My Girls

Erica's favorite food is chili. She's getting a bit more selective in what she eats but she eats more than Henry and Sarah combined some meals.

She also likes jam and bread.

Erica has gotten really good at climbing the stairs and does it all the time. I have to remember to keep my bathroom doors closed as that's where she is headed. Several weeks ago she figured out how to stand up on her own and then take a few steps. She was very proud of herself. She's walked across the room a couple of times and takes steps here and there. Crawling is still faster so it's still her method of choice.

Sarah had her turn for the Fabulous Family Spotlight at school. This is the poster we made.

She chose the pictures she wanted to share and then drew our bodies on our circle heads and came up with a few things about each of us.

 Erica is a good sport when I put stuff her just because I think it would be funny.

Henry put this on her. Even she thought she was pretty funny and will try to put it on herself when she sees it.

Erica and I play a little game multiple times a day. She pulls all the DVDs she can reach out of the stand. I clean them up then she comes back and does it again. I think I'm losing.

 She also likes shoving the toys from her toybox into the bookcase.

 She takes this very seriously.

For about a month Sarah has been saying she has a loose tooth and has been very excited about it. I've told her to leave it alone. I don't want her lose a tooth! Baby teeth are so cute and it takes years for adult teeth to look good so I told her to not wiggle it. About ten days ago that tooth was very loose and I knew it was going to happen and she surprised me by getting very upset. She didn't want to lose a tooth when it actually came down to it.  So we talked a lot about what would happen and I took a picture of her mouth so she'd always remember her tooth.

She couldn't eat all day because her top teeth would hit her loose tooth and it would hurt. Then during dinner, after some teary attempts to eat her chicken, I told her to grab her tooth and pull it out. And she did! She was so relieved. Then she thew up from all the stress and excitement and went to bed.

And we nipped the toothfairy tradition in the bud. She was crying in her bed that she didn't want the toothfairy to take her tooth. So I called her up, handed her a dollar and told her "There is no toothfairy. No one wants your tooth. Here's a dollar, now go to bed." She went to bed relieved.

Last week I woke up to this note on my kitchen counter.

And there she was. She is wearing her soccer uniform complete with shin guards that she also slept in. She has a pad of post-its and a pen in her hand. She was keeping a tally of her laps. 

 Henry joined in on the "fun". Weird kids.

 Erica is very proud of herself for doing something. I just liked how her hair looked.

 Sarah and her friends were playing in the backyard and Erica' crawled over to watch.

Soon they came over to watch her. It reminded me of the zoo although I'm not sure which side are the animals.

 Check out the spit bubble.

What does it say about me when the only thing I have a years' supply of is strawberry jam?

 Sarah's gymnastics class ended today. Here they are practicing their ta-da hands.

 The balance beam is her favorite. She likes pivoting on her feet half-way up then continuing on.

And she likes hanging on these bars. She tries to do this on furniture in the house.

Erica kept herself occupied by eating a large amount of vanilla wafers.

The Basement Reveal

As of Saturday, construction on the basement is officially complete. Friday Justin and I stood in an aisle in Home Depot, staring at each other, trying to think if there was anything else we needed to buy for the basement besides the things in our hands. Is there anything else? We couldn't think of anything. It was a new feeling.

Here you have it.

Before. Like waaaay before.

This is years ago. Notice how small Sarah is.  Above is the white cupboard we used as pantry. To the right is Christmas decorations and baby clothes. Below is our "home office"

 And under the stairs is luggage, baby stuff, and potatoes.

Ugly, hard stairs.

November 2014. This is after Justin framed in the exterior walls and bathroom. We had a plumber come in and put in the tub and do the preliminary plumbing work. And then Justin did the insulation.

 I couldn't wait to cover that sight up.

 Did you know Justin was a professional insulation installer when we were dating and newly married? He was fast.

All the electrical wiring was done before the insulation, I should mention. And Corey helped us out with that. I think everyone got zapped only a few times.

And then the drywall.  Although it is the most transformative step, it's my least favorite as the dust gets through the whole house.

 Good-bye wall studs.

Justin's dad and brothers helped with this. I couldn't believe how much they got done in a day.

Then during Christmastime, we hired someone to do the taping and mudding and texturing. Best money we spent. That was the hardest part for us when we did Sarah's room and the laundry room. It was such a miracle to come down one day and it was all done.

After a couple of coats of primer, we were ready for paint. This is when I really get to help. And Sarah and Henry get to help too.

Once the painting was done, it was time for the doors and trim. I love the finish carpentry part. Everything starts to look so tidy and it goes from a construction site to a livable space.

This is where Erica hung out a lot while I caulked. And caulked, and caulked. And touched up blue paint. And then white paint. Blue, white, blue, white, blue.

 Henry loved bringing down his toy tools and helping his dad. He made this little guy.

Once all the doors, trim, caulking was done, (and our tax return came) we were ready for carpet.

 We could almost envision it being complete!

 My handy man.

 My laundry room got a little crowded. I couldn't iron for a month (darn).

 The day before the carpet came. We had a lot of cleaning up to do.

 The night after it was installed.

 It felt like Christmas. Mostly because the kids got to play with toys they hadn't seen for a few months.

 Erica had never crawled in the basement before. A whole new level for her to discover.

 Enjoying the soft carpet.

 Under the stairs we put the play kitchen stuff. This is where I find the kids a lot now.

The landing now.

 Linoleum and shower walls were the next week.

And a few days after that we installed the vanity and a plumber came back to do the toilet and sink.

Sarah is showing it off to her friend.  A new toilet steps away from toys is a big deal.

A few rods and holders and the bathroom all done.

It's been fun seeing the kids get used to having a third bathroom. They'll announce all the time that they're going to use the bathroom downstairs.

I like not having to put shoes on to go to another part of my house. 

So there you have it, seven and a half years later, our house is done.

We're getting used to not spending every minute on the basement. That's a nice feeling. I wonder if we'll ever be up to doing it again if we move to another house without a finished basement. We have a rule we don't talk about when to have a baby until the current baby is a year old. That rule may also apply to large home projects.

Now we just have to get some furniture in there before the kids take it over with their toys.