Monday, September 19, 2011

#214...

I'm sure you are all wondering why the title of this blog is #214. The main reason is because this is my 214th blog post since I started blogging about three years ago. The second reason was to give a mini shout out to Dave Matthews(If you are a fan, you will understand.). Anyway, back to the point. Blogspot has recently changed their editing format and now they show the total number of blogs that you've posted. When I saw that I have already posted 213 blogs, I was overwhelmed with a thankful feeling. Thankful because I've had, at least, 213 great things happen in my life, over the past three years, that I've wanted to share with everyone. God is good! 


Since Paul and I have met, we have been through so much. We've moved across the country three times, got married, and had three babies in less that 26 months. Tonight, I realized that my blog is the diary that I've always wanted to start. Now that we are settling down in New York, I am looking forward to many more great things to blog about as our babies grow up. 

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Last Week...

Last Tuesday, I took the boys to a playgroup to get them out of the house. They were so excited to play with other kids their age and I was happy to be around other moms again. The playgroup meets three times a week, so I plan on taking the boys as often as I can.
On Wednesday, we met with our builder to start the process of designing our house. We talked about all of the features we do and don't want to be included in the plans they draw up for us. Then, we drove over to the actual site where our home will be built. Our lot is currently full of trees, so it was hard to picture the size and shape of our property. We were very excited to find out that our kids will be going to a great K-12 school that has a high school hockey team. Their mascot is the Eagles and their colors are red and gray. We were told that our house will be done within 120 days of the basement being dug, probably giving us a February move in date. Everything here seems to be falling into place.
We did find out some bad news though. We will not be able to rent the house down the street from our future home, because someone made an offer to purchase it. I am disappointed because I was really looking forward to looking out the window at our home being built and getting to know our neighbors over the next few months. Luckily, our builder found us another home to rent that is not too far away. This house is even bigger, with four bedrooms, giving us plenty of room for people to visit over the holidays. We still need to figure out when and if we are getting our things out of storage, but either way, we be just fine until our house is done. 

*The site of our future home!*

*Payson at the playgroup.*



*Snack time at the playgroup.*


Just a few pictures from 
around the lake house...




*It's hard to see, but there is a rainbow
towards the right side of the photo.*

*They wanted to follow me outside
while I was taking pictures.*

*My sweet baby girl smiling!*


Irelyn: 2 Months...

I can't believe that our baby girl is already two months old. Last Monday, I took Irelyn for a check-up with our new pediatrician. She weighed 10lbs.8.2oz. and is 22.25 inches longs. This puts her in the 25th percentile for both height and weight, making her perfectly proportional. After her doctors visit, we took her to the mall to get her ears pierced. We picked out little princess cut, cubic zirconia and white gold earrings to match the diamond earrings that Paul gave me. I was so proud of her because she only cried for a few seconds and then she was fine. She looks so cute!
Irelyn has definitely added something new to our lives, mainly the color pink. She is becoming more aware of her surroundings and loves to watch her brothers run around. She is starting to smile and cue at us, but I'm having a hard time capturing those smiles on camera. She has also begun to have longer stretches of awake time, so we bought her a little bouncy seat because our other one is in storage. I am still swaddling her, something I never really did with the boys, so I believe that is why she is such a good napper and sleeper. I try get her down for the night around 9pm and she will usually sleep until 3am. We love her more every day and can't imagine our life without her. 

*September 10th- wearing her first 
3 month size outfit.*

*At the doctor for her check-up.*





*I felt bad because she was completely asleep
when the nurse administered her shots.*

*Marking the spots for her piercings.*

*Ear #1....*

*....and ear #2.*

*So pretty!!!*




Saturday, September 10, 2011

Lake House & House Hunting...

Last time I blogged, we were staying at a hotel, spending our days getting to know the area, starting to house hunt and desperately looking forward to settling into the lake house, that would be our temporary home for two months. Well, a lot has changed since then. We are still getting to know the area and house hunting, but the lake house, that we were really looking forward to living in, isn't working out so well. With the lake on one side of the house and forest on the other, there are just too many bugs to deal with. They were everywhere in the house, so we sprayed, but that only helped for a few days. When I take the boys out on the deck, I have to knock tons of spider webs down with a broom, only to have the spiders build more webs overnight. The stairs inside the house are very slippery and steep, making it a chore to come and go from the house. The stove is electric, so I was burning everything I cooked. There are knick knacks everywhere, that the boys are more interested in than their toys. Nothing is baby proofed. Payson is waking up at the crack of dawn every morning because the shades in his room don't block enough light. The water we use to clean, eat and shower with comes from the lake and tastes funny to me. Anyway, I could go on and on..... So with all that said, we are moving out of the lake house in two weeks. We have no idea where we are moving to, but we do know that we are moving closer to Plattsburgh, which is where we eventually want to end up.
House hunting has been another issue. We've decided that the town of Morrisonville is the area we like best. It is only 10 minutes away from Plattsburgh, where all of our shopping and doctors are located. We have looked at the only 7 or 8 houses that are in our price range, fit our needs, in the neighborhood we liked and that overall appealed to us. So, we have decided that if we can't find a home we love.....we are going to design and build our dream home!!! Other than the fact that this prolongs our temporary living conditions and that our things will be in storage until our house is done, we are excited!!! We don't have a final design yet, but we know for sure that we want 4-5 bedrooms, at least 3 bathrooms, a basement, a big kitchen that is open to an eating area and huge family room, a 2-3 car garage, a mud/utility room, and at least 1 acre of land. 
As of tonight, Paul is on midnight shift. Something I'm not too excited about, only because I get scared being all alone at night with the kids, but he says that he gets paid more for working that shift, so I will give it a try. Plus, he will be home in the mornings to help the boys get up and home at night to help with dinner and bedtime routine. 
I guess that's all I have for now. In the next couple of weeks, we are going to concentrate on finding a builder and design we like, so our home will hopefully be finished by winter. 


*The lake house.*


*Playing a game on my iPod.*

*Check out the water level after all of the rain from Tropical Storm Irene. We used to be able to walk right our onto the dock.*


*I made Payson's day....*


*Every morning the boys smother 
Irelyn with hugs and kisses.*

*Smiling at Mommy.*

*Playing on the deck..* 


*This is how we roll in Target. Lol.*


*I'm so glad he loves his blankie.*

*I am so glad that I've continued to swaddle
Irelyn. She takes really good naps
and sleeps great at night for me.*



*Daddy showing the water to the boys.*