Archive for October, 2009

Making a List

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

We have been so busy with the new house!!  I am a huge fan of making lists and getting checkmarks for jobs completed is one of my favorite things!  I am so pleased with the many things we’ve accomplished in the last month I want to share my to do list!  Here it is, in all its checkmarky glory =) 

Serenity’s Room:

Remove popcorn, prime and paint ceiling

Paint walls blue, then draw and paint mural

Hang yellow bookshelf and touch up

Create flower box window treatment

Paint and hung Serenity’s  name letters

Safety lock on windows

Figure out secret room

Build and paint secret room

Decorate secret room

Furniture layout and general room organization

Ceiling fan flowers (which I just took back down)

Purchase fire escape ladder

Serenity likes to point out her letters =)

Serenity likes to point out her letters =)

Did I mention this is an upside down garden?  Eric wanted to mess with our baby's head =)

Did I mention this is an upside down garden? Eric wanted to mess with our baby's head =)

Our Room:
Remove popcorn

Prime and paint ceilings and walls purple!

Install crown molding (a very interesting math challenge =)

Furniture layout

Organize closet

Window locks

Upstairs bathroom:

Paint ceiling, touch up walls

Fill giant hole that I made when I ripped the towel bar out of the wall

Replace light switch.

Install new towel bar, hook, and curtain rod.

Get new bath mat (it’s a monkey!)

draino sink

Downstairs:

Office

Paint ceilings and walls

Furniture layout and computer setup

replace broken window lock

Removing the red

Removing the red

We got this blue paint free from my Mom... she spoiled us, it is 70 dollar a gallon paint and it went on so beautifully!

We got this blue paint free from my Mom... she spoiled us, it is 70 dollar a gallon paint and it went on so beautifully!

Master bath and closet

Touch up walls, paint ceiling, touch up cabinet paint.

organize

build shelving in closet for my blue tubs

Guest bath(Tina did all this!!!!)

Scrape walls

paint ceiling and walls

rehang towel racks

hang decorative shelving

Yay Tina!

Yay Tina!

We matched the paint to dishes Tina gave us for our wedding from Germany!  We were so proud to find just the right color of green... and we should be, it took us long enough =)

We matched the paint to dishes Tina gave us for our wedding from Germany! We were so proud to find just the right color of green... and we should be, it took us long enough =)

Kitchen:

New appliances (refrigerator, stove)

Decide on paint color and buy paint (yes, my original lists are very detailed so I get lots of checkmarks!  Believe it or not this is the condensed version!)

Tot locks

Shorten blind strings

get game chairs from storage

build cushion for fireplace

weather seal door

add door sweeps to hopefully keep snakes out.

Paint ceilings and walls (about half done with this)

nail down carpet strip

Build Cardboard City

Punch hole in the under the stairs closet to figure out built-in game shelving.

Garage:

Blow out garage

Empty attic

sweep out attic

 

Outside:

Empty shed (kill ants)

Clean charcoal

Plant iris (125!)

Buy trees (5 trees!  2 maples, 2 peaches, one redbud!)

deal with broken tree

hang bird feeder

Caulk holes in side of house (nail holes)

Fill in hole at home plate.

Clean up flower beds

And in general, we’ve cleaned everything after the professional popcorn removal including having my nephew shampoo the carpets, we have unpacked almost everything (we’re leaving the books and dvds in boxes until we get proper shelving fixed for them) and everything is put in it’s general proper place.  We’re going into deep organization mode soon =)  Here are a few after pictures of the partially finished rooms.  I haven’t really hung any of my pictures or decorations yet, but the general decor is set. =)

Serenity in October =)

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

  10/21/09

Serenity still loves her spoons!  She's starting to learn to feed herself... I don't normally use ice cream scoops for yogurt though...

Serenity still loves her spoons! She's starting to learn to feed herself... I don't normally use ice cream scoops for yogurt though...

Some of Serenity’s cute sayings right now include: “Funny”  Often when she finds things funny she’ll smile and say “funny” instead of laughing.  Her sense of humor is definitely developing.  Today I was calling for Eric up the stairs and she repeated in this funny screechy little voice “Airduct.”  Mom, Rosario and I burst out laughing.  It was so funny, it was one of those voices that made you think, did I really sound like that? 

I'm around the corner and I hear her say "stuck, stuck"  She's sitting on her bottom in this drawer with her arms and legs flailing.  I get her out, and what does she do?  Climb right back in of course!

I'm around the corner and I hear her say "stuck, stuck" She's sitting on her bottom in this drawer with her arms and legs flailing. I get her out, and what does she do? Climb right back in of course!

Today during our bedtime routine I was reciting Jamberry to her while I put on her pajamas and diaper, and I noticed when I paused she filled in the next word.  We went through the whole book playing fill-in-the-blank!  She has it memorized!  Even the weird words like blackberry jamble, and pawberry.  Then Eric tried it with Pigeon and she knows that one too!  It was such fun!  She remembered even big strange words that we don’t use in everyday conversation, like China, and idea.  It was amazing!  She is really learning so fast!

We have had beautiful days lately and here we are enjoying a walk to the park in our neighborhood.  We had lots of fun swinging, playing Jack and Jill (sliding) and walking around finding acorns, leaves and rocks.

We have had beautiful days lately and here we are enjoying a walk to the park in our neighborhood. We had lots of fun swinging, playing Jack and Jill (sliding) and walking around finding acorns, leaves and rocks.

Serenity has started saying “myyy, myyy,” and patting her chest emphatically.  I’m not always sure what she’s claiming for her own, but she is doing it a lot.  Sometimes I add “my goodness!” just to distract her =) 

Serenity gives sweet kisses.  She is such a social girl.  She gave kisses to Rosario, Grandma, Papa, Daddy and Mama tonight.  They are still very soggy, open mouth kisses, and we love them.  She gives hugs and snuggles too, and sometimes she’ll say “aww” just like Mama =) 

IMG_5846

10/29/09

 

Serenity has started enjoying stuffed animals.  She snuggles them under one arm and then leans her head against them and makes the little snuggly noise we make (awww! or mmm!)  And says snuggle =)  She will sometimes kiss them (which involves biting their noses usually) The other morning she got Wish Bear from our bed, and then asked for Funshine, and snuggled one under each arm.  It was adorable!  She just got Alpha Pig as a present and she went nuts for him.  She gave him a big hug and snuggles and kisses and then she started bobbing and dancing!  She has also gotten attached to her bear and blankie.  She will rescue them from her bed after a nap if she’s playing in her room.  She reaches in and pulls them out through the bars. =)  She has also started enjoying playing with covers.  She has the quilt Mom and I made for her on the recliner in her room. Sometimes when we’re reading, she’ll point to it and say “covers!  blankie!” and pull it over us.  It’s so snuggly and sweet!  She’ll also cover her face and play peekaboo with it =) 

 

Alpha Pig Snuggles!

Alpha Pig Snuggles!

She is learning her letters so well!  She has known them all for a while now, so we started teaching her their sounds!  She loves this!  She has always loved sounds, so this is right up her alley.  She knows the B says “buh” and the D says “duh.”  I think now she knows most of the consonants that have just one sound… for example, she knows the G says “guh” but not that it sometimes says “juh.”  And she’s starting to learn the letters in her name.  She definitely knows that the first letter is S, but saying the rest of them isn’t definite yet.  She has said S…e…r…e  and n… with us asking after each letter, what’s the next letter?  And after we said the i she said t y!  =)   

 

We met Mike, Kelly, Raegan and Carson at the park.  This has to be the craziest teeter-totter ever!  So fun =)

We met Mike, Kelly, Raegan and Carson at the park. This has to be the craziest teeter-totter ever! So fun =)

Another of Serenity’s current favorites is Tinkerbell.  She found the dvd in a stack I had and kept bringing it to me to read it.  After making up some very exciting stories based on the cover (This is Tinkerbell…she’s a fairy…see her wings?  She likes tools…) I finally put it in the dvd player for her.  Now she asks to watch Tinkerbell every day.  She loves it!  And the way she says Tinkerbell is so cute… more like Tinkabehw … Hard to write down, hopefully I’ll catch it on tape.  It prompted us to get out the fairy tea set I bought for her way before she was old enough to play with it.  She loves having tea with Tinkerbell.  She has always had a fascination with playing with cups and spoons, and she loves the flowers on the tea set.  It’s a lot of fun for her and for Mama!

Fairy Tea Set!

Fairy Tea Set!

Pumpkin Patch

Monday, October 12th, 2009

10/10

Today we went to the pumpkin patch!  It was a blast!  We met Mike, Kelly, Raegan and Carson at Carmichael’s Pumpkin Patch in Bixby.  They had a petting zoo, a hay maze, homemade fudge and of course tons of pumpkins!  It was pretty chilly and we forgot to bring Serenity’s shoes!  (She loves playing with the shoes in the entryway and apparently unpacked her shoes from the diaper bag to join in the fun.)  So she got her socks veeery dirty.  She loved riding in the wagon, and she was very excited to see Carson and Raegan!  They all had cute fall outfits on with candy corn for Serenity and pumpkins for Rae and Carson.  Serenity loves her pumpkins.  We found several cool ones, although the best is the striped pumpkin with the curly stem that Tina picked!  Serenity loves moving the pumpkins from place to place, and handing them out to people saying “give me!”  After we got home and took a nice nap, Carson and Raegan came over with Mike and Kelly to play!  They LOVED Serenity’s Secret Room.  We have the nifty turtle that Andrew and Marilyn got Serenity in there now and it makes constellations on the ceiling.  It was a hit!  Serenity didn’t stop talking about Carson and Raegan all afternoon. =)

Pumpkin 062

She loved the wagon!  Just like in Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch =)

She loved the wagon! Just like in Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch =)

 

Raegan and her very own pumpkin... which matches her shirt!

Raegan and her very own pumpkin... which matches her shirt!

 

Carson was so excited to have lots of pumpkins on his brand new shirt!  He was the most excited about picking pumpkins =)

Carson was so excited to have lots of pumpkins on his brand new shirt! He was the most excited about picking pumpkins =)

 

Serenity loved telling us which pumpkin was white and which were orange.

Serenity loved telling us which pumpkin was white and which were orange.

 

We're so glad Tina came with us!!!

We're so glad Tina came with us!!!

 

Thanks for the sweet shirt Aunt Jenfer!

Thanks for the sweet shirt Aunt Jenfer!

Serenity was SO excited to sit by Raegan... and she very helpfully kept knocking all the puzzle pieces to the floor.

Serenity was SO excited to sit by Raegan... and she very helpfully kept knocking all the puzzle pieces to the floor.