On Saturday we put in all the posts for the fence we are building in the front yard. Brad cut through the phone cable when he was digging before - of course every possible line runs under our yard and who knows how far down they are. So we had to dig very carefully. It took forever, but at least it is done. And yesterday me and Brad and my mom and dad finished the fence! Now it just has to be painted. (We were going to to it tonight, but big surprise, too windy) Even though it was windy we spent a lot of time out there today. It is going to be great summer with Roman trapped in a nice small space!

One of Rome's favorite things for the past few is carrying a shovel around whenever he is outside . And not one of the many plastic shovels he has, he wants the real thing. Likes to dig with it, but really just wants to have it with him at all times. He even has one at my parents house too.

His other favorite thing is the lawn mower. He loves to sit on your lap while you mow the lawn. My dad waits to mow his lawn for the days I work and they babysit. Whenever he is in the back yard he has to play on it and throws a fit when you take him off it. When we were in Home Depot he freaked out with excitement when he saw the isle with all the movers. So funny.

sandbox

We had some sand in the wheel barrel when we were doing some landscaping stuff and Roman just LOVED it. He played in it with a shovel for well over a half hour. (a looooong time for him to do anything, always go go go) I am sure he would have played in it longer if we wouldn't have had to go to Lethbridge. He cried and cried and cried. Had tears streaming down his face. And not his usual I'm mad cry, a true sad cry. So we broke down and got him a sand box. He likes to play in it for five or ten minutes here and there, but of course isn't half as interested in it as he was with the sand in the wheel barrel. Why do I bother to get him any toys at all?

we have a climber...

Maybe it's time to move the toy box.

flip flops

Who knew that shoes taste so good. I knew he was being too quite while I was in the kitchen making dinner. The shoe looks like a dog got a hold of it!

a few things we have been up to

I'm working tomorrow. But I have my stuff ready for tomorrow, Ro's stuff ready, the dishes done, the laundry put away, and the toys cleaned up - so I thought I would put up a quick post before I head off to bed. Not too many new pictures to share, but here are just a few of the things we have been up to.

Fixed the legs on this old table and painted it. (Don't pay attention to the dirty kitchen floor! Or the nail holes in the floor boards, new floor boards are on the never ending list of things to do.)

Brad built closet organizers. We each have a bit different design for our closets. Yet again I am sooo glad he is so handy. I can fit so much more in there now. It is still a bit crowded - we don't have a dresser in our room but we do have a really cool wardrobe type thing that we are fixing up. I'll put a picture of it up later.

We started on the fence for the front yard. Here is Ro showing off one of the holes for the posts. Can't wait until it is done... then me and Roman can hang out outside and I won't have to chase him the whole time. Looking forward to having a caged animal!

And last but not lease... we have been being drug outside all day by a certain someone no matter what the weather is like. But I have been liking the rain, good for the sod and the grass seed we put in. But enough is enough, some sun now please to help it grow!

bye bye baby curls

Okay. We finally did it. Roman got a haircut. Jacklyn cut it when she was up. His hair was getting a little out of control. I know it is so sappy, and I used to laugh at people like me, so feel free to laugh. But when it is your own kid you see such a difference. He looks so much more grown up now. Not my baby anymore, now he is my little boy.
Here are a few pictures of the long hair and the new little boy hair. The last three are all outside on the same day, just before the cut and then after. (ps - aren't these the funniest pjs!)

srping time... lots of pictures

We have been having lots of fun enjoying the nice warm weather. Like any kid Roman likes to spend all the time he can outside. He is always standing at the door hanging on the door knob yelling and growling to go outside. Yes growling, it is his new thing he thinks is neat. And by neat I think he means annoying! He has no interest in speaking with actual words, what's the point when he gets everything he wants anyway. He is also into running everywhere. And my new favorite thing he does is he will be doing something and have a tiny little smile then a little chuckle, like he has an inside joke with himself and whatever toy he is playing with. He is so much fun. Here are a bunch of pictures of what we have been up to lately.

Pots and pans are always a favorite toy at grandma and grandpas house. He has been spending lots of time there because I have been working a lot. It is sooo nice to live by them so they can babysit. Roman loves it and doesn't even care that I am gone, which makes going to work so much easier.

Mowing the lawn with grandpa. In all seriousness, this is the longest I have seen him sit and focus on something since... last summer when he learned to sit!

Playing in the dogs drinking water outside.
Going for rides in the wheel barrel.
Eating popsicles.
Sharing popsicles with the dogs.
Playing in the sprinkler and going swimming in the hot tub. Forget the rest of us, Grandpa turned the hot tub temperature down so it is now Roman's personal swimming pool.
Swinging (with out of control crazy static hair)
Helping dad outside.

grass

No more ugly dirt yard, we finally have nice GREEN grass. On Saturday we laid sod in our front yard. It has been slow going because Saturday is basically the only day Brad has to get a ton of work done all at once. First he had to dig up and loosen the dirt. Then he had to level the yard out with a bobcat. Then he had to dig out the path and fill it with gravel and lay the paving blocks down. Then he had to do the slate rock walls. Finally three or four Saturday's later we have grass. We still have to fill in around the paving blocks with crushed rocks, fill in the planters with mulch and flowers, and build a little fence around the front yard to keep Roman in. But it is all starting to come together and to the point you can see results. Yeah!

Saturday was sooo hot. Roman had tons of fun being outside and helping. (and getting too much sun thus wearing a funny looking hat) He enjoyed digging in the dirt, eating the dirt, eating rocks, riding in the wheel barrel, eating dirt, dumping water all over himself and the dirt, eating mud and sitting in mud.

Emily and Tom and Jacklyn and their kiddies were up. So much fun hanging out with them and Max and Melanie and their kids. Roman had fun running around chasing Brighton and Luke and stopping now and again to hug Layla. Brad and Tom and Max did the guy thing - whatever that is. And we stayed up until 2:00 in the morning talking and laughing until we cried. Good times.

my healthy little boy

I worked today. Not a bad day at work, but there was a really really sick little baby today. And not the sick that will get better over time. Many many problems with this little one. Makes my heart ache. For the baby yes, but today it was mostly for the mom. What do you say to her? How do you even begin to comfort her? Her first baby. I can't even imagine it.

Being at work makes me long for Roman. To hold him and hug him and kiss him and thank our Father in Heaven that he is a healthy little boy. So everyone hug their kiddos an extra time today and be thankful they are healthy.

bath time

What little kid doesn't love their bath? Not only does Romes like to play in the bath, he likes to drink the bath. Here are some funny bath faces and bath hair from the other night. Speaking of hair, I will admit that Ro's hair is getting a bit out of control. It needs a trim, but I don't know if I can stand to cut off all the baby curls. We will see what Jacklyn says when she is home.








Speaking of baths, I have a feeling someone will be needing more baths now that the weather is nice and we spend more time outside in the dirt. This is how we dressed last week...


And this is how we have dressed this week. Crazy Southern Alberta weather.

um, can you say slacker

The end of the month is coming soon, so I had to get my one post in for the month. I am working nights right now. It is a slow night. Let's see, what have we been up to since I posted last. Getting more done on the house. We hit a point where we were just sick of renos and didn't do much over the winter. Brad built closet organizers for our bedroom closets, very nice to have more shelves and stuff. More baseboard and door casings have gone up. Brad is almost done building a really cool cabinet thing for shoes and stuff to go in the corner of our entry. Started a bit of landscaping, lots more to come. Kitchen renos are soon to come. Slow going as both Brad and I are working a ton, and work is going good. Roman is getting crazier and crazier as the days go by. He loves to be the center of attention and totally puts on a show. He has a new growling scream when he wants something. He is very mischievous and just loves to do things he knows he isn't supposed to. He looks and waits until I am looking before he does whatever it is he shouldn't be. He laughs when I tell him no and laughs and tries even harder when I go to him and pull him away. But of course when Brad says no he listens and makes the cute little pout with the bottom lip quiver and forces a cry. Loves to be outside, so we go on lots of walks and to my parent's house to play with the dogs in the backyard, so glad the weather is getting nice. So really not too much, same old stuff. I really don't know why I don't post more, just finding lots to do to keep busy I guess.
Here's a funny story that happened today...
We were at my parent's house for Sunday dinner. Roman has a really bad diaper rash and my mom insisted we take his diaper off and let his cute little red bum air out. Brad and I asked and asked, are you sure, what if he pees? She said it's fine we'll just clean it up. So of course 5 minutes after his diaper is off he pees all over the rug. So I took him upstairs to the kitchen while mom and Brad cleaned the rug. And as soon as the rug was clean he pooped all over the kitchen floor. Bath time. As I said, I'm at work so I'll have to put up some pictures up later.

I'm home from work now, so here is a quick picture before I head off to bed. I love climbing into bed after working all night! Ignore the messy living room - not my fault, I was at work. Here is Romes in his easter vest all ready for church.

happy birthday roman

Late post yet again. Life is just so so busy. So many things on my place right now, which is good right??? Anyway, my little baby boy had his first birthday last weekend! Here it comes, the classic phrase - I can't believe it has been a whole year! But seriously, doesn't it just go by so fast? And yes I was the typical sentimental mom. I won't bore you with all that. But it was fun to sit around for a few days and say, oh at this time exactly one year ago this is what we were doing. So funny how everything changes in a split second. We just had a few people over, my family, Brad's parents, and Bryan and Erin and their kiddies. Roman LOVES being around their kids. He is so happy just to run around with them and he is always trying to give Isaiah hugs and kisses. He likes all his new books and toys, totally spoiled of course. But he didn't like his cake. Well actually he liked the cake okay, but he hated the frosting and having it all over his hands because then it got in his mouth. He is so much fun these days, just learning so much. I really didn't expect him to be walking by his first birthday, but he has been toddling around for almost two months now. His new thing is running around. Lots of bumps on the head. He is working on tooth number 5 and he weighs 25 pounds. Not sure how tall he is, but his pants are at least 18-24 months. My big tank of a little baby boy. We love you Roman. Happy first birthday.

He really likes ripping the paper on his presents. And the boxes they came in. The actual present was just okay compared to the paper and the box. Big suprise right.


This is Brad's chair from when he was little. We just recovered it. Ro LOVES it. Sits in it and rocks back and forth really fast. Then he thinks he is so cool when he can just stand up out of the chair and sit back down, and stand up and sit down....

I know the cake looks pink, but it's not. It is a poor excuse for an orange basketball. We had basketball and baseball cupcakes too. He's not quite sure about the frosting. Brad was on camera duty and took only a few pictures and tons of video. So he is getting some still pictures off of the video - ones with cake all over. But this is all there is for now.

We found this little horse for $5 at Christmas. He thinks it is hilarious to get pushed around on it. And he loves to push it around and smile at the face and give the horsey kisses.

He gets very upset when his monkey rides on it, or sits in his chair and runs over to move his monkey out of the way.

soooooo much fun

We have been very busy. With work, being sick.... and SNOWBOARDING!!!!!!!
I didn't get to go at all last year because I was very prego. And I wasn't sure if/when I would get to go this year. It just worked out that during reading week Brad had some days where he was in between houses and not working and my family was staying at a condo in Whitefish for a few days. Of course I got sick the day before we were supposed to go. And it was not a fun car ride down being sick, and taking an extra hour because of bad roads. But it was all worth it the next day on the hill! My dad stayed at the condo with Roman and the rest of us had a great day of skiing and snowboarding. It was the perfect temperature and it snowed on and off, which was good because it kept the hill from getting too icy. The top was really foggy. Not just oh Big Mountain is always foggy at the top - I mean FOG, white out condition fog. There was one time I thought I was stopped but was really going sideways. It was crazy, but good powder up there so we braved the fog a few times. It felt strange when I strapped my board on and headed down the hill, but it came back fast. And because my mom and I played hockey all winter we were the least sore of anyone the next day. Roman had a great time being spoiled by grandpa and going in the hot tub at night. He never stopped, just ran around the condo all day. Here he is trying to walk in the snow, not too good on the uneven ground. Now I have to work some extra shifts so Brad and I can take a few day trips when spring skiing weather starts. Oh do I miss the days when I donated plasma twice a week to get money so Linsey, Jen and I could go snowboarding every week. And the Utah snow and warm weather.... the good ol' days.