New stuff

Here's an update on stuff we've been doing lately, since it's been way too long since I've posted last.

We did some updates on our house. We have a half bath on the main floor that was absolutely hideous. Here's the sink that used to be there:

This picture doesn't show the plastic (yes, PLASTIC!) sink that used to sit on that lovey cabinet. We put it out on the curb for the trash man to pick up and someone thought it was worth taking. Yikes! They must have been desperate!

We also painted the walls red (they were white) and replaced the floor in the bathroom and back door area. Here's a before pic of the floor, an after pic of the paint:


Um, as I'm looking through our recent pictures, I didn't take an "after" shot of the bathroom. I'd do it right now, but I lost the cord that hooks up the camera to the computer and the only SD card reader is on James' broken laptop, so I'll have to post those later. Sorry! (But more reason to check back later!)

Our yard was also looking pretty shabby and pathetic. (It still does, actually, but that's next year's project.) Since our front yard is very sloped and the grass is patchy, there would be a lot of dirt washed out whenever it rained. So I bought grass seed (on clearance at Target -- YAY for Target!) and patched most of it. It required several hours of weeding, loosening the dirt, spreading new topsoil, and finally planting the seed. Not to mention faithfully watering several times a day so the soil stayed moist while the seed germinated. After about a week, I can't tell you how much excitement filled my whole body when I saw those tiny shoots of grass blades coming through the topsoil! Amazing!


In kid news, Olivia turned 6 months, which means she started eating solid foods! She did a great job, and she absolutely LOVES it! I started with the rice cereal, then added some carrots the next day, then peas several days after that. With Lilly and Maggie I gave them fruits before veggies, and they haven't touched a vegetable for 99% of their lives. So with Olivia I decided to start with veggies so she'll actually eat them consistently throughout her toddler years. Third time's (hopefully!) the charm! Here she is in all her glory:

"Mom, what IS this hard plastic seat?! It's NOT comfortable!"

Apparently the plain rice cereal was a little too bland...

...and the high chair was a little too hard.

But she really liked the concept of eating, and especially when it's while Mom is holding her.

The carrots were much tastier, and the seat isn't so bad once you get used to it.

(Next day)

And, finally, I decided that I needed some recent photos of the girls since they're growing up so fast and the Target portrait studio is lame. So here are some I took in our neighbor's backyard with my 5 megapixel camera. I haven't touched them up at all, so they're not super awesome, but better than Target, I'll tell you what!

Personality pic:

Pretty Maggie

Personality pic:

Here's a cute pic of both sisters:

Olivia!

Personality pic:

I'm so glad I took these pictures when I did. Olivia got her first tooth a week ago, and her second tooth two days later! I think it's kind of sad when they get teeth because it's like they're not really a baby anymore. (Plus the whole teething experience isn't much fun.)

Hope life is treating you all well!