The Big Cleaning Weekend!

Dave and I spent all weekend at the house getting ready for the big move. After almost a year of construction there was a TON of sawdust and dirt to clean up. My job was to clean and Dave's job was to install all the closet organizers. It took him and two of his friends the entire day! I think they worked over 12 hours on the closets! They did a great job though and they look amazing!! The cleaning really made our house look like a house. It will probably still need another wipe down before we move in but I am happy that it is all cleaned up. We are still waiting to call for our final inspection- we have to do our final grade on our front yard and we have to build our front steps. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this will all happen this week. I am not stressing if it doesn't happen- my week is horrible in regards to being pulled every which way. It's the last week of school (we are out Thursday), I still have to write 25 report cards and it is also my last week of my master's program! Busy times! I will leave you with the highlight of my weekend ( Okay, it might not have been the greatest highlight, but it brought a HUGE smile to my face!)

I have heard people say that when the Porta-Potty finally leaves your property that it must be time to move in! Hip, Hip, Hooray!

I had to post now (it's after midnight) because I know our weekend is going to busy and then next week is the last week of school which is always a crazy time! So, here goes...

Today was a beautiful and warm day in Olympia. Taylor got a new sprinkler for her birthday and has been dying to use it! As soon as I picked them up from daycare she said that she thought it might be a good day to use it. We got home and the girls got in their swim suits and didn't waste any time getting the sprinkler going. Taylor had a blast~ Maddie? Not as much fun! She let Taylor drag her in one time and once her feet got wet and had grass stuck to them she was DONE! She cracks me up! It was a nice way to end our Friday~it has been a long week!

Taylor jumping through the sprinkler!

Maddie was all smiles once she was done being dragged through the sprinkler!

2 sweet girls enjoying each other's company!

I had to let everyone know that I successfully unloaded all 47 boxes today that were delivered to the house for our closet organizers. The woman on the phone said that it should take around 2 hours to do this- At 2 hours I think I had done only 19 boxes! I finally finished somewhere at the 6 hour mark! Not bad for doing it all by myself. I pity my darling husband who has to actually put all those pieces together tomorrow! I am glad that I will be upstairs wiping dust off the walls :)

I kid you not~ This is what Dave and I came home to one day after work!

I hope everyone is off to a great start to their weekend! As my dear friend Jenna always says....Smiles and Hugs to Everyone!

Sunday!

Dave and I had the honor of standing up as Emilie's godparents at Darci and Paul's church this morning as Emilie was baptized. The pastor did an amazing job welcoming Emilie into God's family! We were truly honored to witness and be a part of such a wonderful moment of Emilie's life! After the service, we went to Paul's parents house and had an amazing brunch! Lots of good food, conversation and celebration took place!

On the drive home from Bothell, we stopped at Home Depot and picked out our vanity mirrors and toilet paper holders for the bathrooms. Who knew such a decision could be so stressful? We are finally able to start cleaning up the house now and that is exactly what I did! For everyone who knows me well, they know cleaning is not my favorite thing to do, but today it was SO rewarding! To be cleaning something that you have waited for, for almost 18 months is fantastic! The process however, is going to be very slow- I cleaned for 5 1/2 hours and only got the girls rooms, one small hallway and the girls bathroom done. I think I know where I will spending all my free time!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention a funny story about Taylor! She has been reminding Dave and I that now that she is four that she can be in a booster. She got it in her head yesterday that since we were driving to Everett that we should stop at Babies R Us and get her a new booster (this had been our to-do list anyways!). She waited patiently all day long and when we finally got to the store and she picked it out she told me: "This is the best day of my life!" She has shown anyone and everyone her new booster and is quite proud of the whole thing! Very cute!

One last thing...I promise! Maddie started potty training this week and it has been going very well! Our daycare provider (Miss Tammy!) should start a professional business on potty training! She has done an amazing job on both of the girls. Maddie is still having some occasional accidents but has been diaper free for 7 days now! I am loving life :) Yeah Maddie!

** By the way....Can you tell Maddie is our 2nd child? Poor girl! I just realized I didn't get a picture of her using the big girl potty! I know what I will be doing tonight....

Have a wonderful week everyone! Did I mention that I have only 9 more days of work??? Summer vacation here we come!

Maddie Girls New Hair!

Maddie got her hair cut today and I just had to share a few pictures of her! She was starting to sport a serious mullet and she hates having her hair up so I took her into a hair salon today and had her get a new hair style! I think it turned out cute! Happy Wednesday!

Here she is...being her usual silly self!

Who couldn't love this sweet face? Too cute!!

A view of the back of her hair! (By the way, we took these pictures at my school tonight~it was parent volunteer appreciation night so the girls and I headed to the event for a while)

Taylor is 4!

It's official....Taylor is 4!

What a fantastic and fun birthday weekend- yes, I said weekend, Taylor had! On her official birthday she requested that we have steak and rice for her birthday dinner so we had a quite evening at home with my mom, Dave's mom and Jerry. She loved getting presents (what 4 year old doesn't?) but her favorite present was her Fancy Nancy Doll that her sister gave her!

Taylor's Fancy Nancy Doll!

On Saturday, Taylor made her debut as a ladybug at her ballet recital! She was very nervous about the whole thing but when it was all said and done, she went out on stage in front of a lot of people. Now, had you been there you would know that she looked as if her parents had forced her onto the stage- she didn't smile once, kept rolling her head all around like she was bored out of her mind and I do believe I saw her pick her nose once! We are quite proud!! After the recital, the entire family came over and helped her celebrate her birthday. Everyone got a sneak peak at the almost complete house and had a nice time visiting with everyone! Thank you to all of our wonderful family for helping Taylor celebrate her special day! We appreciate all that you do for her!

Taylor (3rd one in) at her Dress Rehearsal!

Taylor after the recital!

I consider myself to be pretty crafty- but not in the cake department! I was pleased though with how my 1st attempt at a 3 tier cake turned out!

Now, remember, I did say birthday weekend....so, Sunday came along and we got ready for Taylor's Fancy Nancy kid party! If you don't know who Fancy Nancy is she is a little girl who loves to get fancy (which fits Taylor to a tee!). Per her request, her guests arrived dressed as fancy as they pleased! The kids enjoyed making fancy journals, princess wands and eating Parfaits (that's a fancy word for Ice cream sundaes!). Everyone had a great time....and what can I say? I had a great time as well, but am glad that it's a whole year until Taylor has another birthday! Happy Birthday to our Taylor Bug! We love you lots!

Daddy and Maddie dressed quite fancy! (You can't see it but Dave's bow tie lit up! Nice touch!)

Here are a few of the guests (and myself) all looking quite fancy!

Memorial Day Weekend!

We have had such an enjoyable and relaxing weekend! On Saturday, we drove up to Bothell to see baby Emilie~ Dave hadn't met her yet and the girls were wanting to hold her (they had been to nervous at the hospital to do it there). My mom, Katie and Tim ended up coming over as well so we ended up having a great visit and a fun barbecue together! The girls ended up hanging out with my mom for awhile so that Dave and I could go and check out a few different furniture places. We are on the hunt for bar stools, a nook table, a dining room table and a desk. We didn't find anything that stood out so we are still on the look out. It is so exciting to actually be at this stage- I never thought this time would arrive :)

Uncle David meets Emilie!

Taylor holds Emilie for the first time! (Maddie is still not so sure about all this!)

While at Nana and Paul's house Taylor found a caterpillar. She named him Belle!

Sunday we spent the day at the house catching up on laundry (it is never ending!!) and cleaning up all the dust from the work our trim guys have been doing this past week. Taylor has been fighting a cough, running nose and fever so we ended up watching 101 Dalmations and eating popcorn in the middle of the day!

I forgot to mention that we went to IKEA on our way up to see my sister- Taylor played in the play area but Maddie came with us while we were shopping- she found these "princess castles" and thought she and her sister needed one! Dave and I thought that we would hang them in the new house but the girls thought they needed to be hung in both the old and the new house :)Needless to say, they LOVE them!!

Monday morning Dave worked at the house and Taylor and I started working on her "fancy" bowls for her Fancy Nancy birthday party that she is having this coming weekend. Afterwards the family headed into town and we went to the Macy's furniture warehouse where we ended up purchasing a new dining room table set with a buffet table as well! It was one of those things where we walked in, looked at and fell in love with it! So, we can now cross that off of our things to buy.

I hope everyone is having a great start to their week! ~HM

The Rest of Our Weekend!

We had so much going on this past weekend that I have to share but the arrival of Emilie kind of put all the "reporting" on the back burner! And right now, I really should be working on my master's assignment but....here I am doing this instead!!

Saturday afternoon we drove to Everett to celebrate Dave's sisters 30th birthday. We had so much fun! It was so nice outside that the kids played outside well into the evening. We enjoyed some delicious barbecue ribs and it really felt like it should be summer!





Here are Drew and Taylor enjoying birthday cake and ice cream!



Also pictured is our nephew Luke! What a cutie!!


After the birthday celebration Dave and the girls drove back to Olympia and I drove to my mom's house to get ready for the arrival of Emilie. Little did we know that we would have to wait two more days! My mom and I got up at the crack of dawn (literally- 5 a.m.) to go work at the annual Beat the Bridge event in Seattle that supports Juvenile Diabetes. Nordstrom's is host to this wonderful event and my cousin Katie is the Children's Clothing Department Manager at the Alderwood Mall Branch (if you need cute kids clothing be sure to head her way!) and she needed a few extra hands so we offered to help. We ended up volunteering at the family 4 mile walk and it was truly amazing to see so many people out supporting such an important cause. We decided that we, as a family, would walk the event next year!

Once the event was over, my mom and I went to the outlet malls and did some shopping. Wow! It is so nice to shop without little ones hanging off of you! What a nice time we had just visiting with one another, shopping and eating lunch together. Thanks Mom!

We then headed to my sisters in Bothell to check in on her and ended up spending the rest of our day and evening with her. We played cards, watched t.v. and spent time laughing together. We headed home to get some sleep because we knew the next day would be a busy one!

I headed home late Monday night and went to work for a half day on Tuesday. I ended up going and picking up the girls from daycare and driving up to the hospital so that they could meet their new cousin. When we arrived at the hospital they were very quiet and you could tell that they were nervous about their surroundings. I don't think they liked seeing their Nana in a hospital bed! Neither one of them would hold the baby and Maddie wouldn't leave my mom's lap for anything- well, until my Grandma offered to get her some M& M's from the gift shop :) Taylor eventually touched Emilie but said she wanted to hold her when we got to Nana's house. Both the girls were very concerned with the umbilical cord! Maddie even ended up lifting up her own shirt to check out her belly button! In the car on the way back to my mom's house, Taylor grilled my mom about why Emilie had that and in the end she asked my mom this question: " Nama, do I have to have a baby when I grow up?" When my mom answered that she didn't, she said, "Okay, good" and promptly fell asleep! I leave you with a few pictures of the girls with Emilie (and of course one of just Emilie!). Sorry this is so long. I hope everyone is having a great week! H