Happy Mother's Day to Jen! Here's Jen holding Claire after delivery. Being a mom is no joke. I appreciate my parents even more after being a parent myself. Claire is a bundle of joy but has moments of total meltdown when she is overly tired and has gastric distress. Here's Claire getting ready to blast one. The shirt says it all. We finished laying the decking boards this past weekend. We've got two 12' X 16' decks with a common 6' landing area in the middle where the stairs will go. The deck is elevated 8' off the ground which made the construction a bit more tricky than either of us anticipated. Here's the view from the deck. There is a little stream hidden behind those bushes. The big houses in the background used to be 900 sq ft homes back in 2006 until investors came in and tore them down to build newer homes. We got lucky and bought at the right time just before the street changed. We'll be replacing the windows with sliding glass doors on both sides of the deck and will add outdoor lighting to finish things off. Eventually we plan to turn the duplex into a single family home and will put a screened in porch on this side of the deck at that time. The big event for this week was that it was Jen's first Mother's Day. Claire is one very lucky little girl to have Jen as her mom. We wanted to show our appreciation so Claire and I made her a homemade card with a gift certificate for one pampered weekend in the mountains including the following: * Jen gets two massages * I make breakfast each morning * I will take Claire's night feeds We also took her out to her favorite breakfast spot: Original Pancake House. The plans are all set for Memorial Day weekend in the mountains!! Aside from Mother's Day I also made a lot of progress in the "Manliness" department. One of my goals for this year was to get more handy with tools and DIY projects and this weekend I got to spend 15 hours working on the deck. Dave and I managed to get all of the deck boards down and Watty and I put down the last couple of boards and trimmed the edges off. Aside from that I also cleaned the gutters on our front porch for the first time. This weekend was quite productive. Here's a list of what's left to finish the deck: * Install railings * Install stairs * Replace windows with sliding glass doors * Install outdoor lighting * Throw a party Lately I've been watching a lot of Holmes on Homes on HGTV and find it very entertaining and am actually learning quite a bit about how to do things the right way. Within the next 3-7 years we plan to turn our duplex into a single family home so I'm trying to learn as much as I can so I can be better educated in that department for when it's time to renovate. Along those same lines I've been putting a lot of thought and projections into our financial future including retirement (401K), our rentals, Jen's business, Claire's education, and enjoying life in the now. There's a fine balance between setting yourself up for later in life and enjoying the present day. I'll be writing up another post specifically on that subject at a later date. CLAIRE: * 12 weeks old * 11 lbs 1 oz * Isn't affected by cooler room temps anymore * Taking small trips in the car or stroller don't affect her sleep as much * Speaks 4 different languages but hasn't mastered English yet * Can say "momma" but it's only when she's crying * Enjoys long walks on the beach and peeing in the tub at bath time