This is NOT a post about our bathroom remodel.....

Oh, it was supposed to be. I was planning on this being a thoughtful, well-written post about how in just one little weekend we gave our master bathroom the facelift it has always wanted. DIYers everywhere would flock to this blog and marvel at our style, profienciency and skill. HGTV would call and give us our own show. Alas, none of that was meant to be. Right now, our bathroom looks like this:

 

Well actually, I got out the paint, so it looks a bit better than this. And Dan worked on leveling the floor some more and before the day is done, we probably will have put down at least one coat of moisture barrier, but we are no where near done. We still have a whole new floor to install, a faucet to replace and a shiny new toilet to put in. Maybe next week I'll have a finished product to show off.

Remember a couple of months ago when we had six trees knocked down? Well this weekend ended up being dedicated to those trees. On Saturday, Dan and his brother Dwayne, along with nephew Grant, went to work dragging the trees out of the brush, limbing them and arranging them so they can be picked up and taken to the mill sometime soon. Dan secured the use of a tractor and secured the use of his brother, so Saturday was the day.

 

They spent several hours hard-at-work and got the job done. Even when the logs are hauled away, there will still be lots of firewood to cut and several slash piles to burn.

 

This interrupted weekend just goes to show that our place is going to be a work-in-progress for quite some time.

Oh, and I couldn't post and not include a Lana picture. Here you go Grandparents. I wouldn't want to dissapoint you.

 

How Far Does the Apple Fall?

I think every parent wonders about who thier child resembles most. All of us have features we would rather not pass on to our kids and others we hope they inherit. Several family and friends have shared their opinions, but Dan and I just don't know. So I put together these side-by-side comparisons. What do you think?

 

 

Notice the matching yellow pajamas and the similar backdrops? I know what you're thinking.
Obsess Much?

Lana Jean the Jumping Bean

Here's our girl, happily bouncing away.

Questions.....

-Is it possible to get addicted to baby laughs? Seriously, are baby laughs not like heroin? I think I'd do anything for my next hit.

-How exactly does one get a Miley Cyrus song out of their head? Do I need to bring in an old priest and a young priest? Is an excorsism required? Do I need to have some type of surgery? Any and all helpful suggestions are appreciated.

-See this?

 

How is it my heart has yet to explode from love overload?

-Have you ever had a cattle drive come down your road? We have, at least twice since we've lived here. I caught this one today.

 

-Can you recall from the baby days what foods your baby liked the best? Lana's not so sure she likes peas. I'm a mean Mommy and make her eat them anyway.

 

-Seriously?

 

This is more love than my heart can handle.

Whew....what a week!

 

We had a great Christmas in Oregon with my parents and a fun time after Christmas in Lynden with the Lenssen's. I took my camera, but did not take near enough pictures. Here are a few high points:
-Lana's first Christmas. Even though she slept through present time, I did save some bows for her little bald head.
-Lana loves her new jumper toy. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!
-Our girl got sick and we waited for 2+ hours the day after Christmas to see a doctor. Turns out she had a sinus infection. No wonder she was so inconsolable. We got her some medicine and she bounced back great.
-My parents happily put up with me and Dan and our sick baby. Tears, coughing, goopy eyes and all. Thanks so much for your help and your patience!
-New nephew, Grant Alex Fugal, was born on December 28th. Congrats to Scott and Jen.
-Christmas party with Dan's family on December 27th. Once again, Lana slept through present time.
-Lana says thank you to her Grandpa Rick and Grandma Cindy, Grandma Sue and her aunts and uncles and cousins. I think she quadrupled her toy collection.
-Dan and Shelle say thank you as well. We are truly blessed by all of your generosity and thoughtfullness. Our families are awesome and we had a great time seeing everyone.

Monday Memory #4: The World Championship

This is the last Sunday in December, but I've had a lot of fun writing all these memories, so maybe I'll have to write some others. For now, here's another memory from Christmastime.

Like a lot of families, we played a lot of games in our house. Monopoly marathons, all-day Risk tournaments, Duck Hunt on the Nintendo, you name it, we probably played it. But the game we played with more gusto and passion has to be Chinese Checkers. There's something about that perfect game board and brightly colored game pieces that brought out the competitive spirit in all of us. But we didn't just play to have fun, oh no, we played for the title of World Champion.

When us three kids were little, we played with Mom and Dad just as competitively as we do now. You would think that we would be allowed to win occasionally, but no, Dad never 'let' us win. If we won a game it was because we actually out-played him and won fair and square.

A lot of trash-talking goes on during these World Championship Chinese Checkers games. One person will block another's perfect move, someone will accuse another of plugging up the board and at least once, someone will be required to show how their across-the-board trek was actually perfectly legal and legit. Dirty looks will be exchanged and revenge will be plotted.

I believe my brother, Kasey, has the longest win streak in the family, but he wasn't in Oregon for Christmas this year, so he couldn't defend his title. Oh, in case you were wondering, I won this year, making me the World Champion. I look forward to defending my title at next year's gathering.

Merry Christmas!

We are certainly loving our first Christmas as parents. Little Lana has been enjoying her new toys and the endless adoration of her Grandparents. I'll have to post more pictures at a later time. For now, here's our family Christmas card.

They're Real and They're (sort of) Spectacular!

 

The fingernails that is.
Remember this post?
Hi. My name is Shelle and I am a recovering fingernail biter.
I quit, cold turkey a little over a month ago and I've been doing pretty okay. I've caught myself with a nail in my mouth a time or two and Dan has caught me too, but I have yet to actually fall off the wagon and bite a nail. I have picked at them more often than I'd like, so I'm still working on that.
I wanted my hands to look pretty for Christmas, so I got a professional manicure yesterday. Don't they look pretty? I know, I know, they're not up to hand model quality yet, but they look decent and they are still definitely a work-in-progress.

Monday Memory #3: Christmas Bears

This time of year at stores throughout the country, there are bins of donated toys set aside for military families. Usually the cashier at the store will ask if you would like to donate a toy to a military family. Some people say yes, some say no. I usually say yes and if I have a choice, I pick out a big teddy bear to add to the bin, because I remember my teddy bear from the year we were a military family.

See, back when I was 11, my Mom was in the Navy Reserves and she was called up to active duty during Desert Storm. She didn't go to the Middle East, instead she went to work at a Naval Hospital in San Diego. My Dad was working in Iowa at the time, and Kasey hadn't started school yet, so he went to Iowa with Dad. Jen and I were in school, so my Grandpa Pat and Grandma Carol in Utah took us in for the school year. I missed my parents and my brother terribly. My parents both told me how important it was that I be a good example for my little sister and behave well for my grandparents, so I acted tough and didn't let on about how hard of a time I was having.

For Christmas, Dad planned to drive us from Utah to San Diego. We had a lovely road trip complete with a night at Circus Circus in Las Vegas where we played carnival games and ate cotton candy and caramel apples. When we got to the Navy base in San Diego, Mom had moved out of her dormitory into a family apartment so there was room for all of us. Mom had made some friends and we went over to their house for dinner on Christmas Eve. The friends were of Jamaican descent and they had a very traditional dinner. I remember feeling very sophisticated and grown up for trying all these new and exotic foods.

We set up a small fake Christmas Tree in the apartment and I know my parents did their best to make it feel like a regular family Christmas, even though it was the farthest thing from it. I was excited for Christmas, like any kid would be, but I was also a little sad, because we would be leaving soon and I would once again miss my Mom.

Christmas Day was filled with presents and treats and when my Mom left to work her shift at the hospital, we played outside in the warm weather, thinking of our friends back home in the snow and cold. When Mom came back that evening, she had some more presents for us. We each had a box filled with little toys from the YMCA/YWCA. Along with the toys, we each were given a big fluffy teddy bear. At 11, I thought of myself as too old for stuffed animals, but I did appreciate that someone out there cared enough about the kids of military parents to take the time and effort to put these gift boxes together for us.

We had a great visit with Mom that Christmas. We took a trip to the San Diego Zoo and even spent an afternoon in Tijuana, Mexico, but alas, the day did come when we had to pack up and leave. I remember my Mom making sure we were all buckled into the car safely and she kissed us all and said goodbye. We all had our teddy bears next to us, and I remember instead of being sad and crying, I snuggled with my bear and fell asleep. When I woke up later, I looked in the backseat to see my brother and sister both asleep, snuggling with their bears.

Desert Storm ended and military families were once again reunited. Our family was together again by summer and in the whole scheme of things, our family's sacrifice was far smaller than what others went through. We kept our teddy bears for several years. I got rid of mine when I packed up my room to leave for college. I'm not sure what happened to Kasey's bear, but Jen's bear has made it's way to her kids' toy pile. I hope Clint and Sandy keep it for a while and when they're older, I hope Jen tells them the story of how she got the teddy bear the year we had Christmas on a Navy Base.

Linus gets it.

Thanks Linus. I needed that.