Category: Home

Settling in nicely

So a few weeks ago, or what seems like a week ago I posted about a shittaculer week that we had. I mean literally it was an assplosion of epic proportions. Since then we’ve rebounded quite nicely and have managed to get everyone else around us sick! Well, maybe they got themselves sick, but either way it seems that everyone is now falling victim to the dreaded mud butt.

Enough about that… This December has FLOWN by. But I reckon that’s the way time usually goes. When your in the weeds things may seem to drag on and weeks never end and you have “the longest day ever” syndrome, but when you look back there’s always the sense of “where has this month gone?!” That’s the case with the past few weeks around here. And now, its two days before Christmas and it seems like just yesterday was Thanksgiving. That doesn’t mean we’ve not enjoyed ourselves this holiday season. It really has been a great month and we’ve adjusted well to living in the new house. It just seems like things are more accessible. For example, I’ve had two work holiday parties in the past few weeks and had we still lived in Hampton I would have most likely bailed on both of those. Now it seems like work or downtown is a short drive from here and hanging with co-workers for the holiday parties is doable.

And its not just getting to/from downtown, its everything else as well. I mean if we need to go to the grocery store, Starbucks, Target or to do some shopping out and about, its accessible. Its just very easy living where we do now. We even managed to host a Christmas/holiday party and have people show up! City folk that would have otherwise never ventured to our home had we not lived within close proximity to civilization.

So thats that. Its been a swift month and looking back, a crazy year. 2012 is coming to a close and we’re already planning far into 2013.

Next level productivity

Whether it was the fact that we hadn’t done shit all week or it was some sort of voodoo magic in the air, but man we knocked it out today! This morning BLT was all trying to kick things off as if it were any other day by waking up at 5am. No one wants to be up at that hour on a Saturday. We quickly squashed that by taking him over to my mom’s house. She agreed to watch him for the morning so we could get some stuff done around the house for a change. The goal was lofty, but we were up for a challenge.

Ever since moving in we haven’t had the time or energy or care level to move the rest of the stuff from the basement/garage to the attic. After all, we now live in the equivalent of a three story house. Factor in the trip up the ladder in to the attic and that was not something we wanted to get all up on. Today, however was different and we got everything that was to be stored moved up and that was that. Granted it took a trip to Home Depot for some boards to put down for flooring, but that was a minor setback.

After all that was done, we proceeded to do some more organizing the basement in preparation for the gym equipment that was going in down there. Have I mentioned that we’re doing Tough Mudder in like 4 months?! Eek! We were all getting pretty hungry so we decided to go grab some food and pick up the youngin’ from Grammy’s.

Back at the house and Lane went to bed so we could start in on decorating the rest of the outside of the house. Nothing quite like having the family outside decorating and just having a grand time. Most of it we were able to get knocked out before BLT woke up, but the last piece was a huge ass wreath for the upper middle window on the house. Luckily it was a simple hang out the window two stories in the air and put a nail in the window frame kinda procedure.

Someone had to get out there and hang this wreath!

The day got a little crazy after that and JT kinda went rogue, but we found her.

Mom went crazy

The rest of the day was spent finishing up some other chores like installing the second IP Camera, a trip to Hobby Lobby for some supplies to make Chase’s school play outfit, dishes, etc. Basically, we got shit done.

Oh, and two other things. First off our gas oven can die for all I care at this point. I mean, I love cooking with a gas top range and all but that oven is bajank. Its too small and always burns shit. We’ve tried adjusting the temp and time and all manner of things but no matter what everything we cook is always either burned or not done at all. I miss my electric oven. Secondly, a carpenter I am not, and I am also not the handiest of mans on the planet. But despite that fact, I’ll give it my all. Those boards in the attic are most likely not up to any sort of code or whatnot, but hey, they’ll hold our stuff. And the ice maker line that I installed tonight, despite me doing it exactly correct the damn thing still leaks. Not from anywhere that I connected, but from the actual shut off valve bit. So I’m now going to have to call a plumber and get them to tell me its going to cost a bajillion dollars or tell me that I f’d up and did it wrong… which I’m fairly confident that I didn’t.

Ok, that’s all I had. I’ll most likely post something again tomorrow or at the very least in the next few days. For now I’m gonna go get in the bed with my beautiful and amazing wife. Bam!

The week that never ended

Well, I mean eventually it ended, but damn this week was a pain in the ass.

When I say “pain in the ass” I literally mean it when it comes to what we’ve had to deal with this past week. Lane, Chase, Jess, and I all have had the doom stomach sickness. It started with BLT puking in his bed last Thursday night and rolling around in it all night. He proceeded to throw up again all over himself and highchair Friday morning. Then Saturday, it hit me like a ton of bricks, or a ton of feathers, either way, I was down for the count. JT was a trooper and took care of Lane and I… that is until she got smacked with the black death around 3am on Sunday. Now we had a baby that was recovering from being sick, Jess feeling the effects, and me doing my best to hold it together. We thought our lil’ guy was on the mend, that was until he lost the contents of his stomach all over again.

We went into the weekend with such high hopes, even visited the local farmers market in search of fresh produce and such. But it quickly turned into a festering pool of dispair and unmentionables. Surely come Monday we could kick it into over drive and plow through the week.

Oh, my bad… I must have been thinking of some other week. Jess was still writing on Monday and had to stay out of work. Since she was mobile for the most part she stayed with BLT and Chase and trucked on through the day. Got the sheets clean and windows open. Things were looking up and by Tuesday we were all back to work/school!

BAM! In your face good mood! Tuesday afternoon turned out to be probably the worst, or at least second worst day of the week. For starters Lane is getting to the point where he just LOVES to hear him self babble and yell and blow raspberries and spit out his food and… well, here lemme show you.
Lane in the car:

Lane “eating” dinner:

This is what Jess has to put up with for upwards of 3 hours a day JUST in the car. She gets home before me and has to try and get him fed too. That’s just insane. Anyone else’s kid and they would be out back with the coyote. Yeah, we have those now apparently too. I mean bajeeze this kid is loud. Any way, she puts up with this and has a splitting headache on Tuesday only to find out that she does not have a key to get in the house. So now she’s suck outside of her safe haven with a fussy baby, a hungry 10 year old, and a migrane. Damn you Tuesday, you suck worse than the whole weekend combined.

So Wednesday rolls around and its rainy and we’re running late in the morning and this weeks in the shitter, but we’re gonna push on, right? Well Wednesday is my usual work from home day and I am usually able to get work done because the fam is off at school/work. Well Jess has asked me to keep Lane home with me. Admittedly I was somewhat of a turd and didn’t want to keep him. I wanted my peace. ME ME ME!! That’s totally not fair to her at all, do you remember the videos? So stomped my feet, pouted like a little girl, but kept BLT home with me. We made the best of it, I put on my big boy pants and I got the majority of the work I needed to do done. By the time Jess got home I was needing a break just as bad as she did on Monday.

Whew, time for a breather. We had dinner, watched Survivor, and did our best to just be calm for the remainder of the night Chase had to go to the bathroom a few times, but honestly that was nothing new since he really chew his food as much as he inhales it. What we didn’t realize was that it was the precursor to the mudbutt.

Thursday morning and we’re getting ready to head in as if it were any other day and SLAP! Reality hits us in the face. JT calls me to come to Chases room where we are greeted with a delightful crime scene art project. This kid has some how rolled over in the middle of the night, and blew chunks from the top bunk down to the white carpet below and went back to sleep. I mean, hot dog bits mixed with ketchup and vegetable soup. It was literally a 4 foot splatter radius. I don’t think he ever even knew he did it. Earlier when I said that Tuesday was the second worst day, it was second to this. There was simply no way that JT or I would be able to handle this day alone so we both elected to stay home. She watched BLT while I went to the store to rent a RugDoctor.

The rest of the day was spent tending to a sick Chase and a fussy Lane. Oh and working and cleaning the house and doing other chores and you know… living. The afternoon wasn’t that bad and we even managed to squeeze in a family walk, which is good considering we’re doing Tough Mudder in like 4 months.

So we made it to Friday and just as we’re on our way out the door Lane’s baby sitter texts and says that her grandson has the stomach bug. WTF?! Can we not escape this damn thing?! Now we have OTHER people’s kids preventing us from simply having a normal day. Well, we decided to take Lane to the sitter and she would just quarantine the sick child in another room. Whether or not that work remains to be seen and I’m sure if anything comes of it we’ll be cleaning it up in the morning.

At this point the house is pretty much sterile, the carpet is pearly white, the family is happy and resting and we have a game plan of attack on the leaves and duties of the house tomorrow. Grammy is gonna watch Lane while we move stuff to the attic and deal with the leaves outside and then its shopping and decorate-fest 2k12 all over again!

This week has been a bitch, but we pulled through so far. There’s still two days to go, but I feel like we can make it. It’s not the worst this family has ever been through and I’m sure we’ll deal with this sort of thing again. We’re better than little things like puke and yelling babies. We can pull through the strife. We’re the Snipers! Its what we do.

Oh, and in case you were curious how our Friday night went, this should give you a good indication.

Moving on up!

The Château de Turner

In lieu fo going back several months and doing all sorts of updates, I’ll simply use this day as an opportunity to move forward, or in our case… north!

Let’s go back a few months. This summer was a hot one. The heat was unbearable, there was nothing really awesome to do around the house, and the Turner’s had a few misfortunes that set things back. All this coupled with yet another year in the ever shrinking house that we were occupying and we started to feel a little out of place. We always knew that we would be moving at some point. After all, our family is growing, but the house we’re in as well as this town are not. Like I’ve told many of our friends, this one horse town doesn’t even have a horse anymore. So as the months went on we perused through listings of houses, dreamed of bigger spaces for our kids and better overall surroundings to continue this amazing family.

Fast forward to about a month ago. I reached out to a real estate agent that helped me sell my old house back in Powder Springs (thank God she came along when she did) and enlisted her to help us track down the perfect house. Well, low and behold it only took us about 3 weeks and we found what we thought was the house! But it was too soon… it… no, it was only October. We had a plan. A plan that didn’t have us moving until next year. Possibly not even until the school year was up. We didn’t have the savings account built up enough, we didn’t have all our ducks in a row, we didn’t even have ducks! But like any adventure, we went and walked through the house. Well… it was not THE house. It was nice, had a pool, hot tub, great area out back to entertain, decent schools, sturdy build, and some potential. But the more we thought about it, the less we liked it. This was a good thing, cause we surely were not ready to buy a house yet.

Well, that was until we found ANOTHER perfect house. Again, we scheduled a walk through and as luck would have it, this was the house. We simply could not believe what we were looking at. It was almost like that house in property brothers that they show people to kinda shell shock them into what they can/can’t afford. Well, that was not the case with this house. Not only did it have everything we could possibly want in the house, but it had great schools, a fine neighborhood, it was close to my family and a better commute for me. Granted the commute for Jess royally sucks, it was only temporary. Oh, and the price… UNDER our budget! Our agent suggested we put an offer on it that day. What?! No… this isn’t right. We JUST looked at this thing and she wants us to put an offer on it? Nah, we’re good. But, this is the house we thought. So we did. Oh a whim, we put an offer on the house!

Like any good initial offer it was lower than it should be. We didn’t expect to hear anything back for a while, but we got a call back the SAME night with a counter offer. Oh snap! This thing is really moving forward faster than we thought. Well, “unfortunately” the counter offer was still a great price and actually was about where we wanted things to be in the first place. But we through back one more offer just to see if it would stick, and as of last night, the offer has been accepted!!

So as of today, Jess and I are in the process of closing on this house in less than 30 days!!! We held off on telling people that we had put an offer since we weren’t sure if it would even be accepted. Hell, until Sunday afternoon we weren’t even considering buying a house this soon.

Its been a whirlwind past few days, but it’ll be worth it. We finally have the house we’ve always wanted. It may be several months ahead of schedule, but that’s part of the adventure. We will have Christmas at our new house. Our kids will come down the steps and see the tree lit up and Santa will have brought them all kinds of what-nots. We’ll have a fire going in our new fire place, Jess will be in the kitchen cooking me a delicious breakfast while I sit in on the couch. She’ll then clean our huge kitchen as I continue to lounge around in our home that is our very own. When the kids have wore themselves out from playing with the toys, or simply pooping in Lane’s case, then Jess will make us some lunch and we will watch some TV in our living room… or the huge master bedroom. Either way and no matter what, we’ll be in our new home.

This story is only just beginning. We have a few more hurdles to get over in the next few days, but that’s all part of the process. I am happier and more in love than I have ever been in my life. I have everything a man could want, beautiful and wonderful wife, 2 handsome and sweet boys, a job that I enjoy going to every day, a home for my family to continue to grow in, and peace of mind knowing that all the work over the years has brought me to this place. That it didn’t come easy and without struggle, but it happened.

Sappy bits over, back to the goods! Did you see that house?! I mean… it’s like a friggin’ mansion! Three stories, a spot for a gym, a fireplace, gas stove…. what?!!! Cooking on a gas stove is teh rox! A yard to do my yarding, a pool for us to get our swim on! Bam! Hotness!!

Check out the pics from the listing of the house. Or don’t cause I know I’ve looked at them a million times so it doesn’t matter to me!

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Happy 2 Weeks Lane!

As of tomorrow, our sweet Benjamin Lane will be two weeks old! I can’t believe how fast it’s going by. I wished and wished for these days, and now I am ready to press the pause button and freeze time for a bit. Our boy has gotten bigger and better in just the two short weeks he’s been in the world.

First, his belly button fell off! Yay! This means no more sponge baths or folding down the diaper. Just a normal (ish) belly button that’s good to go in a big boy tub! Speaking of big boy baths, we have video of his first. Let me just preface that post by saying BLT is NOT a fan of the tub. Considering his behaviors elsewhere, I’m thinking it’s because he hates to be cold….something else we’ve learned about our little boy in this short time. As soon as Ben realized that Lane didn’t like to be cold and found him some comfy, warm pjs, well…he’s been sleeping much better at night. Maybe next time I’ll put his cute little butt in the tub with me. 😉

Another thing we’ve gotten the hang of is nursing. Having a VBAC, and successfully breastfeeding, were two goals I set for myself early on in this pregnancy.  Now, the VBAC isn’t entirely in my control (well, not at all in my control), and if you read the previous posts you’ll see why it didn’t happen.  But breastfeeding I can do. And am doing, quite beautifully.  We’ve had a few bumps in the road with it just like anything else. Lane is supplementing with formula to help with his jaundice and throughout this process my supply has dipped a bit.  But, there are still several times a day when I am able to cradle my guy and bond with him in a way I never have. What I initially thought would be awkward or unnatural for me has turned out to be second nature and cathartic for my spirit. I’m hoping I can continue this with him for another few weeks….

Last to mention is Lane’s “playtime”. I’m not sure if you know anything about newborns, but they pretty much sleep all the time. ALL, the time. But over the past two weeks Lane’s favorite time to be awake is after feeding, and after a diaper change. Sometimes he falls right back to sleep, but more often lately he likes to look, and stare, and whoever it is that’s holding him. These have got to be my favorite times so far. Most of the time we just stare at each other for 15-20 minutes at a time. I talk to him, and he doesn’t respond much except with random reflexive smiles or yawns. He loves when I stroke his face or give him kisses. It’s a very easy, simple time where we get to know each other and bond in yet another amazing way.

Tomorrow Ben goes back to work, Chase is at school, and it’s just BLT and I on most days. I am looking forward to spending alone time with my handsome boy, but  also anxious about my other handsome guy being so far away. I take comfort, however, that in our experience, no matter how much space is between Ben and I…we’re never really apart after all. 🙂

2011 – Let’s review

2011 started off like any other year, with a wicked ice storm that pretty much shut down the whole state of Georgia. We made the best of it and actually had a really great time. We wouldn’t get that kind of ice/snow again for the rest of the year. I’m actually hoping that we get one again, only this time we’ll have a lil’ baby with us.

February brought us Gracie. A Great Dane that would put us to the test.

Neither one of us had ever owned such a beast. She was one of the sweetest and happy dogs ever, but damn was she a handful. After many ‘discussions’ we finally decided to find another home for her. Luckily I was able to find a nice lady that lived on a farm, a real one night the typical ‘dog farm’. Off to a better home Gracie went and I’m sure she is much happier now.

March ushered in some Spring little league for Chase. He really got into the ‘swing’ of things and enjoyed himself.

Honestly it was a lot of fun. We got to meet some new people and Chase had a lot of fun. I don’t think the Mudcat’s won that many games, but it didn’t really matter to him, he just wanted to play.

I don’t think much happened in April. Well… I mean Chase did get to go a Wrestlemania Art show, meet a bunch of wrestlers and then go to the actual PPV. Oh, and there was Tax Day. Hmm… something else happened… Oh that’s right, WE GOT MARRIED!!!! It was a wonderfully magic wedding. Everything we had hope for. I got to finally call the love of my life my bride, and it was the beginning of our forever. The honeymoon was in Vegas, and well… and we know good and well what happens in Vegas, doesn’t always stay in Vegas. In addition to finding out we were pregnant (but really what could top that) we spent the May kinda floating around in happiness and bliss.

Every summer we like to take a family vacation, and a pregnancy this year wasn’t going to slow us down. For the 2011 Summer Vacation we decided it would be a lot of fun to head to Disney! We loaded up the car and drove down to the most magical place on earth. Chase had never been and neither Jess nor I had been in SEVERAL years so it worked out perfectly. It wasn’t easy for Jess with the heat and the walking plus being pregnant, but we made it. It was a great vacation and a birthday I don’t think Chase will ever forget.

The rest of the summer went on by, carrying with the ups and downs of being pregnant. We found out we were having a boy and man, that made me excited. I was the last male Turner and to be able to continue the name, meant a lot to me.

As August rolled around we started getting read to go back to school, and doing just normal family things. Chase was doing great and really getting into the spirit of being an older brother. He was helping around the house and he just felt a little more grown up. October would creep upon us before we knew it and in addition to me getting a new car and turning 32 it started to really sink in that I was going to be a daddy, very soon.

Between Halloween and right now it’s all kind of a blur. It’s as if time sped up and didn’t really wait. We had our first, and second baby shower and started getting the nursery ready. Baby clothes, diapers, wipes, toys, bottles, all of it started coming in and every time we would get something new it would sink in just a bit more how soon this bundle of joy would be here. Lane’s nursery looked fantastic and in no time at all everything was in its right place and we could start getting ready for the holidays.

Baby Lane's Room
Baby Lane's Room

Our Christmas tree was up BEFORE Thanksgiving, and the house was all set and ready to go. We made our rounds to friends and family. Did the gift exchanges and then it was Christmas day at the Turner household. I couldn’t have asked for a better holiday season. My wife was glowing with that baby glow, Chase was happy and doing all the big brother things and I was doing everything I can to make the house and my wife ready for this baby.

In contrast to the rest of the year, this past week has been filled with lots of taking it slow. Everything we could possibly do to be prepared for Lane, we have done. The bags are packed, the car seat is in, clothes washed and put away, house is secure, etc. You name it, we’ve done it. Now all we need is for Lane to come home.

It’s been such a wonderful year. I’m sure I left things out, but it’s all good. They say that the first year of marriage is the toughest thing you’ll go through other than the 9 months your wife is pregnant. Well, I’ve done both at the same time and I’m more in love now than the day I got married and I don’t see signs of this ever stopping.

That's my boy!
That's my boy!

Thanks for all the memories 2011, but it’s time for 2012!

~SB

Laziness and leftovers….

This house has been pjs, leftovers, ps3 playing, and complete laziness for three days now. It’s been SO nice. I’m not sure when the next time will come when we have so little to do. Maybe Xmas break…unless lil BLT makes his arrival earlier than planned!!

Also, when you’re sick of leftovers, create something new! Tonight we had white bean turkey chili and mashed potato cakes and they were perfect! Back to work and school tomorrow. I’m hoping chases fever will break tonight, and the next 18 work days will fly by and be nice and calm. 🙂

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Happy Thanksgiving!

We made enough food to feed 20! Here’s the spread.

Turkey. (20 pounder!)
Gravy
Chorizo cornbread stuffing
Green beans with bacon
Mashed potatoes
Sweet potatoes
Corn casserole
Cranberry sauce
Cookies
Pumpkin pie
Butterscotch bourbon pecan bread pudding with a bourbon syrup.

Then. Sandy brought Mac n cheese, rolls, tea, pecan pie, and banana pudding.

Yup. There were FOUR of us. Chase was with his dad and my family doesn’t really gather for holidays anymore. We will be eating leftovers for days. I think all the cooking and eating has us hungover today. We been on the couch being lazier than ever, but I’ve LOVED having these past few days at home with the boys. The tree is up and the house is decorated. With a little over 6 weeks until I’m due, “chill” is going to be the word the rest of this holiday season. Though I probably should start shopping soon. !

Here’s a sneak of my sexy husband and our bird, “Tom”. Happy Turkey Day!!

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Still the exception….

Some days I look around and just see sadness. Families and marriages are falling apart, health is temporary, people disappoint you and loved ones die. As I bring another little soul into this world it scares me to pieces that things won’t always go the way I hope, and all I’m doing is adding another piece to the complicated puzzle.

I know life’s never gonna be perfect, but during times when things are rough I remember my husband’s pre wedding words. “We are the exception”. He said these in response to my fears about having another failed marriage and plowing through trust issues. We are not immune from heartache or disappointment or failure. But, we are the exception because we will not let this life’s inevitable darkness break us. Not as individuals, or as a couple, or as parents.

My family is the exception. This is my choice. It’s a great place to be in as we get ready for Lane to arrive. 🙂

This zen post was brought to you by taco night, my amazing bath tub, and the number 32. (only “8” weeks left!!)