Almost there...

I have no pictures today and nothing really exciting to share either. Oh wait-I did get our carpet scheduled for next Thursday to be installed!!!!!! That means that the basement will be done by Friday and I can move all my stuff back to where it belongs and start reorganizing. How fun!! I love cleaning, organizing, and moving things-I really do. This does mean however that the next 5 days and nights will be LONG! We are pushing it to get it all done and ready, but we will make it. I can't wait to see what it will be like.

On a Taegan note-she is starting to whine and throw a few more fits lately. I am not excited if this is any indication of what the 2s will be like. Yikes. We are really working on "using our words" to express why we are upset and using please and thank you. She is really good about this for about 90 percent of the time, but that other 10 percent seems like a lot more than it really is!!! She can now count from 1-6, and is making huge strides in her vocabulary and fine motor skills. She really impresses us with how smart she is. Until next time-have a good Friday!

Staples...

Well, we have been in the thick of remodeling and getting things done in the basement! We have made lots of progress and I hope to have some pictures later this week to show what we have gotten done. For now I will tell you what we have done: all new rewiring and placing of can lights and light switches, redone the insulation with new, put insulating foam board on the concrete walls, put in 3 new windows(I love them), and pulling staples...yes that is my job! Our old carpet was up on the skirtboard going down the stairs and we are not going to do that with the new carpet. So we pulled the old off and I have been assigned the job of pulling staples and getting it ready for paint. This is NOT fun! I am over half done, but it is quite a task. I am so excited about the progress we have made and look forward to it changing even more.

Back to the staples....

I love you...

We ended up breaking out of the house on Saturday and it was so nice to be out!!! We weren't out for long, went to dinner with my aunt and her family-but at least we were out. The temps have been much better since Sunday and things are not as stir crazy around here. However, after a heart to heart talk and some decisions Justin and I decided we will be staying in our home for at least the next 10 years. I know this sounds strange, but I was really wanting to move and he was wanting to stay and well, we are staying. With that said-we decided to recarpet the whole house and to completely remodel the basement. I am super excited about both of these and really can't wait to see it complete. We decided this on Saturday afternoon and by Sunday night our basement was gutted-all of it. Thanks to Amy and Kate we got it done and all cleaned up. What a day it was, but I am so glad we got that done. Last night we went to Lowes to price and pick out things. We will go back Thursday and buy it all with a coupon I have and Saturday we will start working hard. I am excited because I get to help this time, when we did the kitchen I was 5 months pregnant and helping wasn't an option!!! I also have us on somewhat of a time crunch:) I want it done and the carpet in by the end of the month-we work better on a time crunch so we shall see if it happens!!!

Here is Taegan and Kate eating snacks while we work in the basement-thanks for watching her Kate!

This is what it looks like right now.

Excited for it to change.

And for the best part of today....Taegan said "love you" as I was putting her to bed tonight!!! We have been working on it with her and we both always say it to her. I laid her down, covered her up, said I love you Taegan and she said love you back!!! Oh what a sound. My heart skipped a beat...she is precious!!!!

Going to climb the walls soon...

We are still stuck inside with not much hope of getting out anytime soon! The temp here is 2 with a wind chill of -18...that is too cold for me to be taking her out anywhere. So we play, make messes, play some more, draw, do stickers, laugh, bang at the sliding glass door to go outside to play on the slide, eat, and take a nap! That sums up our last week. I was supposed to sub on Thursday and Friday, but the schools were cancelled so I didn't get to(which also means no money for us)! Mom and Dad are coming over tonight and bringing pizza for dinner. This isn't on our new diet, so we will eat very controlled. I have been having a ball cooking dinner everyday for us and eating way better than we were. Our goal is to eat out at max once a week-so far so good! Here are some entertaining pictures from yesterday and this morning.

Funny story about this one: She was pooping and headed upstairs, grabbed a diaper, came back down and told me her baby had pooped and laid her down to change her!!! I couldn't stop laughing.
Coloring away on her new Crayola music color thing.
Very intense on her writing.
I loved the way she was grabbing my face here-she wanted to give me a kiss.
Laying on the kitchen floor "texting" on her phone.
She sat her blanket up for a picnic.
Saying cheese as we bundled her up last night to go to Mom and Dads so I could clean the salon! She is getting good at smiling when I say 1,2,3 cheese for a picture!!

Stir Crazy???

With all of this snow and now freezing cold temps Taegan and I have not been able to get out and play or do much. We are making the best of being inside, but man it gets tough seeing the same walls for a week!!! It is not looking like we will have a break soon on any of this-so we are gonna start coming up with some new things to do...just need to come up with those things:) I will leave you with some fun pictures of our last few days here inside-

Can you say bed head???

Her new place to watch Minnie on TV!
My favorite Christmas present from Justin-yes he put the pictures in there too!

Dancing at a wedding reception last Saturday...the only one on the floor at the time.

Who doesn't go potty without a book?

Just being cute-notice we got dressed and did her hair that day!

Sitting at her new table doing puzzles and watching more Minnie.

2010...Really?

I can't believe that it is 2010! I can vividly remember 2000 and everyone freaking out and buying supplies like the world was gonna end. And here we are 10 years later...wow! I have so many things I want to do, change, and accomplish this year that I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all. I think I may have put too much on my list, but I really want to become better at a lot of things and make the best of everyday. I think I have become to routine and not done things the way I should and need to for awhile now. I would like to blame that on Taegan-but she should only make me want to be better! So here is to 2010....I can't wait for new things to come. I started today and so far so good: ate breakfast(which I never do), purged the kitchen cabinets and my closet/drawers, played/read with Taegan, donated clothes to Goodwill, made and ate lunch at home!!!, worked out. and now I am gonna read while Taegan naps!!! Feeling real good about this. Oh yeah and the Bachelor starts tonight....EXCITED!

Happy Monday.

Last Christmas Post...

We started the Christmas time with some snow...okay a lot of snow! It started snowing on Christmas Eve and continued until the day after Christmas. With that being quite a concern-we were in Blizzard Warnings, we headed out to Justin's parents early in the day and hung out, ate and then opened gifts. When we headed home that evening after 9 the roads were slick and snow packed, but we made it! Taegan had a ball opening her gifts out there-loved tearing the paper and seeing what all she got.

Here she is before we left home, I love this dress too!! And this shows you her personality perfectly!!

With Daddy.
And making a frown face with Mommy!

That whole line of presents in front of her are hers!!! She was a good girl this year.

Opening presents is a serious job.

Pouring some tea from her new tea set.

When we got home Christmas Eve, Taegan went right to bed.(On a side note-she has mastered the no pacifier and those are history! Only took a week!) Justin and I decided to do our gifts to each other once she was in bed and enjoy the time together. It was nice to open ours and hang out! We woke up Christmas morning to a blizzard taking place and 9 inches of snow on the ground!!! It was SOOO pretty. Taegan was read to see what Santa brought her...

Climbing under the tree for her gifts!

Sitting in front of her loot.

By looking out our window the roads did not look really bad, we knew they were gonna be rough but we really wanted to spend the day with my parents. Mom told us not to come because there were drifts everywhere by their house...but I was not gonna spend the day without them! So we packed up, bundled up, and headed out. We stopped on the way to help a stuck car, made it 2 miles from their house and there were 4 cars stuck in the road we needed to drive through. We managed to swerve and get past them...only to get stuck ourselves half a mile away. I wish I would have taken a picture, but I was too busy walking in 5 foot drifts to my parents from the car to get a shovel!!!! We made it and everyone was so happy to be together. We enjoyed fresh baked cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, and bacon while trying to warm up. After that Miss Taegan was ready to see what she got there as well.

Sitting in her new chair with her new American Girl doll.

Opening a present in her new found seat! Silly girl.

This was our house Christmas night...still snowing. We ended up with 11 inches.

The drifts on Justin's van-good thing he didn't have to go to work.

Our Christmas was amazing this year and we had a ball with Taegan. She enjoyed it all and got so much stuff I am having to reorganize areas to put things!!! We are excited for the New Year and lots of changes for us as a family. We are eager to get healthy and happy and that will happen!

Christmas part 2...cousin Kinsley

I am so sorry it has been a bit since I have been on here, life has gotten crazy busy and this is my favorite time of year so I am trying to soak it all in!!! With that said, I will carry on with what has happened the last week:) For starters we enjoyed a lazy morning watching cartoons in bed and I just had to snap this picture because it shows how just alike Taegan and Justin are...
Then last Friday we got to go over and finally see cousin Kinsley, Aunt Melissa, and Uncle Kyle. They flew in for the holidays last Wednesday and we spent the evening out there Friday for Greg's birthday and it was a lot of fun. I was so excited to see Taegan's reaction to Kinsley now that she can be down and play with her-kind of. She wasn't too excited when I held her and wanted to be held as well. As soon as I put them both down on the blanket and we let them interact it was super cute. She was giving kisses and hugs all over Kinsley! She did decided however, that Kinsley's boppy that she uses to help her practice sitting should be Taegan's toy and gets irritated when Kinsley is sitting in it!!! Oh the joys:)

She is going in for a kiss here...

Kinsley is not too sure about her!

On Sunday we got to go back over to Grandma and Grandpa's for the extended Ross Christmas! There were lots of people there she wasn't sure about, and lots of kids that were playing with the toys she usually plays with out there! She warmed up real well to everyone and enjoyed the afternoon. Here she is all dressed up in my favorite dress of hers so far!!!!

Here she is kissing her Minnie ornament on the tree!!!

We had a fun weekend and the first part of this week has flown by. I will finish my wrapping tonight and we start our big Christmas's tomorrow!!! I can't wait. Taegan will have so much fun this year and LOVES unwrapping presents. On a side note-we started the no pacifier boot camp on Sunday night and I thought I was gonna cave in. She cried and cried, but each night it has gotten less and less. I am happy to report that tonight-NOT ONE CRY came from her room!!!! What a big girl she is!!! Merry Christmas to everyone.