Holland & Painting the Kitchen

Jake's meeting on Thursday night went super late. Didn't get home till 11:30 or so. I was already in bed and pretty tired. Since Lila went to bed at 6:30, she woke up at like 3am and was up for a while, which was pretty lame.

Friday was pretty busy, trying to get things done. After Lila got up from her nap, we went to Jessica Wesel's to visit and play. Her son Jarom is only a month older than Lila, and she has a daughter Liberty (11) and son Kevin (8). I like her, she's a talker. I'm attracted to that kind of person, I guess, because I don't know how to carry on a conversation with somebody who's kind of reserved like me. (My talkative friends: Desiree, Kari, Becca, Alicia. My reserved friends: Holly, Amber, Ann.)  Lila had so much fun there.  They have two little kid bowl chairs and Lila loved those.  She and Jarom sat in them for a while and watched Despicable Me.  Lila lasted a half hour or so, which is pretty good for her.  Jarom fell asleep.  She munched on snacks too.  It was a nice visit.

Headed home and I picked up dinner on the way so we could make our way to Jim's place in Holland.  I ate a whole Whopper because I was starving.  What is it with hamburgers being so awesome when you're pregnant?  Lila ate 2 whole chicken nuggets like a good girl :)  She slept most of the way there.  I was so relieved and happy to spend some time with Jake in the car; it felt like we barely saw each other all week.

When we got there, Sarah Betzold was there (she never changed her last name).  It was her night to take Emily, and apparently they were going to Kalamazoo for the night (probably to see Sarah's boyfriend, Brendan Howard--we know him fairly well, he's divorced and has 2 kids).  Well Emily changed her mind about going with Sarah and wanted to stay at her dad's so that she could play with Lila.  Sarah and Angela explained quite a few times that if Emily did that, she wouldn't get to spend time with Sarah, etc, but Emily insisted.  So Emily happily played with Lila for a while, but probably an hour after Sarah left Emily had a meltdown because she missed her mom and wanted to be with her.  First of all, what a terrible thing for a kid to have to do... choose between parents.  She had a really hard time for the next hour or two.  We distracted her for a while with strawberries, and when she had stopped crying, she called Sarah and talked to her ("I miss you so much Mom!).  And then she was okay for a little while but then I found her in her room with a letter she'd written to her mom ("I wont you Mom!") and she was crying and upset.  So I had her pick out a book and we cuddled on her bed and I read it to her, and that was the last of her crying that night.  It was a nice moment for me... talking with her and reading to her... sometimes I feel like a bit of a failure in the mom department with Lila... her sleeping and eating habits/skills are so horrible... but when I have moments with children (mostly my nieces) when they're upset and I'm able to talk with them and soothe them, I feel so good.  Like maybe I really can do this mom thing.  I just have to remember that Lila will get older and I'll be able to connect with her on a different level someday.

Angela and I took a trip to Menards sans kids to pick out some paint for their new living room.  They're living in what used to be a chiropractor's office.  When Jim moved to Holland a few years ago, he moved into that building.  There's an office area where he works, and then there's a few makeshift bedrooms and a small kitchen.  There used to be some utility rooms and a garage, but they ripped down all the walls and are making it into a living room.  They're planning on being there for around 5 more years.  I like Angela.  We still don't have much of a connection, but she's easy enough to be with and she's a hard worker, gets things done.  She started painting when we got home.  I told Jake I wanted to be like that--just set my mind on something and do it, instead of putting things off.

The guys eventually went to Menards.  Mike had driven over too but his new (to him) car (VW) broke on the way there so he had to spend time fixing that.  They needed to move a gas line for the laundry machines.  Lila had a fun time playing around, but when it was time for bed, things got crazy.  She doesn't do well with change, I guess, and she freaked out in Jim and Angela's room where I tried laying her down.  Was scared of the room, was really upset, crying hysterically.  I took her out for a while and she played quietly, but when I brought her back into the bedroom, she just freaked out.  Jake came in for a while, and that didn't help.  So finally I just gave up and she was up till we left at 11:00.  Jake had planned on staying till they were done with the project, but they had barely started.  I asked him if we could leave and he agreed.

Lila slept the whole way home and even stayed quite asleep when Jake put her into her crib.  She was zonked.  Jake and I were really tired on the way home too.  I cried for a while because I was tired and felt like I'm not doing well as a mom.  Fun stuff.

I hoped Lila would sleep in on Saturday morning, but of course not.  She was up at 7:30 or so.  Mike had spent the night so he didn't have to drive to BC and back for frisbee.  We eventually got ready and went to Furniture Row Outlet at 10:00.  I'm so proud of us for picking out and buying a couch while we were there.  Usually it takes us a while to deliberate and shop around and be pokey.  We found one we really like, it was in stock, and only $500.  We just need to find 2 chairs now.  Lila had a lot of fun walking around the store and sitting on couches.  She especially liked the one we bought :)  From there, we picked up a twin bed frame from Craigslist for $10.  Then went to Lowe's... bought paint and paint supplies, then stopped at Sherman-Williams for a special paint brush.  Lila fell asleep on the way home but only slept for like 20 minutes.

When we got home, we had some lunch, and then Jake headed out to pick up the Lillroses' trailer and then the couch.  I tried getting Lila to take another nap, but she never fell asleep.  We Skyped with Mom for a little while.  Jake got home, Derek Thompson helped him unload our couch.  I mowed the front lawn while Jake wiped down the walls in the kitchen.

At 4:00 or 4:30, Lila went down for a nap--she was so exhausted.  So we got our paint on.  We got quite a bit accomplished.  Jake had to leave for a stake meeting at 6, but I painted for another half hour or so before Lila woke up.  She was so tired and cranky when she got up, but I didn't want her to go back to bed because she probably would've woken up super early again.  So we Skyped with my parents for a while, and then she heard Brody and Toby (the neighbor boys) outside playing.  It was the cutest thing... she stuck her head out the sliding glass door, leaning out to see what they were doing.  Then, with my mom's encouragement, she started yelling, "Bwoden!" (Brody!)  So we put her sandals on and out she went in her pajamas.  She was so happy.  They were setting up a Fisher Price trampoline, so Lila got to jump and run around on it.  She doesn't actually jump, but kind of bounces in place.  She had a blast!  It was sooo cute to see her so happy, smiley and excited.  She did lots of squealing, and Terri just thought that was adorable.  The boys finally joined her and they were jumping around quite a bit, but Lila took it all in stride and didn't cry or get scared at all.  She just let them bounce her around and had so much fun with them.  It was great.

She didn't get back to bed till 9:30, which was late for my taste, but her schedule is all whacked from Friday night.  Jake got home around that time and we painted till midnight.  Mike came over for a few hours to help.  He was bummed because Cassandra decided to spend the night with her family instead of with him.  We got a lot done again.  There are a few places that need to be painted still, but mostly we just need to do the edges again.  I love the color.  It's very soothing and peaceful and looks nice with the white trim and cupboards.  Yay.

More tomorrow... I really should get to bed.