Home Improvements

Anson and I have a 3 year house plan, which means we are staying here for about another 3 years so we can pay off some bills and hopefully save for our next house. Since that's the case, Anson wanted to make some small improvements to our home. So, for Christmas we got a lot of money and Home Depot gift cards. Here are the things we (mostly he) did.

Getting ready for Baby Boy. This will be the nursery for Baby Boy and I for the first 3 months. We bought this new twin bed for me to sleep in downstairs with him. Eventually it will be Lily's bed. We painted the room, hung curtains and cleaned out a lot of the junk that was in this room. When Baby boy gets here, we'll move Sampson's cage out so we can bring down the rocking chair from upstairs.

New lights! Anson bought and hung up new lights throughout our house.

New shelves to display my Willow Tree figurines. Someday I'll get a Curio cabinet, but for now, this will do!

Happy New Year!

2008 was a great year and Anson and I have so much to be thankful for. We have a great, loving relationship; a beautiful, sweet little girl; a precious baby boy on the way; a warm house that has become our home; parents and brothers who help us often, love us and whom we love very much; reliable work that provides for our family and many many friends who are as close to us as our family. God has truly blessed our lives!

2009 promises to be another great year with the birth of our baby boy. We are so excited and can't wait for him to arrive.

Last night we went to Brent & Megan's for a New Year's party. It was a great time. There were about 16 people there plus several little kids for Lily to play with.

Anson reading to Lily and the other 2 little girls that were at the party...

Anson and Uncle David

Lily and her friend playing with plastic cups...simple pleasures!

Lily stayed up the whole night and didn't fall asleep until the car ride home. So, since she was so tired we broke the binky rule and allowed her to have it early.

Lily trying to blow the horn but couldn't blow hard enough to make the noise.

We hope all of you have a wonderful New Year!

Second Christmas of 2008

Santa Claus came to Nana & Papa's on Christmas Eve...

Lily was very neat about opening her presents. She tore off a piece at a time and handed it to one of us to be thrown away.

Lily got a pink and purple tricycle.

Nana lets Lily watch Barney! Apparently she loves him.

Nana showing Lily her new bowling set. It makes mooing sounds and she was a little scared of it.

Uncle Jamie bought Lily her own pink soccer ball. He's going to teach her how to play this spring.

Lily loves Little People. She got the barn with all the animals.

Nana got Lily her own cleaning set so she can pretend to clean the house when Nana is cleaning.

Lily helping Papa open his gifts.

Uncle Jamie opening one of his gifts...a flashlight.

Lily got a shopping cart and a drum set. I said the drum can stay at Nana and Papa's! Haha.
Nana's new shirt from us.

Christmas Morning! Santa had come and the Elf was gone. Surprisingly she hasn't looked for him as much as I had thought she would.

Lily couldn't wait to tear into her presents.

Santa even bought Sampson some bones.

Opening her Barbie 4-wheeler

Little People House. After she opened it, she lost interest in opening her other gifts.

Weeee! The battery had to charge for 18 hours so she hasn't actually gotten to try it out yet.

The best present of all...our Lily Anna!

Accessories for my Blackberry!

Devilish look

Babe got a flashlight too.

Sitting down to eat the delicious meal that Anson made us - Ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and rolls.

Lily's other present...too big to put under the tree. She loves this thing. She cried when it was time to go back inside. I think she'll really enjoy it this spring.

Hope all of you had a great Christmas! This morning we put away all the Christmas decorations. We have the next few days off and decided to take on some home improvement projects. Anson is currently painting the spare bedroom. Our thought was to paint the whole downstairs but that's a lot of work and I'm not sure we'll get it all done. We'll see how it goes...getting ready for our next exiting event...Baby Boy's birth!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

We wish all of our friends and family a blessed holiday! Hope Santa is good to you!

Lily spotted the Elf in the tree this morning. He's waiting for Santa to come and take him home tonight. (I really think Lily is going to miss the Elf. The first thing she does each morning is look for him!)