Throwing a Wrench in the Works

I've been in a little derelict in finishing up my posts before the baby comes.  Honestly, I've been a little derelict in just about everything.  In my defense, there has been good excuses, but that doesn't change the fact that my to-do list is spilling over.

Steve came down with appendicitis over the weekend and on Monday he had his appendix removed.  All in all, it was a fairly straightforward procedure, but now there are two adults who are severely impaired in their ability to get stuff done and three kids who are intent on creating more and more things to do.  For example, our freezer was in desperate need of being defrosted as I could hardly fit any packages from Costco in there anymore.  Maybe that doesn't seem like a huge deal until you consider that Costco is our main food supply at this point in time.  I thought it would be a fairly easy task for me to do.  Not a lot of bending or strenuous lifting involved, just standing there with a blow dryer.  What I didn't count on was Elsa snatching some Popsicles, unbeknowst to me and leaking them all over the couch and floor.  Suddenly steam cleaning the couch and washing the floor hit my list.  I don't think I've made an actual dinner in weeks.  It's not like all that will change once the baby comes, but I am looking forward to being able to bend over without asphyxiating myself.

He's hamming it up here, which is possible because of the drugs they had him on.  He wasn't so jovial the night before when he was laying on our bedroom floor praying for relief.  At 5am he drove himself to the ER since someone had to stay with the kids and I joined him later when they decided to take him into surgery.  Thankfully Krystal and a friend were able to take over child care duty so I could be there.

 I don't think I've ever seen Steve on heavy medication.  Maybe it was the drugs or the fact that he got no sleep the other night before, but he was so tired.  Poor guy.  I kept trying to encourage him to wake up so we could get out of there and go home.  Those hospital chairs were killing me with my back still being out and I was worried about overextending our babysitter. 

The doctor said Steve's gall bladder also looks to be in bad shape, so we may be in for a return visit in the not too distant future.  I was a little annoyed that they just didn't take it out there and then so we wouldn't have to go through this all over again, but I'm not the doctor.  Hopefully we can just get through our next medical hurdle (aka the baby) before we have to address that issue.

The positive notes are that this did happen before the baby came.  I was worried while Steve was out on the floor in pain that I would go into labor while all this was going down.  We were also blessed to have a family member and friend who could chip in and help on a last minute's notice.  Steve also was able to take care of the problem before his appendix ruptured which has allowed for a quicker recovery.  We have health insurance and live in a place where medical help is readily available.  So we have been blessed despite the fact that I feel like we're drowning some days.  Speaking of which, I better get cracking on that to do list.

Late Summer

Labor Day we went on a family hike just up the road.  Even I went and thankfully we found a nice level trail that offered stunning views.  I feel bad we haven't gone more often.

 My little mountain goats.

Mom, here is proof that I do post unflattering pictures of myself.  I am so huge in this pregnancy.  My doctor laughs at every ultrasound.  Apparently I am housing a very large baby with what amounts to be an Olympic sized swimming pool in my womb.  I can hardly breathe some days. 

Steve's Christmas present came early this year.  Although there may be some confusion about whose toy this really is.  The kids were quite enamored with our new "tractor".  With the purchase of this home, we had to let go of our landscaping service, which was a sad thing.  To help Steve not spend his whole weekend upkeeping our yard, we bought this through a friend who works at Husqvarna.  It arrived a day late because the delivery guy forgot to bring a truck with a liftgate to set the pallet down.  He looked at me and asked me if I wanted to take a look at our 679 pound package and see if I could wrangle it off the truck myself.  Funny guy.  I might have taken him up on it if I was feeling like getting our hospital stay over with.

This ride is probably more age appropriate.  All three of them ride around in the backyard on this yard sale find.  Even Rowan, who would rather people not know that he drives a Princess Jeep.  Elsa would be hard pressed to find something she'd rather be doing.

Smoothie night.  Why so serious?

The weekend before school began, we went to the zoo with Austin and Gayle.  It was a good outing, but I was exhausted afterwards.  Elsa wasn't super cooperative and it was hot and hilly.  I'm really starting to slow down around here.  Elsa loved the train and the animals.  

We had several opportunities to go to the pool at Grandma's hotel when she was staying in Midvale.  The kids loved it.  Unfortunately, the bleach levels were too high and they ruined bathing suits and Victoria's hair one day.  My kids didn't put their hair in the water too much, so thankfully we avoided generous haircuts.

We've been having adventures in trying new sleep arrangements in preparation for the baby's arrival.  Our attempts to get Elsa to sleep in a big girl bed in Nadia's room have not gone well as evidenced by this picture.  She was doing so poorly, she'd fall asleep just about anywhere during the day.  One night I stirred in my sleep to find her a few inches from my face.  Needless to say, I screamed.  Another night Steven was awakened by someone stroking his arm and saying "more ba-ba?"  We then moved the crib into Nadia's room in hopes that Elsa would return to sleeping well, but she started waking and screaming in the night.  We'd run and get her out quickly so that she wouldn't wake up Nadia.  All we seemed successful in doing is preparing for lack of sleep when the baby comes.  Right now we have Nadia sleeping downstairs so that we can let Elsa cry it out at night.  It's been going well for now, so hopefully soon we'll reintroduce Nadia back into her old room.  It seems Elsa can only handle so much change at one time.  For now the big girl bed is a lower priority.

Our Old New House!

 
One of the biggest events of our summer was buying our first home.  It had been such a frustrating house hunt, only a few days before Steve and I looked at each other and said "We are never buying a house in this area.  It's just too competitive."  I was coming to grips with that decision and trying to decide what our new course of action would be, when our landlord called us up and offered to sell the house to us (once again).  We had heard this before back at Christmas, so rather than wait for another change of heart, we snapped up the chance and got a contract going that very week.

 I know I should trust the Lord and let things happen as they should, but my pesky control issues get in the way and I feel I have to force my future to go the way I think it should go.  I'm learning to be more patient, but on the other hand, I see people who have to do just that- force their future to happen.  So I'm not sure if I should have more of a laissez-faire attitude and just make the best choices I can with whatever comes my way or if I should be more heavy handed in how I want things to go.  It's a struggle for me.  But this has been another instance in my life where I would have been better off not stressing about how to reach the next step and just let things come as they should.  But honestly, who really has those types of experiences when it comes to purchasing a home?

Regardless, we are over the moon about being able to buy this home.  I have been in a rental since I was 14 years old and we moved around a fair amount.  It has been a huge goal of mine to raise my children in a stable home where they could put some roots down.  I love the location of the house, the lot, and the fact that it didn't need a complete overhaul like most of the other homes we saw.  Not to mention avoiding the cost and hassle of moving!  My kids are thrilled that they don't have to change schools and can keep the same neighborhood friends.  My one concern is the possibility of outgrowing the space, but there is plenty of opportunity to expand should we need to in the future.  It's a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom split-level, fairly typical for old Provo.  It's over a third of an acre and has fantastic views out of every window.  Steve bikes to work, we're a block away from Rock Canyon Park, and I can see Angel Moroni from our front window.  It's truly the best location we could have hoped for and I know if we need to sell at any point, there will be no issue doing so.

Even though the home has been updated, we still have been doing a fair amount of work to it.  Most of our efforts have been concentrated outside.  We had tree trimmers out to take down one sick tree and trim the remaining ones.  We've redone the front flowerbeds with my mom's help and direction.  Other little updates too like a new mailbox, address numbers, outdoor swing, taking care of some gutter problems, restaining the deck, making a compost pile, taking down an old huge TV antennae, fixing up our shed, getting a lawn mower since we decided to stop our landscaping service- the list goes on!  We still have plans of expanding our garden and putting in patio pavers around the back area of the house, but those may have to wait until next spring.

I didn't take a before picture, so here's some thanks to Google Maps.

And after...

The view from our swing now that the sick tree is gone.

 The front flower beds were deceivingly difficult to do.  First we had to rip out a lot of the grass to bring the flowers out further from the house to get the sun they needed.  Then we hauled in 2 cubic yards of compost to raise them up and get some better soil there.  If you are wondering how involved a woman in her third trimester was in this project, the answer is very.  I was digging dirt with my mom and ripping out grass.  Probably not the brightest idea in retrospect.  Lastly, we laid out some edging stones before putting some new plants in.  My mom found these plants for 75% off at Shopko and so far they've been doing really well.  The planters came from a yard sale.

Here are some extraneous pictures of before and after with the tree trimming.  There's no way Steve and I could have attempted this on our own, so we happily hired it out.

Before

After

Before

After

There was a maple in the backyard with 50% of the tree resting on a grafted limb.  It was in danger of snapping off with a large storm, so we bolted it and made it less top heavy.

Before

After

You can see the lines of the graft here.

There's also a really old Scottish Pine in our backyard that looks like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  It still looks like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, but at least all the cracked and dead branches are gone now.  The guy had to climb it with his chainsaw


 Before

 After

The guy climbing the tree

Are you sick of tree pictures yet?  Too bad.  This walnut was resting on some electric wires so it got trimmed as well.  Needless to say, all of these trees were in sore need of some attention.

The view from our deck.  Mount Timpanogos is gorgeous, especially in the winter.

Just a few more...

The kids had plenty of entertainment while all this was going on.  Everyone was sad to see this tree go, but we have plans to replant something in its place.

Worth ever penny!  Hopefully we won't have any large projects like this for a while.  The costs of home ownership are setting in!