ReDos and My Insanity

My sister introduced me to this blog: betterafter.blogspot.com. I am obsessed and I have lots of projects already gathering in my house. I have three bar stools I want to redo, I am getting a dresser for Ally that I want to paint and put cute stenciling on it, and more.... I thought I should start small since I have NO experience in this type of thing. I was at DI looking for a coffee table I could turn into a bench for my entryway at my house when I found this little treasure.

Ugly right?? Well after picking out some fabric, buying some spray paint, and taking the time to put it all together (about an hour tops)... I had this cute little footstool!!

I love it. Now I just need to get some chairs to go with it for my dining room area! I love my new house and the LARGE dining area. I want to make it a cozy hangout place for family and visitors. That is why I want chairs for it! A nice lamp table and some mood lighting and a soft rug... Ah... someday!

Another thing I did was paint my porch. It was just cement and leftover adhesive from that fake grass stuff that old people used to glue to their porch... it was hideous! But after about an hour of work with Rick at 10 at night we had this to wake up to in the morning. I just wish I would have taken a before picture so you could get the full effect of how beautiful this is compared to what it was.

Now all I need to do is get Ally's room ready. We are working so hard on getting the basement apartment ready that I haven't done a thing to get her room put together. I don't even have a dresser to put her clothes in. I am buying bedding this week and hopefully I can paint in two weeks and get a dresser to redo... then relax for my last couple weeks of pregnancy. Yeah right! Relax? What is that? I have to tell you a bit of what has been going on this pregnancy. Besides being super sick the first trimester it hasn't been too bad. I have been able to get out and do things and haven't been sick. However, a couple weeks before my third trimester hit I got this wave of fatigue. It was like I had been hit by a truck. It has let up a couple days here and there but for the most part I have been just so darn tired all the time. Rick has been wonderful and has helped me a lot and so has my family which I would have died without. Another thing too is my hormones must be all over the place. I don't remember feeling this way with Levi, maybe it's because this is a girl and that is why it is more noticeable. I have just been so insane lately. Everything makes me want to crawl into a corner and cry. Poor Rick tries SO HARD to make me happy all the time. I don't feel I deserve it because I am so cranky and moody all the time. The past 4 days or so I have felt much more stable. Maybe she isn't doing so much hormone producing now and is just getting fat!? lol. Well I am so close to the end. 6 to 7 more weeks! Home stretch!

Toddler Bed Nightmare and Demolition

Well Rick and I have moved into our new place! We love having this gorgeous house and hope that it will last us forever. We never want to move again! Thanks to everyone who helped us so much on moving day. We were very blessed to be all moved and practically unpacked by Saturday afternoon. I spent the next week getting curtains (mainly for privacy since we didn't have blinds), unpacking a few left over boxes, and putting up new child proofing stuff. Rick has been so busy since we moved in fixing sprinklers, working on the basement apartment we are getting ready to rent, and doing all my fix it requests around the house. We will get to the demolition later. First, let me tell you about our toddler bed nightmare!
Maybe I'm just not that patient, but a toddler bed was just too soon for Levi at 17 months. We are getting ready for Ally to come in 2 months so I thought we would work on getting Levi adjusted to a toddler bed before she arrives. We were so excited and he looked so cute and peaceful in it the first two nights. He woke up a few times but stayed in bed and went back to sleep. The only odd thing is that he was waking up at like 5:30 or 6am. Instead of his usual 7am. I thought that would get better. I was wrong.... For the next few nights he wouldn't go to bed until 10 or 10:30 pm and was up at 5am. He also was waking up 4-6 times a night and getting out of bed. We were getting no sleep and it was just getting worse each night. Finally after last night I just gave up and had Rick put the crib side back up. I decided I would try again in 6 months when Levi is 2 and Ally is a few months old and I have a little of my sanity back. ha ha. I love sweet Levi, but he sure wasn't ready for the big boy bed yet.

In other news, Rick has been going hard on working on the house. We love this house because the basement has the perfect set up to turn into a basement apartment. All we have to do is get me new laundry hookups in our storage room and put in a renter's kitchen. There are a few obstacles though. This lovely rock wall!

It's not lovely is it!? We can't figure out the reasoning behind someone ever taking the time to put this thing up! Well we are taking it down! It was an adventure the first night of working on it. We were worried about rock flying around so Levi and I watched from behind this gate across the room while Dan, my cousin, and Rick started chiseling away at it. It was slow at first, but then rock started flying.

So much rock, in fact, that Dan ended up with a huge gash in his shin from a sharp piece that broke off of a rock he was hammering. He was a good sport about it and thought it was cool that he finally had his first stitches!

A few days later Rick kept working at it. Look! It is almost done. One more day of demolition and I think we will have it all out of there. Then we just have to haul it to the dump! That will be another challenge.

We are working on getting some electricians in here to give us some quotes on wiring some new outlets for the future kitchen and soon we will be even closer to getting this ready to rent. So, if you know of anyone looking for a place let us know. We decided we would like to rent to people that are clean, quiet, and have much of the same lifestyle as we do so keep that in mind. We are hoping to have it ready by the first of September. Maybe even sooner. It's a one bedroom, one bathroom with laundry hookups! It's going to be nice.

Fourth of July

Our neighbors do a flag raising ceremony each year. The scouts in the neighborhood all wear their uniforms and present the flag. There were fire engines, horses, bagpipers, and more! It was very inspirational. I was close to tears as the flag was raised and all of these people stood silent with their hands over their heart. It was a good reminder of the passion and patriotism we should be feeling towards our country. I wish I felt that more than just once a year on Independence Day.

Levi didn't feel the same as me. He was more interested in the gutter water than the flag. Someday he'll understand. lol

The ceremony is followed by a pancake breakfast. It was delicious and we had so much fun.

We spent the afternoon at Rick's parent's house swimming and eating. Then went to my sister's house for a BBQ and some fireworks. Levi again was more interested in what was on the ground than what was going on around him. He got SOOO dirty. My sister offered to bath him since I was so exhausted. So I just sat back and enjoyed watching him get crazy in the dirt! Look at that face. How could I be upset? Boys will be boys.

Here we are watching fireworks. Levi loved them. He even got to play with a sparkler with daddy's help! What a good Independence Day. We were so worn out by the end of the day, but that is what is supposed to be like.

Father's Day and horsey rides!

My nephew, Landon, turned 2 last week and he had some horses at his birthday party for the kids to ride. I of course wanted to ride it more than Levi. It was pretty funny to watch me with my 6 1/2 month pregnant belly and Levi all squished into one saddle. Levi seemed to like it. Although he was more interested in a goat of the side of the road than the actual horse he was riding on! He wouldn't look at Rick taking the picture so they aren't posed very well.

Just a side note, we went up to Rexburg this last weekend to see Rick's grandmas that live there. I wanted to make sure we got to spend at least a few hours with each before I got too large to travel and had another newborn to worry about. It was good to spend time with them.... AND!!!!.... we got to stay with the Petersens. They moved a few months ago for school and we have missed them oh so much. It was fun to spend time with them and catch up. I know we will always be good friends.

For Father's Day I made Rick his favorite breakfast.... chocolate chip pancakes. Okay, I'm sure he has something that he likes more than that, but he always begs me to put chocolate chips in our pancakes so this time I humored him. He was super happy. I also made homemade hash browns which actually turned out good. I have tried them a few times and have failed miserably, but now... SUCCESS! For Father's Day Rick gets a house! ha ha. We are about to move into a house so our budget is close to nothing. I would have loved to get him some batman DVDs or a dozen cases of root beer but alas, he just had to enjoy chocolate chips on his breakfast plate. His mother gave him a nice tie and a matching one for Levi so we made sure to take a picture at church on the steps. I thought it turned out cute.... what do you think? Well the Brunsons are a happy bunch. We are loving the summer, as long as I am inside with the AC full blast!! We are enjoying Levi and soaking up every minute of his learning and growing. He is such a joy to be around. We hope you are all enjoying the heat and I'm excited for July. Coming up, Holidays and BBQs, 3rd trimester, moving, and much more I am sure! :)

I'm so boring.

I feel like I have been so boring the past few months. I'm still a couple weeks away from my third trimester but I feel like I have been in it for a month already now. I guess the doc was right when he said each pregnancy gets worse and worse. I am a whole lot more tired and just plain bummed than I was with Levi. I'm so excited for little Ally (Alexandra) to get here. She is going to be just gorgeous. I know it!

Well, in other news. We actually got out into the mountains finally. I have been waiting for the snow to melt enough to do some hiking. We started off on a trail and didn't get too far when we ran into snow. So we did a little exploring and lower on the trail and headed back home. It was a valiant effort. ha ha.

My nieces are the cutest friends for Levi. They all take such good care of him, almost like he is their little brother. Ella especially (the one with him in her lap) is always helping him and playing with him. We went to the park the other day and they had a blast showing him the slides! I got the cutest little suit for Easter for Levi, but never really got a good picture of him in it until now. He is almost too big for the shirt. Maybe I can squeeze him in it one more time. I just LOVE how cute he is!

My favorite thing is cuddling with Levi. We got these Book of Mormon story books from Rick's parents and Levi LOVES them. We are almost halfway through the BOM. I love my cuddles with my baby. He's a thumb sucker when he is tired. He is sooooo stinkin' cute!!!!!

Playing at the fireman park with Levi. What a ham!

Patrick, my cousin's son, and Levi are growing to be good friends. They are just now getting old enough to start fighting over toys and hitting each other, but they are good friends in the tub. ha ha. I hadn't put any pics of Ally up yet. This is at our 18 week appointment so it is a little outdated, but you can see her feet and face here.

I think she is camera shy, she is covering her face with her hand. Can you see her arm and hand? So cute!

Here is my 25 week picture. I think I am going to get HUGE with this pregnancy. Although I was GIGANTIC with Levi.

Well that is all with us for now. We are still waiting to hear back on final details with the appraisal for our house we are buying. Until then we are anxious to move in. We are also going up to Rexburg this weekend to spend some time with Rick's family since he doesn't get to see them much. It should be a fun little trip. Levi needs some time with his great grandmas. I'll keep you posted.