busy, busy, busy

yes, that's right...i've been busy. nathan started his job last week and i've been his secretary at home getting things ready to roll. this new job was exciting and fun until i realized what it really meant for me......laundry and ironing. they're back with a vengance. when nathan was traveling i'd do a load on the weekends and that was it. when he was at the warehouse i'd do more, but no ironing....bliss i tell ya! now it's ironing with starch! i'm beginning to rethink my position on the new job.....nah! i really am pumped that he started and that the next leg of the journey has begun. he's done a great job of studying and now he has to retrain his brain...but he's doing great.

connor has been down and out for the past few days. at first i thought it was just some outside allergen bothering him...then it unfolded into a wicked cold. poor little man has to be feelin' like crud, but he has been a trooper. i'm sure he'll be fine very soon, but as for now his nose is running like a sieve and his head sounds horrid. surprisingly, his eyes and nose are one of the only things giving him away today. he's got to be majorly stuffed, but he's still playing and acting 90% normal. yesterday he was super snuggly and plopped on the couch for a long time, but he's been very good. i'm so thankful that he seems to go with the flow. for a baby that's pretty cool.

he got a way cool slide, thanks to grampa and granny b keeping their eyes peeled at garage sales. they dropped it off saturday and i was really excited to get it put together for the little man. monday was babysitting day so i had the kids play in the backyard and i took the pieces to the driveway to wash it down. it was pretty dirty since it hadn't been used in years and it was just sitting in some guy's yard. the spiders had seriously taken over this thing. i'm talkin'.... the 'burbs were overflowing and condos by the slide were going for $250. so i sprayed, washed and rinsed all the walls, the slide and bench. it only took me a little over an hour considering i had to stop a few times to help the girls and stop connor from eating the dirt....yep...all boy! i had to get lunch ready so i let the pieces dry and i headed back out to put it together during nap time. i was hoping to get it together and go back inside for some quiet reading time before naps were over. i should have known. the pieces were numbered so it didn't really look that hard. that's the thing about kids toys. they NEVER look that hard. but you just know that the guys in the factory are typing up the instructions and then one jokester says, "hey, let's leave out step two. that would be hilarious!"
"yeah, and let's label it 'some assembly required' just to throw 'em off."
"oh...oh..oh! i know. we should throw in a couple extra bolts, too! that'll knock their socks off!"

see, they know that american parents are slightly out of shape, and somewhat brain dead when it comes to assembling kids' toys. so watching us sweat is just their version of comedy night done right. i'm sure there are teeny tiny cameras installed in those toys, so when a parent gets started a buzzer goes off and they all come to the monitor to watch.
"oh, boy! she's going for step two!"
"hahahahaha! she is TOTALLY confused! look at all those bolts!"
"who's got the popcorn?"

thankfully, this slide wasn't THAT bad. but it's big and bulky and awkward. and i was trying to do it by myself. i could get the pieces into their correct slots, but i couldn't always get them to snap into place. (really, this thing couldn't have been easier to put together, but the size of it made things difficult). so i got the bright idea to get out the sledgehammer. so there i am whipping this beast around, smacking my son's toy slide with all my might. i got all four walls into place and then realized the slide and bench had to be attached before the final wall. oh, boy. so i start whipping the sledge again. the stupid thing wouldn't come apart so i've got the box on it's side and i'm standing in it with my back holding up the wall while i try to smack it out of place. yeah, it was pretty funny. i wish i could've seen it. did you factory boys get a good laugh??

there was no way i was letting this thing beat me. and there was NO WAY i was letting nathan come home to see it in five pieces in the backyard b/c i couldn't figure out how to do it. i got it done and the kids loved it. connor is still too little to climb up on his own, and his stool is about two inches shy of giving him the boost he needs to crawl up. i'm sure the summer will be all the time he needs to grow tall enough for it. he really does love the slide though. i'll be sure to get some pics next time we're out there.

for now all i have is this video of connor's sick day. i was just watching it and realized what he was saying. at one point i was asking him which blanket he had, expecting him to say 'airplane'. but he was saying 'erica's'. now i get it....i had the pink sheet that erica uses for naptime and that's what he thought i was asking about.


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