I'm still not sure why they call it home owners, because in fact we don't really own the home yet.... 30 years from now we should... but until then I guess we get to call ourselves home owners. :) And what do ya know, July came and went and I didn't blog.... Alas my new years resolution thwarted. ugh.... but hopefully back on track for now, and with this update maybe you will forgive me for being a little late. :)
Where to start... I believe my last post I was telling you how we were all surviving the camper mode... While the camper was great... my claustrophobia set in and the M&M's (This is how Brian now refers to our children.... and I really like it, so hopefully you like it too..) and I went to Washington to wait our time out. :) I know, poor Brian, always getting left behind while the kids and I go play.... However it was not all play while we were there... My mom had lots of yard/house projects going on, and I took it upon myself to start every single one of them and see how many I could leave undone... ha ha ha.... While that was not my goal, it sure seemed like that is how it turned out... I did get some stuff done, but not everything I wanted.
However here are some pics of stuff we did while we were still in Hardin:
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| Trying to decide if she was brave enough to touch the chicken.... |
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| Deciding, yup she was! They were fake chickens in the museum stable. :) |
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| Exploring the train cars... Some were set up like classrooms and others were like coach train cars.... Wish I could have read about them more... but more often than not... This is what was happening: |
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| She was running from thing to thing and I just couldn't keep up... Well I had Mason strapped to me, So I didn't really feel like bolting into a sprint. Ha ha ha |
At the Hardin Days parade... She was loving the horses... but really doesn't like loud things, so spent the whole parade with her hand in her ears, it made it really hard to pick up candy!
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| Hopefully we don't get turned in or something for this... but bath time was so hard in that little tub in the camper, so I tried this route! Don't judge me! :) We only did it once.... but M #2 thought it was awesome. |
His sleepy faces.... He has started rubbing his eyes when he gets tired... which I think i adorable, and tummy time usually turns into nap time... :)
Yay for parks!! While staying in a camper, obviously one would try to get out as much as possible to avoid the "claustrophobia". I must say Hardin has a lot of parks... they are all pretty basic... but if you can't tell from Madi's face, she likes them all!
Mr. Mason man has been such a trooper... He is 5 months old and still as happy as ever. He has started a routine of getting a little cranky at night. He has also turned into a drool baby. And I anticipate teeth coming any day now, but that being said he has been drooling like this for at least a month and still no teeth... so who knows... At his 4 month appointment he weighed 15.5 pounds and is 24 1/4 in long. Still chunky and so cute. Big baby blues just like daddy and sissy... :) He likes to be held up so he can stand and he likes to bounce. He is holding his head up really well and loves tummy time. However... little stinker isn't rolling yet. Yes type A me is concerned and I do my best to get him working at rolling all the way over... He will roll from side to side, but just not the last little umph to get to the belly or back. He has rolled over, but just doesn't do it consistently enough for me to feel okay. You know me... a little too controlling. :) Mason did great in WA, he is so easy going and just rolls (ha ha ha no pun intended) with the punches and all we choose to do and he is happy to be along for the ride. He has been so great in the car and on my many many road trips. Such a great little road trip companion.
Here are a few more of him, just in case you haven't had enough yet... :)
Pretty cute, pretty happy boy.... I think. :) And I guess I think you should too! :)
Well off to Washington we went!
M&M's and I left Hardin on June 24th and when we left everything but the appraisal had been done on the house we were purchasing... (Keep this in mind as I explain my timeline to you..) Our closing date was July 19th and our appraisal due date was June 24th... So as you can imagine if we were leaving on the 24th, something must have happened? Well yes you're right, something did happen and I don't know what, but I was given all kinds of explanations and excuses.... but ON the 24th of June the bank told me, "Just kidding, the appraisal won't be done until July 22nd..." SCHWHAT? Now I'm not naive and I figured it wouldn't be a smooth no problem ride... things did work really well until this point, so I knew something had to be hard... but anyways, it was annoying, but whatever... M&M's and I went to WA because now we had a whole month to wait...
While we were in WA we did some super fun things and got some stuff done around the house and yard for my mom. Some highlights of the trip:
Madi got to be in a parade, as a "future 4-H-er" Alyssa and my mom are a part of 4-H and Madi seems to think she belongs there. My mom has chickens and Alyssa has rabbits and Madi loves them all. She has taken a real liking to one chicken named Star... I was telling Brian, how Madi really liked a chicken. (Madi-ism #1 of this post) "Mom, star is not a chicken, she is an Old English Hen!" Oh my bad... Needless to say, she fit right in with the chickens, horses, dog, and pony in the parade. :)
Here is the whole outfit! and then you see Madi with her "Old English Hen"... and P.s. Don't get it wrong... it is very upsetting to her.. ha ha ha
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| My mom took this picture, and saw the whole thing happen. She said is was such a sweet moment, Madi was just starring at the horse and because she was holding Star couldn't pet him, but the horse saw her and just watched her, Madi kept stepping one step at a time closer, then just stuck her head out... and the horse bent down and placed his nose on her forehead. I think it is a super sweet picture that melted my heart. :) |
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| This is the only picture I got of the whole waterslide experience... Madi was just a little too excited and fast, so after a potty break we came back and found these two! Super sweet... |
We went to Uncle Ron & Aunt Susie's house and Madi got to ride both Dusty and Tink, 2 very beautiful horses. Madi also played with some baby kitties and cousin Nick... oh man she was in Heaven.
Madi got to play with her Great Grandma and Great Gram... even got to see Great Aunt Tammy! We had a birthday party for Great Gram and Madi is a party animal and loves to help those having birthdays celebrate! :)
We picked lots and lots of cherries and berries and ate lots of them too. :) Made some yummy ice cream.
And to end our WA trip we made a trip out to some very good friends of mine and got to play at a lake! It was an awesome trip, so much fun! Madi was loving the water and her new friend. A little boy just a little older than her and they had so much fun together. They held hands and walked to the beach together, and played in the water, sat on the paddle board as another friend paddled them! It was an awesome way to end our WA trip!
She was such a huge fan of these balloon figures.. My friend - The balloon twister ;) - Made her a butterfly, and a flower attached to a hat... She loved them, and wore them until I made her take them off to go into a gas station. But it made the trip home very entertaining...
Here are some other pics from WA:
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| A hot day outside means homemade Popsicles inside!! |
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| Tis the season for parades... This one was in Brewster, where one group passed out cherries instead of candy! Awesome WA!.. Notice the finger in plugging the ear... The other hand is holding candy... Getting it figured out. :) |
While in Washington I did land an awesome opportunity, and I am SO pumped about it. I put my resume out to a few places, but I had my eye on one particular facility. It is called St. John's Lutheran Ministries and they have a huge campus that has all kinds of living options; long term care, transitional care, independent living, assisted living, all kinds of housing and it is a large rehab team, and as a newbie I am so excited. I was offered a full-time position, but convinced them to let me do only part-time. It is a non-profit organization with the motto of doing what is best for the patient always. Anyways I am pretty excited about it, and I think it will be a super learning opportunity as the rehab team is big.
So we returned to Hardin on July 24th... yes your math is correct, that was one month... oh yes.. and 2 days past the July 22nd appraisal due date... apparently she was kidding about the 22nd too... she meant the 24th. Oh... but funny story.. the appraisal was done on July 9th! Yes that's right the appraiser came out to Hardin, did the appraisal... but couldn't file the paperwork for an additional 15 days. Ya, I figured it out too... appraisers have it made right now. They answer to no one, they make their own due dates, and don't have to answer hounding phone calls from impatient home buyers. Note to those looking to go into something flexible - choose appraisal work. ha ha ha I actually have no idea what their job really entails, but it seems like a nice job.
So we got back to Hardin on a Wednesday night, and we were told our closing would be on Monday, July 29th....
So Friday we went to Doug & Donna's and there was a whole posse that came to visit, Erika and Brennen, and some friends from Utah! And they brought a playmate for Madi. The two girls hit it off and were perfect little combo! Both spicy and full of spunk... Needless to say they had a good time.
We also went to the show in Medora... which I had much greater faith in my children.... probably should have left them with a baby-sitter.... but having been gone for a month from the hubster, I felt like we should do stuff together.... So Donna had gotten tickets and they were pretty good seats... BUT like Rowe fashion, we were a wee late and had to be "those people"... Ya you know the ones... that have all their kids crap strapped to them, along with blankets and snacks.... and we tromped across the laps of 6-8 people.. I wasn't counting, just keeping my head down and trying to get to my seat as quickly as possible because the show was already going... Then 7 mins after sitting down... Madi has to pee... AWESOME... so yup you guessed it, here we go again... tromping across these poor people, and to the bathroom we go. Now Madi had fallen asleep on the way up, so we were already on egg shells, well after the bathroom she sees the popcorn stand. Well great but they don't sell popcorn when the show is going.... So tromping back across the 6-8 people to get back to our seats, while my child is loud and wiggly.... Then 5 mins later Mason decides he needs to eat.... NO... he needs to feast. He thought he was withering away and needed food fast!... Well lucky for me the intermission hit (I've decided those are just for people in my situation) and off we ALL went. Brian, M&M's and myself to seats where we could spread out our junk and Madi could dance and wiggle (They were singing and dancing and she wanted to be part of that!) and Mason could have the room he needed as well.... So here is a pic of where we ended up... Notice the space and amount of people we could affect...
Ya not many people... and lots of open chairs to bother and tromp across instead. :)
Madi really took a liking to the teddy bear (Show was based on Teddy Roosevelt) So we waited our turn to go take a picture with him.. BUT when we got there, she was too shy and wouldn't look at him... Pretty funny because when he came out on stage she kept saying, "He is looking at me! I think he is going to wave at me! I bet he likes me."
So that was our weekend! Super fun and good times, perfect way to go into finalizing our house stuff... Monday was the day, and turns out she wasn't kidding this time and we actually did close. We started with a walk through and blah blah blah... then to the title company, and we were waiting for paperwork, after about an hour she finally tells us, something was wrong with her printer, so she was printing...... wait for it...... one..... page...... at....... a...... time. Yes 126 pages later, printed one...at.... a..... time, and we finally got done signing, got the keys to our house and it was ours! Yay!!
So we moved tons of boxes, and started the awesome process of unpacking. I decided I like unpacking even less than packing. ha ha ha That being said it has been fun to see our house and start planning how I want it to turn out and look. Very fun stuff...
I don't have real good pictures of our house yet, just the funny things that have happened, but you can kinda see the house... I will do another post of our house in a little bit. :)
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| The entry way area... The front door is on the right by the double closet doors.. |
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| Daunting right.... |
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| Our backyard... and Madi's bike... She loves that bike! Brian got it for her as a surprise when she came back, and she has a big area in the backyard to ride it, and the driveway in the front yard.. She is pretty pumped!! |
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| Probably my favorite though! |
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| Ha ha ha ha ha ha |
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| An updated pic with the giraffe! He is getting so big! |
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| Dress up is so fun when you haven't seen the clothes in a few months!! |
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| Princess M |
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| This was one of my favorites! Red fuzzy socks in princess high heels! :) Hee hee |
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| Plus a headband! |
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| My helper while making some dinner! |
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| The outfits kept getting better!! |
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| This was so sweet.. she was in her bedroom suppose to be getting ready to go to sleep and she was quiet for probably 30 mins... I thought she was asleep, only to find this! She was putting her animals to bed! "They have to sleep in the bed mom!" |
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| No this isn't a toy for Madi, but she sure thinks it is... or at least a great spot for napping. |
"Come on Dad, chop chop!"
"Mom mom mom I'm having a hard time walking." Why Madi? "Because it's making my tummy hungry"
It was late and I was trying to get Madi to go to bed: "SHHHHHH, I can hear my Heavenly Father! He is getting angry. If He is angry that means I can't go to sleep."
Madi are you a little "tie tie" do you need to go "night night"? "No mom, I'm wake wake!"
"Mommy is that my tummy rumbling or an airplane?"
Going to the bathroom in a restaurant:
"Mommy! Are you going to use my squeezers? (I'm outside the stall holding the door shut) No Madi, I use my own... "Otay well use your squeezers and wait for me! Otay!!"
"Be nice to my mom! She's old" (Awesome... didn't think kids thought you were old til you had gray hair... apparently not)
Pulled over on the side of the road for an emergency stop to go potty, and it is raining lightly:
Hurry Madi my feet are getting wet. "Oh! is that your pee mom??" No, it's the rain sweet child...
Madi please pick up your toys. "But mom! I don't have any energy"
"When I was a baby, I pooped in my diaper until something happened" Still not sure what that something was??
Madi you can't throw things over the railing, can you promise to not do it again? (pondering the question very seriously) "mmmmmmmmmmmmmm Nope!" At least she's honest I guess...
Well that needs to be the end. This is far too long. I guess that's what I get for not posting for a month and some! Until next time!
