Remodeling kitchen

So in the last 2 months we have done quite a bit of updating our kitchen here is the list and pictures

* putting on hardware for all lower cabinet doors and drawers
* adding floor board and trimming for the back of the peninsula
* Painting the lower cabinets
* demo the soffit
* remove upper cabinets
* build floor to ceiling wall tower
* build and install all upper cabinets

Whats left of phase 1
* finish customizing upper cabinets
* build install paint upper cabinet doors
* install crown molding and bottom of cabinet trim piece
* upper cabinet hardware
* wall cabinet installation
* hood ordered and installed
* sand and paint backsplash for now
* caulk, touch up, repair any needed spots

Phase 2
* trim in window
* replace window
* paint bottom of counter and add plywood piece
* move some electrical work
* cobbles on peninsula
*  backsplash
and i'm sure there are things I can't think of right now

December 2012

It's been to long and TONS has happened sense I posted last. Lots of Family time, everyone being sick, and some remodeling.

Our big snow storm left 2 feet of  snow and the kids weren't sure what to think of it. They didn't like not being able to walk through it.

We had a great December with Kjirsti and Scotter staying with us. We are growing more hopeful daily that we will have the blessing of them living close for the next 5 years starting this summer some time. It will be so fun the have the three kids grow up together and have Kjirsti close enough that we could do a music dance theater group together and or the MANY other projects we have talked about.

The latter part of December we spent lots of time with the whole Phil Petersen Crew and enjoyed many days with the 30 of us crammed into Sabina's house. We however did not enjoy the sicknesses that we all pasted around and just recently have felt like we all are better.

It's a boy

So I know I haven't even posted that I am pregnant up to this point on the blog. I am 19.5 weeks and we are having another boy. Way excited. We feel like it will be the best thing for Brielle and Keiton. I think Brielle will be more likely to jump in and play with her two younger brothers as well as boss, mother, and discipline them, then Keiton jumping in an playing with two sisters. Also there will be less comparison for Brielle and she can be her own self with out so much sibling rivalry.

This little guy's birthday is going to be sandwiched between Brielle and Keitons and crazy of crazys the three of them will go to nursery for about 3 months together.

3, 2 and under here we come!

 I think my kids had more fun in the fall then any other time of year in our yard. It was a long warm season.

Then from Thursday to Sunday we got a huge dump. 22 inches. The kids like to watch it fall from the window but haven't decided that it's fun to play in yet.

prayers

Brielle is our little prayer reminder and 9 out of 10 times she will be the first to fold her arms and remind us to pray. She likes it some much she wants to pray every time a second serving or a new dish is brought to the table. She constantly asks why if I tell her we already prayed, so sometimes we just pray again.

Keiton is trying to say a lot more words and makes the animal sound moo for cow. Most of his attempts no one would catch but me. He is starting to be more obedient and even has stopped his bike before it went in the road and turned around and come back home when asked. yeah progress!

words

Keiton is starting to slowly add to his vocabulary. He says; baby, daddy, mommy, more, the inflections of -here you go, hi, stuck and eye.

 Keiton has banged his lip a few times. He is starting to have an interested in a baby doll and Brielle's special teddy which has caused a lot of contention.

Keiton is our "little adrenaline freak" as my dad would say. He take his bike to the top of our hill in are back yard and speeds down it on his bike. He has had a few biffs but just gets back on and rides down again. Sometimes Brielle is the helper and pushes Keiton on his bike back up the hill but usually he just screams stuck and wants mom or dad to help him get back to the top of the hill. He also likes to venture as far away from mom as fast as possible as soon as I let him out the front door.

One day I let them out of the car after a grocery shopping trip and when inside to put the perishables away and when I came back out they both were gone I couldn't see them anywhere and started to panic. I was running around and screaming their names. Finally I found them 3 houses down playing in their toy house. I now know I can't let them out of my sight for more then a min.

We tried on Brielle's Halloween costume to make sure it fit and she fell in love with it. She kept her hood on all evening and the next morning she found her costume and hugged it and started carrying it around. She loved it so much I felt we had to go and do something so she could stay in it. Our local grocery store had a little activity that the kids had a good time going to. Keiton's costume didn't fit so we scrambled and pulled together a cowboy costume and we carried most of the costume around the rest of the evening because he didn't want to wear it. I think Brielle was able to handle her hood all night because she has a cowboy hat of Dave's that she puts on and off all day. She really loves those hats.

Brielle changed her own poppy diaper this week. I went in after her nap and she was sitting without her pants or diaper, on the floor. In the middle of the room was the poppy diaper with one dirty wipe and scattered around the rest of the room was every last wipe that had been left in the container, all with some pop on them. When I checked her she had very little residua on her bum and non on her hands. I did find some on her coat, the carpet and the humidifier. She has sense undressed and taken her diaper off a few other times, non others quite like this first time.

Brielle has been more consistent with going the potty in the toilet. I think if I was consistent with asking her if she wanted to go she'd have it down within a week. Her favorite time to go is when daddy is using the restroom and they commiserate together and laugh at each other's bodily noises. I think they are having a lot of quality bonding time.

Brielle is also obsessed with getting her own drink and oven drinks for Keiton as well. It seems like more offten then not we have water all over our floor.

We had a first case of croup and it was a scary night but luckily we got a steroid pill and we only had one night of it.

One of my craziest days so far!

   So Keiton fell of the front porch into my flower bed and landed on a mysterious metal post sticking out of the ground. The cut was between his nose and upper lip.down through is upper lip. It bleed a ton and I wasn't sure if it when all the way through the skin into his mouth or how bad it really was. With screaming baby in tow I call sabina to get advice and she tells me to call her back when Keiton has calmed down because she can't hear anything. After I get him calm and the bleeding stops I call her back and talk through wither I should take him in to see if he needs stitches. I decide I think hes ok but go over to ask my neighbor for a second opinion. She thinks he's fine but give me some vitamin E oil gel pills to help with the healing. I bring them home and through them on the kitchen counter and go to change Keitons diaper when I come out Brielle has several of these gel caps in her mouth and half of them are gone. I pull out what she has and try to wash her mouth out and call poison control to make sure shes going to be ok. Luckily there are no bad side effects of over dosing on vitamin E other then they said maybe diarrhea. 

Why?

  Brielle,

   I can't believe I am at the Why stage of life. It's not full fledge but it's coming and I here this question from Brielle when I've told her she can't do something several times a day. I'm not sure she understands what she is asking but somewhere she learned that this is a way to responds when mommy says no.

   Brielle is literally OCD about opening and closing doors. I think if we had not decided it was best to lock Sabina's back door during parts of the day she would have opened and closed it at least a 100 times.  She can open about any knob or pull down door. Luckily our front door she has not figured out how to open and our back doors are sliding glass doors that she can't open. She will open and close the door and Keiton and he is left behind crying.

Brielle has mastered the recognition of B and r and we are working on i. We did however teach her the wrong sound for r and are trying to re-teach that one. I have really struggled to know how to approach the teaching of letters and have changed tactics a couple of times. I love the fact that she can excitedly exclaim Ba as we drive by some sign that has a B in it or she will look at books and point out all the B's and r's. She has become vary aware of letters.

Brielle often puts her own shoes on an takes them off. She is very interested in zippers and other fasteners, buttons, snaps, safety buckles and clips.

  Brielle is liking the idea of bed and nap time and will at times go in and start to put herself to bed. climb up on here bed lay down on her pillow and suck on her blanket and wait for me to put her other blanket on on point to her music. 

Ketion,

   He is starting to point at body parts but he only knows eye, nose, and ears and never seems to remember which one is which.

  He has picked up a few more sign language words (eat, drink) and often will go through all the ones he knows trying to communicate and get what he wants.  He is constantly signing please enthusiastically with both hands and pointing (usually to the kitchen).

  He has finally decided he has an appetite and can be a bottomless pit. He will sit and eat 4 pancakes + milk, banana, and eggs.

  He loves to go outside and still is constantly asking me to put his shoes on.