on it, sitting in the middle, against the arm rests (which is what I really, really missed with the futon by the way).  We checked under the cushions.  We were sold, it was less than half what we wanted to spend...but it's a consignment store so we knew we'd have to take it today.  A nice lady walked over to help us, went to check on it - they had just reduced it greatly, so she could only come down another $40.  Yes please, go ahead and take more off we were willing to pay what the tag said.  And the best part?  It's a Lazy Boy too.  (We really liked the way they were constructed, very solid.  We really like that they're made in the USA...we just really didn't love the price for a couch to bring home to 3 small kids and multiple moves to come).  It was a total win-win!
I think we need some throw pillows still - but otherwise I'm loving it.  So here it is, our "new" couch!

Carnival Fun

Friday evening, the housing office had a carnival for the residents.  We walked down and the kids had a great time.  It was small and inside (necessary with this heat! even inside it got really warm in there!) so there were four or five games for the kids to play.  After each game they got a ticket, you could exchange 4 tickets for a prize!  Of course this is perfect for preschoolers...play and get a prize, definitely win-win!  There was popcorn and juice as well, which of course was a treat.  There was also a balloon guy there, the boys both got balloon swords and Addy got a dog, which she adored.  It was a fun way to spend an hour and get out of the house.  There was also a book fair going on - but we didn't buy any books - we have lots of course and I'm waiting to get curriculum stuff for Noah and then we can buy some to support that or just some fun ones ourselves.

Addy on the Scooter

Addy took the scooter out for a run today!  She's getting to be so big.  While we've been sanding in the garage, she's been trying it out (and the little 12'' bike that doesn't have a chain too) and was starting to get the hang of it.  Tonight, we put on her helmet and let her try it out in the street with the boys.  She loved it and did a great job.

We have a new specialist - fun huh?

We have a new specialist to add to our list, a GI doctor for Josh.  The complaints for upset belly started a bit ago, but seemed way too coordinated with him being in trouble.  We thought at first that it was just him trying to get out of trouble.  Then it was the sinus infection that wouldn't end...so that seemed the likely cause.  So in May I took Josh in to the doctor because he was still complaining and complaining and it was getting more often.  The doctor felt that there was something going on and likely an infection due to the antibotics for the past 6 months.  There was an infection, which got some antibotics (funny since they were what caused it in the first place).  SO finally was able to get in with the GI doctor today. 
He is testing to be sure the previous infection is gone, testing a stool sample for other things that could indicate inflammation and things leaking through intestine walls.  He also wanted to get some blood work done, metabolic tests (these are becoming too common in our house), and some protein and enzyme levels as well as for celliac markers.  He looked at Josh's records and medications and he said "wow he's an allergic kid and I don't need to ask if he has eczema that's obvious"  (For the record his skin looks pretty darn good at the moment, thank you! but it is pretty obvious that he has severe eczema).  So we got the blood work done, will get the xray done hopefully by the end of the week, and of course collect the stool sample for testing (doesn't that sound like loads of fun!?!)  Hopefully we'll have a little more knowledge of what is going on and end his upset tummy soon.

We're in TROUBLE!

Funny story from tonight.  While relaxing tonight and hanging out, watching a bit of TV.  Addy was getting silly, she was tired but mostly in good spirits.  Mike was tired and she just wanted to climb and be silly, so to give him a break from being a jungle gym, I grabbed her to come sit with me (or climb all over me - whatever).  She's sitting in my lap and starts playing with my hair (I tolerate this...I still don't really like having my hair played with).  So then I'm trying to distract her so she'll stop playing with my hair.  We start talking about where her eyes are and ears, my ears and eyes.  She turns my head and is pointing to my earrings.  Then to her earrings, then she is looking at my earrings.  I was telling her, "yeah Mommy has pretty earrings.  Mommy's are diamonds, pretty diamonds.  Daddy got Mommy her pretty earrings."  She looks at them again and then turns to look at Mike and says "ooooooh, ooooh"  It totally cracked us up!  She went back to pointing to her earrings again after that and then mine again.  I think Addison is going to have a girly side indeed and she certainly seems to like jewelry already (she likes to put on bracelets) and she loves to put on a bow (though they never, ever stay long) and she adores her shoes and has opinions about which she will wear.  We may just be in a bit of trouble!

Projects

We've been working on a couple dressers since the first part of July (I think we picked up the first one the 7th).  It began when we started thinking about where to put Noah's school stuff that should be here shortly.  We talked about putting in more shelves in our "big" closet...but those are expensive (the shelving system that is) and while they would have worked great for this house, what would happen when we moved - we may not have a place to put it.  So I thought we should repurpose the bookshelf in the boys' room right now for the big closet and school supplies.  Their books could be put in baskets in their room...but that meant we'd need a bit more space for school stuff.  The shelves in the dining room would work great, but are full of their games and such right now.  My solution was to find a dresser for the boys' room - then the big drawer under their bed could house their games and such.  My thought was that the dresser would be more usable longer.  I still wanted Mike to build a library cart - which he did and it looks great right now!  That will be awesome to have our daily stuff on and be able to wheel it into the closet to keep little hands off of it.  He also put a back on it unlike the design we found, that will be covered with cork so we can have our calendar/weather stuff on it. 
Anyway, we found a dresser for $20 - it was long and had 9 drawers.  We were planning to just prime and paint it...but while I was sanding it to rough up the surface I realized it was solid wood.  I was just a tad excited, if we sanded it down and stained it the dresser would definitely grow with the boys more.  Well then while Mike was at work, I found another dresser for $15...it was a chest of drawers, but now I wanted to keep the bigger dresser for Mike and I and put this in the boys' room.  The guy ended up giving it to me for $10 - it needed nobs replaced and a bit of work.  Again, for that price paint would be fine - but again it was solid wood!  SCORE!  So I got busy sanding it down too.  $35 for 2 dressers, $16 in new nobs for them both, and lots of sanding and I think we're going to have some nice dressers!  Mike and I have a really nice dresser right now, but it's a little dresser (3 drawers) and we've been sharing it.  I'm excited for more drawer space!  And I'm excited that the boys' clothes will be a bit more organized in drawers then in their 1 big drawer under the bed (it drives me crazy but I don't think anyone else cares). 
Here's our progress right now for them both, the chest of drawers is ready for staining.  The long dresser is almost there but there were a lot more little details on it.

Swim Lessons!

This past week Noah took his first swim lessons.  He was so very excited!  He did a great job and listened well to his teachers and I am pretty sure he had a blast.  The first day when he was asked to do a bob he wasn't sure, he said he was scared.  He's jumping in the water now and going under water when he does, but this was different and that can be scary.  A few minutes later though he was willing to try with his teacher helping him and there hasn't been any stopping him since.  Day 2 and 3 he was bobbing away while he waited his turn for things.  Floating is funny, he's never ever been relaxed laying on his back in the water.  By the end of day 3 he was getting a bit more relaxed though.  He has 3 days next week of lessons too. 

Mini-Photo Shoot

Friday night we found a little spot close to the house that had some old train tracks.  It was a purposeful outing to get some family photos - well photos of the family (I didn't end up in any...and we didn't get any of all 3 kids and Mike that turned out).  It was a nice little spot - one I'm tucking away for when Kristin is back in town so I can drag take her family out and get some family photos for them. 

Love Josh's expressions in these - he's passionate whether it's a serious face or a happy face!

Pictures from the 4th

We spent the 4th of July celebrating with friends from Mike's work - it was a fabulous time!  I think it was safe to say by the end of the night that the kids were part fish and thoroughly enjoyed the pool.  Noah wants to learn to swim (lessons start tomorrow) and once or twice tried to swim on his own without a floaty...he gets back to the top but isn't quite a swimmer!  Of course someone was always right next to him.  Actually once he tried to swim on his own and another time put his floaty ring in the water and tried to jump into the ring - he had been jumping in the water with it around his waist previously and had success - but that wasn't quite a success either. 
The boys were also thrilled and excited for the fireworks!  There were those put on at the house and a great view of the "big" ones at a casino right down the road.  It was a perfect spot indeed to watch them. 

Letting Addy be Addy

In the words of Addy's geneticist, we're going to let Addy be Addy for awhile.  The news from our phone conversation wasn't surprising, we honestly were expecting it; yet it is still really nice to hear.  All of the tests that were run in May came back normal.  There were several tests run (and no I don't know the names of all of them, just that it was for metabolic disorders that could be tested for by blood tests and were treatable or really bad) and each one came back perfectly normal.  The geneticist wants to have a telephone consult with us after Addison's second birthday (which will be in September...how is that possible?) just to check in and make sure no other concerns have come up.  Also, if there are any other things that come up (such as seizures, or regression in her development, etc.) she wants us to call her immediately.  Addison's opthlamology appointment isn't until Sept. and of course her geneticist wants the results of that exam as well. 
We have no idea why Addison's hearing loss has continued to progress.  We have no idea why she has brain atrophy and microcephaly (well technically the microcephally is because of the brain atrophy, so I guess we do why she has that).  We do know that she's not typical though; none of the symptoms seem to fit in the "normal" syndrome, yet it seemed that she must have a syndrome of some sort.  She is Addy, fearfully and wonderfully made by the Creator of the Universe who loves her and has awesome plans for her.  So yep, we're just going to let Addy be Addy for now - but I'm thrilled that there weren't any surprises in the blood tests - that is something to praise God for and we'd be thrilled if you joined us in giving God the praise!

Sprayground #9

Friday night after dinner we all headed to the sprayground, our 9th for the summer.  It was great getting to go with all of us - Mike of course doesn't typically get to join us because he's at work.  On the way to a sprayground earlier this summer we drove down a road and I loved the view...it had the skyline framed so  nice.  I selfish wanted to go to park #9 because we had to go on the same road...if we went after dinner we could wait til the sunset and I could try and get a shot.  I'm really glad my family loves me, I'm sure it could be annoying otherwise.  I do try to make sure the kids get some fun out of our odd outings and sure enough they did!  It was so, so much fun.  I am loving our summer quest!  Addy still didn't get in the water (which is absolutely fine) but Noah and Josh ran in and out of the water and back and forth from the water to the playground.  We have 10 more spraygrounds on our list...we'll see what this week brings!
(oh and I did manage to get some beautiful shots...with a long exposure time, thanks to Mike reminding me to use the timer since I don't have a remote - otherwise pushing the shutter button was giving me shakiness...seriously I know that, but totally forgot about it!)