Kitchen Update

One more room is finished.  We LOVE the new floors...they make such a huge difference.  As you can see in the "before" pictures, the old tile in the kitchen wasn't even laid straight.  You can't really appreciate the bad color, how deep the grout was, or how it looked dirty all the time.  The flooring guys said it was one of the worst tiling jobs they'd ever seen. So we're so happy with the new floor--it makes the room so much warmer.  I had to take pictures at night so it's not as dark in the kitchen as it might at first appear.  Here are the before and after pictures:  

Bathroom Update

 I know, I know...bathroom pictures are soooo exciting.  But it's one more room that's almost done (after we do the paint touch-up).  Here are the before and after pictures:

First Day of Preschool

The preschool we had signed up for finally started the Monday after Thanksgiving.  Grant was very excited and bouncing off the walls on the first day.  He seems to really love it and we're so thankful.

Birthday

So the flooring people started working on the downstairs on my birthday.  We tried to be gone as much of the day as possible, then hung out upstairs for Kate's naptime.  This is how it looked the evening of my birthday after I found and uncovered the table and chairs.  

 They actually got the entire kitchen and laundry room done that day.  We love it!  It's so dirty in this picture.  I'll post the finished product soon.

The whole week we ended up going to bed by 8:30 every night since there was nowhere to sit.  :-)

Play Doh

"Look, Mom--it's Jabba the Hunt!"

For My Mom

I keep saying that I'll post pictures of our house, but haven't taken many yet.  Here's the family room...it's the only room that's painted and mostly done.  I'll post more pictures in January after the floors have been put in and the rest of the walls have been painted.  :-)

Halloween

We moved into our new house a few days before Halloween, so we got to trick or treat in our new neighborhood!  It was a lot of fun getting to meet all the neighbors.  Grant wanted to be a bee again this year (which made things a lot easier) and so we thought Kate should be a ladybug to go with him.  She ended up staying home with Daddy, answering the door, while Grant and I trick or treated. 

At the end of the night, all was quiet and I found these two in the kitchen, sharing a little drink.

Mr. Caterpillar

Grant's been finding lots of cool bugs in the backyard.  Yesterday he found a black caterpillar and Kate got to examine it.

Kate Kate

Don't you just want to sqeeze her?

Kate's New "Crawl"

Kate is getting much closer to walking since we got her a walker.  She's finally figured out that she needs to get her little rear end up in the air in order to stand up, but she hasn't figured out how to coordinate that with her arms.  The result is this funny new crawl.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZFCXZgek8I

Doctor's Visit

Both the kids had appointments with the doctor yesterday.  Last year's picture of Grant's checkup was quite sad, so I had to be sure to update with this year's picture.  Quite an improvement!

 This one is really blurry, but I love how you can see them both smiling.  I couldn't get another one with them both smiling at the same time.

The smiles lasted all the way until the shots.  Then there was just incessant screaming.  I think they were glad to see us leave.  On the way out we ran into Grant's new preschool teacher, so that helped make his day a little brighter.

Chillin' at Lowe's

I love how when you have little ones, a simple trip to Lowe's for boxes is an adventure.  We tried out lots of chairs and benches and then got to watch a forklift in action.

Glamour Girl

Kate LOVES my sunglasses so when I saw this little pair in her size I had to get them.  She smiles so big when you put them on her.  :-)

Kate and Grant in the Car

I shot a very rough video of Kate and Grant in the car while we were at a long stoplight.  Yet again, she's demanding food from Grant.  Yes, it's a very common theme these days.  Hopefully soon I'll remember that you're not supposed to hold the phone sideways while doing a video (which is why it's such a skinny video)...oops.

Typical Dinner Prep Scene

 Sharing a banana

 Kate, cheeks full of banana, realizes she's taken her last bite and looks for more food

 Kate sees that Grant still has some banana and demands he give it to her

 Grant turns his back, trying to protect his snack so she tickles him

 She's sure if she works at it, he'll give in

 GIVE ME THE BANANA

 After a banana and a half, she had some pasta.  Good thing Grant was done by then or she would've insisted on eating his as well.

Kate's 1st Day Crawling!

What I Get to Wake Up To

Somebody Found the Snacks

Kate is starting to really feel at home.  She knows where the snack bin is and I found her helping herself to some raisins.

Fun with Dad

Hanging out...Nate put the play fruit basket on Kate's head and told her it was an "eating hat."  Her love for eating outweighed her dislike of things on her head.

Giving Daddy a kiss

Everybody loves Daddy!