5 Years

Last month marked the anniversary of us living in this house for 5 years. It's a big milestone for us as a family, and also a big one for me personally -- this is the longest I've ever lived anywhere! I really, really love where we live. We live on a wonderful little double cul-de-sac where there is no traffic and we have the best neighbors on earth. There are a million little kids for our kids to play with (and I mean that almost literally) and we have great friends that we love. Who could ask for anything better?

Here is a picture of us when we first moved in:


And here is a picture of us now! What a difference 5 years make!


That little baby Sammy in the first picture is a genuine big kid now, and now we've added Josh and Eliza to the gang! Looking back at that first picture it seems like a lot longer than 5 years -- there we were, just getting our feet under us as we tried to be "real" grown-ups. We were so excited to have our own home. We never could have gotten this great start without the help of our parents, so thanks, Dad and Mom!

Some things about our house are still a work in progress -- the landscaping is a project that we are forever working on, because neither of us are very good at it (or very interested in it). We've finished the basement, which gave us a lot more space, and I'm working right now on organizing all the stuff we have stored down there. My favorite thing we've added -- which is part of the basement -- is my craft room/office. I LOVE having my own space to work on projects and do my own thing, so thanks, honey, for letting me totally take it over! :) We've also gone room by room painting and decorating and adding our own personality to the house, which is very fun and makes it feel like OUR home. We still definitely have a ways to go on that project -- our room, for example, is about as boring as it could possibly be. At least Dan took on the project of painting it last summer so it wouldn't be so completely white, but it definitely needs some design help.

Eliza tries solid food -- SO not impressed...

Oh, how can it be? My baby girl is old enough for solid foods! Well, as solid as rice cereal in a whole lot of formula gets... Eliza was very happy about sitting in the high chair. I think she liked being up with all the big people. Here she is, pre-food. Doesn't this look say, "Sure! I'm game for anything - bring on the pasty goo!"?



Once Daddy put said pasty goo in her mouth, however, she was not at all interested. In fact, the only word to describe her reaction is disgust, together with disbelief that we would subject her to such a thing. We got a couple of bites in before we gave up, but she promptly spit all that up. Oh, the fun.


Video coming as soon as it's done processing on YouTube!

Make sure you notice how cute her highchair is. Our highchair had lasted well through 4 kids (the Neves' twins and our boys), but the cushion was in really bad shaped when I hauled it in from the garage. So I decided to be brave and make a slipcover for it! I had a bunch of really cute fabric on hand that I ordered to make goodies to sell on etsy, and I was really happy that it turned out so well. It was kind of complicated! :)

And here's a little blast from the past...

My siblings gave me an awesome digital photo frame for my birthday, and I've had a ton of fun going through all our old pics and loading them on the frame. I found this old video of Sammy singing "You Are My Sunshine," just a few days shy of his 2nd birthday. What a little cutie pie!