Don't want to rub it in....

...but Tennessee is amazing! The weather this past week and a half have been AWESOME! Sunday it was in the 70's! I can't stress enough how thankful I am to be in a warm climate and experiencing spring already, even though it's still February! Nothing makes you feel quite so good as the first warm, sunny days of spring. In celebration of the warm temperatures, Kacey, Sakora and I have been doing lots outdoors. We have worked on our back 1/2 acre, collecting fallen branches and cutting down weeds/bushes in hopes that we will control the wild growth before it's so thick you can't even walk through to the back gate. Sakora seems to love being outside, even though she does get antsy sitting in one spot... I generally have to pull the stroller with one hand and pick up sticks with the other. We have also enjoyed lots of stroller time, taking trips to the park, the store, and through the backyard. Yesterday on our walk/run we found a tree that was budding!



Sakora's new trick was blowing bubbles, although now she has seemed to lose interest in that and is back to chattering away and has now discovered her bottom lip. She has also been laughing more and smiling a ton! That has been the most fun of all. I LOVE hearing her laugh. It doesn't matter what else has gone wrong in a day, as soon as she laughs or smiles, everything is well with the world. She also makes getting up in the morning something to look forward to because she is always soooo happy and excited to see Kacey and I! Sometimes she wakes up an hour to 1/2 hour before it's time for her to eat and will just talk and squeal in happiness in her crib until we go in to get her around 7:00. We wake up laughing and that is always a great way to start the day. The pictures below are ones I tried to capture of her blowing bubbles...

Kacey has also been very hard at work in the construction room and has already built 2 walls, knocked out 2 windows, installed 1 window, reinforced all ceiling beams, and began preparing the floor in the bathroom area (where you see the rolls of insulation) for tile. The doorway on the left will lead into the master bath and the doorway on the right will lead into the master bedroom. The washer and dryer will stay in that spot in an open laundry room off of the kitchen.

Another thing Kacey accomplished was single-handedly transporting 10 extremely heavy sheets of plywood from downstairs to the upstairs. It was probably the craziest, coolest thing i've ever seen him do! Sakora also loved watching him. She watches him very intently whenever he's working :). Anways, getting hte plywood upstairs was a several step process that involved hoisting one part of the plywood up into the rafters and jumping from the floor up to the ceiling!

Preparing the bathroom/laundry room floor for tile...The huge hole in the side of our house~! This was the window, which used to be a door, so Kacey knocked out the whole thing and is going to rebuild it into a window....confusing, i know :)

No, this is not a barn, this is the back of our house!

And in between working, we took out first family nap this past weekend! Sakora cuddled up inbetween Kacey and I for a little snooze. I couldn't sleep, though, because i kept looking at how precious Kacey and his little girl were :)

Stroller Time! Sakora loves her stroller rides and even likes riding around the house in the little one.

Looks like they may call her carrot-top some day!

Tummy time...trying to get her to roll over! She is soooo close! But still has not made it a full roll. She's taking her sweet time... (that is a 12 month outfit by the way!! of course all baby clothes are made differently and she does still fit into some 6 month outfits, but I couldn't believe how well this one fit!)