All I Want for My Birthday is a Shower!

I know, two things surprised you.

1: I haven't showered since last June...2009 last June

2: All I want for my birthday is a SHOWER!

Okay, so number 1 isn't technically true...we did have a makeshift shower down in the basement (a hose + a fireman's nozzle + curtains = shower ), but near November, it got too cold (like hair freezing), so we moved our things back upstairs and started using the tub again.

For those of you who either don't remember or haven't visited us since we bought our home in June 2009, we didn't start out with a shower. In fact, we started out with goop in the pipes, a toilet next to the tub (as in, your feet into the tub close), and a rotted hole in the sink.

Yucky isn't it?

Look now!

Okay, so I am never putting glass block in AGAIN...EVER! But, it doesn't look too shabby. :)
We're almost finished with the floor now, just a few minor cuts and we're pretty pleased. My brother, Seth, came down for a visit this week and he's been rotating between cutting tile, mixing mortor, carrying block, to changing diapers and initiating naptime. :)

It's been a full week already!

What do you think?

Gracelynn is a big eater...
Kwinn (9.5 mo) is Gracelynn's next door neighbor and playmate. :)
They just LOVE playing together. It's sweet to watch them interact.
Gracelynn tries to do everything Kwinn does...I'm afraid that's why she started rolling over early, and crawling early, and STANDING early! AH!

Sweeties, aren't they?

Hard to believe Gracelynn will be 7mo old this Friday. It goes so fast!

We got a surprise visit from G'pa and G'ma Wohlenhaus last week.
G'pa fed her a bottle and tried to buy her very first ice cream cone.
Nope.
But she did have her first bite! Lol...I know. Bad!!!

Better go!
We're all taking a much needed tiling break and watching the old "Karate Kid" series for fun. Haha. Check out the new one! We loved it!

Love to you all,
the kelleys
(and Seth)

Growing Up

I'm not sure when it actually happens,
but it does without a parent even knowing it...
your baby starts to grow up.

Gracelynn gives really sloppy, slurpy kisses now.

She also giggles like crazy when we play "tickle-chase". Mommy tickles and Gracelynn crawls away like her pants are on fire!

She's also mastered several skills in the past two weeks. She can proficiently stand herself up on my legs, her toys, the rocking chair, my kitchen cupboards, her crib!

Her crawling has also gotten a lot faster. Hello baby gates!

Eating is one of her favorite activities now.
I've been making homemade food for the past few weeks now and she loves all of the fresh garden veggies! I freeze the pureed food in ice cube trays - works like a charm. :)
(The orange goo below would be carrots she's saving for later...)

Watching Daddy and Mommy drink out of glasses must look fun...

Almost!

She's enjoying the independence of her sippy cup...but when she's hungry, she's hungry! So we skip the "learning" and go straight to the bottle.

Our little scooter is really growing up fast. Makes me sad at times, but each new stage is more and more fun. :) This keeping up to her moving has me worn out a lot, but it must wear her out too because she sure loves her naps!

7:00 am - breakfast
9:00 - NAP!

12:00 - Wake up/eat

2:00 - NAP!

4/4:30 - Milk break

7:00 Bathtime (she LOVES her baths)

7:20 - supper

8:00 - Good night Daddy/Mommy!

What a joy she is. :)

Much love to all,
the kelleys

Da-Da

It's been quite the week:

Gracelynn said "Da-Da"
Gracelynn stood up (using the play pen...and the bar stool...and the couch...etc)
Gracelynn drank 8oz, ate a jar of carrots, a jar of pears, and a small bowl of rice cereal

AND

Gracelynn slept. And slept. And still sleeps.

Yes, Gracelynn has been going and going and going
(and I swear she'll give me gray hairs way before my time!)
but...
Heath and I have also been doing other things!
Grandma Wyman came to visit and helped us clean, mulch and landscape the ENTIRE yard (pictures below) and motivated us enough to tile the backsplash in our kitchen! Somehow, we had that much more energy while Grandma was on "Gracelynn Patrol". Funny how that works.

Below: Heath getting the bricks for our landscaping.

Grandma & G putting down newspaper.

Kind of self-explanatory this one is :)

Two very warm ladies :)

A new bonnet that I sewed last night (I'm selling them online now!)

New shades! Finally!!!!!! And I do mean finally!

Our newly stained deck...

More mulch...(we used 1060 lbs)

A side-view (we still need to put up the lattice...one thing at a time!)

Side profile :) Nice trees!

The new backsplash in process...

Finished! We just need to grout it now.

Well - that's a wrap. Gracelynn is sleeping, Grandma is tired, Daddy is cleaning up...and me? I'm listening to the fair fireworks thinking, "I should be watching them...but I'M tired". Oh well. There's always next year with Gracelynn. :)

Good night.

love,
the kelleys

Mommy's Girl

I must say, the last few days have been very interesting! Not to mention, busy! The Kelley family, with Uncle Seth in tow, returned home Saturday night. Uncle Seth volunteered to help Heath finished clearing out the basement and G'ma Snitker came to visit Sunday to help Mommy (me) clean the rest of the house!

(G'ma and G during her bath)

The house is actually clean now! After all of the construction...I must admit, it was not the most glamourous homecoming. Happy 4th to Uncle Seth and G'ma who spent the evening scrubbing and washing clothes with us. :S

For lunch, we all went to the Pizza & Wings place in town - where you can eat buffalo hot wings. The Sabers are the hottest things you could put into your mouth without instantly blistering up! Heath ate them during my overdue week with Gracelynn. I myself, tried the "Heaters" (a step below) in my attempt to force Gracelynn out of her cocoon! It didn't work, it only served to get me super hydrated as I tried to control the heat in my mouth! Heath on the other hand, almost sweat himself to death trying to finish them. Lol.

So, off to try the Sabers today with Seth. He gobbled down 4 and grinned like everything was okay. (Not okay). Lol, after multiple, multiple glasses of water and many laughs, he and G'ma left for home (and McDonalds for a milkshake).

Still wondering about this blog title?

Along with Gracelynn's newest developments like waving, sitting up on her own, babbling...she truly hit the "I want Mommy" stage last week. I can hardly leave the room without her panicking. I can hardly put her down without her reaching up and crying. The only thing missing her is actually saying, "Mom-mom". Right now, she's sitting at my feet going back and forth from playing with her toys to crying and reaching up for me. She's trying to pull herself up, but not quite strong enough yet. (Whew)

So, you know the Iron Man race? Well...I'm beginning to think they should call this stage of child development the "Iron Arm Marathon". Pretty sure my arms are buff if I may say so myself! Hehee.

Sorry, but I'd better go. I think her cry has turned real. Pray for this stage! It's tough on all of us!

love,
the kelleys

6mo Old

So I've blogged two days in a row - feels good actually! It means I've been taking pictures and "reflecting" on my day. What have I learned?
I guess that time really does fly. Our babies really do grow up fast (too fast). And I have totally and completely lost my heart to one cute little girl.

I know...way too sweet right? :)

Gracelynn had her six month checkup today. Heath and I knew she was growing well and getting quite heavy, but we weren't quite ready to hear that she was over the 100th percentile in both weight and height.

Just shy of her late afternoon meal, she weighed 20lbs 12oz. At 28" tall...I guess it's time for a new car seat. She's been pushing away at the back of our seats for a month now. Yikes!



We spent a good portion of our afternoon outside enjoying the sunshine and the birdies. :)
I had a video - but it's taking forever to load. She was crawling around, sitting up by herself, and pulling huge wads of grass out of G'ma's lawn. Heehehe.

Must go!
love,

the kelleys

Bathtime!

It never ceases to amaze me how much Gracelynn enjoys her bathtime!

It's been a very busy week up at G'pa and G'ma Snitker's. Gracelynn sat up again by herself this morning, tried another time, did the splits, and cried for mommy.
SIX MONTHS OLD yesterday! Hard to believe. She's getting her checkup this afternoon (and her shots) so we'll see how she's growing! If the muscle ton in mine and Heath's arms are any indication...she's doing just fine. :)

Last weekend, Aunt Brooke and Uncle Kelly came for a visit and we went camping...got thunderstormed out at 2:30am in the morning, watched Heath and Kelly break us OUT of the campground (they gate everyone in at 10pm), and then Brooke and Kelly returned to the campground in the morning to drain their tent out. Yes, their tent had flooded. Gracelynn, of course, slept through the entire ordeal only to wake up when we placed in her bed.

Yes, it was quite the ordeal. Actually, quite funny now. I have a hilarious visual of Heath and Kelly holding up a gate and driving us out of the campground in the middle of the night. Funny. Very funny. :)

This week, Gracelynn has been out visiting the calves, touching kittens, playing in the sand, playing with the puppies, getting mud between her toes while visiting Daddy, out in the barn watching Uncle Andrew milk the cows, and getting baths from G'ma. Busy girl. Yes, very busy girl.



Well, it's naptime now. Gracelynn has been trying to grab my computer for the last 15min. (yes, it takes me forever to blog with her on my lap). M&M cookies are on the menu today for everyone too. They've all been working so hard on the barn. A couple more hard days and the cementing should be down! Hurray! Plans are to go home this Saturday. How exciting to be back in DeWitt. :)

Better go! Love to all.
the kelleys