Our "New" Kitchen

Before...

After

We just finished a little remodeling job in our kitchen. By "we" I mean Mike Rogers. He is so talented and did an awesome job updating our kitchen. We had him re-paint our cabinets and island, and put on hardware, and paint the kitchen/living room. We also knocked out a wall between our kitchen and living room to make it all one room. It opens up the house and makes it feel so much warmer and inviting, and best of all it feels BIGGER!!! It looks awesome. Thank you Mike! He is the best, and thank you Sara for sacrificing him these past three weeks! I only have one "before" photo. I wish we would have taken more, but we demoed the wall before we had a chance to take one. The "before" picture is actually taken from an old appraisal I did, so it's not even a good one, but it gives an idea.

The wall that separated the kitchen & living room was dark wood paneling, our kitchen wall was "brick red" and we had dark countertops & dark cabinets. I can't believe how much better it looks with it now white and open. It really feels like a new house. We love it!

Sara and Mike are seriously amazing. They spent so many hours working on this project. We have been in Logan the past 24 hours for family wedding. We came home to the house totally clean, decorated and completely finished! March 1st was the deadline because we're blessing Aubrey tomorrow, so Mike and Sara spent their entire day making that happen. What good friends. Our house has been in construction mode for a couple weeks now, so it's been pretty crazy, and very messy! When we walked in this evening to a clean house, Parker said "CLEAN!" He must take after me; nothing beats a clean house!

Minivan/Acadia Deliema

I am such a basket case right now. We are so done with the Jetta. I keep meaning to post a picture to prove that all three car seats actually fit in the car! It's a miracle! But each day that goes on I freak a little more. It is so tight. I can't pack anything along (our trunk no longer opens!) except a diaper bag. The kids are constantly "helping" out by poking Aubrey's eyes, mouth, putting their fingers in her mouth to calm her down, patting her head, pulling the sun visor up and down so they can be sure to see her cute face, putting the blanket over her face so she stays warm...I could go on and on. Some days I'm more patient than others, and other days I freak out and want a new car now! Why are cars so dang expensive! I would love nothing more than a totally loaded Acadia. They are the most beautiful cars!!! We went and test drove one yesterday. I am in love. I totally want it to work. The sales guy asked if we wanted to take the minivan for a spin that they had. I refused. Only because I think it realistically will be better (as far as room, storage, convenience). If I'm making a car payment, I want to love the car, not hate it! I want a 4 wheel drive car, one that can get us to the mountains, and one that can get me to my appraisals when weather is crazy. Will a van do that successfully? Why am I so anti? I have a feeling in the next few weeks we'll be the proud owners of a Honda Odyssey. Who knew I'd ever say that! Don't be surprised though if it's a piece of junk. Like I said, if I make a payment on a car, it's going to be a car I love. Otherwise, I'm paying cash for a piece that will get us to our destinations safely.


Could this be the one? They're only asking $4,900!

Newborn Photos of Aubrey

We got some cute pictures taken of Aubrey just a couple days after she was born. I'm just now getting around to posting them. My friend Emily is so talented, and did such a great job. There are about 300 photos that look awesome, but I posted only a few of my favorites. I've never done new born photos before. It was so much fun. I wish I would have thought to do it for my other kids. They change so much so quickly, so it was fun to capture her wrinkles, and her tiny little toes and all her chubs!






Here is her actual birth announcement. We'll be sending them out shortly!

What the...

This is why I can't leave Parker unattended...

Parker started it, and Matt finished it.

Parker is liking Aubrey more and more each day. He actually likes to hold her now!

We're Surviving!

Week one down, and a life time to go! I've had so much help from friends and family, so I'm feeling really good! I'm lucky to have a mellow baby. Aubrey is sweet and so lovable! I know everyone always says this, but it's amazing how much you can love someone you just met! I already can't imagine life with out her.

She loves to eat, and looks several pounds bigger already. I tried putting on an outfit on her on Sunday, and there was no way it was going to fit, so I know she's bigger. Nights are going well, she's up between 2 and 3 times but goes to bed right after, so I feel fortunate for that as well. Parker is our crappy sleeper! He's up multiple times a night and wakes up ready for the day by 6:30. It is in sane.

The best part about having a girl, is the cute outfits you can change her in to daily! She was wearing the cutest outfit this morning, and she pooped through the first one, so DARN! I had to change her in to another CUTE outfit!

Thanks Amy! I couldn't wait any longer to put her in it!

Welcome Baby Aubrey!

She is here! Shortly after my last post, we headed to the Dr. and I was checked again, and he stripped my membranes. The chance for induction was looking slim, so he suggested I walk around to try and go in to labor on my own. He said not to eat anything because I'd most likely go in to labor in the next little bit. I was starving though, I didn't eat breakfast thinking I'd get in that morning. Anyway, so Matt and I left and went to eat some lunch. At lunch, the hospital called and said they had room and to come on over. We ate fast and got there by about 1:30. She started the pitocin around 2:00, my Dr. broke my water around 2:30, and then we waited. The anesthesiologist was super busy that day, so my constant requests for an epidural were unsuccessful, and he didn't get there until close to 4:00. By then I was at an 8 and dying. I was in so much pain (you ladies that go natural, way to go...it's not in the cards for me. I don't know how you do it!). Anyway, by 4:15 I was feeling great, and she was born at 4:56. I pushed just a few times. It was a great delivery. She is super cute, and reminds us a lot of Amber, but she has a lot of differences too. She's super chubby, which I LOVE. She weighed 8 pounds 8 oz., and was 20 inches long. She so far is super mellow, loves to eat and suck her binki. I had a great two days at the hospital, but am happy to be home. I'm feeling good now (however, Grandma still has Amber & Parker, so chaos will arrive soon!). Matt has a few days off next week which will be very helpful. Anyway, we're loving this new baby. We named her Aubrey Joyce.

Parker isn't too sure of this new addition. Amber is in heaven though, and loves to hold her. She's already made a set of rules about Aubrey (one of which is she eats only milk).

One Last Look

Here I am, the last picture before this baby is born! I'm supposed to be induced now, but they are backed up at the hospital, so I may have to wait until this afternoon, or maybe even tomorrow! Yikes! But I'm going in to the hospital now, my Dr. will strip my membranes, and we'll see if that gets me started on my own. How depressing! I had the whole weekend mapped out with who was taking my kids when. It's just my luck! Anyway, here is one last photo of me, the next post will be tons of this new baby! Hopefully she comes today!