Love bench- our 5th anniversary gift

Here is an antique dresser that we picked up about 5-6 years ago.  We repainted and put new hardware on it and put it in our spare bedroom.  The drawers were always a little rough to open and shut, so it really did not get a lot of use.  For our 5th anniversary, Nick wanted to surprise me with a bench made from a dresser.  Since we don't have an abundance of space, we knew we needed a small dresser...We decided to go ahead and use the dresser we already had!

Nick definitely did a lot of hard work on this project, however he did get a lot of joy out of the demo and had a solid excuse for buying new tools.

My contribution was making the seat.  Padding and upholstery....

Brenna loved helping!  She was vigilant with letting us know when to cover our ears for loud noises.  She spent a lot of time fixing her stroller wheels and banging on things with screwdrivers.

 Doing some hard work work with daddy....

She did 'help' us by marking a white flower with a pencil...she was pretty upset when we informed her that it was a mistake and that it wasn't actually helping us.  I'm hoping that it will wear off eventually because the eraser just made it a grey blob.  ha!  We hadn't even finished it yet.  Of course it was the middle flower in the front ;)

I was going to distress it a little, but decided that the naturally occurring distress from the moves will work just fine.  So...here it is!  Finished product!!!  Brenna can climb up, but Jace can't yet.  And no one has fallen off or hit their head....yet!

catch up on grandparents visits and Jace 13 months

Jace LOVES to destroy explore everything.  We often find him sitting in the middle of a mess occasionally reading a book.  So, maybe he'll be a really well rounded kid....and like to dabble in a little bit of everything.  He sure does know how to make a mess, though ;)

He's also discovered doors...and that they open.  Damn those lever handles.  He's able to unlatch but has not figured out to pull.  Looks like we activated our alarm system just in time.  There will be no prison breaks for this guy.  We were so lucky that Brenna only cared about the interior doors and never messed with the ones to go outside.  However, she now loves to open the door for Sandra and can even flip the lowest lock (inconsistently).

He's also starting to make animal noises, barking and roaring.  He loves to give wet baby kisses.  There is occasional hitting and more than occasional baby tantrums (mostly when he wants his milk) but he is otherwise a very well behaved happy little guy.  He still has to do the 'lip' test for most foods and really any new thing he encounters.  He is a very good pointer and likes to show us the pictures on the wall and point at daddy.  He will repeat 'dada' and mama 'baba'  but no real attempt at words.  He does a nice imitation of 'hi' though.  He loves to look at himself in the mirror and chase Brenna around.  They like to 'wrestle' which is Brenna sitting on Jace and Jace wiggling free so she can smother him again.  They both get a kick out of it and surprisingly rarely get hurt.  

Brenna is really starting to get into make believe.  She's been 'falling' off the arm of the couch calling for 'help' from which ever character she is playing with that moment.  Conversations with her are more and more amusing/interesting/frustrating.  

Just had a visit with  my parents.  We had some amazing weather and were able to go outside with out frying/melting.  

And a visit last month with the Rogers.   

The kids had a great time and we had a great time away ;)  Already looking forward to the next round of visits!!

Red Car

Brenna is growing up so much!  I can't believe how much she talks and understands....really is an amazing thing to be able to watch and take part in.  While school work does take me away from her more than I'd like, she does get to have fun with Daddy

and help me study

And while our Cinderella loves to help us in the kitchen, sometimes I need a little reminder that she is still so small (well, maybe not her cheeks)!

South Padre Island Vaca!

We had such a great time on our first vacation in 3 years.  We stayed at The Pearl on South Padre Island...and it was amazing.  Mostly because we missed the summer rush and were able to enjoy the beach without too many distractions.  The weather was perfect, as long as you stayed on the beach, the breeze was amazing.  We played in the water every day and (much to Nick's pleasure) walked well over a mile each day on the beach.  My feet have never felt so exfoliated.

We had a lovely surprise waiting for us when we got there!

We had our first dinner at Louie's Backyard.  We missed the sunset (ended up being the theme to our vaca) but saw some amazing fire works that would rival most July 4th finales.  We also got to see the 'party boat' Murphy's Law pass by again and again.  Bass booming, lights flashing, DJ spinning and families sitting awkwardly, probably wondering why a party boat ever sounded like a good idea.  

The beach was really nice.  Very clean with soft, white sand.  There were some dunes between the hotels and the water, but they were pretty small.  The sand was so HOT that I actually burnt my feet one day just walking to the water.  Lesson learned.  The exfoliating walks were a little shorter after this.

Our cab driver the first night gave us an amazing list of restaurants that gave us with great dining options each night.  Nick was on a first name basis with  him by day 2.  We had some great sushi and lots and lots of shrimp!

Great sushi!

Nick trying desperately to open our champagne for our Mimosas

We managed to work out each day.  Kind of a stupid thing to start on vacation.  We were pretty sore for most of the week.  Although, recovering by the water was pretty awesome.

They were delicious!

Lamb fries. Look em up.

 We had a pretty nice view from our room, which had a partial view of the ocean and over looked the pools.  It was a great spot.

Probably the best thing we had...bacon wrapped, jalapeno stuffed shrimp

We were so burnt this day.  Even with 50 SPF!

Ok, I'm sure you can figure out why he got burnt....

The view of South Padre Island.  See that tall, light colored hotel?  Ours is the little square one next to it (can't see it).

We finally caught a sunset.

So there were actually a few more selfies and lots more pretty drink shots, but I think you get the idea.  Had a really nice, relaxing time.  I read a book that had nothing to do with healthcare.  

It's been a great (and very busy) 5 years.  Can't wait to see what we get to do in the next 5!

What Jace is up to...

Jace....He seems like such a BIG boy...but to our surprise, he was about 50th % for both height (30 inches) and weight (22lbs)!  But his feet are HUGE...he's in a size 5 and will quickly be growing out of them!

He loves to wave and DANCE!  He can make a fist and knock on the door.  He points at everything and loves to make the surprise face.  He kisses and smiles and loves to give high 5s!  He loves to run with his sister, but does not want to be touched!  He just figured out how to walk backwards.  He gets real upset when he is tired or isn't carried when he wants to be and will just plop down and cry.  hard.  He also has a pretty good arm and can throw anything a good distance.  He is just starting to appreciate books and will pick up a couple of his favorites and bring them to you to read.

Jace loves to play patty cake and throw his hands in the air.  He still rubs his lip with whatever tag he can find when he gets sleepy.  He also does this with new foods and wants to rub them on his lip before trying anything.  He has a really good appetite and will eat most foods.  However, when he is done, he's done.  He'll spit the food out into his hand and throw it.  He's doing great with the sippy cups and loves milk but not so much the water.

He is not nearly as bowlegged as he once was but his legs are so long and skinny!!  He loves to make faces and push his bottom lip up over his top lip.  He has 6 teeth that he will bite you with (only if you are silly enough to put your fingers in his mouth!)  He is completely fascinated with toilets and we've had a couple near misses with him throwing things in them.  He loves to pick up the lid and let it drop.  Needless to say, bathroom doors are closed at all times!



And here's Brenna, playing with the jalapenos from our garden.  She was pretty excited to get a picture with them.