Holiday Season is Upon Us

Something about having kids makes you want to get more into the holiday season. This year we actually have decorated for Christmas- inside and out. We've had Christmas music playing non-stop and I already have some presents wrapped and under the tree. Despite the fact that I was in shorts two days ago with the car windows down, it has been a fun holiday season so far.



As expected, the Christmas tree and all its glittery ornaments have been a constant temptation for Adelyn. For the most part she does well with the "one-finger rule" in which she is only allowed to touch ornaments with one finger at a time. However, it is not uncommon for me to be in the other room and hear an "uh-oh" followed by a toddler bringing me a hookless ornament. At least she owns up to her sin, right? For some reason she also likes to tickle the ornaments. Strange but true.

Adelyn had a pretty rough 2-3 weeks but I feel like has finally turned a corner the past few days. The transition from 2 naps to 1 was rough and turned her into a total grump. In the midst of those rough weeks I told Austin if Baby 2.0 is a similar temperament as Adelyn, we are done having kids. I'm happy to report that Grumpalyn has taken a leave of absence for the time being and we have a happy toddler back.

Baby 2.0 is cooking right along. I am 19 weeks and excited to have our ultrasound next week to get a good look at the little one. We have a list of boy and girl names but haven't even come close to settling on one. I'm beginning to feel more and more kicks, especially when I'm sitting still. I just had a glass of chocolate milk and Baby 2.0 is doing a little celebratory shin-dig in the uterus right now.

21 more weeks to go!

It's Hard...

It's hard being a toy around this house.



Between two dogs and a toddler, most don't stand a chance.

Best of luck to you my walrus friend. My guess is you will be finished off by the end of the week.

Ups and Downs and Round and Round

Lots of random things are happening around our house as of late...

Some things I am excited about...

First, the thing I am most excited about is that Rachel and I have stumbled into a contest in which we can win $1,000 towards Bed, Bath and Beyond. Right now it is up to a vote so we are begging and pleading our friends, family, and readers to vote for us.

What will I do with my half? Our house is in desperate need of some new pots and pans. So if the idea of Adelyn eating the  flaking teflon off of our skillet makes you uneasy, cast a vote for us. Stop by Thriving Home to find out more details and how to cast your vote.

Buying this: A Canon EOS Rebel T3.

Well, I haven't really bought it yet and it is contingent on how much money I make at our upcoming garage sale. Our guest room is currently full of priced items just waiting to be sold. If anything, it's been nice to have an excuse to clean out the closets, drawers, and garage in hopes of making a little money off of our unwanted stuff.

Easter weekend! First, because my garage sale will be that Saturday. Secondly, because my whole family is coming to Columbia. It's going to be a full house but I love a little controlled chaos.

Adelyn is army crawling. See for yourself.

httpv://youtu.be/kBNETgAboFI

We updated the medicine cabinet in our bathroom! The fact that I was laying my toothbrush on rusty spots only to be visited by ants that were crawling through the holes in the cabinet motivated us to upgrade. It's nice to know I won't get tetanus from brushing my teeth.

Things I am NOT excited about:

Ants, ants, ants. We finally caved and called an exterminator. Even after spraying the dude told us it would take up to 2 weeks to see them go away. The next day I discovered that they were not only infesting our bathroom but our tool closet as well. I attacked them with 409 and white vinegar but I'm beginning to believe that my efforts to kill them only make them stronger so I am going to let the poison do it's job.

House work. We have a lot of maintenance we've fallen behind on. When you have a 50+ year old house, you have to stay on top of repairs or the list grows fast. I made a list last night of things we need to do. It's a bit daunting- particularly for Austin since he is the one who will be crawling on the roof, digging up stumps and other manly jobs.

The cost of windows. We have been looking into replacing our 55 year old windows only to be punched in the gut by the prices quoted. One company told us it would be close to $350 bucks PER window. We have 19 windows. You do the math. Needless to say, we probably won't be getting new windows anytime soon.

I think that about sums things up. I think I hear my little lady waking up from a nap. I probably should get our of my pajamas and ready for the day, huh?

Mr. Fix-It at Work

It's 10:30 p.m. and I enter the bathroom with the intentions of brushing my teeth.

I find this.

...

Looks like I need to use the other bathroom.

Playroom Updates: Toy Organization

In a previous post, I wrote about how we are turning our office into a playroom. Any seasoned mother would know that we are going to need some toy storage. So far, we haven't needed much space for toys. That was until the grandparents had their first Christmas with Adelyn. Needless to say, we need some toy storage. As you can see in the picture below, we have two build-ins in this room.



They were serving as storage for random electronics and serving platters. Probably not stuff that you'd want a curious toddler getting into.

What's also slightly concerning is that the paint inside the cabinets has been peeling away. Probably not good to have random paint chips floating around a playroom either. 

This was an easy fix. I picked up some "easy liner" from Lowes and cut out the appropriate shape to fit into the build-in shelf. After I got one shape the size I needed, I just used it as a template for the rest of the shelves. (Notice my little one engrossed in her new toys in the background?)

After all the lining had been placed, the toys were next! 

Adelyn was as excited as I was about the new toy organization.

Carpet Remnant = Money Saver

This room in our house is currently the multipurpose room.



It primarily serves as an office but will soon be transformed into a playroom. However, a playroom with hardwood floors is not very fun for babies learning to crawl and walk. I looked into getting a rug around 10x12 feet big and was floored by the cost of one. (No pun intended... ok, so maybe it was intended.) Anyway, I wasn't about to shell out $500+ bucks for a rug. No way, Jose.

After gabbing on the phone with my mom about my floor dilemma, she suggested looking into getting a carpet remnant for the spot. Huh- hadn't thought of that.

A few days later, Adelyn and I headed out to Stovers Carpet to check out the stock. I was floored (hehe) by the massive amount of remnants they had available!



After some major hunting, I found one that was 8x10 feet for close to $100.00. Score! There was an additional charge of $40 for binding up the edges so that it wouldn't fray. This was optional but since my little lady wants to put anything and everything in her mouth right now, I didn't think loose carpet pieces would be a good idea.

What's even better is that my parents bought it for us as a Christmas present for Adelyn! Double Score!

So a few days later, this guy showed up at our house. It has cozied up the room so much.



We also installed these gates to 1) keep the dogs off our new rug and 2) to keep the child corralled when she starts moving around.



OK so maybe #1 isn't fully implemented yet.



But we are oh-so-happy with our cozy playroom in the making.

 

Kitchen Table=The Catch All

Our kitchen table is the busiest piece of furniture in our house. It's the landing place for almost everything. For example, this is what our table looks like at this moment.

Craziness.

Here's a rundown on all the randomness you see.

My attempts to clean it off will only lead to more space for randomness to end up so I'm choosing to embrace the continuous kitchen table chaos. Until we have a guest over that is.

New Fence!

We got a new fence! No, this is not the new one. This white one is the old one. Doesn't look like we need a new one right? Think again. Lets look a little closer, shall we?

A combination of termites, moss, mold, and decomposed wood made up a lot of our old fence.

We had a few boards falling out here and there...

Oh, and don't forget the entire section that Chauncey punched out in his attempt to catch a squirrel.

Convinced yet? Yep. It was time to pull the trigger. Austin considered doing it himself but when taking into consideration the amount of time it would take and the very little time that he actually has- not to mention the amount of tools and manpower needed that we would have to scrounge up- we decided it was worth paying someone to do it.

So a few mornings ago, a bunch of guys showed up at my house to begin the fence demolition. I was inside but dying to see how they were taking out the old fence. I didn't want to be a creeper and hang out on my deck and watch... SO I was a creeper INSIDE and watched from the windows. And yes, I caught some of it on video. See below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIFwoi0DsEE

After the fence was taken out, they set up posts and the next day got the entire thing done. Here is the fresh, new, Chauncey proof fence.We plan to paint it white in the near future too.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

New Hot Water Heater!

From day one of living in this house, the hot water heater has always made popping, knocking noises after a shower or using hot water. At first I was weirded out by it but I managed to get used to the sound and not panic thinking someone was knocking at my door immediately post-shower.

I'm learning that getting used to strange noises in your house is not always a good thing. Strange noises typically mean something abnormal is happening. This case was no different.

What we learned is that these mysterious popping noises were actually the system attempting to reheat the water. BUT  there was a large build up of sediment at the bottom of the heater that the hot water was having to burst through (hence the popping noise).

This picture shows what a build up looks like. I never got to see how much was actually built up in ours but I imagine after 2+ years it was not a pretty picture. We looked into getting a hot water heater from Lowes and Home Depot. We found one that was a good price with good ratings but then found out that Home Depot wanted to charge $350 for instillation... That was close to the cost of the heater itself!! Lowes was $250 for instillation but the heater was pretty expensive.

After further investigating our options we decided to go with a local plumber that we know and who has done work on our house. He got us a much higher quality heater and installed it for way cheaper. The plumbing in our house is a little funky too so I was glad to have someone who has been to the house before and knew his way around.

I realize this probably isn't exciting to anyone except for Austin and I. (And the dogs who will no longer confuse the hot water heater with someone knocking at the door). But I thought it was worth sharing in case anyone is having mysterious sounds come from their hot water heater. Don't ignore it!

Success!

We've been moving some things around lately and have decided we are in need of an ottoman that provides some future toy storage. I've been eyeing out this beauty at Target for $80.00.

Well, we don't really have $80 sitting around so we had to do some bartering with the citizens of Columbia via Craigs List. Here are the results:

$85.00 in cash waiting to be spent!

We're headed to Target tomorrow bring this bad boy home.

Changing Table is Done

You've probably seen the changing table makeover a few times but I realized that I never made an official before and after post about it.

 In case you forgot, I scored this dresser on Craig's List for $40.00. It started out like this...

Then looked like this...

 Then started to look like this...

 And turned out like this!!

 

 I lined the drawers with fun scrapbook paper. To see details on how I did it, visit this post.

I love love love the way it turned out. 

The Rebellion Continues

The dogs continue their rebellion as a result of us telling them a baby is on the way. I came home from work to find this...

 This time, I think they've gone a little too far.

(I put up that wire fence to make sure they didn't escape)