Wednesday, May 28, 2014

impromptu photo shoot (15 months).



















15 months:

Sometimes my favorite pics are from completely unplanned "photo shoots".  I mean, you aren't even wearing pants, so clearly I didn't intend for these to be your 15 month photos.  We were having such a great time playing in our bed, I was so happy to have the camera only a few feet away.  You kept playing peek-a-boo with the comforter and trying to stand for more than a few seconds before I knocked you down with tickles.  Hearing you giggle makes my heart want to burst :) 

Every day you learn or do something new.  It's hard to keep up!  You are like a little parrot and say everything we say... New words include: REALLY, potty, bite/bike, sit & hello.  In your favorite pumpkin book, you even know how to say "oh my" at the correct time while we read it to you.  We are working really hard on your ABC's and numbers... So far you can do B & D and when we count, it goes like this:

Me/Daddy: One
Henry: DOO
Me/Daddy: three, four, five
Henry: SIS
Me/Daddy: Seven
Henry: ATE!!!
Me/Daddy: nine, TEN! 

It impresses us every time :)  

We have also had a few anatomy lessons.  You can accurately locate my nose, your butt, your hair, your toes and your belly button (and it goes beep).  Animal sounds are also in your repertoire: the frog goes "ubbit-ibbit", the cow goes "moooo" and the fox goes "ing-ing-ying" (we have watched "what does the fox say" at LEAST a thousand times... no joke)

You are obsessed with berries... raspberries, blueberries, strawberries... And avocado.  I think you could eat an entire one in a single sitting.  The normal "kid" foods are still questionable (hot dogs, pb & j etc.) but you will totally put down a nutri-grain bar & ask for MO.  

We bought a toddler seat for my bicycle and that is definitely going to be our new family hobby.  We are teaching you to say bike (sounds like bite) and to go "weeeee" when we ride.  Getting you to wear the helmet wasn't easy, but you were good to go once we started moving.  


It is going to be the best summer, I can already tell.  Sounds silly, but I am so thrilled to have a back yard to play in, grill out & catch some rays.  Such a great change from our past apartments! Our newest outdoor toy will be on the next blog post :-)

Happy 15 months, Henry!  


Tuesday, May 20, 2014

a month later (14 months).










14 MONTHS:

Nothing like forgetting about the pics I took on your 14 month birthday... it appears I forget a lot lately!  I have to try to remember what all you did during that month b/c it is blending together with what you have done this month :) 

You are OBSESSED with going to the park.  Every day, all day if you had your way.  Unfortunately the weather can't decide if it is going to be spring or still winter, so trips aren't as frequent as you would like.  You learned to say ying-ing, which means swing and you will look out of our bedroom window and repeat it over and over... and over.  Bye-bye and NO are still among the favorites.  You walk around like a champ, but are still getting used to uneven ground & changes in terrain.  

I redid your closet doors and put up curtains instead and you love peeking through and yelling BOO.  Not only do you love your shoes, but you can very clearly state shoo and proceed to find the nearest pair to bring us.  Anytime we put shoes on, you know it is bye-bye time and you get very excited.  

We took our first trip to the fro-yo place and you were more interested in the spoon than the actual frozen yogurt.  It was ok though, I ate what you didn't :)  While daddy was on a trip, we painted a big chalkboard on the door in the kitchen for you to color on.  Again, you ate the chalk, but I know you will love it eventually.  

You are seriously growing like a weed and every day is a new word & adventure! 

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

house renovations (9 months later).


When we first looked at this townhouse, we knew right away it had a lot of potential.  Darin and I have the exact same style when it comes to houses and decorations- we knew we could get everything we wanted in this house.  We put in an offer and got into a bidding war with another buyer... and unfortunately they ended up winning.  We looked at more houses and were totally bummed we missed out on the one we fell in love with.  A couple of weeks later, our realtor called us because the other buyer's loan didn't go through and the owners wanted to offer the house to us before putting it back on the market.  We were SO excited and immediately put in our offer.  A month later we were signing the papers and officially bought our first home together.  

Luckily, we had 4 weeks of overlap with the apartment & house, giving us plenty of time to paint, replace flooring etc.  Darin and I are not exactly contractors, so everything was a new adventure... buying tools, learning how to paint, replacing fixtures etc.  It was a lot of fun and it was also a pain in the butt.  Thankfully we had family that came up and helped us tear out tile, replace all of the lighting & take care of Henry.  I wanted to replace EVERYTHING.  New lights, new door handles, new outlets, new appliances, new floors, new paint, new baseboards... you name it and I wanted it to be brand spanking new.  This became overwhelming and we spent a lot of very late evenings working on the house while poor Henry slept in an empty bedroom so we could work.  We had tons of snags along the way, but I cannot even believe the difference we made.  It is so rewarding to look back on the old photos and then look around the living room to see what our hard work, sweat and tears did.  

We are almost done with everything... I plan to paint the kitchen cabinets and the third bedroom & laundry room still need fresh paint and decor.  Those will have to wait b/c we are a little worn out!

Some of the photos might not look great... I took them from the realtor website.  Most are pics I took though :)


Living Room - BEFORE...











Living room- AFTER!









    Powder Room- BEFORE...                                                        AFTER!




Kitchen-  BEFORE...












Kitchen-  AFTER!









Dining Area - BEFORE...




Dining Area - AFTER!









Patio-  BEFORE...


 and AFTER!








Spare Bathroom - BEFORE...


and AFTER!





Henry's Room - BEFORE... 
(the ceiling was the same hideous color as the walls, yuck!)


AFTER!








Stairwell - BEFORE...



AFTER!







Master Bedroom/Bathroom - BEFORE... 
(these walls still haunt me)





annnnd AFTER!!!