Happy Birthday to Alec!!!....and remodeling fun....

So, my 2nd baby turned 6 yesterday. 6 years ago, he wasn't even due for another 3 1/2 weeks, I had a long and scary labor, where he didn't tolerate ANYTHING, and they were getting me ready for an emergency C-section when he finally turned his head enough to be born. It doesn't seem like it's been 6 years.
He was so cute. We had 2 parties...the first was on Sunday night, and we combined with my niece and my brother, (Gracie's B-Day is on the 11th, and my brother's is on the 12th), and had cake and ice cream, and presents. Alec was so funny...he kept...screeching is the best way I can describe the happy sound he made. Screeching "thank you" after every present. Then, on Monday, his actual birthday, we had a little party with Cole's side of the family. Alec loved his presents, and we really had a good day.

In the midst of all that however....

Our remodeling has started. Cole ripped out the carpet, the tack strips, ripped off all the moulding, and layed down a subfloor in our front room and hall (so far). I was so impressed with how easy he made it look...he measured and cut the subfloor like he'd done it a million times. Kyle has been helping haul in the plywood, marking where we need marks, etc...he really does a good job.
Indy thinks he's a dog, I swear...here he is either eating the tack strip, or trying to drag it off in his mouth...and this morning he went down the air intake vent, so he spent the day locked in the basement(which made him crazy, apparently).
I thought I uploaded a pic of Cole's Dad's truck, piled high with our boxes of Pergo...but apparently not. I almost had a mini panic attack when I realized the scope of the project we're undertaking...That pile of boxes there is less than half of what we bought...The front room and hall were all primed and ready when Cole dropped me off at work...and I'm informed that the color I picked is currently on the walls...I can't wait to get home and see, and take some pics.

That leads us to one of my unpleasant surprises today...Cole's car had safety and emmissions due in June. The "Check Engine" light has been on, but we've known that the stupid gas cap sensor is broken. We weren't sure if it would pass Safety or Emmissions. So, we were finally able to get it in today. Apparently, it's going to cost us $900.00 to get it fixed. We've now put more money into this car than we originally paid for it, mostly to replace stupid sensors, although we did spend $3000 on a new transmission 5 years back. However, since we don't want another car payment, it will have to get us through 1 1/2 more years, until my car is paid off. Then we can try to get something for Cole that won't eat a hole in our bank account.....

With all the chaos in my house (although Cole's doing a very good job trying to keep the mess to a minimum), and all the family drama going on, I feel emotionally spent and very irritated. Mindy, I feel bad about your contest, but I just can't commit to it with all the stuff going on right now. I know I'm going to feel really, really bad when I actually see pics of the prize.....