most of the house

These are the areas that have all been put away. They are not all completely decorated yet, but at least they are unpacked. We just have to buy more stuff LOL So don't judge our lack of furnishings or wall decor :) We'll get there.

This is looking down on our entry way. I would have taken a picture looking up from the door but I didn't. Basically you see the entrance to the kitchen when you look up from the door. Doesn't that ledge just look so fun for seasonal decorating?


This is when you turn right at the top of the stairs. Our living room. We have a lot of blank space right now that I'm trying to decide what to do with. We definitely are in need of a tall bookshelf or two (would be my preference). Oh and a real couch instead of the dang futon.


This is taken from the back of our living room looking toward the hallway. Directly to my right is the dining room which I'm not ready to show you.


This is looking into the kitchen from the dining room. This is like three times the size of our last kitchen. If you look in the back to the right there is that space that will be the kids "classroom" of sorts. Just the place where all their stuff is set up really. School is everywhere we go now :)


This is just looking at the other side of the kitchen from the same area.


This is looking toward the dining room. This is the doorway you see when you look up the entry stairs.


The girls room is at the very back of the hallway. This is looking to the left from their doorway.


This is standing between their beds looking at their reading nook. I can't wait to buy a comfy chair for this area and put something on the walls.


And this is standing in the reading nook looking towards Marah's bed and the tv area.



And that's all I want to show for now :)

it's official

I need to find that memory card reader because my card is now full which means no more pictures until I can unload it. We had a busy day today and I took lots of pictures. I promise to find it tonight as soon as I've rested from this busy day. I'm so tired...

update- no photos

Sorry about the lack of updates and now no photos! I have been busier than I had expected after moving all of our stuff in plus catching up on rest before Alex arrives since I was so sleep deprived the week before our move. So lots of running around, stocking the pantry and fridge, setting up utilities, address change with various companies, buying little things that we need like curtain rods and stuff, finding a new washer and dryer, not to mention the unpacking and caring for the girls. It's a lot of work.

We do have a washer, but no dryer yet. We have to buy these used since we could never afford a new set, but that's okay. So we are having to hang dry everything right now until we find a decent affordable dryer.

I got the girls signed up for AWANA and Wednesday was their first night. They really enjoyed it! Now I just have to work with them on their memory verses so they can earn their vests and books. Marah is in Cubbies and Jenna is in Sparks. Technically Jenna is old enough to be in the next level which is Pals or Chums, can't remember which is the girls group, but since I am schooling her as a second grader again this year and AWANA goes by grades I decided to put her in Sparks which is K-2. I think this is a better fit for her right now so it should be good.

Yesterday we went to the library and picked up some books for our first school project. Jenna wants to learn about how spiders make webs so that will be our first little study. I think I'll have her make a lapbook about spiders. She'll enjoy that. We checked out some pretty nasty books. I thought she'd be freaked out by them but she was just delightfully scared of them LOL. It reminded me of Ramona the Pest when Ramona decides to be a witch for Halloween and the mask her mom buys is so scary that Ramona hides it under a couch cushion and then lifts the cushion to take a peek whenever she wants a good scare. :)

We also picked up some books about anatomy at a child level that even Marah can enjoy and some books about horses. Jenna has been really into drawing horses and bones and organs so that's where the inspiration for those books came from.

I have a nice little area in our new place that is really just kind of dead space that I am turning into a little school area. Just a place where all the art supplies, art projects, books, teaching aids, etc. can go without cluttering up a main living area. It's really nice to have that. I've already started getting it set up. I have a large cabinet that I need to paint (hopefully this weekend) that will store most of their stuff so once I get that done I can finish up the school room.

I think tomorrow we are going to make a dollhouse. Well, probably one for each girl cause I hate to think of them trying to share one. I got a cute idea from a blog for making one out of a cardboard box and we have lots of paint and stuff that should make for a cute house. The kids will really enjoy that and with all the rain we're getting it should be a fun rainy day indoor activity.

The other night I started having false labor contractions and I really thought I was going to be heading to the hospital. They were coming every 4 minutes and lasting about 50 seconds, and they were not comfortable. It was really making me nervous because I am totally unprepared. I started realizing all that I need to do before I go to the hospital and so I got up and walked around to see if they would stop, and they did. Phew! Our carseat wasn't put together (the pad was recently washed and in a box and the straps were off) and I didn't have the going home outfit ready and I have nothing packed for myself. Okay, so I know that most of this isn't even necessary and that things will be fine even if I don't manage to get them done, but the last thing I want is to go the hospital with more stress on my mind than just the labor and delivery of Alex you know? So I put together the carseat and got the outfit ready to go. Now I just need to pack some stuff for myself and I'll be able to relax.

Anyway, most of the house is set up. The living room looks a little spare (which is really weird since in our old place it was just cluttered) and the dining room as well since we don't have a real table and chairs, just a small patio table in a huge dining room. The front of our house echos so bad cause there is just nothing there! And of course we have no money to buy new furnishings so for now we just deal with it. It still looks better than our old place and it's funny how even our crappy stuff doesn't look so bad here. I mean, it doesn't look great or anything, but definitely looks better.

Kitchen is done, girls room is done, bathroom is done, living room is done. The dining room is still full of boxes because we need to get that cabinet painted and there are some shelves that I think are in the garage that I need to bring in to put stuff in/on. The baby's room is just full of boxes and the crib is in pieces but I'm not too concerned about that right now. He'll sleep in our room in his bassinette for the first couple of months probably anyway. I just want to get his dresser stocked with clothing and diapers, otherwise that room takes a back seat to the other rooms that need to be set up. Our room is pretty much done except for putting clothes in the dresser and organizing the clothes hanging in our closet. Oh and I suppose hanging a curtain and finding some stuff to hang on the walls.

In our almost 9 years of marriage we have never put any effort into making our own room look nice. We have nothing for the walls or anything to make the room a nice place to be. I've got to change that. We are spending more time in there at night since we set up a TV and DVD player in there. It's much more relaxing to watch TV in there at night than on the couch.

The girls have been playing so nicely together. I can tell that having more space and a bigger bedroom has made a difference in how they play. Overall I just can't say how happy I am to be here. :)

moving day

today is the big day. I'm way too tired to even think about it so please pray for all of us today. I seriously am not feeling like I'm going to make it right now. Hopefully I feel better after my shower.

OH man

So I am realizing that I only have a few days left and so much to do still. I am trying to focus on what I have accomplished and know that even though I probably won't get everything done that I wanted to do before the move (mainly sorting through clothes and boxes of stuff in the garage), I did get a lot done. And that's something to be happy about. No matter what, I got rid of a lot of stuff. Still though, I wish I could have gotten it all done. But I should have started earlier. I was just not motivated enough until we had a place lined up.

Now I'm down to the nitty gritty stuff that I really don't want to do. The kitchen is almost done. So we are living on really simple foods until moving day. Bought disposable dishes and stuff yesterday so I can pack everything up. So I had this great idea to break everything down into a list and I figured that would make things easier for me... instead it just overwhelmed me as I kept adding more and more to that list! LOL

I have got to get to work. I really need to focus on getting this stuff done now! There is no more time for procrastinating. So with that I say good bye for the day :)

A little practice

Today I had my hospital tour and the whole family came with me. I think the girls were really hoping to see a baby but the nursery was empty as all the babes were with their mommas. I was glad to get a look at the place though and just get a run down of what their procedures are here. Every hospital is different so it's good to have that tour. This is something I really wish would have been offered to me when Jenna was born. Maybe it was and I just didn't know... who knows. I'm just glad that is all behind me! :)

There is a really nice little family lobby area with tv and toys and a computer that must be online so that will be great for posting to my blog and Eric can post when the baby is born and all that. The postpartum rooms have two beds so Eric can stay there with me which will be nice. Eric is getting excited, I am getting nervous! I just don't want to have to deal with labor and delivery again.

We got a little pack of diapers (Pampers, my favorite) and wipes and the nurse who was so sweet to the girls gave them each a bag full of premie diapers and a bottle and a teddy bear. So they came home and went straight to work practicing diapering and feeding and just being good mommies. They were so sweet.



Alright, we're going to watch a movie now so I'll be seeing ya!

Nothing interesting

Just wanted to say hi :)

I took the advice of my mom and Biancka and took a rest day today. I really just stayed in bed most of the day. I caught up on sleep and the only work I did besides making meals for the family and damage control with the kids was laundry.

So tomorrow I'll be ready to get back to work.

This house is ours... This house is ours....

I'm so excited! We got the call today that our application was approved so the house (well half of it anyway) is ours! So we officially have a new address and are back in Minnesota! There were a few reasons that staying in North Dakota was not an option for us, and I am so grateful for the way things have worked out.

I accomplished a lot today. I'm pretty proud of myself for that. I wore myself out though. Was out in the garage for 1 1/2 hours getting rid of furniture (don't worry, I used a dolly) and going through 8 years of girls clothes. I tell you, we have WAY too much in the outgrown clothing department. It's ridiculous! Now that we're having our last kid, and it's a boy, I can finally get rid of these old baby clothes. It's sad though :(

Not much else to say. If you want my new address just send me a note at ashscraps at gmail dot com

nite!