Kitchen Remodel

I can officially announce that we are finally starting the remodel of our kitchen.  I am beyond excited to see some brightness in there!  Dark cabinets, brick colored laminate flooring, country blue wallpaper....just not my taste.  We are painting the cabinets a shade of white, which I haven't picked out yet, buying new hardware, countertops, and flooring.  We've lived here in our house for 4 years now and I think it's time to see some change!  Jason isn't too thrilled about all the work ahead of us, but I know we'll both love the end result.  Here are some before pics taken from my phone, so I apologize for the quality and the dirty dish in one of them.  :)  I will update with more pics as we gain progress with the remodel.

Lia Sophia Party

If anyone wishes to order jewelry, but cannot attend the party this Friday, here the link where you can browse the catalog and also order online:  https://sites.liasophia.com/sites/amyknuckey/catalog-intro

Click on the link I've provided, then you can browse the catalog by clicking on the 'By Catalog' link on the left hand side.  Then you'll want to make sure you click on the 'Fall/Winter 2012' catalog.  If you wish to purchase any jewelry, there should be a 'How to Purchase' link on the very first page after you've clicked on my original link in this post.  You will need to enter my first and last name and go from there! 

If you have any questions or if this is too complicated, you're more than welcome to call me and I can fill out a sheet hard copy.  The party officially closes August 17th!

It's a.......

.......BOY!  We are thrilled to be welcoming another little guy into lives and couldn't be more happy.  I think he looks pretty darn handsome already.  :)  Daddy is thrilled because now he gets to take 2 hunting buddies out to the farm.  :)  We can't wait to meet him in December!

My Boys

Yesterday was Jason's birthday and we had a small surprise get together at our house last night!  My family came over and we had pizza and cake!  Jason didn't know that I had it all planned and it was a nice little surprise.  Cooper got Daddy a nice card, balloons, and a massage.  :)  He also told Daddy 'Happy Birthday'!  So stinkin' cute.  :)

Here is a little video we sent to Daddy tonight as he's on his way home from the Cubs game in Chicago.  Hopefully it works.....

Also, I'm currently in my 17th week of pregnancy and all is well so far.  I've been feeling the baby for about a week now and it's such a great feeling.  I think I've convinced Jason to find out, but his mind could change before the ultrasound.  I'm pretty pumped to find out, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't.  Either way, it will still be a surprise!

And I'm having a Lia Sophia party on August 10th.  It closes August 17th.  Once I get the link to the online portion of it, I'll post that on here and if anyone who lives far away would like to order something, you can do it that way too! 

18 month stats

Cooper had his 18 month checkup last Monday with Dr. Wettach.  He did great, but hated the 4 shots he received.  :( 

Height:  35 inches (98th percentile)
Weight:  29.5 lbs  (88th percentile)

He's still taking 2 naps a day for about an hour and a half to two hours.  He's wearing 2T clothes and a size 7 shoe.  I bought a size 8 pair of Converse's the other day for this fall/winter and it makes me a little sad as my little 'baby' isn't really my 'baby' anymore.  He's growing so much and before I know it, he's going to be a big brother and there will be another baby in the house.  He'll do great and I'm so excited to see him interact with his brother or sister.  :) 

Happy 18 months, big guy!  We love you so much, buddy!

MN and 15 Week Appt

Last week, we spent the 4th of July holiday in MN.  We had a great time and spent lots of time either in the lake or in the air conditioning.  :)  The lake was up due to lots of rain and we had some storms pass through that knocked out the power for a while.  All in all, it was a nice vacation and we were disappointed when we had to come back to reality. 

Waiting for dinner to come and trying to entertain the little guy....he wasn't having it.  

Hanging out on Grandma and Grandpa's deck!

Playing in the sand on a hot day.

Jason skiing!

Molly, myself, Jason, Cooper, and Sydney cooling off.

Once again, trying to entertain the little guy while we washed some clothes.

Jason tubing!

Cousins.  :)

Maggie Sue!  Isn't she just the cutest thing you've ever seen?!

Cooper and Grandma being silly.  :)

Grandma and Grandpa plus the grandkids.

Cooper after trying to get him to eat bananas and Nutella...he hated it!  Crazy kid.  :)

And yesterday we had our 15 week appt.  All is good so far.  Heartbeat was in the 150's and we scheduled our 19 week ultrasound for August 7th!  Jason is going back and forth between wanting to find out and not.  I DEFINITELY want to find out, but won't if he really doesn't want to.  But, I'm DYING to find out who's in here!  :)

Life has been busy lately, as I'm sure it's been for everyone.  It's that time of the year when you make so many plans that you start forgetting the ones you've made!  Our summer is booked and while sometimes it can be a little overwhelming, it's super fun to have so many things to look forward to. 

Cooper is a hoot lately!  He's understanding so many things and does lots of new tricks.  He bats his eyes, fake cries, does his cutesy face, and his serious face.  He'll also act like he's going to tickle you and then runs away.  Too funny.  He has us laughing all the time now.  And his new favorite thing on long car rides is the DVD Veggie Tales.  It kept him occupied for almost 2 hours on the way home last Sunday.  Speaking of that, we went up to Minneapolis last weekend and visited Mike, Jenni, and their new son, Thomas James (TJ).  He is so adorable and so snugly.  And might I mention that he was a very, very good baby!  7 weeks old and sleeping through the night already....so jealous.  :)  We had a really nice time and are looking forward to their visit this fall. 

Work has been busy for both Jason and I.  He did some traveling the past 2 weeks and I get to do mine in the middle of July.  It's slowed a bit for rme, but it should be picking up again soon.  At least one of the trips will only be to Burlington, IA, so I might have to stop and get some lunch at Mazzio's that day.  :)

Our dishwasher has been out of commission for the past couple of weeks.  Kind of irritating since it's only 2 1/2 years old.  Hopefully it's nothing major and it's a simple fix.  Otherwise, we might be looking for a different dishwasher!  And when we came home on Sunday from Minneapolis, I noticed a brown spot on the ceiling of our kitchen.  Water did leak through, but Jason isn't exactly sure where it came from.  He hasn't had the chance to climb up on the roof, but I talked to him today and he thinks it might have leaked from a chimney of some sort.  I'm hoping with the downpour we had on Sunday morning that that's what it is from and not an entire roof replacement.  I'm crossing all fingers and toes on that one.

We have a big summer planned and lots to do before Baby Gregory #2 arrives!  Should be a crazy, but enjoyable summer!