Sunday, January 16, 2011

Yet Another Project

Chris finished his class, took a few weeks off, and was ready to get started on another project.  (Mind you, not finish any of the current projects I still need to finish.)  We hadn't been using the shower in our master bathroom for about a year and a half since the shower had a crack and we thought there might already be water damage or worse, more mold.  Chris said he would have it FINISHED in ONE MONTH!
December 20, 2010
BUT, go big or go home.  If you're going to tear out most of the walls and floor in the bathroom, you might as well start from scratch and make the bathroom big enough to be considered a master bathroom.  Our neighbor suggested we move the bathroom wall back 20 inches, into the dining room.  I'll be honest, I was excited about having a larger vanity and shower, but not about all of the extra work and re-piping it would entail.  Luckily, it's not my project and Chris said he would have it done in a month from...
January 4, 2011
Our dining room?  Yes, half of one of the walls will stick out 20 inches more.  In several years when we remodel the kitchen and dining room, we'll put in cabinets on the other part of the wall and it will look awesome!  Until then, we'll just put our china cabinet there and hope it doesn't look weird.

During destruction, Chris nicked an electrical wire to the washing machine which killed the power in a random half throughout our house.  At 9pm another sweet neighbor of ours who is so conveniently an electrician came over and switched around some circuit breakers so we would have some of the power back.  This left us only without power for a few days to our living room (now our dining table also), front entrance, oven/stove, and washer and dryer.
January 6, 2011
I'll be so glad when the bathrooms are finished!  :o)

On another note, Chris got a gun safe!!!  Thank goodness!

Stairs

The New Year is off to a great start!  As of 1/1/11 all of the balusters are in!  Our neighbor Mike came over and he and Chris put them in.  (I was tearing out the wall of our master bathroom, see next post.)  Now all I have to do is more sanding and staining and then the stairs will be DONE!!!
The upper stairs before and the lower stairs after
Our great neighbors Mike and Anna
Needless to say I also still have to finish the dry wall.  But at least it's safer...
Or is it?  Now that the railing is up and she has something to hold on to Keira thinks she can walk forwards down the stairs, no more going down backwards.  I think I felt safer before they were up.  But I guess as unlikely as it would be, falling down the stairs headfirst would be safer than falling off and landing on the lower staircase.

Happy New Year!

P.S.  This year I'm hoping to keep up with things better (like this) so I can actually write about things as they happen and not several weeks later.  Isn't it much easier to find little bits of time than a huge chunk?  Wish me luck!  :o)

Getting So Big

Doesn't she look like such a little girl?  Where did my baby girl go???  At least we can finally do two pigtails!
About a year ago.  Where does the time go?

All bundled up to brave the cold during a walk.

In Loving Memory of Brie/ Lubbock Trip

In the evening of December 26th my good childhood friend, Brie Gomez and her husband Eric, six year old daughter Mali, and almost two year old daughter Eleri were involved in a car accident.  Brie was 30 weeks pregnant.  Everyone had minor injuries including a broken leg, except Brie who had a serious head injury.  They did an emergency C section to deliver Curran Blaec Gomez but Brie passed away a couple of hours later.

Brie was a beautiful, godly woman.  She was an inspiration to me and an example of a true friend.  Looking at her Facebook page and attending her services displayed how many hundreds of people's lives she had touched.  She was a stay-at-home mom, a loving and supportive wife to a high school coach, very active in her church, an amazing blogger, and even made the time to comment on almost every one of my blog posts.  Especially for her family, I am so thankful she blogged as much as she did.  They will always have all of those special memories that she shared and her children will be able to know her better.  I think the hardest part about this for me is thinking of how her children will not have their mother to raise them.  I never realized how much of a child's development is based off of how and who they are raised with.  Eric is a wonderful father and I know he will do an amazing job and they have so much support from family and friends.

I think with the passing of a loved one, it makes you evaluate your own life.  It reminds me that tragedy can come to anyone at anytime.  It makes me even more thankful for my many blessings.  It makes me want to live a better life and be more Christ-like.  It makes me value every minute I get to spend with Chris, Keira, and my loved ones even more.  It has also made me realize that just taking a few minutes a day can show someone how much I care.  I feel guilty that I do not make the time like she did to make comments on blogs and let people know that I'm thinking about them and they are important to me.  It has also made me more cautious driving.  At any second, someone could veer over into my lane, or even worse I could do the same while looking back or giving things to Keira.

I am so grateful for everything Brie taught me and the example she was to me.  I'm so grateful for her friendship and love to my sister as well.

Here are some pictures from the past couple of months that I took from Brie's blog.



If you're interested, here is the news story about the accident.  Here is a website about the progress of Curran who remains in the NICU.  He has apneic episodes so he's on CPAP and his intestines were not fully developed so he's just starting on milk and had been fed through his IV.  And here is their blog.


Brie's service to celebrate her life was in Amarillo, Texas.  I was supposed to work on the day of the service but was able to easily find coverage for the shift.  Chris had to work and the weather was supposed to be bad when I'd be returning (the first real snow of the year) so Chris didn't really want me to drive the seven hours, so I ended up flying.  I was so thankful to be there.  I was able to talk to Eric and see their girls and talk to Brie's brother, mom, and dad.  I was reassured to talk to Eric and see how well he is handling this and see his faith in God.  It was amazing to see the church filled with hundreds of people who loved Brie as she had somehow touched their life.  It was wonderful to see and feel her love for our Heavenly Father.

I ended up staying the two nights with friends, Louie and Tara, two hours south in Lubbock.  I was so grateful for their kindness at this difficult time and thankful that Keira and I didn't have to stay alone in a hotel.  Their son, Quinn, is three and a half and just loved Keira.  It was so much fun and so cute to watch him with her.




Saturday, January 15, 2011

Merry Christmas 2010!

Christmas is always wonderful, but even better with kids!  I can't remember the last time I had so much fun!  And it will get even better as she understands it more!  Keira must have been a very good girl because she got spoiled!
I got home from work around 8am and we had a delicious french toast breakfast.  (Chris was VERY patient to wait to open the gifts.)  
Then it was time to open the gifts.  Keira did awesome!  She really got the hang of it and loved opening them!  It was so cute watching her actually play with and get excited about each gift after she opened it.  We actually had to speed her up a couple of times so we would get done on Christmas.  ;-)  We also took a break and resumed later in the evening with Aunt Laura.

Keira loved when Uncle John read to her.
Jaxon, Nicole, and John joined us for a couple of hours in the afternoon for dinner.  It was great to have them with us!  Jaxon is such a cute, smiley, sweet baby.

In the evening after Laura went snowboarding she joined us for more gift opening.
Keira LOVES her Auntie Laura!
A cute new story to finish the fun-filled day!

Saturday, December 25, 2010

16 Months

Keira, Keira, Keira.  It's that time again, another update.  You're not alone, I wonder when I'm going to stop the monthly updates too.  ;-)  The little rascal is now 16 months old (two months from going into the nursery at church, not that I'm counting down!)  ;-)
I can't even describe what a joy Keira is.  I just feel so grateful to have her in our life and can not imagine our life without her.  I hate to say it, but people who don't have kids REALLY are missing out.  I never realized such happiness and love even existed.  
One word my cousin used to describe Keira is "busy."  She is.  She doesn't sit still, always on the go.  She is always talking and exploring.  She studies things like she wants to know every detail about it.  She pushes the limits to see what she can get away with, especially with her mommy.  She asks for what she wants by saying "please?", usually more than once, sometimes preceded by or followed with the word of what she wants.  She often says "thank you" or reminds you to say "thank you."  When you're carrying on an adult-like conversation with her she nods her head yes and no like she's really understanding everything you're saying.  She can say soooo many words.  It absolutely amazes me. I think one of the most rewarding things in life is to see your child LEARNING, understanding, and talking.

Sometimes when her diaper is dirty she will say "dirty?" and will feel it.  But sometimes it's just gas.  She can say "kisses" but often if we try to give her one or ask if we can give her one she says "no" and turns her head.  She adores her daddy and one morning got a little upset when I woke up a little later than them and ruined her special daddy/daughter time.  However, I realized that she does love me too when I hurt my back and went to Chris' chiropractor in pain and she was all worried about me and crying to be right with me and only me.  :o)

When we were Christmas shopping and would leave her favorite area, the "babies", she would happily say "bye, bye babies" several times.  I would give anything if she still does that in several years, instead of being the kid who throws a tantrum because she can't have what she wants.  Yesterday when we were leaving the house I told her we were going bye bye.  She ran over to the dog treats and said "treat, treat."  She was all excited to give one to Jason.  And then as we walked out the door she said "bye, bye Jason."

Keira's been wonderful with the Chritmas tree.  She's only tried to touch something once and she did also try to unwrap a gift once.  A couple of days after we put it up she spotted a CareBear and made a growl sound.  She then pointed to a star in front of the lights and said "pretty."

If she hears music she'll break in to dance.  It is soooooo cute! LOL!!!
A couple of weeks ago she cut her seventh tooth, a bottom left lateral I think it's called.  A couple of days later she reluctently let me look further into her mouth (not a fan of people looking in her mouth) and I realized she had already cut an upper molar on each side.  I felt like such a bad mommy for not knowing it was happening.  So now she has nine teeth but you can only really see the two bottom ones when she talks and smiles.

She is sooo good about going down for naps and going to bed at night.  She very rarely cries.  But after we get her all snuggled up, she immediately opens her door that we cracked several inches.

Now some of you (if you live here or Skype) may be thinking "I've never heard her or seen her do that."  Well, I'm not making things up.  But it's not so much with other people or in other places besides at home.  When we're out she becomes a little mute ;-)  and won't even say bye bye to friendly strangers smiling at her begging for a hi or bye.  She knows where she feels comfortable!

Maybe she'll have curly hair!!!  :o)
Keira is my little bundle of JOY and happiness.  She is such a blessing to our family.  I love her more and more every day, even when she's a little stinker.

December

First of all, December?  Where's the snow?  We haven't had ONE snow this entire season where the snow stuck.  I  haven't ONCE been a little nervous driving on the snow/ice/slush covered roads.  Especially since for the first time in the six years I've had my car instead of a SUV I got snow tires!  Snow tires.  And it hasn't snowed.  Seriously.  So probably just as I'm ready for nice, warm, sunny, spring weather, we'll get all the snow.
Anyway....  What a wonderful but busy month!
Keira and I made our first gingerbread hut together.

I realized Keira does NOT like shopping and was so exhausted she slept on Auntie Laura's shoulder in one store.  It also takes a lot longer to shop with an independent one year old who loves to walk and explore everything.  Thank goodness my sister came with me one day!
I've wanted to go to ZooLights for the past 14 years and finally made it!  :o)

Chris thought he needed an air rifle to get rid of the woodpecker and foxes that interrogate our home and pets, so I got to learn to shoot it (into our garage).  And if I do say so myself, at 30 feet, I did quite well.  Beginner's luck.  :o)
Keira and I got to spend some more fun time with Gabriel while Mariana had her beautiful baby boy...
ADORABLE Nicolas Liam Theodoro Wilkins born December 18, 2010
The happy family of four with Mariana's mom from Brazil and Todd's mom from Kansas.
Chris tore down our master bathroom.
You wonder if I finished all of the other projects we've been working on?  No.  I'll continue working on them and Chris has ONE MONTH to COMPLETE our bathroom.  We even shook on it.
Wish us luck!  :o)