transformations: upstairs (part 4)

A quick follow-up from last week's renovation...

Here are the "after" pictures of the downstairs painting (if you need to see some "befores" to see the dramatic change, go here):

I LOVE the kitchen. (Color: Benjamin Moore's Rosemary Sprig)

It's not quite as green as it appears here... more muted.

 

The dining room/living room color is another story.

It's not a bad color, but it is much lighter than I was envisioning.

It's fine for now, but I'm sure I'll repaint it before long... just move up a shade or two on the color palette.

Want to see all the new-ness upstairs?

the bonus room

bathroom door on left and hallway to bedroom on right

the nook

the bedroom (closets)

the start of the bathroom floor tile!

the almost-finished shower tile

the stairs (from the top)

the bottom of the staircase

Woo hoo! We're getting there. Just a few more weeks...

transformations: upstairs (part 4 sneak peak)

I haven't had a chance to fully document all that has happened in the last week or so, but here is a sneak peak:

Drywall is IN!

Ahhhhhmazing!

They painted a few rooms downstairs!

It gives me great joy to watch other people do trim painting for me. Is that sick?

Say "goodbye" to the rotten tomato red walls!

Curtis has been staying up until all hours of the night working on the bathroom tile.

No grout yet, but it's still very impressive!

More to come...

contentment

"Contentment is essentially a matter of accepting from God's hand what He sends because we know that He is good and therefore it is good." - J.I. Packer (emphasis mine)

I have been complaining a lot lately. About being tired. About Cooper's disobedience. About Annabelle's sleep patterns. I'm sure I would've complained about Curtis if Cooper or Annabelle would have listened. Far more than anything else, though, I've been complaining about our renovation and how it's disrupting my life. 

 Granted, it has been difficult and dirty (ignore the diapers.. that is a whole other issue). In fact, I took these pictures to prove to you how disgusting it has been and how bad I've had it. 

I was really convicted tonight about my lack of contentment. You see, the woman who leads my Bible study reminded us that true contentment begins with a right knowledge of God... believing that He is good and that He loves me personally. 

If I believe that, then it would follow that He always has my best interest at heart. He has intentionally placed me in this body, in this family, in this town, and in this very dirty and dusty house... for my good.

 

Right here.

LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; 

you have made my lot secure. (Psalm 16:5)

call me shallow

Although I am very excited about cooler weather, leaves changing, and football season, I'm also really happy that it's time for fall television!

C'mon. I can't be the only one. Bueller?


My Current Top 3

1. The Office: (you must watch this clip!)

Tell me you don't wish you were friends with these people! I want to soak it all in since this is Michael's last season. As  if their could be an Office without him!

2. Parenthood:

Unbelievable new show, just starting its 2nd season. If you are a parent, have a parent, or, well, I guess that's everybody... you will love this show. Truly! Go back to the pilot and watch them all, if you can. You can thank me later.

3. Grey's Anatomy:

I may be the only person who hasn't given up watching this. I know... it's trashy. But they are my friends now and I will probably continue to watch until Meredith Grey gets old and decrepit and retires from Seattle Grace. I am that girl.

What excites you about the fall?

p.s. It's okay if you say a television show. I won't tell.

bonus baby pic

Just because...

I love this image. 

Her expression, his protective embrace, but mostly her eyes.

She's striking. Spoken like a proud mama.

Be sure to click on the picture and see her in all her glory. :)

transformations: upstairs (part 3)

Quick update:
At the end of last week, the insulation folks came and added their lovely Pink Panther fluff goods to our walls. I was shocked when I came home at how much it felt like a finished space already! Granted, we have a long way to go... but we have clearly defined rooms now. It's so fun!

The bonus room 

(taken from near the top of the stairs)

The raised portion of the bonus room, with small recessed area for built-ins.

Hallway. You can see part of the stairs on the left, the rest are covered up temporarily.

(looking toward the bedroom)

The nook. It's a little too "petite" to photograph well, but it is probably my favorite space in the whole upstairs.  

(The window looks over the front lawn- you can see Curtis' car on the curb!)

The bedroom. 

Now... 

A test. 

Can you tell me what else is different up there? 

How observant are you??

Windows!!

We had to hire brick masons to cut up into the brick to enlarge the opening. Then Mike, our framer/builder put in the windows and added some PVC trim to finish them out. They are beautiful.

The left side of our house.

 (taken from front left corner of house)

The right side of our house. 

(taken from back right of the house) 

p.s. I am a very visual person and I like to be able to picture a space in my head, so I sometimes include (directional information) for you. If your brain does not work that way, just skip all of that!

I am really excited about today as well because, when I left my house this morning, Reinaldo and his guys had just begun this process:

 

Drywall!

(taken from bottom of stairs, looking into bonus room)

Man oh man! This is my favorite week yet.

it's a process

Remember when Cooper started potty training SIX months ago? Well, "potty training" might not be the right word for it. We really just bought him the potty and got him to sit on it a lot by bribing him with TV time. The result: the ability to pee on command. That's as far as we got for a long time.

Anyway, we've stepped up our game in the last month. Our biggest hurdle has been the "poopy". For months, he seemed to be terrified of doing it in the potty. Then, lately, he's just seemed reluctant to try. But, a few weeks ago, we had a breakthrough. It was during our potty "bootcamp". We took off the diaper and let him hang out bottom-less all weekend so that he wouldn't have a choice but to utilize the potty. It worked!

In the middle of the day, Cooper ran to me and says, "Come see! Come see! I go poopy!" My first thought was, "Oh no... where?!"  I'm envisioning the middle of our couch or the rug. I followed him as he led me to the potty and... it was full! Even without our prompting, he had done it!

He was so proud! And so were we! We all ran around, dancing, cheering, and squealing.

(You like that photo censoring, don't you?)

Cooper was thrilled to try out his remote control truck, which had been set on the mantle as the poopy-in-the-potty prize. His daddy may have been even more excited than he was.

Since then, Cooper has spent a lot of time without underwear and/or pants on (to minimize obstacles).

I think the guys who are working on our upstairs are a little weirded out by all the nakedness!

Cooper is still working on the poopy part (he conveniently never needs to go until he lays down for his nap with his diaper on) but he is now really good at doing his "pee pee" in the toilet. Most days, he keeps his underwear dry during all of his waketime! As long as we are at home. And as long as I ask him every 10 minutes if he needs to go. :)

It's a process. We'll get there. Right?

it's about time

Almost a month ago, we finally decided to let Annabelle try some solid food. It had been so much easier for me just to nurse her, but the girl was gettin' hungry.

She wasn't so sure about the first few bites.

Can I just bite on this instead?

There was lots of tongue action... not necessarily trying to push the food out, but just trying to figure out this crazy, new texture.

I laughed when I saw Curtis doing this. What is it about feeding a baby that makes you feel like you need to open your mouth wide to demonstrate?

About 2 years ago, I did the exact same thing (that's baby Cooper's first meal)!

They grow up so fast! Big boy Cooper watched Annabelle's first meal with limited interest, but was certainly a little jealous of our excitement...

"Puhleeeease pay attention to me!"

Curtis loved every minute of it and, by the end, she was loving it too.

Look at that face! Even with rice cereal all over it, it's just so kissable.

Goodness gracious... she's adorable.

transformations: upstairs (part 2)

So much has happened upstairs in the last few weeks! Let me catch you up:

Two weeks ago, this truck showed up at our house.

Cooper cannot get enough of the trucks, tools, and "guys" that are at work in our house. He sat on the front step for probably 15 minutes just watching it all.  At 7:00am.

A giant hose was pulled out of the truck and dragged along the side of the house...

...and up through the window, into our upstairs!

The amazing part is that they were here for less than an hour and this is what they left behind: 

Insulation!

It looked like cotton candy.

The coolest part was that it almost looked like pink shag carpet, and gave us a feel for what the rooms would feel like with flooring.

We didn't have to wait long to see the real deal, though...

Last week, our framers laid the floor! Wow, what a difference a day (or two or three) makes.

 The cozy little nook, which we can now walk into!

Sidenote: I hate when I end a sentence with a preposition. I know it is against the rules of grammar and it irks me. But, seriously... am I going to write, "The cozy little nook, into which we can now walk!"? Lame.

We also now have closets! Well, we have the frames of closets. They will be on either side of the bedroom window. 

We also have a tiny linen closet in the bathroom. The door will only be 15" wide! We'll call that "cute", not "cramped". Deal?

After the floor was in, Curtis was able to hang the can lights so that we could choose their exact placement and so that we didn't have to pay the electrician to do it.

 He has worked so hard to save us money and has done a really great job with everything he has undertaken!

Since last week, we have also gotten the electrical "rough in" and passed the corresponding city inspection. Tomorrow, the insulation folks should show up to install the wall insulation. Then, early next week will be drywall. Yay!

Are you getting bored with all of this? I understand. I will post some cute kid pics and deep thoughts soon!