here we go again...

Well, we have slowly gotten our second wind with the house remodeling. As most of you know we did all we could do before Emmalyn was born last November. We decided it's time to start back up again to finish. We have decided that our new project is going to be our basement "office." It is slowly coming along (only being able to do thing together when Em sleeps.) We have removed the old fireplace fixtures and painted it white. We are in the process of tiling the hearth now. Nate finally got some drywall up on three of the four walls and has started a two closet build. It's going well but we are taking our time to make sure it's done exactly how we want it! Our goal is to have this room done before the end of the year. We will keep blogging our progress as we go.

"Scary" face!!

Recently we have taught Emmalyn to make a "scary" face! It is hard to capture on camera but she is absolutely hysterical when she does it! Her entire body shakes (even her little pony tail on top of her head) and she strains her neck really hard. She learned this several weeks ago, Nathan and I still crack up every time she does it! It started out just when she heard the bath water turn on and it has now progressed into every time she wants to get a laugh! She is such a little ham!

curb appeal

Well for quit some time Nathan and I have been trying to make the outside of our house more appealing! We finally found a little time to get a few small things done! We changed the shutters, bought a new door, painted the door, framed the door, changed and moved the mailbox, and planted some mums! Sometimes the small things make the biggest difference! Hopefully this spring we are going to change the flower box and front steps! The top picture is what it looks like now and they follow with the stages it has gone through. The bottom picture is how it looked when we bought it! We think it's come a long way!

10 months old!

...well, yesterday! Emmalyn is growing up too fast for us! She is crawling everywhere she can escape to and getting there in record time! She is climbing a little and balancing on her knees quit well. She is clapping on command,playing peek a boo, and saying "yeah" by throwing her head back and arms up! She is actually starting to sleep in a little, 7am instead of 6am! We are grateful for the extra hour! I'm wondering if the shift in seasons are causing her to go into hibernation mode! Hahahaha! Emmalyn has always eaten like a bird, but recently she seems to be a bottomless pit! She is constantly hungry and if we put anything in front of her she will gobble it up! She was (so we thought) weaning herself of the bottle but since we've been back from vacation she has gone back to five bottles a day again! Plus food and snack in between! Must be a growth spurt is all we can figure! She seems to be very long (9 month Doc visit is a little late..next week) ha. Bad planning on my part! It will be interesting to see how much she has actually grown. She is loving her bedtime stories and we have recently started playing memory card games with her. She knows a few.. the owl, the car, the cow, the chicken/rooster (she thinks they are the same thing!) It's so amazing to watch her learn. You can almost see her little wheels turning. She is still as happy as can be and just about everyone stops us to admire her big blue eyes and crazy blonde curly hair! It's starting to get very long but I'm waiting until she turns a year to trim and even it up! She is so precious and we have loved every stage so far. Although I must say, lately she has been extra fun! I can't believe it's almost birthday time! It's true when they say "don't blink or you'll miss it!"

3 months old!

Well tomorrow is actually her 3 month birthday but I had time today... you all understand! Mulli is growing up very fast as you all can see. She weighs in at 25 pounds and is just about 100% potty trained! She knows how to sit, fetch, stay, stop, and come now! All of these commands of course are on her terms. If she wants to misbehave and ignore us she certainly will!!! She is becoming somewhat calmer (we make sure to do 2 miles in the morning and 2 miles at night) to keep her that way. The Bernese Mountain Dog is Swiss and they were originally bred to herd cattle and pull carts and sleds. One night on our walk we hooked her up to Em's stroller and she pulled it like a pro! She ran so fast I could hardly keep up to stear! It was hysterical! We will try to capture that on film soon! Most nights she gets up just once,some nights more, and some nights we actually get to sleep! Those peaceful nights are few and far between but all in all it's getting better. She is very forceful and heavy so when she is rowdy we have to keep her separated from Emmalyn. She knows when she is being bad....just now as I was typing she peed on the carpet behind me! I guess that's all I have to say about Mulli for now!!!