ReNOvaTION

It has been almost a month since I last posted on here. It really doesn't seem that long, but when I think of everything that has taken place in that almost month's time...there has been a lot!

While I haven't been posting, our kitchen has been getting a major re-do. In essence, we have doubled the size of our kitchen. This is a big plus for us as it will enable us to fit everyone in and be able to enjoy dinners with family and friends without having to go to another room in the house. Back in the day, kitchens weren't quite as big as kitchens now. Well, we are changing that for this house!

The first full week in April, our friends from Wisconsin came down and did the framing/roughing. He is the fastest builder--ever! He had it framed, sheathed, shingled, dry-walled, mudded/taped, skylights/windows, and outside finished in 6 days! It is really cool. I love the way the ceiling vaults up and has a wonderful skylight. The way he did it is awesome! He had everything visualized and to be honest, I had very little idea of how it was going to look until he had it done. All I knew was that it would be done and that it was do-able. I busied myself with paint color choices, cabinet decisions, and the like.

I celebrated my birthday during that busy week. It was fun. We went to Johnny's for dinner and had a lovely time as well as the wondefully tasty DC Cupcakes (from the place that has the show on TLC). They are truly amazing! My personal favorite was the Maple. I have heard from others that tried my cupcakes that Cherry Blossom was great as well as Lemon Berry. I really doubt any of them were less than spectacular. It was fun sharing them with family & friends. We will definitely order again sometime!

It has been over a week ago since our friends left to go back to WI. The kitchen is pretty much in the state he left it in aside from Josh doing some electrical work. You see, Josh is working a lot, I work, we have 3 kids, and the 3 kiddos have been sick. There was fevers, coughing, etc... Now, Josh has it! Poor guy. Anyway, the main reason for lack of progress on the inside of the kitchen----We are waiting for the rest of the cabinets to arrive. They are scheduled in tomorrow or Friday of this week. YAY! Hopefully, most of the remainder of this will be completed next week and then it is painting time and moving back in to the kitchen time.

With the renovation, there is a new dishwasher in Noe's bedroom (we didn't have anywhere else to put it), a large corner cabinet that belongs in the kitchen (sitting in my LR), food, dishes, and everything else that belongs in a kitchen in the basement. Needless to say I am looking forward to the completed product.

On the outside, we have done a bit of landscaping. The best part is that it was mostly free landscaping. Everything with the exception of the little fence was moved/split from other plants around our yard. With the torrential rain that we have been experiencing, it is growing quite nicely. Now, we need to get the grass seed planted where the grass is missing.

In between rain and cold temps, we have planted some flowers in our windowboxes. Only geraniums so far as they are hardy and can withstand our crazy up and down weather. I am itching to do the rest and am hoping to do so on the weekend.

Aside from renovation, I have been trying to keep up with laundry and keeping our house as normal as possible. It messes with everyone if it is totally disastrous. We have managed some walks when it was warm and we were well.

Noelliah turned 7 months old and is clearly on a mission to do everything she can as early as she can. She stands up at the furniture regularly, lets go to stand alone for brief seconds, crawls like a mad-woman, and has begun climbing stairs. She also added Ma-ma to her vocabulary. Her first word was da-da and then daddy, but she clearly says Ma-ma now. Yesterday, I was gone briefly and she stayed with Josh. He reported to me that while I was gone, she kept saying "mama" "mama" over and over.
On her monitor last night after she was put to bed, I heard "mama". It is so cute and so sweet. All of her busy-ness is starting to make her "trim" down from the baby "fat". The legs are losing the chub. We are beyond blessed with our 3 little princesses. They all really make my heart swell with joy each and every day!

On that note, I have laundry that needs switched out--imagine that??? Josh thinks this is a later night at work for him. I feel for him being sick and all.

Have a glorious Easter week/weekend everyone!!