Boy crazy at 21 (months that is)

We've already entered the boy crazy age and Cassidy is not even 22 months old yet. First it was Mitchell, an older boy from church, nursery to be exact. Out of the blue she started saying his name during the day. Next she'd find the picture of us with another family on vacation and say the son's name over and over, Jaxson, Jaxson, Jaxson. Now she carries the picture around like a teenage girl with a crush. It's really cute. We see Jaxson's family about every other month and have gone on vacation a few times with them. He's really nice to Cassidy, but at 8 years old, I don't think it'll work out.
Cassidy is so fun. Today I was putting Molly down to sleep and Cassidy just couldn't resist coming in and jumping on the bed Molly and I were sitting on. Then she wanted to play with Molly's shoes. But my favorite was when it was her to turn to be put down for a nap she responded to my "I love you" with her typical "love you, too" and then threw in the "momma" for bonus points. I could only smile "I love you, too, Momma." How great is that. That reminds me of last night when the missionaries came over for dinner. On the other side of our dining room wall is Cassidy's crib so we can really hear her well. Well last night she wasn't asleep by the time we sat down for dinner so all through dinner we heard her trying to talk to us, saying "hi momma," and all kinds of other cute stuff. We did have to move her crib away form the wall because she was enjoying kicking and slapping the wall too much. There she is right now saying "hi momma" at the top of her lungs and jumping up and down. So cute. We consider the first 30 minutes after we put her down to be her own wind down time and know that she won't fall asleep for awhile, but that is okay with us. Now she's saying "Molly" and "Cassie" (her name for herself). How I love that little imp.
Molly is almost 6 months, crazy. She's a roller and usually ends up rolling onto her tummy from her back. So different from Cassidy. She is SOOOO happy. I started solids with her and she does well with them. The only problem, it's made her stinky poo even stinkier!! Oh well. Maybe that will keep the boys away. :)
We have our garden in, FINALLY. The tomato plants are doing well, all 30+ of them. My mom would laugh so hard if she saw me with tomato plants in the ground. I HATE fresh tomatoes, they are not good. But we make so much tomato sauce that it makes sense to grow a ton. The pumpkins are doing really well, the watermelon, zucchini, and butternut squash are content. I hope our peppers start picking it up. Pictures to come.
We are making progress with the second story addition. We downloaded AutoCAD and are working on the drawings to submit to the city. We spent 1.5 hours at the city planning office 2 Fridays ago getting the information on the steps that we need to take to make this a reality. I can't wait!!! So exciting. More space!!!!!!

Our girls

Here are the cutest videos ever. And no Cassidy did not body slam Molly.

So quick and easy, kind of

Can I say how much I like Craigslist? Another sale. I have had a pair of JumpSoles since I was a senior in high school. They have just sat in the garage collecting dust. So I craigslisted them. They were put in a box and flown to Texas where a gentleman is hoping to get much use of them. Thanks PayPal and thanks Craigslist for the extra money in my pocket and for the extra room in the garage (and in my closet because that's where the box was hanging out that I used to mail them). I LOVE getting rid of stuff, especially when other people get to enjoy it.

The fence is done. Well almost. I have to cut one picket shorter to accommodate the cement at the base of the post. It is AWESOME!! Joe even likes it. The pictures are in the slide show to the right, or will be when I get them uploaded. I even started planting herbs and peppers now that little miss Cassidy is no longer able to go back there, without us anyway. It feels great to get moving on the garden. With the weather in the low 70s this week, it'll be perfect for getting the rest of the tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, butternut squash, pumpkins, watermelons, and whatever else there is, planted. Yeah!!!

Chubs

Recently Joe (and I, I must admit) have started calling Molly chubs. Yesterday she had her four month appointment and we were justified in the new nickname. She has caught up, and even surpassed, Cassidy's four month stats, despite having started out 1.5 inches shorter and 1.25 pounds lighter!!! Crazy. She now weighs 13 pounds 6.5 ounces (Cas was only 13 lb 5 oz), is 24.5 long (same as Cas) and her head is 15.75 in (same as Cas). I do realize that those she is still relatively a lightweight but I feel proud to know that we've gained almost four pounds since her two month appointment. My visiting teaching companion, our teachee, and I joke about how my companion produces cream while my teachee and I produce skim milk. So the big weight gain really boosts my confidence in my ability to produce enough.
Us girls are sick, yet again. I feel so bad for Cassidy because she is also cutting two molars on top of the illness. And poor Molly sounds so hoarse and stuffy and so pitiful when she cries. It breaks my heart. Cassidy keeps waking up partially and crying out. Next time she does wake up fully a little Tylenol should help.
I wanted the fence up by tomorrow but I don't think that will happen. Tomorrow I'll get the stringers and pickets painted and hopefully attached. Maybe it'll be up tomorrow, but if not than by Monday or Tuesday at the latest. I can't wait to get the plants in the ground.We did get a lot of weeds pulled today so that was good. With the next 10 days looking gorgeous in terms of weather I can't wait to see what gets accomplished.

Fun stuff

This is Molly on April 19th. Isn't she getting so big? She is really starting to stand well and likes to sit up on our laps. So cute.


This is Cassidy and her friend Ella (Cassidy calls her "A-ya", so funny) from April 12. Cassidy started bouncing then Ella started bouncing. Don't you love the roll off the step? Cassidy asked for Ella for the next 3 days. It was really cute.

So Joe and I are moving ahead with some projects at home. The first is a little picket fence in our back yard to keep the kiddies out of the garden area. So far we've sunk the posts and primed the pickets. We are waiting on the lumber to dry enough to cut and make the stringers to which we will attach the pickets. I'd love to get that project done before we plant our "garden". All our plants are sitting on our patio table and are waiting to get in the ground. Hopefully it'll all be done by May 1st. That is my goal. What day is May 1st? Well, by the end of next week, whatever the date my be.
The BIG project we have just decided to undertake is... add a second story to our house. Crazy, we've talked about it now and then ever since we got married. Well, with the economy down and just two kids at home we thought the time is right. So first we have to design what we want and then get a structural engineer to tell us what we need to do to the house and foundation to be able to add the second story. That and all the needed structural reinforcing (as well as the guest bath remodel) will be this year's project. That and getting all the permits and the city stuff done. Next spring and summer we will rip off the roof over the area where the second floor will be and then add the floor joists, do the framing, drywall, yadda yadda yadda. I'm already picking paint colors and fixtures for the bathroom. In total I think we are going to try to add about 800 square feet, it'll be 3 large bedrooms, a large closet for storage (our house has almost NO storage), a bathroom and the stair case obviously.
I know it will be nuts and crazy but I am SOOOO excited at the prospect of more room. We have the smallest house model in our subdivision but we will probably end up having the largest family (cross our fingers) so obviously we need more room.
So I am going to post a slide show of the progress of all our house projects. There may be long stretches without updates but bear with us. Hopefully by next summer the picture of our house from the front will look much different.