Sacroiliitis

That is the name of the problem with my hip. I went for some ultrasound treatments awhile ago that seemed to help, but I really think it would take at least two treatments a week for who knows how long to get the problem under control. I stopped the treatments, and for a short while I felt better. Here is where I'm at now: constant pain. CONSTANT. My hip gives out on me sometimes and it just hurts a lot. I really like to work out, but if I want to work out now I HAVE to take an Advil about an hour before or I'm in too much pain. This makes me feel depressed, and one of the things exercise does for me is to alleviate my depressed mood. I feel stuck. So, I'm going to start taking this seriously. The chiropractor said that if I do not get help for this thing that it can cause a lot worse of problems, like degeneration and arthritis. Umm, how old am I?? Oh yeah, TWENTY SIX! Here is a link to some info about this thing:
Sacroiliitis Definition

Sacroiliitis Causes

I'm going to be making an appointment really soon to my family doctor in hopes that some physical therapy will be covered by my insurance. The treatments I was doing at the chiropractor where not covered. I hope I can get this taken care of soon!

We're going somewhere!

So, stuff on the house has really taken off the last few days(only to probably be put on hold AGAIN tomorrow when we are expected to get 8-12 inches of stupid snow! GRR!) Brent was able to put in the window to our new dining room and we installed and put the first stain on our pantry. I LOVE the way the pantry is going to look and it will be SO NICE to have the extra storage. So, here are some pictures. They're out framing up the mudroom/laundry room addition as I type this! YAY!
The nice hole in our wall before the window was in:

Here is what they found as insulation around the window in our bedroom when they went to replace it on Friday. I think I'll wash it up and wear it to church;)
A pretty recent pic of the outside, except now all the siding is off and its all tar papered.
Temporary look of dining space:
Pre-pantry:
Installed:
After a coat of stain: We've got one more coat of stain to do and then some poly.

We had a birthday party for Matty and Callie this weekend, since Callie's was postponed earlier due to us having the flu. It was really neat to get all the cousins together. Here are some pictures from that:

I thought it was cute that Matty pushed Callie on the car:
And Gma Debbie and her grandkids:
I must brag some about my awesome and wonderful husband. There is NO ONE I'd rather be remodeling with than him. He is so patient and level headed, not to mention very talented and handy. I really appreciate all the hard work he has put into the house, not only now but since we've bought this place. He is so hardworking and I appreciate him very much!!! Thanks, baby!

Destruction

We decided to get started tearing into our entry closet to make that area our new dining area now that our back steps are unusable. The boys had a LOT of fun hammering the sheet rock. Tate broke his little hammer he was going at it so hard. I was sure to state the fact that this was the only time they are to ever hit the walls with hammers. Hunter enjoyed it so much that when we got back from Kid Stuff tonight he immediately asked Brent what they should start tearing apart next. Here are some pictures of the mess:

I'm baaaack!

Whew. That is the only word to describe the last few days. I had an overall good time in Iowa, but it was showered with a few disappointments, one of which was that I got the flu on Saturday and spent the day throwing up instead of having fun with my parents. Luckily, they were able to watch the kids while I rested, so that was SO NICE. I couldn't have handled them on my own. But handle them I did as I drove home yesterday. I hadn't kept but a couple things down Saturday night, so needless to say I was pretty weak going into the trip home, but I felt the prayers of those praying for me! The kids did great, we only stopped one time for ten minutes(I was going to stop another time, but they had all just fallen asleep, so I kept on going). I hit all the green lights and had no delays, so it just worked out great. I made it in a record time of just under 6 1/2 hours also! And I wasn't speeding(well, I went five over, but almost everyone goes five over.) I enjoyed meeting wonderful Zane, he's such a good baby. I hardly took any pictures, but I did take this one:
And here is a picture of Callie on the boys chair, something she likes to climb on now:

They were able to get, in my opinion, a lot done on the house. All but one of the new windows are in, the door(although there is a flaw that a rep is coming to look at this week) is in, and, as it turns out, we decided to add a little bump out where the chimney had been so that when we go to get a new fireplace we can get one of any depth. I think this will add a nice visual look to the side of the house. We've changed around the layout of the mudroom addition to be symmetrical to the roof lines of the bump out and the house. I really can see a visual in my head of how its going to look and I think we'll like it a lot!! They also got a lot, I think most, of the electrical upgrade done. It'll be nice not to blow breakers every other day anymore! I feel like I'm in a fishbowl since we have no blinds or curtains on the front windows, but that is just fine for now. I will hopefully be getting a couple pantry's this week to start staining. I can't wait for that(esp since I stopped and stocked up at Aldi in Iowa!). Here are some pictures of the work done so far:





And now, I'm going to go rest b/c I AM EXHAUSTED!!!

Me trying to park a car...

Parking Lot Disaster @ Yahoo! Video

Thankfully a good samaritain stepped in and saved the day:)

Progress!

I can finally say that something is being done about the exterior of my house! I am smelling a burning smell right now, which is the equipment trying to thaw out the ground for my new addition! The steps have been torn off, and things are going to take off from here! The kids really enjoy watching the work going on out the window:

Speaking of windows, they should be coming into town today, and Randy's going to start installing them next week, hopefully along with the door. I am excited to leave and come back having things changed!

I think I'll post the before pictures when I can have after pictures to go alongside them, but here is a picture of our hideous exterior before he started tearing the steps off:
And here is an explanation of the addition stuff:


Tate dressed himself all the way today(in Hunter's pants, though!)

Pictures

We have had cold and snow the last two days and the kids and I are getting weary of it. Big time. We did a lot of different activities yesterday. We went on a "shape hunt" in each room of the house finding the different shapes in things. Then we traced around some shapes I found and colored them in with watercolors.
Then Hunter wanted me to take out the drawers under the bunk bed so he could go under them with a flashlight and look for stuff, so he did that.
After nap the boys were bouncing off the walls and it finally warmed up past zero, so I sent the boys outside for awhile. Callie really likes watching them from the window, so I put the highchair up to the window for her to look out at them. She liked it a lot and sat there saying, "Hunter!", "Tate!"
Speaking of Callie, at the current moment I can see 5 little while pokes of teeth popping through. She's pretty uncomfortable from it and has been waking up in the night again.
I imagine she'll pop them through while I'm driving by myself with the kids to Iowa. The kids have always seemed to be teething while we go there! We're leaving for my sister's place on Monday morning first thing. Our contractor(Randy) is coming tomorrow to start tearing out our steps, siding and chimney. He'll(hopefully) be putting in the windows and doors while the kids and I are gone next week. The weather has put a damper on the work he'd planned on doing this week.