Sledding with Daddy

We've had a weird Winter. Toward the end of February I became worried that we may have missed our chance to introduce Vince to sledding. We had a decent snow and I made the boys pack up and move out right away so we didn't miss another opportunity. Paul was the perfect mentor for Vince. They started slow until they made it to the top of the hill. They both got a kick out of it. I'm already excited for next year when Kate can join the troublemakers.

Sneaky Babe on Board

I had an 11 week OB appointment today. I am queen of the worrywarts so of course I was concerned about a missed miscarriage. These days, women are very open about infertility, losing a baby, and lots of other personal issues. I think it's wonderful that people can share their experiences, but it certainly fuels the fire of my worries. I was so anxious before my appointment!

I arrived and didn't even have a wait. My doctor is nice but I just wanted him to get to the fetal heartbeat so i could breathe a sigh of relief. Finally the time came to take a listen! He moved it all over and took his sweet time, but we couldn't find a heartbeat. I was certain that something was wrong but the OB stayed calm and said for peace of mind he'd let me get an ultrasound. I took less than a minute for us to find that precious little heart beating. I also couldn't believe how different the baby looked between week 7 and 11! I could see him wiggling in there and my heart felt so happy!

We definitely have a trickster in the making. Only 11 weeks old and trying to give me a heart attack.

Good thing I love already love you, Sweet Babe!

February Tidbits

 We did our best to brave the February weather. We got quite a bit of snow which made us go a little bit stir crazy. The cold weather also got to Vince and he came down with the flu. Once he recovered we got back into the swing of things. I made a carrot cake (just for the heck of it) and Vincent volunteered to peel the carrots. It was like the angels were singing and I was in heaven as he did the dirty work. Don't worry-- I know I'm a lucky lady!

Snow, squishy grass, or sunshine, we tried our best to get some outdoor time. Being cooped up doesn't sit well with these little ones. We also made a special trip to visit the Ohio Griffioens. They were all singing in church and we decided to join them so we could have an excuse to visit. We ate some yummy food, played Bonanza, 7 Wonders, and Qwirkle, sang, watched Inside Out and enjoyed some good old fashioned family time. We actually had some beautiful 60 degree weather during our visit so the kids got to run around outside too. A pretty good start to the month so far!

January Recap

Can you believe such a tiny little bean could disrupt life so forcefully? With the nausea, exhaustion, sensitivity to smells, bloating, and irritability... Well, let's just say it's a miracle we made it through January!

That being said, we still did our best to make our most of the cold, dark, Winter days. We barely had any snow until January hit. The first snow we played in was half freezing rain. When we went to dig we found that our yard was completely iced over and crunchy. The kids had a blast stomping around the yard. I couldn't get enough of how cute the kids looked in their snowsuits!

Wintertime also means lots of indoor playing. The kids would drop whatever they were doing when Dad walked in the door to run and tackle him. They quickly learned that Paul is the best indoor jungle gym you could ask for. We did our best to get out a few times. Our biggest outing was a trip to the bowling alley. The kids loved it! When I was pregnant with Vincent I bowled a 180. I was hopeful that this pregnancy would lend itself to a similar outcome... but I barely broke 100! I didn't mind though because I couldn't stop laughing at how hard Vince had to work to carry his bowling ball to our lane. He was a trooper and didn't complain once!

Another notable event was a special girls night I took with Heather. We went to the Detroit Temple together! It was her first time going and we were the only ones there for the evening. It was fun to get the special attention for Heather's first trip. The workers were so kind and the spirit was strong. Going to the temple is always amazing. We celebrated afterward with some Dairy Queen. Delish!

Other than that, January was filled with lots of puzzles, books, and playtime. I love this stage of life. The stage where we have no real commitments. We do what we want. We wake up when we want. We play all the time. It's just so fun!

Half Bathroom Update

The half bathroom as seen on the day we moved into our house:

Before: Floral wallpaper with upper and lower border, old light fixture, ugly bathroom hardware, dirty floor and baseboards, cream paint on ceiling, doors and trim.

I got so sick of this bathroom that one evening, when Paul & Vince were out camping, I ripped off the wallpaper on a whim! It was hard work but I just wanted it GONE. I was overwhelmed when we were left with yellow, glue stained walls. It was just as bad as the wallpaper I had torn down. The walls sat that way for months while we tackled other projects.

About 6 months later I hit another breaking point. I'd had enough of the nasty glue walls. Paul and I committed and during Christmas break we tackled the bathroom update. I had no idea such a small room would require so much work. Here's what we did:

Steamed and removed the glue wallpaper gunk
Removed the heinous light fixture (which revealed that the electrical was placed in the center of the room instead of to the left over the sink. Ugh!! It was impossible to find a light fixture that could cover the electrical box so we decided to center everything)
Patched holes and damage from wallpaper and light fixture removal
Sanded the walls down
Washed the walls down
Scrubbed the dirty tile grout from grey to white
Painted the door trim from cream to white
Primed the walls (we chose grey primer since we were going to paint the walls grey anyway)
Discovered bits of residual wallpaper backing (it bubbled up when we painted)
Re-scraped the wallpaper bits
Sanded needed areas
Primed walls again x 2
Painted the ceiling from cream to white x 2
Painted walls Amherst Gray x 2
Installed new light fixture
Measured, cut, painted and installed new baseboards
Caulked baseboards into place
Installed new sink hardware
Caulked sink top to pedestal and pedestal to floor
Caulked around toilet base
Installed new toilet paper holder and towel hook
Built frame for mirror
Painted and adhered frame to mirror
Installed mirror into the bathroom
...I'm sure I'm missing something. But for real. Tiny room still = a lot of work!

I still have to decorate but I am so pleased to finally have a nice looking half bath. Hooray for home improvements!

During:

Left: The floor is clean at the top and dirty on the bottom   Right: Clean grout! Some areas need to be fixed

 After:

 And here's a side by side of the before and after. We're so happy with how it turned out!

The Entire Month of December in a Single Post

 I am way behind on blogging. So here goes the abbreviated version of the busiest month of the year.

I started the month with a series of illnesses. First was a sore throat. Then came DOUBLE pink eye. My right eye was swollen shut during the worst of it. I was pathetic and cried and made Paul stay home from work so I could die in my room. As the pink eye resolved I developed a sinus infection. Great way to start off the month, right?

I recovered from the plague just in the nick of time to celebrate birthday #26. Pumpkin pie is slowly becoming a birthday tradition for me. It's just so darn good.

 

 

 Next up was the Wyoming Ward Christmas Party. Santa always makes a debut at the party and the kids loved it. Kate was a bit wary but Vince was a champ and gabbed to Santa about how much he wanted Rescue Bots for Christmas.

Throughout the month we kept busy indoors. We did a lot of building with legos, playing with instruments, getting dressed up, baking, reading, and made the occasional trip to the indoor park at the mall and the Grandville library. 

 

Another highlight was making gingerbread houses with our church friends. My friend Kate headed up the idea and she did a phenomenal job. I think the kids ate more candy that day than they did on Halloween! Sadly, I only snagged one dismal photo of the event.

 

Another item of note was seeing real reindeer! Thank you KDL for being so awesome!

 

Christmas morning came and the kids were so excited. I love that the older they get the more they can anticipate the holidays and traditions we have. We opened presents, sent Vince on a hunt to find his train set, and ate caramel sticky buns. Sooo good! Nana and Grandpa Griffioen joined us that afternoon. We celebrated Christmas dinner with a fiesta. My friend, Christie, makes delicious homemade tamales so we ate those alongside guacamole & chips, Spanish rice, corn, and jarritos. My parents stayed the night and on the 26th we tried the Shark Tank restaurant, Tom & Chee. It was hit with the fam. 

 We ended the month at the library where they had a countdown and new years celebration at noon. The kids made hats, party streamers, and blew into kazoos until they deteriorated from massive amounts of spit. It was a total hit. 2015 went out with a bang!