Before and After

It has taken quite some time, but here is a before and after shot of our front room. We still have some more to do but it has come a long way!

Too Funny...

Many thanks to my brother and sister for giving Madi such a cool present from Alaska. Even Zach likes it...

Home Renovations part 1

We were lucky enough to purchase a "lovely" home this last month. I use the term "lovely" very loosely. It needs quite a bit of work. Here are a few shots of the way the family room, kitchen and front room looked before we started.

Front Room


Kitchen



Family Room



And here we are mid-project!



Many thanks to my mom and dad for their help! I will post more pictures as we get closer to finished!

What a change!

Shortly after Madi learned to walk, she became very afraid of the vacuum. She will probably not like me sharing that, but it was really bad. I couldn't vacuum at all if she was awake and in the same room. Well, that has changed - thankfully. I mentioned to her that we needed to vacuum the family room the other morning and asked her to pick up her toys. While she was prepping the floor, I ran upstairs to get something. Shortly after going upstairs, I heard the vacuum running. I came downstairs to a wonderful little helper who is no longer afraid of the vacuum. May you all conquer you own embarrassing fears.

Princess Tea Party

What better way to spend your lunch than dressed in princess dresses with your friends?

Discovery Museum

An awesome friend of mine decided to take the initiative and get a bunch of moms together to go to the Lied Discovery Museum here. If you get a certain number, you get a discount - so glad it all worked out. We had lots of fun:

Catching up with old friends



Just hanging out


Playing with bubbles



Loving the water table



Even Zach got in on the fun!



I think we might have to take dad here on one of his days off - I think he would have fun with us too.

Curls...

I realize I have not been so good at posting and updating things here. Now that we have a little more regular schedule, I will be working on that. A few weeks ago we tried putting rag curls in Madi's hair. We had made a previous attempt about a year ago, but it didn't work. So here is attempt two:





It turned out super cute even with Madi trying to comb it out. I think she was just shocked at how curly it was once the rags were removed. We had several tears about it not being what she wanted which resulted in a quick bath after church to straighten it.

Four Years Old!

I can hardly believe how time has flown by! Madi turned four years old this year! She got to celebrate several times this year - even at Disneyland. Two cakes and a lot of fun times with grandparents and cousins.




We are so grateful for her happy spirit! I admire her determination (*most days...other days it can be wearing...) and the joy she finds in so many little things. I love that she will watch old musicals with me - her favorites right now are "The King and I" and "Singing In The Rain". It cracks me up that she tells me she wants to be a parent when she grows up. Her favorite colors are red, purple then pink (in that order - just ask her she will be happy to tell you). She loves to read - and does quite well at it. Here's looking to birthday number 5 kiddo!

Catch Up!

I realized it has been a long time since I posted anything here. It's amazing how time flies by. We have been keeping rather busy lately. Here are a few of the highlights:

California Trip

I catered a wedding in July for a friend of my family in California. We took the opportunity to have some fun after the hard work. Madi loved the beach. Zach - not so much. His like of the beach wore off after a little bit.





We went to the Scripps Aquarium at UC San Diego, played with sparklers, went to the new library near Grandma's house, celebrated Madi's birthday - twice, feed ducks and went to Disneyland. Here are a few of our favorite Disneyland pictures. We discovered on this trip that Madi absolutely LOVES roller coasters. As we were riding Big Thunder Mountain, I thought she was screaming because she was scared - much to my relief she was screaming and laughing at how much fun it was.




My sister in law was the designated photographer, so we didn't get as many pictures as we thought. We had a blast. Madi and Zach got to spend time with their grandma and cousins. It was a lot of fun - although when we do this again, we will not go in the summer. I forgot how busy it gets - two strollers plus a party of 10 proved to be a little much!

The Big 4-0

Brad rarely tells me he would like to do something; when he does I take note. Around Thanksgiving (Nov 2010), while watching tv he saw someone flying a fighter jet. He then said something about how he would like to do that. Mental note taken. The search began. I found several options - all of which were beyond the budget I had set for myself. After expanding my options to experiences other than just a fighter jet I found a company that allows people to mock dogfight out of San Diego (Barnstorming Adventures). The planning began. It took me just about six months, but I was able to coordinate with his brother so they could pretend to fight one another. I should mention that Brad is not really a big fan of surprises, but he was pleasantly surprised! Here are a few shots of the big day!

Prior to getting into the plane, the two pilots the "referee" the dogfight and fly the plane give brief instructions about basic aeronautics and fighting techniques.



Brad's pilot was kind enough to take a pretty good picture of him inside the plane while they were flying.



And a shot of the fighting...



His mom, aunt, sister, brother and his family were all able to come to San Diego and celebrate with us all without his knowledge until just shortly before the trip. It was a nice little get away for all of us - here's to a wonderful husband and father and wining dogfighter.

Nevada Southern Railways - attempt #2

So a while back we tried to visit the Nevada Southern Railways. They were closed. We finally made it back and had a fun train ride. Madi was so excited!



Zach was happy for a little bit in his car seat.

Zachary

We've been rather busy at our house lately, so I haven't had time to update things here. I thought I would post a few of my favorite pictures of Zachary.



The tail end of a rather cheesy smile



I'm in for trouble!

Smiles...?

Can't believe he's already smiling! I can't believe I can't seem to catch it on camera! Here's the closest I've gotten. (ps - Thanks to Auntie Yoko for smart gift giving with Madi, love the onesie on Zach)



Madi is such a great big sister. She always wants to hold Zach and have her picture taken.

Zachary

I love baby smiles - I have yet to capture one of Zach's on camera. He has found his fingers and likes to be on his tummy.

Projects...

So I have had this on my project list for awhile but have had lots of other things to take care of. My mom and dad were in town and graciously helped me finish one of my chairs.

Before:


After:


I'm super excited about how this turned out! I don't think any of us will be looking for jobs in the upholstery business anytime soon though.

Introducing Zachary Arthur Nelson

My water broke around 3:30 am on Wednesday March 2nd. We called our midwife and waited at home. Since Zachary was breech, we had to meet certain criteria in order to have a home birth. We worked through early labor and found we were progressing nicely. Through out the rest of the morning we continued to progress. We were fully dilated and started pushing. After two hours of pushing, Zach just wasn't descending like he should have been. We decided that the best thing to do would be to go to the hospital. Boy was that a painful ride! After arriving at the hospital we delivered Zach at 9:11 pm. He was a rather large 9 lbs 13 ozs. Madilyn has been a very good big sister - so helpful! She is very happy to be a big sister and likes to introduce Zach to everyone she can. I must admit that I'm glad he is a little bigger because it makes me feel like he can handle his sister trying to pick him up!

Before and After

I found a dresser that meets the requirements I have been looking for to put in Madi's room. I wanted it lower so Madi would be able to put her own clothes away. (*I know, I'm a mean mom for making my kid do chores like put away the clothes she wears that I have washed and folded... :) ) It was in decent shape but needed a few touch ups. Madi helped me to sand it and wipe it clean.





And then I let her help me paint it. She was so excited! Madi even helped to pick out the knobs she wanted. I think it turned out pretty darn good - as long as you don't look too closely!

An Eventful Weekend

I wish this was to announce the birth of Baby #2, but sadly, he is showing his stubborn side. (*Wonder where he gets that from...couldn't possibly be either of his parents - must be his sister.) We had our first traumatic accident this weekend. Madi was playing on some stairs and managed to put her top teeth almost through her bottom lip. The doctor's office proved to be traumatic.




Three hours, four stitches and some ice cream later she seemed to calm down.



Of course the kitty bandaid (which I did not get a picture of) once we got home seemed to put her in higher spirits.

A project - but practical....

So, the nesting hasn't stopped. I have accomplished the majority of things on my "to-do" list - with the exception of having this child and re-upholstering chairs. Both remaining items are out of my hands at the moment - which is kind of nice. I can focus on things like cleaning the house - ha. Yeah, if you saw my kitchen, you'd know that isn't happening! Anyway, as a distraction, I have found a new project. Madi does need some bookshelves or something in her room...so as I was looking around, I got inspired. Check out the second picture.

click here

Projects...

I never understood the nesting instinct until recently. I have been coming up with project after project to work on to keep my mind off of things. I recently found some chairs on craigslist for very cheap. They are hideous (as you can probably see in the background on the right below), but they are in good shape - nothing a little fabric, a staple gun and some time can't make beautiful. I made the attempt to recover one of the ottomans yesterday (with no pattern and I still have to finish the bottom part). Apparently, I didn't include Madi enough in my project yesterday because I found her working on her own project this afternoon.

Bonnie Springs Ranch

We headed out to Bonnie Springs Ranch today. There is an old town set up, petting zoo and restaurant out there. It is just west of Las Vegas near Red Rock Canyon. Some highlights:

The train ride was Madi's favorite part hands down!



Although watching the ducks and turtles were a close second.



I'm not sure that this is the best sign...



to have outside this particular cage...