Home Improvements

The last few weeks I have been working on the exterior of the house, and the front yard. It is amazing what a difference a few changes can make. It started when I painted the front door.  (I just had to get rid of that country blue color!) I also painted the original 1962 hardware, which I love for it's vintage feel. 

This week I took down the shutters and window boxes so I could paint them black. But when I got the shutters down I realized that I liked the house a lot better without them. And since I'm going for a clean, mid-century modern look (like the era of the house), it makes sense.  So the shutters went out to live in the shed, and the window boxes got painted and put pack up. They even got some new flowers planted in them. The house was looking so much better!  I still plan to replace that carriage style porch light (yuk!) with something more modern that will go with the new house numbers I put up. It's going to look fantastic!

Next, the yard.

First I had to get rid of all those weeds in that bed along the sidewalk.

I have wanted to edge the sidewalk with some nice plants, but it was going to cost me several hundred dollars for that many plants. I wasn't ready to invest that much in it. So when I read on a blog that someone was tearing out a whole patch of lirope from their yard, I promptly emailed them to see if I could pick them up.  It was an hour and a half drive to Richmond, but I got over 100 plants out of it. (Which would have cost me about $500)  Sweet!  And they were the exact plant I had wanted in the first place. Awesome.

Look how full my car was!  (Thanks John and Sherry for hooking me up!)

It took me a couple of days to dig up the weeds, plant the lirope, cut a trench along the edge, lay down the weed cloth, and then spread the mulch.  It was back-breaking work, and I am exhausted now... but it was all worth it. I am so pleased with the results.

Here is a 'before' picture of the house when we bought it a year ago. You can see it with the blue shutters. We're not quite done yet, but we have made a lot of progress...

Little Boy Blue

Leo loves blueberries.

I was making a smoothie one morning, and decided to pull out a couple of frozen blueberries for Leo. I put them on his high chair tray... and it was love at first bite. 

Soon his face was covered in purpley colored juice, and his hands were sticky and blue. Here he is, doing the sign for "more."  

More, more, more!  He just can't get enough of them.

Easter Fun

It's a few weeks before Easter, but we had a Easter Egg Hunt at my sister's house on Sunday. Leo didn't grasp the concept at first, and preferred to pick up sticks and pinecones instead of eggs, but he eventually got the hang of it. And when he discovered that the eggs were full of candy he got even more enthusiastic...

Double Trouble

We visited my sister in Utah and Leo had a great time with his cousin Bridger (who is 7 weeks older).

They had fun tickling each other, playing in their tunnel, and getting into trouble all over the house.  Leo taught Bridger how to empty the kitchen drawers, and Bridger taught Leo how to throw things down the stairs. They were full of energy, and had lots of mischievous fun together.

Our first day in Utah felt like "Spring", but that quickly changed to a week of snow and heavy rain. Leo and I had packed our Spring clothing, so we were not prepared for such cold weather! Brrr.
Luckily, the sun came out and we enjoyed a few sunny days before coming home.



Farewell

Jack left for Iraq yesterday. He will be gone for 6 months. Saying goodbye was heartbreaking, and we miss him already.

It will take him several days to get to Baghdad, where he will be staying. (He will be working for DCMA as an auditor of service contracts for the military.)  Once he gets settled we should be able to talk on the phone and do web-chats, so we are looking forward to that. Thank goodness for modern technology that makes it so much easier to keep in touch, regardless of where you are in the world. 

My aunt was telling me that when her husband went off to Vietnam that she rarely got a letter from him, and only got to talk to him once by short wave radio. (He waited in line for 2 hours to make the call, but they could hardly hear each other, she cried the whole time, and then they got cut off!) Thank goodness for modern technology!

Jack and Leo have been spending lots of quality time together the last few weeks. They've had a great time riding horse back, wrestling on the floor, and having 'tickle fiesta'.  Leo sure loves his daddy!

Cherry Blossom Festival

We drove into DC today to see the Cherry Blossoms festival. The blossoms are at their peak this week, and they were pretty incredible. Over 3700 trees surround the Tidal Basin, and the Jefferson Memorial.
People from all over the world were there to see the trees in all their splendor.

It was a chilly 40 degrees outside today, so that put a damper on our Spring-time revelry... but we had a great time nonetheless.

Here are some more photos of those fabulous flowering trees:

Laughing Leo

Shenanigans

Leo is 14 months old now, and is so full of personality. He still loves pointing at things, but now he also does this funny shrugging thing, with his elbows put together, and hands put out. (as seen in the bath photos below)  It is so charming.

Leo is also really into books. He loves pointing at the pictures, and bringing them to me so I can read him a story. (His attention span has improved slightly so he will actually sit still long enough to hear one.)

Leo was in his room today, playing while I was in the kitchen. It was a little too quiet in there... I should have known that he was up to something. A few mintues later he came out of his room covered in baby powder. 

(at least this mess was easy to clean up!)

And for the biggest news of all... it looks like Leo is FINALLY getting some teeth!

If you look closely you can see the two on the bottom starting to push through. Yesterday afternoon he was really in pain, so I just rocked him for about a half an hour until the Tylenol kicked in, and then he took a 2 1/2 hour nap... then he was fine. Poor little guy. I'm sure there are some sleepless nights ahead.

Finally, a cute video of Leo playing with a stuffed animal.
He never ceases to amaze me with his cuteness...

100% Boy

It's been suprisingly warm this week, and we are loving the 60 and 70 degree temperatures.  I took Leo into the backyard yesterday, and he was having the time of his life!  This was the first time he's really been outside to roam around since he started walking, so he was thrilled to be exploring everything in the backyard. He picked up every stick he came upon, waved it in the air, and then carried it along until he found another stick that he liked better. He crumbled up leaves, dug in the dirt, felt the rough bark of all the trees, and picked blades of grass. He was in little boy heaven.

 

Today I was outside working on a project during Leo's nap. (I'm sanding off the old finish of a coffee table I bought for $20)  When he woke up a while later I brought him outside with me and he was fascinated by the sander, and the whole sanding process. I put my ear protectors on his head, and he looked so cute with his chubby cheeks squished together. And I guess he liked wearing them because he toddled off to explore the backyard while they were still on.

 

Leo is all boy. He loves dirt, sticks, and power tools.

Then and Now

Leo had two pairs of these cute dinosaur pajamas.

One in 'newborn' and one for '12 months'.What a change, from then to now.

Now that Leo is 13 months old I guess we can't really call him a baby anymore. I'll have to change the header of our blog to just "Jack, Mandi and Leo"...

Toddler Time

Leo has embraced toddlerhood whole heartily.  He has a mind of his own now, and he moves swiftly from room to room, leaving a path of destruction in his wake. Drawers are emptied and shelves are cleared  with hurricane force...

The good news is that he can entertain himself for hours.  To him, everything is a toy, whether it is a plastic colander or a box of kleenex. My efforts to pick-up after him may be futile, but it is so fun to watch his little face as he plays and explores and makes big messes. He gets so animated, and has such a good time that it's hard for me to keep from laughing at his crazy antics. What a cutie.

Here's a photo of Leo tearing up the hotel room in Colorado, where we stayed for a few days while Jack was there on business. As you can see, the floor was littered with debris from Leo's exploits.  He also enjoyed climbing in and out of the bathroom cabinet. Like I said, he can entertain himself with just about anything...

These boots were made for walkin'

Leo has been perfecting his walking skills all month. He would usually take 4 or 5 steps and then decide that crawling was faster. But yesterday seemed to be his breakthrough. He kept walking and walking and walking- a little further each time. (I think he was actually showing off my for my friend Margret and her 7 year old son)

He's been talking and babbling a lot too- you can hear a bit of that in the second video. It's so cute.
Just look at him go!

Recap of Leo's 1st Year

Leo's 1st Year

He's been on 15 flights.

He's lived in 3 states.

He's been to 9 states. (UT, CA, AL, GA, VA, MD, DC, PA, NJ)

He's been to almost every Smithsonian and monument in Washington DC.

He's been to the White House.

He's been kayaking on 2 rivers and 1 lake.

He's been to the Pacific ocean.

It looks like Leo is getting a running start to a life full of fun and adventure.

We love our little adventurer!

Happy Birthday Leo!

We had a birthday party for Leo today. And since Leo was born on Elvis Presley's birthday we decided to go with an Elvis theme. We ate some of Elvis' favorite foods: grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches, fried chicken, mac n' cheese, biscuits, glazed donuts and orange soda. And we had cupcakes for the birthday boy, of course!

We had just a few friends over, and Melissa flew out from Utah. It was great having her here to celebrate Leo's birthday.

Leo really went crazy with his cupcake. He started by sucking off the frosting, which gave him a fluffy white beard! Then he just picked up the cupcake and ate it in about 4 bites! He seemed to really enjoy all that sugary goodness. (We included a short video below, if you want to see the carnage)

We can't believe that our little baby Leo is such a big boy now. He is growing up so fast! We are so grateful that Leo came into our lives a year ago. He has brought us so much joy and happiness. We just can't imagine life without him.

12 months of Leo

Leo turns 1 this week-and here is his year in review.

It's amazing how much he changed from month to month. We sure love that crazy hair and darling smile.

Happy Birthday sweetheart!

Happy New Year

It's hard to believe that another year has passed, and what a year it has been. Leo was born almost a year ago, and he has grown so much! He is the joy of our lives. Jack finished up his year of school in Alabama, and we moved to the DC/Northern Virginia area. We spent several months on home improvement projects on our new house, and have been making new friends and exploring all there is to see in Washington DC. We are sure that 2011 will be another great year, and we look forward to all the adventures ahead...

We flew to California last week and spent Christmas with Mandi's family. We had a huge French dinner on Christmas Eve, with about 35 members of the family. And of course, the evening finished off with a fun white elephant game and several viewings of "A Christmas Story." (our very favorite movie--it's hilarious!) All the little girl cousins loved toting Leo around like their little mascot. We think he really liked having so many playmates.

My sister Jen and her family were there all week, also. Leo had a great time playing with his cousin Bridger, who is just 2 months older than Leo. But no matter how many toys were around, they always wanted to play with the same toy, at the same time.

Leo is getting better and better at walking. He walks behind his little airplane like a real pro. His balance has really improved, and so has his confidence. I'm sure that he will be walking on his own any day now... yikes.

We made a visit to Mandi's grandma Lucy, her dad's mom.
And here is the picture, of 4 generations!

Our last night in California we stayed in LA, so we could make it to our early flight the next day. We drove over to the beach, and made it just in time to see the sunset, and for Leo to play in the sand for a bit. He loved crawling around and getting really sandy. That kid sure loves the beach!

After that we walked around on the Santa Monica pier, and took Leo on the Ferris wheel. Even though it was already dark, the views from up there were pretty amazing. All the lights of LA on one side, and the foamy white waves of the ocean on the other side. Leo loved the flashing lights of the rides, and having all those people to look at. (People watching is one of his very favorite activities.)

The next day we flew home. Luckily, there were no weather issues so we made it home without any delays. Leo is such a good traveler. He did great on the plane, and even took a nice long nap, curled up on the seat with his favorite giraffe blanket. What a cutie!