Go Irish!

We had Grandpa and Uncle Johnathan over last weekend for the Notre Dame game - it was so fun! They didn't win the game, but I thought they all looked so cute in their matching shirts. I seriously put Connor's on twice a week - I think it is precious! We made a chili dip as an appetizer and Connor loved it. I mean he stood at the coffee table with a bowl full of it, shoveling it into his face. It was a riot! He was totally wild - here he is with chili dip on his face, terrorizing his doggies :)

Catch Up!

We have been coloring on packaging paper...and our faces!
painting our room and taking the tape off when we are done :) All kidding aside, he was awesome at taking the tape off!

Helping momma with the heavy lifting, I don't know what I would do without him!
Helping momma make brownies and then helping himself to some of the goodies :) Seriously, how cute are those little leggies on the stool? I don't know what to do with him!
Dancing in the toilet, in the dining room? This kid doesn't mind the whole house renovation :) I am proud to say that the toilet is now in it's rightful home and looking great!

Coloring on the boxes in your room while momma unpacks! See - we have been busy around here :)

Oh, and learning how to take our pajama pants and diaper off during the night! Thankfully there was no poop in the diaper and he hasn't felt like repeating it. Silly little goose.

21 Months!

Lord, please have mercy on my soul - how is my child 21 months old? To be completely honest, I had to count on my fingers to make sure I was right and that you are really this close to turning 2. Connor - you are my heart and I just cannot believe that we have had the chance to be your parents for nearly two years. Someone asked me the other day how old you were and my long-winded reply went something like "21 months, I just can't bring myself to say almost 2!". Seriously, where did months 18-20 go? Oh, I think we may have been moving :) Ha! You are a delight, a joy, a blessing, a sweet little toddler man. You love "girl dog and boy dog" and your new house. Your daddy and I feel like we are depriving you of a childhood because instead of playing with toys you like to "paint" the walls with paint brushes and use the screwdriver to "help" us put up cabinet doors and pictures. You think the nail gun is really funny when daddy is hanging molding and you still love to be outside. Your new favorite spot is the front porch (as is momma and daddys!) and one of my favorite activities is to sit and watch the cars with you. Tied with that is looking at the pictures on the camera, you love to sit next to me and see yourself in the pictures.

You are my sunshine and so very smart. You are talking all the time and repeat most anything we tell you. You even "yell" at the dogs like we do :) Ha! You remember everything and like to tell us about things that happened earlier in the day or weeks ago. You still mention the carpet nails every once in awhile. You have SO many words and you are starting to put words together (go bye bye, no scout, help momma) and you are loving your puzzles and coloring these days. What else do you say? Momma, Daddy, NeNe, Paw-Paw, Nonny, Uncle Bubba, G, Nana, Grandpa, help, dog, help, lemonade, lawnmower, car, go, garbage truck and too many more for me to name. You love to sing "row your boat" and "abc's".

You have turned a little snarky my sweet man and you definitely make it known when you are demanding out attention. You are starting to want to do things "your way" and can have very little patience when we aren't "getting it". Sometimes we have to drag you inside kicking and screaming and you don't like that very much. As I mentioned, you LOVE to play outside! You love going for walks, we go almost everyday and you climb right in your stroller and are set. You eat with your utensils like a champ though you still like momma to help you :) You give the best hugs and kisses and your laugh warms my soul from the bottom to the top.
You have started saying "nah" (no) and you just kind of nonchalantly say it and shake your head. It's a riot and Daddy and I always mimic it :) To us, it's the only way to say no these days. You have transitioned to our new house seamlessly and I just love that about you. You have so much fun with your friend Atticus down the street - you just sometimes walk down the steps and head on over to his house :) You don't seem to mind where we live, you just love having your momma, daddy and doggies around. You have started loving to watch "Gabba Gabba" and I could watch you dance for hours. You watch football with daddy and say "touchdown!".
Connor - you are our heart and our world. We just love every little thing about you (even the snarkiness). You are the sweetest little blessing, we love you stinky face!

The Action Shots!

We love our little century home and were defiantly ready to tackle all the jobs and work it was going to need to get it into shape for our little family. It has been more work than we thought, but well worth it. I just love that this little house has been around for almost 100 years and with lots and lots of love from us it is starting to look great again! We knew that the house hadn't been taken care of in quite a few years, so we are really excited to have the opportunity to bring it back. We have our immediate plans and 5 year plan to put an addition on!

They did such a good job with the stairs that the lady across the street wanted to hire them! She kept asking my brother if he was a carpenter :)

The rockers on the left side and the porch swing is on the right side I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE both of them! We sit outside all the time and it's just the best. We keep laughing though that our one project usually turns into five more! All we really wanted to do was paint the porch... :)

Welcome to 221 Papin!

Have you missed me?! Ha, I am sure there are not too many people (besides G) who are sad about my lack of updating :) I mean I don't even think "busy" is a good enough word to describe what has been going on around these parts lately. All good stuff, just lots and lots of business! When I say that the only room in our house that has remained untouched is the kitchen, I really mean it! We have to save up a little more cash-ola before we can redo the kitchen (our hopeful eta is December or January) but literally every single room in the house has been renovated in some way. The result? We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE our new little home! I am going to do my best to keep up with the before and after's for each room because you know I documented them :) We are about 70% of the way there and seriously couldn't be happier with our little home and neighborhood, it was exactly what we wanted and well worth waiting for. So, without further ado welcome to 221 Papin Ave.!
Want to know what we did? Well - this beautiful change required the rebuilding of the steps, hand rail (please ignore the unpainted knobs on the top, we are going to exchange them for bigger ones!), trimming of the bushes, new lights, new house numbers (the lamp post in the front is going to lose the numbers and get a new coat of paint), a porch swing, rocking chairs, sanding of the porch floor and railings, new paint, sanding, stripping and painting of the front door. Whew! Want to see some of the "during" shots? I thought so :)