From the back porch

Another great day (especially without much 'terrible two' type behaviors...)!  We had a play date at Melissa's with Nola in the morning, which is always a good time!  And we spent most of our afternoon on the back porch, which has undergone a huge transformation.  Like most rooms in our house, it was in pretty rough shape.  The railing was falling down in places, the posts were rotting, the plaster wall was disintegrating....

I can only locate a snowy picture of what the rail used to look like.  We liked the design, but thought spindles would fit the age and general style of the house better.  We also increased the height of the rail, so that it would be up to current building codes.  I personally like the lower height, but sided with safety.

Here's Brett's Dad trimming off the floor of the porch.  This portion was not under the roof and was causing water damage problems.  It was also very crooked, like most things in our house.

Here's the rest of the demo.  We had to take off any loose plaster so that we could repair the wall properly.  This was a dusty mess- at least it was outside this time.  Taking the railing down was no issue- as most part were falling down.  To fix the rotting posts, we (when I say we for this project- I mean Brett and his dad :-) )cut of the bottom section of the post and replaced it with pressure treated 6x6.  We replaced the lighting and removed the non-functioning motion sensor light.  The plaster repair wasn't difficult at all, it just took time, since we had to do it in many layers.

Here are the new spindles going up!  Since we used pressure treated wood, we left it unpainted for about a year to dry.

And here's the finished product!  I still have a few decorative things I want to do, but at least it's now a safe place to play!  So here are few details in no particular order for those interested.  Every surface received fresh paint- a light blue on the ceiling, a green-grey trim, white for the plaster wall and a darker green for the floor. The porch swing just received a new paint job as well- yellow my chosen pop color to accent.  The table is just a junk table that was left in one of the apartments that Brett's parents rent to college students.  I just gave it a fresh staining job and topped it with black shoe polish to pick up the details and hopefully give it a little extra protection from the elements.  The lighting, I love, is from Lamps Plus- I searched and searched for exterior lighting I liked and decided on these.  There was no scrimping on the lighting, these were definitely the most expensive addition to the porch, but I think they are worth it!  The dining table we've had and just received a painting touch up.  The rug is an oldie to be replaced at some point. 

 So what's remaining...

• New rugs
• Funky lighting over dining table
• Fan?
• Piece of furniture to go between the doors
• Cushions for dining chairs

Peonies from the yard, well I just had to add these, because they are so beautiful!

Had a wonderful day today!  Christina came over with Ryan and Amelia this morning.  The kids exhausted themselves running and playing!  After lunch and a trip to the backyard for some more running and climbing, everyone was more than ready for nap time.  Poor Cooper was a little difficult to get down...and the Kirby sales woman about met my wrath (not really, but I was really annoyed!)- she came knocking very loudly on the door- I answered it Cooper in my arms- I had just gotten him to fall asleep- I was hoping I could keep him that way... but then she talked- and oh so loudly!  Cooper was wide eyed...  They she got snippy when I told her I wasn't interested!  Don't wake my baby up!  Anywho, I finally got him back to sleep and enjoyed some hands free time getting little things here and there taken care of around the house. 

I don't really have any pictures from today, so I figured I'd show you some before and after shots of the upstairs bathroom project!  It's been complete for a while, but it did take us quite some time to do it.  We gutted it, with Cheri and Kari's help the weekend we moved in- yes, that's how gross it was.  We didn't really get around to starting the remodel until right before I was due with Evan...convenient and great planning right?!?!  Not so much.  Actually, funny side note, I was overdue with Evan when I tiled the shower walls.  Some nest, some tile.  (Brett would say that I'd been nesting as soon as the pink stripe appeared.)

So here they are.

Before:

Laundry Nook

Shower- love that mustard yellow tile

Are you digging the wallpaper?!?!

Vanity

Okay, so on the surface, it's not that bad...  well until you look closely, then when you start gutting it...oh my...  Let me also mention that none of the plumbing in here worked.  And you know the term "can of worms" - this project was not an exception.

Tearing it down:

Oh, this picture reminds me of the flood...  Yes, flood.  We called Brett up to take the toilet out of the bathroom.  He went to turn off the water supply and the whole thing just came out of the wall!  Water went shooting out everywhere- actually our house is extremely crooked, so it flowed to the lowest corner in the room, and out the door.  Brett flew down the steps to turn off the water to the house.  I grabbed towels to stop the river.  Water even made it through the wood floors and into the bathroom below this one.  Ha!  Let the fun begin... 

Here are Cheri and Kari helping the demo process.  We couldn't have done it without them!  We found some unpleasant surprises - dead mice, mouse homes- during the demo.  I guess it really shouldn't have been a surprise since the house is so old, but it still was not fun!  Yuck!

The photo below needs some explanation... When we were taking out the baseboard and plaster, walnuts came pouring out...it seems squirrels had some stashes tucked away in the walls... (We would later find many more too!)

Building it up:

Dad Leedy helping with the drywall.

We replaced the old horse hair plaster walls with beadboard and drywall.

Needless to say, we replace all the plumbing behind the walls.  As you can see we now have a full bath, not just a stand up shower.  I really wanted a tub, since we had babies coming.  To fit the full tub in, we closed off the door from the nursery into the bathroom.  This also allowed us to rotate the location of the vanity.  We kept the toilet in the same location, because it works and we didn't have to move the drain (major bonus).  We used white subway tile in the shower and accented it with a fun bright blue recycled glass mosaic tile.  We also added an exhaust, a major upgrade as none of the bathrooms had them.  I used a school house light for the main light...I'm still think I'd like to change this, but I'm not sure what to use.  I really struggled on what to do for a vanity.  I knew I wanted a furniture style one, something simple, but I also didn't want to spend a lot of money on one.  Well, I scored big time!  I stumbled on the perfect dresser at HomeGoods on clearance!  A few modifications and instant vanity!  Score!  I love the vessel sink- simple white.  The window divider is one the old window sashes from the house.  The faucet, well I love it, but boy was it a challenge.  I had something different picked out before, but decided I liked the wall mounted one better...well the wall was already built...  So Brett had to take the wall apart to install my newly chosen faucet- is that patience of what?!  I'm glad we did it!  So here's the final product!

So sleepy...

Busy day, good day....  Too tired...  good night...

Last day of school...

Today was our last day of 'school.'  We are going to miss our teachers and our school friends!  Today Evan painted a butterfly, sorted bugs, listened to The Very Hungry Caterpillar story and of course ran around and played with the toys.  We had a little bit of a melt down when it was circle time, but we recovered and it seems it actually turned his whiny mood carryover from yesterday around!  Thank goodness!  

After naps- and yes, it was one of those wonderful days, when their naps overlapped!  Woo hoo!  What did I do, you ask?  Well I ate lunch in more than 2.5 minutes, cleaned up a few disastrous areas and took a much needed nap myself!  We were all energized after naps, so I helped Evan make some play dough!  I've been long overdue making hand and foot impressions of Cooper.  It's so tricky getting him to keep his little hands unfisted though... I was able to get one pretty good one- but it has a bit of a Star Trek flair...  see photo below.

Play dough fun!

 
Also a few days late, okay four, I took Cooper's 12 week picture!  Better late than never right?  Here are some funny shots- I love the expressions!

Classic Cooper, one eyebrow raised look.

"I really want to chew on my hands, but I really want to smile too..."

"Oh!!!"

A calm, content moment, and without hand chewing.

Back to that terrified look.

We still had some energy and time so we hit the sidewalk for a stroll spotting ants, flowers and fire hydrants along the way.  Evan welcomed his daddy home with a running hug- too cute- what a welcome!  Then it was a team effort to make some dinner, and it was a tasty one- salad to start then Wild Mushroom and Squash Quinoa- so tasty!!

Oh but the day was still not over, Brett conquered the ever-growing lawn, while the wee ones and I played on the back porch until bedtime!  After more clean up, email catch up, etc. it's finally time to call it a day!

Big Happy Birthday to my little nephew, Holden!  We can't wait to see you and everyone else in a couple of weeks!  Lots of love!

Frustrations

Frustration seems to be the theme of the day.  Evan was so frustrated today- it was a very rough for him and a practice in patience for me.  I had some personal frustrations too- nothing major, things just not going as they were planned.  We survived though, here's hoping tomorrow is less frustrating :-)

Cooper, on the other hand, had a pretty happy day!  He slept through the night for the second time 10 pm- to 5 am!  Woo hoo!  Then he was a champ with his naps- he took three naps, 2 hours, 1.5 hours, and 45 mins!  Way to go Cooper!

I wasn't able to get any pictures today, but here's a recent one I snapped of the boys together!

Ah, and they just make me smile... I love my babies!!!

Apartment Work

We spent this weekend in Shippensburg, PA helping out Brett's parents clean and repair the apartments that they rent. Brett grew up helping/playing at these same apartments.  And these apartments put Brett through college, so we were excited to help out!  Brett and his dad put a new floor in one of the apartments.  They turned out great!  Evan of course had his tool belt and tools to put in his share of work too! 

  

Cooper amazingly slept through lots of hammering and sawing upstairs.  In fact, he napped better those days than he typically does at home...maybe I should find a CD of construction noise?!?! 

And yes, I put in some work too!  Robi and I cleaned and scrubbed every surface.  The place was actually in pretty good condition- especially for college students! 

After the work was done each day, we enjoyed some delicious dinners and relaxing on the cabin porch!  It was a pretty busy weekend, but  it was great to spend some quality time with Mom and Dad Leedy finally helping them out (as they are typically helping us, working on our house!)!

Feeling sooo much better!

It's been a long day, but everyone is settled and I'm calling it done for the day!  Evan still had a slight fever, but was feeling more like himself towards the end of yesterday (see "cheesy" grin below).

We kept it pretty low key this morning.  Cooper took a great morning nap, so Evan and I assembled our new table and chair set for the nearly complete sleeping porch. 

And while Evan napped, Cooper and I got our smiles and giggles on!  Cooper pretty much didn't nap the rest of the day, so I wasn't able to get anything else accomplished.  But look at this face- totally worth it!

 

Bedtime went fairly smooth and I was itching to finish one little project.  Here's the little tool belt I made for Evan.  I think he'll be excited to see it tomorrow!

Sick...

Yesterday was wonderful.  We went to 'school' in the morning.  Maryland has a great program run through the Judy Center, called Come Learn With Me.  Basically, we go to a play/learn group at a local elementary school once a week for about an hour and a half.  Our fabulous teachers, Ms. Patsy and Ms. Rose, have all sorts of activities for us to play with and learn from.  The goal of the program is to prepare kids for kindergarten.  Evan loves going to school!!!  After naps, we decided to spend the rest of the beautiful day outside!  We even managed to take a decent walk before Cooper decided he'd had enough.  

Evan using watercolors for the first time!

Ms. Patsy helping Evan make playdough.

Flower Picking

 

 

Well, that was yesterday.... unfortunately we had some rough times today...

Today started out well.  We had a tasty breakfast (eggs and strawberries).  I successfully got Cooper down for a morning nap.  Evan and I played and read books. I was able to sew one side of the sail for Evan's sandbox.  Evan was loving the sewing machine and watching the parts move.  We went to the auto parts store and got a new battery for the car. Then headed to the library for story time- another favorite weekly event (thank you Carroll County Library!!!)!  But Evan started acting funny...he was laying on me during the stories and not dancing as enthusiastically as usual.  He started to feel warm... so we headed home.  I was hoping I was wrong, but by the time we got home he had a temperature of 102 and spiked at 103!  Ekk!  My baby's never had a temp that high!  In fact he's really only had a real temperature one other time and it only lasted an hour or so.  Here's a picture of my pitiful little one.  He felt awful.   I was sooo worried about him...

Luckily his temperature fell to about 100 after his nap and with another dose of Tylenol disappeared by bedtime.  Phew!  Hopefully, he stays on the mend from this mysterious fever and praying Cooper doesn't catch it...  

Sorry to Melissa and Nola, who were supposed to come over for a birthday dinner tonight!  I'll have to make that up to them soon!

I was able to finish sewing the sail for the sandbox while both boys miraculously napped at the same time!  Woo hoo!  Another project done!  I'll post a picture of the finished product once I install it!

Remaining on the to do list tonight:
- get Cooper to sleep for the night (he's down for a nap right now)
- get donations ready for Purple Heart pickup
- take care of some bills
- relax and enjoy some chocolate pudding with strawberries

Okay, that's all!  Hope everyone had a good day!