Who needs a handyman?

Not us!!

I'm proud to report that we've made some additional home improvements on our own and without blood or marriage counseling!

We (mostly Tony) installed a new dishwasher this weekend. Long story is that our old was on it's last leg, so we ordered a new one from Best Buy last weekend. We were told it would be in this past Saturday, and maybe even by Friday night. So I called Friday, it wasn't in. No big deal because our Friday night took a different turn anyway when I picked the kids up and Hannah was in tears. She didn't feel well and from her reaction, I knew she probaby had an ear infection. We've been lucky to not have had to deal with too many sicknesses, but when she is honestly not feeling well, I know right away what's going on. She asked to go to CVS that evening instead of waiting until the morning to go to the doctor. I'm glad we did because we got her some amoxicillin and within a couple hours of taking that and motrin, she was feeling much better.

So anyway, I called Best Buy around 1:00 Saturday afternoon and they said the dishwasher still wasn't in. I was so mad because we had wanted to install it while Nicholas napped so we were missing that opportunity for Saturday. So we all napped instead, so it wasn't that bad! We went to dinner and to the mall Saturday night.

Sunday, we got up and ate breakfast and I made a grocery list and Hannah and I went grocery shopping. I got home and called Best Buy again, this was around 1:30 Sunday and they told me it still wasn't in. OK, got a little angry at this point and demanded to talk to someone. Sort of fibbed a little and said I had someone there to install yesterday when it was supposed to be in and now I have a hole in my cabinets and that this was unacceptable. Magically as I waited for a manager to come on the phone, they came back on and said it actually was in....not sure how that happened, but I ran to pick it up. I wasn't a totall "b" at the store and got home with it while the kids were napping. We uninstalled the new one and worked together to put the new one in. Had two separate trips to Lowes (thank goodness it's right down the street) and we had it done by around 5:00. No blood, no yelling, no accidents! And we have a working dishwasher. It seems to run a long time, but it works and it's done!

I was off work today to finish working in the bedroom. I'm proud to say, we're almost finished finally! A few weeks ago, I installed the new closet shelving and new blind for the windows. Today, I got the closet completed by installing the new closet doors. It's been so long that we've been without closet doors, that it's a nice change. They turned out OK, but I installed the track a little too far out, so they stick out a bit further than they should, but I think it's OK. I still need to get a drill bit to cut the holes for the handles.

I also hung the curtain rod and panels I bought. I'm still waiting on the valances to come in. I had a hard time getting a good picture with the lighting in the room.

Now all we have left to do is install the new baseboards, hang the new door and get new carpet. I'm please with how it turned out so far!

Another Trophy!

Hannah's second session of gymnastics ended last week with "show what you know" and the ribbon ceremony. We've noticed a lot of improvement in her the past few months and she's now tumbling around the house all the time, which shows interest and explains some of her improvment (more practicing).

The night started with her coach coming over to me to tell me that they were ready to move Hannah up and along to the next step. She said that meant two days a week @ 1-1/2 hrs each day and the classes were our Monday night and Saturday morning. Oh, and another $50 a month. As much as I was delighted that she felt Hannah was ready, I had to tell her that our family just isn't ready for that level of seriousness at this time. Hannah JUST turned 5 and we have all the time in the world to be super busy. I'm just not ready to spend 3 hours a week at the gym for a 5 year old (and with a one year old). I feel a little selfish with my spare time and weekends, but we're always just so busy trying to fit in what we don't do during the week into the weekends and evenings that I just can't see going this route just yet. I was a bit disappointed because she said if we didn't choose to move up, we'd have to switch to Saturdays to stay in this type of class, which I don't want to do either. She was going to maybe allow Hannah to stay on Monday nights depending on enrollment, but if not, she would have to move to a 50-minute rec class which is offered both Wednesday and Thursday evenings, so that's what we may end up doing. We'll re-evalulate in the summer I guess. I know Hannah likes it and has fun and is definitely getting better, but I'm also not convinced she LOVES it and therefore, I'm just not ready to be serious about it.

So anyway, about the night and the pictures.

Some exercises that are helping her get quite a tight little tummy! (maybe I need to work on this move!)

She's one of the only girls in her class that will actually do a handstand on the beam alone. She definitley feels more comfortable and does better on this double beam, but none of the other girls will actually kick up into a handstand, and Hannah does it pretty well!

Back walkovers off the mat have definitely improved (probably due to the extra practice in the living room off the ottoman!)

Lots of handstands against our living room wall have helped perfect this move! Need to work on pointed toes!

And bars is where she's really made improvements from her assessments. Last time, she got just a blue ribbon on bars (the bottom level). She has been working hard and now can attempt her cast-straddle on which we were trying to take a picture of here. She can do it probably 50% of the time. She has a hard time remembering to hold on to the bar!

So there's the "Show What You Know" portion..........and then we moved on to the ribbon ceremony.

She was so very excited (which I happily captured her expression) when she achieved level black on everything and got her Black Trophy this time!!!!! She was so proud of herself and I was of her too! She has been working hard so it was exciting!

And afterward with her treasured new trophy

And as for other happenings around our place, Nicholas loves the vaccuum which of course tickles me pink! He loves to help me sweep the kitchen floor and also chase around the regular vaccuum! Love seeing my kids like to clean (I know, I'm weird)!!!!

And his fine motor skills are really improving which is cool. He loves to play with his shape sorter and can get a few of the shapes in all by himself as with the coins in the piggy bank here.

We went to visit Great Grandma yesterday for a bit. She had a birthday gift for Nicholas and then we stayed for a while which was nice.

Our dishwasher took a dump on us, so we got to buy a new one - love spending money on stuff like that and continuing to put money into this house when we so badly want to keep working the plan to move up! We're working hard to make that happen, so I'll just keep thinking positively about it and it WILL happen!!!

Tony and I are going to start getting into shape again and eating better. I figured I'd blog about it to help make it more of a commitment! So you're in too my dear (since I know you're reading this)......no more junk food and get to the rec center!

Ok, I'm off to work on our taxes.........hopefully that's not going to ruin my day!!!

Nicholas' Pictures

Here area Nicholas' Official On-Year-Old Pictures!

What a big boy!

Happy Birthday Nicholas!

Today was Nicholas' first birthday! So crazy it's been a year! It went so fast, much faster than Hannah's first year seemed to go. Perhaps it had to do with sleepless nights or that he was a bigger baby or an early walker. I don't know, but it was a terrific year getting to know this little guy and I'm so very glad he's part of our family!

As you know from my last post, we celebrated Nicholas' birthday a couple weeks ago at the joint party. But today was our family's private celebration. We woke up singing Happy Birthday to the happy little boy (who woke up with a VERY stinky diaper today!!!) I took the kids to daycare and headed to work. I watched the clock this morning and smiled fondly around 10:20 remember when Nicholas arrived a year ago!

I picked the kids up early to take them for their well-child doctor visits today. Tony met us up there. They're both doing terrific and I was proud of Hannah who didn't cry as she got her last shot for a few years!!!

Nicholas weighed in at 23.5 pounds today and measured 30-3/4 inches long. He's at 75 percentile for weight and 90th for height. He grew almost 2 pounds and 2-1/4 inches from his 9 month visit - again, more up than out!!!

At 12 months, Nicholas is now running, but still falls down alot. I asked the doctor if we should worry about all the head bumps he gets (he said no). He is on 100% table food and now drinking whole milk from a cup. We only give him a bottle at bedtime, which is purely part of the routine. He still hasn't cut any new teeth, but his gums look super swollen, so I'm guessing they're coming. He is wearing 18 month clothes and a size 4 shoe.

He's starting to say real words - hi, dad, mama, hannah, cracker (his favorite word). He knows what a duck says and also a cow! He waves bye bye and signs more and will raise his hands up when you say "touchdown"!

He likes to suck his binky, enjoys splashing in the bathtub, plays rough and likes to dance to music. He's funny.....and knows he's funny and likes to do silly things. He can throw a serious fit, like a throw yourself on the ground, scream and kick and act like a fool fit! And he can be so sweet and cuddly too, like he grabs my arm to hug on it as I change him in the mornings. He likes to give kisses - the open mouth ones! Sleeping at night is better, but he still wakes several times fussing, but usually falls back to sleep quickly.

He's awesome!!!!

Here are a few pictures from tonight.

One of those "full-on fits"

Happy after dinner with a spaghetti face!

drinking from a cup

talking to Grandma on the phone

Happy Birthday Cupcake

After that birthday cupcake

Opening a couple gifts

Playing with his new shape sorter

Just being cute!

This is how he plays peek-a-boo, hiding behind the chair and peeks out to look and laugh at you!

And some high-flying fun with daddy!

Happy Birthday Buddy! We love you!

THE Party

Saturday was Hannah and Nicholas' birthday party. It was fun!

We went to Freaky Family Fun, an indoor miniature golf place. We invited the Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins, Godparents and a few friends.

I think the kids all had a nice time. We ate pizza and salad first, then the kids golfed.

After golf, they got to take turns on the roller coaster simulator - that was a huge hit!

Then we sang Happy Birthday - Hannah first

Then Nicholas.

He wasn't very into the whole party, being naptime and all. I was so shocked he didn't make a huge mess with his cake and devour it all. He really wasn't so happy about it and would rather be held.

Then we opened gifts. So many nice things from all our family and friends!

Thank you all for celebrating this special time with us! We love you all

Happy 5th Birthday Hannah!

Happy 1st Birthday Nicholas!

We love you to the moon and stars and all the way back!!!

And lastly, here are Hannah's 5 year old pictures