A New Year and New Home Improvement Projects

Three and a half years ago, Brent and I purchased our first home. We had only been married six months at this point, but our apartment was WAY too small. We had half of our belongings in a storage unit because there simply was not room for everything.

In April or May of that year, I went out house hunting with our Realtor. We had a pretty good idea what we wanted in a home and in a neighborhood community. We knew what we could afford with the hope of me not working outside the home after we had a baby. We didn't mind doing minor remodeling jobs or painting,etc. That is part of making it ours.

When I went out with the Realtor, I had a huge Excel spreadsheet (which I love!) of possible houses to see in the area we preferred. This was a Friday. We saw about half of them and three were favorites. Others, as soon as you walked in, I knew weren't big NO's. So, that same day we went back to those three homes and then took Brent to see them that next day. By Saturday afternoon, we had made our first offer. Wow, we move fast. I am pretty sure the next time we buy a house, if we buy another house, then we will not look, decide, and make an offer all in one weekend.

If you ever had the pleasure of seeing our house in the buying/before remodel began, then you know what I am talking about, it needed a face-lift. However, I will tell you that the people we bought it from thought it was a gem. If not, then here is an example:


(And yes, that is maroon carpet on the walls in the living room.)

Over the last three and a half years, here are the projects we have tackled:

-Stripped all wallpaper off walls, except laundry room and under chair rail of guest room. I know that might not seem like a big project, but EVERY wall in this house was covered in thick, hairy wallpaper. (This was a continuous project over a span of 18 months, but the majority was done before move-in day.)



-All flooring is new, except the laundry room, which just is finished yet. New carpet in bedrooms and hallway; laminate hardwoods in kitchen, dining, entry, and living room; and tile in the bathrooms and soon to be in the laundry room as well. (Tile = 2007, Carpet = 2008, Laminate = 2009)











-Replaced all light fixtures and fans, except 2, in the entire house. (Over the span of 3.5 years.)

-Removed tub in master bath and created a walk-in shower. (Late 2006)



-Removed 2 overgrown trees in the front flowerbed and added smaller shrubs. Removed a ton of stone in the flowerbeds and have a plan to re-purpose it. (Spring 2009)





-New furnace (Dec. 2006) and AC system (June 2009).

-New dishwasher (Dec. 2006) and new ovens (Dec. 2007).

-Installed sprinkler system in front yard. (May 2008)

-New counter-tops, sink, faucet and backsplash in kitchen and dining (Jan. 2010, currently in progress.)

Yes, we have been busy around here. We have done almost all the work ourselves with the help of my dad and a few other family members. I would absolutely recommend tackling some of your home improvement projects yourself. It can be done. You probably have a friend or family member to help guide you or lend a hand. It has been a great learning experience. It has been fun to be creative and pick out tiles and carpets. It has been alot of hard work, but totally worth it.

Projects still on the "to-do list":
-new siding/paint exterior
-stone pathway (with stone from in our yard during our landscaping project)
-strip wallpaper and tile laundry room

And as with owning a home, more things are bound to be added to the list. Stay tuned for future updates.

Our Kitchen Needed a Face-lift: Part 1

Last Friday, we started our latest home improvement project. It always seems that we do these things at the beginning of the year, but it is tax return time and right after Christmas, so we have a little extra money. I know, we should probably be funding our IRA's and we will one year, but trust me our kitchen needed some help.

For Christmas, this year, my parents gave us a certificate to go and buy and over the range microwave/hood. We really wanted one because we do not have a lot of counter space at all, so it would be a huge space saver for us. Well, we didn't do a lot of research before putting it on our list if we could actually have one based on our particular space and cabinet configuration. Turns out we couldn't get one. We didn't have the right supports and those are very heavy. So instead, they put the money on a AMEX gift card so we could decide what we wanted instead.

Brent really wanted new counter tops and I did too. Last year, we did some research on granite and solid surface and decided to wait that it wasn't in our budget at the time. Thankfully, we did but a few months later our AC went out. Yikes. Anyway, those types of counter tops were still out of reach and we really just wanted something better then what we had, so we decided to go with laminate. These days, there are so many to choose from and they are much nicer then those from the 70's like ours. I just had to see past ours. It was horrible.

A couple weeks ago, I went looking at home depot. I found the perfect one for us. I loved it! I took Brent back that night and he loved it too! And guess what?? We could get all our counters for cheaper than the microwave!!! Are you kidding?? I was so excited. At Home Depot and Lowe's they have a section in the back where you can buy pre-made laminate counters in various sizes and install them yourself. I knew we could do it. We remodeled our bathroom. We could glue down a new counter top. Hooray!

Onto the Project:
This was planned to be a two weekend project and so far we are on track with that as long as I am able to find the tile I want and buy it by this Friday (yes, in 2 days). So this will be a two part post.

Weekend #1: Install new counter tops, sink and faucet

Weekend #2: Install back-splash, touch up paint where demo scratched the walls, and put new molding on old bar area, now just a half wall

Here are some pictures from last weekend:

The Bar/Dining Area (Before)


The Bar/Dining Area (After)


The Kitchen (Before)


The Kitchen (After)


Close-up of the Counters


Close-up of the Sink


Cole Helping Clean-up

Chatterbox Update: 18 months

Cole's vocabulary is growing. Here is the original post. 32 words were on the first list.

1. Apple
2. Pear
3. Cole
4. house
5. keys
6. okay
7. hot
8. two
9. three
10. tree
11. mouth
12. eyes
13. ears
14. hair
15. breakfast
16. I see you
17. I'm Cole
18. blocks
19. animal
20. box
21. peek-a-boo
22. brush
23. aggie
24. trucks
25. Jack
26. PawPaw
27. Matt
28. Carson
29. Meemaw
30. milk
31. knee

Celebrating 18 Months

Dear Cole-man,

Happy 18 months, sweet boy. I hope you know how much you are loved, because you are loved beyond words. Your daddy and I can't imagine our lives without you. You make us laugh daily. You love to explore and imagine how things work. You study intensely and try and try again until to get something. You love the outdoors. And you have started pretend play in the last month by cooking and mixing while I cook. You amaze us every day with all the words you know. You are such a talker and I hope you keep it up because I love to hear you tell about things and what you are doing.

Can you believe you were this little??

(Cole's Birth Announcement, pictures taken and designed by his Aunt Larra at 6 days old)

And now you are this big??


As I said, you love to play outside. You would stay out there all day, every day if I would let you. Any time Maci, our dog, goes outside you want to go too. You love to swing and slide. I love that you are active. As soon as you see your shoes or I put on your socks, you know that we are going outside and you get so excited and start screaming, "outside, outside!" You were given a swing set for Christmas and you love to play on it. You have no fear. You are climbing up the rock wall with help from me right now, but you will have it down before I know it. You are getting to big too fast. Slow down, please.



You love Maci, our dog. And she is warming up to you. I think she preferred when you weren't moving as fast though because then she could sniff at you and move on, but you are catching up to her in speed and she has no place to hide. She loves you, I know it. You just scare her when you chase her with you golf club. You are allowed to carry it, but swinging it at her and anyone else is not allowed. You are still in the process of learning that one though. Yesterday, at lunch, you noticed she was out of her food before I did and quickly told me, "more, Maci, more." Then tonight, you found her travel food and starting looking for her in a hurry to give her some food. You are so sweet to look after your puppy. Thank you for helping me take care of Maci-girl.

Since 15 months, your vocabulary and how well you speak has exploded. You were saying several words then, about (10-15) and jabbering, but now, you can say 50+ words, plus the jabbering, repeat anything we say, and speak clearly (we aren't the only ones who understand you). Keep it up buddy! You are doing great!

You love to read. That is probably helping your vocabulary a bit. Your daddy made you a reading fort that you love to climb into and read in, mostly before bed. You and I usually sit in the chair in your room and read in the early morning when you first get up. And as soon as I sit in that chair you say, "book, book, more books please." So polite.

You can also tell me where your head, nose, mouth, eyes, ears, and belly button are located. That only took a couple diaper changes to teach you. Amazing. That's what you are to us.

Your routine has always been predictable which helps me plan our days together and errands we need to run. At 18 months, you take two naps a day at 10am and 2pm for about 2 hours each. At the beginning of the month, we took you to a wedding and lost your last pacifier so ever since you have been pacifier free! You were down to only using it at nap time so it was not a drastic transition. And you did great with the final stage after about a week.

You are a great eater. You will eat pretty much anything you are given. When you get up in the morning, as soon as I finish changing your diaper, you get up and run out of your room saying "breakfast" and head to your high chair.


(You are usually a very neat eater, except on spaghetti night, but that part of the fun!)

You love to copy everything your daddy or I do. You are very social and love playing with your friends. You love to give hugs and kisses. You are so sweet. You love going to church and hanging out with your teachers and classmates. Every time we drop you off, you head straight to a pink umbrella stroller and start pushing it around. You love to push things, whether it be my luggage on wheels, your big stroller or play shopping carts, anything on wheels. You love to dance.

You are a busy little boy. You love to play, but really I don't know if you have a favorite activity to sit and do because you are never sitting for more then a minute. If you call walking and talking and carrying as many objects around the house as possible an activity then that is your favorite, because that is what you do all day long. I love to just sit back and watch you.



You are loved. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are precious. I would love for you to stay just as you are, little and my baby, but I know the Lord has great things to you in your future and I am excited to see that unfold in your life.



I love you, sweet boy!

Love,
Mommy

Wishing you a belated...

Merry Christmas 2009 & Happy New Year 2010



So I know this is a little late to be wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, but our lives around here have been so busy and crazy that blogging has been on the back burner.

This may be a long one but here is attempt to catch you up.

Christmas 2009

I was really excited about this Christmas. Cole was 17 months, walking and talking, and really soaking up so much knowledge that he would be into it this year and be excited. We had so many plans. Everything had to go just perfect to pull it all off. It all seemed so great and Cole would be up and happy for all our Christmas stops.



We also were trying to figure out what Christmas would look like for our family of 3+. How do we begin to teach our active 17 month old the true meaning of Christmas? How do we fit in seeing all of our family and friends, but still getting that intimate immediate family time and enjoy the just us times? Do we incorporate Santa or not? These questions have been running through my head for some time now, and still I don't have all the answers. Luckily, Cole is still young enough not to ask too many questions, but soon he will absolutely be aware and we need to be ready with answers and valid ones. We are to guide our son. The Lord has placed him in our care to train up in the way he should go. It is our responsibility. My hope for Christmas 2010 is to have some of my questions answered, to have a plan, and to have activities ready to teach Cole about the birth of our Savior.

Family Gatherings

Our Christmas holiday started the Friday before. My (LA) parents arrived at our house so they could help us build the swing set we bought and they help buy for Cole for Christmas. I had already sorted all the nuts, bolts, screws and lumber the weekend before and it still took 9 hours and 3 adults to put it all together. So we definitely needed the help.



That Wednesday, before Christmas, we celebrated with my brother's family at our house. Mom cooked the traditional dinner of turkey and ham and all the fixings. It was delicious! And all 3 boys were given tricycles. Cole loves to just wear his helmet around the house. So funny.



The next morning was Christmas Eve and we left for College Station to celebrate with Brent's family. We had to leave fairly early because we had built all of our nephews child-size picnic tables for one of their presents and had to hide it from their parents before they arrived.

Well earlier that week (the Tuesday morning before Christmas), our nephew Brody came down with a virus but was feeling better. Until we got their we didn't realize that Larra, his mom, had gotten it too. **That Tuesday night, Brent and I asked for prayer at our home group that Brody would recover quickly and that his 5 month old brother would not get sick too. That prayer worked! We didn't know that there was more to pray for...keep reading.**

Long story short, we didn't understand how contagious this virus was or we would have not come in contact with anyone else for days. By Christmas Eve, Brent's brother and mom had it. We didn't have our normal Christmas morning of breakfast and gifts. Everyone sick was in bed and we didn't want to celebrate without them. We weren't sure if we should go to our other family gathering because we didn't know if we had the virus or not. But they told us to come on of course. So we did. We had lunch at 1pm with one side of the family and dinner at 5pm with the other.

By the end of the weekend, about 22 people had gotten the virus. This thing was serious. It was horrible. It was clearly air-borne.

Nothing went as planned. It was not fun or exciting. It will not be forgotten.

It was Sunday, two days after December 25th. The tree was still up, no presents were open. Brent and I needed to go home Sunday afternoon, because my parents had Cole at home and dad had the virus too, so we needed to help him and take care of our son.

Well...we learned this year that our plans aren't perfect. We learned that Christmas isn't just a date on the calendar, but when you are able to be with your family and celebrate the birth of Jesus.

New Year's
On Thursday, we headed back to College Station (New Year's Eve) to celebrate Christmas with Brent's family healthy, well, and excited. We played games like we planned to do on Christmas Eve and woke up the next morning to celebrate together. We didn't have to rush anywhere and the kids got to play. It was great.



I want more Christmas' like that minus the virus of course. I never want that again. And I am pretty sure our family will tell us NOT to come if we even think we are sick.