The Demolition Has Begun

We have taken on the task of demolishing our master bath in order for "Brian, our bathroom guy" to come and turn it into something new and beautiful! Josh and I have been very excited to do this and you can tell from the fact that I didn't, yet again, get "before" pictures cause when I brought the camera in Josh had already tore up half of the vanity. Should I be worried that he takes such pleasure in destroying things?? Hmmmm. So here are the first pictures of our nasty bathroom. Hopefully it won't take too long to get completely finished since using only one bathroom for everything is really annoying, guess I've been spoiled too long. We've actually purchased most of the hardware that is going to be put in so once I get off my bum and go buy tile we should be done with everything and Brian will put everything in. I can honestly say I am a big believer in having someone else do the work for you...

Here are some more pictures of the broken down bathroom--check out that green tile! Gotta love the 70s!

Our plan is to re-tile the floor and the bath surround, new vanity, new lights, new mirror, wainscoting, new fan, take out medicine cabinet, paint and possibly crown molding. Check back for updates!

Meghan's Bridal Shower

My good friend, Meghan (middle) had her bridal shower on Feb. 23rd and it was great to see all my girls together! Our other good friend Liz came down from KC that morning and got to hang out with me and Emaline all day and we took our friend, Mike, out to lunch that afternoon for his birthday. He turned 48. Not really, but he gets it... As for the shower, it was really a lot of fun catching up with some good friends and learning some much needed embarrassing information about Meghan from her Mom and sisters. Thanks to all the girls that put the shindig together and a shout out to our "sommalier" Brad for teaching me how to drink wine (not that I really needed help in that area).

We also played this really ridiculous game that of course Noonan had to contribute. It was called "Stomp The Grapes" and she told us before we played, "my fifth graders loved this game!". I didn't know what to think. I think I have a picture of the chaos, which consisted of us running around trying to stomp on each other's ankles.

Nice work ladies, nice work. Now we have to wait for the debauchery that will ensue at Meghan's bachelorette party at the St. Patty's Day Parade downtown. God help us.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to all! We didn't do much that exciting, except Emaline wore her little heart dress and ate probably too much chocolate. She got a lovely red hippo from her Aunt Stephy and some fun books from Nana & Pepere. All of us (that includes Josh) went to my parents' house for dinner and dessert. As per usual, everything was great. Here are a few other photos of the day:

Stephani's Baby Shower

We had my sister, Stephani's baby shower yesterday at my house. It turned out really well! As most of you know, I'm not really the "event planner extraordinaire", but somehow me, my mom and my other sister, Kayleigh, pulled through. It was a great turn out and Steph really cleaned up on goodies for the baby! It was really laid back and I think everyone who came out had a fun time. We had it catered by St. Louis Bread/Panera and it was great! Very affordable too, which is always a plus. We had soup, sandwiches, salad, cookies, chips, pickles, etc. and it was all really good. Then we of course played some typical baby shower games which I think everyone appreciated. The first was the "guess that baby food in the jar" game, then we did the melted candy bar in the diaper. Now for those of you those of you who have never played it, it can be pretty gross. Then we tested everyone's brains with a little word jamble and finally cake and then presents, yeah! (the best part) I'm pretty sure Stephani had a wonderful time with everyone and was grateful for everyone who came and brought her a little something for her new little one! Can't wait to meet her! Here are a few more pictures of the day:

"We're streaking. We're going up through the quad to the gymnasium."

Just like Frank the Tank and those before him, Emaline made a streaking run just before her bath a few weeks ago. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "Mom, we're streaking. We're going up through the quad to the gynasium". I replied, "who's streaking?"
"There's, there's more coming", she hesitated. It was then that I told her to take off my new running shoes and get in the tub.

Are You Funny?

We really have been relaxin' around here and haven't done much in the way of exciting things. Josh has been home for the past 2 weeks doing some DEA training, so its like we're a real family, with sit down dinners and trips to the park and everything! It really has been great. I was going through some files on the 'ol computadora about a week ago and was watching a couple videos of Emaline. There is one, which I'm sure everyone has seen, which showcases her laughing every time I say, "Are you funny?". Its actually pretty adorable and I know you all would love to see it again, although I sound like a total psycho in it. So here is that version that was taken in January of 2007.

Now I decided to do a little experiment a year later and see if she would laugh when saying, "are you funny?"--lo and behold the child is still a little laughter bug. I think its so funny to see her grow and start to become so independant and strong willed (she gets that from her father), but I can still lay her down and make her laugh. I almost don't want her to get any older from this point on, but hey, what can you do? I honestly can't wait to see her with her new cousin come March. Hopefully it will prepare her for another baby in the house--no, no news to report yet, but luckily sometime this year. Here is the updated video of laughing fits I love taken this January.

Emaline's First Haircut

Our little girl got her first "trim" today! Not that Emaline's hair was growing at an exponential rate or anything, but she was starting to take on the term "shaggy". I took her to my hairdresser and friend Ammie and she watched Mommy get a haircut first and thought it was hilarious. Then we plopped her on top of a step-stool on the chair and put this fancy smock on her. She actually sat there! It was great, she did so good and A LOT better than I expected, probably due to the fact that I brought snacks for her. This kid will sit and stay still as long as there is food available, especially food she likes (i.e. snacks). So here are the pictures of her getting her hair trimmed and eating veggie puffs. What a life....

And here she is all finished!

New Years Resolutions

Obviously this isn't me, but we did buy one of these confounded machines after the holidays. You won't get to see my new svelte legs until after I've been running 10 miles a day...well, we'll see what happens. I did buy this model since I'm much more of a speed walker than a runner, so we'll see how well these little cross arms work. I am pretty proud of myself though and I have used it everyday since we got it except one. Now that the week we've had it is over, I hope I can continue this trend. Thanks to everyone who gave us gift cards over the holidays cause this is what it went towards! I'll hopefully have some results posted over the course of the next few months (keep your fingers crossed). Now I just need to find a way to get Josh to walk in real clothes, not just his bathrobe....

We (I mean, Ryane) Got a New Car!!

Well we have said good-bye to our little Ford Focus and bought a 2008 Chevy Equinox. It was time for some much needed room for the inside of the car. Its a metallic gold color (Sandstone, sounds fancy, right?) and is the LT1 trim. Its pretty sweet, lots of room, easy to manuever, attractive interior w/ a much needed iPod jack, and decent gas mileage. I of course have put unnecessary mileage on it since I have to drive it everywhere, but hey, everyone does that with a new car, right? Here are some pics of the interior:

Where is the Focus you ask? Well, I sold it to a foreign exchange student from China attending Wash U. I put it up on Craigslist on Tues and it was gone by Saturday of that same week. She was a good little car and I'm sure the little girl that got her will hopefully take good care of it. Here is a tribute picture of the Focus, we'll miss you girl!

XOXO Little Focus....

New Years 2008!

We rang the new year in pretty much the same way as last year, but fewer family members :-(. Unfortunately, Josh had to work New Year's Eve, as well as New Year's Day so mine and Emaline's plan was to go to dinner at Kitaro (where Emaline learned very quickly how to use chopsticks) in O'Fallon with my sister, her husband, my parents and youngest sister. Thankfully Josh did get to join us for dinner and in full police uniform no less! It was a great night in my opinion: family, food, drinks and games! After dinner we retreated to Stephani's house and proceeded to have some mean rounds of (electronic) Catchphrase. Thanks to Uncle Richard and Aunt Connie for getting my parents that game, it rocks! I'm pretty sure I was the star player...although I know Adham will fight me for it! Here are some snapshots of the evening, but really I didn't take many since I was busy kickin' butt in Catchphrase.