Renovation Realities, Part I: No Turning Back

For 2 years we've been talking about renovating our kitchen, and FINALLY we are going through with it! I am completely in denial about what this means for the next 4-6 weeks, but for now, I'm super excited.:)  Demo began on Tuesday, so we had to clean out the cabinets and relocate the contents... to our dining room. Please excuse all the booze at the forefront of this picture.  We really aren't heavy drinkers; however, we may all be hitting the bottle before this is over with!

This bad boy is full now...

Our new little makeshift kitchen.
Seriously, what were we thinking?

This would be the first thing you now see when you walk in
my back door. So, about that booze... 

We walked inside and caught a glimpse of, well... nothing!
Goodbye ugly cabinets, countertops and backsplash!!

Hello holes in my walls...

God bless our contractor for leaving my sink and oven in tact
though. He has little ones too, so thankfully he "gets it"! :)

Pray for us people!  We need it!

Valentine's Day Weekend

Last weekend we headed to Georgetown to celebrate Ryan's grandmother's 75th birthday!  It was nice to have a long weekend to visit with family and celebrate with Grandma! Avery and I made heart-shaped cupcakes for the party, and Mommy & Daddy had time for a little day-date too!

Avery & her Great Grandma!

Anna, her snack (Pa's famous trash!) & Great Grandma

Taking a walk with Great Grandma...

Avery teaching YaYa First Position

The weather was beautiful, so we headed outdoors!

Anna & her cousin Ginger on a wagon ride

Boompa wanted to go for a wagon ride too...

Sometime over the weekend Avery became a daredevil... 

look closely - she's up on two wheels!

Flying up the hill with Daddy!

Poor, poor shoes met their match.  

Gravel + Plasma Car = Very Large Holes

Looks like we'll be headed to Target soon... Avery already misses her "gwey shoes". :(

All Good Things Come to an End...

Last night we went to a Super Bowl party at a friend's house, and Avery had a great time playing with the older kids.  When it was time to leave, she was really sad (typical when she's having fun!).  Daddy was loading up the car while Miss Angela was giving Avery a pep talk:


Angela: "Avery you can come back soon to play! Maybe next time you won't even have to bring your mommy and daddy with you!"


Avery stopped pouting for a second, looked up at Angela and said... 


"...but I can't drive??"

"Snow" Day!

Hope everyone is enjoying their "snow" day as much as we are!

13 Months!

Happy 13 Months!

Somebody was awfully sleepy though and ready for her
Mama to stop taking pictures:

Oh Mama... enough already.

- Big news!! You are officially a walker now! You took your first steps on Christmas Day, but you waited until the day of your 13 month birthday to really take off! (Ignore the fact that I am posting this a good two weeks late!)


- You are totally off your bottle and have been for a couple of weeks now. It was tough on you to give up your morning bottle, but the rest were no big deal!


- You have a few tricks... "How big is Anna??" and you'll respond with both hands high above your head! "How old is Anna?" and you'll show me one tiny finger (this one is less consistent!)! "Give me five!" - so fun!


- You like to stack things on top of each other (bath cups, tupperware), fill up containers and then dump them out, and you are trying hard to put lids on things too.


- You like to give me a heart attack constantly - every time I turn around, you are standing on top of something...

- You are such a little carnivore! You eat everything very well (tomatoes we have found are not on your list of favorites), but you will always pick out your meat and eat it first...


- You have moved up a new class at school. :( You LOVED Ms. Cherie (and so did Mommy) - we were lucky that you were able to have her for 8 months! You have adjusted well to your new class, and you are transitioning to one nap a day at school. You aren't ready at home just yet, so you are still taking 2, 2-ish hour naps / day.


- You are still in 12-18 month clothes, but you are getting very close to 18-24! Most of your pjs are 18-24 months. I can't believe you are getting so big. :(


Love you!

One Year Pics!!

Monkey See, Monkey Do...

The morning of Anna's birthday party, she woke up not feeling quite herself. She was lethargic and had no interest in her bottle... not my girl! So, daddy loaded her up and took her to the doctor...

This doesn't look like a girl that had a double ear infection AND bronchitis, does it!!?

Thankfully after a dose of medication and a breathing treatment, she was a brand new baby who wasn't ABOUT to miss her first birthday! We were thrilled that she perked up in time for her party, and despite warning all of our friends that she was sick - they all came anyway!

Not quite sure what to think about that candle!

Testing the waters...

She's all in!

Whoa, that's some good stuff!

Here's a peek at more of the action:

Thanks to all of our sweet friends and family who came (and those who weren't able to - we still love you too!) and celebrated Anna's FIRST birthday with us! I can't believe my baby girl is ONE!