Kitchen Finished!

Our kitchen is FINISHED!! (with the exception of a new light fixture and paint - oh why are painting decisions SO hard!?)

Goodbye cabinets that won't close. Hello island with more room! Please excuse the mess of the before picture - Kyle insists on making 'before' pictures even worse. Please excuse the mess in the new picture - We were unpacking everything. 

Kitchen Update!

It has been a LONG road to get here. 6 weeks later than expected, and we're still not 100% finished!  But we have a useable space, and that's what matters. I can wash Em's bottles somewhere other than the bathroom sink. Gross, I know. Thankfully we have an amazing contractor and handy man! All that's left is putting shelves in the cabinets, regrouting one tiny spot of tile, painting, and changing out light fixtures! Not too shabby!

I worried over the granite for weeks. Seriously, weeks. I hated it from the second I picked it out. I hated it when we were walking out of the building. I hated it when I was having dreams about how much I hated it. I was a nervous wreck about this stupid granite. Kyle was about over listening to me say how much I hated this granite until he finally said "Kristin, if you hate it so much, which you clearly do, then CHANGE IT!" Oh. Okay. Well. I hadn't thought of that. That's a great idea!! Yeah, I'll just change it.

What I originally picked out.

Too bad the granite I wanted was 4x's the price of what we could afford. Bummer. Insert tears. Because I did cry.

What I wanted

After many (many, many) phone calls, texts, and emails with the granite company owner, I finally picked the granite that now rests in our kitchen! And I have to say, I absolutely LOVE it! I made the right decision. I'm so glad we switched!

What I got

Gettin' Hitched!

It was right before Kyle's 29th birthday and his older brother and I wanted to surprise him with Lucas and his fiancée Kendra joining us for dinner and a whole weekend of birthday fun! Kyle managed to find out about our surprise and tried to talk Lucas out of coming because he was planning on proposing that weekend (which also happens to be Valentine's Day) – but it didn't work. Now that Lucas was in on the plan, they still opted to continue with the trip to keep me in the dark.

*Back story – Kyle says that I'm hard to shop for (rude) so I send him gift ideas for me throughout the year, you know, just in case he wants to buy me things. I'm just thoughtful like that!

We had planned on going to Trezo Mare for dinner and my parentals were going to watch Emerson for us. I drop Emerson off at church (the one we're actually getting married at) with my sister and we start chatting. I mention to her about some of the Valentine's Day jewelry pictures I had seen on Facebook and I wondered out loud of Kyle had gotten me something like that (he was very secretive about my Valentine's Day gift, but insisted that I get it at dinner. This was the first inkling that I had that something big was going to happen that night.) SCO said that she thought that I might be a little disappointed with the gift he got me, but to keep in mind that he did try really hard. Then she hugged me. Something really was going to happen that night.

I was also giving my stepmom suggestions on when to put Emerson in her pajamas and when to feed her to make the transition of bedtime a lot easier since I wouldn't be nursing her like normal. She normally has zero issues with those types of suggestions but I felt like she was a little resistant. I remember thinking "why is it a big deal to put her in her pajamas before giving her the bottle?" She just kept saying "oh, we'll see. We'll make it work." Okay… Sure.

I went back home and Kendra and I got ready for dinner. It's not very often that I get to actually wash my hair and put product in it (thank you Emerson) so it was a very exciting affair. Once we were ready and were heading out the door, Kyle said "you look beautiful." What!? That doesn't happen unprompted very often. Something was DEFINITELY happening that night.

Over dinner (which was absolutely delicious by the way) Kyle handed me my gift box. I opened it up and it was a pull over monogrammed hoodie that I had sent him a link to several months ago – but it was monogrammed with me NEW initials KDM.

*Back story – I told him in the email that I didn't want the hoodie until we were married or at least engaged so I could wear it, without being a weirdo.

So I'm over here thinking "oh my gosh, what a perfect proposal! He's going to ask me to marry him! Nicely done babes!" Nope. I was wrong. He said "I know you can't wear this for a few years, but I wanted you to have it. I knew you really liked it." Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Yes, I said okay about 10 times trying to wrap my brain around this. Okay. I LOVED the hoodie, but I was a little bummed. I totally understood what my sister meant – I was a little disappointed, but I could tell he had tried.

Fast forward to after dinner and we're heading to pick up Emerson. I was so annoyed with Kyle that I almost asked Kendra if she wanted to go with me to pick up Emerson and the boys could go home. I'm glad that I didn't. We're driving along and Kyle keeps bringing up the hoodie – "Are you sure you're not disappointed? You're really not mad?" – basically kept digging at me to get even more annoyed/upset. Salt meet wound. I'm trying so hard not to cry (I was really expecting a proposal at dinner! There were so many signs!) and I start texting one of my closest friends (Jenni) who I knew would be awake (keep in mind it's 11pm) about how disappointed I was and how upset I was getting. She said that it was the saddest thing she had ever heard and hoped that we could talk about it later.

We get to my dad's and walk downstairs. Right away I noticed was that Emerson was in her pack and play in the middle of the room – and there were CANDLES right next to her! "Why are there candles right next to my baby!?" was the first thing out of my mouth. As I'm walking over to pick her up (because she's fussing – and because there's FIRE right next to her) I notice that there is rose petals and candles lining the aisle leading up to her. I thought "oh, that's cute that my dad would do that for my stepmom!" I lean over to grab Em and I notice that she's not in her pajamas, but in an onsie that says "Mommy, will you marry my Daddy?" I turn around and Kyle is down on one knee with a ring. It was awesome. As soon as he did his proposal speech and I said yes (while crying) our song "Come to Me" by the Goo Goo Dolls starts playing on the TV and my dad pops out from the office, my stepmom out from behind the piano, and my sister comes crawling out from underneath the table! They had all been recording it. I can't imagine a better way to celebrate our love for each other and our commitment to our future. He really got me good!

*Back story – Kyle plays basketball on Monday nights. He had planned on lying to me (gasp!) to tell me that he had to stay late to ref a game after his was done, so that he could go to my dad's house and work out the kinks in the proposal plan. But, I had a last minute work obligation on the Sunday before 'Lie Day' so he was able to go then. He said that he was extremely grateful that I had to go into work because he knew that something would go wrong if he had to lie. Perfect timing.

Looking back at it, there really were a TON of hints that Kyle had dropped, in addition to all of my "feelings." We had driven by the place where he got the flowers and had said "oh wow, that looks like a good place to get flowers at." Our song was playing at Wendy's one day (totally romantic, I know) and I said "I hope you have that song playing at our proposal!" to which he responded with " oh, I totally already have that incorporated." – I thought he was joking. Turns out he wasn't. Well played.

7 Month Update

My Emerson Kate. You are the sweetest little girl who lights up any time your dad or I walk into the room. This makes us especially happy in the morning when we come to get you, and when we grab you from daycare. You're also quite fond of your big sister Sophie too!

We're so amazed at how quickly you're growing! You roll all over the place and easily sit up unassisted. Long gone are the days where we could lay you somewhere and go off and do other things without worrying about where you would end up. 

You contently sleep in your crib, as long as you've been nursed before we lay you down. If you're not ready, you let us know. You only get up 3-4 times a night to nurse now. YES! Most people think that's still a fail, but we consider it a victory. Those growth spurts ARE THE WORST! I'm not sure how we survived.

Easily the best part of this stage is the hugs and kisses we get! They're the best. Keep on lovin' baby girl! We love you SO much. 

6 Month Update

Weight: 18 lbs 1 oz

Height: 27.75 inches

Head Circumference: 17.25 inches

95th percentile for height, 84th for weight!

5 Month Appointment

Em was sent home from daycare, but we had an inkling that she wasn't sick, so we took her to the doctor to get a note stating she wasn't sick... But on the up side, we know how much she's grown since her last visit! And for the record, this kid was not sick!

Weight: 17 lbs 9 oz

Height: 26.5 inches

Head Circumference: 17.25 inches

95th percentile for height, 90th for weight! 

Monthly Picture Update

..I'm sad I didn't take more pictures :( I'll work on it!