Sunday, August 26, 2007

Weekend Update

We had a fairly productive weekend here which entailed a day of painting 2 coats on the trim and quarter round, which will go along the baseboard and hopefully disguise the sloped floors. We also stained all 4 doors and primed and painted the door jams. They are all hung and back in place, completed, just waiting for the trim pieces. Baby steps folks! We are getting there.

Saturday night we settled down for some SNL, best of 2006 & 2007. It was hilarious and had some very funny skits! We usually aren't up this late but I managed to stay awake through the whole thing.

Now, for the nitty gritty, we have ROTTEN EGG, very foul, sulfur smelling, H2O. It's vomit inducing when you least expect it. Unfortunately, I am actually getting used to the smell which hubby says is not a good sign b/c we are going to be walking around with a "smell" and not know it. I wouldn't want that to happen. So, what's the cure? We don't know. Hubby assigned me to this task since I'm the internet queen but this is BORING stuff. Who knows the solution? I know someone out there reading this has the answer. Please share your knowledge. We know about bleach tablets but how do they work and how the hell do we operate a well? We thought our well was a dog house if that tells you anything (a picture would explain it; honestly). It's driving hubby crazy, which in turn makes me crazy. So we really should get this puzzle solved.

p.s. It used to be just the hot water and now it's the cold too. Hubby did the "smell this" today with his coke and it actually smelled like he farted in his cup and then poured a glass of coke.











































Friday, August 24, 2007

Are you a nerd?

I am nerdier than 24% of all people. Are you a nerd? Click here to find out!

Disclaimer: We are getting thunderstorms right now and I have nothing better to do but steal post ideas from other people (thanks Tarah).....

Fingerprints - done!

We have finally finished all the necessary steps for our USCIS (immigration approval) I600a. We mailed the application in about a month ago and then we got our fingerprints Wednesday. We drove 3 hours to the office and then waited for about 1 1/2 hr. I think it will take 45-60 days to receive our approval (it had better be an approval). We need this in order to travel to country. I would love to have it sooner than later for reassurance but we can accept our referral without having received it yet. Next on the list is to get our passports renewed. Hubby's expired and mine needs a name change. We should be doing this very soon. Referrals have not started back up yet but they should be very shortly. Hopefully by early Sept (possibly sooner). And with each day that passes I am getting more ambitious around the house. Lots to do before the new one arrives! I'll have plenty to do after receiving the referral so I know over the next couple months we need to get the house ready. It's all soooooo exciting :) Then after referral we will know what age and can go from there as far as what toys to get ready, baby items (jumparoo, bouncy seat, carseat, etc). Oh and figuring out a crib and all that good stuff. Wow, it really seems like it's going to be happening any day as I type this.

Little man is doing well. We still haven't mastered potty training, but we are working on it. I need to incorporate underwear and get him to tell me when he has to go. Any suggestions??? Right now he just runs to the little potty chair himself and goes. How do we REALLY convert? I would like to have him potty trained in the next month so that will not be an issue while we are scrambling around and getting ready to travel.

This weekend we will be painting trim for the house and hopefully getting started. I'm really excited for this and to see how much better it makes the house look. And too hopefully eliminate some spiders we've had lurking around.

We had a great visit with Jen. Little man had a blast with her and followed her around. He was constantly bringing her books to read. Here are some pics of the two of them. Thanks for coming Jen and for all of your help. It was great to see you :)



Tuesday, August 21, 2007

3 years ago today...

Hubby and I were tying the knot to a 3 minute, super speedy ceremony at Little Church Of The West in viva, Las Vegas. It was a fun weekend and very stress free. And best of all, I was officially married to my favorite person in the whole world. My laughing buddy, skip classes together in college partner, the play racquetball with and let me win kind of man, father of our child, my remodel sidekick, my other half, give me the last cookie, sexy smile, favorite butt, where I seek comfort, my chips and salsa and can of coke buddy, my nowhere else I'd rather be, one of a kind, best friend! I love you babe. Happy Anniversary! Thanks for the wonderful, thoughtful gift. I love you!!

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Spectacular, Spectacular

With every day that passes this house grows on me more and more!! Today I'm in "I love it mode". I love my kitchen, I love our 50% finished bathroom, our ceiling fans, I LOVE the hardwoods, our storm door, I love how cozy it is becoming and I love my little ranch house with the laundry room RIGHT there.

Hubby is really getting the hang of installing doors and managed to install 3 doors tonight (even with me nagging in his ear, sorry babe). They look great. I will post pictures tomorrow; too tired tonight. They are solid wood doors and he had to actually cut off 3/4-1 inch on each of them to fit in our old, unsquare house. But they look great. We are a little torn on what to do with them now; stain them or paint them white (the trim throughout the house will be white). Any suggestions??

I'll try to post updated little man pics and house pics. We bought all the baseboard today and tomorrow we are going back for another storm door (front door) because we absolutely LOVE the one we bought for our side porch. They have two left on clearance (marked down from $280 to $140 and they ROCK if anyone needs a storm door). They are all glass that can be switched out to screen and VERY efficient.

Still lots to do but we are getting somewhere. The baseboard and windows trimmed out will make a HUGE difference on this house looking good!

Happy Saturday to All :)

If I have any strangers out there that actually read this, leave a comment to say HI!!

Friday, August 17, 2007

Cherry Sours anyone???

The weekend is here; woohoo! Tonight we went out to Olive Garden (my first time) and ate waaaaaaay to much but it was delicious. Little man seems to be a pretty good eater experimenting with Calamari, Beef Ravioli, Breaded Mushrooms and Italian dumplings tonight. After dinner we headed to Lowe's for the millionth time and looked at trim for the house. While there we met two guys who were doing a "fix and flip". They summed it up with "our first and our last". We had lots in common. They made us laugh and gave us a few pointers on the baseboard. We hope to start tackling that this weekend as well as installing a bathroom door!! Hubby can't stand no doors any longer. And it really needs to be done. Especially since we will be having our first guest this weekend! My brother's girlfriend to be exact. I can't wait :) Unfortunately the house isn't super cozy just yet but it will work!

My sister and I talked today about how my younger brother and I used to always get cherry sours when we were little and she would take all of us siblings to the grocery store on Friday nights to get candy (for those of you who are unaware, my family has a terrible addiction to candy). Anyway, they were the best Cherry Sours EVER. Then one day all hell broke loose and they had changed THE cherry sour. Nasty, flavorless, waxy cherry sours. My brother called the other day to tell me he thinks he found "the original cherry sour". I will see for myself when I come visit in Sept but until then my mouth will be watering.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

It's the little things...

Just a quick list of things I've been loving lately...

-watching little man, 22 months, run around in the nude, listening to him talk, and just trying to soak up every moment with him.
-looking out every window and being able to see trees, fields, birds and butterflies.
-spending time with hubby.
-cooking (not sure where it's coming from).
-my bed.
-family and friends.
-sweet yummy treats (kicking the habit, not working)
-slowing down, trying to enjoy the little things.

We are very, very blessed. It feels good to slow down and enjoy these simple pleasures :)

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

I'm back...

I finally woke up yesterday morning feeling motivated and in the last 36 hours cleaned my house. I also set up our bed frame in our bedroom which means we can graduate from our 2 year olds room to our very own bedroom. Little man went in the room to check it out and said "nice room mom". It was hilarious. Then he just kept saying "nice room, nice room". He was very pleased with my work and the fact that he had a new bed to jump on.

My laptop is being repaired for the next week so I'll be using hubby's computer in the evenings. As many of you know I'm ADDICTED to my computer so I have a sneaking suspicion I will be VERY productive this week. I'm headed to the farmer's market in the morning for fresh produce and looking forward to stocking the fridge.

I thought about our future child from Ethiopia last night. With every day that passes I think about the fact that he (currently we have requested boy 0-12 months) may be born?? For awhile I kept thinking that some mother was currently carrying this child and possibly already facing the fact that one day she would no longer be able to care for him. It makes me sad to think about. Now, I wonder if he's with her now? Maybe he is with his Grandparents or other family? Hopefully he is being very loved and bringing lots of joy to those he is around! We are thinking of you little guy :) And your big brother has been talking about his 'baby brother'. I can't wait for the two of you to meet and to have you in our arms!!

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Seeking Shelter From the Sun...

Wheww..... August is my least favorite month down in Missouri. It was 103 today with a heat advisory. I took this as an opportunity for yet another LAZY day. Hubby on the other hand finished installing the front door and installed a storm door. He's a real go getter these days and I find myself barely wanting to shower. Maybe it's the heat? Maybe I'm burn out? Maybe it's become my way of life... (hope not).

Well my little guy definitely has some of the genes from my side of the family. Tonight he climbed right up onto the couch with me, not to hug and kiss, but to give me a pressed ham. Intentional? I wouldn't be surprised.

Friday, August 10, 2007

I've got the.....

Potty Training Blues.... Baby, Baby..

Potty training sucks. I found a little gross baby turd in my bedroom a little bit ago (not the first and surely not the last). We have a small house, so during the day when I am either on the internet, cleaning or on the internet, little man plays with toys and roams the rooms. The risk I've taken with this whole naked baby potty training. I'm constantly checking the house for his remnants. Sometimes he's feeling generous and just sits down on his potty, gets up and claps saying "yeah". We make a huge deal out of his pea size turd and move on. Then there are the days (today) where he thinks the potty is not necessary and walks around the house pooping and peeing wherever he pleases. I called my sister to inform her that little man will be in diapers until he's five. Why? Because potty training is not my cup of tea!

EDITED to add a very important fact (mentioned by hubby) that we do not have carpet in our house. It's hardwood floors and tile. I don't want people to make any assumptions (like we just rub the pee into the carpet and go about our day). That's one perk of the hardwoods and tile; easy clean up :)

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Big news...

The boy is full of surprises; he peed on potty twice on his own tonight, followed by two trips to go poop. Woohoo! Maybe this potty training is going to go smoother than we thought.

Are we parents or what? Blogging about poop on potty. Wow.

Can you tell we are potty training?














Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Hubby is a happy man....

I am happy to report (on Nater's behalf) that we now have TELEVISION!!! The man has been itching for TV since we left the hotel. Well folks, that night has arrived. Tonight he said, "I just want to sit and watch tv and eat my dinner". So he headed outside and found the cable dangling from the antenna on the roof and got straight to work. From there he somehow connected it with the cable from the TV. He's a little nerd when he wants to be and had no trouble figuring it out. Right now he is fine tuning all the channels (our TV rocks). We have more channels than we could have ever dreamed. I wish I could capture on camera the excitement he's feeling. I'm telling you all, he's not shown this much excitement with all the house projects we've accomplished. Nater is BACK!

Sunday, August 05, 2007

I'll be sleeping great tonight!


What a wonderful weekend with this crazy house. Instead of me being the crazy one; I'll make the house the crazy one. Hubby decided to be super ambitious today (even though I wanted to do nothing but sit in my overstuffed chair and play on the net) and install a new exterior door. And I can't say I blame him since our old one had no way of latching so we kept a cardboard box (our vanity light to be exact) in front of it to keep it closed. Which means every time we left the house it was left open; exposed to the heat and any possible thieves (thankfully they didn't come looking for anything at our house). Oh and of course the risk of a creepy person wandering into our house at any given moment (I know that was going through all of your minds). So anyway, off to Lowes AGAIN. We are terribly sick of this place but I can happily report we've gone from as much as 3-4 times a day to maybe twice a week (okay fine, 5 times a week). Hopefully that will continue to diminish and one day I can think; 'wow; I've not been to Lowes in 3 weeks'. For those of you thinking, YEAH RIGHT; keep it to yourself. My mood has been extremely giddy and I'm allowing myself to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am actually starting to "love" this crazy house. I love my birds, the crickets, the view out all the windows and the inside is finally starting to come together. Which brings me to my other good news. Folks, we have a SHOWER. That's right; no more stinky baths (no offense bath lovers - you know who you are). Hubby took the official first shower tonight. Here is a photo of the new tub/shower. And for any of you perves out there who know where I live (ahem... MTA guys) NO peeking in my window.



















Thank you honey for all your hard work with the door and rest of the house this weekend. You have been working hard and I really do appreciate it!! Now quit forcing me to work as hard as you. I want a break. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase!
Here is the bossman below with a smirk on his face.














Okay, okay, I'm almost done. We have plenty left to do but in spite of what my hubby thinks, we will be starting to relax more in the evenings and on the weekends! I am ready for some ME time and for some more time to focus on baby #2. I think about him often and can't wait for The Call!! The Call being the one telling us we've been matched with a little boy. The list is moving fast and referrals will be starting back up before we know it. At least this crazy house has made the time go by very, very quickly.
Good night Moon, Good night house
Chatter

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Lots of good stuff going on....

We had a WONDERFUL day today!! Little man peed on his potty 3 times (with bribery of course) and only twice on the floor (that I could find). Tomorrow is another day and hopefully will bring us more excitement on the potty chair.

My goal for this weekend was to actually make our living room feel more like an actual living room. We have succeeded. It is sooooooooo cozy now. I'm writing this as I lay back in my chair and ottoman and hubby is kicking back on the couch with his feet on the coffee table. It's magical. He climbed up the barn tonight to fix the receiver for the internet signal and we are currently connected. Back to the living room; I love it!! We still need to mount the tv above the fireplace but it's really coming together.


Nathan caulked the tub today so tomorrow we will mount the shower rod and take our first shower. Woohoo! It just keeps getting better. And in other accomplishments the ceiling fans are all mounted (thanks again to my husband) and we have covers on nearly all of the outlets and switches. I am really starting to love our house and losing the feelings of regret. I really hope those days are behind us. The biggest obstacle we have left is getting the baseboard and window trim up. Then we have PLENTY of other things to keep us busy.

It's 10pm and little man is in his crib playing with his cars. You'd think he'd be so wore out at the end of the day he'd crash but his cars are just too much fun.

I know it's been awhile since I've mentioned the adoption so here goes. The Ethiopian courts are currently closed so the referrals will be on hold for a few weeks. They will pick back up by September and we will continue to watch our names move up the list (woohoo). Time is flying by; maybe too fast. We have lots to do by fall but I can't wait to meet our little guy. Little man keeps talking about "baby brother" so that's reassuring. We finally sent in for our I600a (basically approval from the US Immigration office to adopt) last week and already received the letter for fingerprints. Woohoo! We need approval before we travel so I hope to get that back within the next couple months. We also need to renew hubby's passport and get my name changed. We should also be getting that done. Otherwise, work, work, work on the house to get things ready.

I'll conclude with a couple pics. Time to get some zzzzzzzzzzz's.

Friday, August 03, 2007

Just a quick one...

Our internet has been down for the past week so I'm at McD's stealing free internet. I figured eating there food for nearly 5 weeks has entitled me to this. Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know we are doing well and no complaints. I watched Hotel Rwanda yesterday. Talk about a slap in the face. I promise I will do my best to never, ever, complain about our house remodel again. This house has turned me into a crazy person that is a little unappreciative and ungrateful at times. No more "crazy chatter" The house is great and the farm is so pretty right now. We've been having lots of hummingbirds at the feeder and it brightens my day. Little man has become a total goofball and has brought lots of laughter to the house. I hope this finds everyone happy, healthy and relaxed! I'll post again soon!
Happy Friday to all!
love, Chan

Monday, July 30, 2007

Home 4 Sale

3 BR, 1 BA, with beautiful hardwood floors, tile, new custom cabinets, plumbing and wiring. Now for the good stuff; it comes with nice, big spiders inside your windows making masterpiece webs, a sink that is currently backing up due to the garbage disposal (no idea), a laundry room drain that backs up into the laundry room b/c it is not ran correctly (due to previous owner), dogs that get into your garbage while you are out of town and spread shitty diapers in your front lawn, exterior doors that do not lock, a scary cellar basement that floods, and so much more....

If interested please email me.
Will consider trade for any new homes with NO maintenance.

Another reason to get a Tractor...
















































As you can see little man LOVED driving G'pa's tractor. We were back to visit Indiana this weekend for a wedding and spent a short time with our families. The wedding was Saturday and we had a great time catching up with Nathan's buddies from high school. Here are a few photo's from the reception.












































We also managed to squeeze in time to watch the new Simpson's movie Thur night @ midnight. Very funny! We hung out with Nathan's brother and his girlfriend and went out to dinner for my dad's 60th birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY POPS!
It was great to see everyone. We wish we would have had more time. Come visit us in Missouri soon. Congratulations BC & Shiloh on your marriage!! I'll conclude with some photo's of our family visit!















Here is my little sister babysitting (the cutest little girl ever).





Wednesday, July 25, 2007

We have exterior doors!

Since we moved in on Saturday we just had the two beat up screen doors for our exterior doors but tonight we (well Nathan) put on the old exterior doors. They are not long term but they will buy us some time until we can get headers up and new ones installed. I now a little safer as I get ready for bed tonight. Little man is laid down, the laundry is caught up and the house is as clean as it's going to get for the time being.

I'll attach some photo's of our finished tile in the tub area. I am happy with it and we will soon be able to shower. I need to waterproof it yet and we need to seal it with a caulking gun. We've made no other progress with the house. I take that back, my Handy Hubby, installed the dishwasher last night. I was super excited about that! So dishes are all caught up and we were pleasantly surprised by how quiet it is (we went with a cheapie). I'm not sure how clean they are but it's definitely not as loud as we'd planned for.

Hope everyone is cool and cozy tonight. I am looking forward to getting a good night of zzzzz's.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

I will now get carded on ladies night...

From the Pat Benatar mullet to the Pat Sajak cut. It just keeps getting better. Next I'll go for the..... nope, there is nothing worse. I've hit rock bottom. Hair cut mistake # 2. For any of you (Keely) contemplating a short hair cut please think it through very carefully and actually find a style you like. Or you can pull a stunt like myself and go to the salon with your husband and say, "I'll take one of those".



Saturday, July 21, 2007

Spiders, Snakes, Lizards and Bats OH MY

Yes, we have all of the above and more. Thankfully spiders and other creepy crawlers are the only ones in the house. About dusk the bats come out and start flying all around the trees. They look like they have no idea where they are going but hubby assures me they do. So I continue about my business and hope none fly into me. As for the snakes, I'm getting used to them. I had just about finished mowing the lawn a couple nights ago and took a break to take little man in the house. I came back out to the mower to find a snake curled up next to it (shutter). It was a brown one with a very neat pattern on it's back (I'll post pics soon). Anyway, it kind of freaked me out but after hubby threw him in the weeds I went back to business. And of course I'm still a little jumpy and my dear hubby takes this opportunity to sneak up behind me and grab my leg. Needless to say I jump up in the air and turn around and all I could muster was a middle finger b/c had I spoke, "f-er" surely would have come out. And all he could do was wear a smirk on his face and hold in the giggles.



Now for the lizards. We have these awesome baby lizards that are all the colors of the rainbow (I posted a pic a while back). They are so cool and super fast. I've seen a ton of them and LOTS of toads and frogs, spiders, beetles and just about everything else. And sooooo many butterflies. And I've been lucky enough to see a hummingbird on my porch a couple times. Woohooo! So my younger brother picked me out a feeder (which needs refilled) and hopefully I'll get to see more of them.

Soooo, now for the good stuff. It's Saturdy July 21'st (nearly 5 weeks to the day that we were kicked out of our old house) and we are spending our FIRST night in the house. Goodbye hotel; you were kind for taking us in but you will not be missed (no offense). Little man was so happy to have his crib back tonight. I said goodnight, laid him down and he curled up with his aquarium and two little stuffed animals and smiled (surely thinking 'it's about time'). I left the room and not a peep out of him. He was awake, just very content. AMEN. I hope he sleeps well. He's been going to bed late, waking up through the night (4-6am last night) and getting up early. The poor guy must be so sick of it. I'm so happy to have a home for him again.

In other great news, we have a toilet again (just a moment, killing a cricket). No more peeing outside; woohoo!! We had removed our old before they installed tile a couple weeks ago and have not had one since. It's a cute (never thought I'd use that word to describe a toilet), clean and very exciting little toilet. Can it get any better than this?? Why sure it can. Nathan wired the oven and microwave tonight so I can officially bake!! And we have hot water as of yesterday so I was able to do all the dishes that had built up ANDvery shortly I will be taking my first shower at the house. The tile guy will be here in the morning to tile and grout the tub surround! Wippie fricking dooooo! I am a new woman :)

Well the handy hubby is installing ceiling fans and would probably like some company. When and if you read this Nater, thank YOU for everything. We are almost there! I know there are times we've been sure this was the biggest mistake we've ever made but we did it! You rock!

p.s. I don't recommend a complete remodel to anyone. Ask me in 6-12 months and I may have changed my mind.

p.p.s. We have internet at the house as of tonight. Nater climbed up onto the tip-top of the barn for the zillionth time and pointed the satellite in right direction and was able to keep it stationary. As you can all imagine I'm happy with my internet, as is he.

Sleep well and good night. I must get some zzzzzz's.
I will soon post pics of the house after we get settled.


Edited to add pictures and to say that little man slept through the night and woke happily this morning feeling rested. He cried out one time and fell right back asleep. I'm so happy for him!