38 ish

This has been cracking me up. Also, I think Kaden must have been brought to me by stork.... 

22 months

Whew!  22 months is here.  I've been dreading her turning 22 months actually for awhile now because when Ryane is 22 months old, she won't be the baby anymore...

Ryane wears 2T-3T clothes and NO DIAPERS DURING THE DAY.

 

Ryane is POTTY TRAINED (for the most part)!  She wears underwear during the day, except for naps and hasn't had an accident for weeks.  She's doing great!  A few days after our potty training boot camp, Ryane decided she wanted to pee on the potty.  I didn't push it, and after a couple weeks in pull ups, I switched her back to underwear.  She is having a little trouble with pooping on the potty (sorry if this is TMI) and usually goes in her diaper after nap or first thing in the morning before I go get her.  However, last night after bath she said she "poop!" and went on the potty!  I am hoping this is a breakthrough and we can get rid of the rest of the diapers soon!

Ryane naps around 1:00 and she falls asleep pretty quickly. She has been sleeping 1.5-2 hours.

She loves to play in her crib and she actually gets pretty cranky if you go get her after nap too soon.

Ryane goes to sleep around 7 and wakes up around 6:30. She hardly has room in her crib with all her babies and animals.

Ryane talks non-stop:

*Mommy, are you?? (where are you?)

*There's poop on there" (talking about mud on a shoe)

*Kigi is here and Am is here and Mommy is here, and..."

*

 

She is turning into a little bully and has starting hitting her brothers... we are working on it...

Ryane is INTO EVERYTHING. Like drawers and cabinets the boys never thought about opening.  You blink and she's into something else. 

Her favorite books right now are Waddle and Hey, Wake Up. She says the last word/words at the end of each sentence.

She still requests "Bus" to sing before nap and bed and does all of the actions by herself. She sings most of it too.

 

Her favorite songs are Wheels on the Bus, Ring Around the Rosy and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.  She sings them all.

 

Ryane is obsessed with seeing buses and trucks on the road, just like her brothers.

 

She hands me the remote and requests "Paw Tro" (Paw Patrol).

 

She loves dolls and all the baby stuff we have been taking down from the attic... Hope she loves her new baby just as much!

 

Ryane loves to play upstairs in the game room but only when her brothers are with her ("Kigi, stairs?")

She's hilarious and has an awesome sense of humor.  She's also really smart and picks up on things really quickly.

Love you sis... Can't believe you'll be 2 in two short months!!

Anticipating the new normal

I'm 38.5 weeks now...

 

Things are going to change and we are going to have a new "normal" in less than two weeks. And I'm really starting to get anxious about how things are going to work out. Like, how do I go to Kaden's baseball games between having to keep an eye on Cam and Ryane, wear a baby, nurse, naps, repeat... Or how in the world am I going to know what time to schedule Kaden's school conference 10 days after baby, between Nic's work schedule, picking Cam up from school, Ryane's nap, baby's feeding...?  Or how am I going to get Cam to school with Ryane and the baby in tow- lifting restriction for 6 weeks, no driving for a few....

 

It's overwhelming. 

 

I guess it just works itself out and we get used to our new normal and we move on.  But right now I'm thinking about it all and feeling like it can't possibly work out.

 

I guess we will see!  In 10 short days...

Pallet wall

So Nic tells me he is willing to do something to the baby's room, but he doesn't really want to do a major project before the baby is born. 

Oh, no problem! How about a pallet wall? Looks easy enough- here- read this blog about how to do it!

Well...

After Day 1, Nic wasn't all that thrilled with me or my fabulous idea. 

Nic had seen a bunch of pallets in a trash pile near our house because a brick wall was being built around a neighborhood. He made several trips and collected about a dozen pallets. 

We {he} started the project the following weekend. Using a pry bar, he attempted to remove the wooden pieces from the pallet. After about 1.5 hours, 2 full pieces of wood came off the pallet, along with more sweat than I've ever seen, and a lot of frustration {with me}, I pleaded for him just to get wood pieces from Home Depot. But when Nic has his mind made up about something, there's no turning back....

He decided to use a recumbent saw and just saw through the nails. Brilliant! But it still took a lot of time. Like most of the day. He power washed the boards before Day 1 was over. 

Day 2 was sanding each board. He has a lot of patience. Seriously. 

The following weekend he started putting them up. The corner was tricky but it looks great!

It was a lot of up and down the stairs, measuring each piece, sawing, re-measuring, and nailing (by hand) into the studs. Almost every single piece is nailed into a stud. He's good. 

But he didn't do it alone...

It took a whole weekend, but it was worth it! Well, I think it was. I haven't asked Nic his thoughts yet...

I began white washing that week. I mixed 1 part paint with 2 parts water and brushed the paint onto each board. After the paint was on, I used a rag and wiped it down. 

I couldn't reach the top row...

But my lovely husband could (after getting home at 9:00 p.m. from driving to Houston and back that day- have I mentioned he's a saint?  If not, he's a saint.)

Here's a picture of the gray wall completed next to the pallet wall. The gray looks great and brings out the gray in the wood. It's beautiful!! 

Next step... Decorate! His room will be gray, cream and little hints of red. So excited!! I'll post again when the room is completed!