The advenutres of "V"

"V" is nearly 22 months.  She changes, it seems sometimes, overnight.  Here are some things that are going on with her lately.

*potty time - "V" has been asking and tell us she has to go to the potty.  I purchased one a while back and she has really taken to it.  I have not done any type of "training", but she has done a lot of that on her own. 

*words - they are just out of control.  "V" talks constantly and has about 150 or more words.  She has her own sentences that make no sense, but she is also putting more of the good words in there that we understand. 

*smarts - "V" has picked up about 20 letters.  She loves to point them out when we are shopping (HEB) and when she sees them in her bathtub letters.  She knows all her colors and shapes by pointing them out , but still has a hard time verbalizing the right word.  But BLUE is always said!  Instead of saying the sound for animals, she will say their name as well.

*praying - she loves to pray before bedtime.  She has to get all her important people in and then throw in some extra randoms...books, Elmo, Pooh...you know, important thing in her life.

*social gal - she is still very social and if we are waiting in line anywhere, she strikes up a converstaion with anyone. 

"V" is growing up so fast, but we are loving each stage of her development.  I can't wait to see what the next year holds for her!

This and that

"V" got some sidewalk chalk for Easter, so we decided to put it to good use since it has been such good weather.

"V" came down with strep this Saturday.  It was not good.  Poor thing just did not feel good at all.  So she got to lay around and watch movies.

And eat brealfast in the living room.

She has learned that she is going to be 2 this year!

I got this playhouse in Austin at a garage sale last year.  She has had so much fun with it.

Home improvment....The Rypple way

Let me start this post by saying that we have been wanting to do this for a while.  Artie has been working horrible hours and it is taking a toll on his body and mind.  So he decided to take off 2 weeks from work and try to recover mentally.  So physically, he go no rest. 

He decided that it was time to finally but in the hard wood floors we bought a while back.  Little did I know the crazy week we were in for.  I packed up "V" and me and headed to my parents for a couple of days.  I was only suppose to be gone for 2 days.  That is plenty of time to put in floors and let them settle.  Well, here comes the kink in the plan.  I get this picture from Artie.  It is one of his good friends and co-worker Jeff.  He is scraping our "popcorn" ceiling.  OH MY!  I about died.  We had never discusses this (ok, yes we did - like 2 years ago in a fleeting conversation...apparently in man terms...that means we can do it anytime after that).  Then I he lets me know that he is painting the whole living room and he has picked out the paint!  This is where I FREAK OUT!  I had no control over any of this and now I was sure I was going to be living in my parent's home FOREVER!  Artie had ADD and sometimes...a lot of times...it is hard to keep that man focused and finished!

I show up to the house Sunday after church to help out with the painting.  The colors ended up being just fine.  Vanilla custard, green sage, and a deep brown.

God love Jeff!!  He scraped and painted that high beam which there was NO WAY I would be able to do.  I did end up getting on the scaffolding and painted the ceiling.  I cried only about half the time.  It was not fun at all.

I ended up taking Monday off from work so that we could knock out the flooring the next day.  We take up the carpet and this is what we saw...GLUE!  Really??  Could we really not get a break on this project?  I spent all day Monday on my hands and knees had sanding the whole floor.  By about 7 PM I was DEAD!

I went to work on Tuesday (and happy to since I was SO SORE).  When I came home Tuesday, this is what I saw.  A half finished floor.  I just started crying ( apparently I was SUPER emotional that week and I could not control the waterworks).  I just wanted it to be DONE!  I stayed up until about 2:30 AM with Artie and I finished the floor myself.  He cut the wood and helped me lay it out, but I did all the floor work.  Poor Artie was just spent.

A little hard to see, but this is the green we painted the inside of the trim.  The trim will eventually be brown.

FINALLY!  We finished this project and got to bring back the furniture. 

I am very happy Artie decided to do all the other project at once.  I was a huge hassle....but I do love the new look.

Happy Easter and BFFs

Amy and Jeannie came to visit us for the Easter weekend.  We were suppose to go to the arboretum, but we got there about 10 AM and it was FULL!  So, we headed to whiterock lake and went to the park for a while.

Our Sunday Easter morning started off with Miss "V"cleaning our new hardwood floors.  Not sure where the hat came in, but it helped her clean really well! 

We had a great egg hunt at church and "V" got to wear her Easter dress that daddy bought for her.  Great taste!

All "V" wanted to do was open them up!

Then she found a chocolate that was not in an egg.  She squeezed it and chocolate went all over her dress.  So after a little disrobing...

we drove home with only our shoes on! 

Happy Easter!

After we celebrated, we had to say good bye to our sweet friends.  I miss them very much and would love for them to move back to Texas.  It isn't going to happen, but one can dream.  I am VERY thankful that they do come back as much as they can to visit us.  They LOVE my daughter and she loves them.  I could not ask for more. ;-)  Well, I could...but, I will try not to be selfish!

Easter egg hunt at CDO

Last week, "V" had her egg hunt at CDO.  I actualy got to go and it was fun to watch her pick up the eggs. 

Game time!

"V" loves to sit with my dad and watch TV.  He flips up his rocking chair and they rock.

"V" got some bubbles at her egg hunt and she loved watching them float around.

Uncle Eric bought "V" some Aggie wear and this is one of the dresses!  LOVE IT Uncle Eric!