Photos by Paige

Paige has decided its fun to grab my little digital camera I have at the 'new' house and take pictures. So after I snap a picture of something; she grabs it and will take lots of pictures until you take it from her. Here's a few of her best! I deleted the 30 that are of the floor or blank rooms.

Daddy sort of smiling outside.

Papa Greg and myself working on Saturday. Glad I am blurry because all the photos she takes of me are at belly height and that is not the most flattering angle for a pregnant girl to be photographed!

This one was in focus and I love it. Goodbye orange fireplace! It was officially removed from the living portion of the house and going to be repurposed as a firepit.

Self portrait.

Kitchen

So this is a progress picture of my kitchen. Progress?!? It has minty green countertops and pink cabinet parts! But note the clean while paint inside that is covering up icky old peachy/pinky stuff and is now clean and bright. That lovely mulberry pink--its tinted primer. The nice beige on the back is a final color that will complement my new countertops that are called 'bella noche'--meaning dark brown and black swirls. But oh wait, found out today those don't get delivered until the 25th. Oh well, guess that gives me a few more days to get all the red on the cabinets. Hopefully "Holmes on Homes", I mean Dad, can get the countertops installed relatively fast since I wanted to move on the 26th/27th. Oh how I wish it was all done and July 1st! I had a dr. appt yesterday and we are at 29 weeks prego--probably should get to quit working on the house and start rounding up some baby gear! That's the July project.

Day 10

Day 10 of home ownership. Day 10 of huge mess and chaos. Wouldn't be so bad if I weren't so pregnant and could like bend over or do something. Sigh. That's my pity party. Anyway, a lot has happened, especially last weekend when we had a 'crew' working. We had 6 extra adults in the house at one point and they got stuff done. The carpet is out of every room upstairs, except the kitchen. That's too new to get rid of just yet. Panelling is gone, sheetrock up in the living room. Rick was a painting fool and there is paint everywhere we'd let him go. The basement play area is completely done--painted, cleaned, chunk of carpet warming up the tile floor, etc. Bless Mom & Jane for doing the icky thing they did yesterday to it. All I will say is I definitely owe them. There was dead mice involved. Ewww. But its all good; and we'll start hauling toys in gradually for miss Paige.



Paige and I stayed home this lovely Friday as some pregnant girl learned the definition of overdoing it last night and hurt really bad this morning. No contractions or anything--but I knew enough to take it easy and nap all day with my feet up. The cantelope size ankles are gone and I feel better. As Ryan said this morning, "What did we learn from this?" I hate it when he's right.



Here are a few photos from the last week.

Paige napping about 5pm last night---in the future master bedroom. Remodeling is hard work! It is fully painted (Yay, and is a few minor things away from being done.) No major issues with this room other than it needs carpet.

This is a view of my bathtub; isn't it lovely? Won't even go there. Yes, that is a hole to the basement and you can see into Paige's room--there is supposed to be a wall there.

Photo by Paige last night--didn't she do good? No, I am not painting my cabinets pink. Tinted primer for the lovely dark yummy red they will be.

Living room starting to look less orange--carpet gone and now downstairs as it was usable.

Hey Cowboy; someone stole your orange woodburner! Ha ha ha. Oh wait, its just moved about 20 feet and in the corner of the picture. Dang. But its out of there after it gets disassembled and will fit out the door. But that's a lovely sheetrocked wall and he has now acquired 'mudding' experience. Its not all the way done yet; but maybe by the middle of the week we could be painting. He's been an absolute rock star and working his butt off. He was on horseback for about 20 hours the last two days; and then goes into the house and gets stuff done. I think he's going to take tonight off and have a much deserved break in his comfy chair. Last time he said that, he didn't do it. But he's been awesome and is a great 'fixer.' I am very lucky to have him and our family and friends who have been so generous with their time and talents helping us with our little project.

Panelling gone

What should appear under the panelling? No glue and sheetrock on 3 walls. I think Cowboy and Justin could have shrieked with joy. The one wall had some glue on it; so its not as pretty. . .

However the decision to rip the carpet out has happend and that will be done this weekend. We are going to be conservative and try to leave it for a while; but then decided its in the way and will be filthy, even if its covered; so goodbye shag carpeting. Its getting pulled in the bedrooms, and living room/dining room. Who hoo!

New house

So we closed yesterday afternoon and here are a few before pictures. Its a nice house; kind of dated with some 70's orange curtains, paint, etc. but nothing a little paint and Cowboy labor won't fix. My hubby is very handy. There will be more pictures later and in process; but this is all I have time for now. I need to get supper to my 'crew' at the other house!

Dining room wall--a lovely sherbert orange. Panelling--check. Green shag carpet--check.

Dining room. Got great windows but lovely orange curtains.

Bathroom--green shag carpet that is already gone. Thank you Cowboy. I have the new linoleum already in my vehicle to go in.

Living room. Nice windows and sexy orange woodburner. I expect Austin Powers to come flying out of it. Its going to be gone before we move in as will the panelling. Carpet may wait as brown I can deal with for a while to save some money.

Things I learned this weekend. . .

We spent Sunday and Monday down in Belle Fourche/Rapid City visiting some friends, touring, shopping, etc. I have some great pictures of Bear County and Reptile Gardens I will try to post later but these were a few of the key moments on our trip.

• Swimming pools, no matter the size, are always worth the money at a hotel. Paige was beyond delighted and was a good kid all because she got to swim.



• Mint Chip ice cream at Hardees has been voted the best ice cream. Not sure how the pregnancy cravings will handle ice cream that far away; but we'll deal. This stuff was far superior over any other kind. Cowboy even ate some.



• Baby bears that play and frolic in the sun are super cute and will sell thousands of teddy bears a day.



• Snakes and creepy crawlies at Reptile Gardens will entertain the girliest of little girls. She even touched a snake. Amazing.



• Pregnant girls cannot shop all day; not matter how hard they try. Naps are necessary.



• Its possible to spend hours in a home improvement store scrutinizing painting tools; how in the hell are we ever going to make a real decision--like the color?!

We close in two days and I now have stuff to put in the house!!! Got some paint, new light fixtures, etc. Now to find the energy to start the projects. . .

6 Days!

The countdown is on! 6 days and Cowboy and I can count ourselves as homeowners! Whoo hoo. I am sure my time of coming home and resting/playing on the computer is coming to an end as I have started the massive to do list and its not looking very short. We close on Wednesday afternoon. So if anyone wants a glimpse of the sexy orange woodburner or some nasty shag carpeting, stop on over.

In the meantime I am trying to pick out paint, countertops, etc. so I can get them ordered and we can get a ton of stuff done in the next few weeks so its done before we haul all of our stuff over. I think its going to be a blessing that we can stay in our current home for a month and work on the new one. I've been around sheetrock dust and paint fumes; and I'll pass on living in it if possible.