Slow and Steady Builds an Addition

Whenever anyone asks me how the addition is coming along, they are greeted by one of three responses: an eye roll, a smirk, or a sigh. Tim can only work on the house a couple of hours every afternoon, and that's when he fits it in between crab pots and other stuff. And with our recent trip to Dallas, the house (and crab pots) weren't touched for a week. And if it's a week that leads up to Tim's school day? Forget it. Most of those evenings are devoted to school work. So you can see that the addition we started last year, which I thought would be finished for Caroline's birthday sleepover, is crawling along at a pretty slow rate. It is at the stage now where only Tim can work on it: finishing up the siding, installing the insulation, putting on outside doors, and routing the new AC/heating ductless system. Once drywall is up, I can jump in and help with flooring and painting, the only two areas of this renovation that I am comfortable working on. And since I'm not willing to spend my nights on the internet learning how to build a deck and my days with a baby in the Bjorn nailing up boards, I have to grin and bear it as my husband putters away at this addition. Who knows? Maybe it will be ready for Christmas guests. One whole side of siding up in a day!

The other side of the addition--almost done, except for the siding above the windows, which will have to be finagled into place.

Inside the addition. Those double doors will be moved to the outside of the addition. Then they will be replaced with inside french doors.

The outside of the addition, taken from the backyard. See that open space behind the flap? That will be the doors that lead inside the addition. See those rickety steps? They are temporary, until we build the 4 x 8 landing and permanent steps.

Paint samples for the new room--I LOVE the second from the right on the top strip. It's called Kind Regards. It will look great with the white trim and brown floors.

Area rug at Home Depot that makes me giddy every time I see it! We're getting this one once I have a floor to put it on. It's Mohawk Ink Swirl area rug in Cocoa. I love the combo of brown, tan, and blue. It's a very shaggy rug that will feel awesome underfoot.

An American Girl in Dallas

The minute that Carrie told me that there was an American Girl Doll store in Dallas, I knew it had to be one of our stops. Josh made lunch reservations in the Bistro, which served surprisingly large amounts of food (I kept picturing them serving me a tiny turkey pininni, doll sized). The food was great and the whole restaurant looked like a giant pink paintball exploded in it. Josh, Tim and Garrett definitely felt out of place!

Forth Worth Zoo

Dallas Aquarium

Our final day in Dallas included a trip to: Aquarium, In and Out Burger, and Cabella's. I had assumed that the aquarium would be pretty standard, like the one in Virginia Beach that I have visited about 1813 times. But oh contrare! It was an open-air concept, where you follow these paths through atriums with jungles, waterfalls, pools, and trees. Monkeys were hanging out in branches over my head, alligators were lounging right below the walk way, and birds were flying overhead. It was really cool! Uncle Josh, Aunt Kiwi, Caroline, and Garrett

This aquarium had all sorts of wildlife: leopards, flamingos, even a penguin exhibit outside.

Greetings From Dallas!

Hi everyone! The family and I have been in Dallas since Friday morning, and let me tell you, planning on flying with a seven month old baby is much worse than the actual process. We got up at 3 am, were on the flight by 7 am, and four hours later, we were in Dallas. Emily was very well behaved on the flight, making googly eyes at the other passengers and flight attendants, sleeping for two of the four hours, and being a relatively quiet and easy to entertain passenger the rest of the time. We hit the Fort Worth Zoo yesterday (more pics of that when I return to my downloading cord for my camera!). Today we did the "family photo shoot" at the Botanic Gardens, and the results were even better than I expected! Enjoy some our best shots!

Emily: Seven Months Old

Well, not yet, but we'll be in Dallas on the 17th, and I'm sure we'll be way too exhausted from our 7 AM flight to take some photos of Emily with her sign and get them uploaded on Blogger. So we're celebrating a day early!
Emily is experiencing so many "firsts" that it keeps her mind super busy and makes her want to get up and hang out all hours of the night. I follow our nighttime routine to a tee, and I'm hoping that consistency will one day pay off with more than 6 hours of sleep in a row. She'll get up several times a night or be fussy for a couple of days, spend another few days getting back into the routine, then have a few "good" nights. Then something else causes a sleep disturbance, and we're back to Square One. I wish everyone was this happy when they woke up in the morning. I heard her babbling and tickling her bear (I think she was trying to grab it and was only getting the very edge of the tag). I snuck in her room and she saw me and gave me the biggest smile.

Nice to see ya! I need a fresh diaper, pronto!

STATS:

Weight: 17 pounds

Sizes: size 12 months in clothes, size 3 in diapers

Developments: two front bottom teeth, sits up for about 15-20 minutes at a time unassisted, naps twice a day for about 1-1 1/2 hours at a time, in bed at 7:30 PM every night.

Food: Three meals a day--> yogurt and fruit at 10 AM, veggie and cereal at 1 PM, more fruits or veggies at 4 PM. We have branched out into some "combo" food--peas and carrots, sweet potatoes and chicken, etc. Still nursing every 3 hours or so.

Sleeping: Inconsistent. Some night she only gets up once around 2 AM, other times I see her at 1 AM and 4 AM. Now that I'm on summer vacation, it's not as disheartening to hear the cries for me a couple times a night. I probably won't have the same forgiving attitude come August.

What's New? In the past week, I have learned to wave "hi" at my daycare friends--just in time to leave for the summer :( . I also give dad a "hi five" when he asks for one. I belly laugh when tickled or tossed into the air. I put all of my teething rings up my arm like bracelets and get really ticked off when I can't get to them.

Likes: food, nursing, someone's undivided attention (don't even think of leaving her alone or she will screech the whole time you are in the bathroom, taking a phone call, etc.); being held up so she can stand on her legs; toys that make music/flash lights; the cats; car rides; greeting people at Walmart; hanging out in the Bjorn (we have used her stroller twice....ever); watching traffic drive by

Dislikes: having to wait to eat; ear aches; teething; having hands washed; socks; sleeping on her back; tummy time; being left alone

Where Does the Time Go??? (see below)

Last Day of School!

The older two have done very well this year, and I wanted to take a second to brag for them :)

Caroline: Two perfect scores for her first year of taking SOL tests (Standards of Learning). 600/600 for History, 563/600 in Math (Pass/Advanced--missed 2 questions), 600/600 in Reading, and 545 out of 600 in Science (Pass/Advanced--missed 2 questions). Her Lexile (reading level) score was 965, which is above grade level (around 8th grade level).
Report Card: 98 in Reading, 99 in Language Arts, 98 in Math, and 100 in Social studies/Science
Her teacher, Miss Endress, who I adore, wrote the following comments for Caroline's final report card of her third grade year: "Caroline is an outstanding student who I enjoyed having in my class this year. She was always willing to help her classmates and myself. I know that she will do amazing things in her life! Caroline has really grown this year and developed her own personality. I was able to see her slowly come out of her shell. She feels so comfortable in the classroom and I will be surprised if she does not become a teacher when she grows up."

Garrett: Three out of four of his SOL were perfect scores! 600/600 in Science (naturally!), 600/600 in Reading, 600/600 in History, and 584/600 in Math (missed one question!). His Writing SOL from back in March was a 524/600--he only missed two questions, and his score was the second highest in the grade. His English teacher suggested having him tested for gifted in Language Arts and Math, so I have submitted that paperwork and he will be tested at the beginning of next school year.
Report Card: Don't know because Garrett had to miss the last day of school with a severe case of swimmer's ear :( He spent the day at Gateway Medical Center and CVS pharmacy. His report card will be mailed home.
His favorite teacher, Mrs. Miller, called to let me know that she thinks Garrett is one of the top two smartest students in the grade. She was the one who asked for me to get him tested for gifted. She said that his thought process and maturity are that of a thirty year old ;) She says that he truly thinks outside of the box and doesn't just give rote answers. Suffice it to say, she adored him this year and he loved her right back!

Emily: Last day of "school" is today, Wednesday, until she returns in August. Emily "helped" me write thank you cards to her teachers and picked out Target gift cards for each of them. She has learned so many new skills there, and I know that she will continue to flourish when she returns to Four Seasons in a couple of months.

Sitting Pretty...

and growing like a weed! Emily is making huge strides in the physical abilities and food departments. Miss Tammy at daycare reports that Emily is up to two meals a day--blueberry yogurt (Yo baby!) around 10 AM and a veggie and cereal around 2 PM. She then gets a third meal from us around 4:30 PM--her current favorite is two "ice cubes" of butternut squash, heated for 45 seconds. She is also a big fan of avocado, peas, sweet potatoes, pears, and carrots. She does not like peaches or bananas. Mom, I want more food!
If nothing else works, the cats' antics always amuse the baby.

Milestone reached: I sit up! By myself! It is awesome!

I can even lift a foot and not fall over!

Blueberry yogurt and sweet potatoes puffs....I am in heaven!