Another Ta-Da!

So the swing set is done! Okay, all besides the painting, which I need to do but haven't been up to doing yet. Andi loves it! She woke up from her nap Saturday and Thad had all the swings up and ready to go and she was so excited. . . "Momma look, momma look!" I don't know if the picture really gets across how big it is. We had to buy extra chain for the swings because they were too short. Extra chain, means extra high swinging, which of course Andi loves as well. She keeps wanting to go up on the monkey bars, but I don't think she'll actually be able to reach it for a few more years ;)


Thad's birthday is coming up this weekend and I told Andi about it. So of course she has been singing happy birthday to Daddy for the last couple of days and tells him happy birthday a couple times a day. She loves her playgroup that we go to on Thursdays, and kept asking for her friends on Saturday. She wants them to come to her house, I think because of the new swing set.

Ta-Da!

The Umbrella is finished and up! And now that I look at the picture posted in all it's glory I realize it doesn't look like such a big deal. But when all THREE sewing machines I was using were on the fritz, it was a huge ordeal, and I'm just glad it's done and actually fits.



Cute Andi pics of the week, lovin the dress up heels. What's really funny about these is that she is very coordinated in them. She can run in heels better than I can, and these things are plastic with NO tread(very slippery). Oh, and that face really was a smile originally, but it morphed into that waiting for the flash to go.


More project fun. . . we should be finishing the swing set this weekend. Putting the section with the monkey bars and swing on at least, we'll see if I get it painted. Other than that, I don't know that I'm going to surviv these next 11 or 12 weeks with sanity intact. With Andi it was the last two weeks where I felt like I would be pregnant forever and she would spend eternity doing gymnastics off my insides. But being awakened at 4 am this morning feeling like Sammy was practicing for the trampoline finals is taking it's toll. 12 weeks seems impossibly far away.

Adventures in Painting

I decided it would be fun to introduce Andi to painting a couple of weeks ago. We started with water paints, but they didn't last long. I think after the 2nd painting session they were all brown. So then I thought maybe washable finger paint would be good. The colors have held up a little longer, but it is much much messier! Luckily it's all washable and everything has come clean.


For some reason Andi thinks her stomach is it's own little canvas. This time it was paint, but anytime she gets a hold of a marker or pen, she always writes on her stomach!


Project update, the play house now has it's second and final coat of stain/paint. And the Umbrella is almost done. I just have to attach the little pockets in the corners that the bars go in. I'll post pics of the final product.

Last week after I finished reading Breaking Dawn I jumped back into projects, and I really like the way this one is turning out. I painted Andi's "playhouse" as she calls it, and sewed the awning for the top. She didn't start calling it a house till we put the top on, and I think it might become a swing set again once we get the swing section put on, but for now she likes her little house with a slide.
I also had a baby shower this week! I know, it's a little early, but Kelsie wanted to do one while she was in town. It was a lot of fun and I got a TON of clothes. I think Sammy has a full wardrobe for the first 9 months. And now that makes it even harder for me to resist the weird nesting urge and set up his room. I have all his stuff and i want to put it in it's place and organize. The only thing really stopping me at this point is our lack of computer armoire, so I can't exactly clear out the office right now.
My project for this week. . . sewing an umbrella that goes over the jacuzzi. The one we have was falling apart, so I took it apart to use as a pattern and got the new material cut out, but now I have to put it together with my moms surger. I am afraid of the surger, it's too easy to mess up and ruin the whole thing! Wish me luck!

Big helper/drama queen

Andi is becoming quite the crack-up these days, at least to me. Thad decided that Saturday was the day to demolish her swing set and build a new one. The old one was pretty rickety and swayed menacingly even if it was just Andi on it. So a couple of trips to Lowes and lot's of "help" from Andi and they got the first section of it finished. It looks really good and Andi loves it. But the whole day she kept picking up screws and bolts and tools and saying "Andi's big helper huh?" "Here Daddy, Andi's helping." She even head butted him a few times trying to get a closer look at what he was doing. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them ;)



Besides being a big help she is also turning into a BIG drama queen. Her new favorite thing to say when she is upset or crying is "Andi's not gonna be happy girl anymore!" Which I think is the 2 year olds version of the 13 year olds anthem, "your ruining my life!" Everytime she says it I have the hardest time keeping a straight face. She did it this morning, full on tears and everything, and i just busted up laughing. Couldn't help myself.
She has also discovered a love of the movie Annie. I'm not sure if she thinks they are saying Andi and that's why she loves it or if she really is just into musicals. If there is singing and dancing she's mesmorized. Kinda weird, but promising at the same time. She will be able to pick up worms and fish with daddy, while still being able to enjoy musicals and dance with mommy ;)
In other news Breaking Dawn came out saturday and I'm halfway through it and loving it. But i have to admit I so did not see that coming!! Any of it! Maybe i'm totally un-perceptive, but I was seriously shocked. I can't wait to finish!

what a week

I'll apologize up front for the lack of pictures in this post, but it's been one of those weeks. Monday after we got back from the beach Andi started getting sick, and we had her in to the Dr twice during the week. The problem was basically just her allergies, and after a week of beachy-fresh air, coming back to Bako hit her hard. The added complication is that now it seems her allergies will trigger an asthmatic reaction as well like it does for me. So the poor thing was super congested and couldn't breath and was coughing and had a wicked sore throat so she wouldn't eat. BAD week! We watched a lot of care bears and she took most of her naps laying on me in the rocking chair.
In other news Thad took the scouts on a camp out over the weekend and managed to recover his dads fishing pole that has been apparently sitting in the same hole since he fell down the river a month or so ago. He was pretty excited since his Dad was offering a reward to the scout who found the pole ;)
Anyway, to make up for my very unproductive week last week, and in preparation for a couple of very unproductive days once Breaking Dawn comes out Saturday, I have a huge list of projects for this week. Alot of the things on the list are only there because I have that insane nesting urge going on and I can't help myself. Wish me luck!
Oh, and for those of you who have been asking about pictures of me, Sorry, but you won't be seeing any for a long while. I have major issues with pregnancy pictures. I fully understand that the weight gain is for a good cause, but I still don't like the pictures. So, Sorry!

The Beach And Back Again.

After a nice, long, cool week at the beach we are back, and surprisingly not suffocating from the heat. Don't get me wrong, it's hot, but the insane heat wave seems to have passed through in our absence. yay!
I think I've mentioned before that Andi has been talking about "going to beach" for months now, and she loved loved loved it. The first night we were there she was immediately in the water. Granted, the rest of us were just taking a walk on the beach, but she and little walter could not keep away from the water. Luckily this year it was nice a sunny for most of the week and everyone was able to go out to the water on a daily basis. The last 2 days we had the cold cloudy stuff, but let's be honest, I loved that part. Here are some pics of us, well, mostly Andi, in the water, at the tide pools, the zoo, the aquarium, and the park. It really was a relaxing fun week.

Andi and Thad at the tide pools

This is Andi touching a "nemo house" . . . Anemone.

This was her reaction to the noisy seals. She was a little surprised that they don't really make the cute noises we told her they make.


Posing with the Meerkats

This is the cheesy fun photo op at the Atascadero Zoo.

This is just a random funny picture at our house. Thad thinks it's important for a 2 year old to be adept at shooting pellet guns.


So now it's back to life as usual, and I'm totally bored! I've had a couple big things, one after another lately, but now that the trip is over and Thad is back to work, I woke up this morning not knowing what to do with myself.
The yard is coming along nicely. Thad mowed it for the first time the day we got back from the beach. . . he couldn't help himself. The new grass is blending well and looks great. Thad started putting bark in the flower bed areas, finished the lights in the front yard flower beds and we even planted a couple of plants around the Jacuzzi. We love it!

busy busy busy

Get ready for a very exciting and eventful post!
I'll start with July 3rd, my birthday. Thad surprised me by taking the day off of work. He even got up and pretended to leave at 5:30 so that he could get Andi up and come sing happy birthday to me later. For my b-day celebration we went to the park, and the mall so I could get some new shoes, and swimming, and rosemary's for dinner. For you non Bakersfield residents, Rosemary's is the best ice cream place on the planet. It was a very busy and fun day. Andi refused to take a nap but stayed cheerful the whole day, which was a great birthday gift all in itself.
The 4th was pretty laid back. We worked in the yard in the morning and had a BBQ at my parents in the evening. Of course the boys built another tower of fire, which always ends up looking a bit sacrilegious, but makes our fireworks show look awesome! We set off a ton of fireworks and then watched the stadium show down the street, which was cool too. Andi like the stadium show a lot better because it wasn't as loud as the close up show.
Andi and one of the six billion sparklers we had.

Shot of the stadium show from my parents front lawn.


Saturday we were back in the yard finishing the brick border, tilling and leveling the dirt and getting it ready for grass. Yes! That's right we now have grass! Monday evening we put the grass in the extended part of the yard and it looks wonderful!
Here is a reminder of the size of the yard before.

And here is the after!

I tried to get the same angle but if you want to use the fence line for reference, the new grass is about 2 1/2 fence sections wide. Basically where Thad is standing. And here is a view of the grass going into the planter that will be filled with plants and trees and such.
And, I had THE ultrasound Monday afternoon. Drum roll please. . . it's a Boy! Thad is very excited and Andi keeps talking about "baby broder". We took Andi because she has been asking to see the baby in mommy's tummy for a while now, and I think she really got it. I mean, she saw the ultrasound on he big screen as it was happening, and kept asking what the baby was doing and saying. She even waved and said hi ;) The ultrasound tech said he measured about 23w-5d, and my chart says I'm 22w-3d, so about 10 days different, but it's up to the Dr to decide whether that's significant enough to move the due date up. I'm not holding my breath. I would post a pic, but their printer was down today so I won't get them till my next appointment in 2 weeks.
So that's all the exciting news in our world right now. We leave for the beach this friday so I won't be posting again untill we get back the following friday. Woohoo beach trip! ! !

Extreme Hair Makover

Okay, maybe not extreme, it's till the same color and it's all mine, there is just a LOT less of it. They had to sweep three times while I was still in the chair!
So here is the before, taken last week.



And . . .


Here . . . .


Is . . . .


The . . . .


After . . . please ignore the fact that my face is completely washed out, the flash on the camera was being weird.

Cuteness

Well since my last post backyard progress has basically come to a stand still. It has been five million degrees here and really just unhealthy for outside work. Thad did get all the sprinklers put in, but again, it doesn't look different cos they are all buried, so no new pics. Oh, and speaking of it being so hot, how on earth could I end up with a sore throat and cold in this heat!? It's ridiculous.
This is just a random picture from Sunday morning before church, but it is my new favorite. They are such buddies, and Thad is so cute, he likes to match his tie to what Andi is wearing to church ;)
This is Andi showing off her "Dancin dress." For some reason every time she puts on a dress it's for "dancin."Nothing exciting to tell you about, except that we find out what we are having in like 10 days, and I will be chopping off my hair in the very near future.

Summer so far

As usual we have been busy. The backyard is slowly but surely progressing. I have been working on mortar for the brick borders, and Thad has been working on sprinklers. Nothing really looks different so I don't have any pictures to post.
It is also recital week, meaning two days of dress rehearsals and then two evenings of shows. I took Andi to the theater with me not sure how long she would last or how I would even be able to help with her running around. But she loved it! She loved the lights and the music and especially loved the "baby dancin," meaning the 3-6 year olds. She kept asking for more babies dancing. She would clap and cheer at the end of the dances, it was so cute. I think we definitely have a performer on our hands.
She also hit a milestone today, at least I think it is a milestone, and she probably could have hit it earlier but I was never brave enough to attempt it. Today she came to tell me she had to potty, and instead of going with her I just said, okay, go. And she did! I'm so excited, I don't have to run to the bathroom every time she needs to go, at home at least where she has her step stool. And I took a picture to commemorate the moment. This is one of those she'll hate later ;)


Andi is having a fun filled summer so far. We have a playgroup at the park on Thursday mornings, she has story time at the library on Wednesday mornings, and almost all the Bradon time she can handle. She is so funny with him, and he doesn't seem to mind too much that she follows him around my parents house and demands his constant attention. Here's a picture of the play group.


And this is Andi with her new bubble blower. She chased bubbles all over the yard with that bat yelling "take that, take that!"


Other than that she is growing like a stinking weed, which should not surprise me, I know, but it still does. She is only 2 and is now fully into 4T summer clothes. People are always shocked when I tell them her age cos she's just so much taller than the other 2 year olds.

Projects

I am naturally one of those people who needs to be busy and productive, so under normal circumstances there is always a project I am working on. But when I'm pregnant it gets worse, and I don't think the whole "nesting" thing is completely to blame. But I think that, combined with my inherent OCD, makes the madness occur, and keeps it in high gear for about 6 months. In this case it's a good thing because we really have a lot of projects in the yard that need to get done. This week so far I have put in the brick borders around the jacuzzi, and the flower bed under my bedroom window. The only reason I haven't started the rest of the border around the yard is because Thad and I still can't agree on how it should look. I haven't picked out the plants that are going in these wonderful boxes yet, but here are the boxes so far.

I also decided this week, that after almost a year of procrastinating, it was finally time to start looking for things to decorate the top of the kitchen cabinets with. Here's my start. I'm not very good at this sort of thing, so I'm sure it will get better as I go.

Like I said, it's a work in progress. Anyway, this is an old project, but I never posted pictures of it. At least I don't think so. I recovered the dinning room chairs. . . again.

Another part of my illness is that if I'm not busy busy busy, I need a good book to stay that way. So I just read Stephenie Meyer's (Twilight author) first adult book "The Host". It's actually a sci-fi about body snatching aliens, so I was really skeptical about reading it at all, but I think I need to stop being surprised by Meyer, because there is just something about the way she writes. She sucks you in to the story from page one and makes you care about the characters so that you can't put the book down. You just HAVE to know what happens to them! At least I do. Anyway, good book if anyone is looking for something new to read.

Current and near future projects:
1. pick out trees and plants for backyard
2. finish brick borders
3. find computer armoire (since our office will not be an office much longer and we are moving the computer out to the kitchen.)
4. Move the rocking chair out of, and reorganize Andi's room.
5. get a tan
6. possibly make a quilt for my bed, if I am brave enough and find the absolute perfect fabric. I am just not loving my comforter anymore and haven't seen one I absolutely love.
7. finish Andi's scrapbook from her 1st year of life(i'm so close!)
8. Work on the family digital scrapbook/journal.

The recital is on two weeks and I am really looking forward to being done. I didn't think I would be, but the drive to the new place is ridiculous, and I can't fit in to my tights anymore, so it's really just time.
I'll be posting more pictures as our projects progress

Progress

We have a fence! Thad has been working on getting the block pillars built this week, and was able to(with some help) get the wood slats framed and put in between the pillars on Saturday. Yay! Ignore the piles, it is still somewhat of a construction zone. But now I can start outlining out planter areas and we can get sprinklers and grass. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.
In other news, we bought a BBQ! Don't laugh, it's very exciting for us. It's hot already and I plan to do as much cooking outside for the next 4 months as possible. We got one with a side burner so I can even boil stuff outside. I'm looking forward to not heating up my kitchen.

Backyard Day Spa

Thad was out working on the fence last night and it was really really hot still so I was sitting in the shade giving moral support. Andi decided that she needed a mud bath, and yes I just sat back and watched as she did this.


She was very proud of herself at the end of it.

Bonding Time

This weekend was our first experience at a Company retreat, and I was pleasantly surprised. Thad's company booked this sweet resort on the beach in Santa Barbara, so I met Thad in Fillmore Friday after work and we headed over to SB where it was 75 degrees, as opposed to the 105 I left in bakersfield. We went to dinner and then saw the new Narnia movie, which was good, and if you have not read the book you will like it, but this one was definitely more of an adaptation. They got the gist of it right, but most of the details were different. But it was fine.
Saturday they had a breakfast and then the employees had a meeting. Then they had a "guest speaker" that everyone was invited to. Thad and I ditched and went to the pier and got ice cream instead. Then they had a lunch and Beach Olympics, which were hilarious to watch. Thads team won of course, and I got a sweet flip-flop tan line started. Then they had a dinner a short little recognition thing and dancing. Unfortunately Thad and I had to eat and run because Andi was home with my mom running a fever and throwing up. So we took off late Saturday night and headed home.
Sunday I woke up feeling really cruddy so Andi and I laid around the house all day in our jammies. This morning though we are both feeling better, but not very excited that my AC kicked on by 8 am. It's gonna be a long summer.

Mothers Day Weekend

It has been a busy and productive weekend yet again. Saturday we were finally able to flatten out the dirt mountain in the back yard, thanks again to Thads company connections, we get big equipment for free ;) We took down the fence so Thad could get the bobcat back there and then put it back up a little in front of the existing wall so Thad can work on the pillars this week. But I am never moving that dumb fence again! I told Thad he needed to schedule helpers from here on out cos it's getting very hot in Bakersfield and the pregnant lady is done lifting heavy things and dragging them around the yard. Here is a shot before we put the fence back, so you can see how much additional yard there will be when it's done. Ignore all the pallets and cinder block and junk in the yard. . . construction zone.


Sunday we went to Thad's parents for breakfast before church. Then we went to hear Tara & Savannah sing in their ward. They sounded wonderful. Then I ran back across town to do primary in my ward, while Thad stayed to listen to his dad talk and be set apart in their new ward, then I came back to pick them up and say good-bye to all the out of towner's that were leaving. Andi of course crashed in the car on the way home and we just laid around the house the rest of the evening. That got me flowers for mothers day and make a sweet little slideshow of pictures of Andi to music, and he recorded her saying "I wub you momma" and "happy moners day momma" and a couple other things. very cute. Here are some pics from the day.

Is it December yet?!

Ducks and Walls

Friday we took Andi to the park to feed the ducks. For those of you who have lived in Bakersfield you know this can be a somewhat hazardous experience. The ducks, while cute and fun to watch in the water, can be mean and aggressive out of the water. They know you are there to feed them and snap at little kids with bread in their hands. But we took her anyway, and Andi could not figure out why we wouldn't let her get close to the "tweet tweets". The ducks behaved and Andi had a great time.


The big exciting news of the week, our wall is done! well not 100% done, because we still have to put the wood in between the pillars and all that, but the biggest chunk of the project is done. We now have a 6ft retaining wall in the backyard. Now Thad has to level it all out, replace the wood fence on top of the brick, put in the sprinklers for the extra yard we will now have, put in the brick borders for our planter box areas, and then we can put in grass and plants. Okay, so maybe we still have a huge chunk of work to do, but the wall was the most expensive time consuming part of it so the rest seems like cake ;)


Oh, and I just finished re-reading the twilight series again. . . I think I have a problem. I started reading them just to get in the mood for book 4, which comes out August 2nd, thinking I would take my time with them. But even though I knew what happens next I could not put them down. I finished all 3 in 2 weeks. Better than the 1 week I read them in before, but I swear it's an addiction. I can't wait for book 4, or the movie which comes out December 12th, and I check the website for movie clips and updates once a week. The first step is admitting you have a problem right. . .

nothin much

It has been a busy week. We threw my mom a surprise 50th birthday this weekend, so last week was filled with errands, putting slide shows together, and sneaking around. We had a great turn out and mom was 100% surprised, so it was a success. Other than that, life around here has been pretty normal. We haven't made much progress with our wall because we have been fighting with the city about the permitting. Hopefully that will be cleared up soon and we can move ahead. Right now what we have is a massive trench that we could fill with water and have a sweet moat around the yard. But hopefully it will be a wall in the near future ;)
Andi is still asking to go to the beach on an almost daily basis. We haven't been wearing the bathing suit quite as often, but she is really stuck on the beach thing. Thad put together a slide show this weekend of our beach pictures from last year and all Andi wants to do now is "watch beach". By the way Kels, this slide show is gonna rock your world. We are totally gonna win.
I don't have any pics to post this time cos they are all on Thad's work camera, which is at work with him. So, sorry for the lame uneventful post.

Operation Relocation

So we have this huge problem with stray cats in our yard constantly. There is a crazy cat lady across the alley from us and her minions wander everywhere like they own the place. Thad likes to shoot them with his pellet gun. A couple of weeks ago we discovered kittens over by our shed and I think that was the last straw for Thad because he has now begun operation relocation. Being Thad he of course has a "varmint trap" for catching all sorts of critters. He picked it up from his parents house last night and put it in the backyard with some cat food in it. The plan was to check the cage in the morning and if there was a cat in it, toss the cage in the back of the truck and let the cat go in the middle of nowhere off the I-5 where he drives everyday to work. That way we aren't exactly killing the cats, just giving the coyotes out there an easy snack. Anyway, he set the trap and within 20 minutes had one in the cage. So now of course he is trying to find more cages so he can catch a couple each night and clear out the alley even quicker ;)


I know it's only April, and in some parts of the country there is still snow, but it was wicked hot this weekend and time for a dip in the pool. I was very happy to find that Andi's rash guard and shorts still fit this summer. There is so much less to sun block when she wears that.


As I started working on this post I noticed Andi got really quiet, which for those of you who know her, means she's up to something she is not supposed to be and trying to hide it by being quiet. So I jumped up to go find her and I was pleasantly surprised. . . more like amazed to find this.


She was just sitting in the rocking chair reading! I know this is pretty normal for some kids, but this is the first time Andi has sat quietly without being restrained of her own doing. Today is going to be a good day.