Milestones: 2 Months and 6 years

The Gal and I on Thanksgiving Day

Sometimes I wonder about this blogging business.  It can take up so much of my time (if I'm posting regularly).  But then I read an old post from my old blog and I'm so glad I have a record of our lives.  But there is no way I can keep up 2 blogs.  I love remodeling my houses and reading other house blogs but the season of life I'm in now requires 98% of my time.  The season of 5 children and a husband.  I would still like to post about all the work (the indescribable amount of work) we have put into this house but also expect to see a lot more of our family life here.  I will change the blog title if that makes you feel better.  ;)  With that said......

Elijah is 2 months old!  We have hit the mark in time when I can no longer keep track of his age in weeks.  So sad.  He already is so predicable and consistent.  We feed, change, sleep, and repeat. I love him.

And Ezra turned 6 last month!  We were in St. George, UT for a Baum family reunion on his big day.  He is the sweetest kindergartner.  He is so practical, safe, stubborn, hard to impress, helpful, smart, and handsome.  I love his calming presence.  I heard him on my iPhone the other night, asking Suri when his Dad would be home from work.  He really wants to play the piano.  He loves his younger brother and I often catch him staring, smiling, or talking to Eli.

We love you kiddo.  Happy birthday!

p.s.  You know what is way cooler than facebook and way easier than blogging?  Instagram!  Catch more of us on Instagram, username: lindbm.

Milestone: 2 years

I never knew what the big deal was.  Two babies in diapers.  How hard could it be?  Whoa.

I swear that's all I do all day long.  Change diapers.  Happily.

This little lady turned 2 on Sept. 21st.  A week or so before the baby came.  And she is exactly that.  A two year old. 

We laugh at her talking, her singing, her dancing, her book reading, her cat loving, and screaming all day long.  I admit she is at times hard to be mad at, even when she deserves my full wrath.

She has had her world turned upside down, these past couple weeks.  She had no idea where little Elijah came from but she was sure glad to see him.  She has not stopped kissing and loving on him.  I am grateful she decided not to take her anger confusion out on him.  We are working on her sleeping in one bed at night - most of the time it is with her sister, Macy.

I find myself counting to 5 a lot lately.  And shaking my head.  When and how did this happen?  Amazing.  When did my life go from busy Mom to just flat out crazy?

Was it when Mikael came?

Was it when we took on this giant remodeling project?  Or the ones before this one?

Was it last March, when Jace purchased the other plumbing company?  And our lives changed drastically?  I'm drowning in paperwork and he is working hours we haven't seen since we were first married.  Gratefully.

And what will a sweet baby named Elijah do to my sanity?  How will I ever have the time?

Well, so far he has been nothing but sweet.  I am grateful he has forced us to slow down and enjoy this chapter.  There are certain moments in the day, when my lap is full of babies that love me, that I love being home - I love being their Mom and Jace's wife.  I just wish that was all I had to do - sit on the couch and love babies.  I'm probably going to have to tell Jace to hire another secretary and maid.

This past week.

We managed to get all of us in one Easter picture.  All looking in the same direction.  This is a huge feat people.  

I also weaned this 19 month old baby this week.  I know what you are thinking, "that's not normal."  But I'm here to say that it is very normal at the Baum house.  Macy was weaned at 16 months and my boys at 19 month and they are nothing but perfect gentlemen.  (Ahem.)  I'll admit that this time around I was thinking it was never going to happen.  And my sisters were going to be able to give me crap at every family party until Mikael went to kindergarten.  But we have made it through this week, me and Kaels.  Baby steps.  That's how we do it.

I also had a major urge to spring clean take over this week.  I vacuumed.  I mopped.  I dusted.  I organized.  I washed all the winter wear and put it away.

Then it snowed yesterday.

Hoping that urge strikes me again tomorrow morning.  Either that or a cleaning lady knocks on my door.

Smells like spring

We have been practicing with our sprinkler system.  Turning on every zone.  Checking for broken sprinkler heads and even coverage.  The smell of wet dirt has made my heart so happy.  We weren't here last year for the all the fruit tree blossoms and the sight of them has me so excited at the prospect of trees hanging heavy with fruit.  I am reminded why we bought this old place.  The potential is amazing.

One of the local hardware stores where we have an account has recently made the mistake of selling baby chicks, feed, and other exciting products.  As I was inputing bills this week for our plumbing company, I noticed invoices with material named "Pearl White Chics" and "Chicken Stratch" feed.  Not exactly what plumbers need to fix clogged lines and such.  That Jace.  And he says I am the sneaky online shopper.

Good thing its Easter.  I stopped in town yesterday and bought a new skirt for the occasion.  Now we are even.  He said his Easter present will bring us eggs and happiness for years to come.  I told him my new skirt will bring me and my closet happiness as well.  Who cares if you can't eat it, right?

The baby chics were ready to move out doors today on this Easter sabbath.  The air is warming up and small, soft feathers now line their small bony bodies.  Jace rounded up a couple chicken wranglers to do the job.

Happy Easter!  I'm so grateful for this time of year and the opportunity we have to start anew.  I hope there is a dust storm of commotion at Mi Casa in the coming weeks.  We need a new roof and a new septic tank by June.  New windows would be lovely as well as new exterior paint, planted grass, and shiny, white baseboards.  Not too tall of an order is it?

I'm not mailing you a Christmas card.

Can't do it this year.  If you live nearby you might get a package of cookie dough with a poem included about how the Baums hope the neighbors and Santa don't mind milk and cookies - the unbaked kind.  Don't be jealous that you have a kitchen stove and you don't get to write catchy holiday poems about the cold, blank hole in your kitchen wall.

Some of our highlights this December (and reasons you aren't getting a card in your mailbox this year) are as follows:

My Ezra - bottom left.

We have been attending preschool Christmas programs.

We have been rearranging furniture to make room for our new dining room table and not mopping the floor but lets focus on the table here.  My Dad made it for me for Christmas.  Jace found the carved post legs buried out by our barn when we bought the casa last summer.  Pretty sweet, eh?  It was exactly what I had envisioned.  Love it when that happens.

Mikael has her daily lunch date with the kittens, dogs, and peacocks at the back door.  And that white stuff on the ground is not going away.  Looks like a white Christmas here in Snowflake, AZ.

A cold, snowy December and 3 wood burning stoves has given our kids lots to do.  They make about 15 trips a day, down the hill, with the little red wagon full of firewood.  I love it.

Count those fingers.  This lovely young lady turned 10 yesterday.

What a stinkin' doll.

She is my shadow, my babysitter, my fashion consultant, and my reminder of how I want to live my life. Jace and I hit the lottery 10 years ago with one Macy Baum.

And because I'm in a holiday spirit tonight, I'll show you what else we have been doing but not before I remind you what it used to look like:

And my new office:

There is more to do and more to see in this new room but so far it is my favorite (warm) hangout.

The wood paneled entry before:

And now:

Ignore my attempt at being crafty.  Those glitter words spell "Cheers."  But the new wood floors, stair railing, paint and light fixture didn't turn out half bad, right?

Merry Christmas!

Countdown: Day 9

We have reached a new chapter in our lives.  Pig tails.  I laughed every time I looked at this baby today.  The pig tails just might be the key to a better relationship with this little gal.  Most days I'm not laughing at this child.  She is a difficult one.  If your mother ever told you that you were a difficult baby - go apologize.  Right now.  I mean it.  Jace and I were blessed with a few really sweet, calm, fat babies and then.....Mikael.  She is cute and sometimes sweet but wow, she has changed my life.  I should probably publicly apologize for rolling my eyes (in my mind) whenever another mother said "My baby cries all the time."  Or the popular, "He's teething."  I had not a clue what sleepless nights or a teething baby was until Mikael.

But the pig tails.  They single handedly took down the wall around my heart today.

pig tails after the nap

Ezra told me her pig tails weren't cute just small.

And that sweet 7 year old Noah managed to entertain her upstairs today while I cleaned downstairs at the new Casa.  The entire time.  Huge deal.  In fact I had so much time there today, I started hunting for 2 of the wooden, original chandeliers that came with the house.  I had decided that with a little elbow grease and a coat of shiny green spray paint they would have looked vintage modern instead of hideous/dark 1970's vintage.  Wasn't it such a great, thrifty idea?  Can you just picture them in your mind?  Well, I couldn't find those lights anywhere.

Jace took them to the dump.  Just 3 days ago.  Crimeamny.

My lighting budget just went from sad to depressing.  Tomorrow I'm going to scrounge through the lights that did not make it into Jace's dump trailer to see if I can make anything else work.  That guy.  I'm thinking about gluing a couple pig tails to the top of his head tomorrow.

Countdown: Day 10

The sun is going down and the season is changing.

Moving is like childbirth.  Sometimes the anticipation of it is worse than the actual event. (If you believe in epidurals.)  I have been walking in circles.  Lying awake at night unable to convince my brain that we will be able to survive this.  Again.  There really is no way to prepare for it except to tell yourself -  "The ball is already rolling and there is no way to stop it now.  No turning back. Now breathe.  Breathe."

Childbirth?  Really Lindsay?  Really.  It's a bit dramatic but maybe this time of year when the season is changing I am reminded where I was last year.

Sept. 21, 2010.  Anxiously awaiting Mikael's arrival in a hospital bed.

Giving birth.  And I'm telling you - it feels the same.  Except my hips don't ache when I waddle.

Jace and I met up at the Casa this afternoon.  I followed him around the place with a broom and trash can as he caulked, installed shower trim fixtures, scraped windows, adjusted the new furnace, and set toilets.

On the car ride home I said, "There is no way we are going to make it.  We still have so much to do."

Jace replied, "Funny cuz I was just going to say we got so much done today.  We are so close."

Funny how a husband and wife who are seeing the same thing can have such different perspectives.  

Bit like childbirth, no?

Now a word or two about my last post.

I love Jace.  He works his tail end off for us. 

He bought 2500 pounds of rough lumber from a local sawmill for $19.74.

He was thrilled beyond words.  He told everyone he saw about his purchase.

How could he not build his chicken coop? Right now?

When it was all said and done his coop costs us $9.87.  Or something like that.

I'm thrilled for him.  Well, now that I have had time to think about it - I'm thrilled for him.

And he wins the most handsome soccer coach ever award.

And as for my priorities?

Word on the street is I have been decorating our downtown house for Thanksgiving.

So that I can take it down in 10 days.  Put it in a box.  And hang it back up at the new Casa.

Eh.

Priorities

We are suppose to be busy finishing a house.  The house we are moving into next weekend.  But things keep getting in the way.  Some of the things cause me to stomp my feet and growl when I talk.  Like the new chicken coop for example:

Remember when the chicken coop use to just be the kid's tree house?  And it looked like this?

Sometimes I may not know when to pick my battles.  And this is not one of those times.  I know you will all agree with me that my bedroom should be completed before the chicken's.  All of you except Jace and the other crazed chicken sympathizers out there.  The saddest thing of all is that 4 year old Ezra thinks Dad built him 2 tree forts now!  Who is going to break the news to him that this newly constructed "fort" is for our feathered friends only?  Not me.

Distraction #2:

Jace gets a little Phil Weston on us every Saturday morning.  He loves to win.

He is the only coach in the league running up and down the field with his players.  Yelling.  It is pretty fun to watch.

And this little guy is so fun to watch.  He has had another great season.  Our Noah never fails to surprise and impress us.  Another reason I love this kid?  Check out his Obi-Wan Kenobi costume below.

All that he needed was a robe.  He wasn't worried.  He told me after the trick or treating that "everybody knew who he was."  Sweet, because his older sister had just a few wardrobe meltdowns.  "Everyone thinks I'm a pirate!"  And I don't even have to point out what the younger sister thought of her piggy costume.  She. Was. Not. Having. It.  And Ironman there in the middle was a repeat of last year.  Love that.

Remember those boring tile pictures I promised?

Enjoy.

Master bath.  I tried to talk Jace into doing the entire bathroom in the white marble.  As you can see he didn't think that was one of my best ideas.

But I don't mind the beige tile he picked.  It's kind of growing on me.

Kid's bath.  Was hoping for dark brown subway tile.  But white will do.  It will do.  

The view from my back window tonight

While making dinner tonight, this back window sight had my heart singing.

It's a fact.  You can't pick your neighbors.  Jace and I have hit the lottery on neighbors many times.  And other times.....well? Hmmm.  I guess the odds are you will find at least one slob of a neighbor when you move every year like we tend to do.  This current house we reside has a back yard approx. 8 ft. deep.  I repeat - 8 ft.  This has posed a few problems.  One being, we get an up close look of our neighbors back yard.

Jace took it upon himself to do some "community service" tonight in that back yard.  Our neighbors were perfectly OK with Jace going thru their trash and driving his equipment around their yard - so long as they did not have to help him or pay him.  I can't wait for tomorrow morning, when I can look up over my bowl of cereal and see a clean yard.  Someone should tell these neighbors of mine they just might have hit the jackpot with Jace as their neighbor.  It is what I tell myself every night - "Jace is my jackpot."

Mikael's back door view - Millie the dog.

The dog catcher laid the smack down.  Millie the dog now calls the back porch home.  Mikael still hasn't figured out what keeps looking back at her.  I am enjoying this new view of the dog on my back step...it means she is not squeezing herself inside the front door every time it cracks opens.

Noah's beloved Converse shoes.

It's a fact.  You do not get to pick what kind of feet hang at the bottom of your legs.  Noah inherited his Mother's feet.  Blocks.  We have been on a shoe buying rampage since December when the beloved Converse shoes started falling apart.  Noah will take a lap in the new pair of shoes, then declare, "They don't feel so good."  After 57 pairs not feeling so good it was decided that this was a battle I was not going to win. And I did what I should have done months ago - I ordered the exact pair of shoes for the kid.  Size 2, brown, 3 strap, Converse shoes.  He acted thrilled.

As I kissed him good bye this morning on his way out the door to school I glanced down at his feet.  For the love - it was the old ratty tatty shoes hanging there.

When he wasn't looking tonight, those beloved Converse shoes made their long anticipated way to the trash can.  I almost think I heard them sigh.