Bathroom Remodel Post #1

We knew when we bought the house last summer that the bathrooms were going to need to be remodeled sooner rather than later. The small bathroom has some cosmetic tile damage and a linoleum floor that is starting to peel up. The "big" bathroom, on the other hand, had water damage under the linoleum that was visible, an unfinished window in the shower, and a drain in the bathtub that leaked. And so... we decided to embark on a bathroom remodel this summer. Having already spent about 50% more than we intended to spend (and aren't quite done yet), I am anxious to have the project done already!

Here are photos of before and of demolition (the most fun part of any project)!

Here is the unfinished window... who does that??

The bathroom from the hallway

Inside the room

Back at the doorway

After demoing out the vanity & toilet

And this is what was under linoleum around the toilet! Yuck!

Here is the shower surround with the tile off

And back at the door with no medicine cabinet or tile

One of the craziest things we've found so far with this project, on the south wall, under the drywall, we found exterior pine siding! Apparently when they decided to add on to the house, they just covered up the outside wall with dry-wall, rather than taking off the siding! Crazy home owners...

Reid cut the wet/rotten part of the floor out...

All the way down to the pine boards that was the start of the subfloor. It is about an inch and a half down and still had some water/mold staining that we scrubbed with bleach and let dry thoroughly.

 

Next time... preparing surfaces for tile (which means putting up cement board) & re-wiring to move the light up and the switch out!

Belated Mother's Day

I know that Mother's Day was several weeks ago... but hey, that is part of being a mother of two (being perpetually late that is!). My first Mother's Day as a mom of two was great. I got to sleep in with Curtis and when we woke up Reid and Wesley had roses and a picture album (Wesley's idea) for me. Then we had breakfast and got ready to go to the Sand Dunes. The water in Medano Creek was really low and there wasn't a lot of shade but it was otherwise a perfect weather kind-of day.  Wesley got to play in the water. Curtis got to hang out in the shade of the umbrella. We had a picnic on the sand... and the dogs got to go with us (a rare occurrence these days, poor dogs). Here are a few pictures from the day.

Winston was not so sure he wanted to be "demoted" to the back part of the red car... but with two kids in the back seat, there isn't too much of a choice. Hence, part of the reason I may be looking for crates for the back when we drive all the way back to Indiana in a month.

Mommy and little one.

The hat is big brother's!

Daddy with little one under the shade of the umbrella

Wes playing in the water with our "camp-site" in back

Mom and three of her boys at the edge of the water

Wesley believed in "full immersion play!"

Our family shot... the dogs weren't looking & Wesley is looking frozen (the water was warm but the wind combined with cold clothes was not). Still, this is one of the only full family photos we've had yet and thus I love it!

And this is the view of the Sand Dunes as we drove away. Pretty fantastic view!

Curtis is 4 months!

Hooray! We have made it to 4 months and Curtis is doing great. At his doctor's appointment (that, admittedly, was two weeks ago) he weighed in at 14lbs 1oz and was 25 1/2" long. All in all a perfectly healthy & happy baby!

He is doing a great job of pre-sitting (though he frequently still flops over forward... just need a little bit stronger tummy muscles and he'll be a sitter!).

Straight on shot.

Smiling shot... He has become a huge flirt, smiling and then looking away. He is SUPER smiley in the mornings, just like his brother was.

Ooops! Upside down baby.

And a profile shot for the grandparents who like to figure out who he looks like.

Just a silly picture of Tater (nothing to do with Curtis)... he decided to fall asleep with his head in Sesame Street!

Getting a kiss from big brother! So sweet... In the last week or two Wesley has started showing some interest in his little brother. He is now asking to bring Curtis toys and he likes to lay down with him and do back and tummy time.

Wesley got himself dressed! Sort of... I dressed Curtis :) But I love how Curtis is leaning on Wes/holding onto his arm.

Look at that cute baby in the mirror!

Doing tummy time... with big brother standing behind, no doubt saying "Take a picture of me!"

Curtis is... 2 and a half months!

Goodness! This blogging while being a stay-at-home mommy to two is tricky! I really want to get better at it because so many things are happening and I know I won't remember them... and I want to! Though I'm exhausted and finding moments of extreme boredom/frustration in this calling, I am also so thankful to get to spend day after day with Wesley and Curtis.

So, some important check-ins with Curtis. He didn't get his two month well-baby until a week and a half after his 2 month official birthday because he caught a respiratory virus that gave him a terrible cough and wheeze. He was put on home breathing treatments for a week and then re-checked. Thus, at about 2 months, 2 weeks, he weighed in at 10lbs 14oz & 23 1/4" long (that's an increase of 4 and a half pounds and almost 4 inches in 2 months!). Milk... does a baby body good!

Curtis is spending increasing times awake. And when he is awake he wants to be up and looking around! He has actually spent a few short periods of time in his bouncy seat in the last week, something up to this point which had been causing him to scream and cry instantly. Same thing with the swing. Of course, just like his big brother his favorite place to sleep is in mommy's arms... so he spends a lot of time in the baby wrap, which gives mommy her hands free to still help big brother with his art projects, toys, and going places! The wrap is, literally, a God-send (if my sister Sarah is God!). Thanks Sarah!

His head control is pretty astonishing for a two month old. His 2 month professional picture is of him turtling, something his brother didn't even try to do until his 3rd month picture. I'm guessing he'll be completely holding his head up in the next month.

Some of my favorite things:
Incredibly chubby hands attached to incredibly chubby arms, with tiny little wrists
The fish mouth he makes when he's stretching backwards
The way he cuddles up next to me while we're sleeping in what Wesley has started to call our "family bed" (yep, we're "those" people now)
How he can already wiggle his eyebrows
The full face grins that are rare but adorable & the half-smile which are much more common
His adoration of big brother- if Wesley is in the room & Curtis is awake, chances are good Curtis is staring at him!

And here are a few pictures from the last month:

I'm in my swing??

On his 2 month birthday... actually sleeping in his swing

And getting a breathing treatment... poor baby

Not Curtis... but my two headed monster!

Daddy rocking the baby wrap

Are you taking my picture?

Working on his "cool" senior picture pose

My big pre-sitter (taken this morning... he was happy til the shiny box came out! Then tears)

Curtis is 1 month!

I can't believe it but Curtis is now officially one month old. It is so exciting having a second child because I get to experience all of the "first" a second time and am generally a lot more relaxed while doing it!

At one month Curtis is a bit more fussy than I remember his older brother being at this stage. We started him two weeks ago on baby Zantac for acid reflux because he's thrown up several times and frequently gags/looks like he is having acid burn the back of his throat. I'm not yet sure how much the medicine is helping but it isn't hurting... so we'll probably stay on it for at least awhile longer.

Curtis is a champion nurser. He was on a very regular hour and a half nursing schedule at night with a few longer sleep sessions during the day. However, not to curse myself, but it seems that he has started to have at least two longer sleeping sessions during the night (between two and two and a half hours) which have definitely helped me in terms of lack of sleep. He is definitely growing/gaining weight. We have a doctor's appointment on Thursday and I am looking forward to seeing how much he weighs at just a little over a month post-birth.

Curtis has just started to focus on faces and I'm expecting smiles to be right around the corner. Most of the time he is content to hang out in someone's arms. He is not a fan of being put down and will only sleep for short periods of time in his bassinet or swing (very similar to his brother!). Every once in awhile he gets fussy being held and then a short amount of time laying on a blanket stretching out helps to make everything better!

Here are a few photos from the last month:

I don't know how to rotate this photo :)  But here is one of the first open eye shots from the month.

Tiny fingers!

Curtis is going to be a finger chewer!

"What did you say?" Splayed fingers

This is the first time Wesley asked to hold his baby brother (please ignore Mommy's hair!)

"Oh, it's all just too much!" He loves to have his hands on his head.

Looking much more alert!

My three boys having some quality time together

"Enough with the paparazzi already lady!"

 

Wesley's 1st REAL Haircut

It was time... I had chopped at Wesley's hair to get it out of his eyes and off his ears by myself as much as I possibly could. And seeing as how we were gearing up for his three year-old picture (along with Curtis' 1 month... next post, I promise Curtis!), I wanted him to have a cleaned up look. So... off we went to Walmart's Hair Cut Center. Honestly, it's not the best haircut in the world and he'll need another one soon because I just had her take off the tips/clean up the edges. But that was plenty for this Mommy!

 

Wesley LOVED all of the mirrors in the place!

Getting ready for the first snip

"Hey, that tickles!"

A little bit off the top

Dapper little boy