The Kirk's - Boys-R-Us!

A Fairly Productive Weekend

More Painting Projects & A Special Blessing For Pierce

Room Two Down - A Hall and Dining Room To Go!

So after my success with the office I was so excited about painting the rest of the downstairs that I couldn't wait to get started. I had an idea of which colors I wanted in which rooms so off to the Depot we went & got the paint sample cards - which if you haven't stood in front of that wall of colors in a while it can be time consuming. Well that, and when you are there you grab three colors that you swear are the exact same just with different names then you get home and wondered what you were thinking picking such an awful shade. OK back to the story, so upon returning with my color choices, I began attaching them to the walls in their respective rooms and then I made Dave come to each room and help me choose the final color. Kind of like when you deal with your toddler, you give them a few 'choices' (you know, pre-selected options that you are fine with no matter what they choose) because Lord knows if you gave them unlimited choices a decision would never be reached or who knows what they would pick. And since I know Dave pretty well, I know that he has the patience of a toddler when it comes to standing in front of the color options so I picked what I thought would be nice and then he finalized the colors and I have to say he did a GREAT job!

Later that week while we were out and about running errands we happened to be in the same area as another 'Depot and we went in to get our paint. I figured since I was already there I may as well go ahead and get all 3 gallons no sense making that trip twice. They were running behind at the paint counter, so luckily Kaiden, Pierce and I are really good -well maybe good is pushing it, I'll say experienced - at sitting and waiting, so we found our way to the patio furniture section, picked a pretty sofa to try out and we copped a squat. Kaiden enjoyed some grapes, and chatted on Mommy's cell phone to both Daddy and Grammy while I fed Pierce a bottle and smiled politely at all the passers-by who thought we made a cute addition to the section (I'm sure it was more the boys than Mommy, but we were a package deal).

Saturday Work-A-Thon

So one of the things that just about any Mom can tell you is that once you have a baby you always have some project on your agenda. Now most of us can get (and HAVE) gotten a lot of projects started but it's the completion of said projects that always seems to be the problem. The project could be as simple as unloading the dishwasher or as involved as painting a room, or cleaning out a closet or maintaining a blog. And the interruptions could be anything from a phone call, to a crying baby or simply that you walked in a different room saw something else that needed attention and Motherhood induced ADD sets in and off you go to something else completely abandoning your first project. That is, of course, until an hour or a day, a week or a month later when fate takes you back to the site of that first (abandoned) project that you even remember you started it, and of course that is also when the guilt or frustration or annoyance, depending on which day of the week it is, sets in that you didn't finish. . . . I said all that to say that I started working on rotating the boys closest at least five weeks ago. We had taken a trip to the outlet mall I had gotten new summer appropriate gear for both boys and was editing out all the too hot for summer stuff. Of course in both rooms I got to the point of making piles of both clothes - thumbs up and thumbs down piles- and hangers and that was about it. So Mom agreed to come sit and chat with me while I worked, to try and help keep me focused and keep the Mom ADD at bay, and of course she volunteered to scower the boy's bathroom which I was more than delighted to let her do. I am happy to report that we finished Pierce's room and I'm now about 65% in Kaiden's room.

Then once the boys were fed, changed and down for their naps I decided to go ahead and paint the kitchen. I couldn't wait to see it with it's new color, burnished copper (I think) and to feel like I got another project accomplished. I believe I began painting the trim around 2:30, when done right trim is VERY time consuming! Probably around 6:00 I was a little over half way done with the trim - there were lots of door ways, mouldings, windows and cabinet fixtures- so at this point Dave - who kind of hates to paint - volunteered to help 'fill in' the walls and although I had originally wanted to do it myself (I think I've been hanging around Kaiden a little too much - me do-) I was all too happy to have his assistance. Even with Dave's help which he was very fast, I didn't finish the trim until around 9:00'ish when the pizza guy showed up with dinner. At which point I quickly washed off all painting supplies and was so proud to have completed the kitchen and eat hot pizza that it wasn't until Sunday morning that I realized I had forgotten completely about the wall around the window over the kitchen sink - which to this day still hasn't been painted, I'm hoping to finish that remaining section this weekend and maybe start on the hall.

Before. . .

After. . . .

A Special Blessing For Pierce On Sunday

Our church parish is an absolutely amazing, supportive and caring community. And although we haven't been able to attend service regularly we have been in pretty constant communication with them about how we're doing and of course how Pierce is progressing. Towards the end of the week Father Keith, who did Kaiden's baptism classes and performed his baptism, sent me an email inviting us to come to Sunday's service because it was going to be a special 'healing' service. They understand that we have to be restrictive about where we go and who we expose Pierce to, especially this close to his surgery, but they wanted to make sure we knew it was happening. So I discussed going with Dave and we decided to go ahead and attend and we would just make sure to ask people not to touch anywhere near his face or hands - babies are irresistible to people, especially when they have a full head of dark brown hair so I was OK if they patted his head or tickled the toes but everywhere else was off limits!

Since the service was right at the same time as Kaiden's nap Dave stayed home with him which was fine because although they have a nursery at church we also have to be restrictive of where big brother Kaiden goes and who/what he gets exposed to because obviously he could infect Pierce as well. So I asked Mom to come with me, which was great because she and I took turns holding Pierce. After Communion you could step to the side and have a special blessing and prayer of healing for yourself, or a loved one so we got in line and as luck (or fate) would have it, Father Keith was available and was able to pray over Pierce for his well being during surgery and a speedy recovery. It was a very nice service, and I am so glad that we went with something as big as open heart surgery - especially in your little three month old - all the extra prayers and blessings you can get are very welcomed.