The Attic project is D.O.N.E.

Yay!! The biggest project by far has been the attic redo. Turning an unfinished space into 4 rooms was an amazing transformation!

We are now living in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath house with a formal dining room, separate laundry and den!

I can’t believe how much has changed in our little house since we moved in late 2008!

Only a few projects left!! 

The boys who hold my heart in their hands…

The Lauyans’ boys have my heart and they know it! Here are some pictures from last summer (2013)

Big Brother--

Keaton Michael is an amazing big brother. He isn’t gentle but he is very interested and hands on. He wants to help do anything you let him—feeding, changing, dressing, entertaining and so on. He is awesome! He will be starting Preschool this summer and is catching on fast to counting and picking out shapes/colors.  He is a tall 4yr old wearing 6t’s and size 13 shoes.

We, the aunts, are getting better at juggling two little boys and all the craziness that goes with it while trying to give each one the attention they deserve/need. I still do not want more than 1 child but maybe I will change my mind when/if I ever get better at managing time with these two! (I don’t think so but never say never, right.)

Little Brother--

Eli Joseph is growing crazy fast! He is a little over 7mo now and there is no trace of that tiny baby he once was in Riley Hospital. He is around 20lbs and wears size 18mo outfits.  He rolls over, sits up, babbles, has pretty good hand/eye coordination and is tolerating baby food. (Although he still prefers bottles) He is a light sleeper, something we never had to worry with when Keaton was a baby.

To just say I love these two boys doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel about them—it’s Endless, Pure, and Truly Unconditional love. The kind of love that was instant, not earned or worked for just IS and always will be.

A few more recent pictures….

Tax Time

This is a stressful time for same sex couples, those who live in states that do not recognized their union anyway. We have been through our fair share of accountants but finally I think we have found “the one”.

This marks year number two for her and the fact she agreed to do our taxes again says a lot! (Ha!)

We did get some good news—as of 2013 we can now file jointly on our federal, once we are married in a state that allows that. So the new goal is to get married…..again. This time in Illinois and a lot cheaper/faster! I am trying to figure out how we can get this done while on vacation in May. She said we can go back to 2012 once we have this done. She also said this will benefit us when Duste is the only one working and I doing the stay at home mom thing. This way she can claim me, our child and qualify to receive the Child Tax Credit. (woohoo!)

A Pagan Valentine’s Day—aka Lupercalia

This year we have decided to celebrate the Holidays the way they started—with Pagan traditions! February 15^th is our “valentine’s day”. Of course we know Pagans are all about food and sex (hehe) which is exactly how we spent our weekend! We started the morning with small gifts. For lunch Duste made us heart shaped ham steaks, for dinner we had pasta with wine and we each made desserts for one another. She made me Angel Food cupcakes with cherries on top and I made her peanut butter chocolate cookie cake! That’s as much detail as I will go into!

 

We have also decided to create a few Fairy Gardens, a Fairy Circle under the willow tree branches, a Gnome Home, add some trolls, woodland Oak God faces here and there and we will be on our way to a Pagan Paradise! I am super excited about the cuteness!