10 weeks and counting

Ilana is growing in leaps and bounds these days. She had her first round of shots at 8 weeks (a couple weeks ago) and she weighed 11 lbs. 2 oz! She's probably over 12 pounds by now (she's growing up so fast!). She screams before she falls asleep, every time. Besides that we're starting to think she's really fun. She's become much more interactive and is eating her hands all the time. Here's a few pics...

She'll actually sit in her chair these days and let Paul and I get a few things done. Here she's "talking" to her alligator, zebra and elephant friends. She gets really excited and shakes the whole chair, it's adorable.
The tiffany lamps in our kitchen mesmerize her too.
Here she's playing with her friend Ada. We have a video of them holding hands. Ada even sucks on Ilana's fingers, it's adorable.
We enjoyed celebrating Mom Miller's birthday with her. Ilana got to sit ON the table.
-H

Meeting the Family

Paul was out of town Friday, 5/23 through Friday, 5/30, so instead of trying to "tough it out" by myself at home with Ilana and Moses, the girls went on a little vacation to meet the whole family. (Thanks again Courtney for spoiling Moses while we were gone!) We spent Friday-Sunday with the Miller side and Sunday-Friday in Annapolis with the Polk side. There are so many other people in Annapolis we wanted to see, so we're hoping to get down again soon. Everyone absolutely LOVED Ilana. Here are a few pictures...

We had a blast at the Annual Rabuck Memorial Day Picnic Extravaganza. Here Ilana's meeting her great grandmother "Nana." She met 13 other people that day! Our little social butterfly...
On Tuesday morning my second niece, Caroline Grace, was born. Now all 3 granddaughters on the Polk side are here and my parents are swimming in PINK!
We kept my other niece, Sami, on Tuesday and Wednesday so the rest of the family could get some sleep. Here Sami is saying "babi!" and patting Ilana's head. It was precious!
Four generations...

-H

It takes energy to take care of Ilana...

-H

4 years later

A house becomes a home:

Before........................After


Why is it that the 60's ruined home remodeling? Who thought that paneling and lime green paint on moldings was a good idea? I sure hope that whoever remodels this house next doesn't have to ask, "what were they thinking?" as many times as I have. Blood, sweat and tears. While we are ever so thankful to be homeowners we are also so thankful that it's almost done! It has been good to share this restoration with our community, students, and family. We could not have done it without all of the support. -P