starting to look like home

Before we left for Oregon we had help from my darling cousin (little sister I always wanted) Kylee and her rockin' husband Brody and also Bundy's good friend Ryan Millet. They helped paint and do man projects around the house for the whole two months before we moved in. My mom and my Aunt Lee and Kylee were great to come and help paint, tend Lydia, and just give me moral support. The help means so much. Also, my friend Carrie was especially good about keeping Emma for me so I could get things done.

We were sleeping on the floor on a mattress before we left and for a good week or so after our return. I didn't mind it so much except our house was literally crawling with spiders, which are my arch enemy. Mice, no problem. Snakes, what's the big deal. Spiders....what my nightmares are made of.

The girls have been sooooo good to still play and go about their day. Yes there are boxes to play in and it's fun to see how excited Emma is to have some of her old toys back that have been boxed up for nine months. However, we are constantly working on the house and only stop on Sundays, which we have all grown to appreciate the importance of actually keeping the sabbath day holy, we're working on it, and really enjoying it in the process.

Lydia had the roughest adjustment, at first. Living with my parents, being farmed out to the Jensens and my parents while we moved in here. Staying four nights in Oregon with my sister. Another 6 nights with Ryan's family, then back "home" to a place that had yet to become home. On top of that we all got quite sick and none of us were ourselves. It was kind of touch and go there for a while. Now, however, Lydia is back to her old happy little self and just a joy to have around.

Emma has had some form of a delayed reaction to all of the change and stress and has become VERY clingy, to me especially. So I try to schedule as many play dates as possible, and as long as she has a friend over or she is at a friend's house then everyone is happy. Below is Lily who lives down the street and has been a close friend since birth. That's chalk on their face.

Emma is surrounded by boy cousins everywhere she turns, except for this one little gem, Milly. They play sooooo well together. I found them out in the common area with every single toy Emma owns, they had taken their"kids" camping. I didn't even care about the mess and toys that would be lost, they were having the best time and I was getting things done.

My parents stopped by today to help Bundy get started on the jungle that we call a yard. The inside of our house needs so much work that we haven't even taken a minute to work on the yard. Above and below are some before photos...yikes stripes! In the above photo that's my dad in the black shirt pulling out some shrubs.

Emma and Milly enjoyed playing with the snails that Bundy dug up for them. I love little girls who aren't sissys!

My mom is such a great example of jumping "roles." She can work in the yard just as hard as any man. She's not afraid to take a load to the dump or to get out and mow the lawn herself. I wish I could say I was like her in this aspect of my life, but sadly, I am not. Nor do I have an interest to be. But I did go to the dump all by myself while Ryan was sick and I thought "Good for me!"

Here is an "after" photo of my dad and Bundy talking about all there is to do still.

Bundy starts his new job on Monday at Market Star. So we've been working like fools and certain walls of our house are starting to actually look like a home. We're going to go back to our real lives on Monday and be on a better schedule for the girls. We're still very overwhelmed but are pleased and thankful for how far we've come.

Below is the view from Emma's bed. I bought her this string of lights at Cannon Beach and I don't know who loves them more, Emma or myself. It makes for the PERFECT night light.

Look at that sweet little face, she is sooooooo fun to make the extra effort for. She tells me every day how much she loves her room and how thankful she is for it. These photos are of her looking at her flower wreath and night light.