One Year Later

Today is our one year anniversary of coming to Maryland. (Although we were greeted on our anniversary with an earthquake, so I'm not sure what Maryland is trying to say to us...) Last year at this time was so crazy and stressful, life has definitively calmed down for now, thank goodness. We know our way around now, are all settled into our house and making it our own, and are lucky to have friends out here. One good thing about moving into a struggling ward is that everyone welcomes you with open arms, and we couldn't be more grateful. Chris is about to start his 2nd year of school, and he has started a research project. For now it is just a project, but it could lead to his candidacy (one of those hoops you have to jump through before they let you out).
So life is great. Here is what has been going on:

It's been hot. It has cooled off for now thank goodness.

 Babies are just happier without clothes.

And this is what happens when you leave your kid with Dad while you have a presidency meeting.

(Chris took a picture! I was so proud)
Jack loves water (picture him vigorously shaking his hand almost like he's waving doing the sign for water.) We've had a lot of thunderstorms lately, usually we have to go outside and watch them. He doesn't hesitate to go out and play.

A couple of times the rain has started during a mealtime, and in order for Jack to keep eating, he has to see what is going on.

Jack is addicted to outside. One of his clearest words that he says is "outsiiiiide?" Then he asks for his "shoooes" and a "walk" (this is wa but really sharp). We can't touch the door without him demanding that we let him out. It's getting difficult.

Recently Chris's family came out for a visit. While they were here Jack learned how to use an ipad and we went out to Annapolis to see boats and eat crab cakes. It's a neat place.

Some other pictures I found recently:

I honestly don't remember this event, I saw the picture on my camera and laughed. Apparently Jack got up on the table and found his mirror so I took a picture.

These pictures were from my phone while we were up in Seattle. I love how Jack and Sabrina have matching expressions. They must be related.

Just the other day Jack brought me my camera and was whining for me to do something with it. I told him to smile and he actually posed. When I looked at the picture I was surprised at how old he looks!

 That about sums it up for now.
By the way, we survived the earthquake just fine, just a few pictures fell off the wall and a few things fell off shelves but there are no cracks in the walls so we're good. It was Chris's first!

Not Crafty, Just Resourceful

Since moving, I’ve had (and still have) a list of projects to keep me busy. Among them have been some “crafts.” I’m really not crafty, but instead I try to use what is around me to my advantage.

My first project was Jack’s room. While pregnant I would hear about everyone getting their nurseries ready for when their babies come, but we couldn’t do that since Jack was going to be in our living room. Now that we’re in a two bedroom I could finally do a kid’s room. I made the name decoration and the boarder from junk mail and a lot of double stick tape. It took a long time to do all the shapes but it was fun and I’m pleased with how it turned out.

I also wanted a wreath on our front door to make it a little more homey. Since we have plenty of trees and fallen branches, I hot-glued a bunch of sticks together and made a wreath for $0. The fabric will rotate with the seasons and holidays, made from little tablecloths my mom gave me, which I converted to sashes for the wreath.

Jack finally outgrew the weight limit on his infant car seat so I had to find him a bigger one. We ended up with this sweet little thing. Seriously. 

I was not going to pay an extra $20 for a more “manly” color scheme, I figured I could take care of that myself and keep the money. We have a bunch of t-shirts that are someday going to be made into a quilt and so I stole some of the blank squares to come up with this cover. I sewed the squares together and then hand sewed them to the car seat. It works.

The last project doesn’t really qualify as resourceful, but it took up a lot of time and effort so I can’t not mention it. Originally I had a plan to sew a couch cover to make our couch match the décor of our living room better. All too quickly I decided I didn’t want to do that much work and so I just sewed the fabric directly onto the couch, kind of like I re-upholstered it.

Before (best picture I have, Jack was such a wee little baby!):

After:

It's like a brand new couch. Thanks again to my aunt who gave it to us when we got married, hopefully it will continue to last us long after we move.

My current project involves scraping 70 years worth of paint off our door jams so the doors will actually close. Hooray for lead paint exposure!