Soon to Be Auntie of 8!!!

As most of you know I have 3 nieces and 4 nephews on my husbands side and now my little sister is having a baby boy! I'm really excited, I think it's going to be a lot of fun to have the three boys together, so close in age. We were really close growing up and then we sort of drifted apart and now I find that we're getting closer again, and I was thrilled when she told me that she wanted me in the delivery room with her! Now, Mr. Rylan Leigh is due on August 2nd so if everyone could just be praying for a safe delivery for mom and baby! We've also got the big baby shower this weekend that I know Sam's really looking forward too... it should be a good time, I'm looking forward to it myself!

Summer Time '09

It's finally summertime once again! We've recently busted out the volleyball nets and already had several games going on! That's one of the best things about our yard is it's nice and big so we can play volleyball and there's still room to spare for the kids to play football or baseball! Last Sunday we got to play and hang out and made some 'Smores over at Eddie and Susies on there outdoor fire pit! I'm really looking forward to the summer nights ahead... it will even be better when we move into the house so I can just put Mason to bed and not have to worry about all the late nights!

Home Sweet Home... almost!

Alright, well where to start? We're getting there, most of the painting is finally finished! We went yellow in what's going to be the office/playroom and I think it turned out great, it looks really bright in the picture but it's not quite that bright! In our room we did a "Soft Denim" color that looks really nice, I was nervous at first because it just looked grey but as it dried it became a nice shad of blue! The boys room and guest room got it's new carpet and looks amazing, it's like two brand new rooms back there, so I'm super excited to get the rooms set up, they just turned out above and beyond my expectations! We installed our new front door and I love it, it's very nice, and we got the lights all put up that Ed added to the living room... there will be no shortage of lights in that house :-) Then, in the kitchen, we had to paint it and I didn't want to do it grey or brown so I just went for it and got some COLOR! I was a little apprehensive but we figured if we hated it we'd just paint it in a couple of years, but I think it turned out perfect, I love it! We went with a dark green along the soffit and then a light green every where else with a red accent in the pop out! The ceiling is going to be tan like the living room along with the wall that runs from the kitchen to the living room, it's great, I'm lovin' it! So we still have a few baseboards to paint, the laundry room, which is going to be the same colors as the kitchen just cause that's what's left over and I really enjoy those colors, and we're getting cabinet to put in there instead of the little shelves that are in there now, so that will look nice! We're putting a 5'X10' area of wood floor from the new front door to where the hallway starts, and then using some of that carpet to patch where the fireplace was and I think that the carpets finally getting laid back down in the living room and in the staircase next week and then we should be on our way! I cannot wait!

The new front door!

The ceiling with the newly added lights

The boys room with the new carpet!

The new kitchen paint job

I LOVE it!

The back side of the house and our yard

The Bathroom all finished

Painting our room with the crew

The new bedroom color... from green to blue

The office when we started

Then it went white

And now it's all yellow!

It's Coming Along!

Since we've gotten back from L.A., we've been working like crazy on the house, getting it all painted and ready to go! So far we've gotten the two back bedrooms and closets painted, the hallway and bathroom and the living room all painted! It looks amazing! We went with "Green Tea" for the bedrooms which turned out to be a beautiful and calm like color, I couldn't be happier with how they turned out. Then for the bathroom and hallway it's "Country Dairy" basically an off white, just nice and simple, clean and bright! And for the living room we found a "Toasted Cashew" color that turned out the perfect shade of tan that we were looking for! We couldn't have done it with out the help of mom and dad, poor mom got the tough job of watching the kids for us so I'm able to help paint! Then we'll just have the stairs hallway and loft to paint, oh and the kitchen... so much paint!! But it's looking great! The new carpet for the back bedrooms is coming on thursday so we've gotta get the baseboards and doors painted before that comes and then the back part will be done! So, we're hoping by the 12th to start moving in!!!!!! I'll post some more pics when we get some more done!!!

The New Staircase! Isn't it beautiful?

The new bathroom color!

Our pretty yard!

BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER!!!! YAY!

Ed and Dad painting!

So excited!!!!

The Almeida/Tagliere Adventures!

Well we got down to L.A. to meet baby Scout and introduce baby Waylon and it was a lot of fun! We got down there on Friday night around 7 or so and the fun began! Scout is absolutely precious, I just couldn't get enough of her, but I did have my hands full with my two little guys! Friday night we just hung out and had dinner then on Saturday Michelle came over, Peter's sister, and her family and made us breakfast, so we got to see them and then we went over to Emily's parents for a BBQ! It was really fun over there, we watched the Laker game and hung out by the pool, then they surprised me with a Birthday cake, it was very sweet! Then sunday we went over to Dan and Laura's, Peter's Brother, for a little pre memorial gathering for his Grandmother who past away on the 16th, so that was fun, we got to see all of Peter's family and meet some that we haven't met before! Monday was the service for his grandma, unfortunately I wasn't able to go, I ended up getting really sick and had to stay behind, but from what I heard it was a very nice service. It was kind of down hill from there, I was so sick and no fun, I spent the rest of Monday in bed and and in the restroom, it was not a good time!!! Tuesday came around and we were supposed to leave in the morning but I was so sick that we couldn't go anywhere, Peter ended up putting an IV in me (he's a paramedic) to rehydrate me and that seemed to do the trick so by about 1:30 pm we headed home! But it was a lot of fun the part where I wasn't sick, it was fun to see the three kids together, I'm really looking forward to them growing up together and the many things that will bring! As much as I wanted to get home, I miss them dearly, it's hard being so far away but we'll be able to see them again at the end of the summer, so we're looking forward to that now!

Crazy Kids!

Well, it seems like sickness has been bouncing around our family for forever it seems... Two weeks ago we discovered that Mason 

had an ear infection at his routine doctor visit and so she prescribed amoxicillin and he was finished with it as of Saturday but yesterday afternoon he broke out in these crazy hives! I called the on call doctor and he said that as long as they are coming and going it was nothing to worry about... well those who know me know that I'm a worrier, so at 2am when he woke up completely  covered in welts, I called again and got the same advice. So, we gave him Tylenol and went back to sleep. I was hoping to wake up to him fine (I had high hopes it would just disappear) he wasn't though, he was acting fine but had a slight temperature and still covered with a new batch of welts. Susie and I took him to the doctor to discover that it may be 

a reaction to the penicillin or a viral infection that's just running it's course! He prescribed more meds and hopefully that will help! The poor little guy though will be fine one minute and

 the next covered in welts but then they go away as soon as he cools down! It's crazy, but with kids it just seems like it's always something, especially with two, but with that said, Waylon is doing great, he's eating 6 ounces which is a lot for a little guy like him, and he's still sleeping a lot so that's been great! Anyway, pray for Mason that he'll heal quickly and not be to irritated with this thing! It's not contagious or anything like that so we're making our way down to L.A. in the morning to see Peter and Emily and their newest addition!

Scout Magnolia

Baby Scout has finally arrived! She came at 4:46 am this morning, she was 7lb 5oz and 20 1/4 inches long! It sounds like everything went well for Emily as far as the delivery went, I haven't talked to them since this morning so I'm anxious to see how they're doing! I'm finding myself really missing them even more now, I so wish that we could be closer together, it's hard being so far away from them! I can't wait to see them and to meet Scout and for them to meet Waylon, this summer can't come soon enough! We love you guys and congratulations!!! 

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was quite the event for us this year, I wanted to cook dinner for Susie so we decided to make it on Saturday night so it would be ready to go on Sunday. We didn't start cooking until about 9 o'clock and finished around 11pm! Then we discovered that I used a hot sauce to make the enchilladas, so I was all bummed out thinking that I ruined them, Ed thought that they would be okay but after I explained to him how badly my hands were burning we both became concerned! Then I had to finish up some last minute things I had been working on for Susie and after feeding Waylon we finally went to sleep around 2 am. When 6 am rolled around I was feeling surprisingly awake so I got up and after my shower I read my precious mother's day cards from my boys that just made my day! I couldn't believe it was already my 2nd Mother's day (3rd if you count when I was pregnant with Mason)! Anyway, then we went by Starbucks and got coffee for us and Eddie and Susie and headed off to church. After church we went to Nate and Jen's for lunch with her parents and mom and dad, so we hung out there, went home and rested for a minute then went up to my Grandparents house to celebrate my uncle's Birthday! After that we headed strait to church for bible study and then finally making it home. As always we had a great time with mom and dad, the enchilladas turned out not as horrible as we thought, they were a little hot but nothing a little sour cream couldn't fix! All in all it was a very long day but a lot of fun and of course completely worth it, I think Susie had a nice Mother's Day and I know that I certainly enjoyed it!

Mason

Waylon

My Boys

Waylon and I

The Enchilladas

Making It Home

Well as most of you know, my brother-in-law Neil and his family moved down to Ocean Side and we decided that we'd move into their old house. We wanted to do it for a couple of reasons, it's a lot bigger house, it's got a huge yard for the boys and it's about 100 feet from Eddie and Susie's house (that's probably the main reason). So, there's just a few things we wanted to do to make it our home. It's been quite the process already, Ed's been over there daily working on it along with his Dad and Bill Bradshaw. We hired a contractor to come in and lower the ceiling, they were around 16' and we figured it might be a little cheaper to heat if we lowered them. We took out the fire place that was kind of starting to crumble and put up a couple new walls. There's still a lot to do, a lot of painting and then the actual moving in part, so we're hoping by the end of May we'll be able to move in. Some background on the house, Ed's parents built that house in '78 I believe and that's the house that Ed grew up in, and now it's come full circle and we're looking forward to moving in there and raising our children there.

Mom of Two

Two little boys, who ever thought that I would have two boys. Mason, 19 months and Waylon, 5 weeks have been such a blessing to our lives. Mason has three new teeth coming in bringing him to a total of 13 already! He's done exceptionally well adjusting to his new brother, Ed and I were a little concerned but he seems to not mind him too much. Waylon is growin' like a weed, he's already approaching 8 pounds and starting to stay awake a little longer during the days. He sure is a sleeper though, we've been fortunate enough to only have to wake up once in the middle of the night! Having two so close together isn't as difficult as I thought it would be, it's a lot of work don't get me wrong, but I was expecting pure madness and the hardest part for me is just making sure that when I leave the house I have two of everything. God definitely knew what I could handle and didn't give me any more than that!