Weekend Shenanigan's

We have had pretty boring weekends lately (boring in the sense of us loving to be outside) since we are hard at work on the house. I believe the bathroom will be in working condition by the end of the week (so excited) and that is really all we were hoping to get done right away. After that we want to take a couple weekends off and give ourselves, and our wallet, a break!

Here is an update on our bathroom. The wainscot is up and painted and the double vanities are installed! We have to cut down our countertop ourselves (bummer) because the person we took it to did not do the sink cutouts correctly. The last big thing left is tiling the shower and a fresh coat of South Pacific paint. And while Reid has been busy with the bathroom, I have been working on the yard during Carson's naps. Our yard needs A LOT of help, so my main task now is cleaning up all the branches and weeds the previous owners left behind. I have made quite a bit of progress (though still not picture worthy) but have discovered some unwelcome guests lurking around. I've noticed one snake in the backyard before but today I saw one in the front. I was weed-eating and he was just hanging out right where I was cutting (eek!). I did not see him but something stopped me and sure enough a peered down and that slithery thing with a red stripe was curled up looking at me. So after many attempts to scoop him up and pass him along to a neighbor (I know, aren't I nice) he slithered away to a bush and I lost him. Then I headed to the backyard and discovered the original one I'd seen. I was hoping it was the same snake and we'd only have to deal with one lurking around, but this one had a yellow stripe and a different temperament. Then I found his friend, with a red stripe, that was behaving just as the one I saw out front. Hopefully these are the only two and we don't have a bigger problem to deal with.

We also were able to squeeze in a little bit of family time by going to the pool! Carson was quite adventurous in the water today and kept crawling in the depth where he couldn't crawl. Poor guy, if only he would learn to walk he could do so many more things!! And we went to our first My Gym class (similar to Gymboree). He loved exploring but surprise surprise did not sit still at song time during the beginning of the class. He must have wore himself out because when they did story time at the end he actually sat and paid attention! My favorite was giving the kids "separation" time where they piled toys in the middle of the room and asked the parents to step away! He did so good :) I was also able to bond with my other child a bit. We finally bought our annual dog pass to Chatfield and that place is awesome!

Family pool day

So cute!

Walking through the fountains with mommy

No matter what we do, this kid always finds the concrete

Playing in the ball pit during "separation time"

Swinging in the dolphin

Climbing the tower

This kid loves to push balls around

Silly pup running through one of the ponds at Chatfield dog park

And lastly I can't leave without a couple videos of things Carson is working on. First up is our touchdown arms for football season! It's still hit or miss if he'll do it, but I'm working diligently to make it consistent. Next is working to put shoes on. If we hand him his shoes, he gives it a try or he'll find of our shoes and try to put his foot in. It's too cute!

Carson: 14 Months

Well this last month flew by and Carson is 14 months old :) While it seems like he is learning so many new things, the one thing he still hasn't learned yet is walking...GRR! Someone pointed out an article to me that links the coordination of crawling to brain development, so longer crawlers have a better chance of reading early, learning better, etc. So now that's what I'm holding on to, lol!

I don't have much else new to post about little dude since I just recently updated you with my "random post" so I wouldn't forget all he is doing lately. We have been going to more mommy/baby meet-ups now that we live closer to things. I've also been taking him to the park and pool and he loves watching the big kids play. Yesterday at the pool, we just sat on the side and kicked our feet in the water! We start a new gym class this week which I can only image he'll love! Despite how tired he leaves me at the end of the day, I do love how independent and adventurous he is.

Skyping for Nonni's birthday (we did the same for Grammy the day before)

Loves crawling on the couch now that he figured out how to get up and down it

Reading bedtime books in the tent

This Kid...

I feel like I need to write a random, out of the blue update so I don't forget all that he's been up lately. Aside from still not walking (grr) I feel like he has, out of nowhere, started doing more "toddler" things and is officially growing out of the baby stage. He is starting to stand more on his own so we are making progress :) He loves to throw things, and usually it's a ball so you will play with him. Occasionally he'll throw something that shouldn't be thrown, so we are working on "nice play." Of course we get screams because we use the word NO but he seems to be making some progress. Tonight while we were hanging out in his room before bed, we played dress up with his fedora hat. At first he was crawling to the mirror to check himself out, then he started to throw it to me to put back on his head. It turned into a fun little game that was even better when mommy started wearing the hat :) What else... he learned to "talk on the phone" and it is adorable. Something else adorable is he'll start giggling when you laugh at something. Snyder seems to be tolerating him more. Carson will throw toys to him and even played tug-of-war with his duckie today. He eats like a champ and I can't take pictures anymore because he is always moving. The other day we went to a playdate with our new mommy group and he was all over the park we couldn't even make new friends. At least he had fun I guess ;) When Nonni came to visit she bought some popsicles for us to try. Well Carson just got frustrated and pushed it away, but the other day he ate one all by himself :)

He has transferred to the new house better than I could have ever imaged. We even had to do some naps in the pack n play during the chaos of moving and bathroom demo. Also one thing we have learned about Carson during all this is he is a FANTASTIC sleeper. He will sleep through anything and it is amazing!! I am sure there is so much more I'm forgetting but this is all for now. I'll leave you with some pictures...

First attempt at a popsicle

Popsicle success!

Walking down the driveway

Dress-up with his fedora hat

Yum, BBQ Meatballs

Playing in his new tent made by Nonni

Also tried ice cream...not to sure about it yet

Petting the dog

Drawing

Reading in his rocking chair

So cute!

Wanting to help daddy demo the bathroom

A Fresh New Look...

Yeah I am so excited I FINALLY thought of a new name for the blog. I have been thinking about this for quite some time and it all came to me today. It still needs a few new pieces (background, text color, etc) but between the craziness of work and making the new header today, my brain is fried so it can wait! I just wanted to share my inspiration...

It took forever for me to think of something because I wanted it to have meaning. Like if I were to ever get a tattoo (and I probably never will) I would get something with meaning, but I just don't have anything I want to brand on myself! My new header "Adventure is out there" stems from so many things and that is why I love it. First and foremost I blog about my family; what we are up to, where have we been and it is all apart of greatest adventure out there - life. I have not adapted well to having a kid of my own, and I'm hoping this new fresh start will let me be me and enjoy/adapt to this new adventure I'm on.

So look forward (not that it has changed) to hearing about all our adventures!! From our move, to home renovations, to Carson becoming a toddler, to vacations, trips to the mountains, exploring our new area of town and so much more, our "adventure is out there" and I'm here to tell you all about it.

We're Homeowners (and Happy 4th)

After a very stressful month of June, we can FINALLY say that we are homeowners :) Reid and I are very excited for our first place and the projects have already begun. Our first major project is our main bathroom. For now I'll show you where we are with it, as the house is still a hodgepodge of boxes and un-organization (which is driving me CRAZY). The bathroom started out as a 60x83 "hot tub" as the main bath, which rendered the shower head useless. We did a complete gut and are planning a nice 5 piece bathroom suite. Reid has put in a lot of hours working on this, with the help of my dad and brother last weekend and his stepdad this weekend.

Good-bye "hot tub"

Hello bathtub and walk-in shower

But aside from all the projects that need to take place, we LOVE our new neighborhood. I can't believe it took me this long to move down south. So much more peaceful. Finally Colorado is starting to feel like home. So stay tuned to future house updates and let me know if you want the new address :)

Now on to the 4th. I was browsing Facebook and suddenly felt sad I didn't take any cute, fun 4th of July pictures. Guess we have been too caught up in house work to go out and do anything. I did happen to take a walk with my mother-in-law this evening and we passed some people setting off fireworks. We stopped to let Carson watch and he actually LOVED them. He was bouncing up and down in the stroller at the lights. It was too cute. Then back at home, the neighbors were setting off the "big ones." To my surprise the noise did not bother him. Must get that from his daddy :) So since I didn't take any cute pictures, I'll leave you with some from a 4th of July photo shoot we did with our new mommy/baby group a few weeks ago. Happy 4th everyone. Hope you all had a safe, fun holiday!