Updates...

Here are some updates about us and our most recent "happenings".

Jackson was completely potty trained, day and night by the end of DAY 5. Yeah, not 3 days, but he is only 28 months... and he is a B-O-Y. So, I feel like we did pretty well. I still remind him throughout the day, but he has been SO good at telling us when he has to go. No more diapers; never done pull-ups, etc. Hurray! Saving a little money one potty-trained kid at a time ;-)

Kate: is still working on her first tooth... it's popping up slowly but surely. Poor little thing has finally showed some signs over the last 2 days that teething really is painful. She's such a smiley trooper though. We just love our little Baby Kate! She is speed crawling/gorilla walking everywhere, goes from sitting to standing and back in the blink of an eye, and talks almost all of her waking hours. Kate is getting more and more confident each day walking, but still has a little bit to go (we think).
Parker and I have been busy trying to get our house in order for the new paint and flooring. We tore out the old (STINKY) flooring and scrubbed every last wall, appliance, fixture, switch cover, you name it, we scrubbed it! (Thank you to the inventors and distributors of 409--we bought the huge jugs & refilled our spray bottles--and that nice lady who gave the suggestion to use 409 on some website that was included in the results of my Google search. Worked wonders!) Then, we taped up the inside to be ready to apply the first coat of primer/sealer.
Also, we weren't able to recruit family to help this time, but did have the help of some good friends who definitely deserve to be named and applauded for their RIGOROUS, LABORIOUS, and STINKY work: Thank you to Maurine, Andrew, Jordan & Rachel!
We would still be scrubbing if it weren't for you guys! Thanks for making the trip and for all your hard work! And thank you to Jordan for putting your life in danger just to clean those 'hard to reach' places!
The kids have been SO patient through all of this. They already love to go to "the stinky house" as Jackson calls it (hopefully, he stops referring to our house as the stinky house after we get it looking like a new house... and doesn't stink anymore). The yard is fun to play in and the neighborhood has great sidewalks to ride a 3-wheeler and stroll a stroller. That's what we did tonight while Parker applied primer to the inside of the house. We're making some progress little by little. It's late and I'm exhausted, so that's all for now. I will have to add pictures later and include the ladder saga that continues to unfold with the owners/inheritors of the house we're buying... kind of funny.