Tuesday, June 30, 2009

So What Do You Think?

I desperately needed my haircut. I have been so busy with the kitchen remodel that I haven't had time to go. I talked to Michelle Wright on Sunday and she said I could come to her house and she would cut it for me. I brought a picture of what I wanted so that she would have an idea. She cut it but her flatiron broke so she said she couldn't style it. My hair gets wavy, especially if I don't blow dry it. Once I left it started drying more and puffing out. I then used my flatiron and it did tame it a little. It still angled out at the bottom like a triangle. I wanted it to round more against my face. I called Michelle and asked her if there is anything I need to do to get it to round more. She said she would come to my house and see if it just needed to be styled a certain way or if she needed to cut off a little more. She did ended up thinning it out towards the bottom so it wasn't a puff ball. It turned out exactly what I wanted. Thanks Michelle! That was so nice of her to come to my house so I didn't have to lug the kids over to her house. The picture that I showed her was Heidi Klum's haircut. Now Adam calls me Heidi. I laugh and say "I wish." I am far away from that body.....but maybe someday right? I have to shoot for something.

Monday, June 29, 2009

I Am So Embarrased!

Today the electricity was being worked on so Adam took the kids over to grandma's house while I got my haircut. Addison was still asleep so I relieved Adam of the kids so he could go to work. I was sitting in my parents computer room talking to Melanie and Landon was in the living room playing. We walked out and noticed Landon was gone. The back door was open so I thought that he just went into the backyard to play on the swings. I went to go check on him and suddenly there was a knock on the front door. It was Charles the little boy who lives across the street with his nanny Amy and her daughter Abby (I am friends with Amy and we go over there to play alot) She said, "I have come to bring back Landon" I looked down and he was completely NAKED! I then found his clothes in the backyard. I guess he went back there took off his clothes and then ran across the street to see if Charles can play. Oh Boys!

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Almost Done!

I know I have been saying that for a while but when you work full time and have two kids it takes longer to get things done. The flooring got put in and it only took the guy a day. He was really good and a hard worker. My next door neighbor is a furniture refinisher so he restained my parents old table for me. I just got it back and will have to cover the seats with my red paisley fabric. I painted an accent wall red and started painting paisleys on it. I put my new front door in and it looks great. I did have a casualty though. I whacked my finger with the hammer. It hurt so bad. It is that kind of hurt where you just go, "ahhhh" and it is throbbing. It is so swollen now and it as purple as a grape. It seriously looks like someone just took a purple marker and colored my finger. Next step for me is to put the interior doors in. I am holding off on the pictures because I would like to show the reveal once everything is done. You will have to wait in anticipation. (unless you are the ones that stop by and see it in person)

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Kitchen Update

So the granite was put in and that whole ordeal is over. I was so pleased with the service and Emerald Stone and Tile. They were great. I am putting new interior doors in for all of the bedrooms and bathroom. I still have to paint those and install them. I also got a new front door because the one there before made the entry look like a dungeon. The new one has a full glass panel that lets light in but the whole world can't see through to my living room and it has a swirled wrought iron design. I still have to do the flooring, paint the baseboards and molding for the doors and put shelving in my pantry. Then I am done! I was going to do the flooring myself because it is only laminate and everyone tells me how easy it is to put in. I just kept thinking "When do I have time!" I work full time and Adam works full time plus I am with the kids all day. I could probably do it but it would take me a week or two extra since I would only be able to work a couple hours here and there. I am so burnt out this kitchen remodel that I just want it done. I figured it's not worth it and I will just pay the extra money to have someone do it. I did some phone calls and everyone was way out of my budget. I thought forget it. I will just bear through another couple of weeks of chaos. I went to my house to get the mail and get ready for work when the penny saver came. I thought what the heck I will see if there is anyone who installs flooring. There was so I gave this guy a call. He was reasonably priced but I thought "Oh great I don't want to deal with another situation like the granite guy" I asked for some references and so he gave me a couple of names and numbers. I often wonder how people's references truely are. Are they real outside references or are they just giving me names of family members that will say they do a good job? Well I got a hold of 2 of the references and they seemed kind of caught off guard that I was calling them. So obviously they were random clients that he gave me. Both of them said that he does a really good job and that he always was there when he said he would be and that he called when he said he would call. I figured I would go with him and called him to ask when he could start. He said 8:30 in the morning. Yes! It's going to get done quicker than I thought. He said it will be done in 2 days so he will work all day Thursday and Friday. We can probably move back in by the weekend! YEAH!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Granite Moving Along

I tried to call the people that did my parents granite to see if they will cut a new piece for me but they kept saying they would give the person the message and call me back. They didn't call me at all. I guess they don't really need the business. Another nurse that I work with had some granite put in her bathroom so she refered me to Emerald Tile in Rocklin. They came out measured and gave me a quote. I said, "It's a deal!" because I just want it done. They picked up the piece on Friday and said they will install it on Tuesday morning. I can't wait. Then it is the flooring. We can move back in once the flooring is done because I can tile the backsplash and paint the baseboards when the kids are asleep. I am so frusterated because if all this stuff wouldn't have happened with the granite my kitchen would be done by now. It set me back about a month. Well I will post pictures when it is all in.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Just Go To Bed!

My kids never sleep now. We have been sleeping at my parents house because of the kitchen remodel. We would always take them over right when they would wake up so that we could feed them. We figured why keep going back and forth. Landon has been the worse about the sleeping. We put him to bed and he just plays in the room. It is partially our fault because ever since the chaos of the kitchen we haven't been really strict on a bedtime. Last week I put him to bed and went to watch some TV. I checked on him and he was still up at 10pm. I told him to go to bed, sang him a song and tickled his face. His eyes started really drooping and he got really quiet. I slipped out of the room. I went back downstairs to watch TV. It was midnight and I was getting tired so I decided to head to bed. I walked upstairs to find the light on in the room Landon was staying in. I opened the door and got a surprise. He took all of Melanie's scrapbook paper and laid it all over the floor and the bed. Then I saw that he got a hold of one of her orange markers and drew all over both of his arms. The paper was up on top of this tall dresser and he figured out how to get it. There is a porta-crib that was put away so it was in a rectangular shape. He pushed it up to the dresser to stand on it and get the paper. I was so mad for multiple reasons. He was still up at midnight and that he got into Melanie's scrapbook stuff. Thankfully he didn't mess up any of her paper. He helped me put it back and finally went to bed. Saturday we had a little family party for Addison's birthday. By the time everyone left it was 3:30pm. Landon usually goes down for a nap at around 1:00pm. I said he should still go down for a nap but Adam wanted to wait and just put him down for the night. Well 5:00pm comes around and Landon is just melting. Adam takes him up to bed and laid him down to sleep. He fell right asleep. I thought, great now he is going to wake up in a couple hours and be up all night. He never woke up. He slept through the night until 5:00am and Adam made him stay in bed until 7:00am. He just played in his bed, reading books until 7:00am. I guess he was catching up on all of the sleep he has been missing.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Happy Birthday Addison!

Today is Addison's birthday and the 1 year anniversary of my VBAC. (vaginal birth after Cesarean) As most of you know I had a horrific experience with Landon. After my research and also my experience with working in Labor and Delivery I have concluded that there was no medical reason for my C-Section. I didn't have a fever, his heart rate never dropped. It was really just over management from the doctor and the nurse. I was induced with pitocin, had an epidural and the nurse started pushing me way too early. (there are many more things that happened that contributed to my C-Section but I won't go on about it) They said my 8lbs 2oz baby was too big for my pelvis and that I shouldn't even try with my next one because most likely it will be a bigger baby and not fit. I talked to a lot of other mothers who were told the same thing and went to have bigger babies just fine. Being the planner that I am I researched the pros and cons of each situation, C-Section or VBAC. Pros with C-Section: it's scheduled and that was about it. Cons: Blood clots, placental problems in future pregnancies, infertility, hysterectomy, damage to bowel and bladder, hemorrhaging, infection, recovery pain plus potential problems with the baby's lungs and not breastfeeding well. I have to say I have seen a lot of these things first hand at work. Now VBAC Cons: labor pains, don't know when it will happen, uterine rupture (you have a higher chance of having cord prolapse in a normal birth then having a uterine rupture). Cord Prolapse is when the water breaks and the umbilical cord comes out first, gets pinched off by the pelvis and baby's head to cut off the blood supply. This is a true emergency that need a C-Section. Pros on VBAC: less blood loss, with natural hormones the babies breath better, recovery is quicker. (obviously the pros also are that you don't have a chance of all the problems with C-Section)
Well I do have to say my C-Section experience was not bad. I recovered well, breastfed fine but I knew I wanted to have more kids and the risks get higher and higher with each C-Section. I looked into homebirth. I had the greatest experience. My midwives were so good. Soft spoken, gentle, truly cared about me and what I wanted. Addison was born at home, vaginally, 9lbs 2oz, a pound bigger than Landon with no tears at all! It was much easier than I thought. The pain was intense but I wouldn't trade 12 hours of pain for 6 weeks of pain with a C-Section. I felt so empowered after her birth. To have people tell me that I couldn't do it and then to go on and have a bigger baby with no complications was great. Going through what I did with Landon was horrific but I wouldn't change it. I learned a lot about birth, and also about myself. So take that Doctors who said my pelvis was too small!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

AHHHHHH!

Ahhhhhh! Is all I can say. So the granite piece is not salvageable. Towards the back of the break it wasn't a clean break. It basically shattered in the back. I guess if I wanted to spend hours putting all of the little pieces together then it will work, but it is just not worth it to me. My mom said that I should call the people that did their granite because they were really good. I will call tomorrow. I just want my life back! I don't ever see anyone anymore, my kids are off their schedule and therefore their sleeping is out of whack. I want to be able to just sleep without dust everywhere and have a meal at a kitchen table. There is one good thing. I was going to cover the brick on my fireplace with stone. I had to grind off the white paint so the mortar would stick. Well it revealed some nice brick that doesn't look too bad. Everyone says that I should keep it and I probably will. The good note is that it cuts down my time since I don't have to put the stone on the fireplace. I picked up my flooring today and so once this granite ordeal is over I can start installing that.

Monday, June 8, 2009

With Kids You Get What You Bargain For

It is so funny, Landon has been into bargaining lately. If he wants something then he will tell me what I want to hear first and then what he wants. For example he wanted to go play in Grandma's backyard on the swings. I said he couldn't because we were leaving to go to his gymnastics class. He then said to me " We go to gymnastics, come home, eat and then play in the backyard right?" Just now he tried to bargain with me. We have these gummy bear vitamins. Well actually they are Melanie's but she has been giving them to Landon. He wanted some just now but he already had some this morning. He then said, "I eat dinner and then have some ok mama?" Nice try Landon. See for this reason I am not an advocate of having medicine and vitamins look like candy. The other funny thing that he does is when he is trying to bargain he tilts his head, talks in a higher voice and nods yes. Good try on the body language persuasion. I then realized that he is learning his bargaining from me. I always say he needs to do something first like put away his toys before he watches a movie, eat before he goes outside etc and that is where he is learning the skill. He even has my body language down to a T. What a good observer.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Don't Take Good Service For "Granite"


***Warning this post is long***

I am so close to finishing the kitchen I can taste it! I can't wait for it to be done. I sick of the chaos of not having a schedule and just having everyone else watch my kids while I work on the kitchen. I just finished painting everything but there are a couple of places where I need to touch up on the ceiling. I got the cabinets in and they look fantastic. I picked out the tile for my backsplash. The flooring has come in but I can't put it in until the stone is in on the fireplace.


So this is what it looks like so far. We put in the ovens and they look great. We still have to cut the notches out of the island granite for it to fit around the posts. The frige is my old frige but I put it the the spot just to see what it looked like. I am going to get a new stainless steel frige when the flooring is done.

So now I will tell you about my horrific experience with the granite. I bought the granite from this place close to my house because I was able to get a good deal. I needed the island edge finished and a opening cut out for the sink. They gave me a name of a guy who usually does it for them. I called him and he said no problem that he would pick up the pieces, finish them and then take them back to the graite place for me to pick up. I left the kitchen plans with all of the dimensions and the sink template with the people at the granite place. He picked them up finished them and then I met him at the granite place to pay him for the service. I paid him and then noticed that the sink opening was cut at the wrong place. I mentioned something to him and he said "Oh no it's right, you were planning on cutting one side so then it will be in the right place." I trusted that he knew what he was doing and then went home. I still kept thinking that it was wrong so I looked at my plans, calculated the inches on where the sink opening should be and concluded that it was majorly wrong. It was only supposed to be 15 inches from the right and it was about 30 inches. I then drove right back to the granite place and told them what happened. They called him and had him come back. He came right over and the first thing he said to me was, "I know where I messed up. I added the inches instead of subtracting. " He then said he would get another piece for me, cut it and get it back to me in two days. I was glad that I didn't have to argue with him that he messed up so I was just going to leave it at that. He then said, "For your troubles I will cut the piece to length and drop the granite off at your house." Well he didn't have it done in two days like he said. When we found the problem it was Saturday. He said he would pick it up on Monday and drop it off on Tuesday. I kept calling him and leaving messages but he never called me back. I then talked to him Wednesday afternoon and he said he hadn't even picked it up yet. He will pick it up on Thursday and drop it off on Friday. He then calls me on Friday and says that the sink template got thrown out and that he needs to pick up the sink and just cut it from the actually sink. He came over picked up the sink, double checked the cabinet measurements and said he would be back at 5:30 to drop it off. He then called me at 3:30, two hours before he was supposed to drop it off, and said I have another job I need to be at and I can't drop it off. I will take it back to the granite place and you can pick it up there. I said that was unacceptable and that I planned on him bringing it to my house. I then asked if he could bring it to be early Saturday morning. He then said no and that he was only doing this as a favor for me. I reminded him that it was his mistake that put me back a week on my kitchen and it was at his suggestion that he would bring it to my house. He said "Oh well I am going to drop it off at the granite place and you will have to figure out how to get it." Then ended the coversation. My dad only had Saturday to finish the granite and so we were planning on it being there. When Adam got home from work we made a plan. We would go to the granite place right when it opened and have some guys from the ward to help carry the massive island piece in the house. Adam made some phone calls and I have to give a shout out to the guys who came over at short notice. Thanks to Adam Laret, 4 missionaries, Bill Freeman, and Nathan Brady. We were glad that you guys were willing to help us out. Well we tried to put the piece in and found out the guy didn't cut it down like he said. He cut the right place for the sink but the faucet hole was off center by half of an inch. We had to take it off and put it down to cut it to size and to top it off the granite broke! AHHHHHH can this get any worse!

My dad said that he has fixed broken granite before and that you probably won't even know it happened. If not then I will have to buy another piece and pay for someone else to cut the opening for the sink. I am definately not going to that guy again!