Overalls

Overalls and kids are just such a great combo! Here are a few pictures of Elise in our yard and then at Wes's softball game (with best bud Rebekah).

18 months/NYC

Elise had her 18 month check up this week. She is, as always, growing like a weed! She measured 34 1/4 inches and 27 lbs, putting her off the charts for height and in the 75-90% for weight. She is a big girl :). Her development has always been on the early side of the curve and where it really stands out right now is in her language. She has quite a vocabulary, and she is even saying three words in a row. We have a book about monkeys jumping on the bed. When we read it and I ask her what the doctor says to the monkeys, she says "No more monkeys!"

Wes and I had our first trip without Elise. He was headed to NYC for work, so I decided to go along for a few days. It was definitely easier traveling without Elise! Here are a few pictures from our trip and then Elise wearing her NYC shirt that Wes brought her.

Right before we left for our trip, Elise ended up in the ER. She had a very high temperature, and I couldn't get here to keep any fever reducer down. She had a fever for a few days, but is completely back to normal now. She had a great time spending time with her grandparents - one night with Grandmama and Papa T and two nights with Papa J and Nana.

Florida Vacation - Lots of Pictures!

We had a fun vacation in Florida, despite the rediculous amounts of rain. Elise loved the ocean, sand, and pool! She had so much fun spending time with her Papa T and Grandmama.

We had to get creative on things to do, since it did rain a lot. We spent one morning at a marine rescue/aquarium. Elise loved the dolphin show.

We also visited a children's museum, where we all had fun!

The Children's Museum had a pretend grocery store, which was lots of fun!

Here we're trying to play Dance Dance Revolution, but it was hard!

Some Recent pics of Elise

Here are some pics from the last couple of days. She is so much fun!!

A Day for Deals

I haven't posted in awhile... I haven't taken any pictures in awhile. If you know me, you know I love a good deal. Well, this has been my week for deals.

First, my friend Shauna got me started on the CVS bucks back deals. So, on Tuesday, I got my first deal I was really proud of. I got three boxes of cereal (two boxes of mini-wheats and one box of Special K with fruit/yogurt) for $1.02 out of pocket! Plus, I got $5 of CVS bucks to use another day.

Second, I decided after my luck at CVS that I should run by the Goodwill. I got some cute things for Elise, but my golden find was this toy box. I got it for $25 - it retails $50 at Target.

My final deal was how quickly I was able to sell my Camry (my parents got a new car, so I got their hand-me-down - thanks Mom!) Who knew it would be such a popular item. I got so many calls on it and sold it in two days.

Anyway, thanks for reading about my deals!

Kitchen!

I am very excited that our kitchen project is coming to a close. The new kitchen looks very nice. We replaced the countertops, sink, faucet, cabinet pulls, and installed a tile backsplash. The project was not without snafoos - the biggest one being that we ordered a piece of the countertop in the wrong length. Oops! But, it all worked out, and we are basically done, except for a few finishing details. We, of course, could not have done it without my parents, who sacrificed their time and offered their skills so that we could make this update possible.

We didn't do a good job of before and after photos, but I found a picture from Elise's dedication that had the old stuff. It wasn't hideously ugly, by any means - I've seen worse. But, it certainly lacked any personality (white counter tops, stainless steel sink, brass pulls).

Here is the new kitchen when looking in from the living room area. I am still working on decorating, but that will take time. We don't have the outlet covers on yet, but this gives a good view of the color of the counter top, the detail of the backsplash, and my pretty canisters the Erwins got me for Christmas. Here is the pretty sink - I really wanted a white sink. It is nice and deep - more room for stacking dishes :). Funny thing, the faucet is the exact same style I chose for our old house - just in antique bronze rather than brushed nickel. I guess my taste is consistent. Another Christmas gift (different year) from the Erwins (thanks Erwins!) was my utensil holder, spoon rest, and napkin holder. I used to have more blue in my kitchen... these items were blue. But, I decided to paint them red since the blue just wasn't working anymore - gotta love spray paint!And finally, here is my rooster - a Goodwill find!