getting closer...

we drove out to Mebane to see the progress of our home...we're pretty much pumped out of our minds. :)

here's the view from our family room looking at the window,

our fireplace,

our dining area,

our kitchen,

stairs leading up,

yep, that's ours!

Connor's room will be above the garage.

when the framing's all done, we'll meet with the builder and he'll give us our closing date at that time. we've been told sometime in mid-May, so we're hoping!

Allorahandmade Party Sunny Necklace GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Allorahandmade Party Sunny Necklace GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

15 Months

our little Kylene is so full of happiness and spunk!

at 15 mths she continues to be a petite little thing and weighs 19.73 lbs but is also pretty long at 30.5 inches. people always stop and watch her walk by and are amazed that such a little thing can be walking around so regally. :)

we discovered about 2 mths ago that Kylene loves double cheeseburgers from McDonald's. we order her one of her own now and she stands up in a chair at the table, and holds the burger herself and little by little, puts that hamburger down. we think she might follow in her Aunt Codi's footsteps and be a lover of red meat. :)

Kylene now claps her little hands together and starts "talking" whenever we say it's time for prayer. it's just about the cutest thing the 3 of us have ever seen.

she LOVES to play and be around other children and belly laughs at all the things Connor does to entertain her.

sometime she wakes up at 10 pm and we can't help but bring her out and snuggle with her on the couch while we watch TV. she gets so excited when we do this and likes to snuggle right in next to Byron and I and suck on her blankie.

Kylene has a few "words". she says "Daaa" for "Dad" "Dooo" is "Dog" "Baaa" is balloon, " Mama" is "Mommy" and "Ya" is "Yes". She's also started shaking her head emphatically back and forth to indicate "NO". :)

she loves to twirl and has started showing an opinion in what she wants to wear at times and seems to really enjoy wearing dresses.

we love our Kylenie Beanie.

let's catch up

so i've been MIA for about a month. what have i been doing? making owls, lots and lots of owls.

so can we still be friends? here are a few pics of Connor and Kylene lately.

Connor brought a book to Kylene and said, "Do you want to read this Kylene?" She followed him into her room and turned around and sat herself down in his lap. He "read" to her and Byron and I tried to watch without breaking the spell.

Connor is so so so sweet with Kylene and he gets the biggest THRILL from making her laugh.

I think Connor must be a lot like my Dad, his Grandpa. Both seem to crack up the women in their lives. :)

awesomeness

here are more pictures of Byron's amazing igloo.both Connor and Byron can fit inside and Connor can stand up in it.

we were over at our apartment office yesterday and the people there were asking if we were the ones with the igloo. i could tell Byron was trying to contain his pride and keep it cool. apparently, word has spread throughout the community and people have been walking over to check it out. yeah, that's right.

Byron said if it wasn't so cold and raining he would have slept in it, which I wouldn't put it past him. pretty darn awesome.

snow day

on Friday night snow began and when we woke up Saturday morning we were in the middle of a winter wonderland. Connor AND Byron were thrilled and both began preparing for the day' sactivities out in the snow. Kylene was so happy to be part of the fun and Byron carried her around as they walked and explored. After about 20 minutes she was done, and we watched the boys while we stayed warm and snug.
Connor came in and out to warm up, dry out his gloves, and drink some hot chocolate before heading back out. Byron stayed out for 5 hours straight working on...

THIS.

It's amazing. There are better pictures coming. Both Byron and Connor can climb inside and Connor can stand up in it. Kylene could see them from our bedroom window, so I put the chair up to the window, gave her a sippy cup and a bowl of gold fish and she stood there watching them work while I worked on dinner. Byron said he felt like he was on a TV show with Kylene viewing them like that. :)

our boy is 4!

on Thursday, January 21, Connor officially turned 4 years old. However, due to yucky, icky sickness, we didn't even tell him it was his big day and postponed celebrating his birthday to the following week when he was his happy self again. Probably the last year we can tweek the circumstances to fit what life brings I bet. His preschool class celebrated his birthday on the 26th and Connor requested that I make cinnamon rolls to bring as his special birthday treat. I made them the night before and when Connor got up the next morning he said, "Mom, I smelled the cinnamon rolls last night. It sure smelled delicous!" I had exactly 12 big, beautiful flully rolls smothered in cream cheese frosting and multi colored sprinkles, and Kylene cried the whole morning begging for one. Two children didn't come to class that day, so Kylene had her happy moment in her carseat after we picked up Connor. It was worth cleaning up all the stickiness to see such happiness and satisfaction on that little face.
A few days latter we had a small birthday party for Connor and 6 little boys came for the fun. They were all so jolly and it cracked me up to hear them playing and all the excitement and laughter coming from Connor's room while pizzas were baking.

I found it so sweet and amusing to welcome each boy as he arrived to our home and see him drop to his knees, unwrap the gift for Connor and show it to him. Connor was totally thrilled with each gift presentation and said, "Oh, thanks!" to each person.

Our family has a very very favorite chocolate cake recipe and chocolate frosting recipe that I made for Connor's cake.

Kylene pretty much had the time of her life too.

There was lots of laughter around this table!

By the time we were done with cake and ice cream, our house was a total and complete disaster which was fine and expected, but we needed space to do the pinata. I went to each boy and asked them if they'd help just throw the toys into Connor's room really fast so we could do the pinata. Those eyes lit up and we were cleared out and boys were waiting on the couch ready to go in no time.

I'd say...the birthday boy ended up having a GREAT birthday. :)