Baby Chase is here!

Here we are! Everyone of us is tired and exhausted (I wonder why...) but we're all so happy to finally have him. Savannah loves him to pieces all our pictures of her holding him are on our other camera.... we didn't have this camera's battery charged in time for the big day so we used our old one and will get that film developed here soon. We'll be taking more pictures to post too so check in on us.

Piggy PJ's and Pretty Faces.

New Christmas PJ's with piggy feet are making bed time a breeze. Who wouldn't want a pair of these! Whoa that rhymed! Savannah has been busy preparing for a new baby brother and learning all about what it is to be 2 yrs old. She is talking lots and lots and is very passionate about what she has to say.

She is also big into practicing her faces. She likes to stand in front of the full length mirror and see all the things her face can do. Just recently she has added other things into the mix... notice the hand placed under the chin...shes a hoot.

Here she is working her hip action. She was dancing to Uncle Caleb playing the guitar.

Stanek Masonry update...

A huge fireplace! Its hard to tell how big it is without someone in the picture. Way to go you guys its beautiful!

Our hardworking crew pulling out all the stops to make it look fantastic. They are actually inside a tent they constructed to keep themselves and the column they are working on warm. It gets pretty toasty in there.
Joe and Caleb...

And here is the newest member of our crew and hes doing great work! Travis!

Joe examining the fireplace now with a critical eye. You can see a little better how huge this thing is.

This is the front of the house. Those columns were built the same way, using a tent to keep them warm while the mud dried.

Thanks for all your amazing work guys! You rock!
I'm such a corn ball.

In winter we're rounder

First time playing in the snow...She went to her cousins bithday party who lives up in the mountains where there is lots and lots of snow. Daddy helped her get around and pushed her on the sled. Daddy had to help mommy get around too...I was out there to take pictures and found myself almost falling over a couple times.
She really liked this....

She stayed close to Daddy though she still wasn't too sure. And after a about 15 minutes she was done!

Stanek Masonry in action

Here is a huge house Joe has been working on for 2 years off and on! We're pretty impressed with how its turning out and wanted to share...actually Joe would be embarrassed that I'm sharing it he's humble like that.

I couldn't got the whole house in the shot without backing up lots... Thought I would include a picture of the hardworking men that have worked so hard on this house. The first is Joe, and the second is Caleb. Sorry Travis I'll get a picture of you next time!
This is going to be the grand entrance of the house after you come through the front door. Very fancy!

This is a wine room with an arched ceiling shown below...

Here is the arched ceiling its hard to get a good picture of it and even harder to do the work to get the brick up there.

Here is Caleb working on more of the grand entrance through the front door. You can see the big front doors behind Caleb.

This is going to be a bathroom I'm pretty sure. Amazing!

We're still working.... we'll keep you updated!

A Very Merry Christmas

We were most blessed this Christmas. The only thing that would have made it better is if it had snowed...but you can't have everything. Savannah had lots of fun this Christmas and is now really good at ripping wrapping paper. Joe wins the award for being more childlike than his daughter as he woke me up numerous times on Christmas Eve to see if we could open presents yet! Bless his heart I love him. Savannah had a hard time that night she was over tired and over stimulated so neither she or I got very restful sleep until after about 2:30am. And I don't know what time I finally fell asleep after that. But Joe boy he was ready to go. Finally at about 8am I decided he wasn't gonna let me rest until we opened presents. So he went in and woke Savannah up and led her into the living room. At first she wasn't sure what to do cuz we had been telling her to leave presents alone now for a couple weeks (the ones I had wrapped under the tree for family) and all the sudden it was okay to rip into them. We had more fun watching her open presents than we did with our own....its fun to be a parent.

Savannah is seen here playing with her Geo Trax train set that daddy helped her build....hours of fun! She also got a baby doll to get her ready for her new baby brother that will be here in about a month! As you can see these pictures are only a day old and thats because I got a digital camera for Christmas from my parents! I feel extremely spoiled this year because I also got a new dishwasher and my own set of tools as Joe has scattered my former set of tools to the four winds. And let us not forget a new washer and dryer. What else can a girl want? I feel very very blessed and grateful. Joe got his "Gigantor" star wars Lego set that I forgot to take a picture of but is very impressive. So I'll post one next time....it is actually motorized and walks around.
We hope you all had a merry and bright Christmas too!

No sense of smell

My nose if broken....I mean to say that it doesn't preform a basic function for me....I can't smell. I've always been aware of this but recently it has come to my attention just how much of the world I am missing due to my broken nose. My washer is old like 20 + yrs old and Joe got it from his parents when he moved out on his own. So its been worked hard. They've got a ranch and all manner of farm animals and that was the machine that used to wash their grimey clothes. Well fast forward a few years to the present day when I am washing my family's clothes in it. Apparently there is a leak of some kind and it smells like mildew in this washer making our clothes smell that way (didn't know this...) on top of that all the years of washing farm animal stink out of clothes has compounded the smell to some odd mildew, poo, dead animal smell (didn't know this either...). So apparently this smell is getting worse. (didn't know this....my nose really is broken) and finally a brave soul (who I am very grateful for) decided to let me in on what the rest of the world has been smelling for a while. I now thinking about all the hours I've spent washing clothes for nothing. It does seem that washing them still gets out stains and stuff just doesn't leave them smelling fresh. I'm so embarassed. I want a new nose. My mom is the brave soul that very kindly brought my attention to it. And it is her theory that when I had my head surgery...the one that I had when I was a brand new baby for being born without a soft spot....(some of you may not know this story) anyway I have a scar from ear to ear so that they could fix my brow bone and give me a soft spot. The brow bone broke during birth because my head wasn't giving at all and if it hadn't we both would have bled to death. Anyway so what does this have to do with my washer and my nose??? Well to preform the surgery they cut me from ear to ear and then peeled the skin downward even with my nose. It seems that there may have been so wires crossed when they put everything back in its place. I have a short in my nasal system...sometimes I can smell things sometimes I can't and I can't always count on my nose to alert me when something smells bad. So....my nose is broken. I need a new washer.... and then I have to wash every single piece of clothing all over again to get rid of the smell....it might take a couple washings....I won't know unless I ask if the smell is gone. So my friends who love me please just tell me, I'm beggin you. It will be much less embarrassing coming from you than nobody ever telling me and I just have to stink in ignorance. I mean it please tell me. I love you all Merry Christmas!