Mark's Manly Projects

I don't know why I never got around to posting about this, but Mark spiffed up his arcade (like, 6 months ago.......).

This is how it was.

He'd always planned on redoing the control panel (or whatever you call it). He put the buttons in a different configuration to begin with.

 

 He bought a poster to go on top of the panel and cut out holes for the buttons, and then cut a piece of clear acrylic to go on top of everything.

 Reinstalling the buttons, joysticks and trackball...

  

 The buttons light up and the whole thing looks awesome! He wants to add some retro arcade art to the sides but "has no motivation" since it's just stuck out in the garage for now.

 Around that same time last September, he started buying new computer parts. The last computer he built for us was about 7 years ago, and it was outdated (for gaming....otherwise it was fine). He got the new case first but then all plans to finish buying parts came to a screeching halt when we ended up with thousands of dollars in medical bills for my pregnancy.

 Skip to now....when I told him he could keep any money he earned working for my dad (helping to build their house) to put towards the computer. He got enough money for about half the parts that way, and then when we got our federal tax return he bought the rest. 

 

He is giddy about this new gaming machine. Ask him about the specs sometime, he'd love to talk to you about them.

And then in addition to the ladder he just built for his shed loft, he ended up with a free window from my dad last week and decided to put it on the east side of the building.

 

 It casts a ton of light on his workbench, and it opens!

 

 Luke loves the shed.

 

 He still loves watching daddy play games and bossing him around, too.

If you're a friend of mine on facebook, then you probably saw the news that Mark needs surgery. He had decided to finally get his seasonal allergies checked out this year and so went and did a physical and then met with an ear, nose and throat doctor (ENT). I'd been bugging him to get checked for a deviated septum, since he always has trouble breathing through his nose and that problem runs in his family. So at the end of his ENT visit, he said, "My wife wants you to check me for a deviated septum." And sure enough he has a SEVERE one that definitely needs surgery. 

This doctor works downstairs from Mark and is always getting referrals from him, so he agreed to cut Mark a deal for his part of the surgical fee--basically about 1/4 of what we'd normally have to pay. So we decided to go ahead with it, and he is scheduled to have his deviated septum fixed and a "sub mucous resection of both turbinates" on April 3rd. He said he is not looking forward to the pain of recovery, and I told him that I was not looking forward to going through childbirth for the third time either, so there.

He also had an allergy test done today:

 

 Ouch.

To our surprise, he isn't allergic to cats after all! He is extremely allergic to all the weeds they tested him for, so his reaction to cats is probably more from them roaming around outside and getting stuff in their fur. After we get his surgery done (and meet his insurance deductible, hopefully), then he can get allergy shots. He is looking forward to breathing this year.

Sleepy Luke, and CPNL

Luke likes to watch people come and go from his window from his new bed. Tiger (the cat) does, too. He spends the night sitting there, staring out the window. He used to do it in Madelyn's room but usually ended up on her pillow, clawing and biting her hair, so we don't let him in there now.

And now for a bunch of random pics of him napping with Luke:

 Tiger: "A crevice in the couch?? I must shove my head into it!"

 LOL

I'm glad to know that even though Luke pesters Tiger all the time, he still appreciates him as a warm body. Luke has taken up the alter ego of "Fluffy" and meows at you and acts like a cat and will get upset unless you cooperate and go along with it.

And then there was this, on Wednesday night after his bath...
 

Reading Green Eggs and Ham--Happy birthday Dr. Seuss!

Reading some BOB books to his teddy bear before bed

The other night, he grabbed a pile of alphabet stickers we got for Madelyn's science fair board and he said, "Mama, let's play a matching game" but since you can't play a matching game with things that don't match, I didn't win. (He is preoccupied with winning, and coming in first--except he says, "I'm one-th! You're two-th!" Instead of first and second.)

Anyway, he says to me, "I'm win, you're fail."

Another quote for posterity! Thanks!

Poor thing has bronchiolitis again. He got a cold from his friend in preschool this week and of course it's gone to his lungs. We had a very rough night last night, no one got any sleep. But now he asks for his "machine" (nebulizer) to help him breathe. Thank goodness for modern medicine.

Oh, and see that pile in the background?

Last night around 10:30 or 11:00 pm, I suddenly decided that I needed to go through ALL TWELVE YEARS of papers that had been accumulating in our file folders. We have two big drawers of them and they had gotten so full that it was next to impossible to shove any more papers in. So this is my shred pile.

This is just the latest in my Crazy Pregnant Nesting Lady (CPNL) phase. In the past two months, I've gone through 30 bins of clothes and toys, both kids' closets, two scary junk drawers, my entire pantry got an overhaul, as did my cookbooks and spice racks.....my sock drawer....my jewelry drawer.....went through all 94 bottles of nail polish I had shoved in there and threw out half of them.....AND my lotion drawer AND my body spray drawer.....(what--do you not have whole drawers dedicated to Bath and Body Works and Victoria's Secret Garden smelly products??) plus I have been stocking up on toiletries and trying to get Easter taken care of two months in advance.

The only thing I can think of left to sort through is my wrapping paper stash and pajama drawer. Then maybe I can focus on getting things done that are actually important, like finishing my sewing and mending and finally putting away the dang laundry and getting ready for the baby. But at least when she finally comes, my file cabinet will be immaculate.

Kanab, etc.

For President's Day last week, I decided to take the kids and drive over to my sister Maria's house in Kanab. They had the day off of school but Mark still had to work and we needed something to do other than hang around the house watching Netflix (like we normally do).

 It's an 80 mile drive there, over Cedar Mountain, which is beautiful but very twisty and full of large scary abysses, so you have to drive carefully. I usually get carsick and/or a headache.

 Utah is a big, empty state...

 But we finally made it! This is my niece Nora, almost 10 months.

 And my niece Emery, who just turned 3.

 The kids had a blast (Luke decided to not wear pants anymore at some point) and Maria and I just gabbed for hours and made some gnocchi soup.

The rest of the week was super busy. I can't even keep track of what I spend my days doing anymore. I just know I'm tired and it's getting harder to keep up with stuff (I had a nasty cold to get over, too).

 Mark was quite productive yesterday, though. He decided to build a sturdy ladder for his shed.

 He had an aluminum ladder going up to the loft before, but this is a much better setup for the kids.

 

 Because they think that is their space, of course. Mark carpeted it for them and everything last year.

I have finally started on sewing some baby projects and am currently in Burp Cloth Factory Mode. Ironically, none of these will be for me because I like small, square burp cloths. But since I know 10 other pregnant women right now, I figured I needed to build up my gift stash anyway. I'd better get back to it if I ever want to see my kitchen table again!

Baby QQ at 26 weeks

 Last Tuesday, I was asked to come in for an ultrasound so a girl being trained as an ultrasound tech could practice. (She apparently asked for "petite" pregnant ladies and so Dr. Sanders said that I should be flattered.) I had to be propped up with pillows all over so I wouldn't pass out--that was lovely. Mostly, she was practicing viewing abdominal stuff, which is just a bunch of blobs. But every once in a while, Dr. Sanders would elbow her out of the way so we could try and get some "cute pictures". Little QQ had her arms up around her head the whole time, but he managed to get some 3D shots of her face. She looks like Madelyn!!

We could even see her practice her sucking motions with her mouth. It was crazy. She should have all five senses working now. She has consistently measured two days ahead, putting her due date at May 17, but they haven't officially changed it or anything. She is also currently breech, so I'm hoping she decides to flip back over at some point....

This week I am 27 weeks, and 3 months away from my due date, so HELLO THIRD TRIMESTER! Finally!!! I had to go get my Rhogam shot today and it was awful like it always is. I got my glucose and anemia screenings (yucky orange drink followed by blood draw) last week and passed with flying colors. So it feels like we've gotten a lot of dreaded stuff out of the way.

At my 30 week appointment they'll do another ultrasound and hopefully I'll have more pictures to show then!

It's springy and I'm weirded out

This pic was taken a week ago when my brother Kevin came up with his family to visit and play in the snow. We've only had about two big snowstorms this winter, and the kids stomped out what was left of the wet remains of our last one.

 Jack and Hattie borrowed some of our snow gear and had a blast!

 Luke still can't get over how delicious snow is.

 Luke and Gary. They look like they could be brothers! (They're cousins.)

 They enjoyed meeting the cat.

 Poor Tiger, he has to put up with Luke's "affections" all day.

 Kevin always rearranges the decorations on our window...

We decided to let Tiger outside for the first time a couple of weeks ago. He used to be mostly an outdoor cat, but we hadn't let him out yet for fear of him running away. He doesn't like the snow, so we figured it was safe to let him have a little trial run.

He came back quickly (as soon as Luke came out, haha). 

The first and second time, he stayed right by the flower bed, where he could pick his way around the snow. We went out and bought a collar with a name tag with our phone and address so that we'd feel more comfortable letting him out of our sight. Then I made the mistake of letting him out as it was getting dark, and he disappeared.

He didn't come back for hours and we had to go to bed with him still out. We were all worried sick that he'd run away and couldn't sleep. Finally when I got up to pee at 1:15 am, I went and checked the back door again and saw a black cat walk by. So I opened the door and called for Tiger and he came trotting over. I was so relieved!!! I had to wake up Mark and Madelyn to tell them.

 His escapades earned him another bath.

Now we let him out as much as he wants during the day, and he's happy to roam around the back yard. We still aren't comfortable letting him out at night yet, but of course that's when he really WANTS to go out. I'm sure he still has old cat buddies in the neighborhood, because his former owners just live up the street from us.

He spends a lot of time just sitting at the doorway, sniffing the air.

The weather so far this year has been so weird. We have lived in Cedar for a total of almost 8 years and usually Nov-April is wintery. (Yay, us.) Springtime can be cold and windy and snowy, with little dashes of pleasant weather in between. Last year we were in a deep freeze for most of January and February, where the temps didn't crack above freezing for weeks on end.

It has been in the MID-SIXTIES this week. Whaat??! I know most of the US has been dealing with all this polar vortex junk, and snow everywhere, but in the meantime we have been having temps way above normal these past couple of months. I am not complaining. This is the type of weather I grew up with (and usually miss desperately this time of year). The kids have been loving it this week with all the snow melted.

 

 We even have crocuses in bloom and tulip and daffodil sprouts coming up!

 (Last three pictures courtesy of Madelyn). Luke has been so happy to play outside again, and I've been so happy to not have him glued to the computer and TV all day.

I don't think we're going to go straight into spring/summer without it getting cold again, but it's encouraging to be halfway through February already.

 Short recap of Valentine's Day because I don't know where else to post about it: The kids both had class parties AND got chocolates and cards and candy from their parents. They were thrilled and super hyped up on sugar.

Madelyn's been putting her easel to good work. She is a sweetheart.

I was very impressed that she was able to sketch these Angry Birds just from looking at a picture!

 "Can you find all the pigs? By Madelyn." :)