House Pictures - Before and After

We had an Open House party for our friends this past weekend, so that was incentive to get the house in order and take some pictures of what we've been busy doing on the new house for the past five months.  Here are some before and after pictures!

Front of House Before

Front of House After - We removed all of the ivy from the brick and the
dead tree on the right.  We added a driveway gate, gutters, sprinkler system
in the front,  re-painted all of the wood a slightly different shade and did some
landscaping.

Den Before

Den After - we added wiring to hang TV above fireplace, surround sound,
the bookcases on both sides of the fireplace and bench storage for toys
under the right window

Kitchen and Breakfast Area Before 

Kitchen/Breakfast Area After - we stained the wood beam, did a little touch-up painting
and some minor cabinet tweaks

Study Before

Study After - we added a built-in desk on the right, bookcases

on the left, under cabinet lighting, extra cable/phone/electric plugs,

a glass top and shutters on the windows

Desk Area

Bookcases

Living Room Before

Living Room After - We did new curtains, recovered the flowered
club chairs and got two new wood chairs for a separate sitting area (oh - and
Ryan finally got to hang his first duck in the study, which is what Taylor
points out when she's giving a tour)

Living Room After

Living Room After - new couch pillows

Dining Room Before

Dining Room After - We added new curtains and some accessories

Upstairs Bath Before

Upstairs Bath After - The project that started it all....
We changed everything except for the
placement of the plumbing!

Shower after - we added the shower light, new tile and reglazed tub

Upstairs Vanity Before - original tile

Upstairs Vanity After - all new

Taylor's Room Before

Taylor's Room After - just a little paint, a chandelier and shutters

Taylor's Room After

Guest Room Before

Guest Room After - we painted my Grandmother's old bedroom furniture and
it's looks fantastic, I must say

Nursery Before

Nursery After - Work in progress

Nursery After

Master Bedroom Before

Master Bedroom After - we didn't have to do anything here. Whew!

Backyard Before

Backyard After - We removed five trees, did some landscaping and repaired
part of the fence

Garden Before

Garden After - We removed two palm trees and the elephant ears,
and added flagstone

Back Porch After - New paint

A final picture to make you hungry - party food

Taylor's First Day of Preschool at First Steps

We made it on-time and it was a full success!  Yesterday, we spent preparing for the big day - gathering her "supplies" ready and getting in bed early.  We picked out a plant and painted a special pot for her to plant it in.  She also had to bring a framed family picture so she was very excited about that.  Today was a short day - only an hour and I stayed with her the entire time.  There were no tears and she wasn't afraid of anything.  She even made a few buddies; however, most of the time the kids were doing "work" by themselves.  Yes, it's called "work" not "toys" or "play".  There are eleven kids in her class and three teachers.  Her lead teacher is Ms. Veronica.  There is also a mix of older kids who were in the class last year and new kids.  Tomorrow we go for a little longer and I slip out of the room for 30 minutes.  Friday a little longer and I'm gone for an hour.  Next week, it's 8:15am - noon everyday.

Supplies for school

So excited about her "fower" and "pot" 

Hugs from Mommy

Goodbye, Daddy! 

"Working" hard at transferring beads from one bowl to another with a spoon

Putting sticks into tiny holes

Cleaning up her placemat after snack

School is over - time to play

I had to peel her away from the playground - it is a beautiful day

Ireland Trip Photos

We had such a great time!  It was a real treat for us to be together as a family for 10 days in a row.  I have put together a movie with captions of our photos from Ireland.  Unfortunately, it is too big to upload anywhere on the web.  So I had to settle with uploading the pictures onto Snapfish and haven't had time to add any captions yet.  Below is a link to the pictures.  Guess you will have to come visit to view the movie and hear about the details!

http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4026404002/a=12048492_12048492/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

A New Baby Sister

We will be adding another little princess to our family!  Taylor is "somewhat" intrigued by the idea of a Baby Sister.  She knows that Baby Sister is in Mommy's tummy and will kiss the belly when prompted.  However, she's not sure why the baby is "in the belly button" or why she won't come out right now.  (Thank goodness we still have a little more time.)  I've included some pictures from our 20-week ultrasound.  Two of the pictures are 3-D which is pretty neat.  I've compared them to Taylor's 20-week ultrasound pictures and they are strikingly similar.  We may just have another thumb sucker too.

A special celebration for Baby Sister!  Taylor was excited about the cake.

Baby S's profile

Baby S. sucking her finger and hiding her face from the camera.

A sweet smile.  :)

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July from our sweet little firecracker to you!  It's hot in Houston today; however, we are so happy that Ryan is home and not working today.  We had a great time BBQing with the Roumels last night.  (If you are receiving this post in an email, please remember it's best viewed on our website - thesynnottfamily.blogspot.com)

 

The New Mary Lou Retton?

Taylor had her first gymnastics class today at the West U Rec Center.  It's a Mommy and Me class so I wasn't able to catch any pictures during the class, so we only have pre-pictures from home.  She had to pull our hair back and wear a leotard.  How cute and grown-up is she in that leotard?  She learned the balance beam, hula hoop, batons, mini-trampoline, tunnel and a lot more.  She loved it and was not afraid. 

Pool Time

It's that time of year and it's hot!  And luckily we've found a pool near our new house.  She is so funny when she wears her sunglasses.  Her little nose barely keeps them on!  No fear of the water here.  She loves the big pool too.



What a diva with her sunglasses and watering cans!

 

Staring at the older boy - thinking why is he acting like a fool?



Pouring the water out of the pool. 

Baby S #2

I thought I should share the ultrasound pictures we've collected over the past couple of months of new Baby S.  We do not know the sex yet, but should know something in a month.  I'm 16 weeks and 2 days today and can't believe in a few weeks we will be half baked with #2.  Maybe by the time he or she arrives, the nursery will be rid of the boxes we have left to unpack.  Ugh. 


At 9 weeks - just a little peanut

At 12 weeks (3 months) - already looking like a little baby
This is a profile shot. If you look above the torso you can see a hand.

Easter

Here are a few pictures from last weekend.  We managed to find our clothes and make it to the 9am Easter service at Church.  Taylor learned to hunt eggs (she actually got the concept pretty quickly) and enjoyed her Easter basket goodies.  Now I better get back to unpacking!

Playdates, Parks, Parties Galore and More

We've been having fun out in this amazing, 70-degree weather.  Here are a few pictures of our recent excursions.

It was difficult to get a good shot of the kiddos at Discovery Green.  Taylor's favorite thing to do was run from Mommy.

 

Rockin' my shades - sunny, hot day at the park



Watching the seals at the zoo with Lindsay and Lexi

Pointing at the "seal" - what is the difference between a seal and a sea lion?  Black vs. white?

Little girls and their daddies - Michael, Nina, Ryan and Taylor at Lily's birthday party

Not going to miss the good food at Lily's birthday party

Cupcakes with Nina

Snuggling with Daddy so he doesn't have to do chores

She finally loves her rocking horse