One Year Later....

A year ago today, our house caught fire. The chaos of that day, and the days, weeks, and months following still make my head spin. Our house was a mess last year, but this year is a different story! We have worked really hard to take full advantage of remodeling our house. We are so happy with the result and SO thankful to be done with contractors, insurance, paper work and receipts.

The new kitchen. My favorite parts are the farm house sink, down draft and dual fuel stove and the pull out trash.

 Our family room. Missing some art, but nearly complete.

Entry way.

 Play area and dinning table. This white couch is amazing. You might question a white couch with toddlers, but it's Ikea. And slip covered. Amazing.

Side console behind the dinning table. Thank you Home Goods.

Emory's bedroom.

 Gabe's room.

 Our room.

 Guest bath.

I did not get pictures of the master bathroom. Kinda small and can't get a good angle, so just believe me that it is done too.

Again, thank you to everyone who helped us along the way. What a turbulent year! We are settled in our home and are so glad to be back.

What We've Been Up To Lately...

Busy busy! But the Dess family is having so much fun. I will try to catch you all up!

The kids had their last day of Mother's Day Out/Preschool. As much as I miss some time alone, I also appreciate the relaxed mornings where the kids are sleeping in until 8:30. Ahhhh. Anyways, the kid's teachers were just wonderful and we miss seeing them.

Here are the kids on the first day of school. Look at how little my kids were!!!!

 Gabe's teachers. Such amazing women for Gabe's first "school" experience. They were so loving and patient with our little mama's boy.

 Emory's teachers were soo kind. She has her shy moments, but they totally helped her through all that.

After Gabe's first hair cut we are dealing with a new phenomenon..... bed head.  He is just so cute that some messy hair does not matter.

 With the upcoming release of the new Cars movie, Lightning, Mader and some new character are traveling around the U.S. for kids to see. Well, another mommy lesson learned. Never tell your kids about plans you have until you are there. The line was 2 hours long to get in to see the cars up close, so we just walked around them, and this is as close as we got. I really had to talk to Emory about how Lighting and Mader were really busy and they understood that we couldn't wait that long.

 We have been enjoying a lot of play dates lately. Dear Brady came over and the kids were too cute together. They were riding the plasma car around (together) while Emory was all dressed up.

 Now it's her turn to drive!

Emory's First Recital!!!

We are so proud of our little ballerina! After the week where we were allowed in her class to watch, we had our doubts on her actually dancing during the recital. But she did great! I will put video up as soon as Grant helps me figure out how!

Anyways, here is our little performer! Look for the little blond girl in the pictures.

 She is just adorable!!

 Mid jump shot!

 I love it when she is doing something different from the girls around her. Too funny.

 We were very lucky that our babysitter was available to watch Gabe so we could have a special evening with Emory. She did such a good job and daddy brought her some pink flowers. We are not sure if Emory will want to take dance again, but we are so glad that she did it.

Gabe's First Hair Cut...

Hold back the tears. My baby got a big boy hair cut. We didn't realize how much he really needed it until we were there. First of all some before pictures...

 Too cute!

 This has gotten a little out of control.

 Emory got her hair cut first, so Gabe got to run around and play until she was done. You can see his hair hanging over his collar. Real nice.

And now for the hair cut...

 Things started out good and went bad quickly. I guess Gabe thought it was very mean to spray water on his hair...

 Even with the crying, still just adorable and look at his hair!

 Yes!

 All done.

Hopefully he will get use to that, kinda a rough go. But we love the results. Super cute!

Gabe's Puppy Heaven!!!

While Emory is at school on Tuesdays, Gabe and I have some one on one time. I try to think of things he would enjoy doing, and not just get errands done. Well, you might say this was the mother lode. He LOVES going to Pet Smart and looking at puppies, cats, birds, and yes the mice. What a sweet time to spend with my little man when he is completely happy.

Warning: Cuteness Overload!!

Emory has been taking ballet and she is loving it. The class is gearing up for the big recital and this past Saturday was picture day!!! Emory was A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E. Can't wait to see her dancing around in her bright pink pink tutu at the actual recital, no worries, video will be posted.

 Her tiny little bun, such a sweet ballerina.

 Love my girl!