Sadie's First Steps

On Saturday, Sadie celebrated her 11-month 'birthday' and took her first steps. Now, 2 days later, we caught her on film so we can share it with everyone. Go Sadie!!!

Obsessed with Lowe's

Judging by the title of this post, you may think I'm talking about Brad, but no, it's about Noelle. Lowe's is her new favorite store. We've been there a lot to get everything from a grill cover to a Christmas tree, paint to switch plates, deck boards to lightbulbs. Brad has enthusiasticlly informed her that Lowe's has EVERYTHING.
Noelle is now our Lowe's list keeper. She informed us the other day that we need new blinds in Sadie's room. (This is true since Sadie so graciously ripped off a small section.) Noelle continued by saying "We need to buy them at Lowe's. Lowe's has EVERYTHING."
The next day we were debating whether to go get a pizza from WalMart or Kroger. Noelle voted to get it at Lowe's, "Lowe's has EVERYTHING."
The best Lowe's endorsement came when Noelle was playing with her Fisher Price Nativity set. She was reinacting a very extended version of the Christmas story. My ears perked up when I heard her say, "And the donkey went to Lowe's to get some food for the trip."

2nd Generation Dress

Here's Sadie in a dress that I wore my first Christmas and Noelle wore for her first Christmas. I forgot to pull the collar out of the dress since I was I was trying to keep the "photo session" short, but you get the idea.

"The most beautiful house on the street"

I asked Brad to take a picture of our house all lit up for Christmas and while he was taking the picture, we got the high praise that we have "the most beautiful house on the street." This of course made Brad and me laugh since our house if very plain and we've never been fond of the exterior color-scheme (especially the orange shingles...who came up with that idea?). So while Brad was outside a couple drove by, then backed up to tell him how beautiful they thought our house was. It made me smile and I ask Brad to tell me the story everyday, so I can feel good about our house. It just goes to show what a spotlight can do...and a lot of darkness!

Our new deck

Here's our almost-complete deck. Brad did such a great job and I love looking out the kitchen window to see such a nice space, with trees behind. The tall posts on the one end will have 2 beams attached for an arbor. In the Spring we'll hang plants and a hummingbird feeder from there to make a non-offensive privacy 'fence' between us and the house right next door.