*Month 17*

7:42 AM
March 2016

We've made it through the fourth molar popping through, moving into a new bedroom, a holiday, and an unexplained fever since month 16 but we made it!  Month 17... how in the world?  This girl is silly, smarter than we give her credit for, and not afraid to wave and speak to anyone.  (And I mean anyone!)  She says "hi" to everyone; everywhere and more than once.


Age:  17 months

Stats: 23 lbs 2 ounces

Sleep:  Still going to bed around 8:30 and waking up at 8:30.  Naps about an hour & a half.

Clothing: I'm loving all the sweet little Spring dresses that are out right now.  There are a couple dresses from last year I'm hoping that'll work with a cute pair of leggings this year.  She's wearing a size 6 shoe already!!  Her "little" feet are so long and skinny.  

Favorite Foods:  Marshmallows, carrots, tortillas, cinnamon toast, yogurt, french fries, and banana pudding gelato!  She didn't eat much while she was sick, which is why she lost a few ounces but the past 3 days she's eaten normally.  

Words:  "Hi, bird".  She said it.  Our new house sounds like it's in the middle of a rainforest.  There are tons of birds and she loves to sit in the doorway to watch and listen.  This past week, she repeated "hi, bird" and we all fainted.  She's also started reading... well, she'll grab a piece of paper and pretend she's reading.  It sounds more like... nabba, nabba, nabba, nabba.  

Favorite Things


Favorite Activities:  Looking at flap books can keep her busy for several, several minutes.  (Shout out to Karen Kratz!)  Also stickers.  And let me repeat, stickers.  She decorates herself, her room, and anything else.  She got a pack of Easter stickers in her Easter basket and they're pretty much gone already.  

Funny Things I Do:  Oh my gosh, where do I start?  Shrugging her shoulders, shaking her booty while sitting on her knees, and my favorite has to be when she pretends to blow her nose.

Other Milestones:  We're so close to walking, but not yet.  We're trying everything... but she's proven to us that she's not going to until she's ready.  

Highlights  
Watching her go through her Easter basket was definitely a highlight for us!  Her favorite thing  in her basket was this chicken popper... She thinks it's hysterical.  (These are also great toys for children that need to strengthen their hand muscles.)  










This Momma thing is so hard sometimes, but completely worth every last nerve, late appointment, leaky sippy cup, or sleepless night.  She's the squirmiest little bundle of happiness and love that answers to, "Bunny", "Bugaboo", "Julie-Baby", "Jules", "Ju-Ju-Bee", & 
"Hooda-Mama-Ju-Ju".  


Conference room, everyone!





Springtime Playlist

6:17 PM
Since we have moved the weather has been unbelievably gorgeous with a few evenings of sprinkling rain, which is so peaceful to listen to through the screened in porch.  This time change though... Getting up a dark:thirty has been so hard, but having the extra hour of daylight is nice!  We love being outside here; soaking in this big backyard, walking to get the mail in the evenings, and talking with neighbors in the middle of the street.  It's our kind of place, for sure! 


With that being said, here are a couple of songs that we have on our playlist right now to go with this perfect, 70 degree weather... 


Mean Ol' Moon by Norah Jones
She is Love by Parachute
Sunday Morning by Maroon 5
Beautiful by Ben Rector
She's My Kind of Rain by Tim McGraw
Imagine by Jack Johnson
Dirt by Florida Georgia Line
Better When I'm Dancing by Meghan Trainor
I Saw God Today by George Strait
Sunrise by Norah Jones
Grandma's Garden by Zac Brown Band
Wichita Lineman by James Taylor

These next two are piano pieces that, (if you like to play), are so much fun!  
You can click on the title of the songs to take you to a printable copy of the sheet music.
Dawn by Dario Marianelli

What songs do you have on your playlist right now?  


We Gotcha Covered!

9:10 AM
One of the (many) hidden gems of this house is the swimming pool.  It was super gross when we moved in and we knew that it needed to be one of the first "fixes" that we should tackle.  Joey's dad drove down this past weekend with a friend and they helped Joey clean it out and put a Meyco safety cover over it so that we could one, pass inspection and two, sleep better at night.  We love the thought of having a pool and all the fun that goes along with it, but it terrified the both of us thinking about what "could happen" if we didn't have the cover.  Our pool is a 17x35 oval pool, which we found out is oddly shaped when we were looking for a cover.  Most pools are 18x36.  I guess they just built everything in this house a little smaller than normal- doorways, kitchen counters, pools... So we went with Meyco because their covers are customize to fit your pool perfectly.  


Here are a few pictures of the process of cleaning the pool and I warn you, the first few are pretty gross.  This was the previous cover.  Whoever installed it might need to rethink their line of work.  I mean really, at this point what's the purpose?  Those planters and bricks were screamin' for some relief.  


Hosing off the goo and slim after pumping out all the water, which took about 6 hours.  


 If you look closely you'll notice that dead tree in the back is now gone! Yay!  
(Thanks to Pappy!)


 Cannonball anyone?


The sun has taken the blue color from the liner but after about 5 gallons of bleach, it's a bright white. White pools...that's a thing, right?

**DISCLAIMER**  If you're afraid of snakes stop reading here.






The guys did find a little friend during cleanup.  


(Hopefully he doesn't have a mama still under the liner.)  Now... Who wants to come swimming?  




This Old House

8:19 AM
It's been a long 4 months, but we are now the proud owners of this 1966 Ranch.  Sorry... there's no "wow factor" yet.  (wah-wah) We are the 3rd owners in it's 50 year existence and we like to think that she is happier now that we're here.  We tell her all the time that we're going to make her beautiful again and I think that makes her happy.  We will be documenting/recording our progress online,  through social media and this blog if you'd like to follow along over the next 20 years little while.  It's a challenge for sure, as you will see in the photos below... It lacks style but has lots of charm and strong bones.  After moving all the boxes in, we started working on fixin' er' up just a few hours later.  We started by pulling all the ivy down from the brick.  This house was covered in ivy... which made it look all the more haunted.  It's insane what a difference it made.  The yard needs a lot of work and we plan to do that on the weekends and work on the inside of the house during the week.

 Here are some before and afters of the two projects for this week!  Not only did we cut down the ivy from the house, but we tried to spruce up the only bathroom that we will be using for a while.  It's the hall bathroom and while there's not much you can do with blue tile, we aim to try and make it presentable with a gallon of Lysol and a couple pretty things.  

Cleaning off the ivy and cleaning out the flower bed areas:




*pay no attention to the dungeon door*

Hall Bathroom:


Sorry about the quality.  This is a picture that I snapped when we went to look at the house for the first time.  I know I have a better picture on my camera, but it's dead and God only knows where the charger is... Ever been there?  That's where our lives are right now. 
Yep.  That's blue tile.  Don't be jealous.  We had planned to redo the bathrooms first.  Like totally gut them, but when I began to clean out the kitchen I realized how much better the bathrooms are than the kitchen, shape wise.  So we've decided to start with the kitchen first and leave the bathrooms as they are... well, for the most part.  We're putting in new toilets this weekend and new hardware on the tub/shower.  Here's the bathroom so far... 


2 bottles of Mr. Clean, Windex, grout cleaner, and Lysol- later.  
No updates other than a shower curtain rod... just added a few of our things.