Kitchen Renovation

The kitchen.  Before I even moved in, we had discussed that the first project would be the kitchen.  Then I got pregnant and things changed.  The baby blue walls, the rooster border the lack of cupboards and counter space.  You can see the crummy white shelf that I put where the washer once was to cover holes in the floor.  After spending a lot of money on the bathrooms, we decided not to redo the whole kitchen as we know this isn't our forever home.  But as time goes on, we haven't found the right home for us and we've agree we won't rush out of our house into something just because.  With a third kid, the issues of function in this house were becoming even more stressful.  A big one for me was that I couldn't imagine taking care of three little kids with the teeny tiny counter space on each side of the sink.  So Todd heard me and decided to have Kevin add some things.   I was ecstatic!

  Below is a close-up of my "storage" solution.

I didn't take a "before" of the old counter before it was out...but here it is lying in our driveway.  I still can't believe that was ALL my counter space for five years!

And a close-up of the nasty floor, with some of the holes duct taped.

(It's kind of embarrassing I put this photo in).

Below is another shot, including the fridge.

Bye-Bye rooster border!  How I loathed you!

So.....




AFTER!!!  So exciting!  I can't believe how well the new cupboards match the old.  Look at ALL that counter space!

New paint job...a very light grey, maybe I should've gone darker, but I like it.  The room feels so much bigger and the trim so much cleaner.  And a new light fixture that Adam says looks like an acorn.

This is the wall between the two doors, where the big old Ames cabinet held the microwave and toaster oven. That's in the mud room now, holding kid games, crafts, etc. You can kind of see the paint color in this cell phone picture. That was the spice cabinet in between the stove and window. It's not staying there.  Same floor, but the holes are covered!

We added a shelf for the microwave over the stove and a hood fan. This is VERY exciting as not having one meant cooking with a big old room fan and window open and STILL the ceiling was always dirty!  

And while we were at it, we has him replace the rotted and bitten molding (by Bailey under the tub). It was awful Do NOT put wood near a tub....but you probably already knew that. This vinyl!

Using the kitchen is SO much easier and better.  I have to remind myself that I don't need to use one little piece and turn around and use the other side.  I haven't finished putting little details together, but it's heaven to have enough cupboard space where stuff isn't falling on me.

We also replaced the sink drains, which were "white".  I had picked them out five years ago when Todd fixed the sink.  They were GROSS.  They were NOT white anymore, no matter what I did.

BEST Valentine's Day gift ever!  It has made me a happier momma and I envision one less stress when number 3 arrives.
 

One Crazy January Saturday

 Back in January, Adam got invited to a birthday party in Auburn and I had my niece Jillian's baby shower in Waterloo.  I drove Adam to the party and Todd met me there with Abbey and Holly so we could do both.  Adam was kind of shy at Amelia's party, sticking to me like glue and wanting to go hide with the dog in the living room.  He settled in at the dining room table and made sticker projects.  He finally got brave enough to run into the living room and pick out a book with a monkey in it, as you can see, that he really liked.  This was a pajama party and brunch was served.  The food was pretty good.

Here's the birthday girl....I worked with Megan at Residence Life.  When it was time to sing her Happy Birthday, she got really upset and burst into tears.  Toddlers crack me up.

 Strawberry Shortcake party!

 We go to the shower just a half hour late, but things were just getting started.  The cake was a big belly...

 and here's Danny and Jill, proud first time parents-to-be.  It was the longest shower I'd ever been to and I was really sick, but the food was decent.  I had never seen so many presents in one place...I'm NOT exaggerating.  It took a couple of hours!  Danny and Jill are into horses and work as the coach for SUNY Oswego, so there were a lot of horse people there and they got a lot of horse theme gifts.  It took them over two hours to open everything!  I hope that baby Hadley (i love that name) and our baby have a chance to grow up together as they will be the same age...!

Letting Go

Been trying to organize and clean.  A big thing is the kids' stuff, as I'm pretty good at not hanging onto other clutter.  I've been able to start to let go more.  Actually, I'm getting a lot better.  Getting ready for number three has been a great motivator.  I sent a lot of Adam's outgrown 4t clothes to my sister Sarah for Jamison.  I also have cleaned out some of Adam's toys and put them upstairs.  Then there were the bath books.  Rainbow Fish was a shower gift from Jackie.  It was moldy inside, I think, after over four years of bath time.  I read it to him almost every day for a long time.  Then to Abbey.  I stopped putting it in the tub a while ago because I had suspicion it was moldy.  Then a couple of weeks ago, I was like, Really Chrissa?  A moldly bath book?
And I took a picture and tossed it.  

 This was the other one, Abbey's favorite.

 They both loved that chicken was upside down :)

Once I tossed these, it was easier to start pulling out stuff he doesn't use anymore.  They are going to have a lot of interests and a lot of stuff will come and go.  The stuff does not represent the memories or them.  I am sentimental, to be sure, so I have to always remind myself!

Fall Moments

We spent a lot of time at parks last fall.  One of my favorites is Oak Hill.  Abbey loves swing and slides and they love to run around the open space.

Here's Adam talking to the Lorax I think :)

We took a trip to Great Northern Mall and the kids had fun in the little ride area.  Abbey did not want to leave.  The picture of Adam in the tractor cracks me up.

And we discovered that there's an indoor play place in the center of the food court.  Kids loved it!  Had to help Adam work on his personal space.  We went back a couple weeks ago and he had grown so much.  He doesn't need help socializing on the playground anymore.

And here's a shot from our Christmas shopping ....light sabers, of course...!

Valentine's Day 2013

Can you believe this was our SIXTH Valentine's Day together?  Sometimes we marvel at how it seems like we just met and how it feels like we've been together for so long at the same time somehow.

(Of course, three kids in five years, a wedding, the loss of our fathers as well as several others, a Master's Degree, and expansion at Butler Disposal has kept us pretty busy...)

I told Todd the work in the kitchen was a great Valentine and I didn't need anything else.  But the kids and I had some work to do that day.  Here's Abbey hard at work on decorating her Madagascar card for Daddy.  She was so focused and slightly annoyed when I tried to take her photo.

What I love is how their personalities show. Abbey grabbed the heart stickers and went nuts. Adam took the matching character stickers and placed one on the appropriate matching animal. Both were proud of their work for Daddy.

 Adam and I made Valentine's for his class party, which was the following day.  I was impressed with how much thought he put into who got what design.  I honestly didn't know that he had paid that much attention to all his classmates.  We worked together to write their names and his name, too on each.

Adam (and I) made Daddy cupcakes.  He picked everything out, pulled them out of the pan and frosted and sprinkled.  He was pretty excited to give them to his Dad (and eat them!). 

 Daddy got home early and the boys dug in!

 Abbey got up and went right into her chair (she does that when she's hungry) and got some Valentine's  love from her Daddy.

 Melts my heart :)

 Yeah, Abbey liked the cupcakes, too.  Had to cut them all off!  I made stuffed shells for dinner and Abbey ate more than us :)

 Todd gave me one of the best cards I ever got....it was like it was written for us :)

Valentine's Day is a romantic day, but here, it's become a family day, too.  To teach the kids to feel love and show it.  I think we're on the right track.

Christmas 2012

I stayed up late on Christmas Eve wrapping, really sick.  But it was worth it.  The kids got really excited Christmas morning.  Todd commented that he knew I wasn't feeling well because I didn't take many photos right.  Bobby arrived at...6am.  Yup.  Said he didn't want to miss out!  He came in and sat at the table playing with my new IPad while I took a shower and got muffins going.  Kids got going after 7am.  The walked right out and got excited.  Adam knew Santa had been here!  That was awesome to hear him talk about.  It really was.  They got Daddy and the present opening began.  Adam was simply delighted when Daddy pulled the Light Sabers out of the Christmas tree for him and Abbey.

Adam is happy a lot, but he's not a big emotion kid.  To see him get so excited about something is always priceless.

See in the background Abbey making Uncle Bobby put her stuff together :)  She really has him wrapped around her finger.  She was pretty sick that day, too, but thankfully she still really enjoyed it.

Adam got everyone into the light saber action.

Abbey loved this dolls.  She picked them out actually in the store because I wasn't sure what to get her. Santa brought her three...the mermaid is still her favorite.

Poor kid looks so pale here.  Kisses with her Daddy.

The morning was a little bit of a blur because I was so sick.  Adam actually did not finish opening his gifts until the evening because he got so caught up in his favorites...including the pirate ship.  Uncle Bobby headed out before lunch time to go cook and spend time with Lynette.  There's Adam hugging the big monkey and puppy he got the kids for Christmas.

Sweet.

Abbey really loved opening gifts finally.  She got it.  And she figured out all the pink ones were hers and couldn't be stopped :)  But as the day went on, it was clear she didn't feel well.

She fell asleep after a temper tantrum and we had to wake her up to go to Uncle Chuckie's house.  She seemed OK until we tried to take her inside.  She started and wouldn't stop.  The house was crowded and she was overwhelmed and angry.  Finally, Todd took her for a ride and she seemed better.  He brought her back in where she grabbed me and tried to pull me outside.  Obviously she had only returned to get her Mom!  So I went and sat in the car with her for an hour, going back inside to get her juice when she asked.

Adam had a great time. It was nice to see him comfortable with his uncles.  He couldn't get enough of their ice machine and Daddy's whoopie pies.  I missed the family singing Todd Happy Birthday, but that's life with toddlers...!  When I look at this picture of her I can see how sick she really was.

Even though I was sick, I really enjoyed how much they enjoyed it.  And how into Santa Adam was.

Saturday Night With The Addams' Family

We had tickets this past Saturday to The Addams' Family in Rochester as a part of our season seats.  It was possibly the worst show I've ever been to.

The acting was fine and so were the sets.  But the writing and the musical score was awful.  I had read a bad review about it's Broadway run the night before, but had hoped they had ironed some of the kinks out before it toured.  They didn't.  The comic timing was off. The plot, centered around Wednesday's desire to marry a real boy, wasn't deep but had some entertainment potental that they blew.  But the songs were the worst.  Even the chereography. Near the end, I started closing my eyes and dozing when they sang, knowing I missed nothing!

It's OK.  The point of trying new things and experiencing culture is that it's different.  You're not going to like everything!  And the company was good.

We had left early, planning to try to go to dinner.  There wasn't much in the downtown area near the theatre, so we went looking for a strip with the chains.  All were packed.  So we kept driving.  We decided if we had to stop at a Subway or something, that was fine, as neither one of us wanted to be late.  Instead, we found a local family diner: The Peppermill.  Perfect..something different and local, which is what we wanted.

It was Greek owned and I got the chicken gyro and Todd got Southern Fried Chicken.  For less than twenty bucks, we really liked it.  Back towards downtown to park.  And it turned out Daughtry was playing at the armory across from the Auditorium Theatre.  Though it was almost an hour before curtain, everything was packed.  Todd's good parking karma kicked in and we found a secret lot tucked behind the block that appeared to service a community center.  No attendant, no fee and no sign threatening towing.  We hedged, along with several others, but gambled.  It was worth it!  Cold out and we didn't want to walk for blocks and we got right out when it was over.

One thing...I'm already HUGE preggo.  I'm imagining myself 8 months pregnant in May at Les Mis in those seats.  Argh.

Next show is The Book of Mormon in March.  Even though we saw that last year in NYC, it's the one we are most excited to see.  What can I say...we're hooked!

It was nice to have a date night.  We really enjoy it...we didn't have much date time before we started having kids :)  I told Todd I counted it as my Valentine's Day.  I had almost forgot that was this week...!

Snow Much Fun

 It's been a rough winter.  Hard for Todd at work, between getting trucks started, garbage buried in snow banks, accidents and it being just plain cold and a pain for dragging kids around, especially if they are like mine and want to jump in the snow bank on the way to the car..  But if you're under five, it's a wonderland.  Just ask the A-Team.  Here they are during the first snow, way back at the end of November.  Adam was so excited, he just threw himself onto the ground.  Abbey, of course, wanted to eat it!  I took them for a walk around the block that day and they were smitten.

 So right after Christmas, the snow really started.  Abbey had her little face pushed up against the window, so I had to take them out.  She went right for the snowbank made by Daddy's plow.  I don't have to tell you she loved it.

 They decided to take off down the sidewalk, of course.  Abbey would've kept going if I hadn't stopped her!

 Adam loved climbing the "mountain".  Love this kid's smile.

 Monday was a snow day again, but the sin came out pretty quick and I knew I had to let them get out there.  The snow had all melted last week and overnight, there was another foot.  Right up the "mountain" again!

Adam said "cheese" and Abbey wanted me to take a photo of her "snowball".  Collecting "snowballs" is her new favorite hobby outside.  Just today, on my way in, I let them play for a few minutes.  It's the only way I can keep them clean going into the car, if I let them get all wet and cold on the way back in.  It reminds me of how much fun I had as a kid hollowing out snowbanks to make forts.