Okay, so these really didn't upload in the order I wanted them to, but it's 7 a.m. and I'm too tired to fiddle, so we'll see them as they come. :)

First, the girls' room. In this photo it's as done as it will be for a while. I'm going to get some ikea modular storage to make their toys look less cluttery, and we're getting Maddy bunk beds for her birthday in January (she's been wanting them for about three years. We told her we could talk about it when she was six. LOL) so there will be a great deal more floor space in here soon. I'll do an updated photo when there is one to give.
The ledge over the kitchen/dining entry. I've decided to collect Nativities (I have two so far) and they'll be displayed up here year round. On the left is the one my mother bought me- I think when she was pregnant with me. She'll correct me if I'm wrong though. On the right is the one that Jake's grandmother gave me for Christmas our first year together.
The girls'/guest bathroom. The only change in here since the photo is that the bath toys have been taken out of the trash can.
The kitchen and pass through into the living room. The ledge has Christmas decor on it right now, but will be completely empty the rest of the year.
The other half of the kitchen. Up on top of the cabinets is: (L to R) my cake stand, vases, serving tray, tea set given to me by Jake's gram which was brought back from Japan post-WWII, espresso/crystal stemware from my mom.

All the appliances are stainless steel. Fridge (with ice maker in the freezer) microwave, gas stove, and dishwasher. Granite counter tops in the kitchen and bathrooms. Washer and dryer in a tiny laundry room off the dining room.
The view! This photo was taken with NO zoom standing on my balcony off the living room.
I'll have more photos to share shortly. I need to organize the craft/spare/storage room today, and then EVERYTHING will be unpacked and put away.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

Today, Laura turned four. She's getting so big, and learning so much! She answers most of the questions Maddy gets asked during lesson times. Here's a photo taken this morning, of the birthday girl in all her glory.

Maddy's first day of school...

Today was her first day of school, and she's off. She'll actually be home in just over an hour. She woke up at 6:30, all excited and ready to go. Took her shower, got dressed, and ate some donuts that Grandma and Pa brought. Then, Memere and Dziadziu got here, and we went out to wait for the bus. The following video is her getting on to the bus. I cried. Just a little.

6.9.09

Laura fell off the couch at my mom's house, and got this. I think it may become a black eye in a day or two. We'll see...

They've both been so funny today, that it's hard to pick just one thing. Maddyson at one point looked at her uncle Kyle and said "Hahaha, you're so funny!" and slapped her knee. That made us all laugh really hard.

Kyle is here overnight, and will be going with us to see Gg in the morning. Be back tomorrow!

6.8.09

Um... There's really no denying who Laura's father is...

Today Laura looked at me and said "Where's that pink car that I saw last Saturday?" Uh... What? She cracks me up. They both do. Today, Maddy has been super helpful, cleaning their room and making their beds. It made up for her spraying febreeze on the bookcase and ripping up a catalog on the floor of my bedroom. Why she felt the need to bring the catalog in there to rip it up, we may never know.

Currently, Jake is working a double. He'll bring the girls to my mother's house when he gets home, and then go straight to bed so that he can go back to work tonight. The girls will be home first thing tomorrow morning, and then in the afternoon, Uncle Kyle will come over to spend time with us all.

5.21.09

Today we stayed in. The girls were given an "ultimatum" yesterday. If they didn't behave, we didn't leave the house today. Well, they didn't, so we didn't. I wanted to go do laundry today, but couldn't very well go back on my word. Should have thought that one through a little better.

I didn't take a photo today, because it completely slipped my mind, to be honest. The girls were very well behaved though. Laura spent a lot of time practicing her name, and Maddy was "cooking" with their play kitchen off and on all day.

My migraine is gone, but it left me very tired today so I didn't accomplish much.

Tomorrow, we'll be going to Gramma's in the morning to do laundry and visit Uncle Kyle because he got home from college tonight. Later in the day, we'll be going to visit Memere and Dziadziu. The girls will be spending the night with them, so there won't be a blog post for Saturday.

My Apologies

For not posting yesterday. I had a migraine and nearly nothing got accomplished. Today we're all in better spirits, so there should be a decent post tonight/tomorrow morning about today. :)