Emotional week from Hell!

Last week was a bit of an emotional roller coaster, here's a recap:

Monday - Matt & I made the decision that finances were just not getting any better, so we need to sell my car and the house.  Lots of tears during this process.

Tuesday - I was extremely emotional.  I have bible study Tuesday morning, but after dropping the kids in the nursery I just knew I couldn't sit and make small talk with people, and did I mention I was a bit emotional, I kept crying every time I thought about where we would live, etc.  So, I snuck off to a quiet place at the church and read my bible and texted some very understanding people.  It was cold and really windy Tuesday, so the nursery kids didn't go outside, I saw Payton's class headed my way in their strollers and since i knew if she saw me she'd freak out, I ducked into the sanctuary for a good hour.  It's amazingly peaceful in there, especially when you are the only one in there! 

Wednesday - I got a call from a close friend who said, send me your resume now, a friend of my boss is looking for an assistant.  So, I sent her my resume and then after a bit more info, emailed this individual myself with a very nice cover letter attached.

Thursday - About 9am I got an email back asking me when I could come in to interview.

Friday - I interviewed with her at 10.  I was there 1.5 hours.  The job is a stepping stone.  Her assistant is leaving in May and she is looking to replace her, but in the meantime she has an hourly position she needs to fill, but with the anticipation of that hourly person learning the job and being promoted to the salary position in the summer.  It was one of the best, but toughest interviews I've been on.  It was obvious she is looking for an assistant, not just an hourly associate.

The hourly position is not the answer to all our financial problems.  We may still lose the house and my car, but it's a start.  The job sounds great, and I'm really pretty excited about it.  I'm also scared, nervous, sad, etc.  It's a hard thing going back to work. 

The position isn't even posted yet, so there's no guarantee that I'll get it, but I'm praying and checking out daycares, in case I do get it.

3 years

That's how long we've owned this house.  It's the longest I've lived in any one "dwelling" since I lived with my parents, so this is pretty big.  I love this house, and I mean love it.  I picked it out, I convinced Matt we needed it, I enjoy it so much.  I love the hardwood floors we picked out and the tile and the granite counter tops.  I love that the rooms that are painted, I did all by myself.  No one helped.  Matt probably helped pick out the colors, but I did all the taping and painting.  I love that it's on a cul de sac and I don't have to freak out if the kids are playing out front and a ball runs in the street, and I love that Garrett can ride his bike around the circle and I'm not worried.  I love that the backyard is huge and while we don't have a lot out there, we can run and play.  I love the minimal landscaping, for those that saw our old house, you know this is huge for us, lol.  I'm just not much of a green thumb, weeding is not a job I enjoy.  I love the gas fireplace, and all the windows that let in so much fresh air (when it's cool enough to open them) and tons of sunlight.  I think the only thing I don't like is that the sun sets in the back of the house, so the backyard gets pretty steamy in the summer and the kitchen gets hot.  But, we have adjusted to that and we play in the front yard at night and the back yard in the morning.  I love the open floor plan.  I love that our room is on the opposite side of the house from the kids, but I can still hear them, and that Garrett's door squeaks a little, so I hear him when he gets up.  I love my kitchen setup (although I'd still love a stainless stove and microwave).

This house is my dream home, and I love it.  That's why it pains me so much to say we are selling it.

20 months

Payton had her 20 month "birthday" yesterday.  I no longer take her monthly picture, and I probably wouldn't have realized it was yesterday, but out of the blue yesterday morning, Garrett asked me how old Payton was and when I stopped to think I realized she was 20 months old.  Funny how that little reminder popped up.

Here's a few of our favorite things about Payton:
She loves shoes - she can say shoes now, and she will follow you around with shoes in her hand and say "shoes, shoes" over and over until you put them on her.  If you don't, she'll put them down and get another pair.  I guess she thinks maybe those don't match her outfit and she needs another pair, lol, who knows.  She ALWAYS grabs a matching pair.  I'm very impressed by this. I don't know if it's a great skill or not, but I feel like it's pretty impressive.  Oh, and if she sees you putting shoes on, she runs to get hers.

She loves going outside - she will stand at the back door and just say "outside" and she expects us to let her out.  Of course, we can't always, and she gets very mad.

She is very happy - she just is, she's almost always laughing or smiling, it's such a joy.  And it makes it that much cuter because she has this big gap between her teeth.

She is a great sleeper - I'm not going to apologize, she is a fantastic sleeper, she sleeps at least 12 hours a nigh, usually 13, and she takes at least a 2 hr nap, sometimes 3.  Yes, she still has her paci and I'm planning on taking it away........someday.

She is very independent - She wants to walk everywhere, and for the most part she just walks, every once is a while, she'll stick her hand up in the air, so she can hold your hand.  I love those moments.

She plays very well by herself, but loves when we get on the floor with her and play too.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.  She is my sweet angel and I love her so much.  I'm already starting to get ideas for her 2nd birthday!

Ponytail

Today, Payton wore her first ponytail, and oddly I am very excited about this!! I have a very funny picture of her on my phone, now I just need to figure out how to move it from my phone onto the blog.

I will say, I was impressed she let me put it in and she left it alone. I thought it was going to look silly, but we tried it at my neighbors house last night and she looked so cute. Next, I"m going to try pig tails......

Talking

Garrett is a big talker, he asks a ton of questions, I do my best to be patient and answer all of them for him. I try the "what do you think" and he usually gets mad and just wants an answer. Sometimes I honestly, just don't know. Sometimes he gets mad and says "just tell me", and then we argue because the fact is, I don't know. I also say, that's the way God made it, and I don't use this as a cop out, I just feels it's true.

He's very intrigued by death and dying lately, I have no idea why, but I do my best to answer as truthfully as I can and keep it simple for a 4 year old. We had a conversation, in the car, on Friday, it went something like this:
G: Where do we go when we die?
Me:Heavan to live with God
G: would I live in a house?
Me:Yes (honestly, I don't know, but that seemed important to him)
G: Will I have a bike?
Me: yes
G: will our house be big?
Me: yes and it will always stay clean, so I'll never have to clean again :-)
G: good, I hate picking up my toys
G: will there be good food?
Me: yes
G: will I have friends there?
Me: yes

This went on for a while and I realized I might have been making heaven sound a bit too good, so I quickly reminded him that if he went to heaven, I'd never be able to see him again, and he said:
"Mom, when you die, you live in people's hearts and never leave them". I quietly choked back tears and said, "yes, Garrett you are right. You will always live in my heart and I in yours."

Yes, he came up with this on his own.

Bathroom - pre remodel

Here are the before pictures of the bathroom. It had kind of an Asian theme to it and it doesn't didn't fit in with the rest of the house, plus it was builder beige....

I knew I was keeping the counter tops, they are a gorgeous, matte black granite with some white and green flowing through it, and the faucets were brand new (when we moved in), so I wasn't replacing those either. I made sure my new hardware was brushed nickle, instead of shiny gold and silver.

I still want to replace the light fixture, I found one I liked, for $20, I kick myself for not buying it, it was on clearance and now is gone :-( I'm not too picky on the light, I just want the shiny silver gone.

Bathroom

I've been thinking about home improvements for literally months and months, but we never have any extra money. I finally decided we never were going to, and that I could do so much more by myself then I was giving myself credit for.


Since the house looked pretty much the same as the day we moved in, other then Garrett's room which I redid while pregnant with Payton, I decided to start with something fairly small. I had so many ideas in my head, it took a while to narrow it down and get organized, but then finally things started falling into place. I had a picture I knew I wanted to use, but had a really hard time matching the color, one day I found a shower curtain I really liked, and it had the same colors as the picture, I took it to the paint store and found an exact match to the green they had used in their example (I knew I wanted green in the bathroom). I ended up liking the color so much I painted part of the kitchen the same green!

So, I had Amber come watch the kids one day and I painted and then Matt took them outside to play one night so I could do a second coat. It took a lot more then I expected, the walls were so dry! But, I loved the color once it was on the walls. I found bathroom hardware I really liked at BB&B, on clearance, oh, the shower curtain was on clearance too. I found dark blue towels on clearance at Target, so I was really pleased. I bought a shelving unit from BB&B that ended up being on sale and a vase and flower from Michael's with some coupons. I found a purple elephant that I really liked, it was online and only $10, but the shipping was $7, that just seemed high for one item. But, after searching at 5 stores for something to put on the shelf I just couldn't get the little elephant out of my head, so I ordered it, turns out it was the last one (it was from etsy) and the shipping ended up only being $5, so she refunded me $2, that made me feel better. I need one more vase for the third shelf. I found one I like at Crate & Barrel for $10, so I"m thinking I"m just going to order it. I haven't seen anything in a store I even remotely like, so it seems like it's worth it.

Oh, and the roman shades! I found a link on pinterest to make roman shades yourself. The shade in there was just plain ugly but I didn't want just a curtain either, it's a small window, but I wanted something cute. I ended up with a soft grey material, since the shower curtain is so busy, I didn't want the shade to compete. I decided I liked the grey more and more, because I want to paint the hallway outside that bathroom grey, so it will all tie in together.



I'm pretty happy with my one room improvement, next is the living room, the hallway, the kitchen area, the master bedroom.......