what I've been up to

Hi all.  Owen here.  While my mom is busy unpacking a few more things, I thought I'd hop on her pretty pink computer that I'm always trying to get my hands on.  Mom's been pretty crazy these last few weeks, so I know her updates about me have been a bit slow.  So, I thought I'd share a few of the things I've been up to this last week.

Along with mastering the skills of typing, I am now proficient at one game on my mom's phone.  PS, have you seen her new phone cover?  It's a picture of me of course.  Great picture if I don't say so myself.  Now, where was I? Oh yes, my new favorite game on mom's phone is called Peekaboo HD.  It's a farmyard and when I click on the hay bales, a farm animal pops out and makes it's noise.  I totally dig the cow and mom gets pretty excited every time I say moo.  Check out the game here.  It's a free app and I know my mom likes free.

So, what else have I been up to?  Well, I got to hang out with my new favorite babysitter last Thursday night while my parents helped Holly celebrate her birthday.  They went to their favorite restaurant, Radio Maria.  I've heard stories about the rehearsal dinner they had there.  I guess that was the night before they started practicing for me.  Whatever that means.  I had fun and they said they had an awesome dinner with great friends.  I think my dad looks weird in this picture from the night.

My mom's not the only one who's been unpacking.  I'm a huge help, especially with the things she's already put away.  I was just making sure we had a lid for every tupperware.

Mom's also been showing me lots of fun stuff that used to be in her classroom.  I've gotten tons of new books, puzzles, dinosaurs, and blocks.  And look at my little reading chair.  This used to belong to Sarah's classroom, and then got passed to my mom.  It's a perfect little reading chair for me!

Let's see, what else is new?  I'm finally getting some hair.  That's pretty cool.

I was tugging on my ears a lot one day, so mom took me to the doctor to see if I was sick.  That wasn't very cool.

At our new house, I can see the road from this big window.  I LOVE to look outside and point at all the trucks that go by.  I get kinda mad when mom stops naming them though.

I've also been entertaining my mom with lots of peekabo games, hiding behind anything I can.  I'm also doing a great job mom says of drinking my milk.

Ooo yeah, and my highlight of the week: Grammy came!!  I love it when my Grandma comes to play with me.  Ok, so I think she really came to help my mom.  They were busy unpacking things, cleaning the windows, and scrubbing the floors.  But I got lots of hugs and kisses and some great time with Grammy.  Here we are playing in my little pool.  Mom put a couple holes in my nice big pool, but she promised me that she'd patch them this week.  So my little pool had to do for the day.

Oh, and I almost forgot.  I got to go see Dr. Melby and get adjusted for the first time.  The chiropractor wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be, even though I may have cried just a bit.  I think my mommy's praying that maybe it will help with my sleeping habits.  I'm not sure what's wrong with my sleeping habits.  I mean, she gets to see me all day and all night, so I don't know why she'd want that to change.  But, anywhoo, I go back on Monday for another check.  The trucks in the waiting room were definitely my favorite part.

 

 

And that's what I've been up to the last week or so.  Can't wait to show you my room and my bathroom that mom's been working on.  Ok, gotta run.  It's snack time!  Lots of love and sloppy baby kisses.  Peace out.

The tour - upstairs

And we continue our tour with the upstairs portion of the house!  Again, you walk up the lovely, light flight of stairs.  This ha quickly become Sophie's favorite place to sleep because of the sun streaming in.

 

This is what you see when you walk up the stairs.  There are two bedrooms and a bathroom to the right.  Then one bedroom to the left and our master is the one straight down the hall.  I know bedroom pictures are a little hard to grasp the full picture, but I'll do my best.  

The first bedroom on the right is Owen's room. We wanted him as far away from us as possible since at our old place,William taking a shower at night would wake him up.  It might not be his room forever, but I keep having to tell myself that I'm decorating and storing things right now with the house AS IS and as if I only have 1 kid.  I keep thinking, well when we have 3 kids, then this will have to change, etc.  Slow down Emily.  Put things away and enjoy the space we have right now.  So anyways, where was I?  Owen's room.

 

Owen's room to-do list:

• I don't think I'm going to paint because I'll wait to do his "big boy" room.  I have tons of ideas saved for this one.  It will depend if our eventual baby 2 is a boy or girl (no, not pregnant).  If it's a girl, I'll move some of his orange and turquoise things with him to his new room.  If it's a boy, he'll get all new stuff!  I'm side tracked again, aren't I?
• So for now, it's hanging curtains and fabric book shelves
• Hang alphabet letters and picture frames
• Hang bunting flags my mom made

Next to Owen's room is a full bath.  I wish it has 2 sinks, but everything else is great!  I love how the sink has no ridge around the edge to collect gunk.

Kid/Guest bathroom to-do list:

• paint bathroom a gray color
• my mom bought me an awesome shower curtain with gray and bright green, so those will be the colors
• buy new bath mats, soap dispenser, etc
• find wall art or vinyl decal

The room on the other side of the bathroom is going to be the current guest room.  We've never had a guest room before, so I'm super excited!  This will give William's folks a place to stay when they visit and we're also looking forward to some other visitors.  Come on Habels and Carlyles. :)

Guest bedroom to-do:

• umm, buy a bed :)  this will depend on what we do with our master.  We could get what we want in there and put our furniture in the guest room. But the cheaper option is to scour craigslist for a good bed deal for now.
• get end tables
• I'm using the beautiful quilt my mom made for me for Christmas which has so many beautiful colors in it.  But the main accents brown, kinda  pink/coral, and apple green.
• decorate! - no real concrete ideas yet
• this room will also probably not get painted as it won't be a guest bedroom forever

Moving on down the hall, we come to the one bedroom facing the front of the house.  I love this little room! There's a great ceiling fan, 2 matching closets, and my favorite part, a built in toy box. For the time being, this is going to be my craft room!  Woohoo, a craft room.  I am so excited, I can't even stand it.  I know it won't be a permanent place, but at least for a short while,  my glue gun will have a home of its own.

Craft room to-do list:

• oh my goodness, I could go on forever with my dream craft room - storage, cute things on the wall, a craft desk with tons of ribbon storage.  But I'm also being hopeful that I will get pregnant this summer

Our last stop on our tour is the master bedroom. This room is huge!  It's definitely one of the last rooms on my renovation list since so few people see it, but I'll be gathering ideas for someday.  I love the vaulted ceilings, the fan, and the big window.  There's one "walk-in" and one regular closet so not the most storage in the world, but we'll figure it out.  And the reason I can't wait until it gets cold: my new bathtub.  I always told William I'd love a huge tub, but it wasn't on my list because let's be real, it's not at all a necessity.  But I got one!  YAY!!  The only other little thing is that there really isn't much counter top space.  I just hope William doesn't mind a hair dryer in his sink. :) haha

Master to-do list:

• In my big dreams, I'd love a new bedroom set.  We're using all the stuff I had pre-marriage which is just fine for right now.  But maybe someday, we'll get a great dark wood set with a great platform bed.
• I have some fun plans for artwork and jewelry holders.  Again, this room won't get the formal treatment for a long time.
• I'd love a pretty chair and table for a reading/seating area.
• The bathroom is getting a pretty new shower curtain and paintings which was at my mom's house.  She got new things, so I inherited her other stuff.  I love it!

And that's about it. I'm sure I'll think of tons more things to add to these lists over the months, but I can't wait to share some fun projects with you guys.  And if you're ever in town, you now all have a place to stay!  

The tour - downstairs

So want the tour?  I wanted to be sure that I got pictures with nothing in so that I can do a good job documenting the process of making this house our own.  I have so many ideas bookmarked, I’m should have bought stock in Lowes and Hobby Lobby. :)  I’ll share my growing to-do lists for many of the rooms.  This is like my 5-10 year plan, so I have to remember it’s not going to be perfect overnight.  It's going to take lots of budgeting, tight living, and DIY projects!  Here's the floor plans which are pretty accurate.

 

Ok first, the outside.  Admittedly, not my favorite part of the house.  But don’t judge a book by it’s cover right?  What I do love is the yard is HUGE for this area since we're on a corner lot.  I love the wrap around porch and can't wait to sit out there and wave to the neighbors as they walk by.

  

Outside to do list:

• Paint shutters and door anything except sage green (no offense if you like this color)
• Remove flag holder - sorry, I don't ever plan to hang a flag on my porch
• Do TONS of revamping of the landscaping (trimming bushes, getting rid a few plants I don't care for, plant more trees, start perennial and vegetable garden)
• Add fence, deck/patio, play structure to the backyard

When you walk in the front door, this what you see.. It’s really tall, open, and bright.  The thing you’ll notice immediately as you walk in is the cream.  Cream trim, cream doors, cream plates on the light switches.  Who uses cream instead of white?  It’s the one thing I had to compromise on, especially knowing there’s no way we’d ever paint all of that.  But I figure I’ll learn to love it.  Well, maybe love is a little strong, but it will work. 

 

 

 

 

Entryway to do list:

• Figure out what the heck to put on the random ledge.  Any ideas besides fake plants, anything country, or Christmas trees (again, no offense if you have any of these things as decorations somewhere in your house?
• Maybe eventually paint, but wow those ceilings are tall.  Everything else is great.

Next to the staircase is a door that leads down to the unfurnished basement.  I love that this is a window that lets in great light to downstairs.  This area will have to wait for awhile but someday it will house a family room and a small office/craft room.  It's not plumbed for a bathroom so it will depend on how much we can save up before we decide if we can put one in down there.  I won't bore with tons of pictures of concrete.

Basement to do list:

• finish it!

Ok, back upstairs.  Immediately to the left when you walk in is the "dining" room. Since our eating space is huge, we won't be needing a dining room, this room is going to be something better.  A PIANO room!  Yep, my mom is letting me have her piano. I'm so excited to play again!  So this room will have that, maybe a reading chair, or some extra toys. So definitely more of a flex room for the time being.

 

Dining room to-do list:

• Figure out how to move piano here from Peoria
• Paint over the poop brown/orange color
• Hang pictures
• Get a cute "hutch" to store piano books

As you walk in from the front door or through the dining room, you enter the living room/eating area/kitchen.  This is what sold me on the house.  I love the openness between all these rooms.  It was my number 1 requirement in a home.  The tile and cabinets are close to what I would have chosen had we built and I LOVE the fireplace.  We got an awesome deal on new appliances, so the black ones are gone with pretty stainless in their place.  Did I mention that every window has awesome "wooden" blinds on them.  Love it.  And love that I can take my time adding window coverings, because darn those things are pricey.

Kitchen/dining/living room to-do list:

• Buy new, dark wood, dining room table that can expand 
• Change current curtains
• Put up pictures
• Figure out how the heck to organize the kitchen and pantries
• TONS of DIY projects in store for these rooms including throw pillows, chalkboard menu board, pantry organization, and more
• The paint is flat, so it shows every mark, especially around the cooking area and sinks.  So, eventually, I’ll paint, but just not sure what color I’d go with yet. 

You can also get into the kitchen from the garage. Directly to the left when you come in is a half bath.

Half bath to-do list:

• paint
• change mirror to a chunky rectangular mirror
• add decor and a way to store towels and toilet paper

The last stop on our tour of the first floor is the teeny-tiny laundry room.  It's tucked off the back corner of the kitchen and has a pocket door to hide my mess.  All that fits is the washer and dryer so we're going to have to get create with storage in here.

Laundry room to-do list:

• Paint?
• Add a vinyl wall saying
• Make a pad for the wall where the washer door hits.  I’ve learned that it’s really important to keep the door open when not in use to prevent mold.  And it currently bangs the wall.  Hmm, must think of something for this.
• Maybe make a folding out drying rack 

And that's the first floor.  The tour will continue upstairs tomorrow.