Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Photo Diary of a House Remodel Entry #3

This is where we were a week and a half ago...Daddy was finishing up the electrical and plumbing in preparation for the painters.
family room looking into the entry way-this is where the large closet used to be.
the kitchen-no dividing wall yet and wires everywhere. Yep...that's Daddy.
the night (late late at night) before the painters started-the frame for the semi-dividing wall between the kitchen and family room is up, the electrical, lights and plumbing are done, and we're ready for drywall and paint.The painters have been in for almost a week and a half now. They should be done this Thursday or Friday. I'll get you some pictures of that this weekend. I think it's going to look and feel very different. Like we might actually be able to move in one day.


Saturday, March 28, 2009

Photo Diary of a House Remodel Entry #2

Here's what we were left with during and after the demo. We ripped everything in the kitchen and master bathroom, most of the hall bathroom, and removed one of the closets in the family room. We are partially opening up the wall between the family room and the kitchen. There are no pictures of it, but we also are taking part of the laundry room and making it a walk in closet in the master. Nothing is changing in the other bedrooms. And we still have one nasty bathroom that is intact and will probably be our primary bathroom until we get the hall one completed after we move in. I'll be investing in bleach.


kitchen-before the drywall was removed. Doesn't that look nice?kitchen-before we knocked out the wall. That's where the oven and sink originally were.kitchen-that wall is where the pantry and refrigerator will be. The white door is the entrance to the garagekitchen-that window is where my sink will befamily room looking into the kitchen-we are taking out part of the wall to create a bigger opening between the two rooms. Notice the large closet is gone. hall bath-we're keeping the tub but we'll eventually replace the cultured marble. Do you think we should keep the blue?
entrance to the master bath master bath-we are taking out a closet to make the bathroom bigger. It's even better now...more to come.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Photo Friday-Photo Diary of a House Remodel Entry #1

Here's what we started with...

kitchen-closed off from rest of house


family room-the kitchen is on the other side of that wall
family room looking into entry way-that monstrosity is a closet-coat and shelves

entry way flanked by two closets

entry way closets hall bathroom-I think my favorite room in the house
laundry room-it's HUGE!

master bedroom

master bathroom
Tomorrow, what it looked like after demo.
Happy Friday!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Potty Talk

I was just in the bathroom, behind a locked door (I do that nowadays to get 2 minutes of alone time) when Kate came up and tried to open the door. When she discovered she was locked out, she yelled:

MOMMY! CALL ME IF YOU NEED HELP!

Glad to know she'll be there if I need her.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

It Must Make Sense to Her...

Uttered by Kate at lunch while she was wearing only clothes on the top half:

Mommy, I need my pants and my socks then I will be as warm as a butterfly!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Finally-Secrets Revealed

I've mentioned a few times here that there were things going on that I couldn't write about. Well, now I can write about them. I think you'll understand my lack of posting over the last several months once you know the whole truth of our lives...

Back in October, we moved. Not just across town. We bought a house a couple hours away from where we were living before. But that house that we bought? We aren't living there either. (You'll see in the pictures to come, why that's the case). So, instead, we are living with Auntie and her dog and cat while we remodel our new/old house. Oh, but wait....

The girls and I are living with Auntie. Daddy has continued to work at is job two hours away. He has been living elsewhere four days a week and with us for three. This is the reason for the silence. We wanted to be respectful to his company and the people he works with. It's not really nice to talk about the fact that eventually you will be leaving them high and dry. And I have been mostly a single mom since then. I do ok the first three days of the week, but by Thursday night, I'm done. Oh, and let's not forgetting I'm getting towards the end of my pregnancy, so I'm getting tired and cranky more easily anyway...



So, Padyn's new school (well, new back at the end of October) is in the town where our house is, which is not the town Auntie lives in. Every school morning, we wake up at 6:30 to leave the house by 7:55 to drive the 25 minutes to school. Then Kate and I hang out in town for 3 and a half hours until it's time to pick Padyn up again. Sometimes we hang with friends, sometimes we shop, once a week we have gymnastics and playgroup...it's all about finding something to do. Around December I realized Kate wasn't getting much play time. We'd go over in the morning, she'd hang with me, we'd come home, she'd eat lunch, take a nap, wake up, watch a little TV while I made dinner, then bath and bed. No playing. So, I put her in a two day preschool two days a week starting in January. That gives me two mornings a week to help in Padyn's class and go look at tile, appliances, cabinets, and other random things we need for our new house. And Kate gets to play. Yeah!

Daddy has been working his tail off. He comes late Thursday night and works all day long Friday (while still working his job via phone and email) through Sunday on the house. Sometimes I don't see him again until 1am. He's exhausted by the time he goes back to work on Monday morning.


We finally closed on our old house in February. That was a huge relief. In this market, we had no idea how long it would take or what we'd get for it. We didn't do too terribly, but still...this market hurts. And we didn't want to start anything super major on the new house until we closed. It's always nice to have money in the bank before you have to pay for a major remodel.


So, here we are. The baby is due in just over 6 weeks. Our house is gutted, but on it's way to being put back together again. We're planning on moving in at the end of April. That will of course be with one non-remodeled bathroom (the others probably won't have been touched yet), a somewhat working kitchen, new paint, new floors, and a yard that needs a major overhaul. But that is so down the road.


For now, I'll keep looking for a new refrigerator. That's my last kitchen appliance to decide on. And from here on out, I'll keep you in the loop.


Oh, and if you've ever put slate tile in before? Let me know. We will probably need your help.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Nightmare

Last night I had this very vivid dream. It was so real, I had to reassure myself for a long time upon waking (at 3am) that it was only a dream. Or nightmare...

I dreamt that I was as pregnant as I am now (32 weeks tomorrow) AND that I was 11 weeks pregnant with a 4th kid. That's right. I dreamt I had two uteruses. Two.

Twins is one thing, but two babies in the belly at the same time yet born months apart? I'm sure there is some weird animal somewhere on earth who has that capability, but Thank the Lord it isn't us human females. You would be constantly fat and waddling.

What would that birth have looked like? Fortunately, I didn't get that far in my dream.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Photo Friday-Piano Tuning

Trying to read music and play the piano at such an early age... that makes Grandpa so proud.



I thought it was too early to think about piano lessons, but maybe I was wrong.
Happy Friday.


Friday, March 06, 2009

Photo Friday-Birthday for Auntie

Yesterday was Auntie's birthday. We had a little dinner party for her. The girls got all dressed up in their Cinderella garb to help celebrate. They each managed to give Auntie the present she wanted...a good picture with each of them.


Happy Birthday, Auntie! And, Happy Friday to all the rest of you.