The dungeon reno: Part 1

We are developing our dungeon......ahem, basement. Ugh. What a project. I think it is litterally sucking the life out me. And definitely bringing out my OCD tendencies when it comes to cleaning. I cannot keep the house clean enough. If blog posts seem to progressively have an air of mental insanity, please act - I need help.

So, I thought, why not walk you through the process. We are done framing, and almost done electrical and plumbing. Then it will be on to drywalling. Here's where we are at:

(ignore the incredibly horrible pictures - it is real dark down there right now!)

You walk down the stairs into an extra wide hallway - I hate narrow hallways, especially at the bottom of the stairs, but because our furnace is in the middle of our basement, we couldn't lay it out any other way, so if I HAD to have a hallway at the bottom of the stairs, it was going to be a wide one!! Then at the end of the hall is our bathroom containing a soaker tub (ahhhhhhh) and shower, toilet, and vanity.




Beside the bathroom is the laundry closet. Not enough room for a room, but I will spiff it up a bit with french doors.....I am in LOVE with french doors.




Then you walk into the main room where we are putting in a a fireplace flanked by bookcases.



Dman is running the electrical for the 100 million recessed lighting fixtures. I think the KEY to any room looking magazine worthy, and especially a room in the basement, is lighting. So, so,so important!!

What a job. But it will be worth it!!

One a day.

I did it!! I finally started a picture a day blog. Why finally? Well, cause I have been wanting to do this for years now. I figure having a child is my perfect excuse to start......easy blogging material. I can't wait to see all the pictures that we accumulate after a year. What a wonderful thing this will be to look back on in years to come!!

Check it out here.

We're fine!! And a video just cause.

So, apparently I should refrain from citing a moving church article and saying that we are making a big change if I don't want everyone and their dog to be concerned about us.

We're fine!!!! Good changes, good changes. Can't a girl be moved and make changes for the GOOD? Jeesh.......
Thanks for loving us enough to be concerned though!

And just cause, I say how much Hadley loves bath time all the time.....just thought I would show it! (Don't mind me.....why do mommys sound like such goofs ALL the time!?)

The ABC's

Every month we get a magazine in the mail that is filled with wonderful articles written by our church leaders.

This month's message from our prophet was written for me. I swear. Every single word hit straight to the heart and completely touched on exactly what is going on in my life right now.

President Monson talked about living an abundant life through his ABC's.

A - Have a positive attitude. "William James, a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher, wrote, “The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.”

B - Believe in yourself. "Don’t limit yourself and don’t let others convince you that you are limited in what you can do. Believe in yourself and then live so as to reach your possibilities. You can achieve what you believe you can. Trust and believe and have faith."

and

C - Courage. "Courage is required to make an initial thrust toward one’s coveted goal, but even greater courage is called for when one stumbles and must make a second effort to achieve."

I am making a MAJOR change in my life right now (no, we are not pregnant with another baby), and seriously, this article could not have come at a better time. Because I am scared. Because the world would tell me I am crazy. But my heart and my Heavenly Father tell me its right.

I will fill you in later on this big change, but right now is not the time. I just wanted to share this message that so helped me out. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

11 months.

I can't believe this is my last age post before she is 1 year. Its sad.
Well, here she is in all her 11 month glory:

We have had a lot of developments this month, namely that white thing in her mouth - yup, my 11 month old FINALLY got her 1st tooth (at about 10.5 months)!
Other recent developments include:

-Waving bye bye

-Full on walking everywhere - no more crawling for this gal

-Playing SUPER shy - which means, on the plus side, she is a lot more cuddly

-Playing peek-a-boo

-Drinking out of a sippy very well now - we figured out that she loves the straw sippy cup versus the traditional kind. Down to just a morning and night time bottle.

-Is in a kind of grumpy stage - don't know if it is the teeth or what, but she is not quite my happy sunshine that she usually is (varies day by day)

-Still sleeping like a rock 8pm - 7:30/8am with a 2-3 hour nap in the day

And just for fun, here is a walking video (don't mind me CRASHING into toys as I walk backwards!!)

Christmas pics.....but not the one with Santa.

Head on over here to see the Had's Christmas photo shoot.

Another year over.

2012.
Wow. I say this too much but time flies! I am not the only one, right?

We had a fantastic Christmas.

Leading up to Christmas we got in the spirit by doing lots of Christmassy things like:
-pictures with Santa (did not go so well)
-Christmas shopping
-saw the lights at the legislature grounds and candy cane lane







-Went ice skating




Christmas day was a hit. Hadley got the hang of opening presents and definitely enjoyed all of the goodies she got.




And the turkey dinners, mmmmmmmm, my favorite. I couldn't get enough!

Then we brought in the new year at a wedding of some dear friends. It was wonderful for more than one reason.........1) the wedding was at the Fairmont in Jasper so it was BEAUTIFUL and the food was amazing, and 2) it was our first night away from Hadley!! And all 3 of us did very well! It was so great to have some adult time, just Dman and I. But one night was plenty. We were ready to come home to our girl by the end.




More than anything what I have really taken away from this 2011 Christmas, is a deep, deep feeling of gratitude. I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the blessings too great to number in my life. I pondered the Savior's sacrifice a little different this year. Perhaps because I now have a baby, I thought of the Savior fresh and new, swaddled in Mary's arms headed toward the biggest sacrifice mankind has ever known. What a path he must have trod. How grateful I am for that little baby. Because He made all of the blessings that I am so grateful for, possible. No way, no how, would my life be what it is today without my Savior. I am sealed to my husband for time and all eternity, we have brought a beautiful baby girl into our eternal family, there is love within our walls, I know where I came from and where I am headed, I have the atonement to utilize for virtually every aspect of my life, I can financially stay at home with our daughter because I am blessed through paying my tithing. I, am blessed. Beyond measure.

(if you want to know more about what I talked about go here)

Merry Christmas and a happy new year everyone!!