sheetrock and tile

the hubs has done GREAT work on this bathroom remodel. he definitely put in lots of time researching how to remodel a bathroom and what supplies should be used. and then when it came to actually doing the demo and remodel he was again very focused and took his time to make sure it was done right. he knows his limits on what he feels comfortable doing and what should be done by someone else. 

when we last left off everything had been brought back to the studs. the next steps were to install a vent fan in the ceiling, put up new insulation, drywall and water proof the shower area (thus the red in the pictures)

he then started to tile the shower area. this was a bit more time consuming and not as fun as he originally thought. but he has made some great progress.

after the tiling of the shower area the hubs realized he wasnt 100% confident in tiling the floor so we are going to hire that done. but first more demo needed to be done. so he rented a jackhammer (i think) and got to work removing the "beautiful" blue tile floor. and found that the sub-floor under that was not in good shape so he replaced that.

and then i finally lent a hand. priming everything and then painting the ceiling. 

next up: waiting for the floor to be tiled, the new counter to come in in a few weeks. in the mean time we will start refinishing/painting the vanity and linen closet.

let the remodel begin!

have i ever mentioned our lovely bathroom upstairs before? how there are about 10 different shades of blue in the room? how dated it is? you dont remember? here let me show you....

so we have always known that we would want to remodel this sucker. something a little bit more updated. something with a lot less blue. so after lots of saving. and even more planning and researching on the hubs part the time has come to start. and with such a big demo/remodel project in general we have sorta kicked claire out for the time being. time at daycare and lots of time with grandma deb, auntie kenzie, uncle kyle and cousin si have really helped out too. 

heres some pics after the demo day.

  day 2: the hubs is busy working on installing a new window, changing the plumbing, removing the toilet and starting on some drywall. heres to hoping the next week or so remain free from injuries and free from too many unplanned discoveries!

floored by the floor

well the hubs got around to re-installing (most) of the baseboards in the dining room and kitchen so i figured it was safe to take pictures of the "final" project. mind you theres still some baseboards to install and some paint touch ups as well. painting falls in my category i guess so we will see when that gets done. (fyi: that part of the project was never discussed in the planning phases) darn. oh well. 

there isnt a lot to talk about. claire & i left the house and loud banging and left the hubs at home to do his thing. thankfully he already had some practice helping to install my moms floor so there wasnt a lot of to learn. 

here are the before pictures: 
side note - when the hubs took out the laminate by the sliding glass doors, we found that the previous owners had simply covered up an air vent (i think thats what its called) 
 

 

and then underneath the laminate in the dining room we found some LOVELY parkay. 

 

and the afters.  (sorry the lighting is off. i still plan to learn how to use this camera properly. someday...)

 

we love it! its not too light. and the seams are darker which really helps bring in the color of the table and the cabinets. so that projects (almost) done. now to just figure out what project will be next on the list...

 

surprise!

check out whats hanging out in our basement?! our new floor! 

i couldnt be more excited! oh wait i can...the hubs is gonna install it this weekend while claire & i hang out in hutch. now thats my idea of a great project!

light update

remember when my mom got a new laminate floor? and that made me want a new floor? and that made me want to get back on the "update our house" bandwagon again? ie i think of great ideas, try convince the hubs we NEED to make this change and then have him do the update? yah. so do i. 

this update was a quick one. change a light fixture. specifically the one in our upstairs hallway. i think the hubs is getting good and changing light fixtures. which is good because we still have a few to change downstairs.

before:

after:

now if we could only agree on flooring for our kitchen/dining room...

claire's nursery

finally. it only took 11 months but we have claires nursery finished. i hope :) her closet is full of cute clothes and a few toys. and we have curtains which were originally shower curtains. but dont tell anyone. and a glider. this glider is extremely comfortable. just saying.

 

and we have a little "changing table" from ikea. and the center picture in those frames is from the baby shower in wi, a tree with personalized leaves with little messages from everyone. (super cute idea!)

and then a crib from ikea, homemade pinwheel mobile & pouf, cutout C and some shelves complete the room. nothing too crazy or anything too complicated to change when she grows up.

sorry, couldnt resist showing you how much claire LOVES tummy time. but at least her head is up! 

and just cuz i can, another pic of claire. one of the first few pictures of her smiling. smiling to smile not smiling because of gas. crazy how shes growing so fast! but exciting too.

wreath, take 2

so this one time i fell in love with a little thing called pinterest. and found this GREAT and INEXPENSIVE way to make a wreath. ie buy some sort of foam hose thing from home depot and use duct tape to make it into a circle. easy. so i did. and the wreath turned out great. add in some felt flowers and you've got a cute wreath. that is until i hung it up in our door. a few days later...we have a sad, tear drop looking wreath. 

add in being lazy and having a baby and about 5 months later ive done something about it.  so i spent the money to buy a styrofoam wreath (with a discount of course, thanks kenz) and made a new one. i just cut the flowers off the other one and re-glued them on. time saver.  simple fix. now no one can say my life revolves around claire. ha! 

just a little laminate...

earlier this summer while my mom was away her freezer decided to act up and flood the kitchen floor. what better surprise to come home to after a mini vacay to nebraska? so after checking out all her options & dealing with insurance she picked a new laminate floor to install. 

so this past weekend we headed over to help her put the floor in. when i say we i do really mean we. we all had our jobs. the hubs helped my mom install the flooring. claire supervised. she was awake most of the time due to some loud banging, but did manage to catch a cat nap here and there. 

and my job, well my job was to ensure the supervisor was happy (had to keep her tummy full) and of course keep the mood light by constantly asking the hubs and my mom "on a scale of 1 to 10 how much fun are you having", id especially ask this question after hearing some frustrated words after hammering a finger or something like that. cuz im nice like that. 

 

claire also got to spend some quality time with grandma and auntie kenzie...but still had no interest what-so-ever in a new toy. even if we attempted multiple times (i lost count)

 

ps now that i know how relatively easy (but time consuming) this whole flooring thing is...im wanting a new floor for our kitchen and dining room. heres to hoping i can convince the hubs to do this again...soon! :) 

tiny bathroom remodel

i dont think im quite in the nesting phase everyone talks about buuuuuut we did make a minor adjustment to our upstairs bathroom. one that cost about $20. but actually we have leftovers so really less than that. (also dont you just loooove the country heart border?)

so heres the before. see way back there...the window. yah. covered in some old blue fabric. i had completely forgotten how much light is let in when you open those curtains. im even surprised at how light & bright this picture is. anyways...with the number of times ive been needing to use this space these past 6 months...it woulda been a hassle to open & close those every time...

so after 6 months i became a genius! (a genius who actually spelled genius wrong the first time she typed it...) lets frost the windows. (frost...anyone else think of how to lose a guy in 10 days or was it just me? but anyways...) easy peasy. so i secretly went to buy everyone on one of my days off and politely asked the hubs if he would do me a favor that night. here it is half way done. mind you this wasnt a sunny day & it was evening...but still...

we do have both sides frosted. someone just forgot to take an after pictures. whoops. but you get the idea. not a big change. or an expensive one. but its a nice change of pace. since it will be awhile until we save up enough moolah to really remodel this blue eye sore.

our weekend, part 1

this past weekend the hubs & i took a little trip back to my hometown to hang out with my parents and siblings. we were able to spend a lot of time together.

the hubs and my sister even tackled a project together. she got a dresser from craigslist and is in the process of painting it. not sure how the hubs got wrangled into painting...since hes hardly done any painting here but oh well. gotta love their painting clothes too! i think by the time we left on sunday there were 4 coats of red paint with a few more needed.

note to self: painting red is a lot of work.

we also managed to squeeze a new cooking attempt into the mix. you see my mom has a recipe box. filled (like most people im sure) with a bunch of recipes that never get used. for the past i dunno how long whenever im looking for a recipe i always come across one entitled "duanes soft taco shells" after asking him the last time he made them (before i was born!) i figured why not try it out? and who better to try it out than the hubs!? :) 

these soft taco shells werent actually half bad. it was definitely a different taste, almost a cross between a soft shell and a crepe, but at least we tried right? right. who knows, maybe we will have to try a different recipe from the box every time we go visit???

life lately

Here are some of the random things we have been up to lately: 

Got a glider chair for the nursery. I didn’t even have to ask the hubs to put it together; he just did it on his own. Also, its super comfy, I’ve sat in it quite a bit already talking to the baby or just relaxing. I’m glad we got this one and didn’t get a wooden rocker like I was thinking. 

Hanging out with friends. Well this one is me. Some friends came over the other night to just have a little girls night and catch up. It was a lot of fun to see these girls again and just chat about anything and everything. But have no fear the hubs will soon be hanging out with his friends for a man baby shower. Aka just another excuse to have a few brew-skies. 

Changed out the lighting in nursery. Turns out it was a big longer of a project than the hubs anticipated due to some screw placement or something, but we really like it. 

Landscaping. Well we haven’t been doing this, the hubs has. He has been taking out the rock we don’t want, planning to create new pathways/walkways and hiding one of our tree stumps. Here’s to hoping some warmer weather is on its way. He is also waiting to hear from a grant he applied for to put in some rain gardens too. 

Baby classes. This past weekend we were educated on all things labor & delivery, breastfeeding and baby care. Made me realize we have a lot to think about, do we want music in the labor & delivery room? Epidural? What to wear? How long should the hubs take off of work? How to know what to dress the baby in for summer or winter? And then of course other random things that I know don’t need to be decided right now but I am still thinking about…Santa. Discipline. Pop. Sugar. Having to have the birds and the bees talk.