What in the world!?!?

Do you ever clean your house and find something that you never even knew you had? You kind of look at it and wonder, "Where in the world did this come from?". For me, this happens from time to time. It's typically some small Happy Meal type toy or other junk that the kids have welcomed into the house to join the things I need to clean.

The other day I asked the kids to pick up all the toys they had out so we could get going. Ten minutes later I come back in the room to see that while they are clean, they are taking their sweet time doing it and since we're in a rush to get out the door, I decide to start helping. I grabbed the bucket and began throwing action figures and other small odd ball characters into it. Two handfuls in and I find this toy

Okay, this is new.  So weird, creepy baby lost in thought doll. Am I right? I'm thinkin', "Man, he's ugly. Who actually thought he was cute enough to buy?" and then throw him in the bucket. As he falls, face first, I notice something else about him...

it gets better...

Why? Oh, why! Is this disgusting doll in our house?! No one knows where he came from and now my kids think he's too cool to keep him from where I want him to go. Ah. The joys of being a mother.

Home Sweet Home

Well, we did it! We FINALLY bought our first house!

We started funding the house last Monday and got the keys on Tues. When we first moved to California starter homes were well over half a million and we had to wait patiently for the market to move into a zone we're more comfortable with. Twice we saved for a down payment and twice we had to use it to pay off unexpected medical bills (NICU bills for our little preemies and well, Daylon). Anyway, when we moved back to California in the end of December, we moved in with my parents to start saving immediately and started looking for a house. We've known for the last couple years that we wanted to live in Lake Elsinore and we were lucky enough to snatch up a house in the Rosetta Canyon area. We LOVE the area. We put in offers on about 12 other homes and the giant bidding wars were beginning to drive me nuts. I guess everyone wants the good houses- I don't know why. :) Anyway, when the interest rates began to climb we realized we needed to change our tactics and we decided to go with a smaller house since there's less competition(in Lake Elsinore the price difference between a 3500 sq ft house and a 2000 sq ft house is about 10k. Mello Roos and special assessments is where the price adds up. Gotta love CA. ). The neighborhood is absolutely wonderful and the schools are top notch...which after our disappointment in Vicentia, is just what we were looking for! I am soooo happy! I love our cute house and can't wait for all the memories we'll have in that house. Yay!

We've been painting a few rooms and moving over the last week. I'll post pictures of the inside once we're unpacked and set up.

I know I don't post here a lot ...and when I say "a lot" I mean, hardly ever, but I have something I need to put out there.

I think I may have made a mistake.

Let me explain. Two weeks ago, my only pair of black dress shoes that I brought with me to Minnesota broke. Like broke, broke. There's not enough Superglue in the world to fix them kind of broke (not that I've ever superglued my shoes... I don't think...). They were 12 years old, so I'll cut the shoes some slack, but come on! That means I need to drag my kids out shopping. Not just any kind of shopping mind you, but SHOE SHOPPING! Ugh. No carts. Lightening McQueen crap everywhere. Those dumb glittery red shoes (Seriously. Who buys those Dorothy shoes for their kid?) that all three of my girls will inevitably ask for at some point during the trip. Not just merchandise, but open merchandise that's set up in nice rows reaching down to the floor for the tiniest kid to see...and touch. Did I mention, no carts? Anyway, I put this off for as long as humanly possible, naturally. Well, the day has come. Tomorrow is the Memorial service for Bella and I have to read part of this poem, so I should probably skip out on the black dress with brown strappy sandal ensemble. You know I'm being 100% literal when I say , it is such a blessing that today Brian was able to go shopping with me (That's a side note, I'm just counting my blessing). He waited in the car with all FIVE kids...he's seriously studly in my book...while I ran for my shoes.

I'm in Payless Shoes ( I know. I shop fancy.) scouring the shelves as quickly as I can for some black shoes that are three things:

1. cute



2. I can cram my foot inside



3. looks like my foot's not crammed inside

Not a whole lot to ask for in my book.

I did it! I found this great pair of black heels and were actually kind of on the sexy side. These days (more like the last 7 years) I would never try to pull off these shoes and go with something a little safer. They reminded me so much of something I would have worn when I was single and with self esteem (LOL! Just kidding) that I had to get them! Why not? I'm not dead! I deserve to have cute feet! Right?!......Plus, I'm in a hurry.

I get home with my sexy black shoes, excited for tomorrows wardrobe, and slip on my new shoes one more time. Just givin' them the ol' test run!

So.....I'm remembering a couple things now:

1. I'm 5'7 and Brian is 5'10. There's a reason no heel on my shoes has exceeded 2 1/2in. in 7 years.



2. Single Woman: Walks one foot directly in front of the other while sucking in your gut to keep balanced and staying focused on posture and smiles. A Mom: well, she moves forward when she walks, balancing a tot on one hip and is known for making sudden lurches to save falling cheerios and children darting into the parking lot. As far as sucking in a gut...all hope of that left after the c-sections started.


3. My body was lost in the transition to motherhood. I'm still looking for it. I'll keep you posted. Let me know if you find it. It has my face on it, only thinner and with make up. Also. It's about 5'10 due to the heels it's strutting around in.

One last thing I remembered: the service is on a lawn. Nothing like having to consciously lift each leg up out of the grass to walk. I'm gonna look g-e-o-r-g-e-o-u-s!

Now you see my mistake. Pray for me because I'm pretty sure I'm gonna eat it.

Grandkid pictures

Keira

Caleb

Violet

Sadie

Daylon

Elizabeth

I tried to send an email out to my parents and siblings of the DLC grandkids but it wouldn't send. I'm having to resort to blogger! Sorry for the inconvenience!

Big News

Well, Brian and I have decided to come out with our big news! There's a Bone Marrow Transplant program at the University of Minnesota that was FDA approved in November. They've opened the program up to include Junctional EB kids 25 and under. We've been working with them and it now seems that Daylon is being considered a candidate for the transplant! We found out last Friday that Caleb is his IDENTICAL match!!! So far things look really good and we're so excited to have some hope for our sweet little boy! We have a consult in Minnesota on the 25th so we'll keep you all posted!

Welcome!

With enough pressure from our friends and family, we've finally decided to join civilization and start a family blog! Just like most blogs, we'll take you along with us for the crazy ride of our life! There are the occasional interesting occurrences raising five young kids five and under! Buckle up!

I just got some pictures back from Keira's and Caleb's Birthday party. We had a few people interested in seeing them so we decided to start there. Things have been a bit hectic around here the past few months so Keira and Caleb had a joint Curious George themed party. Keira turned 5 (if you can believe it!) and Caleb turned 3! The kids had a good time so our mission was accomplished! Brian even made an appearance as "The Man in the Yellow Hat". It was such a hoot! 10 bonus points for Brian! I can't believe he agreed to it! Grandma snagged a couple of candid pictures of the kids during a cotton candy sugar high! The kids were so ready to crash by the end of the day !