Foxes, Hot Tubs, and Big Girl Rooms

About a week or so into school Jake brought home a note saying that their class was doing 5 fairy tale plays and would I help Jake to make a simple fox costume. So of course I left it to the night before to get done, we had about 2 weeks to figure something out. With some help from people on facebook and from what I could find on short notice I was able to come up with this:

My little fox :) The "costume" consisted of a Cleveland Browns hat with a headband on top if it with 2 "ears" that were cut out from paper bags, colored with brown crayon, and stapled onto the headband. I then found a brown shirt, brown shorts, and a brown and black scarf at Target. I tied the scarf around him and used it as a tail, you can kind of see it in the right picture. We then put him in his fuzzy brown Crocs to finish it off. The costume was due for dress rehearsal on April 26th and the actual play will be May 3rd. Jake is playing the fox from the gingerbread fairy tale. I think we did pretty good! And hopefully he'll do just fine in his play (he's nervous about remembering his lines).

I think I mentioned that the house came with a hot tub. We haven't used it too much, but the kids - especially Brenden - have indicated that its their favorite part of the new house. Jake and Brenden had been hounding me to go in with them so Friday night I finally caved. We had been outside for quite a bit and I had gotten cold so I thought it would be a good way to warm up and let the kids have some fun before Chris got home from being out of town. They had a blast, but it was a bit cold for me. We're only keeping it around 97 degrees for the kids, but I would prefer it to be about 10 degrees warmer. Anyway, we still had fun and the kids did NOT want to get out! So I let them stay in about another 20 minutes after I got out and managed to snap a couple of cute pictures of them:

And now for my little girl that is growing up! For the past few nights Rylan has been crawling into the boys beds and getting all cozy - pulling the covers up and laying on the pillow. So last night she wanted to get cozy in the twin bed in her room. After she got all comfy and tucked in I asked her if she wanted to sleep in the big bed and she said yes (or nodded yes). So we got her all ready for bed and asked her again and she climbed in and got cozy before she could even have her milk. She was certain that she wanted to sleep in the Big Girl bed and even had her milk in bed instead of her rocking chair. And she did great! Not a peep from her. She was upset when she woke up this morning, but I really think she forgot where she was. And she did great at nap time as well. Since she did so good I decided to take down her crib this evening and rearrange her room, below is what we came up with:

I swung the bed around from where it was to go along the wall with the window and put the white dresser that was blocking the closet on the wall where the bed was. And then where the natural wood dresser and rocking chair are is where the crib was before. It's a nice layout, but I need to get a rug for the floor to help with some of the noise from the hard wood. You can look at pictures from my previous post to see how it looked before.

Hopefully this will continue to go well. The boys were in twin beds when Jake was 22 months and Brenden was 16 months so Rylan at 20 months I would think should do just fine.

Babies on the Brain

Note: Some of this might be TMI for some


So I've been debating for a while if and when I should do an update on all the baby stuff. 2012 hasn't been the easiest year for me in this department, but two things I have realized is that this happens to LOTS of people and not a lot of people talk about it. After the wonderful outpouring of support I had after my miscarriage in January I decided that even though it may be difficult to talk about, it not only helped me, but it seemed to help others that had gone through it as well.

There is a lot that went on after the initial miscarriage and I'll try not to get too detailed, but basically the drugs didn't take care of everything and I ended up having to have a D & C anyway at the beginning of February, nearly a month after the whole nightmare had begun. Needless to say, January sucked and took a lot out of me emotionally and physically. However, once the D & C was done, it was all finally over and physically I could start moving on and deciding what to do going forward.

So I had decided, and Chris agreed with me, that we would give it a go again for a few months. If we got pregnant great and if we didn't that would be fine too. And if the unthinkable would happen with another miscarriage then we'd be done for sure. Well, the unthinkable happened, but we weren't sure - or I wasn't sure I was ready to give up just yet.

We found out about the week before our move that I was pregnant again and 3 days after our move I was having yet another miscarriage. Before I knew for sure I was very upset at the possibility. And once it started I felt very...normal. I wasn't super sad or feeling alone. I was angry more than anything that I had had the earlier miscarriage in January, because if that hadn't happened then I wouldn't be having another one now. For the next few days I was fine or I was a mess, not much in the middle.

The one saving grace in all of it was that at least it was happening at 5 weeks and naturally. However, I was in a new city with no doctor, not the most ideal situation. I had gotten into a doctor for a check up when we had moved a few days earlier, but hastily cancelled the appointment when I realized what was happening and when I called back they didn't have the appointment and couldn't get me in until the 20th, it was the 9th. So I started calling other doctors offices and one was able to get me in that day. Although the staff was extremely nice and helpful I DID NOT feel comfortable one bit. It was a step up from a free clinic and I swear there were teen moms in the waiting room. It was very sketchy to be polite. The mid-wife that saw me was very nice and helped talk things through and tested my hcg levels to make sure they had gone back to zero. I am very grateful that they got me in so quickly, but I really didn't want to have to go back there. It just gave me such an awful desperate feeling, I feel very fortunate that Chris and I are able to afford quality medical care. I am also grateful that even though that was not the most ideal facility, the people that work there saw that their patients got good care from the staff.

For the next couple of days I was up and down emotionally, but I had a lot going on with still trying to move and family coming to visit that I was distracted most of the time. Because I was so distracted I really hadn't decided what I would do next. I really thought that if I had another miscarriage that I would instantly want to be done. I mean would I really potentially want to go through it all again? Especially since I already have 3 beautiful kids? I was really up and down with no clue about what to do. And then on the 19th I had a moment of clarity where it all seemed to work out in my head. That 4 still seemed right, like one was missing and waiting to join our family. The next day I had my doctors appointment.

I had found the doctor with the help of a friend. It was the original office that I had called and had scheduled, cancelled, and rescheduled. A friend had gotten a recommendation from one of her friends about the office so I felt pretty good going there after the somewhat nightmare experience from the doctors office I went to the week earlier. Anyway, I absolutely loved the new Doctor. His nurse first spoke with me and was very compassionate and understanding of my situation. And then I had a sit down with the doctor to talk about everything before we had the exam. He thought that my situation was merely bad luck since I didn't have anything to suggest otherwise. He was very easy to talk to and was very supportive of my continuing to try. He also told me that he would be willing to see me every week in the 1st trimester if I do get pregnant again, really anything to help ease any anxiety I might have. It was all so nice to hear.

So now we'll give it a go again - at least for a little bit. I don't want to try for too long though since Chris will be 40 this year and I will be 35 next year. And we do have 3 wonderful kids so if it doesn't work quickly then I'll take the sign from the universe that we're just supposed to be The Eby Family of 5 which is pretty darn good :)

2 weeks and 3 days later....

Well we finally made the big move to Cincinnati 2 weeks and 3 days ago. As far as moves go, it went really smoothly. The kids were super, the actual movers were fantastic, and the new house is great. We still have a LOT of unpacking and picture hanging to do before the house looks its best, but it definitely feels like home.

Jake has adjusted to his new school. He says that he loves his new teacher and has made lots of friends. He has a lot more homework than he did in Dexter, but he only really fights me on Sunday nights to get it done. They have weekly spelling tests, an upcoming play, and a report on Alligators due the beginning of May. Sometimes it seems like a lot for a 1st grader, but then I see how quick he gets through it and I realize its just a lot for me to keep track of and just the right amount for him to do.

Brenden has made a few new friends. Our neighbors have 4 girls and their 6 year old, Annie, comes by daily to see if Brenden wants to play. They have had a lot of fun playing and I think it makes Brenden feel good to have someone come to the house for him instead of Jake each day. There is also a boy, Connor, that lives very close that will be in Kindergarten in the fall that Brenden has played with a few times. He also enjoys having his quiet time and playing with the other neighbor girls.

Rylan is also making friends. In the 4 girls next door, Greta is 17 months and Avery will be 3 at the end of May (the 4th, Ella, is 7 and in 1st grade at Jake's school but not in the same class). Rylan has been having a blast going down to their house to play outside. They have tons of outside toys like scooters, cars, slides, etc. and Rylan has loved all of them. She is also learning a lot more about sharing. I have to say so far she is not a fan. She gets really upset when one of the other girls goes after whatever Rylan has her  eye on, we've seen more than our fair share of tantrums, but in the long run its good for her to be learning how to play with other children.

Chris has been traveling tons. Since moving here he has had to go back to Michigan 4 times for either work or moving stuff. He has spent as much time at our old house as he has at the new house. And when he is home its been lots of work getting the house in order. He hasn't had much time to just take it all in and enjoy. He does really like the house, but until the beginning of May he's not going to have much chance to enjoy it.

And for me. I LOVE the house and have felt at home since day one. I feel comfortable getting around the area and I haven't had any trouble finding things outside of Anderson. I had an interview at a local country club and am waiting to hear back. I have also talked with another coach in the area about coaching opportunities with year round programs. I've enjoyed my small break, but it would be nice to find something to get me out a bit and to make some money since I'm pretty broke at the moment :)

And here are LOTS of pictures of the house with our stuff - Please don't mind all the messes and boxes, we just moved in for pete's sake! ;)

The House!

 The Neighbors down the hill - They have 4 girls, 7, 6, almost 3, and 17 months and their parents own 25-30 acres of woods behind them so we don't have to worry about new houses going in!

 

 The Entry Way

To the Right of the Entry is the Dining Room - I eventually want to take off the lower wallpaper and repaint the entire room

To the Left of the Entry is the Formal Living Room - We are currently using this as Chris's office and we eventually want to make it a library/sitting room - Lots still to unpack in here!

Through the Living room is the Family Room - We still need to hook up our 2nd TV on the shelf to the right of the Fireplace TV and decide what else we will do on the shelving, but the rest is set and we're loving it

Kitchen - The cabinets are new, but we are going to update the appliances SOON and eventually change the corian counters to granite, but that will have to wait awhile most likely.

1/2 Bath off the Kitchen and Mudroom/Laundry Room - Isn't the bath gorgeous? ;) No immediate plans for that, but likely to remove wallpaper and paint. Mudroom/Laundry room we're planning to build in cubbies/lockers on the right wall and put in storage and a bench on the left wall. You can't see it, but there is a door off the mudroom that leads out to the deck.

Heading upstairs - Exciting, huh?

Jake's Room - We had it painted Green when we moved in and gave him our old guest bed and my old dresser, such a big boy room!

 Brenden's Room - We had wallpaper removed and the room painted Blue before we moved in. Brenden got to keep the Bunk bed and got the desk from our office in our old house.

Rylan's Room - There is a door that joins it to the Master Bedroom that we will eventually fill in and make a bigger closet, but thought it might be good to have for now if we have another baby. We have a twin bed set up for Rylan, but she's still in the crib for now.

Kids Bathroom - it had newspaper wallpaper and was SO dark so we had it painted before we moved in and hopefully we'll be able to replace the vanity for a 2 sink vanity at some point, thinking with 3 or 4 kids it'll be nice to have an extra sink.

 Master Bedroom and Bathroom - We are replacing the ceiling fan and will close off the door to Rylan's room as I mentioned, but that's it for these rooms. I did get new dressers and bedside tables for Chris and I from Ikea - Nothing but the best for us! :)

Basement - Lots of room and nothing we have to do, YAY!

Guest room/nook in Basement - Its not closed off and its small, but its off to the left away from the other stuff in the basement and there's a half bath behind the bar so at least anyone staying down there has a toilet and sink.I like to think it's cozy :)

 Our beautiful outside! 2 decks, a hot tub, and TREES EVERY DIRECTION!

 So there you have it, Home Sweet Home! Hope you like it as much as we do!