SPLASH!

Bathing Benny

Progress

Today our tile went in{!} and I could not be happier with the way it looks! Although to be completely honest, I must confess that I have been checking on it every two seconds so often just because I kind of forget what it looks like and then I panic that NOTHING WILL MATCH! Is this normal behavior?! It's terrible! All Jer keeps saying too is, "Nothing you can do about it now!" Buyers Remorse, at it's finest, I'll tell ya!

 And even though you can't really see it very well, we painted the ceiling and walls {with the exception of where the cabinets and backsplash will go} and most of our lighting is wired. It all looks so foreign! Four new recessed lights have completely changed the look and the lack of "stuff" in there contributes quite a bit too, I'm sure. But all that aside, the only thing my mind can dream about is how much easier it's gonna be to roll out some Christmas sugar cookies or decorate Judah's 1st Birthday cake under one of those beautiful new flood lights : )

As for our time line, we still have a good couple weeks left. Tomorrow our grout goes in, next Tuesday is the cabinets and then we can hopefully schedule our counter tops for the following weekend. And while we are mostly through the mess of the demo and cutting and sanding drywall {thankyouverymuch!}, we are now to a point where things are cleaner but still unusable {memories!}. Thankfully, now that the dust has settled, the end is more clearly in sight. And I'm as giddy as a schoolgirl just thinking about it!

Demo Detail

I still can't believe this is our kitchen!

Dump-run ally

The electrical mess that the original homeowner left us. 

How we're managing!

Where we're living {there are four couches in this room!}

Our countertops

Our t.v. room as of Monday

The new opening!

Ceiling is textured!

Today was paint and tomorrow is tile. I can't wait!

7 Months Old!

Our Judah boy is 7 months old! And somehow I completely missed month 6! Whoops! Time flies when you're going nutty having fun : ) Truly though, this boy just keeps getting sweeter! And he is just so stinkin' laid back! It's been a running joke in our house where Jer will actually exclaim, "Oh Judah! I didn't know you were there!" And half the time, he's not joking when he says it! : )

Month seven has brought quite a few changes for our little guy. For one, he is scooting! He actually goes into push up mode and launches himself forward! It's not pretty but it's effective and he can {mostly} get where he wants and more importantly to what he wants. As a result, gone are the days where snacks and smaller-ish toys linger on the floor! My Dyson has also been making regular appearances around here. But hey, when is it not?! Ah! Gotta love how much more relaxed you are the second {third?}time around! One thing we do have to be careful of, though, is how downright grabby he is. Tabletops full of food, laptop cords dangling from a shelf, toys on the floor; it's all fair game and has made for some nearly disastrous situations. While Jer and I understand that this is just part of a how a baby explores; the Deuce don't care much for his antics. Rather, they tell on him for biting {gumming the finger that was SHOVED in his mouth}or taking and chewing on their toys {that were likely offered to him seconds before}. It's been interesting to say the least!. Just yesterday I had to discipline Ben for spitting on Judah. When I asked him what made him do that to his sweet baby brother, he simply replied, "Judah do it" and pointed to a slobber spot on his shirt. Oh, boy!

 This month, I have also tried to introduce Judah to some pureed fruits, key word: TRIED. It has been a lot more difficult than I ever imagined! Back when B&A were babies, their pedi told us they might be resistant to starting solids due to the tubes they had down their noses in the NICU. He said preemie babies often have a higher gag reflex too and to be cautious when feeding them baby food. Well, I'm not sure what happened because those 34 weeker's did great and my full-term sweetie is the one gagging and then projectile vomiting his whole entire feeding {gah!}. I am at a loss. He is just not into baby food right now. So we're going sloooooooooow. Like 2 bites a night, slow. Tickle him and then sneak a bite into his mouth, slow. And introducing fruits first {another second time around baby-ism!}to help coerce him. I'm kinda starting to wonder if he might go straight to table food, though. Any of you experience something like that?

Another month seven biggie is that Judah is sitting up...kinda! He has to support himself with his arms like an ape but he can hold his balance pretty well! It's too cute and he just looks like such a big boy!

And last but not least, some other little things about our #3...he weighed 16.6 lbs {30%} and was 27 inches long {75%} at his 6 month appointment...he has still not cut any teeth...he is finally waking up happy when he wakes up in the morning or from a nap...he loves his brother Abe and regularly laughs out loud at him...he doesn't use a paci...he fusses "momma" when he's hungry or sleepy and I truly think he's saying it....he still WILL NOT take a bottle...he has a thick tuft of hair on the front of his head and the rest is mostly peach fuzz...he likes to hold on to a blankie when he falls asleep...pears are the only solid that's he's even relatively entertained eating...he LOVES to jump in his jumperoo...he take two 2 1/2 hour naps every single day...his diaper setting is the same size as Ben's{!}...he is easily distracted while nursing and has about made me an indecent woman on several occasions... he loves to grab onto things, especially hair...he has the most adorable dimpled cheeks {and I'm not talking about the ones on his face!}...he smiles on a dime...he's growing like a weed...he steals all of our hearts on a daily basis.

The Good, The Bad, and the Just Plain Ugly

 As of this last Tuesday, our family is living admits a complete kitchen and living room remodel. We're talking floor to ceiling here, folks! Jeremy and I have been dreaming about doing this since the day we moved in for a long, long time but our 60 year old fixer-upper of a house always seemed to lead us another direction. Stucco, windows, carpet, bathrooms, playroom, landscaping; we've done it all!  And we just couldn't see putting another penny into this house, especially when our intentions have always been to move once we get close to outgrowing it {Now, we're redefining what "outgrow" really means to us!}. But out of all the things we did consider about our plans to one day move, becoming attached to the house wasn't one of them. So here we are, seven years later. Two college degrees, later. Job promotions and major career changes, later. Three babies brought home from the hospital, later. Life, later. We are attached to our little house with the pistachio green garage door. God is good and we are happy. And Lord willing, we hope to stay here and enjoy it a while more.

Cue remodel.

Our kitchen is not half bad cosmetically. The owners before us put in new tile. And a few years ago, we did sort of a topical remodel, refinishing the cabinets ourselves and having new Formica counter tops put in. We even replaced all of the appliances and cut an opening into the living room. And like I said, it's not half bad. BUT{!}, just like it is almost always the case, appearance has little to do with function! Thus enters our problem. Not a lot in our kitchen WORKS.  

And it is seriously gnaws at my sanity.

And my organization.

Okay, maybe the organization part is all on me. But I can't help but feel like that which is lovely begets what is lovely.

And this isn't exactly begetting anything lovely, now is it?!

So we talked, and planned, and called, and now we have moved forward. Forward with the words, "floor to ceiling" that have so causally graced my lips up until late Monday night. You know, back when my kitchen looked like this:

 And less like this:

 And though I vowed to wage war and win against groaning and complaining during this time of mess and inconvience, I feel it's strong pull. The urge to complain, the urge to be put out, the urge to stress. And it pulls hard. Even now as I type, I am trying  make quiet that whisper in my ear; the one that is so trying to make me second guess our decision just a little bit. The one that causes the mind to wonder if moving would have really have been that bad. The one that says you can't take another second of the drywall dust in your coffee cup or the diaper pail in the bedroom closet.

But then I come across this picture from our kitchen...

Wallpaper {circa 1958}that reminds me of the lickable wallpaper in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. And I laugh out loud and think about our family's Friday night movie nights. And how, just a few weeks ago, Jer and I snuggled our boys in our living room and shared our love for Wonka with them. And how we all enjoyed it. And that it happened here. In this house with a hole in the ceiling that opens to the sky.

And I'm humbed. Humbled because I'm reminded that this old house, this little family, this coffee cup with the dust in it and the movie in the DVD player on Friday nights. All of this. THIS in addition to the great salvation that is Christ Jesus?! It's all grace! Grace from a God who loves us and gives in abundance. I deserve none of this, yet He gives. 

All's grace and I'm thankful and the voice that whispers is finally quieted.

Comments closed.

Because Everything in Life is Sweeter...

...when it's shared with someone you love!

It's Official!

 The Deuce have been completely converted to toddler beds!

With the exception of a few tumbles out, now and then : )

Two weeks ago, after MUCH indecision on my part, Jer and I decided to just stop thinking about it and do it. It turned out, B&A were a lot more ready for big boy beds than I had given them credit for! While there were only a handful of times that they actually got out of bed, the big surprise was that they would just stay up, quietly talking and playing in their beds until nine or ten at night! After a couple nights, a few spankings, and lots of reminders about being obedient, the novelty of their new beds finally wore off and lovely, lovely sleep won them over once again. Since then, they have done absolutely wonderful; staying in them until I come to get them up! Such wonderful little men they're becoming!

And as for me, I am just so proud of my boys and with how easily they made this transition! And I couldn't be happier that I can finally bend over and kiss their sweet little SLEEPING faces when I go in to check on them late at night.

Just Judah

Bubbles

Our go-to bubble recipe!

1/2 cup dish soap

1 1/2 cups water

2 teaspoons sugar

Mix, add bubble toys {ours are from the dollar bins at Target}, and try not to float away from the fun!