Just Keep Swimming!

Justin went to a conference this past Wednesday through Friday in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. So, Garytt and I decided to tag along. Garytt and I were able to spend a lot of time outside walking and watching people play golf on Wednesday because the weather was beautiful.



However, a cold front came through causing us to stay inside Thursday and Friday. So, it was off to the hotel pool! It was Garytt's first experience in the pool and he seemed to really love it! Unfortunately, we forgot a camera, so the only photos we took were from our cell phones. But here they are anyhow.

Check out my fun swim trunks

Garytt and Mom

Garytt learning to kick his legs

Garytt loves jumping in and out of the water

"Stretching" after a good swim

We enjoyed our time in Lake Geneva despite the weather. :)

Garytt's 1st Birthday!

We're having a party!
Come one and come all!
No matter how big,
No matter how small!





Garytt turned one on March 25. I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by! We celebrated his birthday in Kansas with a big Suessical party on March 27. We had a great time planning everything beginning with the Suess inspired rhyme for the invitation. The menu consisted of Green Eggs and Ham (of course!), Goldfish, Sweedish Fish, Yertle the Carmel Turtles, Fox in Sox pretzel sticks, Pink Ink Yink Drink, Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes, the Grinch's heart sugar cookies and of course the birthday cake!










Of course, no 1st birthday party is complete without watching the birthday boy eat cake! Garytt did seem to enjoy the cake but didn't make as many funny faces as we thought he might.



We enjoyed visiting with everyone and felt so blessed to have the love and support of such great family and friends! Garytt really seemed to enjoy being the center of attention and he completely wiped out by the end of the party.

Garytt held his mouth open while everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to him...almost like "Is this all for me?"

If you want to see more pictures from the party, click on any of these images and it will direct you to the photo gallery of his party. The gallery also includes photos of the cake making process, which those of you that have witnessed that in the past know it can be quite a process! This was my first three tiered cake, which really did make me nervous as we were still putting the final touches on it the night before the party!

Garytt's First Haircut!

After a full year, on March 26, we finally took Garytt in to a stylist to have his first official haircut. I did trim his bangs a few months ago just to keep his hair out of his eyes. But as you can see from the before picture, he really needed a haircut again!







The stylist decided it would be easiest if Garytt sat on my lap. Garytt did a wonderful job throughout the process! It was amazing to watch the stylist work on him, too! She had anticipate his movements and just work with whichever direction he wanted to face. He was very interested in the banana clip she gave him to play with, so that kept him occupied for most of it. Then he was busy charming the lady in the chair next to us and her stylist. He is a cutie!



And now he looks like a big boy! (And you can see his eyes!)

We're Back!

Ok, so we know we have been terrible about posting new blog posts. As many of you know, life has been a bit crazy for us over the past few months. Justin accepted a new position in Oshkosh, WI starting in February. We were very blessed to sell our house in Kansas and find a house here in Wisconsin. We were only separated for two weeks during this transition, which was also a huge blessing.

Our house here in Wisconsin is a diamond in the rough. It is a nice solid house with a good amount of space. However, the previous owners lived here for 47 years. Needless to say, there are a lot of updates needed. The carpeting is probably from the 70s. The previous owners really loved carpeting though! So, much so that they decided to put it on the walls in the hallway upstairs...yes, on the walls! We haven't tackled that project just yet, but I will be sure to include pictures when we do!







As with so many home projects, our first project took much longer than anticipated. We decided to strip the wallpaper in Garytt's room first so that we could get it painted and make it feel like a comfortable place for him. What we thought would take a few weekends, took a month. But we are very happy that we took the time to do it right and remove the wallpaper rather than just painting over it because it looks so much better now!


This is the before photo. You can't really tell but the wallpaper had very small flowers all over it. Not only is it totally not my style, it looked a bit girly for Garytt.


Pulling up the carpet.


Patching the wall.



We will be adding a green stripe and some wall decor. We'll have to post more pictures when it is totally done.