Kitchen Demolition

Since we have no plans to move out of our house anytime soon, we decided that it was time to finally get it updated...down to the studs!  So last week, I packed up all the kitchen cupboards and drawers and on Saturday, Chris and I tore out everything in the kitchen, with the exception of the stove and refrigerator.  There is no turning back now.

And I am so freakin' excited!

And nervous.

I just hope everything gets done without too many issues cropping up.

If it does, we should have our kitchen back to (almost) normal by Wednesday afternoon.  Yippee!

We'll still have to wait a couple of weeks for the countertops to be measured, cut, and installed (along with the sink), but at this point, that's minor.  At least on Wednesday, the major part of the kitchen will be back in place and we'll be mostly back to normal other than having to wash the dishes in the bathroom sink.  The payoff's gonna be worth it, though!!!  Now for some pictures to show you the "before" and the demolition:

someone's saying "hi!"

This is the point where Chris and I finished and most of the rest will be the contractor's work.

The last two pictures show where the contractors have removed the soffetts from around the kitchen area.  Very messy!  Can't wait 'til it's done.  I'll post "after" pictures later this week!!!

Happy Referralversary!

REALLY??!!

has it really been THREE YEARS since we saw your first sweet pictures??

so much has happened in the last three years...

and we are so thankful to have you in our lives.

at about 5 months old...

...and now!

you are such a special little guy and we love you so, so much!!

Friday Film: Puzzle Pieces

Boo and I got together with my older sister and her boys at our parent's house this past weekend.  Even though I have many more pictures and video of our weekend, I wanted to post this sweet video of Boo "teaching" his younger cousin how to put a puzzle together.  I love to see their interaction when they are so focused on each other!  I just wish we lived closer so they could see each other more.

Enjoy!!

Movie Monday - Hodgepodge

Boo can finally reach the pedals on his tricycle and has enough oomph-power to make himself go!  We had a fun time with my aunt and uncle when they visited (and they also made a very good finish line for Boo to ride to!).

Man, we do. not. like it when the whiny voice comes out, but at least in this video the topic makes it adorable!

Love the grin at the end!!

"I wanna stop crying."
Um, okay...stop.

And again, the grin at the end kind of makes you forget the whiny voice from seconds before.  Do you know how hard it is to say "no" to this face????

Special Trip North!

So I'm going to skip ahead on our summer trips to a more recent one that was very special for us, for more than one reason.  At the beginning of August, we went back north to go camping and guess who came with us?

Grandma and Grandpa T!!!

They stayed at a hotel on the river in a town about 30 minutes from our land.  We got there on Friday, set up the camper, and proceeded to cook burgers over the campfire.  Awesome!

Saturday morning we picked up G&G and went to a zoo nearby where Boo had a great time!  The first part of it was more like a petting zoo that you walked into when you open the door.  Fun to see goats, tortoises, and rabbits among others, just walking around with all those people.  I don't know who had a better time, Boo or Grandma, getting to know those animals.

The budgie bird aviary was a huge hit!!

After that, we did a little shopping and I found a meaningful piece of stone art and just had to buy it.  It has a giraffe on it stretching its neck up to reach some leaves on a high tree, which is what caught my eye.  Since Boo's been home, he's fed two giraffes at two different zoos, one time with Chris holding him and the other time with me.  The saying on it is what sold me on the piece:

"Nothing is out of reach, Life is a miracle unfolding."

How very true.

That giraffe is now ours.

The next day, we went go-karting in the morning and Boo was tall enough (and old enough) to be a rider on the double go-kart!!  He was t-h-r-i-l-l-e-d.  Daddy drove and they raced Grandma around and around the track.  Daddy and Boo won, but not by much!

Then we went back to town and rented a pontoon boat for the afternoon.  We had a late lunch on the water and just missed being able to have the boat lifted over the dam to another set of lakes on the other side...maybe next time.

The next morning, G&G drove back home.  We stayed at the camper until mid-afternoon and then had our second "special-ness" of the weekend.  (And this deserves the coining of a new term, special-ness, so there. you. go.)  We drove to our friend's house who had just brought home their first son, C, from Korea three weeks before.  This was the first time we met him and he did not disappoint.  He and Boo took to each other immediately.  And even though C is 16 months younger than Boo, he is just about the same height as our boy...tall kiddo, but perfect for his family as his daddy is tall also.  It is amazing how everything works out...truly a miracle.  Anyway, enough words; here are some pictures of these two boys who will hopefully be lifelong friends:

Thank you, Jay, Jessie, and C for opening your house to us so soon after coming home.  You guys are wonderful friends and so special to us.  We have been honored to have met you at the beginning of your adoption journey and supported you throughout your wait.  And now we are thrilled to finally see you as a family of three and witness the joy you get from being parents to your adorable little boy.  We also see the strong bond he has formed with you in such a short time and it is truly amazing.

Congratulations!

And enjoy every second...this is definitely worth the wait.  :)

Reliving our Summer - Part 2

A few miscellaneous pictures:

Lexi and Jinx staying close

playing with friends, L and E at McDonald's

lovin' the slide

yeah, we've tried going to a reward system to potty train, buuuuut...it hasn't worked.

nothing has worked.

boo keeps telling us he's trying not to go in his diaper, but he hasn't been consistent at. all. about telling us when he has to go potty.  he's at a new daycare now, where they have all the kids at least try to go potty at certain times and we're hoping that, seeing the other kids (most of whom, I think, are potty trained) going in the potty all the time, that he will finally want to do the same.  we've been too busy this summer to try to do a 3 or 4 day intense potty training session...once it gets cold and we're home more, *if* we're still working on this, we're going to have a go at it again.

we went to visit Chris' family for Father's Day and had a fun weekend seeing family and cousins that we don't normally get to see.

going to feed the geese with grandma

"here's the bread, ducks!"

(not sure why this uploaded sideways, but I can't get it straightened out, sorry)

they were following him like he was the Pied Piper.

did I mention, I do. not. like. geese.

I'm glad grandma doesn't mind them because Boo seems to really like feeding them!

he's becoming more and more daring in what he wants to climb and play on.

definitely keeps me on my toes!

a treat at DQ

with great-aunt kay and great-grandma

four generations

having fun with grandma and grandpa

wiped out...Lexi joined him on his "bed" for the night

Aunt Lisa (godmother)

his darth vader look

blowing bubbles

with Chris' cousin's kids...would that be Boo's cousins-twice-removed, or his second cousins?

Jinx staying cool in grandma's backyard pond

Lexi took a swim in the backyard pond...by accident

Uncle Pat (godfather)

with great-grandparents, grandma, and some great-aunts

Reliving our Summer - Part 1 (of many!)

Wow, we've had so much going on around here that when I do have free time these days, the last thing I want to do is sit down at the computer to write.  BUT, as this is supposed to take place of scrapbooks for Boo, I need to start getting some backlogged pictures up and discussed so that we remember all the fun stuff we've done already this summer before too many more adventures start blurring memories of the old ones!

Beginning of June, we went to St. Louis and spent a little time at The Magic House, a children's museum.

our mechanic

spraying mommy with the water gun!

this boy loves to watch the sand make the wheels spin!

he was also obsessed with this thing...

the tennis ball rolls down and rings all the bells along the way...

...then you get the ball from the bottom and put it back at the top, to start all over again.

I could have read a book for the amount of time he stayed at this one place.

Great attention span!

daddy trying to make a bubble around Boo.

except it doesn't work well when your son keeps kicking the bubble as it's being pulled past his feet!!

 We also got to go to two Cardinals games against the Cleveland Indians (so it was a win-win for me!).

on the train ride from our hotel to the stadium

awe-some seats!!!!!

at the end of the game, the owner of the team came down and was sitting in the front row seats you can see over Boo's shoulders.  :)

We got these great seats thanks to a childhood friend of Chris' and had a blast the entire weekend.  Boo did really well at the games and we couldn't be more proud of our boy.  He continually impresses us with how he acts in public (at home, he can be another child altogether!).  We met up with some friends who live there and the boys spent some time playing at the (very hot) playground.

Boo's mobile office!
my cell phone in one hand, talking to Grandma (I think), and either playing Angry Birds or watching Curious George on the Kindle Fire.  kids sure do grow up fast these days!!!