Saturday, December 19, 2009

Update: We're in our new house and learning to love it.




So we're in our new house. Darcy and I did not end up getting sick..YET. We've been in our new locale about 5 1/2 weeks I think. I am very lucky I have a sitter who comes in M, W, F and helps me out with the girls. She's a nice girl and a college student. I'm just dreading when she gets a real job. It has been a bit of a struggle for the girls to get used to Daddy going to work every day. They ask where he is all the time. It definitely puts more of a burden on me. But, with my sitter Kayla, I do have some free time to go shopping and to tea and meet up with people. My mom was here for a few weeks too...which I won't go into, but it was rather stressful.
Kathryne stayed in California...she's in her little apartment, college life and working at the Vietnamese restaurant seem to suit her well. She even has her own little Christmas tree!

Our house is pretty good...the wood floors and taking the wall out were very good ideas. This weekend I am hoping we will be working on the bar area, get that finished off. I also plan on doing a bit of priming on the paneling. I was gung-ho about covering it up and doing something "unique" with the paneling, and now I don't care...I think paint will do just fine. With Doug at work all the time, I am limited to what can be done...the girls love to get into everything, so I can't do much when he's not here.
I love all the space, it's very pleasant and liveable. The kitchen is okay, but not great. Not much counter space at all...things are rather awkward for baking etc. The cooktop is horrible. I hate electric, as I burn everything. I have read it is safer for people with allergies though. Hmmmm.
We also decided to put our bedroom in the front of the house where the living room used to be, it's a much more pleasant and airy space than our old room. Holland has the "master" bedroom, but this will double as a guest room as it has a small bathroom. (Will have to be gutted at some point - no bath, just a teeny walk in shower). Or if Kathryne decided to go to school out here she can have that room. It has a giant closet too...
One day we will have to address the lack of closet in our new master bedroom...we have our clothes in other closets. But it would be nice to have everything together.
The other thing that is nice is having an office/study area. I would love that to be done soon. I want to put a countertop along one wall for my projects, sewing etc. Underneath will be storage and I'll put a curtain across there to hide the clutter. Then have a book shelf (or other cute cabinet) to display stuff and put my decor/craft books on. Doug will have the other wall for the desk we found and he can put his computer there and the printer etc. He'll be at work most of the time, so it will really be a fun space for me. It smells like old cigars in there right now. Ugh.
The family room is great, we put the leather couches in there and the huge mahogany coffee table. We splurged and got a 40 inch flatscreen which we'll eventually hang over the fireplace. We will put book shelves along the back wall at some point and build a bar area and eating area along the kitchen wall. Right now that space has no purpose. Having a bar space for Doug to mix drinks and display his barware will be nice. The eating bar part will be great for the girls as they get older, they can eat breakfast there or do homework. I'll have to get some cute barstools of course. I'm also keeping my eye open for an office chair for Doug. And new dining chairs. Mine are falling apart.
The weather here is very changeable. I forgot how cold 20 degrees feels. I will have to find a good coat soon. I have only been going out on sunny days and wearing a hoodie. Holland also needs a coat, as she has sprouted. Darcy can wear all Holland's old ones.
I don't like not having a front garden. It's basically an oak tree with a patch of acorned grass underneath. There is gravel all around the base of the house...which eliminates weeding, ha ha. I miss my cabbage roses terribly. I knew I would. I also miss my potato vines. They wouldn't survive here I'm sure. I do have some bulbs that need to go in asap. I got them from a cute store down the road. (There are some super cute stores around here btw.)
Well, that's all for now. Time for more coffee.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Photos taken at our El Sol house...







Empty House Syndrome

It's hard to believe our little life here is dismantled...gone in a puff...in a frenzy of activity...and then nothing. You can really see how fleeting is life. Staying here after everything is gone is also a way of prolonging the mourning...I'm really going to miss it here...this is where I brought my babies home from the hospital, where they all took their first steps (including Kathryne). So this is as close as I've ever come to having a "family" home. Nothing special by far, yet a place I will never forget, the bad memories will fade, but the good ones will remain. All the photos and events that have taken place here...we won't be able to forget.

Monday, November 09, 2009

So, we're going through it here at the old Burton-Bradford former household. I've had one six hour stretch of sleep since Doug left for MO on October 23rd. Each night I pray that we will all sleep - but that prayer has yet to be answered. Darcy does the best at sleeping, she only wakes up every few nights. Holland on the other hand wakes up several times a night, her eczema rash has spread terribly and it's keeping her awake. Then two nights ago her sniffles turned hardcore and she had a fever. Last night it was up to 103. The heat coming off of her made her rash flare up and it was non-stop for about four hours. I feel so bad for her. And I'm petrified I'm going to catch something horrible. Holland got it from Kathryne, who has been in bed since last Wednesday night. I'm also very frightened Darcy will get it and I'm afraid of her getting a fever, especially after last April when she had the seizures and went to ER (which we're still paying for).
Here I am, I expected this week to be super fun and amazing and it's going to be crap. I was going to take the girls to the park and Descanso and go see people to say goodbye. Now we'll be trapped here in the empty house with no comforts.
I'm bumming. I'm more than bumming. If Darcy gets sick this week (I'm expecting it within the next 2-3 days) then we won't be flying out on Sunday. Another delay!
I guess I'm just disappointed that I won't get to enjoy my final days in the area. The weather has finally gotten beautiful, it's cooler and kinder.
My throat is getting itchy and my eyes hurt...does that mean anything?

Sunday, November 08, 2009

MOVING ON UP



Sunday, November 01, 2009

Halloween 2009

This one is so cute!

Kathryne vying for title of donut-on-a-string eater!

Me as Julia Child, Kathryne as Lemon Meringue, Holland as Tinker Bell,
and Darcy as the cutest little punkin.

This is pretty funny, there's a "finger" dangling from Ian's hand,
right by Darcy's head...

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Darcy's Second Birthday





Happiest 2nd Birthday to my little sweatpea Darcy Rose! I love you so much, you and your sisters bring so much joy (and work) into my life!

Sunday, October 18, 2009





Thursday, September 03, 2009

Here's a picture of our new house!


S. Belview, Springfield, MO

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

WE'RE MOVING AND WE'VE GOT A NEW BANNER!

OKAY, I'M TYPING IN CAPS. YES, WE'RE MOVING BACK TO SPRINGFIELD, MO. NO, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT.
DOUG HAS TO BE THERE BY NOVEMBER 1ST. DON'T KNOW IF WE'LL BE THERE (I MEAN ME AND THE TWO LITTLE GIRLS. KATHRYNE IS STAYING ON IN CALI FOR A LITTLE LONGER...).
IF YOU WANT TO FOLLOW OUR HOUSE SEARCH AND MOVING TRAVAILS YOU CAN FOLLOW MY BLOG AT DIFFERENTDOG.COM

We will, of course, update you with our new info as soon as we get it. It's definitely going to take some getting used to, but I think we'll have lots of projects to keep us busy. And that will be a whole other story!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Summertime

Prettier color I never did see...

A pretty little sunshine sign

View from the front porch on a cool morning...

Darcy loves the water too

Resting after a long afternoon picnicking

First squash of the summer!

Doug and Holland in our new pool

Holland at her favorite place, the beach!

At Descanso Gardens...enjoying nature

Darcy isn't quite used to boys yet

Summer finally arrived a little after July 4th this year. We'd been enjoying a lovely balmy June and spending tons of time outside. It was so wonderful! Now it's gotten too hot to hang out outside, except in the early morning and late evening. I hung up some curtains out there to block the glaring sun, and I think it's helping keep the temps down!
We also splurged and got one of those Intex pools with the inflatable ring around the top, soft sided with a pump. That has been really fun. Holland is in there for several hours every day. She's also taking swimming lessons and doing really well at it! She might be swimming by the end of the summer!
Kathryne is hoping for a job...not really looking very hard, but it would be nice if one fell in her lap!
Darcy is just being 22 months old...wandering around and learning. She's such a sweet little thing, except for when she wants her bottle. She yells "bottle"! over and over.
Doug is working hard and I'm hanging on for dear life. There are a few sticks in the fire...and I'll let you know what is happening as soon as I know.
Have a great summer!

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Holland’s First Field Trip

A big day for Holland, as her preschool class went on a field trip to the California Science Center. We got the dates mixed up and didn’t realize the field trip was today. When I took Holland to school at 9:30am, the kids were lining up to get on the bus. They got back about 4:30pm, so it was a long day for our 4-year-old.

She was fine, though. Came home and played until dinner time, then played more. She finally settled down to watch Jack’s Big Music Show and went to bed.

Here’s part of our conversation on the way home from school:

Daddy: “What else did you see at the museum?”
Holland: “We saw three airplanes and one rocket!”
Daddy: “Cool! Was it a big rocket?”
Holland: “It wasn’t too big. It didn’t break the sky.”

Our Girls










test

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Okay, I feel terrible that we haven't been keeping our blog updated. But, I've been busy on my blog, differentdog.com, and it is keeping me busy. You can go there to get more updates.

Here are some recent photos of the girls and us. Thanks for checking in with us!

Friday, February 20, 2009

Any Updates?

Ha! That's a silly question! Of course, there are updates to this blog. Doug has not been blogging as you can tell, although he is Twittering sometimes, and I have my own personal blog here if you'd like to get updates more often.

We're surviving here in California. It's not easy. The summer's were killing us, but we got central air last summer and that was a godsend. It was 100 degrees in May! So, luckily for Holland's birthday we were able to huddle inside in the cool air. We'd planned a pool party picnic...but it was horrid.

I did some babysitting, just finished that actually. It was some lovely pocket money. I'm now working for my friend Diana who sells Silpada jewelry.

Oh, Darcy started walking at 11 months. She would've been earlier but got really sick for a few weeks and it seemed to delay her. She's now 16 months and very busy and learning to say new words every day. Yesterday she said "Baby", and the day before was "bye".

Kathryne tested out of high school last June after homeschooling for two years. She started classes at our local community college. She's hoping to transfer in the fall to a four year and graduate by the time she's 20! We had a huge birthday party for her 18th. She's driving. She traveled a lot last year. It seems to be her "thing".
Doug's still working freelance. We're scraping by!

Oh, Joey went to live with some friends from church. I just couldn't take him anymore. So he's the king of their house now. Kirby is good, but mostly is outside and sleeps in the laundry room.

We've been slowly working on the house. There's not much more to do really. Just finish stuff. I've been waiting for the kitchen to be done for three years! Ha ha. My patience is wearing a bit thin. Maybe we won't have to do that anymore if we move...

The girls and I have been having some allergy problems. Sick a lot. I've stopped eating a lot of sugar and just a little wheat. I also did a colon cleanse for two weeks, which I have to go back on. I lost a few pounds somehow, as I can wear the cute pants I bought right before I got pregus with Darcy. Who'd've thought!

Can't think of anything relevant right now. The sun is shining and pretty today, we've had a few weeks of rain.

Thanks for reading. Keep in touch!