Okay, here is my potluck post, which means I tell you about a little of everything going on, and to start it off, I'm supposed to say what I'm eating. Well I'm not eating now, dinner is over, the kitchen is clean, and the baby is asleep on the kitchen counter right in front of me. Tony is outside with Todd doing who knows what. What we did have for dinner was BBQ ribs, (real for the boys, fake for the girls), summer squash, and rice. Really quite delicious and super easy, which is why I am in love with my crock pot lately. I don't know why I never used it much before. I guess because cooking a meal in a crock pot for one seems kind of silly, but since my dad is here staying with us I have 2 people who eat meat to cook for. I cooked dinner in it yesterday too. It's so awesome because I can get it going mid day while the kids are napping, and then by dinner time it's done and all I have to do is make a salad or vegetable. So if you have any good and easy crock pot dinner recipe's send them my way.
The patio is coming along nicely, but still a long way to go. We have a finish date in mind, the last weekend in August. My mom and step dad are coming up and we are hoping to have Bella's baby dedication that weekend, I'm hoping the patio will be done by then so we can use it to have everyone over. My dad says "it'll get done", and then adds "or it wont". So I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Bella had her 4 month doctor appointment the other day. She weighs 15 pounds, which isn't surprising at all. What is surprising, is that Anthony weighed 15lb 2oz on his 4 month check up, and he was so skinny and she is so NOT skinny, I guess being an inch and a half longer makes a big difference. She is such a good baby, for me anyway, everyone else thinks she's difficult, but when it's just her and I, there is hardly any fussing. Most of the fussing during the day comes from Anthony, he is very jealous of his little sister, and has no problem letting me know that. I try to give him as much attention as I can when she is napping, but sometimes that just isn't enough for him. Bella is still sleeping through the night thankfully. She usually wakes up around 8 every morning, and by 10 she is ready for a nap again, which sometimes is as long as 4 hours, but usually more like 3. She takes a couple more short 1 hour naps later during the day, and goes to bed around 10pm. She hasn't rolled over or done anything worthy of baby book documentation other than smiling, which I guess is a good thing, cause I still haven't gotten her one.
Anthony is so cute and fun these days.
His favorite thing is to be outside. He has about 5 different transportation type toys he can ride on in the driveway (car, scooter, truck, tractor, and wagon. He likes his car the best, whenever I get the kids out of the real car I always get him out first, and before I can even get Bella out, he is in his car ready to go. He also really likes to play in his sandbox, which is great for him, but I don't like the fact that there is sand all over my house, he is always tracking it inside with him. His toys in the house are collecting dust, cause we hardly ever play inside anymore. Oh well, I guess they will be like new again this winter.
If your wondering how the NO SWEETS thing is working out... it's not.
But he loves pizza.
And he really loves cucumbers. You have to listen closely, but at the very end of the first video he says cucumber. On the second video he says it right away, and then again at the end.
Today we went to the beach which was quite challenging I must say. I had way too much to carry. Thankfully my sister Rachael decided to join us and she helped me carry all our stuff. Anthony didn't want to go in the water at all, he only wanted to play in the sand, so I guess we can just stay home and play in the sandbox, it's a whole lot easier that's for sure.
I packed Tony's lunch and brought it to the beach so we wouldn't have to waste time eating at home. That turned out to be a bad idea. Poor kid had sand on all his food, and a sea gull stole his cheese stick.
I also discovered it's best to put the sunscreen on at home so it can dry before he gets sand stuck to him.
I know there is more to say, but I'm getting tired, so that's gonna have to be it for now.
We decided to make the counter top out of stone instead of a granite slab. More cost effective and I actually think it will look better this way.
The bench seat on top of the wall.
mmm, it's sooo good
or maybe not
'Touchdown'
6 more weeks and she'll be eating peaches
Supervising...
I had no idea how much was involved in setting up a foundation for a hot tub. Does everyone do this?
Dan the concrete man going above and beyond, suggested and then helped me do this.
This is my new landing in front of the door, I am probably the most excited about this. The only thing I can actually say that I hated about my house was that when I walk out the door I am on a narrow step. When you have a toddler and a diaper bag in one arm and a car seat with a baby in the other, it makes it rather hard to get out the door AND close the door. Now I can put one of them down on the landing to have a free hand to shut the door. I know it seems minor, but to me it's huge. (It will be covered with flagstone by the way)
The lovely smooth concrete will be all covered up with these fire bricks never to be seen again.
And that's all in a days work. Hopefully tomorrow will be another productive day and I can show you more progress pictures.
At this end where you see the little temporary step is going to be another exit off of the patio, and will lead to the hot tub.
Up against the house is where the outdoor kitchen will be, we have a grill, a 2 burner cooktop and a sink. Those two holes on the sides of the window are for lights over the cooking area. The two holes below that are for electrical outlets.
On the left is the fire pit with a bench seat, and the wall to the right of it will have a granite counter top on it for an eating area. Notice the little foot rest my dad incorporated into the wall? Pretty cool huh?
Here's another angle, (my brother says I don't put enough pictures up) this one sort of gives you an idea of all the electrical stuff going on. There are lights and electrical outlets on the inside of the patio wall, and the outside of the wall and they will be on separate switches. Should be pretty nice when it's all done.
They had a playground at the beach which was also a hit with Anthony.
Bella had her first swing today and wasn't overly excited about it, but seemed to be okay with it.
She looks like she's in a lazy boy recliner.
We left the beach and headed for the downtown area to go for a stroll and get some ice cream. I wasn't planning on having any myself because I had decided to start my diet today, but then we saw this, and I had to give in. I mean really how often does something like this happen?
Anthony got to feed himself an ice cream cone for the first time. He made quite a mess but thoroughly enjoyed it, right down to the chocolate covered malt ball the SouthBend Chocolate Factory is famous for putting in the bottom of your ice cream cone. I had to wrestle it out of his hands and he was so mad at me. (I was worried he'd choke on it, I wasn't trying to steal it from him)
Trying to take my own picture of the girls while the boys were playing.
And these were taken this morning at home while daddy was working.
Hope you all enjoyed your Sunday afternoon as much as we did.
And he really loves cucumbers. You have to listen closely, but at the very end of the first video he says cucumber. On the second video he says it right away, and then again at the end.
I also discovered it's best to put the sunscreen on at home so it can dry before he gets sand stuck to him. 
This is the view from the driveway. Th fire pit is over in that far corner. 
This is the clean out box, (big enough for a human head).
