my family still spoils me
My friends and family was super busy while we were gone.
They watched our 3 & 4 year olds – which is beyond a full time job.
But…they didn’t stop there.
My sister, the artist extraordinaire, drew on my chalkboard. I won’t be erasing it for a while. And when I do, I’ll convince her to come back and draw something new.
My friends stocked our deep freeze with tons of meals and filled our fridge, as well.
Flowers, balloons, cookies were left for us when we arrived home.
And – the biggest surprise – my parents, grandparents and sister finished our ‘studio’ to the point it is move in ready. What would have taken Chris and I at least until December to accomplish, they did together in 15 days! My dad and I had been collaborating on ideas for the stairs and upstairs railing. Basically, I threw out a general idea of what I like and don’t like (okay, so I was more specific than general) and then he just made it happen. He can build anything. Dad, can you figure out how to weld metal for the stairs? Sure, no problem….just got to borrow the tools.
He is detailed, precise and does the job right the first time. Here are his blueprints:
When I left for China, the metal was laying on the garage floor – not anymore! He used metal grids from my aunt (she had used them for display walls previously). He cut metal, welded it and so much more that I know I am clueless to. End result – Wowzers! Told you he can build anything.
He has built me A LOT over the years. On every thing he has made me, he has left a little note with the date. I cherish that. This time the note was welded (or melted, not sure the technical way to describe it).
With help from my mom, sister and grandparents, they also added the floor trim, finished painting cabinets, finished the countertops, added the bead board and trim to the entire place. Basically, they did all the main things left…all the things that would have taken Chris and I so long to finish just working in the evenings and on weekends. My mom and sister also added a cute basket – with a bouquet of new pencils!
The basket had a book I’ve been wanting. I saw it on Megan’s Instagram feed, and added it to my Amazon Wishlist. Lesley saw it at the store and told my mom I was wanting it. I am a sucker for books with beautiful illustrations. The pictures might make a farmer out of me.
Little One is getting worse regarding sleep…which means I am getting less and less sleep. You can’t “nap when baby is napping” when you have 4 other kids. So, I “move as fast as possible…don’t sit down or you’ll fall asleep with your face in your coffee mug…keep moving while baby is napping.” I moved all my craft stuff, fabric, etc. out to the studio. This pile is about 1/4 of what I moved into the room.
It will be a while before everything finds it place and the room is decorated. I’m starting to pull out ideas from magazines and getting excited about lots of empty walls.
And while I was doing all that moving…the girls were doing this:
FireCracker doesn’t actually fall asleep. She just likes to lay next to her sister until she falls asleep. She also likes to be right there when her sister wakes up. If you notice both girls have different outfits on, but the photos are from the same day. FireCracker likes to dress up. Little One and I usually both require an outfit change after I feed her. Struggle. Eventually we’ll get things down.
See that thumb in Little One’s mouth? Because of her cleft lip and palate, she can’t actually suck the way most babies do. So, she has learned to improvise. She just gently bites her thumb over and over. When I watch her soothe herself to sleep that way, I smile to think what an amazing daughter I have. She has overcome so much in her little life and seems to already know how to make the best out of things. She is teaching me so much.
For those with questions about her cleft lip & palate, you can click here for a previous post I wrote about it.
I’m trying a new uploading system, did the blog load slower, faster or the same today for you?
