Some Goodness From The Third Floor.

We finished our third floor painting project. At weekend's end, we were all exhausteed: sitting like zombies on the couch, knowing that it is anti-social to just stare blankly into space, but having energy for little else.

We shook it off and got some sleep.

Russ and Rae hit the road with a car full of stuff: stuff to return to a friend's dad, stuff that we intended to sell in a garage sale (but who has time for a garage sale?!?!) and stuff for their church rummage sale. (Hey. Right now I am more than happy to get stuff out of our house. We are trying to keep the items we move to 1 - stuff that belongs to us, 2 - stuff we use or 3 - stuff we LOVE. So much easier to say than do, but I am trying.)

Olive went to daycare to visit friends, enjoy yummy food, take a good nap and allow her mommy some time to work!

Kyle hopped a flight to Houston for the day. (More on that jaunt later.)

My chores for today included heading up to the third floor, rearranging the remaining furniture and snapping a few photos to show of the fabulous results of our toil.

For comparison's sake, I dug up two photos of the third floor taken shortly after we purchased this house.

Before:


After:


Before:


After:


(OK, the after shots were taken on my phone, so their quality is lacking, but there is a difference, no?)

Thank you, Russ and Rae, very much for all of your help and hard work! We would still be drowning in dust and paint fumes without you.

- H

So.

... a few more details about our skydive ...

Last Friday (June 18) was my last day at work here in St. Louis. I learned a lot from the firm. I worked on some really interesting projects. I made some great friends. (Ultimately, we decided that we wanted to be closer to family now that Olive is a part of our lives.) They sent me off in style:

First, the awesome pretzel:



Second, the fabulous cake: (Cake Wrecks anyone? A guilty pleasure. For. Sure.)



Thank you so much, guys!! I will miss you. (And I will definitely keep in touch.)

Since Friday, I have focused on preparations for our move to Houston.

While some pieces have fallen into place, we have many (many!) loose ends that need to be tied up.

Our next steps, you ask?

I decided against firm life to develop my own practice and work with my stepfather.

Kyle will continue working for Cannon Design on the Oakridge project - just in the Houston office rather than here in St. Louis.

We are excited about our new opportunities and the possibilities that this move will bring. (And a little scared, but that's healthy, no?)

We will keep you updated as we finalize our next steps.

- H

P.S. - I do know that July is the BEST time to move in Houston. Seriously. The absolute BEST.

Our New Project.

The Third Floor.

Those of you who have been to our home may know that the grey/silver paint that once covered the entire interior of our home (save the cloud covered ceilings and various other murals. yes. murals.) still lingers on the third floor of our home.

However.

Today we began its extermination. Russ and Rae even came to town to help. (Their visit has nothing at all to do with visiting Miss Olive. Not a thing.)

What will replace this dull dark sad dirty-looking (and dirty - sometimes) paint? The lovely butter yellow with bright white trim that now marks our home's interior. But. Of. Course.

I snapped just a few photos of the beginning of our project:






There will be more when its all said and done. Naturally.

H

Jumping ...

Very recently, we jumped off of a cliff (um, metaphorically, do you KNOW me?!?).

Our little family has gone through anticipation, excitement, disappointment, concern, consideration, more anticipation, nerves, more excitement, fear, comfort, peace ... all before the jump.

It brought with it all things that I imagine a sky dive would bring: fear, exhilaration, adrenaline ... that frantic clutch for your parachute cord.

But in the end, we are floating toward earth, carrying a healthy amount of fear, enjoying the peace of the float, and tremendously excited about the possibilities this will bring.

Whew!

Swinging.

We went to a park yesterday with Matt, Will, and Russ.  It was our first opportunity to let Olive swing.  We think she really enjoyed it: she wasn't scared and giggled up a storm!

Riding with my Babies.

We spent the weekend in Kansas City with family. It was great to see
everyone.

We caught up with friends, went swimming with Miss Olive and
celebrated Matt's birthday. Now we are making the drive back to STL,
and I'm in the backseat keeping the little miss company while Kyle
drives us home.

My Favorite Things.

When we pick Olive up from day care, we peek through her classroom window until she notices. Her face lights up, and she wiggles all over ... my heart swells and all is well with the world.

More Swimming!

We recently purchased a little inflatable pool from Target and stuck
Olive in it. She very much enjoyed even this tiny pool. We are
really excited to take her swimming again very soon.

Oh, McDonald's ...

So, we drove to Chicago this weekend to visit some friends and introduce our babies. On our way, we stopped at a McDonald's with a PlayPlace so that Olive could get out of her seat and watch some other children scream and play. She is crawling more and more these days, but we encouraged her to 'walk' instead of crawl. (Yikes, I may get over it, but those floors! And she puts her hands in her mouth ... and ... yuck.)

Here she is:



I think she enjoyed the adventure.

Our weekend was quick and too short but wonderful. We had a great time watching Olive meet Anna and Elise and Lawrence, and we enjoyed catching up with their parents!

Now, we are back in St. Louis and marveling at how much Olive's mobility will change our lives in the next few weeks ...

Love to all!