Jonah Time

Poor Jonah caught Scott's cold. The boys have both been really healthy until this year. They each had a fever in January and February (Jonah's with a seizure both times) and then colds in March.

 Scott was up coughing at night a few times the week before, but otherwise seemed normal and was healthy again by the weekend. Jonah was up fussing most of the night Saturday, so Sunday he and I stayed home from church to contain the germs and get some rest.

 I drove him around the neighborhood to fall asleep because I didn't want him crying and getting worse. He slept about 30 minutes, then we had 3 more hours to kill while Scott and John were at church.

 Jonah played some piano, swept the floors, then needed a little rest.

 He had another tiny nap and woke up while I was making tortillas. He helped me finish and stole lots of bites. Both boys love straight flour. 

 He kept asking for 'Cott and Daddy, but it was nice to spend time with just Jonah. 

 I was trying to finish dinner and with lack of sleep the constant whining was really getting to me, so I let Jonah play "choo-choo" (what he calls the ipad mini because they have a Duplo train game on there). It backfired because he couldn't do much on his own and got more upset. Finally, Scott came home and took over.

 It was a good reminder of how helpful Scott is and how much Jonah loves having a brother around.

 I think it's easier having two little kids because they entertain each other.

I love my three crazy boys.

House Projects: Doors

Our old doors were hollow wood paneled, which we painted several coats of white. One still had brown streaks that seeped through the paint regularly, one stuck when it closed, one didn't stay open, and one was hard to pull all the way shut. So out of our 5 doors, 4 had problems. Basically they were 58-year-old doors.

We saw some beautiful "colonial" doors at an open house and it improved the whole feel of the house. I didn't want the beadboard ones, but I loved the 2-square panels, so when they went on sale at Home Depot in September, we ordered them. (They also had a free upgrade at the time to solid-core, which has been a nicer upgrade than I anticipated)

Several weeks later, they came in and John started installing them, pretty much one per weekend. We didn't have every Saturday free, so the 5 doors took more like 2 months. They were absolutely beastly and we don't recommend this DIY at all. Eventually, they were all in. We primed the doors and trim.

 The new trim is wider, which looks nice, but requires some extra work cutting the baseboards and ripping the sides to fit in small corners. John's early Christmas gift was a new saw to help with that. I think the only reason he agreed to this project was for the new toy. I mean tool. 

John chipped away at installing the trim on free Saturdays for months, through the holidays, vacations, etc. I wanted new doorknobs to match the hinges, but our old ones were in perfect working condition. I was debating because it was just an added, unnecessary expense. Then our front doorknob broke and we had to go through the back door.

So we bought a new front doorknob and John went ahead and swapped all of them out for me and it was instant love. So worth it. This is with the trim up and doorknobs in.

Then John caulked all the seams, patched all the holes and sanded everything smooth.

 On Saturday, we painted everything, sanded, cleaned and painted again. Finally, finally, finally, our beautiful doors are done. It seems like a small change, but it makes a big difference.

When removing the trim in the bathroom, the paint/texturing just peeled away down to the drywall paper.

Since the texturing in there is so thick already, we decided we'd just rip it all off and retexture the walls. So, the guest bathroom got bumped up on the to-do list.

Then, one night I went to dry a puddle that I assumed was from bathtime earlier, and all the floor squares came up. The toilet valve was leaking and soaked the glue off the lovely linoleum.

So, we peeled all of that up, too. John fixed the leak and now we're planning what to do next in there.

One project finished and another one started. Slow and steady progress!

March I

Sunday nap

for all the boys.

John started a new lunch program at work and doesn't come home anymore. We really miss him and try to get out every day to help pass the time more happily. Scott loves the mall because of the playground and See's sample.

Scott needed to "take a widdle rest" in his plane.

Jonah doesn't usually get into things (maybe because he's almost always with Scott), but he found Mickey sprinkles and couldn't resist.

On an open house tour, we had some ptsd-inducing deja vu when we saw their converted garage. So glad we'll never see that in our house again.

I babysat Lauren's kids one day and Scott was enamored with Q.

The other three were napping and Scott voluntarily played with the baby the whole time.

He let him tickle his feet, played peek-a-boo and read him stories.

He loved the attention.

His sister looking sassy at the park in Jonah's hat and jacket with her skirt and boots. 

All loaded up. We put the van to good use this week.

Jonah helps Scott put the dishes away, which typically means he hands everything to him one at a time.

Scott has started using hand dryers in public bathrooms, which is a big deal for him. He doesn't like the feeling or the noise, but he's getting braver.

While Sarah was in town visiting her parents, we drove them up to Livermore to spend the day with Katie.

Scott tried out their tricycle and figured out how to pedal. It was not easy with a deadweight mooching a ride on back.

They all loved the stomp rocket.

The next day we renewed our passes at Happy Hollow. Jonah carried an empty cracker box around the playground like it was his security blanket.

Scott went on the frog hopper by himself! He did the roller coaster again, too, but still didn't love it.

On a walk after church. He didn't want to take off his bowtie, so he kept his nice clothes on all day.

We went for a walk one afternoon while waiting for John to get home. Scott's bike was out of commission, so he tried out his new scooter.

He was scooting right along in no time.

Jonah likes the search and find books, but just points to random things and nods like he found them.

He's really nuts about having a blanket on him at all times. It's not even cold.

I watched the Naylors again the next week and took the little kids to the Jungle while Linc was at preschool.

There was a program with the library where you could go free if you brought a form saying you'd read 7 books. That's like an hourly minimum at our house.

Once again, Scott enjoyed quiet one-on-one time with little Q. He taught him all the Star Wars colors, numbers and letters.

Scott loves cream and berries on anything. He asked me if he could stick his finger in the cream and lick it. 

For Christmas, I gave John a new toilet seat because the one that came with our toilet didn't tighen properly. John has talked about the toilets in Japan so much, I knew he'd like some cool functions, 

so I found one that heats up and has a light. I added a HP decal from Etsy and it was the perfect gift. He installed it and I forgot to take a picture before now, but 2 months in he still loves it. He gave me a compost bin for the kitchen that I love and also use regularly. We're just weird.

Our neighborhood soccer leagues don't start until kids are older and they're pricey, so we started one for toddlers at the park. This week only our two boys showed up, but we'll try again next Saturday.

Scott thinks he can drive the van.

My mom and I went shopping for Easter outfits for the boys. The kids like Gymboree because of the tv. Scott was on tv-free week 3, so he was glued.

Scott kept asking for the playground, but the outdoor mall didn't have one. They sat on these rides instead.

John and I do surveys online for reward points. He uses his for hotel stays and I cash mine out. They don't amount to a whole lot, but we love getting free samples to test out. This week I got two things I can never have enough of: sunscreen and diapers.

I helped a friend out for a few months while she was sick pregnant and she gave me a giftcard to their favorite restaurant as a thank you.

We tried it out on our date this week and I found a new meal to replicate: nutella bacon french toast. I had it for dinner and breakfast the next day.