Kitchen Remodel - Update

Well the countertops are in, the flooring is almost finished (the decorative area rug design is laid but will be grouted tomorrow), and the backsplash was finished today! It's starting to shape up!


Finished tile as of Feb. 16:

Work done as of today, Feb. 27:

Second Child?

Just in case anyone ever gets the crazy idea that having kids 19 months apart is a good idea, and is contemplating a second... (It's dark, but I was actually pointing the camera at Owen's closed bedroom door)



(Or maybe this is just our birth control to remind us why two is enough!!!) This is just a typical night here... Can someone please reassure me that it will get better at some point?

And yet the next day he can be so darn cute...

Owen's 1 Year Pictures

Last week my mother graciously offered to come to the mall with me and the boys so I could get Owen's 1-year pictures taken. Thank goodness for moms, that's all I can say!!! Thanks, Mom, I couldn't have done it without you!!! :-)

If you feel so inclined to see the entire collection, you can follow this link: Owen's 1Yr Pics and enter "Kristy Gilkerson" for customer name and you should be able to view them all...

Franklin Park Conservatory Trip

Last weekend we actually managed to get out and enjoy ourselves for once - left the housework at home and went! We had heard great things about the Conservatory, and I had never been there before. Joe had, but not since grade school. They have really beautiful displays, and the kids just loved it! It was the perfect length, too - just when we started thinking, "okay, I've seen enough," we had already seen it all. I would recommend this place to anyone with toddlers - a nice 2-hour weekend excursion! They had a really cute train exhibit that spanned the whole place, so the kids could watch the little trains going around - mostly on tracks that hung from the ceiling (that's what Dillon's marveling at in the pictures!). There was also a cage of birds that you could feed - I was surprised Dillon wasn't scared about that, but he seemed to enjoy it.

Owen's 1-yr. Dr. Appointment

Last Thursday was his 12-month well visit, and everything checked out great. He weighed in at 23 lb, 15 oz. (50%), measured 30" long (50%), and his head is 18" around (again, 50%). I told Joe he can't call him "fat kid" anymore because he's now "average". He's been pulling himself up on everything lately and cruising around, holding onto tables, chairs, walls, legs, whatever is available. He still uses the butt-scoot as his primary mode of transportation, but does occasionally crawl, too. Not too many words yet - mama, ba-ba (bottle), bu-beh (buddy bear the cat), bye, and occasionally "hi". He signs consistently for ba-ba, sometimes for all-done and more, and will wave bye-bye when prompted, too. For fun, he enjoys jumping up and down in his crib like a monkey wanting to be let out of a cage, and dancing to music. He'll bop his head to the side and bounce up and down, it's really cute. Actually, I believe I have a video:




One of these days I'll get him out to get his 1-year pictures taken, but I'm just waiting for an opportunity when he doesn't have a scratch on his cheek or a bruise on his forehead (he may be 2 by then!).

Kitchen Remodel

Some people have asked us what we're doing, so I thought I'd post some pictures to share. We're pretty much updating everything except the cabinets - installing recessed lighting (removing fluorescent lights - yuck!), pendant lights, new cabinet hardware, black granite countertops, new tile backsplash (replacing the current white tiles with inlaid roses), under-cabinet lighting, tile flooring (replacing hideous green marble linoleum), and removing a mud room to open up the kitchen into the family room. Oh, and of course, new wall color will finish it off... Here are some pics of the progress:Day 1 - What the view used to be from the kitchen towards the family room. That was the mud room behind that yellow wall...

Don't you just LOVE the flooring???

Day 2 - Yay - the rose tiles are gone!!!

Day 13 - Views after the mud room demo and new lighting
(notice the ugly green floor is gone, too?)

Day 20 - Tile flooring is being installed

More updates to come - we're more anxious than you to see the finished product!!!

Happy Birthday, Owen!!!

From this:To this:
We had a wonderful birthday party for Owen this past Saturday at Grandma & PawPaw's house (due to our kitchen being torn up at the moment). Grammy, Poppy, Uncle Andy, and Aunt Laura were all in attendance to celebrate the Gilkerson's making it through Owen's first year of life! I can't say it's all been picture-perfect, but it has had its moments! Thank goodness we're on to the second year, though - so much more fun to come!

Dillon the Tool Man

Our little boy has become quite attached to tools. I guess it's better than dolls, right? He loves to watch our contractor every morning working on our kitchen remodeling project - and will bug him until he brings in his big bucket of tools. He will then proceed to quiz him about each and every tool in there - "What's that one called?" "What's that?" He even corrected him once when the "workin' man" told him something was a wrench - Dillon said, "That's not a wrench! Those are PLIERS!!!" Wow, he couldn't get over how Dillon knew that - he thought that was just about the funniest thing he'd heard in a long time! Needless to say, Home Depot is Dillon's favorite store, and the last time we were there, we bought him his very own tape measure, level, and plumb-bob (yes, you read right, he wanted a plumb-bob!)!