Monday, June 22, 2015

Technically a Two Year Old

Oh Brookie, you are officially 2. For 10 whole days even.
You are amazing, kiddo. Your Daddy and I love you so very much. There seriously are not words.
Dont get me know, I have some words that I choose not to use while you are exercising your...new to two special moments of insanity. The temper tantrums are REAL.
But most of the time you are an absolute doll.
We feel so lucky to be your parents.

Here are some things that you have been up to the past few months (since I have been enjoying playing with you more than posting about it):
*You still adore your pup. Jasper has become incredibly important to you and if you cant thing of anything to say, your go-to is BUBBA!
*You are very smart. You can name almost all of the animals that we see at the zoo (our favorite place to visit). You ADORE the carousel and typically cry when it is over-not for long though.
*You tend to run everywhere. Slow is not a speed you know anymore-except when we have to be some where, then you like to lag. Thanks for that.
*You go through phases of napping and not napping. I never really know what I am in for. Lately you have been sleeping for about 2 hours. I love you even more.
*You are very friendly and make sure to say "Hi" to everyone we come across, especially kids.
*You have quite the vocabulary and are putting words together to make phrases. Some of our faves:
   "{Where} are you? There he is! See 'em? Have fun.
*For the most part, you are a great eater. Sometimes you get distracted though.
*You love latte bubbles that your Daddy makes you.
*You seriously give the BEST HUGS EVER.
*You have about 16 teeth. That makes life easier for me ;)
*We are working on ABCs, 123s, shapes and colors.
*You saw the Pacific ocean for the first time. It was a little intimidating.
*You are seriously adorable.




































Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Kitchen Make Over


Well, I finally convinced Ken that it was time to do something about our kitchen cabinets. To put it mildly, they were horrendous. Not exaggerating. Some were sun faded, others were so dirty from fingers that I couldnt get them clean and the rest were, well, ugly yellow oak. Ick.

While it could have been fun to get new cabinets, neither of us wanted to fork over the $$$ for that! Instead, I searched the Pinterest world and we decided to try our hand at painting them.

The process was pretty tedious and time consuming, but I wouldnt trade it for the world! Such a massive improvement and all with a toddler ;)

First, we pulled all of the doors and hinges. Ken was amazing and did all of the sanding. It was a bit weather dependent since it is winter here in Colorado, but he used the open windows of (mostly) warmth and went to work.

As he worked on sanding all of the bajillion doors outside, I took to wiping them down, priming and painting them in the basement. In order for them to dry enough (1 coat of base and 3 coats of paint on each surface), I would get up around 5:00 before Brooke woke up, do a second coat at nap time and then put a final coat for the day on after she went to bed at 7:30. I felt a little bit like a basement troll for a while, put it really wasn't too bad!

We used a basic white primer and then a Sherwin Williams paint. Happy to report that neither of them were very strong in odor and I never once felt sick after being in the basement with them. That is a big deal for me! I used a brush to lay down the paint on the surfaces and then used mini rollers to go over it so we didn't end up with brush marks. Worked pretty great!

After a couple of weeks without doors and hardly anything in the kitchen (we still managed to eat at home for all meals except maybe 2!!), we finally got paint on the portions of wood left in the kitchen. Two days of drying and then we were able to move everything back in and hang the doors!

It took about a week to pick and order the hardware (there hadn't been any on the doors or drawers). I chose some brushed nickel pulls and knobs from Amazon. We put the hardware on (maybe the hardest part) ;-) and are now incredibly happy with the result. Made the kitchen seem so much more modern. I am in love!


Doors off and ready to go!

Sanded and Primed

A Whole New Space!!!

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

20 Month Catch Up

Well, hello! It has been quite a while! The last time I posted, Brooke was 15 months old and now, magically, she has hit 20 months. Time can slow down now!

Brooke is pretty much a small adult now. Ha. Okay, maybe an exaggeration, but the girl is quite the personality.

Exciting things in the recent months (although I now cant remember what 15 months looked like!):
*Lots and lots of words. The girl is a great communicator.
*Adores the outside, no matter what the temperature.
*Rocks the park...swings, slides, no fear.
*Naps are hit or miss, but she sleeps through the night like a champ still!
*Loves Jasper like crazy!
*Can be a bit sassy and quite opinionated.
*Gives the best cuddles
*Took swim lessons and learned how to blow bubbles. Adores the water now!
*Working on 1, 2, 3s and A B Cs
*Loves food, all of it...and has to feed herself.
*Daredevil!! 
*Seriously our little sidekick!

In random order, some pics!!