November continues and we have had lots of fun and adventures as usual. Hailey and Emi are loving the potato sandbox. Although trying to get them to keep the sand in the box is impossible and our whole patio is now covered. Kids will be kids, as long as they are having fun. 
We continue updating the house. Paint is a big game changer. The house was previously a rental house for a management company and everything was painted white. Bland and white... We have had a hard time deciding on a color because the floors are brown with red tones. Joel wanted to do a grey on the walls, but I didn't think grey would work. We had a paint consultant come out and look at the house. With her help and a wheel of colors to hold up to the wall we came down with a couple colors that we liked. Agreeable grey- it has a slight reddish brown undertone. City Loft-a light creamy color that compliments the Agreeable Grey. By putting both colors in the room we can balance out the light and dark walls and make it look really nice without many people realizing there are two different paint colors there.
Now just because we have the paint colors picked out and a gallon of each paint, that doesn't mean I've gotten it all done. I usually get a wall or section done each week...or month. The next project that I've been wanting to get done for a while is to recaulk the bathtub in the master bathroom. There is black, either mold or dirt and junk. It was time for it to go, especially since I want a clean looking area if I decide to labor in my bathtub.
November was my birthday and usually we don't anything big to celebrate. Joel has been looking for pearl earings, but thought they had to have a particular backing on them. Those backings make the piece expensive. I found a pair of larger pearls that I liked and Joel had the perfect birthday gift. Simple yet elegant and something I'll wear.
Being pregnant this time around has been interesting since Hailey and Emi are old enough to understand that they have a baby sister coming. When they were born, they were so little and nothing registered. They have come to all of my prenatal appointments with our midwife and love Tiffany. Emi loves to help Tiffany find the heartbeat. Sometimes they have babies in their bellies and we have to listen to their heart beats as well. That has been interesting because each girl has a different tone and beat to their hearts. I love the laid back environment of the office. It's not sterile like other Dr offices. It's like walking into a yoga studio/crunchy mama store. Tiffany's office has a couch that she uses for most of the appointments. There is a traditional Ob bench, but it's tucked behind the door and I've never used it for more than a place to set my purse. There are pillows and pads and it's been great because sometimes after preschool and the long drive, Hailey or Emi are asleep and they can just lay down on the pillows during my appointment.
The rest of the month has been spent playing of course. When I get Emi down for naps and sit down to my sewing machine or serger, Hailey usually asks me to make her some type of dolly clothing. That really tests my abilities but she's always happy with the outcome, no matter how imperfect it is.
Back in August, my serger started having problems. I took it to a service place here in town and they couldn't really fix it. I made a trip up to Grandpa and he looked at it and didn't have much hope. Partly because we just couldn't get parts anymore for my old machine. I told my mom and she kept her eye out for me. She called and said she was at a sewing convention and had found a serger. I looked it up and what she had found wasn't quite what I was looking for, but I asked if they had other machines. We narrowed down that I already knew which machine I wanted...now to find it at a great price. Well... they had a price that I just couldn't beat. The next problem was how to pay for it. It was $800 less than what I could find locally here I still had to pay for it. Mom said she'd float me the money, and I had a serger on it's way. Birthday and Christmas present all in one. With an expensive serger just hanging out on the table, I figured I better make covers for them to keep little fingers and dust out. Joel and I have both had fun tinkering with the machine. Joel wants to learn how to use it which has been fun.
With all the fun that came, we were excited to have a mellow Thanksgiving. We didn't go anywhere. We didn't have anyone over. We didn't even cook the turkey on Thanksgiving day. It was still frozen in the deep freezer. We had ham. :) Once we finished the ham, we eventually cooked the turkey. It has been nice keeping things mellow and just enjoying our small little, yet growing family. Hailey liked the look of the big turkey leg but when it came to eating it, she found she doesn't prefer dark meat. She likes the white meat. When we cook our turkey, we cook it upside down so the white meat doesn't get overcooked but comes out super juicy.
With two days left before November ends, Emi made sure it was eventful. We were putting lights on the Christmas tree while Daddy was at work and all of a sudden Emi starts freaking out and scratching at her nose. I calm her down and ask what the matter is. She tells me she has a ball in her nose! I eventually calm her down and find out that she's stuck a poof craft ball up her nose. Joel was at school and I couldn't seem to get it out. I called Joel and he came home but there wasn't much we were able to do. We debated... Do we go to the hospital, the urgent care, hope it comes out on it's own, wait till tomorrow and go to the Dr? What do we do? Eventually she calmed down and fell asleep. We figured that if she can fall asleep and breathe that we would wait till tomorrow.
Tomorrow came and I called the pediatrician and they said they couldn't do much but I should take her to the ER. I knew that the ER was a long wait and expensive. I found an ENT on our insurance and called them. Luckily they had a pediatric ENT and they would work us in as soon as we got there. The paperwork and waiting took longer than the actual visit with the Dr.
I held her tightly so he could look at her, but in order to get the ball out for safety reasons we had to strap her on a boogie board. I swaddled her and held her as the Dr used a suction tube to find the poof ball and then a hooked instrument with a nasal speculum to retrieve the ball. Emi was not happy but felt much better after everything was over. She got a sucker on the way out and it was almost as if she had forgotten the whole thing ever happened.
