A little overdue

Sorry for the lack of posts lately...it's not been for the lack of things going on around here! We've entertained many friends and family in our new home and are working to get things set up for Thanksgiving. Why is it that hanging things on the wall is so scary? So permanent! I have artwork leaning up against the wall where I'd like to hang it; I just can't put the nail in the wall. If you're free, come by and give me your opinion. Maybe I'll feel better if someone else tells me that's the right place for a piece!

Lydia is interested in her potty chair these days. Actually, she went IN (not just next to...another story) the potty today. Her reaction? She almost cried. She did NOT like seeing her pee pee in the potty chair. Oh dear. And what kind of treat to you give a little girl who is not interested in candy, cookies, or ice cream? Ideas, anyone?

And the big news...we found out Lydia's going to have a baby brother! Lydia has been practicing her sweet little mommy skills on all our baby visitors. She loves to give out kisses. A few more months and maybe she won't cry every time I pick up another baby!

More Before and After Pictures

We've moved in! Check out these pictures to see how far we've come.

Breakfast room before

Breakfast room after

Formal living room/front entry before

Dining room after (we opened up most of the wall).

Front entry before

Front entry after

Master bathroom before

Master bathroom after

New master bathroom shower

Master bedroom before

Master bedroom after

Dining room before

Dan's study after

Wet bar before

Wet bar after (it's all gone!)

Almost done

We are so close to being done with our remodel. The house passed it's final inspection today! We are moving furniture tomorrow, then the rest of our stuff on Saturday. I am half dreading and half anticipating the weekend move. I know it will be a ton of work, but the weather report looks good, and we have so many people helping us.

Here are some before and after pics. I will do this again when the rooms are decorated, but I'm just so excited to share now!

This used to be a small study off the master bedroom with entrance to one of two master baths (the door in the corner). We closed off the doors to the bathroom and master bedroom, leaving a doorway off the main living area. This is now a nursery. It's just a small little room that will fit a crib, changing table, and toys. But, once we're done with babies it will be a great play room.

This was the master bathroom off the former study. It is now our master closet (this picture only shows one corner of the closet, but it's pretty big)!

The master bedroom lost a little space to the closet, but we added a tiered ceiling that makes it feel much more luxurious.

This was the fireplace. You can't really see from the picture, but it had lots of floral and heart decor on the face. We ripped that off and put stone over the brick. We still need to repaint the inside.

This is a view of the breakfast room (with a bit of the wet bar on the right side). This biggest change here is the wet bar is gone and you can see into the kitchen now. Hmmm, maybe the biggest change is actually that we replaced the pink carpet with hardwood. It's a toss up.

And my favorite before and after, the kitchen. Not only is the kitchen 8 inches bigger (hey, I took all I could get), but it's opened to the main living area with my fabulous BLUE breakfast bar. I know it's my personal taste, but I love it. We have all new cabinets, appliances, granite, and buttercream subway tile back splash.

Fall, but just for the day

Saturday was "cold" (in the 60s) and overcast. We spent the afternoon at The Oil Ranch in Magnolia. Lydia couldn't wait to pick out her pumpkin (or "apple" as she called it). She carried it around most of the afternoon, offering it to every little animal.

Here we are riding on the choo choo train.

Offering pumpkin to the calves (they actually enjoyed licking it).

Chickens, roosters, and turkeys roamed all over the ranch. Lydia thought maybe they were playing a game with her.

We fed the cows.

This cow, Daisy, loved being scratched on her head.

Lydia enjoyed her pony ride and asked for more.

But her favorite was finding pumpkin after pumpkin.

I'm glad we spent time outdoors even though it was overcast. I think Fall may have only lasted one day. It's getting warm again.

What we've been up to

Since we've been living in the Woodlands, we are only a few minutes from my Grams and Grandy. We've had them over for dinner and play time a few evenings. Lydia loves to dance to while Grams sings her songs (are all grandmas good at singing silly songs?). Grandy always provides some silly entertainment too! Here's Grandy with crocks on his ears.
Lydia is also becoming quite a little climber. She is particularly fond of this little nook even though she barely fits!
This morning she really wanted to get those doors open to go in the pool (despite the rain). She just climbed up the door and pulled with all her might. Good thing we have double bolts.
And the girl eats all day. Just after she finished breakfast (or so I thought), she somehow managed to find a package of english muffins (which she's never tasted before) and enjoyed one as an early morning snack. At least it's healthy!

Ahead of the curve

Lydia passed the 18 month mark over the weekend. Time to think about potty training and reading (okay, maybe I'm ahead of myself with that one...but we do practice sounds with phonics cards)! She had got a clean bill of health at her checkup today. Here are her stats!

Weight 27.5 pounds (75-90th percentile)

Head 18 7/8 inches (90th percentile)

Height 34 3/4 inches (95+ percentile)

Long and lean!

New Blog Decor

How about that? Baby is due April 18, 2010!