Everyday… Its a-getting closer...

Blink. Adam is almost two years old. Blink. Matthew is four months old. Blink. Andy is really old. Blink. It happens fast. And everyone tells you that. But how can it be this fast? The days blur together like one of those cartoons books where you flip through the deck fast to watch the scene play out. The days are over before they've really began. I have to remind myself this sometimes. "I can't wait until nap time." Or, "I can't wait until bedtime." I can wait. 

We had some family pictures taken by the fabulous DeEtte Rustermier. I can't wait to get them in the frames! Here some of my favorites: 

I dabble in cloth diapers. I love Gdiapers. LOVE. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Andy is a wonderful husband. I really like him. Can't you tell? It takes awhile for a marriage to find balance after becoming parents. No one tells you that. But it does. You have to hold on really tight.

The kitchen project is zooming by too! Andy has just about finished the cabinet bases. Next weekend, he's going to start the demo. I'm hoping this demo phase allows me the opportunity to lose some weight.

Allows me the opportunity. 

That feels funny in my mouth. 

We're going to move the grill down to the patio and I have a crock pot. 8 weeks of grilling and crocking. Crocking… That feels funny too.

 

Below, is an idea of the new layout. The big one is my pantry. Moving counter clockwise - the coffee station, the stove with cabinets on either side, a corner cabinet (not pictured), the work station, then the peninsula that will sit on the sink cabinet. 

 Here's the apron sink. Hello Lover! I'm ALMOST excited to wash dishes. 

We're about 90% sure on the Cambria Torquey for the counter. Its Quartz. We love how its durable and a bit more chaos, circus, crazy, messy, kid friendly than, say, granite. And much more durable than marble. Though I do love marble. 

Here's a two-tiered pendant I'm really fond of for the eat-in kitchen area. Its from restoration hardware. Though I think I could find something bigger (30'') and cheaper. 

I'm saving my pennies for…………..

I love these. I want these. I need these. And maybe you need them too. Maybe you just don't know it yet. They're from claytongrey.com

Adam has been cooking for us often! He's quite skilled with a skillet.  

As for the rest of our world… Its going faster than a roller coaster.

One day he will sleep all night. But I can wait. Its going too fast. Love like his - came my way.

Now, potty training on the other hand………….

50 Shades of a Kitchen Remodel Romance

Four score and 5 years ago, I married Andy. My prince charming, if you will. Somehow we ended up married. He bought me a ring and I know we both said, "I do." And we meant it. He never proposed. No bended knee. No romantic story. It MAY have gone something like this:

Me: When can we get married?

Andy: What are you talking about? This is our 2nd date.

This continued for a few months.

Then, one day, we stopped at Borsheims on the way to buy some fancy olive oil at William Sonoma. I suppose Borsheims is the Tiffany's of the plains. Then we MAY have had a conversation that went like this:

Me: I think we should pick out my ring?

Andy: .......Where's the olive oil?

Well, somehow we picked one out. And the ring too. And then we MAY have had another conversation:

Me: Are we engaged?

Andy: No.

Me: When will we be engaged?

Andy: When the ring is ready.

So, we waited the two weeks or so for the ring to get assembled and sized and then on the way to dinner or maybe it was a Billy Joel concert... I can't remember... we picked up the ring. And as we were pulling out of the parking lot and on to the road, I ask Andy:

Me: So, I can wear the ring, right?

Andy: Yes.

Me: So we're engaged now?

Andy: Yes.

Me: You didn't ask me.

Andy: Ask you what?

Now Andy insists that THIS is when he said something like this:

Andy: Will you marry me?

And if we BELIEVE Andy, then I probably said something like this:

Me: Yes.

I don't remember him asking me. Probably because we were in his car. In a parking lot, driving. And I was probably concentrating on the road for fear the glare off my ENGAGEMENT RING might blind other drivers and cause a wreck! So, I stand by my side of the story. And even if he DID ask me... It doesn't count because we were in oncoming traffic, trying not to crash, whilst admiring my new rock.

And so we lived happily ever after.

But that's not why I'm writing about him. I'm mostly writing to tell you that when I met Andy, he could hardly change a light bulb. I'm serious. Changing a light bulb was a great feat. He could assemble things out of box with directions. He even liked to do that. But otherwise I had a handy man. And my dad.

 One day, we had a baby. Just like that. And there we were, together, with this baby, up all night. Well, Andy must have been bored. He started watching HGTV. Hours and hours and hours and hours of HGTV.

Then when this baby that had poofed into our life was about 3 months old, Andy decided to remodel a bathroom. Then a bar. Then another bathroom. Then when the baby was 1, Andy decided to remodel his room so that we could make room for another baby. Then when this second baby was 1 month, Andy decided to paint the built ins in the family room. Then when this baby was 2 months old, Andy decided to remodel the kitchen.

*thud*

When we bought this house, Andy promised that within "2-5" years we would remodel the kitchen. That kept me quiet for about a year in a half. Especially since up until the birth of our first child, he thought a hammer was a just a overrated 90s pop star.

Since June, Andy has been building the cabinets. And they're looking really good. My prince charming who could hardly wield a lightbulb, stands in the garage with the sun setting and glistening in his dark brown hair.  The heat of the summer unrelenting, as he clenches his fist around his saw, sweat dripping off his...

I gotta stop reading 50 shades of Grey.

Anyway, its hot out. That's my point.

I'll be posting more about his progress... So far, I've gotten bids from the plumber, electrician, HVAC, and waiting for the siding guy to come out. Its a huge job. The entire kitchen is getting bashed to the bones. The layout will change.

Its so exciting. New appliances. New floors. New counter tops. New backsplash. New lighting. New everything. The problem is I really don't love decorating. I like picking out stuff. But I never know if it really looks good with the other stuff I pick out. I have two children under the age of 2. I'm sleeping an average of 5 hours a night. Night after night. And don't tell Andy, but I even feel a bit like an abandoned wife and mother because he is working his ass off to give me my dream kitchen.

Here's what I got so far:

 

This next item shall be known as "Stacy's Faucet". She has a very similar faucet. I have faucet envy. I tried to quit you Stacy's faucet. But I couldn't. So I bought you. But not the soap dispense. 

Visit my Pinterest page to see what other tricks are up my sleeve! 

I also have:

My beautiful friend, Whitney. She got married. I needed a picture. I really good picture, of my friend Whitney. Visit her blog too. 

Whitney has been helping me pick out finishes. Weigh the pros and cons. Plus, she read 50 shades of Grey too. So you know she's good. 

I'll be posting some pictures over the weekend of the cabinet boxes that my carpenter has whipped up. Stay tuned.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering. Adam still insists on pie, every morning, afternoon, and evening. Its the first thing on his mind as evidenced on Sunday morning when I got him up to go to church. We had a conversation that may have gone like this:

Me: Good Morning Adam! Rise and Shine! 

Adam: "Pie eeeeees Gooooooooooood!!! Mmmmmm!"

Lucky for Adam, we were headed to church where there was plenty of pie. 

Drop me a comment and let me know what you think of my kitchen selections! (Of course, only comment if you love them. If you hate them I don't want to know.) 

And until then…

Laters, Baby.

Adam and his Pie

After receiving several texts and messages and about how mean we are... I went ahead and prepped Adam a pie.

But because its 104 outside. 80 inside. My AC went out. There will be no baking of the pie until it cools down.

Happy?

:-)

My life makes me laugh

Like laugh - "I can't believe this is my life" Laugh. 

Wait. That doesn't sound any better.

Like laugh - "I'm really doing this everyday." Laugh.

No. That doesn't help.

"Like laugh - "I'm doing what I'm meant to be doing."

That's better. 

I mean I'm so lucky. 

 One big happy family. Full of squishy hugs. Adam has only tried to squeeze the life out of Matthew a hand full of times. Then there was the time he stepped on his head. Sat on his face. Dropped his ball on his stomach. Kicked him.

Luckily, Matthew is on track to be a bigger kid than Adam. He'll be able to defend himself in no time! 

 Matthew already is sick of my jokes. He rolls his eyes at me. 

 Adam is protective of his toys. What you don't see is I'm pushing this car while carrying matthew and holding on to Addy's leash. When I became a mom, I grew 2 extra strong invisible arms. 

 Enough said.

 He's super Adam. Gramma Heidi made this for him. 

 Who doesn't drive the dual steering wheel carts at Lowe's this way?

 Matthew is a total mommy's man. We joke a lot about how I can't be out of sight. Secretly, I love it. Makes me feel like the most important person in the world. 

 Even when he sleeps he needs to know I'm near by. Sometimes to get him to fall asleep, I hold his hand. 

 I can't wait until its just a bit cooler out. My girl, Whitney, really gets me!

 One of our first smiles! He smiled for the first time at 5 weeks. It was a true smile. Not a "Ahh, that felt so good" gas smile. 

My crew.

My unhappy lion. Yes, I took this outfit off him, but only after taking a few photos.... 

It is SO hot out. TOO hot for babies. TOO hot for toddlers. TOO hot for puppies. Somehow I got stuck pushing Adam, Matthew and Addy in the double jogging stroller.

Not everyday that both my boys will cuddle in my lap at the same time. 

Don't let this big baby blues fool you. He means business! 

And so does he!

And so do I!

I'm alive! I'm alive! I'm tired. But I'm alive!

Yes, I know. I took 3 months to post an update on having a baby. Get over it, ok? I'm busy! Plus, My laptop broke! And then I got a new one! And then I had to go through 44,000+ pictures. And well, whatever - I'm here now!

Really, all you want are the pictures right?

Such a tease. 

Matthew Lyle Dokulil was born on April 2nd around 9:30am. He was 7 pounds 13 ounces and 21 inches long. He was born screaming - which was the most wonderful noise. I got to cuddle with him right away. My anesthesiologist was awesome. I told her ahead of time that I tend to get really sick during and after surgeries. She popped this sticker behind my ear and I was good to go. Because I didn't get sick I was able to talk to my doctor during the closing and talk to Matthew who was a bit ticked off to be out of his womb. 

Lactation was waiting for me when they wheeled me into recovery. She put that baby right on the breast and after a few awkward head bobs, Matthew found what he was looking for and nursed until we got back to my room. 

Matthew and I did great. He got all 9s for his APGAR score and started gaining weight by the 3rd day. What a difference. Things went so smoothly. That is, until my insurance company denied the cesarean delivery. But to spare you the infuriating details - after a few appeals - they graciously decided to uphold their end of my policy contract. How nice of them. 

So, here we are. Matthew is now 3 months old. Life is great. I'm loving being a stay at home to these boys. 

Every couple of weeks I give Andy a call at work to make sure he's very busy. "Yahoo Fantasy Sports better NOT be up on your computer right now!" I shriek to him, while a baby screams and a toddler whines, and the dogs bark, and the doorbell rings. "You better be so busy you can't stand it!" 

Then maybe an hour later, I call again and tell him how happy I am and how lucky I am and how he takes such good care of our family, and how I couldn't possibly be doing anything other than taking care of this family.

Afterwards, around 4:30, I stand at the door and when he bounces into his home, excited to greet his family after his long, stressful, grueling day at the office. I declare, "I'm going to work tomorrow. YOU stay home!" 

But by 4:45, I meander away from the curb outside the house, tuck my thumb back in my pocket, drag my suitcase back upstairs, carefully unpack it, and gush to him about how happy I am and how lucky we are, and how he takes such good care of our family, and how I couldn't possibly be doing anything other than taking care of this family. 

There's been lots of exciting things happening over the last three months. But you'll have to wait. That's my cliff hanger to keep you coming back. 

In the meantime...

Welcome to the world, Matthew Lyle Dokulil. 

Mommy Loves you.

(All photos by Stacy Ideus Photography)