As I said in my last blog post, we have our house up for sale. Since then, we've had a few issues... The day we put it up for sale, we started smelling something putrid coming from under the house. I immediately thought it was plumbing, so I called a plumber. The plumbers charged us $100 to say it wasn't a plumbing problem, and then left the crawl space open that leads to under the house. In the 24 hours it took for us to realize the crawl space was open, a skunk decided to make a new home under there. So, now we have skunk smell AND the original bad smell coming from under the house. At this point, we start thinking the original bad smell may be a dead mouse. We called an animal removal guy to take care of the skunk and crawl under the house to retrieve the mouse. He charges $120 to remove the skunk, but says the rotting carcass under the house a) is most likely bigger than a mouse because of the terrible smell and b) is in a place that is unreachable without tearing out the shower. This is all just great considering we hardly leave the house and are trying to sell the smelly thing! Ugh! I began to wonder if this was God's way of telling us not to sell the house, but multiple wise people have told me they don't think God is working thru the skunk and dead carcass. So... luckily, the skunk is out, the crawl space is covered and the smell is FINALLY diminishing. We got the house cleaned and the yard looking nice for an open house yesterday, but no one came. If we sell this house... I mean ONCE we sell this house, we are looking at possibly building a new home out at Brassfield Estates, Northeast of town. We've met with the builder a couple of times and have even picked a plan and a lot to build on... so I'm praying this will all work out.
As for the babies...
We are now eating table foods on a regular basis. It's an ABSOLUTE mess, but we're doing it. They get food all in their hair, all over the floor and their high chairs... it's a REAL pain to clean. But, I've been told they have to learn to eat sometime! So... we're mananging thru it. They actually really enjoy feeding themselves and smearing food everywhere, but my cleanup routine after they "eat" takes about 30 minutes. Ugh! Thankfully, my mother-in-law bought me a hand vac, which makes the clean up a little more bearable. Here are a few pics of the girls enjoying some mac and cheese and green beans... notice the greasy hair (ugh).
Ally
Izzy
Abby
The floor
They're now all taking big girl baths in the big tub and they have a great time! They splash and play, and it feels like less work than doing one at a time in the sink... though, I haven't and probably won't attempt to give them baths in the tub by myself for a while. Obviously, you can't leave babies in the tub while you get one out, etc.
We're enjoying the beautiful Spring weather... we've been on a few walks and today even went to the park and found some swings!
Izzy and Abby shared one...
Izzy
Ally
Here's a video of the girls playing before bedtime...
Ally
As for me and Matt, we're doing ok. We're both cussing this fence we have up around the living room, but it does a pretty good job of keeping the babies from wandering all over the house. We used to step over it, but after both of us bit it pretty badly, we've made a new rule that you must use the gate. Matt fell a few weeks ago, while holding Abby. I was in the kitchen when I heard what sounded like a freight train crashing thru the living room. After the crash, all 3 babies were balling and I ran in to find Matt lying on the floor, the fence broken in pieces and Abby lying on top of him. He turned and truly sacrificed his body to avoid injuring poor little Abber. When I fell this weekend, I was luckily NOT holding a baby, but all 3 babies balled when they saw me topple over too. I hit my head pretty hard, hurt my shoulder and a million other muscles I didn't know I had, but learned a good lesson.
Here is an update on each baby:
The Lil Biter
The Lil Biter
Izzy isn't walking yet, but is so very close. She can stand without holding onto anything for long periods of time and walks around things nimbly. We try to have her walk to us, but she doesn't have the confidence in herself to do it. She has the ability, but just doesn't know it yet. For example, if we give her a pinky finger, she'll walk easily to us. We bought the babies a walker for Easter and Izzy and Ally go all over the place with it. We're currently going thru a little biting phase with her too... she's got about 5 teeth now, and is biting sisters and adults alike. I really think most of the time she's just exploring, but there may have been a few times she was being ornery. Speaking of being ornery... she's been getting in a lot of trouble with other things too... not minding when mommy says "no", even though she knows what she's doing. We have good days and bad days. She's still a cute little stinker though...
Tiny Dancer
Abby isn't too close to walking, but she is dancing very well! Anytime she hears music, she bobs her little head to the beat. It's so cute! (See the dancing babies video in a previous post for a visual). She's so very sweet and is still the little doe... scared of loud noises and anything crazy, like swinging or swooping in mommy's arms. (The other two love that stuff). She's probably the best eater of table foods and really goes to town eating all of the stuff on her tray. We have our first appointment with the audiologist in two days, so I'm looking forward to seeing what he has to say about her hearing. I'm not nervous though, she responds to sound all the time (for example, the dancing to music). She's still a tiny little thing too, the smallest of the sisters.
Abby isn't too close to walking, but she is dancing very well! Anytime she hears music, she bobs her little head to the beat. It's so cute! (See the dancing babies video in a previous post for a visual). She's so very sweet and is still the little doe... scared of loud noises and anything crazy, like swinging or swooping in mommy's arms. (The other two love that stuff). She's probably the best eater of table foods and really goes to town eating all of the stuff on her tray. We have our first appointment with the audiologist in two days, so I'm looking forward to seeing what he has to say about her hearing. I'm not nervous though, she responds to sound all the time (for example, the dancing to music). She's still a tiny little thing too, the smallest of the sisters.
Our Little DJ
Ally is our little house DJ. She's very into music and loves to play it for her and her sister, Abby, to dance to. There's a radio on their play house, with four buttons that play four different songs... it's so adorable to watch her stand by leaning on the house, then bend down slowly to push the button on the radio, then stand back up and bop her little head to the beat. When the song's over, she bends back down to play another song. Seriously cute. Ally is really good about minding when I say "no" and immediately backs away from whatever she's not supposed to be doing. Although she's good at minding mommy, she's getting a little attitude when it comes to her sisters. Often, she gets into fights over toys with her sisters. 9 times out of 10, it's her and Izzy, but today her and Abby were crying and tugging on a plastic bowl... yes, a plastic bowl. The living room is a virtual baby playland, but the plastic bowl I took out of the cabinet is a real prize! Ally is still very attached to her paci and we're still waiting for a head of hair.
Ally is our little house DJ. She's very into music and loves to play it for her and her sister, Abby, to dance to. There's a radio on their play house, with four buttons that play four different songs... it's so adorable to watch her stand by leaning on the house, then bend down slowly to push the button on the radio, then stand back up and bop her little head to the beat. When the song's over, she bends back down to play another song. Seriously cute. Ally is really good about minding when I say "no" and immediately backs away from whatever she's not supposed to be doing. Although she's good at minding mommy, she's getting a little attitude when it comes to her sisters. Often, she gets into fights over toys with her sisters. 9 times out of 10, it's her and Izzy, but today her and Abby were crying and tugging on a plastic bowl... yes, a plastic bowl. The living room is a virtual baby playland, but the plastic bowl I took out of the cabinet is a real prize! Ally is still very attached to her paci and we're still waiting for a head of hair.
The big day is approaching....
I've begun planning the girls' first birthday party (I can't believe it)! We contemplated having a huge bash, inviting all of the people that helped with them the first few months, but in the end, I decided to have a small celebration with family and a few close friends. A stress free get together, celebrating the year we've been through... the wonderful, crazy, stressful year we've all been through. And, oh yeah, celebrate the girls' one year birthday!!! Burgers, cake, and the people that love those babies like crazy... and hopefully, a good time!
I'll be sure to post again before the big day! :)
Here's a video of Ally playing her music...
Here's a video of the girls playing before bedtime...
i think Izzy looks the most like Matt -- which makes it really funny that she is the ornery one! fitting. you guys are troopers!! they are so much fun to read about. you're a super momma, Kami!
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