Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Dinner 2010

We hosted our 2nd annual Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Dinner a couple weekends ago. What started as a college tradition with Grant and his friends has become our excuse to prepare a ridiculous amout of food and hang out with a few friends. Plus, it seems to kick off the holiday season for us! :)

Painting

A little behind on posting, but we had a productive Halloween weekend! The "leapfrog" scheme ended up winning out, so you'll see a very green room now. The white chair rail is yet to be installed, and there will be other white accents in curtains and picture frames to soften the current green glow.

We put the crib together the following weekend, then when I came home from drill, a masterpiece had begun on the east wall. Let's just say when Grant gets motivated, he dives in head first... with only a few breaks for a little air guitar. Obviously, we have yet to install the chair rail, but we're one step closer...

Nursery Updates

Last Saturday, I finally got motivated enough to clean out the second upstairs bedroom (future nursery) so I could put a piece of furniture together. It was a fun little project - slightly reminiscent of model building in school. This piece is the combination dresser/changing table/tower.

Monday night, we finally painted a few sample patches of the colors we're thinking about for the room. We're deciding between the "Leapfrog" and "Baked Clay" schemes. Either way, we're planning on a darker, more saturated color on the bottom, a thick white chair rail, and a lighter version of the color on top. Mia was extra helpfull, as you can see. :)

New Furniture

We took the plunge and ordered furniture for the nursery a couple weeks ago. We're excited that it's already here, waiting for us to assemble. The problem is, however, our lack of motivation to clean the room out and get it ready for furniture. We decided we won't put anything together until the room is painted and ready. I've included a few pictures just for fun of what it should look like. All the pieces are in espresso wood finishes and very simple.

It's a Girl.... or at least it will be! :)

We had the big ultrasound last Tuesday... and we're expecting a girl!

Our last ultrasound was at 6 weeks (lima bean baby), and we're now at 18 weeks. I'd had a cupcake that morning, and she was movin! It was crazy to just watch her moving around so much, and still not feel much. I like to think that she's pointing at Grant and telling him what to do in this picture. :)

In the last couple weeks, it's definitely become a lot more real. We got some great deals on some big ticket items, purchased nursery furniture, and found out it's a girl. It's been quite a whirlwind.

Landscape Progress

As if the boys didn't have enough fun the first time, we're now on round two of the front retaining wall. Grant got to load up the new truck with more black granite block. Over Labor Day, he got a good start on the L-shaped wall that will frame the tree out front.

Emilie and Her Carousel Ride

This Sunday, I got to spend all day with Dianna and Emilie. We took naps, watched TV, went shopping, and found the carousel for a few rounds. Adam came home for dinner, so of course we included his cute picture too. :)

New Truck!

As of last night, we are the proud owners of a 2002 F-150 CrewCab Pickup. We've been looking for a while for a reliable 4WD with automatic transmission. Meet our new toy - Grant has yet to name it. :)

Leo A Daly - Omaha on the Boards

After a few weeks of development, Sabrina Ahern and I are proud to release a new Leo A Daly Omaha website! The website will be updated every few days with new information. We're excited to share the office designs, projects, community involvement, publications, and more. So, check it out, bookmark it - and let us know what you think!

http://www.leoadaly-omaha.com/

Sand in the City!

For the second year in a row, I participated in the Sand in the City competition - a major fundraiser event for the Nebraska Children's Home Society. As a volunteer "architect," I worked with First National Bank's team to create the sculpture "Savings Story." We sculpted Hamm, the pig from Toy Story, and then carved other Toy Story characters on the surrounding stacks of coins. My direct responsibility was the carving of the title coin at the front of the plot. We had six hours to complete the sculpture, and four of mine were on that coin alone!

Also, I was handed the "Most Valuable Designer" award. That basically means I produced great drawings for my team to build from. Sabrina Ahern, another designer at Leo A Daly, got that award last year - so I had a great mentor! We decided we'll keep trading it off every other year. :)


Also, many thanks to the Omaha Camera Club! They had multiple people taking photographs all day. Here are more pictures from the whole competition: http://occ.smugmug.com/Events/Sand-in-the-City-2010/12477949_QXH5N#894380681_br9GP.

Retaining walls done!

It was a long Memorial Day weekend, but our front retaining walls are done! Padraic Stack and Nick Nice came over (pretty much for the whole weekend) and helped Grant move block, set block, level block, glue block... I think you get the picture. :) The block is natural-cut blue granite. With traces of brown and gray in it, we thought it complimented our house without adding yet another shade of brown.

Happy Memorial Day

We had a few friends over Sunday night for an early Memorial Day grilling and firepit. Grant and I got inspired and bought a flag too.

On a serious note... although I'm in military service, I can't begin to imagine what this holiday means to other military families. Take a minute and pray for a soldier. Every day should be Memorial Day.

House Project No. 2...

Tonight, we went rock shopping. Found a great deal on some natural blue granite (actually has hints of green and brown in it too) that we ended up buying! That, with a little pea gravel and crushed limestone, will begin our new retaining wall/landscape beds in front of the house.

Thus begins house project no. 2......

Releasing Emilie's Inner Diva!

On Saturday, Emilie and Dianna came up to Omaha to participate in the American Heart Association Heart Walk in downtown Omaha. Emilie stole the show in her red threads and hot sunglasses! :)

Mission Accomplished!

Grant and Padraic got an early start on Saturday and painted the finished shelf - took some time off to watch Yankees vs. Red Sox (of course) - and then painted the wall. It's exciting to have our first "project" done!

Spring Cleaning... and then some...

And then came the cleaning... Even though we had plastic taped and pinned everywhere, there was still a ton of drywall dust after Grant finished sanding. Grant was covered, the wall/shelf was covered, everything was covered (my only known down-side of an open plan house - we couldn't shut doors to contain it). We also hosted Mother's Day at our house on Sunday, so most things were cleaned 2-3 times before the dust was abated. And, as you can see below, Mia was very helpful. :)

Birthday Tree!

True, it is not yet my birthday, but I got an early present this week... a tree! Grant had asked me what I wanted, and I said a tree. So he called up our friend Tom from Ahern Hardscapes and Garden Design - and he and Grant walked a nursery and picked out this Red Point Maple. It's so exciting to see some growth - my new tree and our grass are the first color, other than brown, on our lot since we've lived there! Plus, I had no idea it was even happening! I came home from drill in Lincoln, and surprise - a tree! :)