Well, we are all moved in, but there is still a lot of work to be done. For now, here are some pictures of the before, during and after of our "new" house. =)
Here is the view from the kitchen window.
Here is the view out the Master bedroom window. (It was a hazy day. I'll take better ones later.)
This is Doug putting up the beadboard in Holly and Savannah's room. We (yes, I did help..some)painted a very light purple on the top half of the room.
My parents came to visit the week before we moved in, just in time to help clean and paint. =)Thank you Grandma and Grandpa!
Mom and I cleaned walls and baseboards. They were pretty nasty dirty.
Here's mom cleaning the walls and baseboards in the Master bedroom. I was SO grateful for the help!
Yet, another faithful helper...Lara came with me to wipe down the kitchen cabinets the night before we moved in. Let's just say, it took TWELVE new white rags to get them all cleaned inside and out. Lara was a trooper and we both exercised our gag reflexes together. My friend Kelly also came and washed all the wood floors the night before. I am blessed with such great friends!
Well, it still needs some final touches, but here is the girls' room, painted, beadboarded and to top it off, we all chipped in (my siblings and Doug and I) and got a pink chandelier for Savannah's birthday to replace the light fixture. She loved it! The bed on the right was at Nana's house in Savannah's room over there. But, we bought the set 3 years ago knowing we would eventually put them in the same room for the girls to share. Nana will be getting a new set for her house.
As far as decor, I eventually want to get matching bedspreads, decorate wood letters of their name to go over their beds, hang pictures, etc., but that will take some time. This will have to do for now. Holly is not yet in a big girl bed, but we hope by the time the baby is sleeping through the night that she will be ready for the transition so we can put the baby upstairs in the nursery and get him out of our closet where he will be sleeping in a packnplay for the first few months. (We gave up our retreat at the other house, so our closet is the next best thing. Good thing it's huge!)
Savannah knows she'll have a roommate in a few months. For now, she is enjoying hopping from one bed to the other depending on her mood. =)
Here is the kitchen before we renovated. Why renovate an already beautiful kitchen, you ask? Well, to begin with, the island was so big that our fridge would not open all the way. The kitchen counters are laminate, not even solid surface. We will be doing granite. (Am I a snob b/c I have to have granite? It's just so much nicer and easier to maintain. I can't even put hot stuff on my current counters. How lame is that?) Anyway, the wood flooring in the kitchen was all scratched up and we thought it was laminate wood floor that could not be refinished. So, Doug moved the island (he actually just took it out) and removed all the kitchen flooring. As he began doing so, he realized it was solid mahogany wood floor. Doh! Oh well, once he moved the island, the floor underneath needed replacing anyway, so we went ahead with our original plan and had the kitchen tiled. We left the wood floor in all the other walkways and in the family room. We'll have to refinish it eventually because it is scratched up pretty bad from the previous renter's dog. GRRR! ={
Here is the kitchen without flooring. We also ordered a new island that is about a foot smaller than the original one with black cabinets to contrast with the rest of the kitchen that will have a granite top! =) Guess we'll just HAVE to replace the rest of the kitchen with granite now! Hee hee. We've decided with light tile flooring and light cabinets, we oughta do dark granite counters to add contrast.
Here is our current family room...in progress. We are waiting for the blinds to come, so meanwhile we have taped brown paper up in the windows to avoid being blinded by the sun and being exposed to neighbors! =) I still feel like it needs more furniture in it, but Doug likes having the open space. I think the lovesac needs to be moved out from the corner just a little. And, of course, the saw horses to the left of the TV give it just the right touch, don't you think? =} Douger just hasn't moved them yet.
Here is the rod iron set we bought from the previous renters. We figured it took up the wall space nicely and if they took it down, it would have just left huge gaping holes for us to fill and then we'd have to paint that entire wall b/c the touch up paint we got is just slightly off of the original color. Don't you love that?!? We found the art pieces at Kohl's (love that place) for 50% off. They were a steal! Now I need to make curtains and throw pillows to match our new color scheme. I'm excited!
You'll have to wait for pics of the rest of the house since there are still picture frames all over the place and they just aren't picture worthy yet. =) More to come as we get settled!
Okay, so the update is, I'm 35 weeks pregnant tomorrow and being induced in 30 days! May 21st is D day and we are countin' down! The jeans I'm wearing in this picture are the only pants I have left that fit comfortably. Everything else just slides below my ever growing belly and causes major discomfort. I've been having more and more braxton hicks and they get harder everyday so I know my body is preparing for delivery. I have my next OB appointment on Friday and I'm hoping for good news...ie. head down, no strep B, progression, etc. I know, it's early, but I still hope things are moving along already. Though, we still don't have a name for our baby boy. We have a working list, but nothing has really jumped out at me. I'm hoping for some serious inspiration come D day or the poor kid's gonna be nameless. DOH!
This water play area was a hit!
Holly played a while in the kitchen and playhouse and claimed her toys. Those cows were hers and she made everyone else aware of that!
I didn't see Savannah most of the time we were there because her and Ian were off playing together and I had to stay with Holly. So, I didn't get very many pictures of her, but she sure had fun!
They had a real stationary helicopter on the deck so the girls climbed in and took their first ever helicopter "ride". =)
I think these were the cutest pictures I got the entire day. I watch the news every morning so Holly knows all about it. As she held the mic, I asked her to tell me about the weather. She said it was sunny...and it was! =)
Unfortunately, her little girl ended up throwing up the first morning they were here. UGH! Nothing worse than traveling and having sick kiddos. Fortunately, she was feeling much better by that afternoon and none of the other kids caught whatever it was she had!
The girls had to join the band with their guitars. =)
Holly and Cole got a long great. They grow up so fast that it's hard living far apart from each other so it was fun to get the cousins together again.
Lucky for my sister, they came during 4 of the warmest days we'd had in a few weeks, so we were able to make a stop at the Farm Country. My sister had never been there, even though she lived right up the street from it for 2 years. Cole and Holly had fun feeding the animals and riding the horses. Ali decided it wasn't her thing. But, we still had a great time in the sunshine!
The surprise!
This was a gift from Grandma that as soon as Savannah opened, she stopped what she was doing and began working on it. She loves stuff like this.
I love the concentration...(note the tongue out). =)
Thanks Grandma!
