Home Improvements...Take 1.

We realized buying a foreclosure would be a lot more "hands-on" work than building, but we have seriously loved every minute of it.

I love having projects to work on. And it seems owning a house comes with never ending projects. (Now if only I had never ending funds for those projects.) :)

The Kitchen ... BEFORE ...

We should have taken more before pictures, but this is what our kitchen looked like before we moved in. No appliances, brown cabinets, old wobbly faucet, no blinds, very rustic chandelier ... you get the picture. (It wasn't unlivable but just not what I had envisioned our kitchen to be like.)

The Kitchen ... AFTER ...

I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. And I LOVE my fridge! I actually love all my kitchen appliances. Guess that is one good thing about there being no appliances in the home when we bought it. We were able to get all new matching ones. FABULOUS! (It is so fun to get new stuff coming from an apartment were everything was just "standard-come-with-the-apartment-crap".)

The Mudroom ... Before ... (Isn't that little nook just begging for a bench??)

The Mudroom ... After ...

The bench that Brandon made me! He put his handy-man skills to good use. (Course I did the upholstery work.) :)

Brandon's cute cousin DeAnne made the vinyl quote for us! She's a sweetheart!

I also love having the big deep farm sink in the mudroom. Never thought I need it, but it has come in so handy.

This is only Take 1 of our home improvements,... there are many more to come! (I'm still working on paint colors. For many of the rooms.)

Oh and here is Kenzington and Brooklyn's bedrooms.

Kenzington's room.



Brooklyn's room.


We are LOVING being home owners!! (If you couldn't tell already.)

Look Whooo's One!!

Kenzington! That's Whooo! I seriously can't believe that our little Kenzington is ONE!! (I know everyone says this about they're kids, but it is so true. Time seems to pass so quickly when you have a little one.)

Kenzington is starting to be quite the little chatter box. Her current favorite (and most audible) word is "OWWWL". Hence the owl themed party!

Both sides of our family were able to come to her party! We loved having everyone come. We played "Whooo knows Kenzi best?" (Trivia questions about Kenzington.)

We ate owl cupcakes.

Kenzington had her own/personal owl cake.

Kenz was a little leery of the perched owl on her tray. However, she loved licking off the chocolate!

The girls and I had fun while dad was at work coming up with owl themed decor.



Of course Kenzington's favorite toy was the one that Brooklyn and all the cousins wanted as well.

(Brooklyn and Kenzi came to a good compromise: Kenzington got to push and Brooklyn got a free ride. Exactly what they both wanted.)

Kenz was covered in chocolate after eating her cake, so Brandon did the easiest thing. Stripped her down in the sink and hosed her off. Look at those rolls! We are officially done nursing now, so I'm sure they won't be there much longer. :(

I am so glad that Kenzington is apart of our family. We love her so much and she adds such joy to our lives.

It is my favorite thing to watch Brooklyn and Kenzington interact with one another. I am so happy that they have each other. A best friend that will always be there.

A few fun facts about our sweet Kenzington:

~She has 5 teeth! 4 on bottom and 1 on top.
~She's been taking steps by herself for awhile, but officially walking on the 15th of February! (10+ steps together unassisted!)
~Favorite food is now yogurt, particularly Greek yogurt. (Yes, she has very refined tastes. Our little gourmet!)
~She has really caught on to squealing whenever Brooklyn has something she wants. She is starting to realize that it gets Brooklyn in trouble. (Mom's caught on now too, so I won't be fooled Kenz!)
~She weighs 27 pounds! (She is approximately 4 pounds away from Brooklyn!)
~She is SUPER sensitive. If you tell her no or give her an even slightly non-friendly look she will burst into tears.
~Kenzi loves to surprise anyone. Sneaking around the corner, peek-a-boo, "watch what I can do", ... anyway to get that look of surprise on your face. She just lights up when she can catch you off guard.

We are so happy that we have been blessed with such a spunky and fun little lady. We love you Miss Kenzington!! Big thanks to everyone who came to her party ... it was a Hoot! :)

We are Family!

A wonderful lady from Green River, Jenni Simons, took some family pictures for us. (Kenzi's birthday pictures too!...Coming soon.)


That's the good ole Green River in the background.



She took some really fun playful ones too! Kind of captures the moment of what "really" goes on when you take pictures. :)




I swear if we get one girl smiling, the other has to be pulling a silly face.

Or not looking.

I kind of LOVE them all, because even the non-lookers and silly faces capture the curiosity and fun personalities of our little girls.

By the end getting the girls to smile was a nightmare. The bribe of ice cream worked at first, but by the end Brooklyn was convinced that the ice cream would never happen.


Jenni wanted to do some fun ones of Brandon and I.

My buddy and me! Side by side "Every step of the way"!
Thanks Jenni!