Light-Black And Decker

 I have been doing many home renovations to update curb appeal and bring beauty to our outdoor space this summer. The culminating feature was to fix the eye sore of a front porch made from pitted concrete. My dad helped out big time on this project with measuring and cutting the tiles. Together we were able to transform an ugly eyesore to a beautiful center piece that I am proud to show off. Here is a before picture. Notice the silver railings, ugly door mat, and of course, horrible concrete that had been painted over to try to hide it but the paint start falling off after one season.   I used two different types of tile here, one for the risers and one for the landing and steps. The landing tile is a light gray color with a wood grain to it. I also put an edge on the sides with the riser tile. I purchased these tiles at big box stores and was able to return the extras I didn't need. I also used a dark, pewter colored grout. I spray painted the railings black, and bough a new doorm

Last night I left my son's room with him still asleep, and I had the desire to shout from the rooftops "He's asleep! He's asleep!" Surely every one of my friends wanted to know of my great accomplishment: My 23 month old was asleep! (at 10:45 at night). Now he has been a pretty good sleeper most of his life, but he goes through cycles of being easy to put to bed, and then returns to being hard to put to bed. He is currently in a being hard to put to bed stage, crying every night. Last night he got to sleep with some fussing, only to wake up an hour later from coughing as he was developing a cold. So I went in to calm him down, give him some medicine, and attempt to get him to sleep without more crying. I knew the only way to do that would be to lie down next to his crib until he was asleep. I tried this method just last week when he woke to the fireworks of the Fourth, and after 45 minutes of waiting, my slight rustling of movement made him wake up and cry again

For any who are not aware of what is happening here in good ole Utah, I shall enlighten you. Aside from about a 2 week period over Christmas time where we had bitter cold temperatures and heaps of snow, our winter has been very....un-winter like. The first week of February was graced by temperatures in the 60's and even lower 70's! This has naturally led to walks around the neighborhood and playing in the playgrounds, all while wearing short sleeves. It wasn't just the one week either. January, though not quite as impressive, was still quite toasty. So why all this crazy nice spring-time weather right in the deep winter? You may have heard some theories from scientists or friends who think they know why our world is upside down this year. But don't be fooled. I know the REAL reason for the warmth. You see, we were all abducted by aliens. This abduction lasted from January through March. When we were kindly returned to our homes in April, the aliens wiped our memor

These are things I never realized or knew about babies that I have learned since having one of my own! -Babies are grimy. I still don't understand how they can get so dirty. How did you get all this dirt under your fingernails!? You can't even DO anything with your fingers! -You know that soft spot on their head? You can totally see their heartbeat in it sometimes. It's kind of disconcerting. -Once you finally figure out some type of routine or normalcy......it changes. -Apparently babies can still "bite" their tongues, even though they don't have teeth. I guess technically they're gumming their tongue? Which doesn't sound too painful, but when a red pinched blood vessel looking thing shows up on the tip of your baby's tongue, you realize that it might be a bit painful. -Babies have to be pretty tough, they experience a lot of pain! From being born (it just can't feel great being squeezed through a birth canal), to teething...for mont

Here is a brief recap of some of the fun things that filled our 2013. Started out the year with the knowledge of a brand new pregnancy. Then survived the coldest January I can remember, with the worst inversion yet. In February we got to finally tell everyone we know about said pregnancy. Had my sister-in-law come visit over her spring break and tell me she was also pregnant! We sewed cute baby shoes together. Had sister-in-law and brother come back the next month to visit with our grandparents who stayed with us for a few days before entering the MTC. Found out a month later that said Grandmother passed away on her mission. Enjoyed not working during the hottest summer on record, which conveniently aligned with my third trimester, you know, the one that I actually got hotter in. Of course, had the baby in August. Two days earlier, found out my other sister-in-law was expecting as well! She tried to wait until after he was born to tell, but was in need of her maternity c

My awesome friend Wendi Lee took some pictures of us. One of them is over there on the right side. Here are a few more...