Papa's Visit

Papa and his Girls

Dad came out for a visit in early December and we utilized his many talents to help us redo the upstairs bathrooms in our house. Did I mention he was handy?! We had a great visit, ate way too much food and worked HARD. Poor Dad needs a vacation from his vacation seeing us. Here are some before and after pictures, and we are putting the finishing touches on while J is on winter break.

Master Bathroom... Before

First of all, the fact that we have more than 1 bathroom at all is spectacular. We had been living with one bathroom for over 5 years at Pepperdine, and we were thrilled to find a home with 2.5 baths, AND a connected master bath (especially in a home over 50 years old).  Both baths are functional, but tiny and had no storage. The other problem was that all bathrooms did not contain any GFI outlets (nowhere to plug in hair dryers or tooth brushes).

Master Bathroom... Pink tile everywhere (from the 50's), crumbling in many places and just waiting for a leak.

 I didn't mind the pink tile, but it bothered J a little ;) The tile was in bad condition, and had been patched over many times over the years and was crumbling. It was only a matter of time before it sprung another leak, so we decided to re-do it now before any expensive damage took place. Plus, we would get to enjoy a nice new bathroom!

Master Bath... After. Much more manly.

Master Bath... After. The shower is clean and neutral tile, and has a light!

Bless his heart, Dad installed two toilets, two vanities, two sinks, two cabinets, not to mention tiling a floor and tub surround in five days! I enjoy the DIY stuff, and got to learn from the best. He showed me how to tile, and I can say I actually had fun laying tile. It is a hard job, and it makes me appreciate the miles of tile laid in the subways in New York. Whew!

Dad the Tool Man Cross

Girls Bath... Before

Girls Bath... Before. The tub had been refinished multiple times and was chipping off in the corners and bottom. There was a mat on the bottom when we looked at the house, and when we pulled it up it was gross.

Girls Bath.... After. We went for the era of the home which was built in the late 50's, and did white subway tiles.

 Dad took time out to play with the grand girls, and they LOVED getting to hang out with Papa.

Girls Bath... After. New tub and fresh tile.

We are thrilled to be enjoying our new bathrooms, and so grateful to the man who made it possible! We couldn't have done it without you! My favorite part of the visit were the conversations we had while up to our elbows in grout and covered in dust. Still learning new things from you Dad ... Love you!!

10 Months

Madison Grace. 10 months

Sweet Love is almost 11 months (and 1 year old???). Here is the update from this past month:
*Eating... Her favorites are cheese, deli turkey, green beans, and macaroni and cheese. She loves feeding herself, and drinks from her sippy like a pro. She is nursing 4  times per day, and we night weaned her last week... going great so far (says Mama who gets to sleep while Daddy goes in :) Her top teeth are still MIA, maybe Santa will bring her two front teeth. LOL

*Pulling up... Ever since Little Miss began crawling, she has been trying to pull up on everything. She is so proud of herself and has pretty good balance!
*Sharing Game... Madison started passing toys back and forth to her sister this month. She will hand you a toy, and then wait for you to hand it back. Lindsay loves to play with her, and tells me "Mama, look, we are sharing!!"
*Music Girl... Madison has been dancing to the music, and likes to bounce on her knees and wave her hands.

 *Bathtime... is still her favorite time of day, and she still loves anything water. Including the potty. Let's just say good thing we keep the lid down  :)

 *Sleeping... Since night weaning her a week ago, Madison has been doing fantastic at sleeping! She still take 2, 1.5 hr naps per day, and goes to bed around 7pm. She has slept through the night two times, waking up around 7am! She will fuss around her usual times, and if she gets too upset or stands in her crib (check out the pic above) Daddy will go in and gently lay her down.

Digging in Mama's makeup basket... and making a mess.

 *Curious... Maddie Grace is one curious little gal, and will open cupboards, crawl as fast as she can to the dishwasher to pull out silverware or to the fridge and pull things off the shelf. I have to watch her like a hawk! She has been using her left hand to point to things, and likes to push buttons.

Baby girl is growing too fast... Slow down sweet love!!

Lulu's 1st Performance

"Hi Mama & Daddy!"

 Last Wednesday Lindsay had her very first performance, where she recited a few verses and sang a couple songs. Every Wednesday the girls and I attend Community Bible Study, a women's group bible study and children's program. It has been such a blessing in our lives, especially with moving to a new state and making friends! I was a part of CBS in Malibu, and absolutely loved it and was so excited to find a chapter in NJ. Lindsay is in the 2-3 year old class and it was the first year she was able to participate in the Christmas program.  CBS has a great children's ministry, and besides learning verses, doing crafts and hearing bible stories, Miss Brenda comes to each class and gives a music lesson with singing and instruments every week!

So proud of herself!

Lindsay has been working hard learning her verse, Luke 1:13 "Do not be afraid. Your prayers have been heard." She was a little unsure of the crowd at first, and crossed her arms over her chest. We weren't sure exactly what she would do, and thoughts of nose-picking, crying, and crowd surfing all crossed my mind. Then when she heard the music, she got into the singing!  

 

 

Lulu is a shorty for her age, and some of the bigger kids stood in front of her loving their 2 minutes of fame :) We tried to get the best video we could, but it was hard. I am sure every parent loves to see their kid in front singing! She was very serious about doing the hand motions that went along with the Manger Song. Her very favorite song that they sing is "Jump Into the Light".

 

  









Miss Brenda, the music teacher and Lulu... music time is her favorite!

Daddy couldn't miss his sweet little lady's performance, and came from work to see it. Madison waved her arms and clapped to the music, and showed solidarity by wearing a matching red dress. Seeing your kids perform is a highlight of being a parent, and it is such a precious moment getting to see the pride on their face when they can show what they have been working hard on! It fills my heart with joy knowing that her first performance was to glorify the Lord. Way to go Lulu!







Santa Encounter

 Last week we visited Santa when he came to the West Windsor library. It was Madison's first time seeing Santa, and Lindsay was pretty excited to see Santa and tell him what she wanted for Christmas.  I was curious myself to see what she would say to him, mainly because it changed every day, and last year she cried when she saw him. Lulu has been going around saying, "Yo Ho Ho, Merry Christmas". I think Santa might be a pirate under his suit. LOL.

Our sweet new friends came with us, Kiley and her two cuties, Niko (Madison's boyfriend) and Scarlett (Scottie) is one of Lindsay's favorite buddies.

Sweet Girl with Santa... She was a little unsure, but no tears!!

Lindsay told Santa, "I want a Teddy Bear" when he asked her what she wanted for Christmas. Coincidentally that is the stuffed animal she chose to bring with us in the car that day.
 

Lindsay makes me laugh in this picture as she is leaning as far away from Santa as possible.  Such a fun time of year!

Christmas Tree

Madison didn't want any part of the mittens or blanket covering her hands.

 We went to see the Christmas Tree in Princeton at Palmer Square after we decorated our tree at home. It was COLD, but we enjoyed some hot chocolate from The Bent Spoon and it made our hands and tummies toasty.

All decked out in lights and wreaths

 All the shoppes had wreaths and lights, and it was so much fun getting to see it at dark. As the parent of two young kids, going outside after dark is a rare thing..lol.

Christmas Tree in the square

What a great way to in the Christmas spirit!! I can say that I am looking forward to looking at lights in neighborhoods inside our warm car.

Daddy and his girls

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving this year was a little bittersweet for us. We were thrilled to be in our new home, and I was super excited to be cooking my very first turkey. However, we missed our family and friends back home with all the favorite festivities. Needless to say, we will happily fly home for future Thanksgivings, and I am absolutely fine with being a chef-in-training under my Grandma for a few more years :)

Lulu and Daddy watching their annual Charlie Brown Thanksgiving cartoon.

We had a wonderfully relaxing day, and promised each other we wouldn't do anything home-owner related, except for cleaning up the kitchen after the meal.

Finally got to bust out my corningware from when we first got married...8 years ago!!

I made a traditional Thanksgiving meal, and didn't try anything new, mainly because it was the first one and we wanted all the favorites: Cornbread Stuffing (I made the cornbread from scratch), Candied Sweet Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Turkey, Grandma's famous Cranberry Orange Relish, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy. Yum. Totally carb overload.

Our 16 lbs Tom Turkey

Lindsay was a great helper, and together we make our pumpkin pie the day before. Afterwards she told me, "Mama, I think we need to taste it. Just a little tiny taste, that's all."

Mmm... this girl ate her share of mashed potatoes and gravy.

Shhh... don't tell... we sampled our pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving eve.

We celebrated Madison's 1st Thanksgiving... her gobbled up anything we put on her tray. She ate stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, yams and of course, some pumpkin pie!

Sweet Little Turkey

I thought the look she gave me was too funny... "Mama, don't bother me. I'm eating."

We are so thankful for all the blessings throughout the year of family, friends and the source of all that is good... Jesus Christ!!

Nine Months

Madison Grace, 9 months

Sweet Girl is 9 months (actually closer to 10 months now that I am finally posting)! Here are her stats:

15.8 lbs

26.5 inches long

*Eating machine! Maddie LOVES to feed herself, and prefers to eat savory rather than sweet. We can get her to eat some pear and blueberry yogurt or oatmeal in the am, but after about 10am, anything sweet she will turn her nose. Still nursing 4 times a day and 1-2 at night. She is great at chewing, and would rather feed herself than you spoon it for her. Already so independent!

*Sleep... She has been waking up a ton at night, partly because she is teething, and partly because she began CRAWLING!! Sweet girl was so ready, and after she took her first few crawls, she got the hang of it fast. She tries to pull up on everything!

*Fine Motor Skills.... Madison is great at anything fine motor, including feeding herself and uses her left finger to press buttons on toys and to point. She uses her right hand most of the time, and we think she will probably be a righty.

 

*Barefoot Princess...She doesn't like wearing anything on her feet, and will constantly pull off her shoes, which is fine in the summer but oh so cold in the winter!

*Teeth! Maddie has two bottom teeth, and her top two are just about ready to come in. She has bit me a couple times, but hopefully no more.

Doll Baby

Thank you Nonna for my cute Halloween shirt!!

 

We were excited to capture the first crawl with Daddy's phone. She was in Sissy's room going after the Noah's Ark toy...