On the Move

Colby started walking a little later than most at around 14 months. At first he kept toppling over because let's just put it out there and say that he's just a bit top heavy (which I absolutely love).  But once he got the hang of it he took off running.  Seriously though.  The kid can run!  Shortly after he learned to walk he took his first adventure to the mailbox.  Not only did he walk the entire way there and back (probably a good quarter mile) but he kept up with his older brother's pace.  I was amazed!  This kid was an experienced walker right out of the gate.  Colby loves to explore and he does it with a huge smile and lots of giggles. Here are a few photos of our little man about a month after he started walking, nice and steady on his feet.  He had a blast with all the animals at our preschool trip to Fiesta Farms.

A Few More Changes

Some might say that Matt and I have a problem.  An addicted to remodeling kinda problem.  I won't disagree that we love to do home projects.  It may in fact be our number one hobby at the moment.  But now it's time to find a new hobby.  I'm happy to say that the remodeling, as in the tear out walls, move electrical, cover the entire house in dust type of remodeling, has now come to an end on our current home.  With two little ones its just too much mess to deal with (honestly there are no more of those major projects left to do either). I feel out of sorts during it all.  I obsess over the details, try to keep the kids out of the way, never find the time to workout, and pretty much feel like I'm neglecting my children.  By the end of each remodel I'm so relieved just to have it over.  Although I will say that its worth all of that for the end result of having a home just the way we want it.  Plus I have an amazing husband who works extraordinarily fast.  Over Christmas we made big changes in our master bathroom, laundry, and baby's room in about 8 weeks.  Then shortly after completing that project we moved right into the expansion of our second story, which took another 4 weeks.  It's been a crazy Winter around here!

Here are a few photos during the project.  They really don't do it justice because it was a really ugly bathroom with clam shell sinks, brass fixtures, peach tile everywhere, and a tiny little shower where my new make up vanity is now.  We took our previous closet and transformed it into our new double head shower (we could literally fit the whole family in there!), and busted through the closet wall where the double doors are now and used the baby's room as our new closet and laundry room.  I absolutely love it!

During the bathroom project, I decided to take advantage of the mess and make even more of a mess by painting our entryway, dining room, and stairwell a lighter wall color than the rest of our house.  I was hoping that it would feel more welcoming than the previous color and I think I accomplished that.  I also tackled painting our crown molding (which had been looming over my head for at least 6 months) and ceiling.  You may or may not know that I am the family painter.  Pretty much every wall has been painted at least once, if not twice since we've moved in.

I forgot to mention that we spiced up our dining room with a tray ceiling, brick wall, and a new light fixture for some added glam.

Finally, is our upstairs expansion.  We were able to add on an additional 700 square feet with this one.  It's pretty amazing how much untapped space there was up there.  Matt could envision its potential through all the insulation, AC ducts, electrical, and plumping that covered the "floor" of the attic.  I don't think anyone else would have looked at it with so much excitement as Matt did.  Quite the talent I say.  So what you see in the picture below is the doorway that enters into the new space.  To the left is a huge food storage closet and full bathroom.  Straight ahead is some toy storage. And to the right is a massive guest suite, with a cute little nook (my favorite part of the space) that can fit a queen sized mattress for additional sleeping, and our guests very own 42" TV (Matt's excuse to get a bigger TV downstairs:), and more storage.  We had some fun switching it up with the Natural Acacia flooring too.  I love all the pattern.  It's perfect this space.

And last but not least I was able to score some new living room furniture out of the upstairs addition.  I finally feel like a grown up now that I have a real set of living room furniture.  The black chairs are my favorite.  I like to think of them as my Mad Men chairs.

Now that all the big projects are completed we can add all the finishing touches.  Now that's the fun stuff!  It makes me giddy just thinking about it!

Surprise!

Matt and I got an unexpected surprise this past January...We're pregnant!? "What?! Really?!" I was in shock when I saw the positive pregnancy test.  Should I cry or start freaking out with excitement?  When Matt got home from work, I told him the news with little to no expression on my face, still not sure how to feel about it all.  He was equally shocked and then immediately smiled and said that this was great news.  I was so relieved that he felt excited and confident about it.  At that moment I could feel the same. Allow me to briefly explain the reason for my initial feelings.  Just a few months prior Matt and I made the firm decision to wait another year before trying to have another baby.  We immediately started planning out a year of fun family and "adult only" vacations.  It was going to be a great year of relaxation and enjoying our two little boys.  Well apparently our plan was not God's plan for us.  I definitely have my doubts about what I am capable of handling, but God must know that I am capable and that's what brings me peace about having 3 little ones at home for two full years before Rylan goes off to school.  This may be the toughest couple years of my life, but I know that I'll look back someday and truly cherish those moments when my kids were little. It's going to be an adventure!

A Quiet Christmas

This Christmas season has been a busy one, but not necessarily busy celebrating the birth of our Savior unfortunately.  We have been distracted by our big bathroom/nursery/laundry room remodel.  In fact, our bathroom tiler stayed at our house tiling until 10pm on Christmas Eve eve.  I felt really bad about that and tried slipping him drinks and plates full of food to make up for it.  Let me just state that he stayed on his own free will (although that doesn't make me feel any better).  The workers thankfully didn't work on Christmas Eve or Christmas day so it turned out to be a nice, quiet holiday. We had a perfect Christmas Eve dinner with Matt's cousin and his girlfriend, Wade and Hannah. I served a non-traditional tri-tip dinner, per Matt's request of course, and was able to dress up the meal with a delicious mushroom and chèvre cheese tart and traditional scalloped potatoes.  I should have taken a picture of that meal so I could repeat it every Christmas from here on out.  Hannah brought her juicer and squeezed up some delicious drink concoctions.  It was a healthy and pretty accompaniment to a yummy meal.  We ended the night with a few games of Rummikub.  We spent Christmas day alone as a little family.  Although I prefer large family gatherings for holidays, I really enjoyed having a quiet Christmas with my boys.  I doubt Christmas will ever be that quiet again.  Christmas morning was the typical feel good, eat breakfast, listen to Christmas music, and open presents event.  Matt was slightly disappointed that I actually took him seriously when he asked me multiple time prior to Christmas, "We aren't getting each other presents, right?".  Apparently I shouldn't have taken him seriously.  It was all part of his way of surprising me in a big way on Christmas day.  He came to me with a brand new fancy washer and dryer.  So it was an epic fail on my part.  I'll never believe him again when he tells me not to give gifts.  Lastly, we headed to the park to try and fly kites. We failed at getting the kites up.  Is it possible that it was too windy to fly a kite?  I'll never forget Matt's frustration, and me dying of laughter watching him, as he tried getting our kites to fly.  Neither one would fly and both saw their end as they plummeted full speed to the ground and then got swept away full force into the fences.  We dumped them in the trash on our way out.  It was hilarious!  All in all, it was a great Christmas.  I wasn't good about taking pictures this year since we were in the midst of so much construction in our home.  Here are a few of my blurry mobile uploads.

Colby's 1st Birthday

How can this be?  How can my little baby possibly be 1 already? As it did with Rylan, the first year has flown too fast.  Rylan's first birthday bash was big and it was a lot of work.  More than I would have liked.  So I promised myself that I would never fall victim to the "He'll never turn 1 again" and exhaust myself and our wallet with a big party for a such a tiny tot who isn't even aware that it's his birthday.  Lesson learned.  With that said, we celebrated Colby's birthday with a modest trip to Chic Fil A for lunch and a peppermint shake.  Colby devoured his meal and of course slurped that shake right down without a problem.  Happy birthday to my happy boy!

Halloween 2012

I know I said this last year and I'll probably say it every year for as long as we live in this neighborhood, but the Terraces is like straight out of a Halloween movie during Halloween.  Hundreds of kids of all ages and parents walk the streets trick or treating.  Many neighbors decorate their homes to the max, play scary goblins, and some even serve hotdogs and popcorn from their front yard.  I love that it feels so safe too. This year has been all about the superheros for Rylan.  He had to choose between his Iron Man and Spiderman suits for the big day. He chose Iron Man and played the part well.  I found it only appropriate to choose the lion costume for Cobly's Halloween outfit, seeing as he plays the best lion I've ever seen.  He was by far the cutest lion on the block.

Our Family