It's Finally Done!!!

Yeah! The massive construction is finally done! Or at least for the most part. There are a few things still left to be done, but it is actually put together now. Enough that I could have a baby shower here yesterday! It was crazy, but we worked really hard all week and got it done! Here are the beautiful pictures!

Our new kitchen table

the living room/dining room

I love how much bigger it feels without the break in the flooring!

The T.V. and stand - we also painted

The new living room colors/ decor

the entryway - new tile

the guest bathroom - no more sunshine bathroom. I am a little sad still, but I think the new bathroom is beautiful!

David did a GREAT job on all the flooring. I am so proud of him for figuring it all out. I might have taken a little longer, but it saved us a lot of money and it made us both proud!

The big 30!!!!

Happy Birthday to David! Amidst all the construction we did take some time out last week to celebrate David's birthday! He is the big 30! He's not so sure he like being 30, but what can you do. He said he felt really old that night when he was taking a political poll and they asked what age range he was in 18-29 or 30-48! He said he almost lied! Haha! Personally, I think he's aged great! Hehe. Really 30 is not as old as it once was...we are just getting started!

30 balloons for the 30 year old!

Somehow on David's birthday we went to RC Willey to spend some giftcards possibly on a bookcase or a DVD case and ended up coming out with this! No complaints here! I never thought David would spend the money on a camera, but apparently after 7 years my husband still surprises me. He says he's always thought it would be cool to learn photography! Anyway, needless to say, this is actually MY birthday present! Once we get done with al this construction, maybe I'll have time to sit down and really figure out how to use it!

David's birthday, however, did not end that night. On Friday night, I took him out to dinner at this restaurant. It was amazing! It is kind of a random place, but it had great reviews online. If you like Italian, I would highly recommend it! At dinner, I floored David by telling him we had a hotel room for the night. I think that is the first time we have ever left our kids overnight. It was great! Shout out to the Mann's and the Mathewson's for babysitting!

This is our room at the Southpoint. It was an amazing room for the money. We loved it and we loved that we could just go downstairs and watch a movie. We thought about bowling, but we were too tired! We did watch Ghost Town which was surprising funny. We both enjoyed it.

All in all, I think he had a great birthday. Love you, honey!

Home improvements

For the last week and a half (longer if you count the time David spent on the tile int he entry way) we have been doing some remodeling. We have replaced all of the flooring downstairs and repainted most of the downstairs. My neck and back just ache thinking about painting, but when I am done here, I am headed to do touch-up in the bathroom (which I've painted twice in the last week). The following are pics of David laying the laminate in the living room/dining room. I am so proud of him! He has really done a great job. And I can't forget to give a shout out to his brother Richard for giving up his Saturday to come help! We still have work to do. David is putting on baseboards as I type, but it will all have to be done by Saturday. There is a baby shower at my house! It has been a lot of work, but I am very excited, and the sad part is...It is still cheaper than moving! I promise new pictures of the complete transformation next week!

Tagged

I have been tagged with this twice in the last week, so I guess I better get cracking!

8 TV shows I love to watch:
So you Think you can Dance
Survivor
The Amazing Race
NCIS
How I met your Mother
The Office
Top Model
Criminal Minds

8 Favorite restaurants:
Cheesecake Factory
IHOP - yes I really do!
BJ's
Olive Garden
Casa Di Amore - a new found favorite
PF Chang's
Panera Bread
Red Robin

8 Things that happened yesterday:
I took Spencer to Tumbling Class
Sat with Spencer through art class
Went to Target
Painted baseboards
Took a quick 30 min. nap
Drove to Calico Basin
Tried explaining yet again to Spencer why he can't give "Special Blessings" to the dog
played chase with Jaxon

8 Things I am looking forward to:
Our home improvements being completely done!
Dinner Group this Thursday
Our next few enrichments
Going to Utah for Thanksgiving
my life calming down - I feel like I've been on overdrive for the last week!
My birthday - Oct. 13th!
Jaxon finally walking - we have been so close forever!
Visiting Houston in December? November? January?

8 Things on my wish list:
Getting in shape by Christmas
My husband working normal hours during tax season - it doesn't have to be possible, right?
An insanely organized home
that Jaxon will start walking tomorrow
that Spencer will stop knocking Jaxon down
that Spencer will suddenly decide he loves sharing his toys with his brother
that Jaxon will forget wherever he learned that new high-pitched scream
that I will suddenly become the most patient mom in the world :)

8 People I'm tagging:
Chelsea Mann
Amy Mathewson
Kimberly Fears
Karley Simmons
Brit Papa
Brit Dye
Stacey Utley
Stacie Gibson

Where's my baby?

As we were leaving for vacation, David and I were talking about how we were not quite ready for another baby yet because we both still think of Jaxon as so much of a baby. At the same time we also both felt he grew up a lot this weekend. No, that does not mean we are suddenly ready to start trying. :) He just seems so much older... :( He is also starting to walk now. Last night he was pulling himself up on a wall ni his room and just taking off. It was really cute. Walking video coming soon!

He is a sneaky little boy. This is him sneaking through the blockade from the entry way. (We are re-doing the tile.) He we always pause from doing something naughty to flash a smile! It is hard to get mad when he does that...

This is his cheese grin. He loves to just pause a grin.

My little monkey...

My silly boy!

For those of you who don't know. Spencer is obsessed with sleeping with socks on. One day after his nap we were going to run an errand and I told Spencer to get his sandals on. Next thing I know, this is what I find. I guess I didn't tell him to take his socks off! And yes, that is how we went to the store! Somedays its just not worth the fight...

Just for fun!

I got a couple of really cute close ups of my boys while we were on vacation. I actually have even more of Jaxon. He is such a smiley boy. Spencer on the other hand was rather cranky during vacation, so this is one of the few. I think it is because he didn't get much sleep. He didn't take any naps and he shared a room with Jaxon and they kept playing!

I LOVE his big eyes! He is such a sweet baby!

Our outdoors filled weekend!

This weekend we decided to get outside! I have come to the realization that I love the outdoors, BUT I really don't like to camp. I hate feeling dirty. So we booked a hotel room in Flagstaff, and visited 4 national parks!

1. Sunset Crater National Park - an old volcano

2. Wupatki National Park - old Native American ruins

The doors were really small! Perfect for Spencer!

They have a lot of trains in Flagstaff, ao we had to stop a visit. After the first one came barreling through, Spencer wasn't so sure he like the trains anymore. They were close, loud and fast!

I took this picture before I knew how fast the trains came through!

3. Walnut Canyon National Park - cave dwellings of Native Americans - see the middle of the picture below.

Sadly the trail that lead to the dwellings was closed due to a giant rock that fell into the trail!

They did have a fun sand box with paw prints of the different animals in the area.

Okay, small break from the family here. We kept driving past the building and it made me laugh ever time. Would you buy your furniture here?

There was also a county fair going on while we were there, so we stopped by one evening for some fun!

This was one of Spencer's favorite rides.

The was his abosolute favorite. It was a maze at the bottom( I watched more than one person run into a wall), with crazy mirrors up top and a twisty slide coming down. Not much of a "ride," but Spencer was not feeling so adventerous this weekend.

4. Grand Canyon National Park

The poor boys were strapped in the stroller the whole time, but I refused to have it any other way. Yes, I am paranoid! Jaxon loved it though and Spencer called it the "big hole."

On the way out, I told David I was going to see a deer. Turns out we saw an elk and two deer within the next 10 mins.!

Overall, it was a great weekend. I loved my hotel-camping weekend. :)