Birthday party madness!

Shae went to her friend Emma Almand's second birthday party on Saturday and she partied her tushie nearly off!

Playing with her new friend Raelyn as Aunt Bic looks on:
"See, Raelyn? The green guy is attached here to the string, which attaches to your carseat. Brilliant, no?"

Watchin' fishies:Graciously helping Emma open her gifts:

Graciously helping Emma by eating the wrapping paper:

What do ladies do on Sunday mornings? They brunch!

Dude. Fascinating.

New toy for Shae! Realizing that we really shouldn't tempt fate -- an immoble adorable baby is utterly fantastic! -- it's being tempted anyway... Perhaps this little walking helper will actually, you know, help!

Play Time and Bath Time

Okay, apparently I fibbed: we managed to snap two photos on the camera while camping before the battery died.

Every lady needs a quality pair of shades!
Pretty spot!

Playing in Shae's room -- it's finally big enough to be able to do that!

Flirting with mama/the camera:

Bad diaper rash means nekkid play time (you know, to let "things," um, air out):

Hehehe:

Bath time is one of our most favorite times of the day (next to waking up, chow time, going to school, chow time, playing at school, chow time, getting picked up from school, chow time, playing in the jumperoo, chow time and any time one of the dogs comes within three feet of Shae):

I don't even think this looks like her... Who put this Michelin baby in my bathtub?

Mmmmm... watery boogers...

Camping Kid

Let me preface this post by saying that when we got to Carter Lake on Friday afternoon, I discovered that the battery in the camera was dead. Doh!

"No big deal," thought I, "as my fancy-pants phone has a camera, so we'll just use that instead."

Come to learn, however, that the smart phone (apt name!) is smarter than its user and I ran out of memory four photos into the weekend. It wasn't until just now that I figured out how to work around that. Smart phone, yes; smart mama, no.

So, in summary, Shae's debut camping and boating experience is boiled down to four quality-questionable photos.

[[hangs head in shame]]

I vow to do better in the future. :)

Chillaxin' with Auntie Amy -- and trying oh-so diligently to get that stinkin' hat off of her head:
Singing campfire songs and playing with all the super-awesome toys only found by camping (namely Wet Wipes and dirt):

Our little ray of sunshine:

All geared out to go a'boating:

Cottage Cheese

"What tha what is that?!"
"Um, next..."

Happier times:

Still just the two teefs, but we like 'em that way!

Shae resembles a bit of Winston Churchill here, no?

Happy girl.

Virtual Home Tour

For those already planning a visit, those who don't know yet that they're planning a visit, and those who may never visit (and to those people: we need to talk!), here's a walk-through of our new digs. Please note we are quite obviously lacking on floor coverings and wall hangings, the railing needs to be anchored, some painting needs to be done, etc. ... but gimme a break -- we've only been here for 10 days! :o)

So here we go. Rolling up to 9671 Lafayette Street:
Walking in the front door. This room will eventually have a sofa and an area rug, at the very least, but in the meantime it's kinda Shae's gear's storage room:

Dining area. As soon as we come into a little cash (hahahahaha), this table will be replaced. We also have an area rug that just needs to be cleaned and then it will be hanging out under the table. (Getting filthy, of course.)

Kitchen. Not much to do or say about the kitchen... I love it!

From the kitchen to the family room. An area rug for that room is near the top of the list of "need to buy" items. And something on the walls -- it's rather sterile! And very echoey.

From left to right: stairs (duh), basement, coat closet, laundry room, half-bath.

Going upstairs...

Still going upstairs...

Master bedroom. Jody hates (or at least hated) the wall color in here, so painting may or may not be forthcoming.

Master bathroom. The previous owner started a project of laying slate on the floor and around the tub; he got about 85% finished before he ditched the house. It is undetermined at this time wether the current slate will stay or go -- but one way or another it is incomplete, so something will happen sooner than later.

Upstairs hallway. (This is a very thorough tour, people!)

Shae's room. When we moved in, the window wall and the wall opposite it (where I'm standing) were painted black; the opposite walls were painted red. Her room was our first priority to fully move into and make as "homey" as possible. It's 95% there.

Guest bedroom. HINT HINT.

Upstairs/Shae's/guest bathroom.

Back deck. We'll need to get a new patio set to properly suit the area, and Jody's forthcoming hot tub will be found just off-camera to the left, but I already love this spot!

Additional back yard.

Okay, so it's not an entirely thorough tour in that you haven't seen the basement (use your imagination -- it's a basement, although it is a finished basement...), the laundry room (also not that hard to picture -- I love my fancy new washer and dryer, though! I should have shot photos of those!) or the garage (which Jody may deem as divorce-worthy). But you get the idea.

Now, let's schedule the flood of guests! Come on over!

It's been a while...

Makin' faces:
Shae and her best pals: Auntie Joe and Carson.

Food art -- Shae's masterPEAS (get it? GET IT??)

Playin' in her own little nook of our living room. The walls need stuff and the floors need rugs (it's a little echoy in there!), but this is a glimpse of Shae's new pad:

Zoey's favorite spot in the house -- comfy carpet, but close enough to downstairs so that if she needs to spring into action for any reason she's very closeby.