Expanding the Driveway - Part Deux

Shane brought a loader home to finish moving the remaining dirt to expand the driveway. It was a much faster process than the excavator but he had some difficulty getting into smaller spaces with the loader. But, Baker had his own seat with Daddy in the loader. They had a great time. Part 3 of this will be the finished project - which I haven't taken pictures of yet, but it is beautiful! I am so lucky to have such a handy hubby!

Bubble Blowing

While on vacation in August, Baker did a lot of playing in his pool. Here he is putting his face under the water, blowing bubbles. He loved watching swimming on the Olympics. After that I couldn't get him to stop putting his face in the water :) In other words - some TV is good :)

Open Wide

Baker went to the dentist for the 2nd time in his life. This time he actually sat in the chair and received a full cleaning. The dentist said that he has very ridgy teeth (deep molars) so we have to get sealants done at the end of the month. Unfortunately insurance doesn't cover that in baby teeth, but I think it could help prevent future cavities, etc. Baker was such a big boy...he really enjoyed the experience.

90210...Not Beverly Hills, 90210

Hey all my 90210 buddies! Well, for those of you that don't know me very well, I was the biggest Beverly Hills, 90210 fan out there (well, at least among my friends). I had every episode recorded (on VHS of course - no TIVO in the 90's) with index cards filed so I knew which episode was on each tape. There were almost 30 tapes - 10 years of episodes. Not too shabby! I will admit towards the end, I wasn't as obnoxious with having to be home by 8pm to watch an episode, but for the first 8-9 years I was!

Anyways, when I heard they were making a remake of the show, I have to admit that I was somewhat disappointed. They were going to destroy the original. But, I knew that I had to watch. So, on Tuesday, I settled onto the couch (thank you to my wonderful, loving, & caring husband for letting his VERY pregnant wife watch on the HD big screen while he and Baker went up to our bedroom...and fell asleep while Baker watched "Wipe Out"...we'll save that for another time) and was ready to go. I was anxiously anticipating the opening credits. I wanted to see if they saved the same tune, used the same format, etc. I was a little disappointed that they didn't. But, the song was updated and similar - good job producers! So, there I sat getting ready to be engrossed for the next 2 hours.

After the first 45 minutes Shane came downstairs and asked how it was. I said "it certainly isn't the original and the acting is pretty bad." Well, then the 2nd hour of the show really heated up and this is when it started to get good. Did you know that Kelly has a kid!? Who is the daddy? Did you know that "Silver" is really Kelly's baby sister, Erin? Did you know that Andrea's daughter, Hannah, is on the journalism staff in charge of "Blaze TV"? Of course, I hope that Kelly stays around because she was always my favorite. And, next week she gets into it with her mom, Jackie! Oh, it's gonna get good!

Welcome back 90210....I hope this next generation (god, I sound like I am 50) can do just as well as the first! Good luck and I will watch again on Tuesday!!!

Basement Remodel

Basement Before....(notice the "warmth"???)

Basement After...notice the "warmth" now??? :)

When you build a house the last room that you want to worry about is the basement. We planned to one day finish it, but when we built we decided that we would just make it a big game room with dark gray colored concrete floors. So, that's what we did for the last 1.5 years. The guest room upstairs has really only been used my parents when they come to visit because I promised they would always have a room. Well, things change when you have a baby on the way. The plan has always been that the guest room would someday become a nursery and the basement would turn into the game/guest room. We (Shane again...poor guy) made that happen. With the help of his dad, they laid the dark cherry hardwood floors and Shane installed the trim around the room and the windows. It looks amazing! I think my parents will be very excited to sleep down in this "warm" basement instead of the "cold" cell like room it was before. Mom and Pops we look forward to you trying out your new room in just a couple of weeks - when Baby Green arrives!!! But, try to keep off the air hockey table and foos ball table in the middle of the night :)

Hot Day = Aunt Kay's

Swimming after "Nemo"

Baker and his cousin Garrett

Cousin Emmett who was almost 1

Aunt Kay showing Baker her hurt foot

Baker being pushed by Aunt Kay....this is the tough life

What do you do when it is almost 90 degrees outside? Go to Aunt Kay's and play in the pool of course. Deni brought the boys, Garrett and Emmett and the 3 cousins had a blast together. Thank you Aunt Kay for letting us invade your pool.

Expanding the Driveway, Part 1

I think we know what his profession will be when he grows up....

The start of the new dirt....

More dirt....

Baker helping Daddy

Superintendent Baker...observing from the front lines

Doesn't he look irritated?

Ah, the mini-me

This is Baker helping Daddy when we were building....2 years earlier

Look at this 3 year old...he is so advanced

Even at 13 months he was working the controls

Moving dirt...

Watching the bucket...

Learning from Daddy so in 2 years he can help....who knew we would be doing this again??

Ah, my BOYS! I just love these 2!!!

For those of you who have been to our house, you know how scary our driveway was. When we built our house we were only allowed to build the driveway that we did because we have a "salmon stream" thru the front yard (ya right - salmon - seriously??). Anyways, we decided that we would wait until we were in our house a year before we tried to expand it. Of course we had to wait until the creek dried up to ensure those salmon were ok :) So, in August we (I mean Shane and Baker) started the expansion. It is so much better now and we don't have the huge hump at the top, which means you can backup and see where you are going. The next project that will happen over Labor Day weekend is adding the driveway lights. Then, we will add some clover to the sides so you don't see the ugly dirt and we (I mean Shane) are done!!! Thank you babe for doing such an amazing job!! It is fantastic!!