Catching Up

So many months to catch up on...I have been an enormous slacker to say the least. Mya and Nora have both been up to a lot lately. Nora is now crawling (forwards instead of backward) which is a huge improvement. She is trying to bear crawl now which is interesting to watch. She is also pulling herself up on furniture, walls, legs, and anything else that will get her to a standing position. Mya is convinced she will be able to stand on her own soon, I just assume let her crawl for a long time...the girl is fast and baby gates need to be purchased asap. Here is a picture of Nora pulling herself up to get a better look at the doll house. Her little ankles have a hard time with the all the weight applied to them, but she's tough.

Easter was great this year with two new Stammen girls to participate in the egg hunt. Nora and Sophia really didn't have to look hard for their egg but the other girls spent a better part of the afternoon searching Grandpa and Grandma Stammen's backyard. Mya's lack of patience was evident as she looked for her 6 eggs. The girl is certainly a now-generation kid. The kids all had a great time though and Nora enjoyed just sitting in the grass eating the eggs. At home Mya got a new puzzle with a picture of her and Nora and Nora got a new bubbles...she loves to chase them.

Here is a picture of all of the Stammen granddaughters, it's the last time a grandchild picture will be taken with only all girls. Matt and Kristin had a little boy, Nolan Austin born May 15th. We are now 10 + 1. We are so happy for Matt and Kristin! Although it's going to be a change to have a little boy around it's so wonderful to have more family to love.

Mya is playing Spring soccer this year in addition to fall soccer which starts in August. The league and field is smaller, and only four players from each team play at a time, so it's a little bit of a change for her. It's been so great though for her fundamentals and team building skills. She isn't just running from one end of a huge field to another, they play together very well as a team and she is improving on all levels. When parents come up to me and remark at how good she is, I couldn't be prouder. Although I know NOTHING about soccer, I'm trying to understand and it's growing on me. One thing Mya hasn't learned yet is how to manage her legs. She is a full head taller than almost everyone on her team and it's due to the length of her legs. Once she figures out how to use them I think she'll be fine. She has mentioned though that she wishes she were shorter, because she's the tallest in her class for the second year in a row. I just keep telling her that eventually the boys will catch up, someday she'll stop growing and wish she were taller.

Finally....the bar downstairs is finished. It's been a long journey, but the reward is incredible. We bought stock cabinets; Joel build the wall and the bar top, cut the counter tops, installed the sink, installed the countertop/bar top, put on the railings, corbals, molding, installed the lighting and I stained more than I ever care to ever again. It was a good project for us to start with, there wasn't too much arguing...We also mounted the TV to the wall, which Joel was originally against, but I won the choice in a bet so it's now on the wall and it looks amazing. We still need to get some new couches and a tv stand to hold stuff (and get rid of the hideous white dresser we have filling that role right now), and hang up a few things behind the bar still, but that will all happen in time. It's great to see it our basement again. Mya was thrilled to be able to play the Wii again and I was happy to just have it clean. Having the bar certainly changes the whole room for the better. I can't seem to find any before pictures, but I'll keep looking, anyway here are a few shots of how the room looks now.