Painting Project

We have been working on lots of projects here and there at our house, and I finally got one finished. Yay!

I found this beauty in someone's yard with a free sign, painted it with some antique white paint and furniture sealant($13), and added some cute knobs from Hobby Lobby($6). I'd say not too bad for 19 bucks! It now sits in our dining room and holds all of our board games, and matches our curtains perfectly!

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

I seriously love these knobs!

I think I'm ready for something bigger now... Maybe a barn door for our bathroom. :)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Abels! I was able to design our Christmas card this year, and I LOVE how it turned out. Hope everyone has a happy holiday season!

15 Months

I realize I can't do a monthly post about Molly forever, but I am SOOO bad at writing in my journal that I feel like I need to just to remember all the little things. I decided I'd stick to posting updates along with the doctor visit schedule.  Can you believe this little princess is 15 months already!?

Lately Molly:

• Weighs about 25 pounds (according to our home scale) and it still growing like weed at around 32 inches long!
• She's about to bust out of her size 4 diapers (I only have one little pack left) and wears 12-24 month clothes depending on the brand.
• LOVES to read.  Like LOVE LOVE LOVES it.  She makes me read her about 63521384354 books a days and loves to point at the letters.  Her favorites are any ABC books, Barnyard Dance, and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (another letter one).
• Likes to be chased around the house.  She squeals and laughs and seems to never tire of this so we play until I collapse on the couch.
• Has started to like watching TV. She watches Baby Einstein Animals, Doc McStuffins and Sparkabilites (we borrow it from the library and it's her favorite!) She watches them while I tutor high school kids a couple evenings a week, and sometimes while I make dinner.
• Is mesmerized by the Christmas Tree.  She picks up the plug and screams for me to plug in the lights, and then says "wow" in a whisper voice every time they turn on.  I am getting a little annoyed about the one ornament she thinks doesn't need to be on the tree.
•  Is taking a while to get her teeth.  She has 5 noticeable teeth, and 2 that have broken through the gum, but still doesn't chew very well.
• Is a bipolar eater (I'm told this is normal toddler behavior).  She loves foods one day and refuses them the next... but she will always eat bananas, yogurt, any kind of bread, cheese, and oatmeal.  Sounds like she's a breakfast girl haha.
• Knows A LOT of what we are saying. I now have to spell words like DINNER and PARK or a tantrum will ensue.
• Can say a few words including Dada, car, banana, uh-oh, and the letters O and R. She also knows how to make dog, tiger, elephant, and monkey noises thanks to her crazy daddy.
• Changes favorite toys every few days. This week it's been her stuffed whale and her remote control. And as always, she likes things like toothpaste bottles and hair clips more than her toys.
• Inconsistent with napping still.  Some weeks she'll nap for 3 hours every day, this week however we are going on day 3 of barely napping at all. 
• Sleeps with a blanket and loves it. We tried a stuffed animal, but she would just throw it out and keep saying "uh-oh" so we nixed that.
• Loves to get the mail, go to the park (when it's not snowing), and go to the library. 
• Loves making messes.  I find daddy's socks all over the house and throwing toys is a new favorite pastime(Any advice on that one?).  Matt had to turn the couch over and undo some screws to get out one of her puzzle pieces the other day haha.
• Gives us kisses and hugs all the time (especially when we ask for them)! She is finally getting to be more cuddly too which just melts my heart!

 Here is some more cuteness from the last few months:

Story Time

Mommy's boots

Thanks-a-ween!

Gosh, I feel like I'm so busy lately... must be that time of year. Well here's a catch up post about Halloween, Thanksgiving, and some other fall activities!

We went to a pumpkin patch as a family and picked out some pretty pumpkins (which we never ended up carving).  Molly loved playing with the pumpkins, running through the kiddy corn maze, and being pulled around in a wagon.

Matt and I were able to get out on a triple date with some friends to Anderson Farms to play zombie paintball.  That was such a fun night out and we've agreed we need to do group dates more often!

Halloween was fun this year with a walking baby to dress up. We dressed Molly in this pillow of a zebra costume and she loved it. She kept patting her padded tummy with first time I put it on here which was for the library's treat-or-treat.  She didn't really understand the whole idea and would put the last piece of candy she got into the next person's bucket.  But she had a great time!

We also dressed up for the ward part and for the actually holiday. Molly got to try some smarties, but the rest of the candy was for Mommy and Daddy! Yum.

Grandma and Grandpa Kleinlein were able to come visit in early November which was a blast. We drove up to Estes Park and walked around and it was cold!

Thanksgiving was fun this year, except for the fact that our oven broke a week before! We already had a crack in the stove top so it was time to get a new one. Our new one has a meat roast setting so our turkey turned out delicious! We had Matt's sisters visit, and ate lots of yummy food. Molly's favorite was Jello, Matt's was the pumpkin pie I made, and my favorite is always the stuffing! It was a white Thanksgiving so we got to play in the snow too! Molly loved the snow, but hated her snowsuit.

 

Black Friday at Home Depot

Longmont Tree Lighting

Playing at the mall playground

Other mentionable things that happened this fall:

• Molly got really sick for the first time. It was sooo sad! She wanted to do nothing but cuddle, which is so not like her. 

• We got a new car. We have no pictures of it, but we love our Ford Escape!

• Molly has been learning like crazy, and I am so excited for her to start talking more and more!