My Precious Kid.com - Store Front NOW OPEN!!!

7years ago my mom started a business called MyPreciousKid.com run from her home. It began with just a few products that she created. Id kits for kids. She strongly believes in keeping our kids safe by having a form of wearable identification on them especially in large public settings. If they are separated having your information on them can prevent a horrible experience from lasting even longer.
They company has grown to over 100 products in Child Safety and Baby Gear. Also a new store front location in Oregon. I am blessed to work for her 2days a week. It is such a wonderful job about a topic I feel strongly. Keeping our kids safe!!! I love getting to test so many new products and helping to get the information out to others. We have a great team of ladies that make working so much fun. Come visit us at our new store!

Check out our line of products at :
http://www.mypreciouskid.com/products.html

Weekend at the beach

This last weekend we spend with our good friends Jason and Nicole at the beach. We had a wonderful time shopping, relaxing, and eating way to much junk. We got away from the 104degree heat here but were almost cold. It was around 60 and windy. We decided to go down to the beach Saturday and when we got there the fog was so thick you couldn't even see the water until you were right at it. Amazingly it was warm and not windy at all. Madison was not to sure when her feet touched the cold wet sand but it didn't take long for her to start digging in. She was a mess but loving every moment of it. She didn't want to leave. We had a great time!

20months

Here are a few fun pics of our big girl. She is 20months tomorrow and doing new things all the time. Her vocabulary continues to amaze me. I can truly have a conversation with her now. Sometimes she will rattle off a line of words all together and then I will realize they will all have to do with what we did the day before. It's like she is telling you about all the fun she had. So cute. She also is loving bossing her cat around and saying things like No Meow, Milk, It's Mine. The thing she comes up with just make me smile. Some of her new words this week are buckle, sticker, turtle, circle, block, plane, sky, choo choo, horse, dolly, bike, piano, and so many more.
Singing, especially in the car at the top of her lungs, is also fun. Her favorite song is "No way, no way, no way", in the most sing song cute voice ever. She even dances to her own songs or our favorite is her Blue's Clues dance. To cute for words.
One of her new favorite things is to call Matt and I by our names. It has become a game. She will say Daddy, Daddy, Matt! It gets his attention. HEHE!
She is also now getting very good at matching colors, shapes, and doing puzzles. One of her favorite things to do though is color together. She is also getting very good at feeding herself with a spoon and even stabbing green beans with her fork. She was so proud of herself and smiled so big when she got the first one.
In addition to all this independence comes stubbornness as well. We are definitely getting closer to the terrible 2's. As challenging as it can be she is so much fun. We are loving every moment.
Enjoy these pics!

Backyard Fun!

We have been loving our backyard. We are starting to eat peas, tons of lettuce, and zucchini. We have cucumbers and corn on its way as well. I am a little worried about our pumpkins as they are spreading like crazy and taking over the garden. They are close to 6feet wide now with about 20blossoms. I am going to have to thin them out or put them on the sidewalk with a free sign in October just to get rid of them all.
Madison has been enjoying our backyard as well. Apparently so is her Daddy. Yes he did climb all the way in and through to show Madison how to get onto her slide.

A couple of weeks ago she figured out how to climb up the ladder to her slide. She slid probably 30times after that. She is loving her independence on it and not having to have mommy right there.
We hope you are all enjoying your summer as well.

Swimming Lessons

We started swimming lessons last week. We did them last summer and she loved it. It is 2nights a week for 5weeks. Water is definitely Matt's thing so he did the first class. Not such a great idea due to her Mommy attachment lately. She screamed for 15min and we finally just left to start over the next class. The second class I did with her and by the end she was giggling, jumping off the side of the pool, and mad we were leaving. We are now both doing the class together it is so much fun. We pull into the parking lot and she starts saying water, water.

House Update 3

Back with one more house update.
This is our main living area. The kitchen, dining nook(table to come), and family room/playroom. This was a rare occasion that it was was actually clean without toys all over. Nap time was just over. :)
We replaced all the floors, painted, and replaced all the appliances. Counter tops are in the future as well.

July Craziness!

We have had a busy month of July. In 9days we had 2 baby showers, 1 bridal shower, 3 birthdays, and a family reunion. And of course all the normal summer events. Walks around the neighborhood, BBQ's, and hanging out with family and friends.

We also got to enjoy a day at the zoo last week with Dara, Sydney, Cary, Natalie, and Eli. Madison had a great time and spent the whole trip making animal noises. She took a 3hr nap when we got home.

House Update 2

Back for another house update. This week is the Formal Living and Dining Rm. Also known as Matt's TV room. He wanted somewhere in the house he could watch non Disney channel.

Living Rm- Before

And After

Dining Rm- Before

And After

Most of the house was originally a very peachy beige color. We did it all a khaki color throughout with different accents. There is more actual contrast against white trim than you can see in the pictures.
The living and dining rooms eventually may get an accent color but for now are just neutral. The furniture we already had worked better than I had thought and I am happy with the overall flow of the room. You can see the new carpet as well. We are so happy with it.

Random Sighting

While we were in Lebanon over the 4th I saw an unusual site in a parking lot.
Not only do you rarely see these unless at your grandparents house or in a library, but the internet has made this item virtually not needed.



Yes those are encyclopedias. I couldn't resist a picture. This made me think of the friends episode where and encyclopedia salesmen comes to Joey's door. After much convincing on the salesmens part he decidedes he needs them but can only afford one book. He talks about all topics starting with this letter trying to impress his friends. I couldn't help but laugh and wonder why this person was driving around with this car full.

Bathroom Before & After

I have had many requests to see updated pictures of our house since we have made so many changes. We are slowly finishing one room at a time. Here is a glimpse. I will be posting new rooms over the next few weeks. Come back to see more.

The Bathrooms- The first is our downstairs half bath. It had horrid linoleum and badly painted dark red walls.

Before

After

Next is Madison's upstairs bathroom. This is the one room we did not repaint. I figured we would do it eventually but it worked for now. We replaced all the flooring in the house with the exception of the 2 upstairs baths.

Before

We found a cute shower curtain that matched the blue and some round mirrors to go with the theme. Eventually I will add a bit more to the decor and we will replace the flooring. It is fun and playful for Madison.

After

Summer Portraits

4th of July

Our 4th started the week before the actual holiday. We went on our annual camping trip with my family to Newport. Some how we never did actually make it to the beach. Their was a playground right next to our camping site with a sandbox. Madison and Haley spent most of their days their. She got to ride her first bike as well. We were able to borrow a great trike from our friend Mandy to try. We just bought our own this week.

We also went to the Aquarium. Madison loved seeing all the fish.

Our actual 4th was spent with our wonderful friends the Tol's and their family. We enjoyed a BBQ and fireworks. Madison even took a splash into the pool.(She had a little he being pushed in by another little one. She was a bit shocked. That is the reason for the second outfit.) Madison clapped and said more to the fireworks. I was surprised she was not scared at all.
Thank you so much Brian and Brandi for such a fun day.