10 month House Update

It has been 10 months since we moved into our house in Suwanee.  Since then we have found out that we are expecting a new baby boy that will be here in the next couple of weeks (hopefully).  I guess knowing that a new baby will be brought into this home has given us a little kick in the pants to knock out a few projects we didn't want to have to complete while chasing two little boogers around.  I do not think that you ever finish working on your home so while looking at these pictures I am reminded of the blank walls we still have and am looking forward to the actual decorating to take place in a few of the rooms.  With that said, I am pretty pleased at the progress we have made. 

 

So to start the tour we will begin in the kitchen, which if you have followed past posts may look a little familiar.  We haven't done a whole lot more since we finished the backsplash and lighting upgrades in August. 

 

Kitchen Check List:

-Upgraded lighting by remvoing flourescents and installing canned lighting and two pendant lights.  Also installed under cabinet lighting.

-Painted kitchen walls Benjamin Moore Rockport Gray

-Installed 3/4 inch square marble backplash

-Changed out cabinet hardware to brushed nickel

-Bought a new refrigerator

-cut down bar on island to make one flat piece

-Installed black rough honed granite counter tops

-Painted island Benjamin Moore Rockport Gray

-Changed out chandelier above kitchen table

 

Kitchen Still to Do:

-Add a valance to the sink window

-Window dressings for windows behind table??

-Repaint kitchen cabinets

-???

 

Living Room Checklist:

-Installed new ceiling fan

-New window blinds and curtains

-Painted the square above the mantle white to match the rest

-Installed tv

-Painted walls 75% lighter Benjamin Moore Rockport Gray

-Painted wall behind shelves blue (can't remember the color)

-Opened up wall that leads to office by adding doorway

 

Living Room Still to do:

-Add cabinet doors to the bottom two shelves to hide some of the kids chaos

-Add art to walls on the left

-Decorate the mantle somehow

-Add sofa table behind sofa with some more storage baskets? 

 

Office Check List:

-Painted walls 75% lighter Benjamin  Moore Rockport Gray

-Built two person desk

-Added shelves and bulletin boards above desk

-Developed a corner for Eli by painting a side table

-Added Ikea storage for more toys

-Hung cable with clips to hang artwork by Eli

 

Office Still Need to do:

-Add some more pictures to Eli's corner

-Paint door knobs to balcony to brushed bronze to match the rest of the house

-??? 

Dining Room Check List:

-Spray painted chandelier brushed bronze

-Painted room 75% lighter Rockport Gray

-Built dining room table

-Added floral prints to wall

-Added curtains

 

Dining Room Still Need to do:

-Add coat hanger and bench to wall shared with stairs to make mini foyer area for backpacks/ diaper bags etc.

- Figure out what I want to add to this room?? 

Stair Well Check List:

-Painted railings

-Painted risers to stairs white

-Added runner

-Changed foyer chandelier

 

Stair Well still to do:

-???  I think this actually might be as complete as I want 

Master Bedroom Check List:

-Painted bedroom slate color (not sure name)

-Installed new ceiling fan

-Bought a new KING size bed :-)

-Got a new headboard

-Recovered hope chest for end of bed with new fabric

-Bought new white dresser and new tv

-Put up curtains that I previously made for living room of our old house

 

Master Bedroom Still to Do:

-Add something above headboard (a mirror or letters or something?)

-Add a couple more pieces of artwork or pictures

-Eventually (way down the road) replace carpet with hard wood floors



Master Bathroom Check List:

-REMOVED wall paper and painted (hired this out)

-framed mirrors above sink

-made frames for big mirrors above tub but still need to install

 

Master Bathroom Still to do:

-Change out brass hardware, sinks and shower head

-Paint cabinets a brownish color??

-Down the road replace tile around tub and shower

-Install shelves on left wall above tub

-???  Still a lot to do in this room and not sure what direction we want to take



 

Master Bedroom On Suite Check List:

-Painted walls same color as master bedroom

-Added Ikea closets

 

Master Bedroom On Suite Still Left to Do:

-Add window valance or something

-Finish organizing clothes once maternity clothes are removed

-Maybe add bench or island for the middle of room

-Upgrade overhead light to a pretty chandelier?



You can see the frame for the master bathroom mirror against the window in here

 

Hallway Check List:

-Painted 75% lighter Rockport Gray

-Painted all doorknobs oil rubbed bronze

Hallway Still to Do:

-Upgrade lighting

-Add board and batten to walls?

-Replace carpet with hardwood (way down the road)

-Add pictures to the wall 

Eli's Room Check List:

-Added crown molding

-Painted room light blue and accent wall with chalk board paint

-Got new dresser and toy box

-Had Kenzie Odom draw on chalkboard wall

-Painted spice racks and hung as book shelves

-hung curtains

 

Eli's Room Still to do:

-??? done for now



 

 

Boys Jack and Jill Bathroom Check List:

-REMOVED wall paper and painted (WE DID THIS OURSELVES AND IT SUCKED)

-Got new shower curtain

-Added some towel hangers (not photographed)

 

Boys Jack and Jill Bathroom Still to do:

-Add artwork

-Add shelves to Eli's nook with a laundry basket under it across from sink ??



 

Owen's Room Check List:

-Added crown molding

-Painted room same color as master bathroom

-Setup nursery furniture

-Added nursery artwork

 

Owen's Room Still To Do:

-??? Done for now



Sneak peek of big and lil bro shirts

 The only rooms not photographed were the laundry room and the bonus room.  The bonus room is a hot mess right now because we are using it as a catch all for the stuff we haven't figured out what to do with yet.  It does have a full size bed set up in it so that Chase has a place to sleep when he stays at our house.

 

I can't wait to share pictures from the outside but to take pictures now would not do it justice since it is in the middle of being completed and things haven't really started to turn green yet.  I expect I will be able to get some updates about the outside of the house in the next month or so.  :-)

 

And just to put these updates in perspective, head back over and check out the before tour here and the updates we did back in August here.

My Big Boy

As I get closer and closer to D-day for baby Owen, I find myself getting more and more sentimental about my current "only" baby.  Since I know that once Owen makes his appearance it will be harder to find time to write down things I don't want to forget (I mean, lets be real, I haven't updated this blog in months and I only have one child).  So here is a post about Eli mainly so I can look back at this years from now and become overly emotional about how much my boy has grown.

Loving swinging on the big swings now instead of the baby ones

Eli is a big 2 year old.  I am unsure of his current weight but in December he weighed 34 lbs.  I imagine he is about 35 lbs.  He has really leaned out in the last 6 months and his chubby baby face has nearly disappeared.  His daycare class consists of two boys that are a year older than him, but Eli is still the largest in his class.  ;-)

Wrestling at daycare with Foster and Gavin (both are 3 about to turn 4)

His favorite activity is wrestling or playing "hi-ya" as he calls it which consists of fighting you with a sword or sword-like object.  He truly believes that when JT or Brent (Mark's friend) come to visit they are only there to chase him around the house and wrestle on the ground with him.  There actually is probably more truth to this assumption than we know. 

The downfall to having an open closet, Eli has full access to all of our shoes!

Eli is completely potty trained and has been for a few months.  He still wears a pull up at night and nap time but I am not too worried about that.  If he is awake he will use the potty.  The most challenging part of parenthood so far was potty training Eli.  It was a battle of the wills and there were a few days where I happily dropped him off at daycare for Ms. Di to handle him.  It was the combination of Eli's new sense of independence, his experimentation with testing the limits, my pregnancy hormones and genetically gifted short temper (thanks Dad!) and the potty training rolled together that made the experience challenging.  He did want to be good and potty like a big boy but it completely irritated the heck out of him that we would ask him relentlessly throughout the day if he had to go potty.  Now that I know I can trust him to tell me I hardly ever ask him if he has to go potty because I know undoubtedly his response will be "NO!". 

Daylight savings time has really messed with Eli's sleeping: "Mommy it not wake time, it sleep time, the sun is NOT up!!"

Eli has also transitioned into a big boy bed and moved into his new big boy room across the hall from his nursery.  It was a step I had been dreading since he has always been such a good crib sleeper; never even once attempting to escape.  I had contemplated just leaving him there until I actually needed the crib for Owen (we keep the baby in our room in a pack n play for about the first 4 months) but decided against it since I didn't want to stir up any more jealousy with the baby taking his room or his bed at some point.  After such a challenging potty training experience, I was floored by how well he took to his bed and how well he stays in his bed.  Do not get me wrong, we still experience nights where he is up and running around in his room but these are not very common. 

Helping with the landscaping projects we have going on right now

I have recently got into the habit of crawling into bed with him at night to read him a book and lay with him until he falls asleep.  I started it one night when I was completely exhausted and the idea of just laying in bed with him for a bit sounded way better than having to fight him in going to bed and having to actually get ready for bed myself.  I know that this is not the best habit to form right before a new baby is about to rock our whole bedtime routine so I do not do it EVERY night but have done it several times in the past 2 weeks.  It is actually the highlight of my day.  I have found that with no distractions around and his mind coming to a rest he will spill everything that is going through that little mind of his.  I hear about things that happened during his day and things he learned at school.  For example, the other night he looked into my eyes and told me my eyes were blue and I said "That's right!  What color are your eyes?"  And he pointed his fingers at the corner of his eyes and squeezed them shut as he said "My eyes are brown!".  Knowing that I had not had this conversation with Eli previously I knew they had talked about eye color at class that day.  He also surprises me by putting his fingers in the shape of a triangle and telling me that it is a "triangle" or doing the same thing with a circle.  It amazes me how quickly he is retaining information recently.

Snuggling and goofing off in Mommy's bed

My absolute FAVORITE times with Eli are when he suddenly becomes sweet and loving for no reason or without prompt.  He is a very sweet boy but would rather spend the day wrestling you then giving you hugs and kisses.  If I am sitting on the floor on occassion he will tell me he is going to make me a princess and starts to play with my hair.  He has even been known to run up the stairs to bring down a hair brush to brush my hair.  He then stands in front of me and swirls my hair in his hands to get it exactly where he wants it and when he is finished he stands back and says "Done!  All pretty!"  I absolutely melt.  Another reason I love laying in bed with him is that he will often roll over and wrap his arms around my neck and eskimo kiss me (where he rubs his face and nose on mine without actually kissing).  I have the hardest time not kissing his face while he does this but if I do he says "NO Mommy!  No kissing!"  and he starts over.  Last night I didn't get in bed with him and had actually scolded him earlier for hitting me with one of his toys on accident.  He was tired and had cried when I took away the toy that he had hit me with but as I was kissing him good night he grabbed around my neck and said "I sorry mommy for hurting you.  I love you."  I had completely forgot about the incident prior to him uttering those sweet words to me and it broke my heart that he was still thinking about my reaction when he hit me. 

Playing his guitar with Papaw

I planned for this post to be a simple recap of things I want to remember and as I have started to type more and more things come flowing out.  I will finish with these last few things as I am pretty sure I could go on for days about each of the little things he says to me.  Eli is still playing with his train board he got for Christmas and really likes Thomas the train.  Occassionally when we are quiet we can hear the train toot its horn as it is going across Buford highway.  When he hears this he responds the same way every time gasped by surprise as he whispers: "You hear that?!??  Thomas!!".  I love it that he thinks Thomas is always coming by and toots his horn to say hello. 

Lastly Eli has started taking a gymnastics class for 30 minutes once a week.  He absolutley loves it even though he is often the only boy.  My only wish was that it was an hour instead of 30 minutes because dragging him out of there at the end has been quite a chore.  I believe he would live in the foam pit if we allowed him to.  :-)

Watching Uncle Chase play baseball

So that is Eli right now, I am soaking in my one on one time with him and praying that this transition to big brother goes smoothly.