Ch Ch Ch Changes...

I took some pictures of Jane and Ethan so I could remember how much they've grown in 6 months.  Look at how they've changed!

Ethan, 6 weeks old, getting a bath from my mom

Ethan 6 months old

Jane at 3 weeks old relaxing on the couch

Jane 6 months old

Ethan 1 week old

Ethan 6 months old

How have their personalities changed?

When Ethan was first born, he was:

Relaxed

Quiet

Tiny

Wanting to be held all the time

Wanting to fall asleep on you

Now Ethan is:

The happiest, giggliest baby I have ever seen.

Smiles at the mention of his name.  When you count to three, he's giggling by the time you say "1."

Started saying "Dadadada" in a really low voice yesterday.  It was his first time saying a repeating syllable.

Squeals in a high pitched voice when he doesn't think anyone is listening.

Substantially chunky and deliciously rolly.

Cries when being put down for nap until he is FAR past tired.  Then crashes.

When Jane was first born, she was:

Loud

Tiny

Good sleeper (besides the sleep screams)

An easy smiler

Cuddly

Now Jane is:

The cutest smiler - she has a wide open mouth smile that cannot get any bigger.

A little hesitant to go to strangers.

Screams to herself in a happy way when she's playing (which often scares Ethan).

Crinkles up her nose and snorts when she's unhappy with what is going on (getting her arms pulled through a onesie).

Has a cute little cackle laugh but only let's it out a couple times a day.

Talks to her stuffed animals as she's falling asleep.

They will be 7 months tomorrow, hard to believe.  Time is flying by and they are changing so quickly!

Childhood Fear

Remember when I posted about the bird's nest and the beauty and newness of life?

Well I lied.  Life is harsh (ok it's beautiful most of the time, but it's harsh a lot too).  The mama bird ended up killing all her baby eggs!  Brief flashback to my horrific hamster experience where the mama hamster ate one of her babies.  I just came home from school and found that Chip had eaten baby Chip #1 (I hadn't picked out baby names yet).

So what's the point of all this?  Ethan and Jane aren't getting pets.  Too much weird stuff happens among animals that we cannot be privy to.  I know they'll beg, but I'll be prepared.  And why am I so prepared?  Because I was the number 1 pet begging child when I was little and I knew all the tricks:

I'll take care of her, a bunny would be so fun.

I don't think another dog would be too much for me to handle.

I could always use a kitty to help me learn some responsibility.

I just feel like I need a hamster in my room to keep me company.

Yep, I tried it all.  So I'm prepared for...nothing.  And in fact, I'm almost willing to bet we'll end up with a golden retriever one day.  Here's hoping she doesn't eat her young.

Kitchen Makeover - Before and Afters!

Ok so FINALLY I am posting some before and afters of the house!  Wow - we've lived here how long now?  Also at one point in this blog I insinuated that this was going to turn in to a house remodeling blog.  And 1 year later I am doing the first post.

But check out our remodeled kitchen!  The only thing that stayed the same is the floor.  We redid the cabinets (painted by myself and my mom), the counter tops (Ikea butcher block), the appliances (mostly all from craigslist) and the bascksplash (white tile installed by Dave and my dad).

Here are the before and afters:

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Here are some more details:

Toaster, Flour and Sugar, and Kitchen-aid - all within easy reach

Stainless steel appliances found on craigslist!

Mail Sorter and Cooking Utensils 

We loved this hardware for the cabinet doors

  New Pendant Light above the Bar and Drum Shade above the Table

We Love this Long Breakfast Bar

Sink and Bottle Making Station

Bread Basket and Fruit Stand

Now here it is in the making!

 There wasn't much cooking going on in this kitchen.  But here is Dave installing the new stove and dishwasher.

Old cabinets and Rudy's cup :)

Cute hubs. Check out the newly installed stove.

Cute mom cleaning the stove.

Time to Paint the Cabinets 

(which was a 4 day adventure by the way - not as easy as HGTV makes it sound)

We sanded, labeled, and stacked all the cupboards and drawers.

 Looking back, I would suggest using a small electric sander.  But we cleaned the cabinets hard core with TSP before hand.  Good thing I wasn't pregnant, pretty sure this stuff is toxic to humans just by looking at it.

 Then we sanded some more...

And more...

Look at my mom's tan legs by the way, nice!

And kept on sanding for 1 1/2 days!  We didn't even paint until the second day. 

Ok Day 2, now we paint:

 Oil Based Primer first (nasty crap but good crap).

Which stinks and is hard to clean up after.  

 

 All primed and ready for the first coat of latex paint.  Once primed they had to sit for 1 whole day AND we sanded after we primed before the first coat of paint.

Now the real paint, Mascarpone by Benjamin Moore.  Beautiful white with yellowish cream undertones.  Perfect for the kitchen.  Not too yellow and not too white.

We did thick even brush strokes with a brush not a roller.

They had to sit for a whole day before the second coat.

Second coat went on and looked great (we sanded again in between the 2 coats of paint).

ALL DONE!

 Now this is the hard part - WAITING!  They have to sit for at least 4 days before you hang them again.  Otherwise they will be sticky every time you open them.

But finally they were up and the hardware went in.  It looked so nice!

It was quite the project.  Probably tied with the hardwood floors that Dave put in.  Which will be another blog post. :)

Holding Hands

Look at this sweet photo of my littles holding hands.  Just saying, I didn't even make them do this: