We've started remodeling the kitchen! I am super excited (RJ is super tired). We are losing the wall that separates the kitchen from the living room and opening everything up. This will not only make entertaining easier but will allow me to cook and look after Landon once he starts crawling. Plus, we're getting all new everything - including a DISHWASHER. 

A before shot of the sink and counter tops.
View into the kitchen from the living room (minus the refrigerator which we had already moved into the garage for the time being.)
As cool as it is - I am SUPER-DE-DOOPER excited to be throwing out the DishMaster faucet. (Click on the photo to enlarge it. Only then do you get a true look at how amazing the DishMaster is. And while you're at it - check out the awesome hole in the back of the sink!)
View from the back door into the kitchen.
The Old Kitchen. Good-Bye!!
The new view from the back door.
And the view from the back door one day later.
The view from the living room. RJ was brilliant and hung up the plastic to protect the rest of the house from drywall dust.
Since we don't have a kitchen anymore, but can't afford to eat out every meal, RJ has set up a make-shift kitchen for me in the garage. It really isn't too bad.
All the essentials. Running water. Coffee Maker. Rice Cooker. Toaster Oven. And Coleman Camp Stove. 
Refrigerator and Cabinet with dry goods.

Landon has been handling the remodel fairly well. (Day 2 involved some pretty intensive work that was really loud. He didn't nap well and let all of us know it.)

Exhausted from all the hard work. 

FIVE

1,826 Days

1 Condo, 1 Apartment, 1 Duplex, 1 House (of our very own!)

100s of hours of construction

At least 2 Dozen Camping Trips

13 Countries

NYC 2x 

100s of Prayers

Countless amazing Friends

Nearly 4 years in Ventura

8 Surfboards in our garage

Fishing Rods = 6

1 AMAZING Son

5 Incredible, Blessed, Joyful Years

Round-up.

Sweet Potatoes are a much bigger hit than zucchini with The Prince. 

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RJ gets 2 months (paid!) paternity leave from work. He only used a bit of it when Landon was born, so now we get him home for 6 full weeks!

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Most of that time is going to be spend remodeling our kitchen. 

Everything is getting redone. And I am getting a dishwasher. A luxury I have been without for the last 3 years.

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Our Chunky Monkey is already 4 months, 1 week old. He weights in at 15 lbs. 1 oz. and 24.5 inches.  

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We've been enjoying lettuce, cucumbers, and zucchini from our garden. Unfortunately I got ahead of myself in the excitement and picked the watermelon a bit too early. But, today I picked the first heirloom tomato and it is just right.

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A pic of my man multi-tasking. 

Shopping for kitchen appliances and entertaining the baby with some Baby Einstein. 

Rite Of Passage

Landon had his first real food yesterday (excluding the tiny bite of ice cream RJ gave him on Saturday. I've never seen the child smile so big!). 

He got zucchini. Not the most exciting food on the planet, but I'm a big proponent of greens. I'm thinking that if he starts with greens he'll love them for the rest of his life. Here's to hoping! 

100 Bucks

It is so interesting how people spend their money. Much like the clothes we wear, the things we purchase say a lot about us. Some people enjoy driving fancy cars; some like designer duds. Others take exotic trips; and some love to decorate and remodel. Electronics and high-tech gadgets lure in many; and others drop their dough on pricey edible delights. And some people want it all...(including massive credit card debt!). 

But what I find even more interesting is the "little" things people purchase. I have friends who can't start their day without Starbucks. They know all about "the latte factor", but that daily cup is worth it.  Others love going to the movies and would never wait for a flick to come out on DVD. My crafty friends spend money at fabric stores and my well dressed friends scour sales every weekend to continually improve their wardrobe. I have a weakness for books; RJ loves fly-fishing flies. 

Real Simple magazine occasionally does a column where they ask someone how they would spend an extra $100. I love reading it; everyones answers are so different! Now this $100 is like Monopoly money - it must be spent on wants and not on needs. 

If someone handed me an extra $100 here's what I would do:

$6 - coffee and a scone at Palermo's

$7 - flowers at the Farmer's Market

$20 - on the Trader Joe's Cookbook (I've been wanting if forever and just haven't bought it!)

$15 - the newest best selling novel

$10 - something cute for Landon to wear

$5 - five new songs from itunes

$7 - a yellow vase from Ross for the flowers

$30 - fancy drinks at Watermark with my husband (I would beg the neighbors for free baby-sitting)

And so I ask you: What would you do with an extra $100?

ABCs

I saw this on my friends Facebook page and thought it would be fun to put on the blog (or I am just avoiding all the chores I have around the house.) The black answers are mine and the blue are Landon’s. 

A - Age: 26; 4 months 2 days

B - Bed size: Cal King - I need my space when sleeping; crib

C - Chore you hate: Bathtub & Floors; chores?

D - Drink favorite: Coffee; Boobie Milk

E - Essential start your day item: Coffee; Boobie Milk

F - Favorite color: Pink!; Orange - it looks good with my blue eyes

G - Gold or Silver: white gold; Platinum 

H - Height: 5’8; We don’t know but we’ll find out on Friday (wearing 6 month clothes!)

I - Instruments you play: itunes; razzing 

J - Job title: wife, mom; ruler of household

K - Kid(s): Landon boy; cutest one ever

L - Living arrangements: house 2 miles from the beach that my husband has been remodeling for the past year! New kitchen coming soon!!; move from room to room with mom and dad throughout the day but sleep in my own room; can’t wait to start crawling so I can really get my hands into all this great stuff I see

M - Mom’s name: Jeanette; Anna

N - Nicknames: Babe, Anns, Maria; L, Chunky Monkey, Little Prince

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Appendicitis; NONE! 

P - Pet Peeve: When dinner is ready and it takes the rest of the household forever to get to the table and then everything is cold; gas

Q - Quote from a movie: I’m not cool enough to know movie quotes; Mozart tunes from Baby Einstein 

R - Right or left handed: right; ambidextrous 

S - Siblings: 1 younger sister; None

T - Time you wake up: When Landon does; Lately it’s been 5:30 am b/c I’m hungry again

U- Underwear: usually I wear it; size 2 diapers

V- Vegetable you dislike: Brussels sprouts (how original); anything gassy 

W - Ways you run late: Either Landon decides to spit up all over himself on the way out the door or I can’t find the one-hundred-thousand items I need for the diaper bag OR as we’re leaving RJ is distracted by something and L and I wait in the car for him; Usually my fault

X - X-rays you’ve had: teeth and CAT scan to find out if my appendix had burst; nope, but I’m probably going to fall off something high at some point and need to have my arm x-rayed

Y - Yummy food you make: Lemon cake from the Meyer lemons in the yard; I just eat

Z - Zoo favorite: Elephants; Mom and Dad said it’s a waste of money to take me to the zoo right now, but I do love the Caterpillar hanging from my mobile 

Landon's Pearls of Wisdom

Weekend Warriors

I didn't really mean for my blog to turn into The Landon Chronicles, but since the little guy is my constant companion I don't really have much else to share.

RJ and his buddy Tim hit up the Kern River this weekend to seek The Trout and ManVentues. So, it's been just me and Bubbs. We've been having fun of our own...

FRIDAY:


Landon hangs with me while getting ready in the morning. As you can see in the picture the little lover boy gave me some arm hickies.

We also watered the backyard together.

And then headed to Laura's Grandmother's beach house for some rays.

Although he had been to the beach many times before this was Landon's first experience with toes in the sand. He thought it was so fun and kicked his little feet around until the sand started to chaff his sensitive skin.

After a nice long beach nap we headed home and straight for the bath. Landon was covered in sand (and an explosive baby boy poo.) This was his first sink bath and he loved splashing around and creating a huge mess in the bathroom.

Please excuse the nudity. If I was any good at photoshop I would have censored. :)

Finally, time for bed. But someone was too wound up to sleep and wanted to talk and practice rolling over!

'

SATURDAY:

Worn out from our exciting beach day L slept for 12 full hours.  Refreshed and ready to hit the sand again we headed to Butterfly Beach with Kelly. One of my favorite things is watching my friends hang out with my son. It is such a pleasure to see them spending time with him and loving on him. Kel is quite the Landon fan. After watching a cute young couple take engagement photos Landon and Miss Kelly decided to pose for a few photos themselves. 

Fat baby legs!!!

All tuckered out and ready to go home.

SUNDAY:

R&R. We just hanging low recuperating from all the beach fun.