An Afternoon Outside

It seems like more and more I have been just using my phone to take pictures and not my camera.  It is so easy to carry around and I don't usually forget it at home like I do my big camera.  The pictures are just not as good and I don't like it as much.  So the other day I decided that I wanted to go play outside and just take a few pictures of Blaiden having fun.  It turned out great and here are a few of my favorite pictures.

                                        He Found a puddle of water
                                        and had to play in it. 

             
                        Splashing is so much FUN!

                       He looks so big in these pictures!

                      Waving bye bye to me as he takes his chair
                      over to the neighbors yard, and looking at the
                      birds playing in the grass.

4th of July Party

The 4th of July weekend we decided to have our first pool party.  It was a very hot day so it was a perfect day to cool off in the pool.  It was also our first party in our new house.  It was fun to show it off to all of our friends.  We had a great BBQ where Fred made a pork roast in addition to the hamburgers and hotdogs.  The only issue was we don't have any patio furniture so people were sitting on folding chairs and on the grass but people didn't seem to mind much.

When it was time to get in the pool only a few people wanted to get in but we all hung out in the shade by the pool and had a great time watching the boys play.

We can not wait to have everyone over again!

G-Ma comes to visit

A few weeks ago my Mom came to visit us and see our new home.  She was so excited to come see and play with Blaiden.  I was so excited for her to come because I needed help putting my house together, not to mention I hadn't seen her in forever (not really, we saw her in May).  She had told me to hold off on the painting so that she could help, which I had no problem doing.  We also scheduled her trip around a dinner that Fred and I had to attend so we would have someone to watch Blaiden.

She arrived on Thursday in Pittsburgh.  Fred, Blaiden, and I all rode to go get her.  It was my first time out there and it was a very nice drive.  After we picked her up at the airport we went to a great burger place and had a late lunch.  We drove home and didn't do much that night but try and make a plan for the rest of her trip.

Friday we decided that we would show my mom how we do yard sales.  We drove all over and found a few good treasures.  We came home in the early afternoon and Blaiden was in the middle of his nap.  My mom was tired from traveling and the time change so she also decided to take a nap.  I took down the wall paper in the kitchen while the house was quiet.  When everyone woke up we took the wall paper down in Blaiden's room.  That night we just hung out and played until Blaiden went to bed.  After that my mom and I got started on organizing and deep cleaning the kitchen.

Saturday was the big day.  We went to Lowe's to buy all our paint.  They had great no VOC options.  I must say that picking colors is so hard.  I ended up buying 7 gallons of paint!!  We came home and forgot we had to finish up the kitchen before we started to paint.    We started in the kitchen (I really wanted this room done).  I picked a green color and I love how it turned out. That's all the work we got done today because I had to get ready for dinner.  The hospital had a graduation for the residence that were finishing and also to welcome the new residents.  This was the first time that anyone besides me has put Blaiden to bed.  I know this sounds crazy but he nursed until he was 13 months and then we did sleep training and got into a very structured routuine and it was me who he wanted to put him to bed.  I was very worried about it but it went fine.  Dinner was also very good and we had a great night out.

  The Kitchen before

 The Kitchen After

Sunday Blaiden and I went to church with my mom and then came home and let Blaiden take a nap.  After he woke up we got to work on his room (the next important room that I wanted to be finished).  It was really easy to paint even though we had to do 2 coats.  In the middle of painting my mom said she was going to quit if I didn't go get some candy, so i had to make a quick run to the store to keep her motivated.  We took a break to eat dinner and play with Blaiden until he went to bed then we decided we better paint the living room which then I added the entry way too.  It was a long day and we were both ready for bed.

 Blaiden's room after (I forgot to take pictures of the before)

Monday we still had more painting to do.  We did the "dining" room, which we don't really use for "dining" and the hallway, we also had to touch up the living room and put a second coat in the entry way.  This was a hard day of painting.  We were both so tired of painting and the dining room was our hardest room.  There was a wall that went down the stairs to the basement and trying to all the way up to the ceiling was very difficult.  After we were done we just wanted to relax and go to bed early.

 Before Living and During

 

Living and Dining After

 Tuesday was our last day that we could do some work and so we moved outside to clean out all the flower beds.  I had to go and get some blood work done so Fred, Blaiden, and my mom got to work and it was almost all the way done by the time I got home.  We then went to do a little shopping.  We went to the mall to just go in a few stores and found some cute clothes.  Then we headed to Home Depot to buy some plants and mulch.  We had to stay there for over an hour because a huge rain storm started as we were pulling in so we couldn't go outside to look for plants.  When we finally got back home My mom played with Blaiden and Fred and I spread out the mulch and planted our new plants.  My mom wanted to put Blaiden to bed again and so I let her.  Fred and I had to go back to get more mulch and my mom made us some dinner.  We ended up working until it was dark and couldn't see anymore but we finished.

  The finished outside.

Wednesday it was time to take my mom back to Pittsburgh so she could go home.  I know that she was so tired and probably sad that she decided to come out to help with the house but she was invaluable.  It was great to get another opinion (besides Fred's) on paint choices and where would be the best spot for my pans.  She also worked so hard, there is no way all of that painting would have got done if I had to do it alone (Fred would have to watch Blaiden).

 

I thought it was a really great trip.  my house is about 80% together and I got so much work done.  I think my mom was ready to head home.  She worked very hard for 5 days and I think she was ready for a break.  The entire time we worked Fred was watching Blaiden.  I think he enjoyed that because it was his last week off before residency started.

Moble Snapshots #3

Just being cool

My goal this month is to get caught up on all the blog posts but my computer has not been cooperating with me so far.  Here are a few pictures from this last month.

Helping Fred fix stuff the broke during the move

Watching golf with Daddy on Father's Day

Loving some Mac N Cheese