Where Have I Been? The Residence Inn...

Last Wednesday morning, around 5 am, the hubs and I heard a loud POP! When hubs when downstairs to check it out, he yelled, "KERI! Get down here NOW!" So I scrambled out of bed, not knowing what to expect...and at the bottom of the stairs, I stepped into ankle-deep water. "Oh my god?! Oh my god?!" I just kept saying it. "What happened?!" Where were the dogs? On the couch, looking at me like I was crazy. Why didn't they alert us to what was going on? I guess they just decided to stay out of the water, on the couch, until we came down to rescue them. 

5 a.m.: We walked around the entire downstairs (living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, laundry room, bathroom and garage), and there was water everywhere. Hubs shut off the water, and we wandered around- wondering what to start with. Being 7 months pregnant, I couldn't lift furniture to get it out of the house- so I started moving light things (mainly toys), and trying to wrap my head around what had happened. How could this be?! Whatever it was, it needed to be fixed... like NOW! So I went upstairs to find our home warranty paperwork. And our insurance. 

5:30 a.m.: My mother-in-law and her boyfriend are moving my furniture onto my patio and my front lawn. I'm moving toys onto the back patio, and the dogs to the backyard. Nothing is dry. Nothing. I still can't believe what's going on.

6 a.m.: I realize that I am not going to make it to work today. I also realize that I have no internet. HOW CAN I LIVE LIKE THIS?! Get it together, Keri... The boys wake up. J's reaction: "Ohh. Well, I guess we have to move again." Mayhem just shrugs and says, "Guess we have to live outside now. I'm hungry." 

6:30 a.m.: Feeding the boys breakfast out on the patio, explaining that it's no big deal. We can fix it, as long as we're together- we'll be OK. Trying to believe what I'm saying...

On the left in the photo above, our family room. Soaking wet laminate flooring. You can't tell in the photo, but all the water has soaked into the floor and the rugs. When the restoration people arrived, they removed all our furniture and ripped the flooring out. Then, they cut off the lower part of the drywall, removed the insulation and put fans EVERYWHERE...

By now, we have been told that the house will be 'inhospitable' for the next several days. This is a few days before Memorial Day weekend, and now we're trying to find a hotel to take us and the dogs for the weekend. 

Wherever we were going, these girls wanted to come with us. The boys found this whole process exciting. The packed literally everything- piggy banks, pictures from their rooms, books, toys... I had to unpack their suitcases several times. "Guys, we need CLOTHES and toothbrushes! OK, not so many Legos and stuffed animals..." By Wednesday night, we all (kids AND dogs!) had checked into a Residence Inn about 30 minutes from home- the best we could do on such short notice. More on our experience coming soon!!  

MMG: Nursery Makeover 5.19.14

We are expecting a new member of the family in 11 weeks! When we moved into our 'new' home last August, we decided to split our bedroom into a Master and a 4th bedroom. The photo below shows the nursery as part of the Master bedroom- and how we split it. When our home was built, it was available in a 4-bedroom model. The nursery is where the 4th bedroom would have been, so it was a natural fit. I'm so glad that we didn't decide to 'wait' to do this, because less than a year later- we would be dealing with construction and a newborn!

I decided to paint the nursery a very light grey, and we're reusing the same crib and changing table that we've used with our first two boys. The closet is the Allen and Roth closet organizer from Lowe's. I don't want to show pictures of that until I've removed my maternity clothes, and put baby clothes in. It will be much cuter!

Allen and Roth closet organizer

His bedding is Land of Nod, Make a Splash. I really like how the navy and grey look together. We decided to take the carpet out, and had laminate installed. I love how it turned out! We had a ceiling fan installed, and the finishing touches will be the baseboards and the curtains. It's not quite done, but seeing the room NOW makes me feel a little more ready for his arrival... How was your weekend?

MMG: Mother's Day Weekend 5.11.14

This weekend seemed extremely busy! Thursday, I was at an affordable housing conference for work and then I went for my 28 week glucose test. If you have experienced this before, you know that it's one of the least enjoyable doctor's visits. It involved drinking an 'orange flavored beverage', waiting an hour- and then having your blood drawn. I got so nauseous and light-headed at the one hour mark, that they were unable to draw my blood- and I had to return to try again on Friday morning. 

Friday morning, I dashed off to the doctor's appointment. I was there until 9:30, and Little J's kindergarten "Spring Performance" was at 10. I was, of course, a few minutes late. And, of course, he noticed. Afterwards, I told him how great it was and his response was, "You missed the first three songs, but it's ok, Mommy." I did my best! The kids gave their moms tiles that they had made. 

Little J's tile depicted me (the yellow chicken?), and a variety of animals. I thought his animal choices were interesting, because we actually have two dogs. But instead, he chose to portray a turtle (green), a cat (red), and a mouse (black). I love it, and it's now hanging proudly in our kitchen. I don't have much of his artwork, since he's not very interested in drawing. He'd rather build Legos. 

Little J's "About Mom" poster was pretty funny to me. He is so straightforward. He also drew me with creepy yellow eyes, and apologized that he didn't know what color my eyes are. He's so serious! His "About Mom" info is below:

Mom loves me most when: I do my chores

Mom looks prettiest when: She goes to work.

Mom is good at: typing

Mom is special because: She is pregnant.

Saturday, we had swim class, ran some errands, and my husband worked on the baby's room closet organizer. That took a lot of time. The nursery is almost done! And then Sunday was Mother's Day!

Sunday we went to Disneyland bright and early, to beat the crowds. We were there from about 8:30 to 12:30, which was perfect. It was great to see Disneyland through the eyes of a 3 year old. We've taken him before, but only when he was too young to remember. Everything was so new and special for him. On the way out, we got to ride in the front of the monorail with the driver- which both boys thought was great! 

How was your Mother's Day?!

MMG: Our family weekend 5.5.14

On Saturday, we attended an adorable Super Mario Brothers themed birthday party for two brothers. The themed worked perfectly, since it was two brothers celebrating their birthdays together! The older brother is in Little J's class, and the younger brother is a year older then Mayhem. The party was great, her decorations were adorable. The custom hats and mustaches were so cute! The girls got princess crowns.

At the end of the party, they had Mario and Luigi pinatas. The kids all enjoyed that, and we came home with lots of candy and other goodies! It was a great party, with a bounce house at a playground- so much for the kids to do!

Sunday we took the boys to see Rio 2. They both sat perfectly still through the entire (nearly) 2 hour movie! The movie was pretty cute. It's been really hot for a while, so we wanted to cool down somewhere. The movie theater was perfect for that, and I snuck in our candy from the pinata. :) 

How was your weekend?