Five Tid-Bits ABout Me You May Not Know:
1. I have 25 first cousins.
2. I was born with brown hair, which fell out and came in blond and by the time I was one year old, I had strawberry blond hair.
3. I am the middle child.
4. I have vacationed in Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Texas, California, Oregon, Washington, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
5. I raised hampsters in middle school.

Hola

I have been taking a Spanish class on Monday nights to become fluent in Spanish. Well I hope someday I will be. My employer will pay for it and then I can communicate with my Spanish speaking patients. Frequently I have patients come in for their echocardiogram (the exam I perform) who don't speak a lick of English or they have their 7 year old translate for them. So I decided to take this class to overcome this issue. Plus a bonus for me is when I become "fluent" by my employer's standards, which shouldn't be too hard, I get an automatic $1/ hour raise. A raise for free! How great is that. And I am enjoying it so far. Shawn asked me the other night while I was practicing my new words, "Do you talk to each other in Spanish at class?" Of course!

Look at the difference a year makes!

One Year Old

Two Years Old

Today was her Birthday and Jennica had a great day from the time she woke up until she went to bed. I love to hear her giggle and she did a lot of that today. She stayed up about an hour past her bedtime because I did not want to put her to bed and end her day. I Love you Pie.

Jennica's Birthday

That's her new kitchen. The stove "burner" makes sizzling and boiling sounds when you put the pans on it. We moved it into her room and she has been playing with it non stop.

Getting ready to blow out the candles on her cupcake on her birthday.

This was taken at 1:15 pm on October 1st, 2006. Jennica was born September 30th at 9:30 pm. She was about 15 hours old.

Pictures to come

Tonight I will add some pictures so be sure to check back.

My Goal

Hello everyone. It has been a long time since I posted anything on my blog. My friend Mary has inspired me to set a goal. I am going to post everyday for a month. This is for you too Staci. :-)

So here is the start of my month long journey. Well today is September 30th, Jennica's 2nd Birthday. I am feeling a little sad to see my baby girl turning into a big 2 year old already. We had a birthday party for her on Sunday and she took cupcakes to daycare today to share at snacktime. She is so full of energy and spice. She is very verbal and can almost speak in full sentences. Some of her favorite things are books ("read book, read book"), Elmo, Dora, stuffed animals (especially kitties), and her baby dolls. For her birthday Jennica got a play kitchen, dishes, play food, clothes, shoes, puzzles, and Dora toys. She loves to play outside or with Hunter and loves to swim in the bathtub. A few things Jennica does not like: lights on in the morning ("too bright" she says, thank goodness for dimmers), and shoes or socks on even though she loves shoes.

Happy Birthday Sweet Daughter! Two years ago you were just 19 inches long. Look how much you have grown! We love you Jennica.

The "Project" is done!

Well here is it.  Last Saturday we mounted the two solid oak ledges that I stained on Friday night. They fit perfectly and look really nice. We choose a dark red stain with a glossy finish.  This was such a learning project, with a lot of trial and error.  We also installed the track lighting that is shining is the background.  So if any of you (mainly your husbands and his friends, thanks for your help Jeremy) want to take a Saws-All to your walls, be prepared for a fun and rewarding experience.

Furry Friend

I asked Jennica to give J.R. a kiss. She loves our dogs. I remember when we first brought her home from the hospital... J.R. was scared of her for a few months and would not go near her. He tends to be a bit of a scaredy "dog", sometimes he gets freaked out by the funniest things. I sure do love that boy doggie.

Almost Done

We have been working on finishing the living room project the last few weekends. It all began last September when we took out part of the wall between the kitchen and living room to create a doorway. Before it was a solid wall. And we also cut out another part of the wall, to be able to see down to the finished basement. Well all this entailed learning about drywall and joint compound, sanding and texturing to match the remaining wall. We are glad to be almost done with it. This weekend we are shopping for the track lighting for over the stairs to the basement. Here is a picture taken several months ago in the middle of the project.  The "doorway" is on the right.  Now you can walk directly to the kitchen/ back of the house.  I will post more pictures when it is done.

Hot, Hot, Hot... Is this Iowa?

Hello everyone! This has been a very hot week in Wenatchee. I think the temps were 97 or 98 degrees most of the week, with a little humidity. This weekend should be in the 80's though. Shawn has 5 softball games this week. One each on Mon, Tues, and Wed, and then a double header on Friday. Hopefully Jennica and I will make it to the Friday games. We will try to avoid the mud puddles this time.