Seriously

Alli was playing with blocks the other day in her room. I walked in and she had a tall stack of blocks. I said, "Wow Alli! What are you making?"
"The Serious Tower."

Kitchen Update

Here it is! Granite countertops, sink and refrigerator were delivered and installed today. The kitchen is now fully functional, but as you can see we still need to finish some cosmetic projects. The end is in sight for this project! Woohoo!

Rat Story

Andy and I went out on a date last Monday. The weather was gorgeous, so we walked up the street to a little Mexican restaurant. We were seated in a candle-lit booth for a nice, romantic dinner. Halfway through our dinner, Andy looked out the window at the end of the booth and jumped a little.
A big old rat was sitting on the window ledge staring in at him from the garden outside.
We have had several, much worse rat experiences, so we thought this one was almost funny. Almost.
I really, really do not like rats.

The Kitchen Update

Our kitchen is coming together again. On Saturday, the microwave hood was delivered, and Andy installed it by himself (I helped a little). Counters will be installed this week. The refrigerator will be delivered Saturday. The backsplash is coming soon too.
This has actually been a fun project for us to work on, and we are really excited to see it all come together.

Jeans

It is interesting to watch Alli grow. She is forming all kinds of opinions and preferences, and it is interesting to see her personality shine through.
Alli has recently singled out her jeans as her favorite thing to wear. Almost everyday she asks to wear them. She loves all the pockets (great for putting coins in). She likes to match me (I wear jeans pretty often).
The bad news is I have to wash them all the time. The good news is they are stinkin' adorable on her.
I'm glad she is a jeans girl.

Let me explain

Ruby has arrived at the bumps and bruises stage, and she arrived with a real BANG! She got her first bruise on her cheek this week.

I am amazed that it took so long to get a bruise considering all of the love that she gets from Alli. And this first bruise actually had nothing to do with her sister.

Ruby pulled herself up on a chair, and then slipped and fell into another chair cheek-first. Her cheek quickly turned purple, and she did not want ice on it.

Andy came home from work and thought she had something dirty on her face, so he tried to rub it off. A few other people (at church, etc) have tried to wash this bruise off. Poor Ruby.

As her mother, I feel the need to explain the bruise to anyone who notices it. We really aren't bad parents. She just slipped.

The injury has not slowed Ruby down at all. She is as happy as can be. She is pulling herself up on furniture and cruising around. Ruby likes to be on the move, so I expect that this is the first of many boo-boos.

Grandma Utah

The last two weeks have been the ultimate for Alli... Grandma Utah was in town visiting us! Alli loves having Grandma around. Alli let Grandma do her hair. They played together. Grandma taught Alli the song "Frere Jacques." Now Alli thinks that Grandma can speak French. Grandma flew back to Utah yesterday, and Alli cried and cried. She can't wait to go visit Grandma and Grandpa Utah in a few months.

It was wonderful having Grandma here. We got so much work done in our kitchen and bathroom. Andy and I went out on a few dates. I went running! What a difference it makes to have an extra set of hands!

Cereal With Grandpa

Grandpa and Alli enjoyed eating breakfast together in Missouri. Alli, using her very best table manners, drinks the last drop of milk from her bowl... with pinky extended.

cousin baby Lucas

Last weekend we drove down to Kirksville, Missouri to visit Andy's sister Betsy and her husband Jory and their baby Lucas. Lucas was blessed in church on Sunday. We were glad to be a part of his blessing day.

Alli was so excited to meet her little cousin. She has been telling everyone about baby Lucas since he was born a few weeks ago.

Alli and Ruby enjoyed all of the attention from Grandma and Grandpa, Jen, and Betsy and Jory.

Ruby doesn't seem like a newborn anymore. She is huge compared to Lucas. Babies grow so quickly.

*sigh*

We've been busy

This week Andy took some time off work and we started a kitchen remodel. With the help of Andy's parents, we removed the old upper cabinets and a huge pantry cupboard. We replaced the upper cabinets with taller wood cabinets and added four feet of counter space.
Our house has been a disaster area all week. Everything in the old cabinets had to come out, so it went on the dining table. Then the old cupboards were stacked up in the living room, and the new ones were built and stacked everywhere too. I am looking forward to finishing this project quickly. We need to put in a few spacers between some cabinets, put up a backsplash, attach all the hardware, get a new countertop, microhood, sink, and refrigerator, and probably a few other things.
The countertop guys are coming Monday. Stay tuned!