most notably there was a week about half way through january where we were purely on survival mode. we figured we needed to go around the house and look at smoke detectors and figure out if we needed more and if they still worked. ryker has been nervous around them before so he went with us. we talked about what would happen. cover your ears, there will be a loud beep when dad pushes the button, then it will be done! he did great and didnt seem to be upset at all. but the problem happened later that night.... he was terrified for us to leave the room after we put him to bed. like scared for his life. it was strange and we didnt really know what was causing it at the time. justin stayed in there till he fell asleep and then was able to leave. but he woke up 3 or 4 times throughout the night. finally around 4 am i went in to help since i had just finished feeding rex anyway, and decided to bring him in our room and let him sleep next to my side of the bed. (its a big deal to me that i dont want our kids to sleep in bed with us, but they can be beside the bed. just my opinion, other people do it differently thats fin. this is just what we decided a long time ago.) that worked better. he slept better. the next night he woke up a few times, but we brought him in our room a lit sooner to help us all sleep. then rylie got up a few times the next night so she took a turn sleeping in our room. and they flip flopped all week. what made it even more hard was i think rex was going through a growth spurt.... for the first 3 days (when ryker was super anxious and waking up a lit) he was up every hour! i was dying and a zombie all week. then after about 3 days he spent another 3 ish getting up every 2 hrs. a small reprieve but definitely needed. i was loosing it.
long story short we still keep rykers door open for naps, but he is most of the time okay during bed time. we just have to give him a good reason. with the door open at nights ryker is more comfortable, but we are fighting rylie to stay in her bed/room. it has definitely been a learning curve for everyone. but! everyone is sleeping better. small victories. ill take it.
we have continued with the renovation. since coming home we have finished the laundry room. at least to where its functional. we plan on putting up drywall when we drywall our bathroom. but it works for now! and thats what counts. no more major injuries. we started on our bathroom. we dismantled the sink and vanity and door down the wall. then we have been tearing up the floor. found lots of crazy old flooring! we basically had to strip it down to the subfloor then we will put more supporting plywood on top if it. the previous people had some thick particleboard on it. i mean it did the job, but its a cheep way of doing it and not sturdy. plus it was a huge pain to get up! but we got it done. kids mostly slept through all the hammering, drilling, and some dutting of major sections. im shocked, but i guess we talk about whats going on enough that they know mom and dad are "making a new bathroom". we put up a barrier where the old laundry room door was so that they wouldnt go in and step on a nail or something, and they love to look over it all the time. every morning ryker asks to see what we have done. they will be very sad when we plug it up and drywall the wall again.
we removed some old plumbing that was in the middle of the room. now we are officially on the building stage! we built the wall with the shelf for our shower. not we can space out and start doing plumbing and drainage. so close! it feels good to be done with demo.
the kids are doing great. ryker is good though still a little anxious sometimes. we had to combine with another ward this last week because we were not allowed to use the stake center building and ryker had a minor meltdown with the extra people that he didnt know. he still isnt comfortable with sunbeams, but he is getting better there too.
we got our waterproofing system in the mail a few days ago and justin was trying to explain to him what it was. he said something like "this is for us because we are renovators" what ryker heard was "because we are alligators!" so close bud... but hilarious. also one morning i was getting his breakfast. he had helped my find rylies sippy cup and i told him what a great helper he was. fast forward half hour later when i filled up his water cup, he turns to me and says "thanks mom, your such a good helper." bahahaha i love this kid. im so glad im the helper and you do all the heavy lifting in the house...
we have gone backwards a little with potty training lately. the last week or so he has just not cared and gone potty whenever soaking his underwear and pants. i dont know why or what to do about it, but we try to help him go often and let him know we will help. the bathroom is all ready for him to go! we will see what happens. he is currently sitting next to me in jammie pants because all his other pants are in the wash. awesome...
rylie is doing good. still as cute and sweet as ever. after that week where she came into our room a few times, she started predicting our reaction and if she got upset (even an hour after bed) then she would grab her pillow and one of her (many) stuffed animals and look at me like okay, im ready to sleep in your room! it was so cute, yet still trying to get you to sleep in your own room.
both kids have had a lot of fun at joyschool and playing there. the lady in nursery told me the other week that rylie is the youngest currently, but the best behaved. she said "i cant have favorites, but she is mine." she never gets into trouble and is good about sharing. i am very proud of her and have to smile because she isnt always so angelic at home. haha.
rex is doing great! he loves to smile and laugh a lot. i love his bright smiles. you can just see it in his eyes. he is now 6 mo old. he is starting solids and so far likes them. no strange reactions so far, but its only been a few days. a true reed, he loves food. i have a hard time keeping him on his back now, he is always rolling over to his tummy. then pivoting a ton. so he doesnt quite stay where i put him down. better get ready for a mobile baby again!
i love my little family. everyone is doing great. we have lots of work here at home, but we are happy and loving our new place!
ryker sneaking out peeking down the hall when he should be napping. he might be phasing out of a nap which makes me very sad
im not above showing humiliating pics of myself. the kids thought it was hilarious. and i live to entertain them.
demo on the laundry room wall to make it big enough
this is the fun part
plumbing is done!
rylie surprised me one day by rolling her tongue. didnt know she could do that already!
her version of dress up involves anything she can put on her head mostly. her mushroom hair headband cracks me up.
finishing up putting the insulation back. justin spray foamed all the cracks. its pleasantly warm there now even though its in the basement.
better pic of our plumbing work
i have a working washer and dryer!!! and their my own appliances! so much bigger than the old ones i had to use before. and so much better
he has enough control to enjoy the walker now
playing in the ball pit at Vons house for joyschool
good lookin boy!
we like to dive into projects around here. haha fixing the truck from its condensation issue
i looked in the monitor one morning and found them bonfing like this on rylies bed. haha. you canstart to see the begining of a huge clothes mess that they took out of their closet. (update: we locked the closet and now for fun they take all the sheets off rylies bed. will i never have a normal morning where i dont have to put something back together!?!?!?!)
we finally organized and cleaned the garage! both cars fit now!
rylie showing off her pretty toes! i painted them for the first time and now i am required to repaint them if they ever chip all the way off.
they wanted to play in the snow so bad, so i let them out on the deck. best part, i could stay inside but still watch them. plus they love that i make cocoa for them when they are done.
such a ham
princess sofia party for our friend Brooklyn! He was our lone Prince
rylies pigtails poked out of both sides of her crown. it was so adorable!
the little girls thought they needed to stand up there with the birthday girl. haha. (brooklyn is in the middle)
happy birthday!
look at that rockin 70s linolium in the old laundry room. bahaha so great. i might keep some and use it to decorate or something.
big shoes to fill!
cloding up the gas line to the old dryer. side note. i didnt know gas dryers were a thing.... glad they are not anymore.
justin got a little too excited getting rid of the vanity haha.
the valves were leaking a bit... so we decided to keep the faucet attached so that it wouldnt. but the vanity was gone.... this is what justin came up with haha.
first major hole breaking down the wall between bathroom and laundry
the kids feel that i cant hear them unless their face is right up by the glass.
rex wants to play! but its a little too cold for him still.
rylie watching for feet during nap time to let someone know she is awake and ready to play
peaking over the plywood we have blocking the doorway
good stopping place for one night
we went out to dinner with friends at a hibachi place. it was my first time and so cool! also so much food! i definitely want to go back though haha. it wont let me upload the video but the owner came out and sang the birthday girl a song. it was great.
rylie decided one morning to eat exactly half her bowl of cereal. she split it down the middle and only ate one side.
L for Lion snack
rex finally learned how to reach his toes! he has been trying for weeks but couldnt get over his chunky thighs.
kids helping with demo
i was confused how fast they were getting from one room to the other, until i saw the hole they were going through
trying to unhook the toilet to get it out of the way. trying to demo around it was a pain. but we were afraid it would leak too! all the old valves seem to be that way. grrrr....
hard to see. but this was the old bathroom linolium. yellow with light green, blue, and pink grid on it.
trying to get the dang floor up
kids on chairs peaking over the board watching dad
justin figured out that if he used his circular saw and cut a grid it would come up better (which it did) but it created lots of dust. so ryker is watching but plugging his ears and wearing a mask.
last little bit! the sub floor is so flimsy. i will feel better when we have the next layer down
fun at gym magic!
loved the foam pit
learning our balance. we even tried the balance beam
of course the trampolines were a favorite
our shower system came and fits! we will elongate it a little, but its starting to come together!
justin pulling out some plumbing by feel because its so far back
ryker and rylie helping me make mini monkey muffins for joyschool
he looks like he was caught hand in the cookie jar
took a break and installed a heater for the garage. to help our cars and to help while we do maintenance over winter
happy boy starting solids
he loves it!
i sure love this happy
after almost 2 weeks we finally got him tired enough to take a nap. i sure miss these snuggles sometimes.
our monkey masks. my model and then ryker and rylies. i know theirs look blank but they did color them! just mostly its covered by the mouth piece they glued on. oops... haha
the wall is stubbed and our shower shelf is built!
our delicious spread for the superbowl! thats the only part i care about... the food. we will be eating leftovers all week
some of the kids looked at me phone and i turned on the camera. they thought it was so funny! i have no idea why but they loved it.
ryker playing with lucy. so precious
i was taking a pic to send to justin and ryker wanted in
so naturally rylie wanted a pic too.
fun at gym magic
never get tired of this.
