Home Improvements: Year One

My friend Amy posts almost weekly about improvements they're making to their home. I love it! It's great to get ideas and see what she's up to. She correlates it to the William Morris Project, which is essentially to "have nothing in your houses which you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful".

I won't attempt to post weekly, or even monthly about my projects around the house. But I can handle once a year. :) This post is mostly for me and my family. I think it'll be interesting to see what we've done over the years. It's not my intent to come off as boastful or braggy in any way, so I hope I don't come off that way.

Here's a quick rundown of the work we've done on our place during our first year of ownership.

Back in November I painted the downstairs. For details about that project click here. At that time we also got a kitchen light and light and fan for the living room. Wiring was already installed, but we'd been living in the dark far too long. Matt has become quite the electrician around here, and I am impressed.

January

 Painted laundry room Meadowlark by Glidden with leftover paint

February

 Painted upstairs bathroom Meadowlark by Glidden. A few months later I found the shower curtain at Dollar General for ten bucks! Our previous hand-me-down curtain had seen better days, and after six plus years of marriage I didn't think it was the craziest thing in the world to buy a shower curtain. I am totally a fan of delayed gratification--even if it's over a ten dollar shower curtain! 

March

I had fun painting Kaitlyn's room and adding a few wall decorations. Details about that project can be found here. Matt also installed a light/fan in our bedroom. Wiring had been completed previously, but no light had been put in place.

 

April

Painted hallway upstairs Tawny Birch by Glidden

May

In May Matt busted out his mad skills. He built this fence--picket by picket--after work and on Saturday in essentially less than a week. He took Step Three of boards on Monday, and that night we began placing the posts. Our neighbor lent us some rock star tools, which made the job much easier. Matt amazed me with his determination to get that fence up quickly. He is my hero, and I considered this project a great Mother Day gift to me! Of course I can't let him have all the credit. I hauled all the lumber to it's appointed spot and got my groove on with the power tools.

 Don't judge our lawn, please. It's dry here.

 June

Sewed curtains downstairs all by myself. (Gushing with awe is totally acceptable right now!) ;) Despite the fact that my mom is a sewing fanatic and she taught me to sew, I hadn't really taken on any projects as an adult. Surprisingly, I quite enjoyed sewing these. The material is from Joann's; Waverly Pom Pom Play Spa, and I ordered it from the warehouse when Waverly products were 50% off. I based my tab top curtains off this and this tutorial, and for the Roman shade I followed this tutorial. Thank you Pinterest!

And one last project I did this summer...

We have a Simon Dewey picture, and I love the painting but the gold frame didn't look too hot with what we've got going on in the living room. I used cheap acrylic paint (Raw Umber) and a hard bristled stencil brush to give the frame new life. I also nabbed the ugly flower sconces on clearance at Joann's. After spray painting them black, adding a bit of Raw Umber craft paint over the top, and replacing the flowers, that wall looks a little better.  I'm not over the top in love with the sconces, but it's an improvement.

Those are our home improvements from year one. I'm now trying to be really good and use our resources in other ways. So there's no projects in the near future for me. But in year two (or three) I hope (perhaps "dream" is a more appropriate word) to:

• Paint the dresser in Kaitlyn's room a fun green color
• Paint and decorate Sky's room 
• Add a few decorations to the kitchen and living room
• Paint the loft 
• Put in a door to create a closet and utilize the space under our stairs 
• Add a few plants, trees, flowers, and a small vegetable garden to our yard
• Maybe extend the patio and build a wood patio covering (A girl can dream right?!)

What projects have you been working on? Any advice for me?

Kaitlyn's Eleven Month Letter

Dear Kaitlyn,

You're a sweet, sweet baby--and a baby you certainly seem to be. A few weeks ago at a doctor's appointment you weighted in at a whopping fourteen pounds, two ounces. That's far below the first percentile, but you're consistently staying small and are not dropping off your growth curve.

You've made some more of your developmental milestones but are still a bit behind. You're rotating between army crawling and an all out bear crawl. You're able to pull yourself to standing while holding onto furniture, but haven't attempted taking any steps. You'll clap and wave, but you're not saying too many consonants yet. You also don't attempt to hold your own bottle, which would really help me out sometimes.



Your pediatrician recommended First Steps--an early intervention system for infants and toddlers--to come to our house to help out with you a couple times a month. A physical therapist and a speech therapist came last week to evaluate you. They observed that you're lacking most in your gross motor skills and your speech is a bit behind as well. One of their most significant concerns is that your core is lacking the strength to pull yourself up from crawling to sitting position. They instructed me on a few techniques I can help you strengthen your abs.


You're happy, calm, and quite a delight. You love your sister. A few weeks ago Daddy was holding you while he picked Skylie up from nursery at church. When you saw your big sis, you kicked and bounded with delight.

You love food and will shovel anything edible (or inedible for that matter) into your mouth to your hearts content. I gave you a bit of an otter pop the other day. When you realized the treat was gone, you protested!

You also like going swimming and kicking your legs in the water.

Lately you've taken to waking up later in the evening (when you should be sleeping). A few times Dad and I have gotten you out of your crib to hang out with us. On such occasions you give us a cute, sneaky grin as if to say, "I'm a trouble-maker! I'm getting away with something fun."

We love you, Kaitlyn.

Love,
Mom

Kaitlyn's Nine Month Pictures

 

Kaitlyn at 9 1/2 months

Courtesy JCPenney Portrait Studio 

May 18, 2012

Summer Snapshots

This post is long overdue. Details are missing, but pictures are worth a thousand words, right? We're happy and well in Indy spending our weekdays at the gym, the pool, the library, and having play dates with friends. On free weekends we try to check out the best sites and activities Indianapolis has to offer.

Grandparents Visit

My parents came out to visit over Memorial Day weekend, and we had a blast at the Children's Museum, dining out, shopping, spending a day downtown, and taking walks at nearby parks. We all felt sad to see them go. The day they left Sky kept saying, "I wanna pway with Grandma and Grandpa at my house."

Grandma, Skylie, and Matt at the Children's Museum

Erin, Kaitlyn, Grandma, Skylie, and Grandpa at Children's Museum

Matt, Kate, Grandma, and Sky at museum

Kaitlyn and Erin at museum

Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park

After hearing many rave reviews about a nearby state park, we took a Saturday morning to hike, picnic, and play at Fort Ben. Loved it! Matt heard me exclaim at least 10 times, "I love this place! We should come here more often!"

          

PBS Kids in the Parks Day

Sky was wild with anticipation to see Elmo up close in person at the PBS Kids in the Park Day. Some parents (ahem, me) weren't great about planning out the timing of when Elmo (a person dressed in a big Elmo costume) would be at the gig. Lucky for us Sky was appeased by looking at a cardboard picture of the icon while I  talked to her in my best--but still terrible--Elmo impression. We ran into some friends at the park, and with the help of her buddies Sky found the courage to get through the bounce house.

Lillian and Skylie

Jon, Viola, Kaitlyn, and Matt

Neighbors Playing

Kaitlyn

Gracie, Skylie, and Sydney

Non-Camping

The best laid out plans for an overnight camping trip with friends took a downturn when the temperatures plummeted. Our house became a campsite for the evening. Kids played in the tent, we ate hot dogs, and My Master Chief Matt perfected oven baked s'mores which were to die for.

Rachel, Owen, Skylie, Lisa, Allison, Olivia, and Jake

From the Mouth of My Babe

At the park on a Sunday morning in May
Sky attempted to push Matt in the swing. She stumbled back after pushing with all her might and exclaimed, "Whoa! You're pretty big!"

While on a walk with Skylie on Tuesday I asked her what she wants to be when she grows up.

Me: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Her: "I don't know."
Me: "Do you want to take care of animals?
Her: "No."
Me: "Do you  want to teach school or be a doctor?"
Her: "No."
Me: "Do you want to be a mommy?"
Her: "No."

I continued questioning her with any exciting occupations that I thought she'd understand, to which she replied with resolute no's.

She then announced with vigor: "I wanna be daddy!"
Me: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Her: "Daddy! Daddy!"

Kaitlyn's Nine Month Stats and Letter

As of Friday, May 11:
Weight: 12 pounds; 15 ounces

Length: 25 and 3/4th inches

Head Circumference: 16 and 7/8th inches

Kaitlyn's length and weight are staying on their growth curves, and her head size percentile has jumped up a bit, which is great. Developmentally, her fine motor skills are at the stage of a seven month old, so her pediatrician recommended we have First Steps come into our home periodically to help her out.

Nine Month Letter

 

Kaitlyn,

Just recently it seems as if you've turned a corner and are kissing your baby days goodbye. You're a squirmer and like to be on the floor playing with toys with mom or dad close by. If I walk out of the room you howl in protest but you'll soon be content playing by yourself for a while. You sit up, scoot, roll,  and have discovered that there's better food out there than what you get in baby jars. For a long while you didn't seem like you could handle food that wasn't completely pureed, but those days are gone.

At playgroup on Tuesday, May 22

You're still toothless, and I absolutely love your cheesy grin. You're quick to give smiles, especially to Dad when he comes into the room.

At the park on a Sunday morning recently

Skylie gets possessive of you, and when other kids try to get close to look at you, she'll push the kids away and say, "Dat's my baby!" You two are starting to interact a tiny bit now, which I love. You like to reach for anything in sight, and occasionally it's Skylie's hair or arms. If Sky's in a good mood she'll make a game of it and pretend like you're tickling her.

You are a favorite wherever we go, and adults and children comment often about your big, beautiful, blue eyes and mild temperament. Last week during story time at the library I overheard two moms talking about you. "That baby has the prettiest, big blue eyes," one mother commented. ""I know," said the other mom. "She's always got those cute flower headbands in her hair, too, and I've never heard her make so much as a peep!" I couldn't help but beam with some motherly pride. You are a great baby and bring me a lot of happiness.

 

We love you so much, Kaitlyn!

Love,
Mom

*****

A few weeks ago I left Kaitlyn downstairs and Skylie upstairs while I took a shower. A few minutes later I found them like this:

Skylie had gathered her toys, taken them downstairs, and was showing them to Kaitlyn. It was so cute that I had to snatch a few pictures. Skylie even consented to hugging Kaitlyn for the camera (see below).

In a house with two young kids, there's lots of cries, screams, and tantrums around here--enough to drive any sane person crazy. In fact, I sometimes I wonder if insanity is a requirement for motherhood. But one aspect that helps me stay relatively sane and enjoy being a mother is to focus on moments like this. When the kids are happy; when they say or do something sweet. I try to remember to tell Matt about those sweet moments and write them down if I'm really on top of things. Those moments propel me though the other 50, 80, or sometimes 90 percent of the time when I'm simply trudging through the muck and hoping that the craziness will die down. We rarely have a completely blissful day, but we sure have our share of great moments.

Running the Mini-Marathon

Saturday I ran. I am now sore.

The Mini-Marathon is big here in Indy, and as a biased participant I'd have to say that it did not disappoint. Part of the course included running on the Indy 500 Race Track, and trust me when I say I wished I was in a race car at that point!

Almost to the finish line

 While running I saw a little boy holding a sign which read, "Worst Parade Ever". I laughed out loud. How true that is. Kudos to Matt, Skylie, Kaitlyn, and all the others who cheered us on. Watching a distance race is by no means the thrill of a lifetime, I'm sure!

OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon

Distance: 1/2 Marathon; 13.1 miles

Time: 1 hour 40 minutes 31 seconds

Mile Pace: 7 minutes 41 seconds

Overall: 1,233 of 31,129

Division:  43rd of  2,784

Of All Women: 153rd of 16,825