Kitchen updates

I am so excited to share our before/after pictures of the kitchen! I think it's subtle but looks so much brighter and more updated. All of the oak has bothered me since we bought the house, and I finally bit the bullet and went ahead with hiring painters to paint our trim. We also had them paint the ceilings and matched the walls to the new paint color I painted in the family room, foyer and upstairs hallway earlier this year.

 

 

Not a night and day difference, but feels so much fresher to me!

Griswold Lite

First the front yard, which technically doesn't have all of our lights up yet. 

And the backyard, so people on the main drag can see us, alon with the neighbors behind. 

And this year, Joe moved on to our vacation home, aka Scott and Tricia's. We certainly aren't the Griswold's yet, but a few more years (and a new roof) and we may get there yet! :)

Boys rule

This feisty little boy will be upsetting the boy/girl balance in our household at the end of April 2015! We had our 20 week ultrasound today and everything looked good and he appeared healthy and quite active, frequently rolling out of the tech's way just when she would need to snap a picture. 

Oh man, things are getting real! Joe and I only have a few more months before we are outnumbered!

Maddie-isms

Maddie's amazing vocabulary continues to amaze. It's great that she's as articulate as she is; definitely a lot easier than most 2 year olds.

She has a few new things she likes to say that I need to capture, because they make me giggle.

She always wants to share my drinks, whether water, iced tea or soda. I'll let her have sips of the first two, but remind her that she can't drink mommy's soda. So now when she asks if she can have some, and I tell her no, she'll give me a cute look and recite, "Ahh, that's mommy's soda. Soda's not for little girls. Soda's not for little boys. Just mommies, daddies, Molly and TV." (or insert whatever else happens to be distracting her at the time)

She's adamant that she can put her socks and shoes on by herself, and actually does a pretty good job, most of the time. But there are times when she insists she doesn't need socks because it's easier for her to get her shoes on without them. It's been cold enough lately, though, that we insist she wear socks so her feet don't get cold. Thus, when she's putting socks and shoes on, she'll tell me "I need to put my socks on my tootsies so my tootsies don't get cold and turn into bicycles!" So close, sweet girl, so close. Bicycles = icicles, which, to be fair, she probably hasn't ever seen before!