Cry, Cry, Cry

Some times they are happy and sometimes...well...

Here is Harry at the top of the stairs. I only put the gate up so that he doesn't go clunk-clunk-clunk down the stairs. It is because I love him. I keep trying to tell him that, but he doesn't believe me.

You would think that he would, because a few weeks ago, Raef was in charge of him upstairs while I was taking care of Julia downstairs. About ten minutes later I heard, "THUNK, waaaaa, THUNK, waaaaa, THUNK, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!" etc., etc. I caught him on the tenth step, as I raced past Zach, who watched the whole thing unfold.

Raef was at the top of the stairs and he started to cry. I was really upset as I held my crying baby in my arms. I was shaking. Then Raef came down to me and told me, through his tears, that the Holy Ghost told him to go and check on Harry, and he didn't do it. Then he proceeded to cry even louder. It just broke my heart and I was also in awe that my 8 year-old son recognized the Holy Ghost giving him guidance. Grant it, he didn't follow the counsel, but Harry is okay and Raef learned an invaluable lesson.

I took Julia swimming and I have to show you her cute swimming suit. She wasn't very happy when I took these pictures. It may have to do somewhat, just a little bit, with the fact that I left her on the couch while I went to get the camera, and when I came back I was a fraction too slow at catching her as she smacked her head on the cement.

I am a good mom. I mean, look at those pictures. And it was only a tiny bump.

Projects, Projects

Please forgive my hiatus from blogging. I have been up to my eyeballs in projects. And we are still not done. But we have been progressing nicely and I am loving the way my house is looking these days. All of my dreaming and scheming is starting to come to fruition.

This is what our stairs have looked like for the past 5 years. Las Vegas streets are so dirty. If you go outside barefoot at all, your feet are covered in black. And my stairs have paid the price for all of that blackness, especially the first four steps. So I decided a while ago that I wanted wood stairs. Here is the before picture.




So we had to get everything ready for the floor guy. We painted the base boards upstairs for the hallway that was getting re-floored also.


And we repainted the hallway twice. I picked the wrong color, so we had to do it again the next day. I will spare you the pain of the first color. It is best forgotten as quickly as possible.

Voila! New pictures on the wall, a little rearranging, a new rug...and it is like I have a new house.



This is looking towards the stairs. You will noticed a barely painted green wall. That is on my list for this week. I hope to get it done before we have visitors this coming weekend for Raef and Zach's baptism. I am not done, so that is why there is still junk on the counter. It is my painting things.

Oh yeah, I forgot. We originally picked flooring that did not match. He put in the stairs and I about threw-up when I saw it and it sunk in. So, I had to get it redone. Luckily, it didn't cost that much more to fix the mistake. Thank goodness!



I also put up picture frames to complete the entire wall going up the stairs. I am now in the process of picking out my favorite pictures to put in these frames. It is going to be fantastic when it is done.



And life moves on with the kids. Here is Eli taking a bath.



And Zach reading a book today, since he can't watch tv or play the Wii. What is a boy to do?


Julia is still in her car seat sleeping, even as I write this blog.



And I thought I would include this little video of Eli talking. You can hear all of the chaos in the background. My house sounds like that all day. Don't let the crying scare you off.



What is left for me to do, you might ask? Okay, I want to repaint my bedroom, Eli's bedroom, and the nursery. I need to make new curtains, put up bead board, find a girly quilt for Julia's room, re-organize my kitchen, and update my food storage. Hmmm, what else? Oh yeah, I want to re-upholster these brown chairs I have with some cool fabric I got for a song and a dance, and make my play kitchen. I have the entertainment center and now all I need to do is find a silver bowl for a sink and a faucet that will fit.

Fun times are ahead, but I really am looking forward to completing these tasks.