New Pajamas

As you may have seen from the previous slideshow post, my parents were here for a visit this week, and we really enjoyed our time together. (I still can't manage to post text in the same thread with a Photobucket slideshow or video, so I'm kind of overlapping here.) Somehow I ended up with lots more pictures of Katherine from those days than of Mary Joyce, but she's a lot easier to catch with the camera. :-)

Anyway, the girls got new pajamas from their grandparents, so we sat them down and made a few pictures between bath time and bed time last night. I was really happy with the way these turned out. :-)

This Week (Including a Visit from Grandparents)

Happy Birthday, Chet!

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday, and I just wanted to take the opportunity to say "Happy Birthday!" one more time. :-)

Our Little Climber

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

We have had a wonderful Easter weekend this year. (Much better than last year when I was miserable with a sinus infection and pretty much missed out on the whole thing.) Mary Joyce is getting to an age where she is starting to "get" holidays, and that is so much fun. She has had her first egg-dying experience and her first egg hunt experience.

Of course, the real reason for this holiday is to celebrate the glorious resurrection of our Savior, and what a day it was! Chet preached the community sunrise service, although the girls and I did not make it out for that one. Then, we had our regular service at church this morning where the choir presented our Easter musical. It was a wonderful way to spend the morning in worship. Then, we had the whole afternoon and evening as a family day, which is unusual for us on a Sunday. It has been a wonderful weekend!

On a humorous note, I should probably do a photo slideshow just of the outtakes from trying to make pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses. It was an adventure, to say the least...

Easter 2008

China Families Egg Hunt

Coloring Easter Eggs

Our Two Girls

Here are some shots of the girls that I made the other day. I thought they turned out pretty well...

Pots and Pans

Clapping Hands

Random Pictures from the Last Week or So

Learning to Sit Up

Katherine has learned to sit up by herself. She can't get herself into a sitting position, but she can balance once she is there, and she's getting to where she can hold herself up for a pretty good length of time. This series of pictures was made a few days ago, when she was just starting to master her new skill.

Maybe if I just hold onto my chair...


Uh-oh!


Are you sure I can do this, Mama?


I think I can, I think I can...


Ta Da!!!

Kitchen Remodel, Part 3

Here is the kitchen now that everything is in, except for the countertops. The guy was here yesterday to measure and make the template for that, and those should be installed within 10-12 days. It is a relief to be getting back to normal finally. (One of the pictures is of Mary Joyce "helping" me unpack the boxes of kitchen stuff. The thing around her neck goes with a casserole dish.)

Kitchen Remodel, Part 2

Well, first of all, we are back at home and will be sleeping in our own beds tonight. I can really tell that the girls are glad to be back here. Last night at the hotel was much better, though. We had a pull-out couch in our room, so we pulled out the bed last night and let Mary Joyce have her own "big girl" bed. It was much more peaceful than the night before. :-)

Now, on to the kitchen. First, here are a couple of pictures from early in the week, after the demo was complete, and the installation had begun:




Here are some pictures from today. The installation is almost finished. The contractor says he will be done tomorrow, and the dishwasher and microwave are due to be delivered and installed tomorrow. Then, we will only be waiting for countertops. (Those are the old countertops you are seeing. They are there so that we will have a sanitary work surface while we are waiting on the new ones.)




While all of this work was being done, we also have a new light fixture/ceiling fan in our family room. (The room had been a cave--soooo dark, but it wasn't even wired to have a ceiling light before.) They also changed out the electrical box. Many of the houses here were originally built with the idea of being seasonal-type homes, not full-time residences for a family of 4, so they were not equipped with some things that are essential for a full-time home, like a circuit box that can handle AC/heat, a washer/dryer, a dishwasher, etc... So, even though there isn't much to see with that, it is still a big deal.

New Vocabulary

Mary Joyce is really getting the hang of this whole 2 year old thing. She learned "no" awhile back, and recently she has added "mine" to the mix, although she hasn't gotten into that one a lot yet. Even more recently, she added "No, I do" and "No, I don't." Today's additions--"No baby" (meaning that she's not a baby, not telling Katherine "no"--she had that one mastered awhile back) and "Big girl." Our baby girl is growing up...

Long Night...

We are still at the hotel, and last night was a long one. Mary Joyce fell asleep fairly easily on our bed, and then we went to move her to the Pack-n-Play, just like we did the night before. When Chet picked her up, she woke up and started wailing, not just crying, but wailing. We moved her back to our bed, thinking she would go back to sleep. When she finally settled down, which she only did after snuggling up right next to me where I had about 6 inches of a king-sized bed to lie on, but then she wouldn't go to sleep. We tried every trick in the book, and I had little knees and elbows constantly in my back and tummy. Finally, sometime after 1 a.m., we decided if any of us were going to sleep, she needed to go back to the Pack-n-Play. She went back more calmly than we expected, but it did take her a little while longer to go back to sleep. Thankfully, she finally did, and we made it through the rest of the night. Mama and Daddy are zombies this morning, but Mary Joyce seems none the worse for the experience. Katherine, thankfully, slept through the whole thing.

Mary Joyce and Katherine's Room

I realized while looking at some pictures with Mary Joyce the other day that I had made tons of pictures of her nursery at our old house, but that I really hadn't made any of the girls' room at the house here. Our house only has 2 bedrooms, so Mary Joyce and Katherine are sharing a room. Right now, there are 2 cribs, but I think we'll be moving Mary Joyce back to her toddler bed soon, as she seems to understand now that she shouldn't climb into the crib with Katherine. The only other change I am planning anytime soon is to get Katherine's name on the wall. Hers will be done in green. We had the letters to do it, but we had to get different ones than Mary Joyce's, and when we went to put the little hangers on the back, several of them split. So, back to the drawing board on that one. Does anyone have any idea where to find the unfinished wooden letters with the dots? Mary Joyce's were bought 3 years ago at a Target in Louisiana, and I haven't seen any like them since.

Kitchen Remodel, Part 1

Woo Hoo! Blogger finally uploaded the pictures. I've been trying for this post for several days off and on now...

Anyway, on to my post. Right now, on Tuesday, Chet is at work, and the girls and I are in a room at the Holiday Inn Express. Thankfully, they are both napping soundly, and Mary Joyce is right in the middle of our comfy king-sized bed. (She seems to think it is much better than her Pack-n-Play.) Why are we at a hotel 5 minutes from our house? Because the church voted to go ahead and remodel the kitchen in our parsonage. :-) The cabinets that were there were original to the house, circa sometime in the 1960's, and they were leaving particle board sawdust all over our dishes. We pretty much had to wash anything that we used, even though it was clean when we put it away. We are getting new cabinets, new countertops, a microwave over the range, and a DISHWASHER! The dishwasher is the best part--many bottles and sippy cups make for constant dishwashing when you are doing them by hand, especially 2 kids' worth. And while the electricians are in, they are also going to put a ceiling fan/light in our family room which has been a cave because there has been no overhead light in there. We are very excited about the upgrades to the house, and know that this is a real blessing. And while we are out of the house, the plumber came in and replaced our ailing hot water heater.

So, we are camped out at a hotel for a few days. Yesterday was rough--Mary Joyce NEVER sleeps well the first naptime or bedtime away from home--but today has gone very smoothly. The girls have played, Mary Joyce watched Sesame Street, Chet came and took us to lunch, and now the girls (as I already mentioned) are taking naps. And even better news: Chet asked the contractor when he thought he would be finished with the installation, and he said depending on the electricians, he may be through tomorrow. That would put us back in our own beds 2 days sooner than we originally expected. We'll have to wait and see, though. The dishwasher and microwave won't be delivered/installed until Friday, but that is okay. The house won't be completely turned upside down for that part. Then, it will be a 2-3 week wait for countertops, but this will be SO worth all of the trouble.

For now, here are the "before" pictures. Chet made some of the work in progress today, but he still has the camera. I'll try to get those up later tonight or tomorrow.

The Old Kitchen--The cabinets were painted and had hardware added before we moved in, but they weren't nearly in as good shape as they looked on the outside:




The New Cabinets--We got a call last Tuesday that the cabinets would be delivered on Wednesday, so Chet and I spent last Tuesday late afternoon and evening cleaning out the garage. Until yesterday, this is how they looked:

7 Months Old!!!

Our little Katherine turned 7 months old on Thursday! (My apologies for the delay--Blogger has not been cooperative in the photo uploading department lately, and we had a very chaotic weekend.) She is still growing and growing--the outfit she is wearing in that picture is a 6-12 month size. She will be sitting on her own very soon, as she can already balance for a few seconds by herself. She still thinks her big sister is the greatest thing ever. :-) Katherine also has 2 new teeth, but they aren't the top front, as usual. Instead, she somehow got her canine teeth first. She's still working on more.

Happy 7 months, Katherine!

Anyone have one of these?

This duck is designed to hold tub toys. Great concept--it keeps the toys from mildewing because they are able to drain. The problem--It won't stay attached to the wall. We are constantly having to keep sticking the suction cups back on the wall, and we are careful not to try to stick it on the grout lines. Any suggestions?

A Week (Almost) in Our Life

A Milestone!!!

We have lived in this house for 9 months, and I finally unpacked the last moving box about 5 minutes ago! :-)