woah. water.

What did the fish say when it swam into the cement wall?  

Dam.

(Oh, how I love those dam jokes).

Because of the crazy rain last week, almost all of the flood gates at the dam were open over the weekend.  It's always fun to check out the dam when the water is pouring out.  

(I actually find it totally creepy, especially seeing the above sidewalks underwater.  I hate seeing trees stick out of the water too, always have, ever been skiing at Lake Powell, look down and BAM there's a tree leering at you from under the water?  Yes.  Creepy.)

When we got there this afternoon, a lot of the gates had been closed, so it wasn't as spectacular as it may have been a few days ago.  However, the sun was blessing us with an extra hour of daylight and we all needed to get out of the house.

Yes, it was really nice to get out of the house!

Birthday - Round 1

Let the celebration begin!

Hazel is going to be TWO on Wednesday, and we thought it would be fun to have the family over for a little dinner. 

That seemed like a really good idea before our crazy weekend.  

Thankfully no one complained about our simple dinner, (they are too nice!).

Hazel was so funny opening presents.  She would rip off a piece, hand it to me, rip off another and repeat.  (Notice the pile in my lap).  She's definitely her dad's "particular" little girl.  

She made out like a bandit.  

Aunt Joanie saved the day and decorated Hazel's cake for us.  I think she planned it to match Hazel's dress!

After the birthday-festivities we were able to video chat with almost all of the siblings.  (sorry Ryan).  We are so grateful that we can connect to family in San Diego, Minnesota and Utah.  

Hazel thinks her cousin Lila is h.i.l.a.r.i.o.u.s

Awesome.

Now, if only she'd get over her fear of the real vacuum and start using it!

Whew.

Hazel was gone for the weekend.  Some would see that as an opportunity to rest, relax and put up your feet.

Ha.  Not at this house.  The only word that comes to mind when I think of this weekend: 

Exhausted.

I dropped Hazel off Thursday at Seth's mom's and we hit the ground running.  We spent Thursday evening planning and preparing for the "big build". 

I currently have a problem sleeping in, so although I was up at 4am, Friday morning, I waited for Seth to wake up before we hit Home Depot.  Three hours later, empty wallets, and a car full of lumber and supplies we were headed home.  The weather was beautiful, and the "shop" was set up in the garage.  Several hours of sawing, measuring, gluing, nail-gunning, assembling, routering, sawdusting and we were progressing.

A "quick" run to Lowe's, a pit stop at Chic-fil-A (Seth failed to tell me that I still had sawdust alllll over me), and another stop at Home Depot, just as they were closing.

Now it was time for plexiglass-ing and hinge-ing.

Fall into bed around midnight.

Wake up at 4 am, wait for Seth to wake up - back to work.  Finish the assembly, leave Seth in the garage to sand, wood-fill and paint.  Head upstairs to begin taping off for paint (because why shouldn't we do TWO giant projects this weekend). 

just a little "before" teaser

I painted upstairs while Seth painted downstairs.  He finished sometime around dinner and helped me with the rest of the painting.  By 11pm we were finished but still needed to go to the grocery store. 


Insert back pain.

I think this is where it occurred to me that perhaps I had pushed a little too hard this weekend.  I walked at a snail's place through WalMart as we grabbed the necessities.  I thought I might die.  Seth was positive that I was experiencing back labor again. 

I wasn't. 

I don't think.

Baby didn't come, so I guess not.

We made it home.  Fell into bed around 2 (before Daylight Savings).

Back up at 6 am, needed to make cookies for primary.  Went to church, came home and scrambled to pick up the mess-disaster in our house, make dinner, bake a cake, wrap some presents for Hazel and prepare for Hazel's birthday dinner.

Hazel walked into the house, shouted "Mommy!," ran up to me, and gave me the biggest hug.

It was a relief to see her, it meant our project weekend was over.

 As you can see, I'm not ready to post "after" pics yet.  They will come.  I also need to show our curtains/curtain rods that we made (18 curtains - curse having a house with windows!), baby's room, baby's dresser and who knows what else we've been working on!!

Alive.

I promise.  We are alive.  We've been keeping ourselves busy.  

House projects, baby projects, Hazel projects...

With the new addition well on his way, I am eating up every spare minute I have with Hazel, and all of the "fun stuff" I could be blogging about, just doesn't seem important.

She's growing up so fast, it kind of makes me want to throw up.  I am pretty sure I'll be posting even MORE about her next week for her big birthday, but for now here are a few pics...

Hazel loves to see pictures on the computer.  She names everyone that she knows in the picture and laughs and squeals constantly.

The weather is trying to warm up, so we've been going for walks as much as possible.  We pretty much look for any excuse to play outside! 

(Even if it's in our Sunday clothes!)

 Hazel has discovered the kitchen and is quickly becoming our little helper when it's time to cook.  She'll push "her chair" over from the sunroom, wiggle her way onto it and jump right in to help.

(She is fascinated with the mixer)

Hazel is hilarious when she's in her crib.  She giggles, races from end to end, falls down on her pillows and plays with her animals.  It is so much fun to stand outside her door and listen to her having a good time.  She would honestly stay in there for hours, but we don't let her.  

Why?  Oh...because once in a while (thankfully, very rarely) it ends like this:

 

Mom scrubbing under her fingernails, because, well...that's not exactly chocolate on her face.

I love this girl.

I love hearing her say "Mommy!" "Daddy!" - everything is exciting to her, and she is almost always smiling.  I look forward to "Hazel-Only Time" for the next 7 weeks.

{home ideas - entry}

Why, hello Visitors!!  

Come on in!  

See what Mom and Dad have been up to...

I am always mortified when a neighbor drops by and I actually have to answer the door.  Our entry way has been anything but welcoming.  

(I don't even have a "before" picture - it was so sad, just imagine a barren, empty, boring, builder paint, cobweb filled hallway...)

Oh yes, giant cobwebs and dust bunnies that looked like they could eat small children.  Seth was photographing someone, in his studio, last fall and their kid commented on the cobwebs (whoops).  Thankfully it was in October, so I just told her they were part of my Halloween decorations. 

So what, I'm not perfect.

The blue wall is the same as the one in the office, it's a crazy wall...it meanders up the stairs, over the "balcony" and pops into the office.  We painted the rest of the entry our favorite go-to gray.  

(Yes, I love neutral).

Before Christmas, my sister introduced me to her "friend" (or latest obsession), Ana-White.  Are you friends with her yet?  She's dangerous.  I'm not sure she was the best acquaintance to make while I'm "nesting".

Once the mayhem of Christmas traveling calmed down I was ready to get some things done.  

We (ahem, Seth) made this awesome bench from these plans, we made some adjustments including adding some molding to the bottom.  

I love it.

  

Annnnd, I am grateful Seth knows the importance of wood filler and sanding.  I would have just slapped some paint on and called it good.

I may or may not add a cushion to the top.  That has been bumped to the lower end of "the list".

While we were in Utah (in November) we found some knobs at Hobby Lobby (why, oh why must you be two minutes from my parents' house and an hour from my house - field trip anyone??).  

I looked at Seth and said, um...so I have this idea... and the router came out, the drill, some more wood filler, paint and poof!  

Ta-Da!  Coat Rack!

(Seth's kind of magical)

Don't worry...it's secure.  Those two little red bumps are screwed right to the studs - I dare you to pull that off the wall.

(Okay, really...don't try - I would cry if W.E.L.C.O.M.E lost, and giggle uncontrollably if you lost)

Now come visit.

We don't really use this door, we usually come through the garage.  If I were in the mood to humiliate myself I'd show you what that entryway looks like.  

Scary.

So yes, come visit.

Waking Up

 Each time I go into Hazel's room to get her up (in the morning or after a nap) one of the first things she asks is, "where's Daddy?". 

Needless to say, she l o v e s when he is there to wake her up.

{home ideas - z's bathroom}

We took this plain bathroom:

Added this little user:

Threw in this little duck:

And this is what we have now!

(I apologize for the awesome "lighting" - no natural light, ugh!  The dots do actually match the duck above)

 

 

Seth took a 4x5 Polaroid of the duck, then we blew it up and framed it.  It looks a lot better in person!

 Hope you like it! 

 (And yes, the pink will stay - hope baby brother doesn't mind)