Jon & Kathy

I haven’t grouted it yet, but you get the idea.

I know, two posts in one day, we’re crazy. This one is just as good as the last. First up is Olivia doing her favorite thing: playing in the water! She really likes to wash her hands, swim, shower, bathe, brush her teeth, whatever!

Next is something new. We had to get a new life jacket for Olivia this year because she outgrew her infant size jacket that she wore last year. In fact, she can’t even wear the next size up… it won’t zip over her belly. The new jacket wasn’t adjusted correctly yet in this video, and we got it to stop riding up on her so that she’s more comfy, and it does fit her very well now.

Anyway, we had her on the dock and asked her if she wanted to jump. Olivia will repeat a word instead of saying yes, so she said “jump” a few times. I got in the water and… my kid doesn’t know the meaning of the word fear! (mostly because she’s only 19 months old and its a difficult word to explain to a child)

Yes, we’re also getting her dock/boat shoes that don’t slip!

I’ll upload this in HD later, but you get the idea. She’s definitely a daddy’s girl!

I thought I would save some money by putting in granite tile countertops from easygranitetile.com… I saved money all right, but the prep work about killed me! I had to weld up 3 different types of supports and make a million cuts on the concrete backer board, and that stuff is super dusty. The tiles are just setting in place, and are not level yet. Once they’re level it is difficult to see that its tile. I also have to grout it (grout lines are 1/8″). As you can see from the pics, we’ve also added a bar sink. Once the tiles are set, I’ll drill the hole for the faucet. There is also a small apron to cover the exposed wood along the edge of the counter. I’ve probably got another 6 hrs or so of labor left, but it should look really good. We’ll be doing backsplash after that, and then I BELIEVE the kitchen is done… no one really knows though.

Before youtube was a huge site (and before google owned youtube), Google had their own video site. I hosted some content there, and it really sucked as a service. Anyway, I haven’t seen some of these videos in a while, and thought you might enjoy them.

Olivia loves to play games with us now. She really likes one in particular…

She also enjoys sitting in chairs for some reason. Kathy bought her a new chair to sit in at the lake and Olivia really enjoys it. We tested it out this weekend

Yup, 31 light fixtures in the kitchen and we’ve got a few more to install. No, you don’t turn them all on at once… it’d be like looking at the sun. They’re for different settings. Anyway, here’s a grainy low light photo of the new in/under-cabinet lights… which btw, I had to tear down every wall-mount cabinet to put these in and cut 2 holes in the wall. What a hassle.

It should look a lot better against black countertops and our awesome backsplash. Those should be here in 2 weeks.

We’re finally wrapping up the house. We still have a few projects left, but mostly easy ones… that cost a lot. We’re getting countertops and backsplash soon, we have the under/in-cabinet lights (need to install this weekend), paint the house (exterior), pour a new driveway, and build 2 retaining walls… and get a glass shower door made for the guest bathroom… and finish the basement… but thats basically it . It actually is a lot less work than it sounds like. I’ll have everything except the basement finished by the end of May, as long as our re-finance goes well. Anyway, here’s the new hood!

Kathy is now a notary! She needed it for work. I don’t know all the details as to why, but something about things at credit unions needing to be legit… Kathy mumbles a lot. Anyway, yay for Kathy.

I can’t even keep up with the number of words that she knows now. Her list of German words is getting bigger too, and we’re trying to work with her some, but its tough since we don’t speak it at the house. Anyway, Olivia loves being more responsible, and she wants to do everything on her own now. She laid on her back on the floor trying to put pants on (over her shorts) for about 5 minutes yesterday.

She loves being outside and running around.

She also enjoys feeding herself.