Friday, July 4, 2008

The big house.

Our house has become, The Big House.

In more ways than one. When we bought it, it was a sweet 1700 square foot house. It was cute and it stole my heart the first time I saw it. In my naivete, as a 22 year old newlywed, I thought it would be PLENTY big for us and our future children.

After Ellie was born, I realized that might not be true. I remember being shocked at how much stuff she needed. Our little house soon felt very full, and I wasn't so sure that we could fit another baby. So, when we were expecting Annie, we started an addition to our home. Again, my naieveness came into play, when I believed the builders, and thought our home would be done by the time Annie was born.

This is me and Annie in Annie's room shortly after she was born.


As you can see, it wasn't exactly done.

It was finally done 16 months later.

The next month I found out we were expecting Austin.

He was the first of our babies to have the big house to explore. Annie was never much of an explorer, even amongst the power tools and building paraphernalia. I am SO THANKFUL now that we didn't have Austin during that time!

Austin...well, you know.

Austin is the reason we have these...



Now that our house is bigger, my little turbo man has LOTS of things to get into, that he shouldn't. His two big sisters keep me busy too, and therefore he has more chances to slip out of my sight. We invested in those two gates awhile back, and let me tell you...they are worth their weight in GOLD. Of course he still finds things to get into, but for the most part it's manageable. We've moved everything we can to higher ground, or fixed it so he can't get into it.

HOWEVER, he is a very resourceful child. The other day he discovered something new. The kitchen faucet. We have an opening above the sink, that looks into the living room. Just below the opening in the living room is a couch. He climbs onto the couch, and into the opening, reaches the faucet (which has one of those pull out heads), and proceeds to douse the entire area around the sink with water. After a few times, I was about at my wit's end! The crushing blow came when he soaked everything so thoroughly, that I had to empty the drawers to dry them out. Then came my salvation...in the form of an idea from Jen. She suggested a small gate for the opening. Wow! That had never occurred to me! So, now we have....


Prison.

Okay, it's not really prison. But as you stand in my living room and look around at all the barricades, it can be pretty comical! But hey, it helps me keep my sanity in tact!

And by the way, Jen is having twin boys in a few months. So Jen, I wanted to thank you for your great suggestion, and let you know that when your boys are 18 months old, and start getting into EVERYTHING, you can borrow my baby gates.

I have plenty.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are too cute!

I may take you up on the borrowing of the baby gates.

We'll see how Tater and Tot "behave". Or maybe perhaps Double Trouble.

:)

Janelle said...

Lovely decor! I saw the prison collection in the most recent Pottery Barn catalog!

Alana said...

That is HILARIOUS, Shelley. Simply hilarious. So glad you got a pic of that for posterity ;-)

Pam said...

Oh my... that is funny.

Don't forget, my girl would LOVE to come help you anytime. I am working now (boo hoo) so she is home during the day. She could just play with the kids while you take a bubble bath, clean, scrapbook, or "go to the bathroom"! (Alana feel free to call her too!)

Jamie said...

Hilarious pictures. I am glad the kitchen is now safe from Austin's wrath.

Teresa said...

I can just imagine how Austin would've been if he and Annie had traded birth order! A house full of tools??? See, God did ya a favor! :)

That little stinker is QUICK once he gets out of the pool! I'm amazed you and Grammie could keep up with him for 5 hours! I enjoyed our time together on Saturday as well friend!

Darlene R. said...

I am laughing so hard right now! That picture is so funny. That will HAVE to go in some scrapbook so he can see it someday. Too funny.

What a little stinker!

Kelly N said...

Your gates are cracking me up! My hubby and I are getting ready to adopt and just discussed this issue with our social worker. Never thought I would maybe need one for the windows:) Thanks for making a fellow B-towner smile!