Busy Weekend

We decided our weekend project would be painting Andrew's room. He was beginning to notice that Matthew's room was rather put together and his...well resembled a white box. I saw a cute idea in Pottery Barn Kids that I thought would be perfect for his room. And thanks to my wonderfully creative husband, he was able to pull it off. We met at Chick fil A on Friday evening for a quick dinner then headed over to Lowes to pick out the paint color (not an easy task with 2 "handsy" boys, we had every color sample imaginable in our cart). Then we headed home to tape off the room so we could start painting bright and early. After we put the boys to bed I got a text from my friend Lindsey inviting us to the Cardinal game with the boys. How could we pass that up.


Saturday Drew woke up and started priming while I searched boxes for Cardinal gear and winter coats. Yes, a cold front moved in overnight. Amazingly we got everything together in time and headed to the game. The boys were pretty good at the game. It wasn't the most exciting game but they lasted about 7 innings. Andrew said his favorite part was riding in the golf cart from where we parked to the game (hmmm maybe we'll work on that next season). Both boys fell asleep on the way home so Drew dropped me off at a few stores to run some errands. Then we grabbed dinner and headed home for more painting. Poor Andrew had to sleep on his mattress in his baby sister's room for a few nights but he didn't seem to mind.


Sunday we went to church, Drew painted, bought Andrew a dresser, boys had naps, I grocery shopped and then we headed to Sunday dinner. This particular Sunday dinner was to celebrate the September birthdays (Drew, me and my dad). It was the prefect night. My mom had special Halloween books for all the kids as well as some goodies for our baby girl. The kids ran and played for hours and the adults were able to catch up on everything going on in each others lives. Thanks for the birthday wishes and gifts family, you're the best!

Side note: John and Christina brought an ice cream cake. Andrew waited all night to have cake. He ate it so fast that he got an ice cream head ache but he didn't know what was going on. He started running around, crying, and screaming, "I FEEL FUNNY!" Drew saw the entire situation unfold so he filled us in on what was going on...I must say, it was a classic.

Visitors!

The Fitzpatricks made the trip out west! They are the neighbors that lived across the street from us on Chelsea. It was the perfect end to our rocky 1st week. Drew and I had been talking about ways to let Andrew know we did not move to Mars and the world as he knows it does still exist. So Timmy’s visit came at the perfect time! When the pulled into our driveway he was jumping up and down with excitement. He was on top of the world. Andrew gave them the tour and we played in the playroom and the basement. He was so excited when I told him they could stay for lunch. We had pizza and then played in the backyard. It was so fun to see them running around having a blast. Thanks for coming out Fitz’s.

Wednesday we had a visit from Josie and Christina. Josie was all smiles when she arrived. Andrew gave them the tour and then we walked to the pond to show Josie the ducks. The boys were so excited to see their little cousin and Aunt Christina. It was so nice of them to make the trip.

I Quit

Ever have one of those days where you think…”ok, I’m done.” Well that happened to me 2 Mondays ago(Sept 21...still trying to catch up). I was still fighting the head ache, struggling with whether or not to stay medicated (I was starting to worry about taking so much medicine with the baby), being tired from the move, lack of sleep and 3^rd trimester, AND being in a new place feeling lost. So anyway, I made it through the morning and was happy to know it was naptime. I ended up having to let Matthew cry which was painful but when he finally calmed down I decided it was worth it. Andrew continued to get out of bed and yell from his room. I tried bribing, threatening, sitting in his room, sitting at the door and he could have cared less. Finally he jumped over me and started running around the playroom yelling, at which point Matthew woke up (After being down for 20 min). Well I totally and I mean totally LOST it. I sent Andrew down stairs so I could try to calm Matthew down and get him back to sleep. Andrew ended up coming in and making a scene so it was useless. I burst into tears. Andrew looked at me and said, “Mom, why are you crying?” I regretfully said, “Because you made me!” I mean I was hysterical. I called Drew and left him a message that I’m sure he could not understand. I tried gaining my composure several times but for some reason I would just burst into tears again. Because of my hysterics Andrew was nice to me for about an hour and Matthew gave me millions of hugs and grabbed my face between his hands. The rest of the day I did what I could to survive and once Drew got home I made dinner put the boys to bed and went to bed myself. I was glad the day was over. Thankfully the week got better. Baby steps.

**The picture above is what Andrew drew as I was melting down.

Our First Weekend in O’Fallon (still backtracking)

It has always been a Saturday tradition to go walk to a little bakery by our old house and get breakfast. We decided to try and find a similar place and keep the tradition going. Well our first Saturday we ended up at Starbucks but our biggest critic Andrew was satisfied because he got an Old Fashioned Donut. Then we needed to head back to Lowes to get a few more things for the house (black out shades for the boys rooms and ceiling fans) and Babies R Us in hopes of finding something to keep Matthew in his crib.

The Lowes trip was successful but we were unsuccessful in finding something to keep Matthew in bed. We headed home to let the boys run around and start our many projects. Unfortunately I could not kick the head ache I had had since Wednesday and was getting to the point where it was unbearable and Tylenol didn’t touch it. I hate calling the exchange but after Drew and my mom telling me it was worth the call I did. Turns out it was a sinus headache and I would need to take Sudefed along with Tylenol to feel relief. I’m so was relieved it wasn’t something more serious.

Shockingly, the boys took great naps and we were able to unpack a few boxes while they did. After naps we decided to go back to Babies R Us since we still had my dad’s truck because we found a great deal on a dresser/changing table for our little girl (still nameless). We also ordered her crib. I was relieved to know she will now have a place to sleep and a place to hold her clothes (hopefully we’ll get a few pink items before she arrives).

Saturday night went much better. By taking out Matthew’s bumper pads, he wasn’t able to have any leverage in getting out of bed. Sunday we woke up to a wonderful thunderstorm. We thought it was wonderful until we were headed to our first mass at our new parish and could barely see the road. Then we had to take two trips into church since we only had one umbrella BUT we made it. It was a little weird being at a new church and not really knowing the regulars we’re used to seeing but I’m sure we’ll get used to it.

After church we drove the truck out to my parents to get a load of stuff then grabbed some lunch and headed home. My parents offered to come out and help which was awesome. I was able to work on the kitchen and go to the grocery store while Drew put together our dining room tables, set up our living room, and hung a huge picture and the boys were entertained. Unfortunately my parents had to deal with the beginnings of Andrew’s extreme disobedient/aggressive phase. We aren’t wondering where it came from but we are wondering how to deal with it. He has so much going on in his little head and doesn't know how to verbalize it so he's taking it out on Matthew and us. Hopefully we'll get over this speed bump quickly.

Over the River

Wednesday we closed on both houses at 9am. It went really fast and we were on our way to the new house by 10. Thankfully the PODS were delivered in the morning so we were able to start unloading as soon as we arrived. My dad and brother John were a huge help with all of the lifting. The boys had a pretty good time running around but of course started to get antsy after a while. Thankfully my mom came out after school to help with them and then my friend Tracy and her husband Jimmy came over to help some more. They were a HUGE help too. Drew and I decided to call it a night earlier than we would have liked so we could try and get the boys in bed and adjusted to their new rooms. Night 1 went pretty well. I think we were all pretty worn out.

Watching the POD leave old house

We forgot to save room for Max

Here she is!

Thursday Drew planned on taking off except he had to go in for a board meeting around 11. So he took Andrew to school while I ran to Target and got some essentials for the house. He left for his meeting around 10 and I did what I could with my little helper Matthew. We had lunch and went to pick up Andrew. Here is where the nap drama begins and yes it is drama. Matthew fell asleep on the way to get Andrew so that would be considered his nap for the day. I could go ahead and mark a defeat for myself having 2 seconds of alone time. I decided to try to get Andrew down but of course it was unsuccessful since he won’t stay in his bed unless I literally stand by his door (which is impossible with Matthew awake). So I decided it wouldn’t be that bad b/c Drew would be home soon and I’d have some help. Well it ended up that Drew didn’t get home until 4 (the day he planned on taking off) and I got a horrible headache in the meantime. Drew brought me some Tylenol and I continued to watch the boys while he unloaded. Thankfully my mom came out to help for an hour just to give us time to decide where things would go and unpack a few boxes. She left and thanks to the lack of naps bedtime was successful. Andrew woke up several times during the night, we’re guessing b/c of the unfamiliar place. Sleep, who needs sleep?

Friday we had the guy come to set up internet so the boys played and I unpacked. Once he came and left, we went on a walk around our new neighborhood came home and had some lunch. They actually napped and I was able to take a deep breath! Then we met Drew for dinner and did a Lowes run.

Here’s where it gets interesting. We got home from what was a great family night. Drew, being the super dad that he is, did baths and we got the boys ready for bed. Well Matthew decided he was in no way tired. So instead of fighting it we decided to let him stay up with Andrew and watch TV. As Drew and I were falling asleep the two of them were bouncing off the walls. We finally decided to bite the bullet and put them in bed. Matthew was not going to let us win this battle easily. First we tried laying with him, then we tried letting him cry. The next thing I know there was a knock at his bedroom door! YES, HE GOT OUT OF HIS CRIB! What on earth were we going to do now? Drew decided to lay with him again until he was asleep so he wouldn’t get hurt. He finally fell asleep and Drew was able to escape. Then at 3am we hear a scream and a knock at the door again. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? So Drew grabs his pillow and a blanket and goes to camp out with Matthew for the rest of the night. Needless to say we were hoping for a little more sleep to start off our weekend of unpacking and organizing.

More to come...

Back Tracking

Life has been so busy, I haven’t had time to blog but have so much to tell. So I’m going to back track and remember what I can.

Right after I posted my last post Matthew woke up with THE cough, the horrible croup cough. The first time I heard it Drew and I were in our room getting ready for bed and I jumped at the noise. I didn’t know what it was, did we have a barking seal in our house? The poor kid was miserable so Drew sat in the bathroom with him with the shower on because the steam is supposed to help. Meanwhile, I was online trying to figure out if I needed to call the pediatrician. Miraculously, he fell asleep in Drew’s arms in the bathroom and slept through the night.

So that brings me to Wednesday. Matthew woke up from nap pretty miserable so I decided to go ahead and take him in just in case there was something they could give him. Of course, he was diagnosed with croup but the doctor actually gave me something I could give him that night. He said he would probably have one more bad night and then it would turn into a cold. That is exactly what happened. Amazing what those doctors knowJ

Thursday and Friday I tried doing as much packing as I could while keeping the boys happy and entertained. Friday, we went to our last dinner at Raccenelli’s. I’m sure the people that work there are going to wonder what happened to us. Then we walked around downtown Kirkwood and headed home.

Saturday is when the real fun began. My parents came over early to help us start/finish packing. It always took at least one person to entertain the boys and then my dad and Drew got as much of the heavy stuff as they could. At one point during the day my dad and Drew took Andrew in the truck to get more boxes while Matthew and I stayed back at the house. I was trying to multi task and get his lunch ready while packing up kitchen items. I had left over pizza in the oven and he was sitting on the counter. He leaned over and pressed his hand on the stove and burnt it really badly. Apparently the stove gets really hot when the oven is on, note to self. I ended up calling the exchange and they said it would be best to take him to an urgent care to have it looked at. Perfect! Well he fell asleep on the way so I came home and packed a few boxes while he took a nap in the car. Then when he woke up I went back to urgent care. For having to go, it was the perfect experience. We were the only ones there, they saw him before I could even fill out the paper work and they gave me the prescription for his burn cream there so I didn’t have to go get one filled. It could have been much worse. When I got home our awesome neighbor Jodi was over helping Drew move the really heavy stuff into the POD and Andrew thought he was one of the guys.

Matthew and his boo boo

Sunday my mom said the only way we would get everything done was to bring the boys to her house. So we went to our last mass at MQP (7:30 of course) and headed over there. She’s right, there’s no way we would have finished. We literally worked the entire day without taking a break. My brother John brought lunch over and I headed to my parents about 10pm to sleep. I woke up around 1am and Drew was finally getting to bed. Not to mention it was now officially his birthday.

Monday…HAPPY 31^st DREW!!! Drew had an early meeting so we literally said Happy Birthday and he was out the door. I don’t know how he worked all day after the demanding day he had before. The boys and I met my dad for lunch since Drew had a lunch meeting and then Poppa took them to Target…Andrew’s dream day. Drew got home from work ate his birthday dinner that my mom had prepared and went back to the house to finish up packing.

The wonderful couple who had bought our house had their walk through Monday evening. We got a call during Drew’s birthday dinner that they were not happy with our caulking job in the bathroom (there was evidence of mildew) and we did not fix the garage door properly. WOW! The nerve. We got an official report Tuesday morning. Our wonderful realtor, Kathy, went over to our house and physically removed the small amount of mildew with mildew spray to avoid a controversy. THE NERVE these people have is amazing. She then had a garage door guy come over and fix the garage problem. Thank you so much Kathy!

Tuesday…MY BIRTHDAY (last year of the wonderful 20s) I woke up to many birthday wishes. Drew had again worked on the house late the night before and still managed to get me a GC to a spa and a cute monogrammed apron AND a card! What a man! I took Andrew to school and killed time with Matthew until we had to pick him up. Then I took the boys to Chick fil A for my birthday lunch…one of my favorites. Then my hope was to take them home for naps but they didn’t understand that it was my birthday and I deserved for them to take a nap. Later in the afternoon Drew met us at my parent’s house and we drove out to our new house for our final walk through. Of course everything looked perfect and we forgot about our crazy buyers and looked forward to our new house. For my birthday dinner, we ordered Imos and then Drew and I went back to get the final load. I was really no help but we were able to fill my car to the brim. I went back to my parents, Drew took a load in my dad’s truck and then went back to get ONE more. Then our house was officially empty!

This is long enough for today. More to come!

Goodbyes and New Beginnings

Last week was quite a busy week as all of my mom's family came to town to celebrate the life of my wonderful grandma. We had a family dinner every night and laughed and cried together. I was doing pretty well until Wednesday. The day started off great. I had my OB appointment and the baby looks great. I got the boys down for nap and was feeling productive by packing a box for the big move. Andrew woke up after about an hour and was burning up. NOOOOOO! That's when I lost it! I couldn't take one more thing right now. The day before my sister in law Jill had called to let me know that Kiersten had strep. So immediately I thought well I should get him to the doctor and started on meds. So Matthew woke up, I got Andrew an appointment and we headed to the pediatrician's office.

Of course, it was just a virus. You'd think I'd be happy that my poor child didn't have strep but no, I was so frustrated. Now we just had to wait it out. I cried the entire way home and the rest of the night. I'm such a baby. I woke up the next morning feeling like I had been hit by a truck but luckily got over myself and was able to face the day.

Being the horrible mother that I am, I drug Andrew to his new preschool open house Thursday night. I would have been so mad if another mother had brought her sick child but I was torn. He was starting a new school, didn't know a sole, had never met the teachers...I couldn't just drop his off the first day! So I kept him by my side and as soon as they told us we could leave we bolted.

Friday was a hard day, it was my grandma's wake. The love and support that poured out from family and friends was truly amazing and uplifting but at the same time it made the whole situation real. I MISS HER! Saturday we woke up to an amazing thunderstorm and knew this was grandma making her grand entrance through the pearly gates. We had a beautiful funeral mass and wonderful celebration of her life at my parent's house following the ceremony. It was an emotional day. As the party was really getting started I told Drew I thought our family was ready to call it a night. We came home ordered Dominos and went to bed. Unfortunately Matthew woke up with THE fever...inevitable. So we spent Sunday and Monday quarantined to our house and literally packed boxes from sun up to sun down.



My amazing mother came by on Monday and kid napped the boys so Drew and I could focus on packing. I mean her mother just died and she was worried about us getting packed, what a mom! It was just what Andrew needed. The poor kid had been so angry and upset the past few days and didn't know how to verbalize this to us except through screaming, throwing fits, and hitting his brother. We know he is sad about GG being gone (they were very close...every time she saw him she brought him the perfect little car or train or book, they had a special relationship), he is confused about the move, and he's not getting enough attention because Matthew is sick and we're trying to pack up. SO by my mom taking him away from everything we got the old Andrew back Monday night.

That brings me to today...THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. The name of his school is The Little School (and he likes to add, but it's really big). I wasn't sure how drop off was going to go but he surprised me! His teacher came to get him out of the car and he said, "bye mom" and hopped out. If Matthew hadn't distracted me by throwing a huge fit in the back I would have lost it. I was so proud of my big boy. He had a great first day, I'm so relieved!
Andrewisms of the day: During our nightly prayer, Drew was praying and he turned to me and said, "mom, I'm really sorry you have a cold." That was the nicest thing anyone had said to me all day! I was so taken aback.

Drew took him in to bed and minutes later we heard the door open, not uncommon. He came in and said, "Dad, I love you more than you can imagine." Well needless to say Drew didn't get upset with him for getting out of bed:)