7 Quick takes (off the record)

1. I did not get on the computer for two weeks! I did have my phone so I could check emails and stuff, but hardly read any blogs and did not post on my own.

2. The first reason was because we got all new floors on the main level of our house. We got new carpet in the family room, new tile in the kitchen, dining room and entryway, and new laminate in the playroom. It took the entire week. We went to Chicago the first day of the week, but the rest of the days we mostly hung out at mom's, went to the Children's museum, and basically stayed out of the worker's way. The floor was torn up and all the furniture was in a room they weren't working on, so basically we had to leave as soon as we came downstairs in the morning - there was no way I could put John Paul down downstairs. I was really dreading this week, but it wasn't so bad! I was able to bring them home for naps in the afternoon, and we all just stayed upstairs. Also mom cooked dinner for us every single night of the week! Thanks Mom!

3. I LOVE LOVE LOVE our new floors! Our whole house looks MUCH better!

4. Last week we spent almost the entire week putting the house back in order from the previous week. I took a HUGE amount of stuff to Goodwill, threw away a bunch more, and rearranged some more stuff. My mom spent the entire day here one day helping me clean out our spare room and getting John Paul moved in there. We have 4 bedrooms upstairs so John Paul is now moved into the last room, using Madeleine's old crib and her old changing table/hutch/dresser. Cleaning out that closet was a CHORE. But he is all moved in, his clothes are put away, his walls are decorated and he made a very smooth transition. His favorite part about his new room is that the previous owners had put glow in the dark stars all over the ceiling. So we read books at night then turn off the light and look at the "tars" for a while in the rocking chair. He loves them. His old room, with the crib, changing table, dresser and all little clothes will be the new baby's room. That room is right next to ours and the other two are down the hall, so hopefully the new baby won't wake them up.

5. We also turned Madeleine's room into her "big girl room." She got a new dresser and bookshelf that I painted white to match her daybed. We got all her too small clothes out of her closet and put them in bins in the garage (I really need another girl someday to use all my favorite clothes again!), took her bed rails off and got her a new big girl chair. The chair is like a chaise almost, we got it at a garage sale for pretty cheap, and she loves it! It'll work for her room til she goes to college. We needed her rocking chair for the baby's room.

6. Speaking of the baby's room, I am working on his room next. I actually have all the 0-3 months clothes in his drawers and hanging up in his closet already, all washed and dried in the sun. I found the perfect bedding,

And my best customer of my knitted items, Mary, totally helped me save to buy it with all her orders. You're the best Mary! By the way if anyone needs a hat for a baby shower or anything like that, let me know - the room is still going to need a lamp and curtains ;) And I can knit some really cute stuff! I'm making a little Christmas Santa hat for little Ice right now.

7. While all of this was going on (for TWO WEEKS) my van was dead in the driveway. Ken tried several things to fix it, including a new battery, but it was doing some really weird things. So I drove Ken to work and sometimes picked him up, and we drove his car. In the end, it turned out to be corrosion in the power control box, which was only a $145 fix - Could have been SO much worse! My speedometer is broken but I downloaded an app for my phone that hopefully tells me an accurate speed.

After all that craziness, I think everything is getting back to normal!! Thank God for normal days!