pictures of the kids.

Just new pictures of the kids. They are growing up so fast. These pictures were taken just before Jordan’s 2nd birthday and Katie’s 7 month birthday.

 

  

 

 

Earth Hour

We turned off all our lights, TV’s, and computer for earth hour the other night. Normally we are not very good at saving energy but I am trying so I can cut cost on our energy bill in the future. Okay so we did use some energy during earth hour but I  wasn’t going to stop dinner from getting made. It was in our small oven which uses less energy then our regular big one so I hope that helped a bit. Anyways it was really nice to light all my candles and have a quite dinner. After the hour was over we turned the TV back on and watched for a bit before going to bed. The next morning I went to turn on the computer and it never turned on again. I really hope I saved some money turning off all my lights and stuff the other night because I had to spend a bit of money getting a new computer. But now we have a new computer that should be good to hold all my pictures and movies of the kids. The guys could not believe how many pictures I had on my computer. They said they have never seen anything like it. SO I like to have pictures of everything. This experience really made me think of getting an external hard drive to put all of my pictures on in case of something like this happening again. I am so thankful that they were able to save all of my pictures. SO for the next little while I will be trying to set up the new computer and get it back to the way I like it.

Cookies

I made Cookies for the first time today in my new kitchen. It was wonderful! When the kiddies went down for their naps I decided it had been long enough since I last made some cookies and did it. At the old hose when we were selling it i had packed away some of my baking supplies to stage the house. That was back in the middle of October. I decided to make my first batch of cookies with out the kiddies so I could get a feel of my new kitchen without finding out how to baby proof while making cookies. I loved it. My new kitchen works great, I have so much room to move around and my new oven is a dream. I had all three baking sheets of cookies in at once because it's a convection oven. I have never had one of these before so this was my first time baking with one. I never want to go back. It made the whole process so much easier, well cookies are pretty easy but to cook it all at once was the best. The next time I make anything in my kitchen I will have a little area set up so JJ can help. He just loves to help in the kitchen. I hoping he enjoys cooking because I sure don't . It would be great if one of my kids decides to become a chef they could try out new meals on the family anytime :)


This is a picture of the cookies before anyone gets to them

This is a picture of JJ eating a cookie. I was cleaning up from making the cookies and when I turned around to see what JJ was up to this is what I saw

I think he really liked my cookies. He is so funny when he asks for a cookie he wont open his mouth. He talks normal for every other word but then keeps his mouth closed when he says cookie. I have no idea why.

Last night Sean went out for dinner with his boss and his regional manger so the kiddies and I did the evening routine alone. These are some of the pictures of JJ helping me give Katie her dinner. I can't believe how fascinated he is with Kaitlyn. He always wants to help feed her and is really trying to play with her. Today they were sitting together playing until Katie pulled JJ's hair, then the fun time was over.
Yesterday it really felt like spring so JJ and I played in the backyard while Katie took her nap. He mowed his daddy's lawn, played with his ball, went on his baby slide and played with the flowers in the front yard.

Our new main bathroom (aka kids bathroom)

I am so proud of Sean. He and my dad put this bathroom together. There was times when Sean was telling me that was it he needs to hire a plumber but he made it through and they got it done. I love it. We still need to get a little shelve thing for above the toilet and put in the baseboards but otherwise it is done. Just our bathroom left! We aren't planning on doing that one till Sean is done his April school exams.

Our Master bedroom. We still need to lay the floors and change out the broken door with the new one. The floors are the same as in the living room. I love the light we got for our bedroom it was in the clearance are of home depot. I wanted to do something that felt romantic like a Chandelier but I didn't really want a real Chandelier so I was thrilled when I saw this light.

My fireplace in my bedroom. This is my favorite thing about my bedroom.

This is the eagle that lives across the road from our house. It has a nest in the tree across the road .

More updates

Of course more pictures of the kiddies. I can't help it they are just so adorable. The top picture is of JJ watching the snow fall again.

My little princess. She does the exact same serious face as her older brother as soon as I bring out the camera. But she looks so pretty in her little dress.
More snow in Nanaimo! I think Sean jinxed us. He was rubbing it in that we get less rain in Nanaimo then my parents do in Langley(only tiny bit less) So my parents came back saying that Nanaimo gets more snow. I think they are right :) We have been told the amount we got this year is not normal for Nanaimo but so far I agree with my parents.We put the cabinet on the left up the other night because the old cabinet had a spot for a microwave and we changed to the microwave above the stove. I am so proud of my "handyman"

The microwave and new cabinet installed. We are still not finished as we have to hook up the fan and think of a way we are going to cover the pipe. I'm not sure if I want to build a box around it like our old place or do something a little different.This is the new blinds we installed in our kitchen and the bottom picture is the new blinds in the living room. It feels so different now that the vertical blinds are gone. I love it. We also replaced the blinds in the kids bedrooms and our bedroom and the family room downstairs.

And this is the present state of our main bathroom. Last night we did demolition. And tonight we will lay the new floors and then start putting it back together this weekend with the help of my parents. Thank goodness for my parents otherwise we can only work on the house once the kids are in bed. It is so great when they come because then Sean and my dad work on the house while my mom and I take the kids out shopping and try to keep them entertained. Usually once the kids go down my mom and I paint.
This is my hallway. My dad and Sean will be finishing this on the weekend also. They have a very busy weekend ahead of them. I am very lucky that Katie May doesn't crawl yet or it would make these reno's even more difficult then they already are.

As you can see we are moving along. After this weekend we may take a break because Sean will need to start getting ready for his exams in April, write his thesis, then JJ turns 2, the weekend after that we are going to the doodle bops and it's Easter. So we have a very busy month ahead of us.

Video's of the kiddies

We are still busy around the house with reno's but I'm trying to keep everyone updated with the kids. This weekend we hope to finish the flooring and start to Reno the bathrooms. We got the microwave up in the kitchen and the two new cabinets so it is coming along. We need to finish the trim around the top of the cupboards and lay the new cork floor in the kitchen. We are coming along schedule.

Jordan is becoming very independent. Every now and then he decides that he wants to go play in his bedroom privately so he heads down the hall to his room and closes the door. We always go to see what he is doing just to make sure he's not climbing out the window or something. For some reason this time he took the kitchen stool and was sitting on his bed with it. A little later he added his Car push toy to his bed.

My little Katie May when she wakes up. She is the happiest baby whenever she wakes up. Every single time you go in she smiles at you.

This is a video of Katie's first time eating rice cereal. I have the same video of JJ somewhere. Now she eats all sorts of mushed food. So far she seems to like most things but you never know JJ used to like most baby food then one day decided he was going to be the pickiest eater around. It just keeps us on our toes.

This is my little man following us around the kitchen with the kitchen stool. He does this every time we go in the kitchen. It is so cute but it can make doing anything a little difficult. I now try and keep everything pushed to the very back of the counter.

Our little Katie May doing tummy time. Near the end of this video you hear JJ fall on one of his toys and then he starts saying oh no. He says that whenever something is broken or not working. The toy was fixed after this video.

Katie May is growing up

Just a little blurb about our princess. I haven't had much time to keep people updated on her with the house selling, moving and now reno's.

Last week I was holding Katie and thought to myself maybe I should check and see where she is at for sitting on her own. So I got some pillows ready and sat her on the carpet. I couldn't believe it she was sitting on her own. I did not expect that. I thought she would just sit for a second then lean against the pillows. I feel so bad she could have probably been sitting a while ago. I'm just not ready for her to grow up so fast. She is my little princess. Now when we lay her on the floor on her tummy she is pulling herself around the room. She can't get up in the crawling position but she is trying. I can't believe how fast it is going. I know it when fast with JJ but it feels like it is going double that with Katie.

Our princess Kaitlyn is so sweet. She is the happiest baby I have ever seen. I'm not saying that cause I'm her mom but it's true. All you have to do is smile at her and she smiles back. For some reason as soon as I bring out the camera she stops smiling. I almost feel guilty at how easy to please she is. She is so different then Jordan. With JJ you had to work for his smile. She is so laid back and quite compared to him you forget she is around. I feel really fortunate that I had her personality after Jordan's. I don't think I would know what I was doing if I had my laid back kid first then my busy boy after. I love my busy boy. He keeps things so interesting and when you get that happy dance from him you can't not join in. I just can't believe how different they can be sometimes but at the same time some of the facial reactions they do are the exact same.

This summer should be a really fun summer. We have a big back yard for the kids to play in, Katie will be at an age where I can sit her in the grass and Jordan will more then likely be spending all of his time on his new playground that Grandma Simpson is getting the kids for their birthdays. I can't wait and we should be done are reno's.

1 month into the Renovations

We have lived in our new house about a month now and have not stopped working on it. We are hoping to get the Renovations done in time for summer so when summer does arrive we can sit back and enjoy the our family and the new house. We have only completed the laminate flooring in the dining room and living room. We still have the hall and bedrooms to go. We had my parents over on the weekend to help with the flooring. They have been a great help with this new house. They have been putting their house on hold to come over and help us we are so thankful. This last week was a very busy week we had the new roof put on, new skylight, new counter tops, new carpet for the stairs and the new laminate floor. The place is starting to look the way I have been imaging it. I love it so much.

I always have to put in some pictures of the kiddies :)

My counter tops getting put on. We got a material called Corian. I like it better than granite. It's not shiny or cold like granite. On top of that if you damage it you can get it fixed. In 30 years if I still live here and like my counter tops they can refinish it so it looks like new. I just love it.

This is the colour. It has little black specks in it so even when it's dirty you can't really tell.

My new carpet! The only carpet in the house. I'm not really a huge fan of carpet except on the stairs. We got a rubber underlay so if anything spills on it you should be able to get it out really easy cause the underlay wont hold any of the liquid. I was totally sold on this because this is my only set of stairs and I can see the kids and dogs getting it really messy when they come in in the winter time.

Just some of the pictures of the mess we were living in before Sean and my parents laid the new floor.

The counter top people left us a thank you note and bottle of wine. I thought that was so nice.

The completed floors! It is almost done in here except that Sean needs to put the wires for the TV down the fireplace and we are waiting for our new 2 in faux wood blinds. I called the company I ordered them from the other day cause the ones I ordered and now on sale. I now got them even cheaper then I budgeted for. One place I went to quoted me over $1000.00 for the big part of the bay window alone. I couldn't believe that I didn't even pay that in total for all the blinds I ordered.

My kitchen becoming my dream kitchen. I just love it so much. I totally love the white with the black accents. I have always loved white appliances. No matter what they never go out of style.We still have a lot to do in here as you can tell but it is coming along. We need to tile the back splash which is going to be white subway tile, hang the microwave and cabinet and I still need to put on the drawer fronts and a few cabinet fronts. Also need to put in the new cork flooring. The cork flooring is going to be a dark colour like the living room floor.