House Update

I wanted to get another house update on here, but in looking back at my pictures I realized I don't have many to share. The first one is up in our attic.  This is about half of the space we have for a bonus room, but we are leaving it unfinished. The framing is done and the windows and remainder of the doors should go in this week.  Next week we will begin adding rough plumbing, heating and air, roof, siding, decks, and electrical. Lord willing that will be completed in a couple of weeks and we can move on to insulation and drywall!

I Think I Will Brag a Little

A couple of weeks ago Marc and I took a trip to New York City.  There are 13,000 electrical engineers in his company and he was one of 12 selected as Engineer of the Year.  This is the first time they have ever given out this award.  I am SOOO proud of him.  He deserves it for how hard he works, how many problems he solves, and for how much gets dumped on him.  He won't complain (ok, maybe just a little to me, but it's completely justified and I'm always amazed at how he handles everything). So, his company paid for both of us to head to NYC for a couple of nights.  We had a lovely Italian dinner with the other award winners and spouses as well as the members of the engineering council, Marc sat in on an Engineering Council meeting, and then we had the awards luncheon. Other than that the rest of the time was completely ours.

Marc receiving his award from the CEO. And supposedly there is a stock award as well, but we have yet to hear details about that. :)

We had been to NYC before the kids were born, and so we had already done most of the touristy stuff.  This time we just enjoyed walking around.   

Chrysler Building

Central Park

We did head up to the Top of the Rock.  A little chilly, but it was a pretty clear day.

After all that walking we decided a trip to Serendipity was in order.  We had never been, and even though we knew the desserts would be huge, we weren't quite prepared for these.  It's too bad we always want something different, so we had to order two desserts. So good, though!

In case you were wondering your share of the national debt.  This was a couple of weeks ago, so add on a little more. 

I have been wanting to see Wicked for quite a while.  We didn't see it when it came to Atlanta, so I was so excited when Marc bought us tickets. It was a FANTASTIC show and I would see it again in a heartbeat.

 

Times Square

We had such a wonderful trip, and we are so thankful that our parents kept the girls for us.  I am so proud of my hubby and I enjoyed celebrating with him.

Quick Update

Lots has been going on in the Dutton household.  Marc and I just got back from a trip to New York City, but more on that later. Here are a few pictures to wrap up January (even though we are halfway through February!)

Kayla received her Bible from Pastor Johnny a couple of weeks ago.  She was so excited!

The older girls wanted their nails painted and I decided to see if Brooke wanted hers done as well.  I was surprised at how still she was and she was great about letting them dry.  She talked about her pink nails that "mama did" for several days.

And Marc took Kayla and Macy out to CFA for daddy-daughter date night.  They were giddy all day for their special time.  After dinner they went out for frozen yogurt and a walk around Target.

House Building

We have a ton of pictures, but I won't bore you with the details.  Let's just say that thanks to Marc we will know what is under every layer of every inch of the house. :)

And so it begins. This was right after the trees were cleared off of the lot.  Now they have to dig out the entire basement.

The girls are excited to finally see some progress.

Rain + cold temperatures = ice patches on the mud. Yuck.

 

Preparing for the basement walls to be poured. 

Marc spent an entire Saturday spreading this tar on the outside basement walls.  It was a nasty job, but providing our own labor is free.  Have you ever calculated the interest paid on $1000 over a 30 year time frame? One day's hard work is worth the savings. Anyway, Marc was working in this small area between the basement wall and dirt when the gravel began to be poured.  He said that must be what it feels like to be buried alive. 

The basement floor is prepped and it was actually poured this morning.  Supposedly we can walk on in tomorrow if we'd like.  Framing is scheduled to start next Monday and take a total of 2 weeks. I can't wait to see things coming together more!

Celebrating Brooke

We had a fun day celebrating with Brooke on her birthday.  We started the morning off at the bounce house.  While we were there we ran into one of my friends from high school.  It was nice to catch up with her.

For lunch we grabbed some pizza and they offered her up a cupcake to celebrate.  Our waiter asked if we wanted the restaurant to sing to her, but I think that would have freaked her out a little so we declined.  (If I was photoshop savvy I would take the hand out of the picture. Oh well.)

After lunch we grabbed an icee from target.  She loves her "ee-ees" and will start asking for one when we enter the Target parking lot. Smart girl.

After nap she opened a few presents and we had a fun afternoon playing. 

For dinner I cooked her favorite - noodles and parmesan cheese. Followed by a yummy cake.

We celebrated her birthday Saturday with family and close friends.  We had the party at the clubhouse at our new neighborhood.  It allowed us much more room that our current home. 

It was a low-key party, my favorite kind. Brooke came home and took nap and we had to wake her up after 3 hours so she would sleep that night.  She was worn out!

I promise she was having a good time even if it doesn't look like it!

Happy Birthday sweet girl! We love you so much!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Brooke!!

My baby is 2, and I can not believe it. It's bittersweet because while I am missing my little baby I am loving the independence and communication we are experiencing right now. I rocked her to sleep the last night as a one year old and her first night as a two year old.  I just held her, stared at her, and snuggled her.  I am so thankful for the blessing that she is.

Brooke, you are such a bright little girl.  You talk all day long and we understand pretty much everything you say.  You can tell us exactly what you want and we haven't had too many meltdowns.  Other than adding "no" and "mine" to your vocabulary list we haven't seen much of the terrible twos creeping.  Don't get me wrong, you have your moments, but we are hoping to just fly by this stage of development. :)

You love your sisters "Kay-Kay" and "Mae-Mae" and you want to do everything they are doing. You love your baby dolls and we change their diapers over and over all day long.  You love to carry a purse or backpack and can be such a girly girl.  On the other hand you love trains, balls, and jumping on the couch.  You will probably end up being our biggest dare-devil and I'm not sure that I am ready for that. 

You are the pickiest eater.  Absolutely no vegetables and very little meat.  You won't even eat chicken nuggets! Give you fruit or "noodles and cheese" and you eat so much we aren't sure where the food is going to go. 

Brooke,

You are such an amazing little girl.  You always wake up happy and ready to play.  I am so thankful God chose to bless our family with you, and I am enjoying seeing you grow every day.  You are a ball of energy and you keep us laughing.  I can't wait to see what this next year holds for you.  I love you so much my precious baby girl. 

Love, 

Mommy