celebrations...

Here is a little break from the house renovations, where we get to talk about this amazing little boy:

Gosh I love this amazing little man, who is independent, kind, brave, nurturing, courageous, FUNNY!  We think that he is an incredible kid and I see him growing into an amazing little human being... What a joy it is to be his mom and to have him as a HUGE part of our family.

So, Ryder turned 4 on sunday and we had family in town on saturday to celebrate him.  It was our first party in the new house.  I just can't believe my baby boy is four years old...

Here were some highlights:

It was a reptile themed party so I used leftover party items form Eden's butterfly party.

We had my sister's pets come as special guests, a bearded dragon named Darius and a tiny ribbon snake named Ziggy:

As party favors the kids received a small wooden snake that they could paint:

(with some gum and a glow in the dark reptile sticker...)

It was only  a few minutes of an activity but the kiddos had some fun with it and I think I would do it again:

Kit BBQ for the first time at this house and though it got a little smokey at some points, it was pretty darn tasty:

Cake and presents were the very last things and for how excited he was about the presents, he remained fairly patient.

 His favorite presents were a shot gun and a bow and arrow set.  My goodness he is ready for whatever happens.  (Also, Eden and I haven't been hit with anything so we are thankful.  It's the little things...)

The best part of the party was just getting to have people that we love in our home and get to have Ryder feel so loved and celebrated!

Eden was given a chef's outfit from Aunt Kathy...

The girls...

Kit's parents came down for the day!

Ryder was THRILLED!

We made it!

It was a great day of celebrating this AMAZING little boy!

Thank you Alex Pavone for capturing our family moments with photos...

You are awesome!

Before and After: our Master bedroom and bathroom

This room went through some MAJOR changes!  I am so happy how things turned out.  It is probably one of my favorite rooms in the house.

Before:

 After:

 I am wanting to make a reading nook in that corner so I am waiting to hang things until I know what will be going there:

And our master bathroom:

Before:

After:

 I repainted the room the same color as the kids room, but it looked so similar to what was there...

We are still looking for curtains and stuff for the reading nook, but it is already such a great place to relax and rest, something that we have really craved with all of the renovations that have been happening.

Before and After: sunroom turned to kid's playroom

Other than where we sleep, this room gets so much use.  I am so excited how much the kiddos have been using it and enjoying it!

Before:

After:

 We got the leather couch from one of our old neighbors and it will be going in front of the fireplace once we get the floors finished.

It's nice to have this room right off of the kitchen.  Such a treat to have this extra space!

Before and After: the kid's bathroom

This room comes with a special story.  The night before we moved in, our new neighbor, Brian, whom we had only met the day before, knocked on our door and asked how he could help.  We were too tired to turn down any help that we could get.  So he took over painting this bathroom so that I could head to Fullerton and get ready for our move the following day.  This man painted our entire bathroom and then painted half of the garage until he ran out of paint.  Seriously?1? God has blessed us with this house in more ways than one...

Ok, here it is:

Before:

After:

We did a lot of the same stuff we had done in our old house.  It feels familiar...

Plus, I can't see this room and not think of the incredible story of how we were blessed by our new neighbors!

Before and After: Eden and Ryder's Room

This weekend marked one week of living in our new house.  We have tackled some pretty big projects, with lots of help from our family.  So I thought I would give you a little tour of each room this week.  We are a work in progress and we still have so much to do, but with each little project, we feel more and more like we are home!

So today, I wanted to show youth kids rooms.  These were our top priority, and we were so excited to have them  finished.

Eden's room was the first room that we tackled.  It's amazing what some paint and new carpet can do!

Before:

After:

(It has the same layout as her old room and set up.  She loves it!)

Here is Ryder's room.

Before:

After:

It was the best thing ever getting to show the kiddos their new room.  They both loved their spaces and they were so sweet with how they explored all their things and where things were.