Can I Hold On?

Can I just say that living in limbo sucks? I lost it today...total meltdown. I think I need to get out my frustrations by telling anyone who will read it and see if anyone has any advice.
I'm stuck in a hotel with my father-in-law and my 2 3/4 children. My hubby is away training for one month. Jed is here just in case I go into labor...to "help out". I try to get out of this hole, with the kids, every morning. Most of the time we go to someone else's house and play. Those days are wonderful! Other days we run errands. (although running errands is getting more and more difficult these days. Walking makes me have contractions and it's just too early for that). My children have regressed in maturity as they are about to kill each other. They fight all the time. I need to separate them...but at this point have no way of doing that. I can't take them exploring because I'm afraid to go too far away and don't want to initiate labor! I need to make it another 3 weeks! I'm hesitant to enroll them in daycare anywhere...because we just can't afford it right now and because I'm still in denial about Chloe's kindergarten issue. I feel like I'm losing control. I want to go home. But where is home? Oh yeah. We don't have a home yet! And all our comforts of home are in storage somewhere. I am seriously going to lose my mind if we don't get situated into a house soon. My poor kids have forgotten that they have beautiful toys too...somewhere. Not to mention clothes, games, and all other kinds of things. My meltdown was initiated by Chloe and Lily beating on each other and not listening to me. I just started to cry. After crying in the bathroom and then some more in my closet I walked out the front door. I was totally tempted to get in the car and drive away. I didn't. I sat down, finished crying, and then went back and told them to put their bathing suits on. I let them swim until almost 7PM. Maybe I just need to let them swim everyday and night until we leave this place. No, I think that's what I have to do to preserve my sanity. We just have to wait until after 3 PM to avoid too much sun exposure. I can't wait for Nanna to get here. Moms are so much better at "helping" than an old man that doesn't know how to hang out with kids for more than 15 minutes before putting them in front of the tv or computer. I hate the tv. I want to throw it in the pool! It's like the kids forget how to be nice if it's on. That and everyone forgets that there are so many other things they could be doing. My children turn into little monsters if they sit in front of the tv or computer too long. But oh yeah. There aren't too many other things for us to do here. I could go on and on...but I'm gonna stop here.

Booger Girl and More

Since arriving in Vegas, Lily has had a problem with a constant dirty nose. She was constantly sticking her finger up her nose and rubbing her face to get her hair out of her eyes. With all the dust and dirt out here, the result was this:

Chloe and a friend one day, noticed how often Lily was sticking her fingers up her nose and quickly decided to call her "booger girl". This of course made Lily cry...but it wasn't enough to make her stop doing it. It had become a 24-7 problem. We couldn't go anywhere without baby wipes! However, I finally realized that she wasn't just picking her booggers. She was lubricating her nose...licking her fingers and sticking them up her nose. So I tried using Vaseline, cocoa butter, and Neosporin. Nothing seemed to help. Then Grandpa Jed went and asked a pharmacist what he would suggest. Carmex is a wonderful thing! Lily's nose is now healing and not constantly dirty! Chloe and her friend that created the title for my 3 year old won't have the opportunity to call poor Lily "boogger girl" every 5 minutes anymore!

This is what the girls do to Sheba to help her feel more comfortable living in a hotel.

Sheba loved it. Sorry the picture quality is poor. But that dark thing on top of the pink pillow is the head of our dog. Her wagging tail is covered by blankets.

These are the first new friends we made here in Vegas. Darren is 7 and Cameron is 3. They all get along so well. Chloe absolutely adores Darren and is always talking about her "beautiful toys".

This is Grandpa Jed playing with the girls in the pool. It has finally opened! The girls no longer have to harass the people working on it anymore.

Now they harass Grandpa Jed!

Feeding Frenzy!

Yesterday we went to Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam. We fed the fish at Lake Mead three bags of cheese puffs, one bag of puffy popcorn, one bag of bread, and a half of a beef jerky stick. It was such a good time! Chloe was really good at putting the food right into the fish's mouths. Grandpa Tranquill almost pulled a fish out of the water with his bare hands. Lily enjoyed feeding herself first and then the fish. Daddy had a great time trying to feed the biggest coy fish. Mommy had fun taking pictures of it all. Next time we go we want to rent a boat! (Or go with someone who already has a boat)!

The trip there was breathtaking! Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

What I Hate and Love About Vegas

I hate that it's over 100 degrees most days and it's only springtime.

We love the sunshine! Vitamin D is a wonderful thing! Even if it's 8:30 in the AM when the sprinklers are just coming on!

I hate that it takes so long to close on a house.

I love the house we're going to get and the fact that it will cost us less per month than our rental in Buffalo! (this is the model home...ours isn't done yet)!

I hate that fish costs more here.

I love that produce is so much cheaper here. (I can make lots of fresh salsa for under $4.00)! Yippee!

I hate that Chloe can't finish kindergarten this year.

I love working with her and Lily at home. Maybe I will homeschool! .....maybe. I love the freedom we have to go and do fun things whenvever we feel like it.

I hate the gambling, nudity, and smoking on the strip.
I love some of the shows, beauty, talent, and free family activities that you can find there.
I love Chihuly glass on ceilings!
We love when friends come to visit! Carolyn is great...even though we only had her here for one day. It was awesome to have her here.

I love the fact that the church is the same here, as it is anywhere in the world. We've started going to playgroup and are making some new friends.

I love having a temple so close by. The kids sing "I Love To See the Temple" all the time in the car. We do see it from a distance quite often!

I love that we are now in a slightly bigger hotel suite. A two bedroom with kitchen. I hate that they are currently renovating their pool.

I hate that I have had so many strange lab results with this pregancy.

I love the fact that I do not have gestational diabetes!

That white sling is my prenatal cradle. I have to wear it anytime I'm doing any kind of strenuous walking or working out. (which, honestly, I don't do much of these days)! It hurts too much. Strenuous can mean standing up and walking 20 steps sometimes. I sit down or lay down whenever possible! I have to make it at least another 5 weeks!

We still need name ideas! Right now we're thinking about Logan. What do you think? Any suggestions are more than welcome. We just can't agree on anything yet!

Change In Plans

As it turns out the house we originally found was just a little too close to a pig farm. We went over there every evening for a week to smell how bad it might be. Well.... lets just say there were many nights that the girls started gagging and I got nauseous. So, we have backed out of that deal! It's too bad...it was a great house with an amazing pool...but I just don't think we could have enjoyed the pool too often. Apparently the man who owns the farm goes around to all the casinos and takes their garbage for his pigs to eat. He does a great service to the community....but man oh man does it smell bad when they process all that garbage. (or when he stacks manure really close to his fences)!
So....we have found another house....a brand new build...at a better deal. Yippee! It is actually the same floor plan that I fell in love with when I first came out here in February. We have to put a pool in ourselves....but we're okay with that. The house is great and has a guest room and bathroom on the first floor! So when you come to visit us you can even have a little privacy!
I'm feeling more at ease knowing that we will be in a house soon. We also went to our own Ward for church this Sunday and think it will be great. (There are 12 Wards in the North Las Vegas Stake...this is the 2nd largest). Lots of kids to play with! Things are slowly but surely getting better!