Kitchen remodel

As promised here are the before and after pictures of our kitchen remodel.

Before




and after.....



We lost the awesome pull out drawers under the cooktop. We took the cupboard doors from below the cooktop, and turned them sideways to make the cupboard doors to cover the space where the wall oven was. We weren't too sure how we would like it, but I love it! I do miss my wall oven though! This oven is much harder to keep clean, and the kids like to play with it. I'm sure I will get used to it though.

We also mounted our microwave which now gives us a lot more counter space.

Well, once again too much time has past between this and my last post. I often wonder if there will ever be a day when I am caught up on all of the things that I want to get done. Oh well, at least I get the big ones get done each day, like feed my kids and such.

Isaiah has been sleeping better, thank God! I probably just jinxed it though, but he has been successsful at sleeping in his room all night. That doesn't mean that he sleeps through the night again, but at least he has been staying in his room. Last weekend he decided that he was going to start potty training! We put it on hold until we came home from MN for the 4th of July. We have been working on it for a few days now with much success. I think we tried too much by going to a park in underware, and he had an accident. I am hopeing to devote all next week to getting this thing done. It's going to be hard to stay home, but if that's what it's going to take then we'll do it!

Brielle is growing SO fast! She is currently cutting her second tooth on the top. That puts her at a grand total of 4 teeth! Wowza! She is pulling up to stand on everything. Isaiah is learning that nothing is safe anymore. She also loves shoes, mainly eating them, but it made one Grandma very happy to have another girl share her love for shoes!

Steve and I are the same as always, which is OK. We are going on week 5 of no oven and we are currently in the process of getting a new one. We had a wall oven and a separete cook top, but due to the expensive cost of a new wall oven, we are going to get a standard range. So as I type this our handyman is cutting out the cook top and cupboards below to allow the new range to fit in. Don't worry there will be before and after pictures soon!

We had a great 4th of July. Madison does a very large firework display to music and everything, so we went to a local VFW to watch them with our friends. Since that was on Saturday, we were still able to go to MN for the 4th and get some Grandparent time. We went to the big parade in St. Peter and Isaiah, Steve and Grandma went to the fireworks.

OK, so i am unable once again to post pictures, so we will do it the old fasion way!

It has been a challenging few weeks....sleepless weeks. Isaiah has been a complicated case. It all started when Isaiah woke up screaming and wouldn't stop for three hours. Long story short, we decided that maybe he had outgrown his crib, hence the big boy bed in the previous post. That was apperently not the answer,and now we have a mobile screamer. It has gotten better lately. Now he starts the night in his bed and ends on our floor, with a few freak outs in between.

I guess this is pretty normal, and we just have to ride it out. It is definetly easier said than done when you don't get enough sleep. Now we can add a sick teething little girl to the mix and the fun continues.

It's not all that bad though....really!

We had a busy week with Steve's parents Dave and Debbie...maybe I should rephrase that and say they had a busy week with us! We got more home improvements accomplished than ever! We now have a refinished deck, new lights on the outside of the house, new lights in the kitchen/dining room, and a down spout burried. Whew! Enjoy the pictures of the before and after.

Plus stay tuned for more remodeling news. My stove has been out of commission for about 2 weeks now, and since it is a wall oven we will be converting our oven into a "regular" one. I love the wall oven, but I am appalled with the price of replacing it! I just wish I could complete all kitchen updates at one time, but the budget doesn't allow that right now!

The end of an era

It's official we have a big boy! No he's not potty trained yet, that's next on the list, but we have a new big boy bed in our house. It's actually his crib with the side off, but it gives him all of the freedom of a big boy!

So far he has been in it one night and currently one nap. He has done pretty well, only coming out of bed once last night and once at nap. He did figure out though that now he can wake up and get out of bed when ever he is ready, like 5 am! Now we have to teach him how to read a clock so he stays in bed until at least 6!

Brielle also got her crib lowered last night as she is on the verge of pulling herself up to standing.



All of these changes in one day is killing this Mom! My babies are growing up too fast! At least Isaiah still melts my heart when he asked to "sleep in Mommy's arms" today.

Wow, It's really been that long?

Well I was just thinking the other day how it's been forever since I updated this thing! Sorry to leave our faithful readers without new material!

We have been so busy with just everyday going ons. I dream that one day it will slow down. I fear that dream will never become a reality though. I (Calie)have been busy keeping some kind of order to the house, watching 4 children 1-2 days a week (mine plus 2...all under the age of 2 1/2), and working with my Creative Memories business. There is never a dull moment around here!

Steve has been busy at a pastor's conference, officiating a wedding, preaching, running meetings, shut in visits, hospital visits, end of the year youth events, confirmation, and our young adult ministry group. Whew. I'm exhausted just typing all that! Oh he also hangs out with us, is nursing our trees back to life, planting stuff in our yard and wrestling with hoses...don't ask!

Isaiah is a busy man playing baseball, going to the park, riding his "bike", golfing, basically anything you can do outside. He HATES coming inside, which the neighbors all know now too!!! He has become friends with the two neighbor boys, which is fun for both them and us Moms! He is still a kind big brother with the occasional eye poke, and lots of hugs.

Brielle is so big! She seems to be growing up faster than Isaiah, which is hard to believe. She is sitting up, feeding herself, eating cereal with fruits and veggies, and has two teeth. She is army crawling like a mad woman, and can get on all fours and rock. I am just waiting for her to take off! She is also close to getting herself to the seated position from her belly. She is a lot of fun to be around these days!

I hope that this slide show works, this blog has not been kind to me this year. Here goes nothing!

April in Sun Prairie

So Blessed!

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father..." James 1:17

We have all had those particular moments. (At least I hope we all have!) Those days, those times when we just sit back and look at our lives and think, "I am so blessed!" Overwhelmed by the love we have for our families and so grateful for the ways in which God has provided for and blessed us. Last weekend was especially one of those moments for me. With Sun Prairie being on Spring Break it really lightened my church load and enabled me to be home for almost an entire weekend, along with my off day on Monday. The days were spent enjoying time as a family. Going out for Isaiah's first official trip to Dairy Queen; spending an afternoon (albeit while we were all sick) just lounging around and hanging out at home while watching the Twins finish up spring training; spending another afternoon swimming in the pool (Brielle's first time!), eating more ice-cream and then grilling our dinner; and then spending a day off at the Children's Museum in Madison.

It was a great weekend, a time for me to recharge and spend undivided and uninterrupted time with my beautiful wife and wonderful kids. A weekend for me to live out my first and most important vocation as husband and father. Left me quite often looking up towards heaven and thinking, "Thank you God; we are so blessed!"