CREDITS:

Digital scrap items in the header, layouts and sidebar are by Miss Mint at PeppermintCreative.com or Jen Wilson at JenWilsonDesigns.com

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Friday

Yesterday was a great day! I ran errands in the morning (the weather was gorgeous!), grocery shopped around noon, came home & unloaded everything, cleaned, had the carpet re-attached, cleaned some more and made our favorite salad for dinner. A very productive day! Unfortunately Brian caught some sort of stomach bug and went to bed at 8 something last night only to wake up around 11 throwing up. No fun for him. Or me - I didn't really get an evening break but luckily Aiden wasn't too bad and Brian took him all this morning so I could get a little extra sleep.

Any ways, while Brian was snoozing, I scrapped a couple pictures of him holding Aiden when he was just a few hours old:



I like how boyish but sweet this page looks. I used a bunch of different kits and everything mixed quite well.

We're off to a birthday party this afternoon!

Friday, November 9, 2007

Peeing Picasso

Aiden's mischevious personality is starting to show through. This afternoon I was busy dusting and putting decor items back when I noticed Aiden's diaper needed to be changed. I got his diaper off but like every 7 month old, the changing table is a battle trying to keep Aiden from flipping over and off. Sometimes I let him flip over towards the window and look out, which is exactly what I let him do while I wrapped his diaper & tossed it in the pail. Five seconds, right? I flipped him back over to find a big wet spot on the terry cloth cover and an even larger pool of pee on the wood dresser top! He must have leaked a full cup! I quickly dressed Aiden then placed him on the floor in the kitchen with a Gerber wagon wheel fruit puff to eat while I went back to get the pee-soaked cloth cover & his laundry to wash. I got everything in the washer pretty quick and looked over to see that he had army-crawled over by "Brian's Chair", which is up against the half wall in our kitchen, and was painting the wall with the soggy, wet gerber puff! What a handful!

No pictures of all of this but I did have to call Brian and laugh! I'm afraid we're going to have to touch-up paint Aiden's first masterpiece...

Thursday, November 8, 2007

It is finished...

The crew finished grouting last night around 7 and it looks great! Here are some quick pictures:


Now there is just cleaning to do. Boy did the house get dusty and boy did I underestimate the time it would take to clean. Last night I started in the entry way, expecting to have everything wiped down in about 25 minutes. A little over an hour later I had barely worked my way into the front hall by the mirror. Every inch of the door moulding, door facing, base boards and light switch plates have to be wiped free of dust. It's so time consuming to get it as clean as I want! I rubbed my finger tips raw just doing that one small area. It's going to be a fun day, let me tell you...

To make matters worse Aiden has either been spoiled by attention from us over the last few days or he is uncharacteristically clingy today. Either way, he hasn't really quit fussing all morning since Brian left. I mopped him a clean place in the living room and laid down three thick floor blankets on top of each other to make a soft play area. I set him down with lots of toys and his learning puppy (which sings to him) and thought he would be content to play while I cleaned. NOPE! He wailed. He has to be right by me. Of all the days, I don't need this today!

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Now he sees!

For just a moment today, after Aiden had been awoken from sleep too soon for the second time by the sound of the tile saw, Brian realized that maybe taking care of the baby all day really is an all-day thing. I will admit that circumstances were unusual and by this afternoon Aiden just needed his crib and some quiet but it wasn't coming. He wouldn't let us put him down so Brian and I spent the whole day passing him off to each other and rotating walks & errands out with him. I usually have one bad day like this every 7-10 days, because that's generally how often he is teething, completely refuses to nap or is sick!

My days aren't always quite this crazy but at least Brian has gotten to see why I am so scheduled about naps and why some days nothing visible gets done around the house. I wasn't kidding the other day when I simply told Brian, who asked what I had accomplished during the day, that I "prevented nuclear war". That little blondie of mine has a way of melting down and exploding faster than anything we dropped on Japan! I love him so much, Brian too, but I genuinely spend most of my days trying to keep him from screaming, trying to get some baby food in him and praying for a little free time in between when I can recharge my self and maybe do enough around the house to keep me out of trouble! There is always room for improvement, though, and I would like to be better about a few things.

Any ways, I did get another page scrapped this afternoon while there was no cleaning to do!



The tile is coming along quickly. They are almost done laying. The entry and part of the hallway need to be finished and it's ready to grout. We have been able to walk in the kitchen and living room tonight and see how the tile looks under our feet and around the house. I'm totally in love with it! Really, I don't think I could be happier. It looks so much like stone! The pattern is awesome, too. I haven't ever seen a staggered joint lay with 1/8 grout lines. It's very unique and adds a lot of personality to the house, which has begun to feel more formal as the floor has been laid. I'm so anxious to get the furniture back in and start living on it!

And Kelsey, thanks for the impromtu dinner party tonight! It really is fun to come over and hang out with friends. We owe you - Brian is going to make that famous chilli of his and we'll have everyone over! Did I mention we are baby-proofing when we move furniture back in? Hopefully the place will finally be ready for a ton of babies and we can relax and enjoy a nice meal!

SO BORED!

For once there is nothing to clean and of course, I feel like cleaning. Even better, I COULD actually scrap all day long and really, I don't know if I feel like it. I'm sure I'll kick myself later for passing up the opportunity!

The dust settled last night, leaving a fine layer over everything from the front door to our master bedroom. I think I may need more than one pack of the orange scented dusting cloths... If you've never used them, they're awesome! Not only do they smell good, but citrus scents lift your spirits and actually make you want to clean. Especially lemon and grapefruit scents. Orange makes you feel the happiest, though. (Want to have a productive weekend? Burn citrus scented oils or candles.) Just a little psychology tip there for ya! Now Brian is going to want to know why I don't have citrus oils going all the time...

I finally finished the title page to Aiden's scrap book. The original has his birth date & weight but I didn't think the whole world needed all that info!



The crew is back and tile is progressing quickly, row by row. They usually work from 9 am to 6:30 or 7 at night and the guys are saying everything should be laid today. I'll be thrilled if they can finish laying today and grout tomorrow. I also love how careful they are being. Every row is measured, chalk-lined and checked before they lay. Each tile has several spacers and then when they do the next row, they re-measure, snap a new chalk-line and double check all over again. I'm very impressed. Humble Carpet will get our business again! I'm really wanting to do wood floors in our office. Kels, let's see if we can get a discount and do ours together!

Monday, November 5, 2007

If you wanna see...


This is what the tile looks like! I know folks that aren't in Houston want to see it, grouted or not. We LOVE it! This tile is a bit dirty - the whole house is a construction zone - but this is what I mean about it looking like stone. It's meant to look like the Noce shade of Travertine and some of the deeper colored limestones but it's twice as hard and stain-resistant. We even did the smaller 1/8 inch grout lines to enhance the stone look. I can't tell you how pleased I am! I'm always so worried about big color choices like this but really, it's looking much more beautiful than I had imagined!

It's looking like everything will be finished by Thursday and we can start moving things back in. (At this moment Brian is playing video games in the garage, he's got the TV hooked up right where it is amongst all the kitchen & living room furniture!) We'll see how it goes tomorrow when we actually get "tiled out" of the hall and the rest of the rooms....

Update

The crew was here around 9:30 am and began demo, which only took a few hours. By noon this is what the house looked like:




Can you tell I have been cramped up in one of two rooms all day with very little to do? The title is symbolic of all the CRAP we found under the carpet and baseboards! Lots of nails and a few other odds & ends. There were even some M&M's under the washer & dryer.....I did take advantage of the opportunity to sweep and vacuum up all the debris. I feel much better having it gone! Any ways, that's what our house looks like with no floors. Brian, Aiden and I had a pic nic on the slab in the kitchen and ate Sonic burgers while the crew went back to pick up the tile and to have some lunch of their own. As of right now tile is going in the living room and kitchen. I can't wait!!!

Just waiting...

As soon as Brian walked out the door at 6:30 this morning Aiden woke up. So I got up, fed him and finished all the little details for the floor demo today. It's barely after 8 am, Aiden is down for a nap and I embellished a picture that I snapped of the empty house to pass the time. I guess we're finally baby proofed!!



Now we just sit back, wait and hope things go quickly and as planned!

P.S. As of yesterday, Brian and I have been together for 8 years! (Although married for only 6.) Gosh how time flies!

Sunday, November 4, 2007

2 in a row

Aiden surprised us by popping that second bottom front tooth today in church. He sure was a handful and LOUD! I didn't hear hardly any of Brian's lesson. Two teeth in 24 hours? No wonder he's been an animal lately! I'm really hoping this new fussy, clingy behavior of his was all teeth cause I want my sweet, laughing Aiden back.
I haven't even touched photoshop today. We got home from church, made dinner and promptly moved everything out of all the main areas of the house. I can't wait for tile but the prep work is ridiculous! So strange to have to move out of your house just for floors. Any way, I'm armed and ready with swiffer dusters and orange scented cloths for some serious fall cleaning after all this is done. It's sure to kick up a ton of dust but I think in the end tile will be much better than the builder-grade carpet. (Did I mention we picked a gorgeous stone-look porcelain that we're having pattern-laid? This floor could stand up to nuclear war and still look designer! I'll post pics when it's all done.)

I feel like I can't go another day without posting a LO so here are some old ones:


Hmmm....my style has improved. Well, that's why I haven't scrapped everything in order! But I guess I can't help it - his book will get better as I go along. Let's just hope it's not too obvious!