October

 

This post does NOT include house pictures. Just a quick post about our October, before November gets away from us.

Emma and I got to go with Nathan and his preschool class to the pumpkin patch this year. I love getting to do things like this. It reminds me how grateful I am to be a stay-at-home mom.

We saw a few farm animals, picked out pumpkins, and went on a very bumpy hay ride.

       

Ryan and I picked up a few pumpkins at the store, and we all carved them before Halloween. When I say “we all carved them”, what I really mean is that Ryan and I carved, Nathan painted, and Emma ate paint. Ah, our dining room was still so ugly then.

         

 

October 27th was a big day for our family. Emma turned 18 months and got to go to nursery. We had hoped she would get to walk to nursery, but no such luck. Good thing she’s so happy scooting on her bum. She loves nursery and hasn’t had a moment of fear or concern. She was pretty mad when we picked her up and she had to stop playing.

That day was also Nathan’s first Primary program. He did so good. He had a hard time keeping still in his seat (they're just so bouncy!) but he did great saying his part: “One blessing of living the Word of Wisdom is a strong and healthy body!” Nana and Papa and Auntie Leslie even came to watch him. I'm so glad my kids did great, but I was a wreck that day!

We had a little photo shoot before church to capture this exciting day:

 

 

 

And of course, we celebrated Halloween. Nathan wanted to be a pirate again this year. He got to wear his costume to school and have a preschool Halloween party. That evening, we went to the Trunk or Treat and to a few neighbor houses. Ryan and I went as pirates too, and Emma was our parrot.

 

Halloween lunch

 

 

                   

We turned off all our lights while we were gone so no one would think we were home. When we got back it was dark and I noticed the light in our garage loft was the only one we didn’t turn off. I’m not sure if you can see how creepy this looks, but it’s already a scary garage and we have a skeleton hanging up in there. That’ll scare the trick or treaters!

And speaking of creepy . . .

 

 

 

Nathan has been really into taking pictures lately. I love this one he took of me, Ryan, and Emma.

I also canned lots of applesauce in October. So yummy! Emma was a big helper, throwing all the apples around the kitchen for me.

Chronicles of a Money Pit: Part 2, The List

 

After almost 8 months in this house, We’re coming to the end of all our remodeling projects. I know that doesn’t sound like a long time, but we never intended to live in a house and remodel it at the same time. We obviously didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into!

Here’s a list of all the things we’ve done to our house (so far. We still have a few small things on our to-do list) --

Look for pictures in Part 3, coming soon!

*If there’s a star before it, that means we did it ourselves, if not, that means we left it to the professionals!

Living Room

*new paint on walls/   fireplace

*whitewashed wood paneled wall

*new paint on the Front door

refinished floor

Downstairs Bathroom

*new paint

*refinished tub

*installed new surround

*repaired ceiling

Kitchen

new floors

new bottom cabinets (the old ones fell apart when the countertops were removed)

new wood countertops (Ryan gets a half star for finishing the countertops)

new sink

knocked back a wall

*bead board and trim

*new paint

*tile backsplash

*installed microwave

*new light fixtures

*new pantry door

we also got a new fridge and dishwasher

Dining Room

removed closet (it used to be a bedroom)

removed door

made a doorway into the kitchen (now it’s a dining room!)

removed yucky paneling

*mudded walls

*painted walls

*watched walls peel

*ripped off paint and mud, and wallpaper

*re-mudded walls

*repainted

*installed bead board

*installed the revamped chandelier from the kitchen

Master Bedroom

built a wall, with a door (and a lock so mommy can hide and eat chocolate)

installed carpet

*painted

*new trim

*converted utility closet to walk-in closet

*installed new light

*fixed new light (it’s still not working)

Hallways and Stairs

new floors (just downstairs)

*new paint

Kid’s Room

*new paint

Kid’s bathroom

removed shower stall (it was groooosssss!)

installed bathtub (it was months and many visits from the plumber before we had a fully functioning bathtub. The downstairs tub was just recently refinished)

*drywall

*paint

Basement

*flooded it

removed carpet

*painted laundry room

Exterior

*Cleaned roof

*insulation in crawl spaces and attics

 

We also had a lot of electrical work done in the house and garage.

This has been the most stressful, emotional, and often rewarding year! Ryan and I never intended to buy a house that needed this much work, and even now, as we look at this compilation of everything we’ve done, we’re thinking, “Are we idiots"?!” I (sort of) lovingly call this house our money pit because we’ve put so much into it and every step forward sent us another 3 steps back again. We’ve learned a lot and we’re so grateful to everyone who has helped us! Now, we’re going to sit back and enjoy the holidays. No more all night painting sessions!

18 Months

My Emma Jane is 18 months old!

18 Things About Emma:

1. She loves animals, especially dogs.

2. She loves to play outside and often cries when she doesn’t get to.

3. She loves taking a bath. No one can mention the word “bathroom” without her scooting there and trying to climb into the tub. The other day, we went to a baptism, and the whole time Emma pointed and yelled Bath! Bath!

4. Did I mention she scoots everywhere on her bum?

5. She doesn’t walk by herself yet, but she’s happiest when she’s holding hands (or furniture) and walking along.

 

6. She’s a snuggler.

7. Emma LOVES to have something on her head. She has always liked to cover her face with her blanket when she sleeps, now she is always finding something to use as a hat or a headband, or necklace.

8. Emma still has her baby mullet, but her hair is getting thicker. It’s light brown, with a bit of red. She has beautiful, big blue eyes.

9. She loves to read. She often brings me a book and scoots into my lap so I can read it to her.

10. She has 10 teeth, and is grumpily working on two more molars.

11. If you say, “Silly Face!” Emma will scrunch up her nose and squeeze her eyes shut, making her funniest face. Then she laughs.

12. Favorite foods include yogurt, fruit, cheese, cereal, and carrots. She HATES mac and cheese.

   

13. Emma loves her big brother. Sometimes she gets tired of him climbing on her, but when they’re not together, she misses him.

14. Some words Emma knows: Shoe, balloon, cheese, water, icky, I love you, bye bye, Nana, Papa, Mama, Dada, Brother, book, hat, hot, bath, ball, binkie (baba), baby, hi, and a few more.

15. Emma knows lots of animal noises (most just growl, in her opinion), body parts, and how to SSHHH! if you’re too loud or pretending to sleep. She also signs the words, more, milk, and please, but that’s about it.

16. Emma loves babies. She can’t get enough of them. If there’s a baby around, you can be sure she’s patting it and trying to tickle it’s toes. She’s surprisingly gentle and motherly.

17.  She is super friendly. She likes to wave and say hi.

18. Emma loves nursery. She doesn’t cry a bit and is a little mad when I pick her up and make her stop playing.

We love our Emma Jane so much!!