New washer and dryer?

So our FREE Roper dryer....yes I said free and Roper, is about to die. Betcha didn't know there was such a brand. When we moved into our 1st home we had a friend who had a friend who had also just bought a new home. Well that new home had a brand new Roper washer and dryer with it and they had also just bought a name brand washer and dryer. So long story short we got the Roper washer and dryer for FREE! We were totally grateful and super excited to have our OWN washer and dryer and not have to pay for laundry. Fast forward 7 years and the Roper washer has long since died. It sprung a leak not long after we got it. So our sturdy Roper dryer is on it's last leg.  It generally takes me two dry cycles to fully dry a load, sometimes 3 if it's towels and a full load. So we are in the market for a new dryer. My questions is this...do I just get a new dryer and forgo the long awaited "matching set". Does it really matter??? I think not. Or.....do I get a new washer and dryer knowing that our current washer is at least 6 years old? And, for that matter do I get a top loader or spring for the new front loaders? My laundry room is just off the kitchen (which I love), but it is quite small (which I don't love). But hey-I'm grateful for a laundry room. So what is your opinion? 

Isn't she sweet?

Isn't she a sweetie? I can't even express how much I love this little girl. She is the BEST baby! She smiles and coos all day long. You just have to look at her and she breaks into a wide grin and gives you the sweetest little coo. I melt when I get her up in the morning or when she wakes up from a nap. I'm just so happy to see her again. She takes great naps during the day and sleeps 11-12 hours at night. What about her hair? It is SO crazy!!! It's a little curly, but not enough to stay curly all day. When she gets up from a nap...oh my...crazy hair!! Her hair has grown just enough that it's hard to tame, but still too short to look cute in pigtails. I just had to post these and say I love you so much Sadie! I have been dreaming about you for a long time. 

Love, 

Mommy

Pearler Beads

Do you bead at your house? We do! Our boys love Pearler Beads. We have been beading for a couple of years now, but in the past it has usually just been Peyton. This week Connor has been asking to bead and he loves it. Beading will keep him busy for at least an hour. It's just great exercise for fine motor skills since the beads are quite small. You can get these at Walmart in the craft section or any of the larger craft stores. Just a note, since the beads are small it's best to keep away from toddlers and babies. Here's some recent pictures of Connor making his latest creation.

Sneak peek #3.......

The shelf is in! It looks awesome! I can't say thanks enough to my father-in-law for his expert carpentry skills. He never complained about my "vision" in Sadie and Peyton's room. Thank-you! Thank-you! I love that our home has so many of your touches! It makes it a special place for us to raise our family. Here is a look at the finished stripes. Shane and my brother-in-law, Jeff taped the wall for me. Thanks boys!!! I seriously am math challenged and couldn't have figured out how many stripes I needed and how wide they needed to be to all be even. They did a great job. I also included a look at some "gritty" (here's to you Sandee) things in her crib that will be going on the shelf. Shane is caulking as I type, and then I will be able to do the touch-up paint tomorrow and hopefully decorate on Monday!!!! I will post pictures when I am done.

Sneak Peek #2.....

This is a picture of Sadie's room with the 1st coat on the stripes..... it's turning out so cute!! Shane and his Dad got the shelf made this past weekend and it is in our basement being painted to be ready for installation on Thursday. I can't wait to see how her room comes together! The picture was taken on my computer by photo booth, so the paint is not looking true to it's natural color. The pink is really light pink and the green is a really soft green. 

Sneak Peek..

Here's a couple of sneak peeks into what we've been working on. We are painting Sadie's room today and I LoVe the pink color we choose. It's called ballerina gown. Ahh, so sweet. We are going to my awesome in-law's tomorrow so Shane and Merwin can work on building the built in shelf that is going to be installed in Sadie's room. So fun! I can't wait to see the finished product.

Here's also a pictures of Peyton's room. I am still on the hunt for a vintage headboard (READ-DI here I come!) for his room that I can paint red or brown and distress it. I also want some rusty tin stars for above his bed, but Tai Pan has been out. Don't you love Peyton's cute donkey sitting on his bed? He got it from his trip with his grandparents to the Grand Canyon and loves it! He said it was cowboy, so it needed to be on his bed. I wouldn't mind a few more pillows for his bed, but I need to find the right thing. 

for Jenni...

Here is a current pic of Sadie for Jenni......

Sadie can sit in Aleah's bumbo for a couple of mins. She loves to sit up and has a really strong neck. At her 2 month appt she was 11 lbs 2 oz. and 23 inches long. She is such a good baby. She sleeps 5-7 hrs at night before she gets up for a 6 oz. bottle. She then sleeps again until 9 or 10 and then is only up for about 1 hr before she goes to sleep again for a couple of hrs. It's hard being so cute...she needs her beauty sleep. The boys are smitten with her and are always come up to her to say  "well hi my pretty girl" or " Sadie, you're so cute" of course this is all said in really high voices.

In other news, Peyton went back on track last week after 5...count em', 5 LONG weeks of being on Christmas break and then off track. Needless to say Peyton and Mom were both ready for school to start. Peyton is in Jr. Jazz and Shane is his coach. He is really enjoying playing again this year and I can't believe the improvement in skill level his team has made this year compared to last year. This past Saturday Peyton made a 4 ft lay-up. Way to go Peyt!!! In other Peyton news, he just moved downstairs to his new bedroom. (Pictures to follow soon) Thanks so much to my awesome husband and father in law for all their hard work. I also don't want to forget Gay for watching the kids and being my shopping buddy. Also, thanks to my Dad for watching the kids while I finished painting the trim. We still need to paint the doors in Peyton's room, put in the window sill and put up the blinds and valance in his room. He choose a cowboy theme, which has been really fun to shop for. I found a few pictures at Hobby Lobby that give his room a bit more of a grown-up cowboy look. He LOVES his room and the best thing he loves about it is the $5.88 alarm clock I got him at Walmart because it plays country music. Peyton is a really funny kids and just loves having his own space again. We love you bud!

Next on the redecorating...Sadie room needs new paint and her crib set up, and Connor is getting a sports room that also needs to be painted. Honestly I am painted out, but I must go on. We have a couple of other projects going...painting the rest of the basement, getting rock installed on the fireplace downstairs and installing tile or travertine in the hall, bathroom, and kitchen downstairs. In the meantime we've decided to finally get rid of the 1990's oak entertainment center and bring our armoire from our bedroom out to the family room and get a new TV stand/cabinet for our bedroom. Our room is about 2 ft too small to comfortably fit our armoire and it really bugs Shane. It was his idea to break up our bedroom set, which I am fine with, but I was hesitant to suggest. Anyhow...this turned out to be a really long rambling post, but this is what is going through my mind. I am in the mood for some changes. Look for pictures soon, but not too soon. Let be real. Oh-I have to go do my 12 loads of laundry. You think I am kidding, I am not. Oh and one more thing, I am still working on thank-you cards for Sadie. I finally got my ward done and now I need to deliver them. Oh and one more tidbit for anyone who cares...I have lost 10 lbs. Yeah!!!!