Getting ready for Baby!

God certainly knows a lot about timing (duh, right?). This 3-day weekend (and 3 paycheck month for me- yay!) couldn't have come at a better time. While we didn't get everything done that we wanted to this weekend, we did make some major headway. There are still a lot of "nesting" projects that I will likely never get to, but that's okay. We found the "to-do" list the other day from before ZuZu was born- and let's just say that "clean master closet" has STILL not been done...

Kurt has been working all week on our upstairs bathroom. It was "usable" when we moved in, but gross. Two words sum it up: NASTY. CARPET. Here is the "before":

We found really pretty planking under the carpet, but in the end (and after a $400-500 estimate from a contractor) we decided that we just couldn't do the necessary repair and staining at this time. So Kurt put down the "fake stuff." We would have liked to have torn down the paneling as well, but the wall was not finished behind. And that was WAY more work than I thought needed to happen.... so we got a special primer and painted over it. I am pleased with the way everything turned out:

Sometime that old medicine cabinet will be replaced, too... But for now, not having to go all the way downstairs in the middle of the night to use a nice bathroom was all I really wanted! (There is a shower in the corner, but it is not in any of the pics).

While Kurt was painting, I was doing some painting of my own. I made these to hang near Hosanna's crib:

I am waiting for some ribbon to come in that I ordered from etsy, and then will hang them. Well, AFTER the crib has been put together (hopefully she won't come until she has a place to sleep!).

We found this organizer at Home Depot yesterday when we went for more flooring, so Hosanna will also have this:

With these bins:

And just so that ZuZu did not feel left out (Moses got an entirely new room, Hosanna is getting all new furniture and accessories, etc.), we put a monkey decal (Moses calls them "wall tattoos" :) ) on her bedroom wall this weekend. She loves it:

And speaking of monkeys, check out these two:

We were at 36 weeks on Sunday. Here is the comparison (now v. 36 weeks with ZuZu):

I'm thinking Monday, September 20th. That seems like a great day to have a baby. Two more weeks to get some things done, but almost a month before my Greenville College reunion and chapel speech. I wonder how much baby weight I could lose in that 3-4 weeks....

Another "room re-do"

I thought this corner of the kitchen needed a little something (besides a new window treatment):


Ahhhh. That's better:


(He loves it, MaMa!)

Daddy's Little Helper...

And a peek into what the renovation process entails. :)

At long last.... The Dining Room Re-Do!

So you are probably thinking, "Yeah, yeah. She's being 'going to' post the dining room pics for months now." And I am sure you have all been waiting, wondering when your dream of seeing our dining room would ever be fulfilled. :)

But this time it is the truth! I am finally posting the dining room re-do pictures. Go here to look at the other room re-dos (Moses' room, kitchen and bathroom).

Before:

After:

No more ugly wallpaper! No more lacey curtains! No more hideous light-fixture!

This is now one of my favorite rooms in the house. It holds many of my most sentimental items. Many of the classic books were purchased in our first year of marriage, when we lived in West Palm. The Steiff bears were my [paternal] grandmother's, as were the tall chair and the pie safe in each corner. The piano was made in the Conover piano factory that my [maternal] Granddaddy bought and converted into a mall. The table, chairs, and buffet were from my Granddaddy's furniture business. I really need to take some time and blog about my roots-- there are so many good stories. I need to write them down somewhere before I forget them. [I just realized that the chairs aren't in the picture-- I had moved them to the living room for the jewelry party].

It's also one of my favorite rooms, because we actually SIT and EAT meals at the dining room table. I think the dining room table should be the center of all socialization in a home-- from meals to game time.

And there's more... the living room re-do is almost done! We are just waiting on the curtains (back-ordered, of course). We also need a new fireplace screen. I am not fond of the brass one that was in the house when we moved it. So I guess I leave you with a new promise: living room re-do pics are soon to come! :)

Now that we are recuperated...

In our home, we decorate Easter eggs on the evening of good Friday, and the Easter Bunny comes that night. That way, Moses can take time to hunt for the eggs and go through his basket, and we can have a good breakfast together (Kurt made biscuits & gravy this year... yum!). Also, it means that Easter Sunday is what it is supposed to be about: Jesus.

So, here is some video footage of Moses dying eggs. In my "motherly wisdom," as K referred to it this weekend, I started by bringing out just ONE color to the dining room, and I started with the lightest color. I have entitled this video, "Perhaps we should have waited until next year..."

After the I stopped laughing and the mess was cleaned up, we went back to the kitchen, where we let Moses drop one egg into each color, and then he was taken back to the living room. I fished the eggs out a little later and let him play with them. By the way, not one of the 6 eggs was left unscathed that night, and one was so badly beaten (no pun intended) that it had to be thrown out.

The next video is Saturday morning. I have entitled this one "egg toss" (very original, I know). You'll have to pardon the smudge on the lens. It had just been touched my m&m fingers...

But our little monkey was such a good boy. He loved going through his basket. And we loved watching him go through his basket.

And finally, a few Easter morning pictures. Doesn't he look like such a little man in his wife-beater?! :)

Before and After 3

Here is another recent room re-do. We finished this one just a couple weeks ago (to be honest, Kurt did the painting before Christmas.... but I dragged my feet on finding the right window covering. I finally decided on bamboo).

Before:

As you can see, MORE wallpaper and MORE lace....

After:

I also plan to frame and hang a few scenic pics from when we lived in West Palm. Ah, I bet its in the 80s there this afternoon....

The dining room pics will probably come in about a month or so. I have a hefty framing order still in process, so I want to wait until those are home and hung. I also neglected to order the new curtain rod, so that will take another couple weeks as well...

Before and After 2

As promised, here are the before and after pictures of Moses' room. And I lied yesterday: his room wasn't wallpapered before. Sorry. But it was a weird blue color (and it also had a very ugly ceiling fan, but at least without a chandelier)...

Don't you just love those curtains? :)

Here it is now. My mom made the curtains (two different sizes of blue gingham, one size on each side of the curtain), and Moses' Uncle Jarrett painted the duckie picture before Moses was born.

This is my favorite room in the house. I love the colors and curtains, and it has the best view of the neighbors beautiful trees.

However, Moses added his own "artwork" to the walls yesterday: in 6 places! The crayons were quickly removed to a higher location.... But I had to laugh, he was very consistent; the 6 scribbles were each located at approximately the same height all the way around the room....

Before and After

For the last year, K and I have been working on re-decorating our "new" house. Okay, I will be honest-- K has been doing most of the "working," but I am very good at telling him what to do. :)


Our home was in exceptional condition when we moved in. While it was built in 1910, almost everything had been updated after 2000 (heating, air, plumbing, whirpool tub, etc). The former owner was a professional electrician (you should see our incredible wiring!), and both he and his wife were meticulous. The only reason we had to clean the house when we moved in was because no one had lived in it for a few months.

That being said, our decorating tastes differ to quite a degree. The entire first floor (living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms) was entirely wallpapered. In addition, three of the rooms on the main floor had ceiling fans with chandeliers hanging beneath. I had never seen such a thing before....

We're paint people. And we are most definitely NOT ceiling fan people (I firmly believe that God created central air so that people could rid themselves of such atrocities).

Fortunately, the entire second floor (two enormous bedrooms, hallway, and bath) were left un-papered. Unfortunately, the first floor has taken a lot longer to re-decorate than we had hoped (the wallpaper is very thick and very brittle-- no ripping it off in sheets is possible....). We're still working on the living room and dining room, and our bedroom is the last on the list. But here is the first part of a multi-post series of before and after pictures... at least, of what we have done so far!

Kitchen BEFORE (btw-- I do not heart heart wallpaper, or heart anything else for that matter!):





See the globe chandelier? Now picture it with a ceiling fan ABOVE that! lol






Kitchen AFTER:








(ummm.. please ignore the clutter.... I was getting ready for small group and needed bundles of paper goods....)


I knew the wood of our kitchen cabinets was gorgeous, but it was being hidden by the busy-ness of the wallpaper. This is much more our style! And thanks to Lisa's dad, we now have a nice, fan-less, modern light in the kitchen.

Tomorrow: Moses' room. That's my favorite. :)