Mini Blog #5 - Surprise Lopez Family!

So, this weekend was spent surprising my parents! It went wonderfully! Mom and Dad were shocked that the kitchen was done - and pleased that they weren't the ones who had to help do it!!!
Here are the faces that we caught when they walked into the kitchen.

Dad whistled!

My mom just kept saying, "They're already up! They're already up!"


Marci, John, and the girls came too! All the cousins knew just what to do - break out the toys and play!!!



And when Gus got home from work (unfotunately he had to work that morning), we all headed to the Rainforest . . . Water Park that is!

Pops took Elena down the water slide - sort of - they got stuck in the slide!!! The line even got backed up a little!!! It was hilarious!!!

Even Augie tried it out . . . he really didn't know what to think.

Elena and Alexa, I think, had the most fun!!! John said it was worth it just to see the look on Elena's face when we walked in!



Sunday, we headed to church, had some scrumptious lunch at the house (Gus made us Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches), and had a hard time convincing Elena that it was time to go home. :(
Alexa called me "Isa" after calling me "Anna" all weekend!

And we finally got Elena in the car when we told her we were going to a new store that had a kid's play area! She LOVED that!!!

And so did Augie!




Augie's really going to miss having the extra kiddos to play with this week! We always have SO much fun with the family . . . can't wait 'til we're all closer . . . 2 more years to go . . . minimum!

Mini blog #4 - Bubbly Bath Time

Now that Augie can sit up on his own in the bath tub, he is enjoying his bath time much more . . . so we introduced him to THE BUBBLE BATH!!! Clean and fun all at the same time!


Rub-a-dub-dub . . . one little man in the tub!!!

Mini blog #3 - Morning Baby

I can't get over what a good spirited baby Augie is in the morning! He always wakes up with a smile!!!

And - he's almost always ready to go. He doesn't stand on his own YET, but he likes to practice with Mommy and Daddy's help!





Hope everyone has a bright eyed day!!!

Mini Blog #2 - Pantry Redo

Before . . . sort of - I forgot to take the picture until after I tore the shelving out. There were only 3 and a half shelves - you get the idea.


Freshly painted - now white instead of the yellowed nastiness that was there prior!


After - Dad and John installed the shelves while Gus was at work on Saturday morning. They look great & everything fits mukch better than before!

Not to mention the cool rolly basket that we now have at the bottom helps to store things - and makes them easier for me to reach!


Just an FYI for anyone who is redoing an area where thy want to install these easy to hang shelves . . . We looked at the Container Store - because they have wonderfully, obsessively compulsively, organized, organizational materials/shelving.
We pretty much knew what we wanted - and priced it all out. It wasn't going to be as cheap as we thought it would be. And to get the cool wheelly cart was going to be $100 extra, plus buying each basket seperately. So almost $160 more. So, we priced the materials at Home Depot. That was about $100 less than the Container store (not counting the cart).
Then, we stopped at IKEA to look for shelves for Augie's room . . . well, we found the shelves (I stained them to match his furniture, and they came with the brackets. They were only $7/each!!! - We bought 3!!!), and we found a whole lot more!!! On our way out to the checkout - we found ALL of the materials for the pantry - and the rolly cart - for under $100!!! We were ECSTATIC! Two hanging bars, 5 shelves, 10 adjustable brackets (2 per shelf), and the cart, baskets, solid top for the cart, and wheels - all under $100!!! ROCK ON IKEA!!!

Point of story - shop IKEA first next time!!!

Mini Blog #1 - Augie's New Faces

So - I have a lot of pictures and updates to include. I figured the easiest thing would be to do mini blogs. Here's #1. It's mini in words - not pictures!!!


Breakfast at Chic-Fil-A. Cool rolly high chair + sharing food with Mom and Dad = lots of smiles from Augie!
The Squinty Smile:

The Laughing Smile:

The "I know I'm cute!" Smile:

The "I know what a camera is used for" Smile:

The "car is moving - not angry about the car seat thing anymore" Smile:


Now, there's not just the smiling faces . There are also the "talking" faces.

The Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Face:

The "Who said that?" Face:

The just plain HAPPY FACE:

The Babble Face:

The "I can make bubbles with my lips" Face:

The "BBleeeeeBuBleeeeeeeeeeeeeeBuBleeeeeeeeeee" Face:

The Elephant Noise Face:

The Mischeivious Face:

The OOoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh Face:

The Lip Strumming Face:



And the latest addition . . .
The "I like to suck on my upper lip now" Face:

Kitchen Redo - Phase - COMPLETE!!!

I am very behind on blogging - I know - but I have been a very busy bee. Projects galore have been filling my past 2 weeks and leaving me in an exhausted state of inability to blog!

The kitchen - IS DONE!!! With the guys being in and out - our schedule was more of an "un-schedule." Kind of like on Alice in Wonderland - the un-birthday. Well, that was our last couple of weeks . . . filled with and "un-schedule."

But all worth it - the kitchen looks GREAT!!!

We received several compliments on the stairstepped edging of the backsplash.

Which you may have noticed is not the original that we chose - that's a whole nother story.
We changed the countertop - and that led to changing the tile - twice.
It all turned out beautifully though. The final product was worth the extra trips to the store!!!


If you look closely, you can tell that the window sill is the same as the countertop. It all fit together nicely!


YEAH FOR THE NEW AND IMPROVED STAATS' KITCHEN!!!

4th of July

This 4th of July weekend was spent fitting a lot into a short amount of time.
Getting ready to leave the house in Dallas - to visit HOME - Augie, as always, had plenty of fun playing while we were packing!



Upon arrival, we hung out a little bit and then quickly decided that we should go and see our land while it was still day light.
We were VERY, VERY, EXTREMELY excited to finally get to see our land. It was a nightmare to get the keys, but we did finally get them. And we got to use them. AND THEY WORKED!!!
Our land is a little over-grown. There are LOTS of trees, rocks, shrubbery, etc. that you find out in the country. Especially when no one is there to clear/care for it.
Step 1: Get it surveyed so we know where the lines really are.
Step 2: Finalize house plans. :)
Step 3: Decide where house will go.
Step 4: CLEAR THE LOT FOR OUR FUTURE HOME!!!!




While in our new subdivision, we drove around a bit. We saw MANY animals roaming about - as I'm sure we will continue to in our lives there. This time was interesting though. It seemed as if every doe had 2 fawns with her. There were mommies and babies everywhere!!!

After deciding to drive down to the pool to see how it was kept, we were surprised to drive up and see a PEACOCK sitting on the fence. It was just perched there - just hanging out! What a crazy, beautiful creature!!!

The feathers were REALLY long - so long - that Martin decided he wanted one. Nice try brother!

No success - our fun was cut short by the "dinner bell" - a.k.a. my phone ringing and Dad telling us dinner was ready.
There's never enough time in a day . . . We finished our dinner, spent some time hanging out, and went to bed to get up early for the 4th!

We started Sunday with pancakes! MMMmmmmmmmmmm - Delicious!
Even Augie got to enjoy his own SPECIALLY MADE, WITH LOVE, PANCAKE!
Thanks Gamma Lopez!





Then, of course, there was church time . . . followed by BBQ and family time!
We all wore our "spirit wear." Red, white, and blue were all over the place.
One with Daddy-O . . .

And one with Momba . . .

Augie was definitely the most patriotically dressed!
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUTE!!!





We spent the afternoon at Marci and John's house.
(You know you live in the country when a goat hangs out on your driveway.)

There was lots of room. Lots of family. And lots of GREAT BBQ!!! There's no better way to spend the 4th.
We even got to see family that we don't often have the chance to spend time with. Uncle Joe was here from Arizona. No pictures available- this time. And my cousin Marcela and her little boy Xavier. He is 15 months old - and he and Augie were very interested in each other! It was lots of fun!


Augie ended the day by enjoying some pizza.



The rest of us ended the day with some NICE down time at Mom and Dad's house. Unfortunately, the next day started a little early (4:00am) so that we could miss the holiday traffic. We'll be catching up on that missed sleep for awhile . . .
So, we hope everyone had a warm, bar-b-qued, patriotic, family filled, restful 4th of July!!!