What we've been up to.....

When I make my Sunday phone calls to my parents and my sister, they usually ask, "So, what are you up to?" And my typical answer is, "Not much, how 'bout you?" You'd think we were boring or something, because really, we're not up to that much. So why do we feel like there's not enough time in the day to get done all that we want to get done?

Well, for starters, Dan has been working a lot on our place. He spear-headed our bathroom remodel, and it turned out fabulous, but since it's been nice outside, he's been dealing with the downed trees in the pasture. The logs finally got picked up and taken to the mill, so Dan's been busy cleaning up debris, burning slash piles and cutting and stacking firewood. Oh, and if he wasn't sore enough from all that manual labor, he also decided to turn the compost pile, by hand.

 

And then there's me. I begin my day with a list of things I plan on accomplishing. When I'm at work, I usually get done what I plan to get done. This does not work so well at home. See, at home, I have an unpredictible little "assistant" who doesn't really help very much. But she's so dang cute, I don't mind.
When I want to hop on the computer to work on a project, Lana "helps" me by playing the with toys I set up for her right by the desk. She likes playing and likes being able to see Mommy, so it's the best of both worlds. I usually get about 20 minutes of computer time in when we do this.

 

Oh, and I also need to make sure we're all fed on a regular basis. I have a helper there too. She likes the kitchen because we can play the magnet game, which consists of Lana sitting in front of the fridge and taking down every magnet she can reach, then she'll look at me and that's my signal to gather all the magnets back on the fridge so we can play again.

 

So yeah, really, we're not up to much around here.

The long-promised NEW BATHROOM!

We've had the bathroom done for over a week, but it's just taken me this long to actually post about it.

Here are side-by-side before and after photos.

 

When we moved into our house in May, we couldn't believe anyone would put carpet in a bathroom. We joked about it, but put up with it for a little while until we just got sick of it. So the carpet was the first to go. Dan ripped it up one afternoon. Then he spent a few days repairing and leveling the wood subfloor and we covered it in two coats of bright red moisture barrier. Dan then took on the role of tile man and installed the vinyl tile squares. He also put in a new heat register cover. The design goes well with the whole geometric-shape thing we got going on in the bathroom. I really like how the floor turned out. It is so much better than the old carpet.

 

Because the flooring looked so great, we were hesistant to put the old trim back up. Instead we bought new trim and I gave it a dark finish. Dan spent several hours installing it. He custom mitered every single corner and made it look really nice. When he was done with that, he also installed a new toilet (higher for us taller folks) and a new faucet and a new light fixture.

 

 

It really is a simple, small bathroom, but it seems like a completely new room now.

The Great Doily Meltdown of Oh-Ten

Last week I took some cute Valentine pictures of Lana. She was in a cute pink outfit and had a flower band on her bald little head. I picked up a pack of red doilies from the dollar store and created a festive backdrop for our little photo-shoot. I planned on snapping a bunch of pictures with the hopes that one would turn out to send to grandparents and post here. This was the kind of picture I was going for:

 

See, isn't she such a sweetie?
Well, I could have just left this post at that; a single cute picture of a happy eight month-old, but that wouldn't be telling the whole story, and we're all about keepin' in real, so follow along as I show you what proceeded to happen.

Lana grabbed hold of one of the cheap paper doilies and put it in her mouth. It makes for a cute picture, but when the doily starts to disintegrate and melt into a red mess, it's not so cute anymore.

 

Even though Lana was having herself a great time, I had to take her red heart away. I didn't want her eating a doily. I doubt their nutritional value and don't even want to think about what that dirty diaper would look like. When I took it away, this happened:

 

And because I am in the running for Mother of the Year, instead of holding and consoling my child, I took her picture as she had a complete and total meltdown. When I did pick her up, she was inconsolable. No toys or songs or hugs were going to make her feel better. She wanted the doilies, dang it! I seriously probably spent a full half-hour getting her calmed down. We now refer to this incident as The Great Doily Meltdown of Oh-Ten. (Oh-ten is how the cool people, me and Dan, refer to 2010.)
Happy Valentine's Day. I hope there are no great meltdowns for you.

Don't Flush Me!

 

We wouldn't dream of it Lana-bean.

We're in the middle of re-doing the master bathroom and right now we have the new toilet in our office area (it will be in the actual bathroom sometime soon). I discovered that a certain little girl thought it was pretty fun to sit in the bowl.

Optional captions:
Yup, she's our little stinker.
Cutest little turd ever.
It Happens.
Early potty-training.

Do you have any caption ideas to share?

One Year Ago.

One year ago, dear Lana, we saw you for the first time.

You looked like this.

We were amazed.

When the imaging technician told us you were a girl, my first thought was, Well hello there Lana Jean. I quickly reminded myself that we hadn't decided on a name yet and our short list kept changing and the name Lana wasn't even my favorite then. Alas, the first name I called you was to indeed be your name.

Did you know your name then? I am certain you know it now.
I am also certain that the love I had for you then pales in comparison to how very much I love you now.

 

I could snuggle with you and kiss on your chubby cheeks all day. I could sing you songs and read you stories for hours and hours.
And your laughs, oh your laughs! I am completely addicted to your sweet, genuine baby laughs.

 

A year ago, I would have never guessed you would have such a strong hold on my heart.

Oh, and don't think it's just me. Your Daddy, yeah, he's as smitten as they come. Your smiles warm his heart every single day.

 

In one little year, you went from being a bulge in my belly and a black and white image to completely and wonderfully taking over our world.
We love you Lana Jean!