Keeping up with the Kardashians Brockmans

I'm not even sure where to start this post.  I've meant to sit and write several times but the nights just escape me and the days are super busy. Here are some of the things you missed in the last few weeks or just other random updates from the Brockman camp.

Kenley was sick a few weeks ago and it made for some long days and longer nights. Luckily we recruited Grandma and Grandpa Brockman to babysit and after a shot of steroids from the doctor, she was slowly on the road to recovery. We were also cutting all 4 of our eye teeth at the same time which just added to the drama but we are doing much better now and super glad to have our happy girl back.

Last week is a blur so I'll just have to skip that ;o)

This past weekend, our friends Lissa and Nathan stopped by on Friday for a visit and to tour the Hotel Brockman. It was so nice to see them and I can't wait for them to move to town so we can see them more often. Kenley warmed up to them quickly and our short visit went too fast.

Oh they also started digging for our retaining wall on Friday. My yard now looks like this:

They are supposed to finish the wall today or tomorrow so I'll post more pics. They were able to flatten the back part nicely but I'm still having trouble picturing it all. We did talk and the landscaper is going to wait for a bit on our sod which will be super nice considering the 90+degree temps we have been having and the fact that a $500 water bill scares me. I'd rather spend $500 on other stuff besides watering my new sod in the July heat. I can just continue to play on the patio or go to the park if I want grass.

We also hung up the stuff in Kenley's room, so I'm happy to post some pics of her wonderful room. It was the one room I never got posted because she was asleep when I took the first set of pics and then I wanted to get her stuff hung. I put her comforter out on the crib so you can see the bedding she will have for her big girl bed (which we are getting by the end of the month and will start that transition soon. YIKES!)
Here is the view from the door.....

 The wall with her closet and bookcase...

 The view from the other side of the room ...

 A close up on the super cute (matching) message/photo/ribbon board I got on eBay...

 SO there you have it. Kenley's big girl purple room is all done. I'm gonna print her some more pictures for her board and eventually fill up the bookcase with stuff but for now, we are super happy with it. I think it will be so cute with her big bed and when we get the bedding all put in place.

My parents also came up this past weekend and brought a load from their storage shed. We have all of our baby stuff back now so we will have plenty of time to get it all together. We had a nice lunch on the grill and some homemade french fries! YUM!!! We will have to work on getting all the stuff they brought in from the garage so that eventually maybe Clay can park in there but we are still working on it.

Yesterday my Aunt Rachel came for the week. My sitter is off so Rachel is going to fill in.  I am sure Kenley and Rachel will have a hoot this week. Hopefully they won't be stuck inside 100% of the time with the heat but if they are, I'm sure they will make the best of it. 

Yesterday we did escape the heat for a bit after our nap and played in the kiddie pool. I took some super cute pics so I just wanted to share a few as I wrap this up. I'll try to post more this week but our lives have settled down quite nicely since moving.  We are getting used to the open space and slowly unpacking the last random boxes.  (Anyways, here are the pics!)

Hope everyone else has a great week and manages to stay cool in all this heat.

Fire it up!

Clay's new toy arrived on Saturday and I think he was really excited. While Kenley and I napped on Saturday, he put it together. 

Yep, that's right! He got a new grill. He has needed a new grill for quite some time. The old one was beatup, worn out, super small, and on it's last leg for sure. I wanted to picture it on her but it's almost embarrassing how old and beat up it was. Often times it was too small to make what we wanted, so when we got the new house I told him that I wanted him to get a new grill. It's like a belated Father's Day present in a way. 

We wanted to give it an inaguaral run on Sat night but he couldn't get the gas cap off. (We got a natural gas grill so we won't ever run out of steam while cooking.)  So Sunday morning Lee came over to help him get it ready to hook up and Sunday we FIRED IT UP for some Steak and veggies ;o) YUM!!

I'm super excited for the new grill too and ready to grill up a storm this summer. Time to find some new recipes!!



This girl...

This girl has recently shown an interest in the potty and will stand up after her bath and say "pee pee." She has an interest in watching me use the bathroom and will tell the pee pee "bye bye" as I flush the toilet.  She has sat on the toilet (the real one with me holding her in a hover) a few times and tonight showed a big interest in the new potty we got for her.  Well, this girl, she peed in the potty for the first time tonight and I missed it, but when I got in there and Clay told me, she had the biggest smile on her face (and so did I as I clapped and praised her). This girl, may be on the road to potty training early but I'm not gonna push it. Just see what interest she has at night after baths and maybe go from there. This girl, steals my heart more every day ;o)

18 months

Kenley turned 18 months old on Wed. I like to translate that into 1 1/2 ;o) Today we had her dr appt and it went well. She weighs 22lbs 12.5 oz and is 33.5 inches long. Tall and skinny just like her daddy!! Still in 25th percentile for weight but 90th for height.  We got one shot and a finger prick. Both seemed to be okay but it was funny watching her with a bandaid on her finger afterwards. She wouldn't bend or move her hand at all.  She was very interested in Dr. Kane's computer. We didn't really have any questions. I try to go with the flow as much as I can when it comes to Kenley and all in all I think she is doing okay. The dr did discuss trying to move her to a big girl bed sooner rather than later given the need for the crib this fall and having a few months to adjust before the new baby arrives.  We think we are going to try that at the end of this month sometime. We don't go back until our 2 year check up in Dec pending we remain healthy. All in all a short and easy visit.

Picture Tour of Hotel Brockman

Well I don't want to disappoint my readers so I finally took some pictures tonight. We've pretty much been unpacked since Sunday but I've been busy at night or just plain tired and wanting to sit on my new couches and watch tv or lay in bed and read...lazy I know but I figured I'd keep you in suspense a few days longer.  I still have some unpacking to do in our guest room (esp the closet) and some organizing to do for things that are already unpacked (like the pantry and our linen closets). I also haven't hung any decorations yet but I'm hoping to get to that this weekend. However, these pictures give an overview of the Hotel Brockman. I wish all of you could just come visit and see it in person but alas I guess pics have to do...

Here is my mud room (entry from the garage). It has lockers on one side and my pantry on the other.

Here is the kitchen. We love the orange!! I just have to find something cool to hang on the empty wall. I also will be getting a new kitchen table. We are hoping to match the cabinets if we can and seat 6-8 so we can actually have friends over for dinner.

Then here is the living room...

We have to finish installing the correct cables for the tv but then the card table won't be there and I can finish decorating the mantle. I really like our new couches and I'm so glad my big chair fits so nicely in the corner.
From the living room you can see Kenley's toy room. It definitely needs something on the walls but I'm just not sure what. Any ideas?

Then here is our staircase and the upstairs landing...

Kenley's room which isn't pictured because she was sleeping is over on the far left and the door isn't shown here. The door in the back left is my laundry room and then on the right you can see the baby's room and the entry to Kenley's bathroom (which was pictured in the last post.) Behind me is our room and then to the left of that on this side of the stairs is the guest room.

Here is the laundry room...

And what will be baby's room. It looks pretty empty as Kenley is still using the crib.

and then the guest room/office where Clay was on the computer paying bills (gotta do that to keep the new house of course.)

The guest room and closet still need the most help unpacking but I'll get to it.

and then here is the master bedroom...

and the master bath...

I'm loving this huge shower. It's definitely a treat!

And finally here is our closet...

Well that's most of the house. I hope you enjoyed the virtual photo tour. Please know you are welcome to come visit anytime. Book your stay in the guest suite. We would love to have ya!!!

Sneak peek

We started moving Thursday. Well I guess we even did some on Wed night after the closing, but yesterday we did enough that we actually stayed at the house last night ;o) I don't have a lot of time as my mom is out loading up the car again and the internet is to be turned off here today but I thought you would all like a sneak peek...

Here we are bringing Kenley home for the 1st time ;o)

She was all smiles and couldn't believe all her stuff was at that place we always were going to see.

Then here is my FAVORITE kid's bathroom EVER...

and here is the sign of approval from the critics on the "fishy" theme...

Stay tuned for more to come ;o) We are 75% moved and getting settled. It was great to sleep there last night. It's a dream come true and we love our new Hotel Brockman!!!