More name talk...

Elijah: Mommy! I thought of great names for our two baby brothers! Adam and Asher!

Me: Wow, buddy, those are great names! Where did you hear them, from the Bible?

Elijah: No, from Worlds Toughest Fixes. You know, the Atom Smasher? Atom and Smasher! Smasher is a really strong name...

Me: *can't stop laughing *

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Elijah selfie and says...

Found this picture on my phone. Selfies by Elijah! And a quote:

Yesterday I was explaining why we needed to clean his ears (something he hates.)

Me: If we don't clean your ears, you will have wax and dirt buildup and won't be able to hear well.

Elijah: That's OK. I can make do with my sense of sight and smell.

Haha! Funny that I had just explained the reason for sign language... :)

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Cute

Tonight Eva was sitting in my lap when she turned to me and said "OK I lay down my baby brothers?" She wanted to put her head on my big belly. Cute!

Our new room

Although we love our house here in ABQ, there was never really a good spot to have an office. A small complaint, but one that kept popping back up. First we tried having an office in our bedroom, then downstairs, then in a corner of the garage, then no office and have our laptop on the couch, but every time it just didn't quite work out. At one point we got a free quote for adding a room to the back of the house, but it was fairly expensive. One idea we had was to make a room where our loft was in the living room (where there was a double-high ceiling.) This was by far the most practical solution as all it involved was building up the half wall that looked down to the first floor, and adding a floor. We just never got around to doing it as it was a major project and we loved our house. In October we had some good friends visit us for the balloon fiesta and they were sharing about their home renovations. It inspired us to move forward. So one night I just went and got my hammer and ladder, climbed up to the wall and knocked my hammer through our drywall... there was no going back!

The next step was to remove as much of the drywall around where the floor was so I knew what was behind it so I could design the floor. At this point I didn't really know what the structure was behind the drywall so didn't know what was the best way to build the supports. 

Eli and Eva loved the construction project going on at the house and loved to watch me rip away the drywall. We had to be sure to tell them only Daddy was allowed to put a hole in the wall. In the below picture, all they needed was some popcorn!

Then we found out we were having twins... which put an extra fire under us to get the project done. In a way God had given us the desire to move forward on this knowing we could use the space, prior to us freaking out about having two at once!

After clearing away the drywall, the next step was to put the floor joist up. Some good friends were gracious enough to help out and we had almost all of them up in one day. Unfortunately, we ended the day off by putting a nail through a copper pipe, but the upside of that is I now know where to shut the water off to our house!

By the next afternoon I had the pipe fixed and was able to finish up the last few joists. 

Here's the finished floor joists. 

Having a lot of work to do, I decided to take the week of Thanksgiving off so I could make some progress on the room. The wall and the decking went pretty quickly as framing always does. I always find the framing to be the most fun as you see your progress quickly. 

Towards the end of the week I was able to get the drywall up. Eli loved helping me crank the drywall up to the ceiling with this drywall hoist. 

If there's one thing I hate doing it's taping and mudding drywall. This was the only part of the job we hired out to somebody and boy, am I glad we did. A team came in and in 1.5 days had taped, mudded, and textured the downstairs and the upstairs. It would have taken me over a week to do what they did in a day and it would have looked a fraction as good. 

From there I painted and put a wood floor in (with some help of course). 

Eli really began to get the hang of how to place the interlocking wood pieces. 

Finally it's all come together and is starting to feel like the project is over. We haven't hung pictures yet on the walls, but the room is functional. 

We've set up a little office in the corner. 

On the opposite side of the room, we have set up a trundle daybed that opens up to be a king-sized bed! A perfect guest room for folks who want to visit (hint, hint)! 

Although it was a long project and took some effort we love the new room and it's a great addition to the house. 

A Box for Two

There's just something about a box.
"This is the best play house ever!" Elijah exclaimed.
:)

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belly shot: 25 weeks pregnant with twins!

25 weeks pregnant with twins!

We figured it was probably about time for a belly shot... Here I am, 6 months pregnant with the twins, and about the size of full term!  This has been pregnancy at 2x fast.  

This pregnancy has definitely been different from the other two. I've gotten larger quicker, and feel strong kicks and flips all of the time.  I think I can even distinguish two different movements, which is very fun!  I get sooo tired and achy by the end of the day, but the good news is that I've been sleeping much better at night.  That has been a blessing.

Elijah's Cube Sat

When Elijah didn't come down right away after his set "rest time," I went to check on him.

"Not now, Mommy," he said. "I'm building a Cube Sat with a rocket to share with Daddy." :)

Indoor fun in the "new room"

The kids and I made an indoor "sensory" bin this afternoon... Who says you can't dig in winter weather? I've been dreaming up all sorts of ways to play/teach with this, but of course we started with tractors!! (And there was hardly any mess. Yay!)  :)

P.S. Notice this is in our "new room" that David built? We LOVE it! It made a fantastic guest room this Christmas season. All that is left to put up is the trim! Elijah prays every night that Daddy would have "strength and power to finish the new room." Glad there's some accountability and divine assistance for this project to be completed!