Make a silly face

So I've been potty training Aubrie for the last week & I am happy to say that she is more than 1/2 way there. She has most of it down except for a few minor problems. But I have faith that she will catch on over the next week if I really stick with it. It feels so weird to be potty training my daughter. It just means that she is getting older & there is nothing I can do about it. At least I will still have another one to train. That makes everything so much easier for me. Who knew that potty training one of your kids would almost be a sad moment at times (smile). I am so proud of Aubrie & I can't wait till she is fully trained.

Mackenzie is kicking like crazy. I am also showing more than I did for Aubrie...which is a new experience. She has moved her way up into my ribs over the past week or so. Which has been quite painful at times. That is one thing that didn't change from my first to the second. They both are very strong and move all the time. She takes my breath away at times when she kicks in certain areas. I'm completely ready for her to be here. Bring her on (smile)!! We are needing to buy another dresser by the time she is here. Where we are going to put it I'm not sure yet, but I know we'll figure something out. It's hard to believe that there will be two little girls running around the house. I'm so excited to increase our family by one. I'm all about even numbers (he, he, he).

Here are a few great pictures of Aubrie's many expressions. And a few cute pictures of Aubrie and her Daddy towards the end.

Yes....she did put the sunglasses on all by herself!!

Kitchen Update #2

We are almost done with the whole kitchen. Chris and his Dad worked on our place this past weekend and finished up the plumbing & cabinets. I also turned a storage closet into a pantry. So we repainted and put shelves up. Half of my kitchen table is cleared off. I was so happy to sit at our table as a family last night. It's been over 2 weeks since we last saw the top of my table. We still have a few things here and there. Hopefully next weekend we are able to fix a minor electrical problem & the following weekend we are planning on painting the kitchen walls. Now that will really make that space look great. I am so excited to have my kitchen back. Even if it's not fully done yet. It's a fun space to be in now (smile).

Here are the before pictures of the old kitchen:

And here is the new kitchen. It is amazing how much light it brings in there with the old dark cabinets taken out.

Here is a picture of our pantry. It is so nice to have so much space for our food. I can finally see what we have in the cupboards. It makes such a huge difference.

Notice the full size dishwasher to the right....that is the best feature in our new kitchen.

We installed a full size microwave above the stove.

Old volleyball pictures

Chris and I were able to enjoy a whole week away from home in Texas about 3 weeks ago. Chris had his national volleyball tournament. I am hoping next year I'll be able to play instead of just watching. Which we just heard will be located in Atlanta, GA. I am still mad at myself, because I didn't take any pictures while I was there. I did get a few with Chris playing. The weather was perfect & I was able to lounge around by the outdoor pool & enjoy some good volleyball. I also wish I would have taken a picture of this spider bite I got when I was there. It was horrible!! I got bitten by a recluse spider on my neck. He bit me twice. That little sucker. It's finally starting to go away. It left these huge red spots where the bite was. It itched like crazy & felt like I received a 3rd degree burn. It started peeling from the inside out, and it lasted for a whole week and 1/2. It's been over 3 weeks, & you can still see the bites. Pretty crazy. I'm just grateful that this wasn't a deadly spider & that all I received was a few ugly spots on my neck that resembled hickeys (smile). So here are a few volleyball pictures of Chris and his team playing. They ended up finishing 24th over all. I believe there were around 38 men teams participating. They did well & had a good time. Two years ago this same team placed 2nd overall. So as you can see, volleyball is such a mental sport. They played well with the teams they were against....they just couldn't pull ahead

Chris doing his monster jump serve.

Chris is standing on the right cheering his team on.

This was a random sign we saw while driving downtown Texas. Pretty funny!

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Mmmmm....Pizza!!!!

I was looking through our camera pictures and came across these hilarious ones of Aubrie eating some pizza. Turned out that Chris took these when the two of them were home alone one night. Her hair was crazy & her expressions were great.

My Sunshine

Me and Aubrie

A half smile...that works (smile).

Rummaging through something...

Here you go Daddy....

See you later!!

Babies, babies & more babies

There have been so many babies born in the family just over the past month. I wanted to get our Congratulations out for everyone. Looks like the boys are over ruling the girls this summer :)

Here are the babies that were just born over the past week....

My cousin Rebecca and her little boy: This is their 1st child.Congratulations!!

My sister-in-law & brother-in-laws new baby boy: This is their 3rd child. It looks like maybe this little guy will be having blonde hair. What makes that so neat is the fact that their other two children have different colored hair as well. One is a red head & the other has dark brown. So how much fun would it be to have one blonde, one dark & one red. Fun!!!! Congratulations!!

Here are the babies that were born more than 3 weeks ago....

My sister Kim had her 4th child, a baby boy.

My cousin Melissa & her husband had their 1st child, a baby girl.


And of course there is still me and my sister Jaimie who are both due around the same time. Jaimie is due in August & I am due in September...so the babies will just keep coming (smile).

Quick Family Reunion

Because of a unfortunate situation with my Grandpa being in the hospital (my mom's Dad). My sisters, Mom & Dad flew in from the West for a quick weekend visit. And by quick, I mean they flew in Thursday night & flew out Saturday evening. So time with them was short but sweet. And I am very happy to say that my Grandpa is out of the hospital & at home. He is recovering quite well. I posted a few pictures of the family over the weekend.

My sister Kim's newest member of their family....Soran.

My sister Heather & her two adorable kids Ava & Roxy.

My sister Jaimie is due this August with her first. She is having a baby boy. We were able to throw her a baby shower with the family at the last moment. It turned out to be a fun little party. Congratulations Jaimie....you look great!!

My niece Ava & my cousins daughter Julia.

All my cousins, sisters & their babies. Well, this is about half of my cousins (smile).

My Dad & Aubrie.

My cousins Rebecca & Melissa. Melissa just had a little girl over the past month. Rebecca had her baby just a week ago. I will post them on a separate one.

My sisters Heather, Kim, Jaimie & of course me.

One big giant mess!!!!

So here is what our kitchen used to look like before we installed the top cabinets. We took all the tile down & the hood above the stove.

You see that white box that is sitting in front of the kitchen sink. That is our portable dishwasher. We have to plug it into the sink every time we use it. It's a smaller dishwasher, so there were only certain dishes that you could put in there. I hand wash most everything. The wheels broke off the bottom about 5 months ago, so that is where it's stayed. Talk about annoying!! We are replacing all the counter tops, sink & faucet.

Here is the start of the renovation. It's amazing what a difference it's already making in the kitchen. It's going to bring in a lot more color & brightness. Here are a few pictures of the top cabinets that Chris and my father-in-law put up this past weekend. Hopefully this next weekend we can pull the bottom cabinets out & install the dishwasher & garbage disposal. Yes folks, we are getting a full size dishwasher!! That is the most exciting part for me. It'll make my life so much easier. So stay tuned for more updated pictures of the kitchen.

All in all the guys are doing a fantastic job. Especially since both of them haven't remodeled a kitchen before (smile). I just can't wait to have my kitchen back & the rest of my house. But I don't mind giving my kitchen and space up for this.