I know, I know

We haven't written anything in months, I'm so sorry. But things have been quite busy.
We're having another baby! How's that for getting busy eh? We found out today it'll be a girl, and we're very happy!
She's due October 19th. I've been feeling better the past few weeks, just tired now. I'm sure we'll talk more about this later.

Doug and I went on a short cruise to Mexico and Catalina Island for my birthday in March. Fun, but crazy. It was a Carnival Fun Cruise. You know what I mean? Lots of drunk and gross college students on spring break. Naomi kept Holland, and she slept through the night! She doesn't sleep for us, of course.

Holland turned two years old on May 10th. We had a little party with a few friends. It was very sweet. Although the "ducky" theme I was working on didn't work out at all.

Holland is growing and talking and learning in leaps and bounds. Her hair is longer too. She is now taking her diaper off when it gets wet. Hopefully she'll want to go in the potty soon.

Kathryne is doing great, although not sure what we're going to do for school next fall. It's a tough battle. She is working diligently on finishing most of her homeschool classes. She's going to VR at church and loving it. Not much of a social life though, poor thing. Next thing we want to work on is her driver's license.

I went to the CA women's retreat last weekend, it was great. Looking forward to next year already.

Doug is working a lot, and work and at home. He's great with Holland and looking forward to another little girl to love. hee hee.

So that's a quick update. Hope all are well that read this. We miss you!

Kitchen remodel update

Well, as of today our kitchen is not complete, but still workable. Because we're doing it ourselves, we don't always feel like working every weekend on it. So we've been on a "break" for about four months. You know, we had the holidays and K's birthday to contend with, I am hoping we will soon get back into the thick of it.
What we've accomplished so far: installed the new cabinets (after putting them together), ripped out old moldings/trim, ripped out old vinyl floor (two layers), installed new 100+ pound farmstyle kitchen sink from Ikea (a bargain at $199), used some inexpensive desk tops for counters (we can't afford what we really want), installed new stove hood, and I started tiling the backsplash, but not grouted it yet. The sink took us all day to install and then the garbage disposal flange was too small, so Doug had to grind away a little bit of the porcelain and I was worried the entire sink would be ruined. We then installed the rubbed bronze faucet and hardware to cabinets. The handles are super cute and I got them at Target!!!! Much less was spent on that than was anticipated. We also put in the laminate floor a few months ago to match the rest of the house. It hasn't been easy because the kitchen has no standard measurements to speak of, so there are lots of gaps that need to be filled in, Doug is going to build some shelving also (don't know when). It is functional, so we have slowed way down on everything. I really want to get the toe kicks done so it is a bit cleaner, and the trim around the window, so it looks pretty.
I am going to do some more tiling this weekend, for sure!
Since we did all that, Doug and Mark built a laundry room off the kitchen for me. It is not complete either, but it does have a roof, a backdoor and two windows. Just no walls! Ha ha. It's a nice size, about 10ft by 10ft. When it's finished it will be a great place to put dirty laundry, recycling, hang jackets and store dirty shoes, and smelly dogs. By the way, Joey wants a new daddy!

Well, as of today our kitchen is not complete, but still workable. Because we're doing it ourselves, we don't always feel like working every weekend on it. So we've been on a "break" for about four months. You know, we had the holidays and K's birthday to contend with, I am hoping we will soon get back into the thick of it.
What we've accomplished so far: installed the new cabinets (after putting them together), ripped out old moldings/trim, ripped out old vinyl floor (two layers), installed new 100+ pound farmstyle kitchen sink from Ikea (a bargain at $199), used some inexpensive desk tops for counters (we can't afford what we really want), installed new stove hood, and I started tiling the backsplash, but not grouted it yet. The sink took us all day to install and then the garbage disposal flange was too small, so Doug had to grind away a little bit of the porcelain and I was worried the entire sink would be ruined. We then installed the rubbed bronze faucet and hardware to cabinets. The handles are super cute and I got them at Target!!!! Much less was spent on that than was anticipated. We also put in the laminate floor a few months ago to match the rest of the house. It hasn't been easy because the kitchen has no standard measurements to speak of, so there are lots of gaps that need to be filled in, Doug is going to build some shelving also (don't know when). It is functional, so we have slowed way down on everything. I really want to get the toe kicks done so it is a bit cleaner, and the trim around the window, so it looks pretty.
I am going to do some more tiling this weekend, for sure!
Since we did all that, Doug and Mark built a laundry room off the kitchen for me. It is not complete either, but it does have a roof, a backdoor and two windows. Just no walls! Ha ha. It's a nice size, about 10ft by 10ft. When it's finished it will be a great place to put dirty laundry, recycling, hang jackets and store dirty shoes, and smelly dogs. By the way, Joey wants a new daddy!

Louisiana Texas Photos

Here are a couple shots of our trip: Tina & Sydney with Me and Holland, (Great) Grandma with Holland, and Holland making Sydney the Grand Poobah.

Traveling with the babe

Holland and I will be taking a trip on June 2nd to visit my grandma and aunt and cousins who live near Baton Rough, Louisiana. It's very exciting, but also a bit scary. Traveling with little ones isn't easy and you know I'm already near losing my mind with no sleep and all the tantrums and screaming. So...this will be an "adventure". After a week we'll be driving to Austin, Texas to stay with my cousin Tina Belle. She has a little baby too, named Sydney Belle. So cute! Sadly I will be gone for two weeks, away from my darling girl Kathryne and hubby Doug. Hopefully they will catch up on sleep and chores and get to do fun stuff without the tot around to make things crazy. Kathryne doesn't like that I will miss the last weeks of school, but I think she can handle it. Her second "mommy" Naomi will take care of her!!!!
I will post some pics of the trip at some point, and also a pic of Tina and I when we were little. We look the same as we did then. Glad to see some of us never change.
I also wanted to send congrats etc. to Doug and Nicole on their wedding day! Good luck and have fun on the honeymoon. Hope we get to see them soon.

Madness I say!

You all are not going to believe it! After all my years of scheming and dreaming about putting in a new kitchen at our home on El Sol, it's finally happening! My dad and I went to Ikea in Burbank on Sunday and I thought we were just pricing/looking. He said "Get what you need." I almost had a heart attack, because I wasn't prepared. So this week Doug and I are putting together all the cabinets and drawers. We so lucky it's a three day weekend coming up, so we can spend a lot of time getting it done! yeah!
So, now I need to find a countertop product and a backsplash (the walls are kind of icky). My dreams seem to be growing, because all I can think of now is knocking down part of the wall between the kitchen and dining room, and install a nice big island in the middle, and banquette seating (built-in) and French doors and....
Wake up! Focus on the kitchen girl! I know...I'm losing my mind. This house could be really sweet one day, and I can see it's potential, so that's why I'm freaking out.
Poor Dougy. He'll bare the brunt of it, but he's used to it. Right honey?
Please wish us luck as we rip out the old and install the new. I'll post some pics of before, during and after so you can see how amazing it is. Yay to my Dad for being a trooper too. Love you!!!!

Ode to Mom on Mother's Day

Moms are wonderful. Moms are difficult. Moms worry. Moms make you worry. There's nothing like a mother's love. There's no love harder to extricate from. That favorite dinner mom made when I was ten cannot ever be beat. She made me eat my brussel sprouts, or mushrooms, or eggplant. Mom or mother is one of the sweetest words you can ever hear a child say. Except when it's included in a whine or I hate you kind of voice. Being a mom is a pretty thankless job, considering you don't get paid. Being a mom is priceless and beyond compare. Moms don't sleep much, even when their kids are grown. Thanks for taking care of us when we're sick Mom, and loving us when we are unloveable. Thank you for the tender kisses, and the helping hand that we didn't know was there propping us up. You are special in every way.
Moms make the world a better place everyday and we love you for it.
We love you Mom!