Homemade Kitchen: Part 2

It has been a LONG time since we started Drew's kitchen project, and it has been done since mid-June. However, I kept forgetting to post a photo of the finished product!

It has served Drew very well - he loves to cook in it. He now has dishes, pots and pans, utensils, food, serving pieces, a stand mixer, a toaster, a phone and a message board! He even 'multitasks' at the stove or oven once in a while by talking on the phone at the same time! Hilarious...

We have had much fun with this kitchen, as have many of Drew's friends when they have come over to play. It is so much nicer than a store bought kitchen, and cost a total of about $25 to make. The wood was free (it was furniture out of the trash). We just cut it up, re-purposed it and constructed several different pieces together to make it work. The 'sink' is a bowl from Goodwill that cost about $1.50 I think. The sink knobs were the most expensive items - $8 a piece from Anthropologie. The hardware on the oven and refrigerator were just a couple dollars at Lowe's. And if you notice, we put a racing stripe on the refrigerator like the one Guy Fieri has.

I give Dave a lot of credit for putting up with my vision for this. He said he did not 'see' it at first, and was somewhat reluctant to put a lot of time into something that he wasn't sure was going to work out. BUT, he stuck with me - I told him I was sure it would work, I just couldn't do the construction myself. In the end, he was very happy to have built it, and is thankful it didn't cost much money at all!

Bradley's 3rd Bath

Okay, I am the lamest Mom on the planet... I did not photograph Bradley's first bath when his cord fell off. I also did not photograph his second bath. Finally, by the third time, I thought, "Oh yeah, I better get a photo of this!" So, without further ado, I give you Brad's 3rd bath (drum roll please).

Drew Learns How to Feed Bradley

Two weeks ago, Dave was still at work and I was home with the boys. Long story, but I had a bit of an emergency (clearly I am fine now, so no worries!) and I had to have Drew bring me the bouncy seat into the bedroom so I could put Bradley in it. He was a very good helper, and brought the seat in right away. Well, prior to this, I had been feeding Bradley a bottle in the living room. Drew remembered that, and while I was phoning a neighbor, Drew had returned to the living room, bottle in hand, put it in Bradley's mouth, and sat there feeding him. I could not believe my eyes! What a smart, helpful and loving big brother he is!

A few days later, Drew was showing off his 'skills' to Daddy. Here are some photos of that.

My Little Sister

Here is Jaime, at 6.5 months pregnant. Can't wait to meet her baby girl!

Mom's/Nana's Birthday Party

We celebrated Mom's/Nana's birthday with Sonny's BBQ takeout and cake at Gary and Jaime's house on October 25th. Here a few photos from the fun.

BFFs and Babies

Not everyone knows the story of how Jen and I met in 1996, my freshman year of college. She was the one assigned to a group of freshmen, including me, to show around the campus for 3 or 4 days before everyone else arrived. We lived together our sophomore year, and spent many late nights goofing off and playing jokes on each other and our other roommates.

That's how we met, and it would take me FOREVER to write a post on all the in between stuff, but while we DID NOT EVER plan things this way, we both always secretly hoped one day we could be pregnant together. Well, we were (duh!) and now we both have newborns, four weeks apart. Here is Jen with her sweet Sarah Kate, born Oct. 24th.

October 17th - 19th: 3.5 Weeks

Drew got into Mommy's Makeup!

Yes, when I wasn't looking... he attacked my makeup drawer in the bathroom and came out looking like this:

Uncle Gary's Birthday

On Sunday, October 18th, we all gathered on Sanibel to celebrate three important milestones in Uncle Gary's life:

1. Uncle Gary's 3oth birthday
2. Uncle Gary's 31st birthday
3. Uncle Gary's One Year Anniversary of Heart Surgery

So, how, you ask, does one celebrate two birthdays in one year? Well, last year, on Uncle Gary's birthday, he was traveling to Houston to have his heart surgery. Therefore, party plans were put on hold. This year, then, was especially momentous as we celebrated two birthdays and a successful surgery!

We spent time with Uncle Gary, Auntie J, Papa, Nana and the Musselman furry babies: Val and Jada. Here are some photos from the celebration:

Mom, I Drew a Whale!

One morning, after breakfast, Drew was playing in the living room while I was straightening the kitchen. He runs up to me, excitedly telling me, "Mom! Look! I drew a whale!"

I was so blown away by his ability to see it in his mind and then transfer that to a drawing that I just have to share it with you.

Mommy & Drew

One of the last nights I tucked Andrew in as an only child... this was just a few days before Bradley was born. We were having so much fun playing in his room and getting ready for bed. Finally, at three years old, he looks forward to his bedtime routine (it only took most of that three year time period to get it this way).

He is my sweet baby boy, and I told him that he will always be my special boy, no matter how many siblings he has. He loves that!

Grandpa & Grandma Gonzalez

I am way behind on blogging and this is my attempt to start to catch up.

In September, Dave's parents left Naples and moved to North Carolina. Of course, we miss them tremendously. We had a nice visit with them right before they moved. It was a week before Bradley was born, so it was hard to see them go when they did. Here are some photos of Drew with his grandparents, having a grand old time. He misses them so much already!