New smells

I'm pretty sensitive to smell, so I can usually guess what's been done at our house every day while we were at work.  The first new smell in quite a while was paint, which means the addition doesn't look so rough and unfinished.

It's also air-conditioned now, mainly to get the hardwood flooring planks acclimated to the temperature of the house.  I'm not sure how to show that in pictures...except maybe grossly showing you the sweat on the workers before AC and after AC....no?  Alright.

Days 41, 42, and 43: painting

Day 44: Our Clemson orange shower begins to take shape (Go Tigers!):

Yeahright.  That's just part of the groundwork for laying tile this week.  I have to be honest, though - I was a little afraid to see that little light bulb go "ding!" over Russell's head at the thought of having an orange bathroom...

Also on Day 44, our in-laws brought our new washer and dryer here so that the cabinet guy knows exact measurements for the countertop that will be built over them.

Summer Fun

How blessed we are to be members of an amazing church.  Back in 2006/2007, Russell and I just never dreamed that we would have the types of relationships that we have now, not to mention how incredible it is to know that our child(ren) will grow up with other kids whose parents share our beliefs and devotion to the Lord.

A little lake action with some of these little babes, too.

Here's the conversation I imagine is taking place:


Rose: If you get the key over there, I've got the throttle over here.  We'll jam outta here with our  moms and leave our dads jumping off those stupid rocks.  It'll be great.

Emma: I'm going for it!  GO, ROSE, GO!  THROTTLE DOWN!

Progress

There has been progress on two fronts.  First and most importantly, Emma has progressed in her walkers.  Her second walker was a complicated hanging sling walker that looks like something NASA designed and banned to pediatric therapy after they discontinued the space shuttle program.

Now Emma has graduated to a third walker that she has to use much more balance and coordination in, and she is doing SO. WELL.  So well in fact that we are going to be getting one of her own very, very soon.

As for our house, things are really getting ready to happen.  We've had a few days off here and there because of scheduling, but overall we're loving the progress.

Day 35: Doors and trim delivery

Days 36 and 37: Trim and door installation:

Day 38:  Beadboard wainscoting (for the bathroom) and pocket door delivery:

Day 39: Pocket door installation, partial wainscoting installation, and the beginnings of our shower:

Day 40: Trim priming and installation of HVAC unit for the addition:

And lastly but certainly not least, Emma and Elsie had a blast at the pool this weekend.  Such cute girls.  Holly and I kind of just wanted to sit there and stare at them all cute and miniature-looking in these big lounge chairs.

Emma did her best Jackie O impersonation on the way home (so maybe it's just a hoodie and not a head scarf, but still):

Bay-cation Bible School

This was Emma's first year of big girl VBS (as opposed to staying in the baby room).  I was so proud of my little one.  Even though I taught one of the five classes that she visited for 15 minutes each night, she was never upset to leave me.  So wait....should I be proud of her independence or is this an indicator that she doesn't love me as much as I would hope?  Pride.  That's what I'm going with.

Emma really came out of her shell a lot this week at VBS.  Russell saw her here and there and said that she would roll up to a lot of people for a hug (that's how you know you're REALLY special) and/or hold out her hand for high fives.  Emma had an amazing crew leader named Amie who took really good care of her, and I am eternally grateful to Amie specifically for making Emma's first and potentially scary VBS anything but scary and everything wonderful.

Great description of her personality

So my sister sent me this email, and she characterized Emma's personality so well, even though it was in a dream:

I nearly forgot to tell you - 2 or 3 nights ago I dreamed you were pregnant. Everything was perfectly ordinary and you had a boy. The only weird thing is that Emma named him something different from the name you had picked, and refused to call him by his real name (she was awesome and adored him, but had just decided on a different name). And everyone started calling him by that name talking to her, and it finally ended up being his name. And, of course, I can't remember what she called him. But every time someone used the "wrong" name, she'd correct them vehemently. He was...something with an M. William? Maxim? I can't dredge that up. But it was like she knew him already, and that was his name. You guys were just mistaken.


Dreams are weird, but that one struck me as so funny because Miss Emma was just so politely insistent about his name til it became true.



This is Emma to a T.  She is politely insistent.  She decides things.  And she is so sure that she is correct and everyone else is wrong, but not in a whiny, yelling, bratty way...in a you-must-be-thinking-about-something-else-because-I-am-certain-of-this-point-I'm-making-and-I'm-smiling-at-you-because-it's-funny-you-think-I'm-wrong kind of way.  And then she's so cute about it, that you just go along with it and agree because there's no harm anyway.  I'm not so sure I'd give in to her renaming a child, though...

Soaking it in

Everyone comments about how much little kids soak in, remember, and repeat.

Emma loves Sofia the First, a show on Disney Junior.  There's an episode (The Shy Princess) in which Vivian (the shy princess) is afraid to play her guitar in front of her classmates.  Sofia tells her to close her eyes and play from her heart (or something Disney-cheesy like that).  So Emma firmly believes that when you play a guitar, you have to close your eyes.  And she will instruct you to do so.  But first, you don't pronounce it "guitar":

You can barely see it because of the angle I'm shooting from, but Emma's eyes are closed during most of this next video, and then you see a short glimpse of a Stevie Wonder tribute around the 0:35 mark.  Of course, the second the camera turned off, she really jammed like Stevie.  Oh, and that's not a rat at my parents' house - that's their 3-pound dog.

When I tried to play the tigarga myself, I received strict instructions in a stern voice: "Close your eyes."

So close and SO. READY.

I'm so ready for this construction to be over, it's not even funny.  Our contractor is wonderful.  Amazing, even.  It's not him, or the mess that are bothering me.

It's the rest of our house.  Because we've managed to cram our lives into an even smaller living space than we were in before.  Poor Emma isn't allowed to crawl down the hall because it's so dirty.  Lola sleeps in her crate in our bedroom closet and has cried to get out EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT. since we moved into that bedroom.  I have inexplicable bruises.

Let me say again, our contractor is fantastic.  I don't blame him at all.  I blame the 60's...a decade infamous for so many things, the most troubling of which (in my current opinion) was the building of our house.

Day 33:  Sanding, which I don't have a picture of because it doesn't look much different.

Day 34: Paint options:

There's a rumor floating around our house that we could see paint by the end of the week.  OMG.

Also on Day 34: gutters

I could live here

I know everyone thinks they would love to live in New York, and many people change their minds once they actually do it.  I am one of those who absolutely thinks she could live there.  And maybe I would change my mind.  But in the meantime, here are a few reasons that would make me appreciate living in the city:

But here's where I draw the line...having a car and having to park it like this:

And when you need to fly out of the city, you are greeted by iPads everywhere in the airport with which you order food and drinks, get updates on your flight, and can surf the web.

There's no crying on vacation!

But there were definitely tears on my vacation, and with good reason.  In fact, I'm not sure why I seemed to be the only person crying.  Too bad my friend Brantley wasn't with me; I at least could have shared the tears with someone.

Russell and I visited the 9/11 memorial.  The museum is currently being built around the only remaining evidence of the twin towers...a steel beam coming up through the ground.  In this picture, look very closely behind the glass, and you can see a brown structure in the middle - that's the beam.

The two waterfalls that cascade where the twin towers stood are very powerful.  All the visitors were very respectful.  There were yellow roses randomly wedged into the names that were etched into the stone.  Something that really struck me was how calm the waters were in some parts of the waterfall and then violently cascaded down the sides.  

The Freedom Tower was beautiful, and you could see it all over town:

(see reflection on lower left):

Paying respect to groups and individuals:

And this is what completely sent me over the edge...if I had been alone, I wouldn't even have tried to hold it together.  Do yourself (and me) a favor, and click on these pictures to enlarge them.