Reminisce and Remodel

We had this past week off for Winter Break (aka "Ski Week") so Andy and I took full advantage of our time.  It was great to make up some lost time with Emma (since I have class two nights per week).  We also started our remodel of one of the upstairs bedrooms.  In that process, we had about 10 boxes to go through that had been stashed in the closet since we moved to the house.  Oh. my. goodness.  It was exhausting, yet a little fun, to go through everything.  I decided it was time to reminisce about the time Andy and I had together before our little munchkin came along 3 years ago.

Halloween on Leawood Drive in Anchorage

camping and fishing in AK

This is when we got engaged.

riding Segways in Chicago

Concerts at Moose's Tooth were always fun.

One of our backpacking trips to an Eagle River yurt

cross-country skiing in Girdwood, AK

venturing out in the rain in the Tetons on our drive from Seattle to Salt Lake City

Backpacking trip in the Uintas--Utah

biking the Mid-Mountain trail in Park City

biking around Park City Mountain Resort

sneaking a glimpse of the Bob Dylan concert (in the pouring rain) at Deer Valley (Utah)

Here are some photos of the remodel...so far. This will be Emma's new room.

Let the demolition begin!

We weren't sure what we'd find behind the paneling.  This insulation was probably as old as the house so we decided to replace it with R-13.  

Emma and me pulling out nails.

And, of course, we've had some fun this past week, too...

Emma has been testing her little sister's things...

She managed to climb in here by herself.  

shoveling the deck with Daddy

My mom gave Emma this art smock for Christmas.  My mom used it when she was a little girl.

February, Already?!

Good grief!  I can't believe it is February.  It's hard to believe that in just 3 short months we will be meeting our little bundle of joy!  

We took Emma to the Museum of Natural History last weekend.  Andy and Emma toured around while I was there for a project I had to do for one of my classes.

This dinosaur loved getting coins put down his throat.  Emma was a little scared at first but warmed up to the big guy after a few times.

Emma reading a chapter book and taking notes on her magna doodle.  Do you think she watches her Momma do homework?

Last weekend we went on a great hike.  The best part--the giant snowflakes coming down.

Somebody loves the snow!

Such a helper!

Emma wanted to take this photo.  Here is my belly at 27 weeks.  I seemed to have really popped this past week.  

Lovin' the Outdoors

We had a bit of a cold spell about a week ago so our time spent outdoors was very limited, if we even got out at all.  The past few days have been glorious, however,' and we are soaking up the sun!  Emma has been out skiing three times now.  That's more than I've been out in the past few years!  (Hopefully, next year, I can get back onto the slopes.)  She is just loving the skiing.  We are at the point now where she has her backpack (harness) and she is on her own (with Andy holding the handles, of course).  She fell a few times the other day but just got right back up and kept going.

I started back up with grad school on January 7th.  I have two classes--Research Design and Integration of Educational Technology.  The latter is definitely more interesting but I am keeping an open mind about research.  With teaching full-time, going to grad school, and having a toddler to keep up with, our weeks go by pretty quickly.  Andy and Emma have been spending some quality time together on Monday and Wednesday nights.  I am so lucky to have such a supportive husband.  What a guy!

We are going to be doing a bit of remodeling upstairs to prepare for baby #2.  We'll  be tearing out the paneling, making sure there is sufficient insulation, and using sheetrock to complete the upstairs.  Goody-bye, paneling!  Emma will be getting a new room and I am excited to get that ready for her.  This is where Pinterest becomes a little addicting.

day #2 of skiing

After a delicious breakfast on Main Street, she was ready to hit the slopes again. (day #3)

soaking up the sun and great temps. on a snowshoe/sled ride

After a while, she preferred to hold the sled on the way down the hill.