Vernon Volumes text

Vernon Volumes text

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Sleeping kiddies

Andrea always checks on the kids before bed and yesterday they both were looking very cute so I took a couple quick pics with my phone.


Connor apparently decided the floor would be more comfortable than his bed. He got the blanket from the play room, so it was definitely a conscious effort.


Paige still sleeps in her pack and play crib, but she usually insists on falling asleep in her "big girl bed". We'd probably let her sleep in it most of the night, but I'm worried she'll fall out or will wander over to the stairs or something in the dark. Before we go to bed, we put her in the "baby bed".


Sunday, August 26, 2012

Bunnell's visit

This Friday, our pool was finally hooked up and ready for action. It took 2 full days of constant watering from a hose to fill it up, but it finally got done on Friday morning. RD, the pool company owner, came out around noon and started flipping switches and got everything turned on. It was exciting to see it all come to life.

At 4:30, our friends Chad and Rachael Bunnell came over with their little girl Kennedy and their son Keagan. 

Kennedy seemed to enjoy herself.

Paige played with her a little, but mostly they just ran around and splashed in the baby area.


Connor and Paige got their first chance to really swim in the pool. We told Connor that we'd give him a new toy car if he would swim all the way across and he made it! He needed a little boost from Mommy and he flipped over to breathe although he really didn't need to. It wasn't a perfect swim, or very graceful, but he did it!

Chloe's puppy bed


Chloe's been a little confused in the new house. We taught her some bad habits when she was a puppy and let her on the furniture, and we wish we hadn't allowed it. We decided when we moved to Florida that we'd try to break her of the habit and she's struggling trying to understand what's off limits.

To help her out and give her a nice play to lie down that had a view, Andrea bought her a fancy puppy dog bed off of Etsy. Chloe likes it pretty well and uses it when we're around. If we aren't paying attention, we know she will sometimes sneak upstairs and will sleep on human beds.

Overall, she's adjusted very well and seems to really enjoy her new place.

Paige's language explosion


Paige is talking more and more every day. It's amazing to see her develop language so quickly and string together longer and longer sentences. Her voice still sounds so babyish and she halts between words as she goes. This past week, she said the longest sentence I could remember. I decided to write it down and post it.

Paige had just gotten out of bed and I'd gotten her dressed when she said: "Daddy, get my Dora book out my baby bed please."

So polite too!

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Filling the pool!


The pool is ALMOST done! There were about 8 guys out this morning at 7am and they put in all the blue plaster for the pool lining. They got it all done around 3pm and then we started the long process of filling the pool.

It took 2 hours just to fill the spa and then we put the hose in the deep end. We let the kids play with the hose as it filled and they had a blast. Addy and Riley came by with their mom Heather and "swam" with our kids.


We all had a lot of fun outside. Andrea and I talked afterwards and realized it was the first time since we moved in that we sat outside and did anything with our lanai and backyard. It was awesome to finally get to enjoy the space.


I took a video of the kids when the first got in. It's not too exciting, Connor's mostly complaining that there's a bug in the water.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Connor's first day of Kindergarten


Today was Connor's first day of Kindergarten. We all took a bunch of pics with our big boy this morning. He was so cute with his backpack.




Mommy met Connor for lunch and helped out with the kids on their first day.


We considered having Connor bring his lunch, but think it'll be good for him to have to try new foods. He had a taco today and enjoyed it.



I got a cute picture of him as he got off his bus after school. He was happy to see us and had a great day!


Sunday, August 19, 2012

Pool screen and pavers


Our pool screen is on, along with the pavers. Somehow the screen seems to make the whole thing feel bigger. I think it's because it seems to encapsulate the space outside or something. I couldn't get the entire space in one pic, so took a bunch of pics from the same position and stitched them. Since I had my lens at its widest focal length, the space looks a little distorted, but it was the only way to get it all in.


The screen was a lot of work to put together. They constructed the whole thing in the two empty lots next door to our house and then carried it over and put it together. It took quite a while. Andrea took some pictures of them yesterday as they put it all in.





Master Bedroom


The Master Bedroom finally got pulled together last week. Andrea started this room first and it's taken a lot of work and effort to complete. She started with the neat design of the yellow and gray pillows and paired that with the sleek contemporary bed as a starting point. Andrea got gray bedding to match and also had the walls painted a light gray to complement everything.


Andrea worked with our designer on the drapes and had a person from Etsy make them. They were a little off at first and we sent them back, but now they're perfect. They were the most difficult drapes in the house since the rod is almost 12 feet up! Andrea also found a bench online that she liked, and had it reupholstered in the same matching fabric.


The final touches were completed this last week with the decorations on the wall.



Guest Room


The Guest Room wasn't a room we initially intended to do. Before Connor was born, we bought a convertible crib and always planned to eventually turn it in to a bed. It had a matching dresser and hutch and after we moved in to the new house we put it all in the guest room. Unfortunately after we did all the rest of the decorating, it didn't go with the rest of the house.

We got rid of it and redid the guest room just in time for Andrea's parents' visit. We think it turned out well and Andrea did a great job with it.


iPaige


Paige loves the iPad lately. She has gotten pretty good at navigating around on it and really enjoys watching Diego and Dora. She can pull up Netflix, start and stop shows, pick out new episodes, etc. She definitely loves it.





Meeting Connor's new teacher


On Wednesday, we took Connor to meet his new teacher and see his Kindergarten classroom. The "Meet the teacher" time was absolutely chaotic. We decided we'd try to get there early to beat the rush and apparently that's what everyone else did too. It was a little overwhelming walking in to the school with all the kids and parents and teachers everywhere. We found his classroom, met his new teacher and paid for his lunches.

We took a quick picture with his new teacher.


The classroom was pretty chaotic! Everyone trying to talk to the teacher, find their desk, do a "fun" worksheet that helps the kids get acclimated to where things are in the room.


Mommy was great about getting all of Connor's school supplies and figuring out what needed to be done. We're lucky to have such an organized lady running this kind of stuff! 

School starts Monday! We're very excited for our big boy!

Paige's new Croc shoes

Andrea got Paige some cute new Croc shoes last week and also picked up some Dora and Diego Jibbitz buttons.

We took a quick video of Paige when she got the shoes and picture of her wearing them.

Paige was in the middle of "feeding" Baby Woofie when she got them. Somehow all of Baby Woofie's food kept disappearing. I wonder who kept eating it?



Saturday, August 11, 2012

Daytona fun with Grandma Genie and Grandpa Garry


We hadn't really planned it, but on Friday night we were talking about our Saturday plans and decided on a whim to go to Daytona Beach on Saturday. It's always one of my favorite things to do and it's a good excuse to stop and eat at Aunt Catfish too. We planned our trip to arrive at Aunt Catfish when the opened. We got a few pics of the kids playing on the playground while we waited. 

Our food was delicious as always.


Afterwards, we went to the condo and played at the beach and the pool all day. 

Connor was a swimming machine. He was very confident in the pool and did a wonderful job. He even has gotten braver about swimming down underwater to retrieve toys. 

Paige was very impressive today. Ever since her ISR swimming lessons we know she knows how to float, flip over, and swim but she never does it. She is content to wander around the outside of the pool and maybe every once in a while dip herself in to the water by the steps. Today, Mommy and Daddy held her in the water a bunch until she started to get comfortable.

She was clinging to me tightly as she usually does, and little by little I convinced her to relax and play a little. I pretended to sleep and she'd wake me up, then I would tell her to sleep and would dip her hair back in the water. Eventually I laid her in the water and she floated a little. She started to get upset, so I picked her up, expecting her to shriek and cry. Surprisingly, she only whined a little for a moment and then said she wanted to "sleep" again. Using that game, we got her to float a whole bunch in the pool. She could do it all day, it's so easy for her. Eventually, when she wanted to be done "sleeping", I'd have her flip over and grab on to me. I decided to test her a little and on one of the flips over, I was a little further away. I was hoping she'd flip back and float when she needed to breathe, but I was juuuuuust close enough that she kept reaching and kicking and didn't flip over. I grabbed her, but it was a little too late and she swallowed a big gulp of water. The water came back up, along with some fruit snacks. I caught it all and we washed off in the shower, and decided it was a good time to quit swimming and go in.

Andrea did get a cute picture of Sissy "sleeping". There were a few good pictures, but I liked this one best because you can tell she's smiling.


For Dinner, we stopped off at River Grille on the Tomoka. The restaurant had a really nice outside seating area with a view of the river and the food was a good mix of seafood and "regular" food. I'm not a seafood eater, so it's nice when the menu has variety. We definitely loved the food and ambiance and plan to go back.


Night out with the Anders


Grandpa Garry and Grandma Genie came in town this past week and we've all been having a great time. This Friday, we got a babysitter and went to St. Augustine for dinner at Harry's Seafood Bar and Grille. Afterwards, we walked around Old St. Augustine and looked at the neat shops.

It was a nice meal, great company, and a beautiful night out.

Happy 38th wedding anniversary Garry and Genie!!


Sundae Sunday - Kindergarten meet up


On Sunday, Connor and some of the other kids getting ready to go in to Kindergarten in the neighborhood went to Sundae Sunday at the clubhouse. Mommy took Connor, and took some really cute pics of the kids eating ice cream and playing together.

Connor had a really good time with Nick, the boy in the blue shirt, who actually lives near us. He and his mom Denise came over later that evening and they had a great time playing. Connor's looking forwards to school!