Giggles and Paint

It's been a little bit since I've written. Phil started a new job with AT&T at the beginning of June. We heard so many great things about the company and it's benefits, etc. Not all things are quite as good as you hope. But it's definitely working for now and we're so happy to have a steady income again. Phil is now on the 3 to midnight shift, which is working pretty well because I stay up until after midnight all the time anyway. With him still working part-time in the mornings at the sleep lab, he rarely gets to see Gracie when she's awake! It's been a little rough that way, but on his days off he gets his fill of her. I can tell she misses him too, she gets so happy when she sees him. It's amazing to me now that she can recognize us as her parents, I just love her so much!

Sorry this image is so bright, if I don't use the flash

she moves too quick to not blur...

She's started this new giggle this week, it's so darn CUTE!
I got it on video last night. My little girl is growing up...

We decided a few weeks ago that we couldn't find anything in our loft, aka: our storage unit. I wanted it to be more guest-friendly to encourage more family to come visit us (hint hint), since we can't take any time off for a full six months! We wanted (and needed) to change the paint, and decided on orange and yellow! We were a little timid at first with such bright colors but we absolutely love the way it turned out!! It's still needs a bit more organizing but here it is! We're happy to have this extra space, even though it gets pretty hot during the summer. I had been watching Clean House which got me thinking that we needed to do something up there! Last night Phil changed all the power outlets to white so they match each other and the trim, and he finally screwed in the light fixtures, but we found a few unpleasant surprises. About ten baby spiders were coming out of the back of the light, just floating on their webs, YIKES! I don't handle bugs well, I really flipped out. We called an exterminator and have scheduled them to come and take care of the little critters.

We had some friends over for a barbeque for the fourth. We went down swimming, it was really fun! I took Gracie with us, but the water was pretty cold and she cried after I dunked her feet. She was so cute in her big hat and suit, I forgot to take a picture. She's like me, she sneezes in the bright sun. We sat in the shade until the rest were done. I made chocolate-covered rice krispies, but I used this fondue chocolate leftover from our wedding, it's not the best anymore. Time to throw it out. It was cute, anyway. Nothing like Angie's cakes or anything, but I'm getting there... ;)

I found that Charlie has learned how to sit. It is hilarious, I don't know quite how he got himself in this position but was glad he held it in time to snap a shot. He's such a funny cat. He's protective, yet terrified of Gracie. When she cries he runs away but looks at me as if to say "fix her". He loves to come in her room when I'm nursing and jump on the changing table where I store all her blankets and settle in for a nap. I think he knows that when I've got her there I can't really get up and tell him no, but it's still cute. He doesn't like to be alone.

This week I had my best shopping trip at CVS yet!! I got everything in this picture for a total of $0.75 out of pocket!! Amazing!! I'm finding, sadly, that I've gotten much better at finding cheap shampoo and toothpaste than groceries though, since Smith's is the only store we have on grocerysmarts.com, but we're still finding pretty good deals and bringing down our budget. It's way fun, if any of you are interested in learning how, just let me know!

I also got these cookies and gum at Walgreens for just $2.99. It wasn't as good of a deal as planned or expected. Ah well, still learning.