Home improvement H E L L !

Someone remind me next time I take on a huge home improvement project that I've never done before... It's not a good idea! Especially when you have 3 kids, one only 4 months old and a home daycare!

Concrete countertops = FAIL!

I hated them. I didn't like the feel, the way they turned out, really nothing about them. So, I demoed our counters for the second time to do granite tiles. Ugh.


They'll work and I'm actually happy with how they turned out for the most part. The spots that have any mistakes are simply cause well, we've never done tile before and yeah, it's a bit challenging, especially when my dad put a warped piece of plywood on first and we had to try and get the tile to be level on it. Ugh. But 90sq. Ft. Of granite tile later, we're close to done, had to order one more box (making the total 95 sq. ft.). But it's just edge pieces so my kitchen will still function fine without them the spots will just drive me nuts! Lol! Still have to put up the back splash and paint and grout.

I've had no kitchen sink since Saturday (it's now Wednesday), that part sucks! I thought no countertops was bad. Man, I just can not wait to be DONE!!!

I'll leave you with a picture from early yesterday before all the tile was laid.

Concrete countertops... NOT a good idea!

So, after 15 hours of pouring concrete by myself, I came to the conclusion that concrete countertops are NOT a good idea.  Why?  They just aren't. 

Don't waste your time and money.  If you want a nice countertop on a budget, just do Granite tiles or some type of tiles.  It's not that expensive.  In the end we probably spent about $300 on the concrete, but we got granite tiles, with $50 shipping for just under $400. 

Pictures to come, stay tuned!

Right now my projects that are all in the works....

-Countertops
-Backsplash
-repaint (we did just paint a year ago, but I'm over brown & tans... we're jumping on the Grey train!)
-Closet Redo (ALL of them, but we're starting with the hall)
-Office Revamp into pantry/playroom
-Master Flooring
-Master Bath Renovation
-Guest Bath Redo (paint, floor, vanity, mirror, lighting)

Sound busy enough?

That just happened!

Yes, this mess isn't kitchen right now!

Just FYI, pink tile is NEVER a good idea!

My parents built this house,now we live in it. I've hated this tile for 27 looooooooooong years! So glad to be getting rid of it!

Back to School - Back to a routine!

I'm so excited for school to start this Wednesday!  So are the boys, even though we see many of their closest friends at play dates, they miss their other friends also.  Can't wait to find our who their teachers are tomorrow.

This year they're going back to school with a brand new brother at home.  This means more morning chaos for Momma.  So, to try and help our days run a little smoother I made them a checklist for their routine's at home during the week.  I made 3 sections, Wake up, After School & Night Time.  I made one for each kid & put them each in their own frame so that they can each check off their own activities as they go through the morning.  Many of these things I used to do myself for them but at 6 & 7 years old, I think it's time they start doing more on their own and learning to be responsible for their own things (like packing snack for the day).

This is what I came up with....

Not sure if I'm going to keep these in this spot, and I'd like to get different frames for them but they work for now!  Putting them in the frames makes us able to use dry-erase markers to check each item off and wipe them clean to start each day.

Back to school, here we come!

Today....

Is day 2 on "Eat to Live"
Is my 2nd wedding anniversary
My baby boy is 2 months & 2 days old

Can't wait to update on all the amazing stuff that's been going on!

Not just a baby shower... a Mustache Bash!

Our baby shower was Sunday (May 20th, 2012).  I was very excited to see everyone, but very excited for it to be over.  The week before I had hit exhaustion and getting the house ready was a lot of work, on lack of sleep.  The party turned out amazing and I don't think it could have been any better!

 Candy & Dessert Bar! 

 Candy & Dessert Bar!  I used my Silhouette to cut out all the flags in the cupcake and puddings that had mustaches & Jaxson's name on them.  Turned out super cute!

You can see everyone in the kitchen getting food.  Doug & Burt made amazing food in a hole in our yard!  :D  Pit BB-Q and used the Pork & Beef for tacos with rice, beans, salsa... so much yummyness!

Everyone getting their food and sitting down to eat!

 The banner above says "Mustache Bash" Hard to see with the lights.

"Jaxson" banner and the two games we played.  Diaper raffle & guess his stats that will be won once he finally makes his grand appearance.

We got a Jumpy with a slide for the kids!

Games again!

 Everyone outside before going in to get food. 

Matt & Doug

Everyone outside, and we also got a Game Trailer for the kids you can see in the back.

More of the dessert & candy bar!

 Mike & Marie

Doug and My husband the Daddy to be!

The White fam!

My sister in law, the Auntie to be, and Chris in the back getting food

More food!

My mom, Grandma to be!

Mustache Bash!!!  Can't tell you how AMAZING the silhouette was when making the banners.  We didn't have one hideous store bought banner there!  All of them I made so they all matched (color wise) and it was nice to have his name on some of them!

Mustache & Tie Banner

 Mustache & Tie Banner!

This one is still hanging on our mantle cause I just love it!

More foodies!

 Jaxson Parker LaCoste! :D  I have a new obsession with Chevrons!

My favorite!

The entryway with the games

Entryway with the games

 A much better close up of the banner. 

I <3 Mustaches!

 My sister in law (Auntie to be) and me!

 My sister in law (Auntie to be) and me!

 More food!

Mike! :D

 The Candy side of the Candy & Dessert bar!

My sister in law.  Candy bar model maybe in her future???  Oh oh oh!  You can also see in the background the candy boxes I made for the candy bar!  I cut all those on the Silhouette and glued a cute little label on them!  love it!

Over all it was so amazing!  Lots of gifts to spoil little Jaxson.  TONS of diapers, like so many I can't find room for all of them!  lol  Lots of people showed up.  I think the estimate was about 40 adults and like 12 children and only a few people didn't show.  So glad we got to share the day with everyone.

Addicted to Vinyl

As you can see, I got the Silhouette and I'm addicted.  I Vinyl like everything I own.  Today after I packed Jaxson's New diaper bad, I had to stick some vinyl some where.  So, first I put his name on the buckles on the straps, Jaxson and LaCoste one on each side.  I also added his name to the back of his wipes case... Must say I LOVE LOVE LOVE this wipe case, it's Skip*hop and the opening on the top slides.  This is amazing cause some of the ones I use for the daycare kids that come in their diaper bags drive me nuts cause sometimes they just will not snap shut!  And the bottom left is the holder for the dirty diaper trash bags.  :D  I made extras to put on his bottles and other random stuff too but I haven't gotten that far.   Might even stick some on the car seat and stroller.

I Neeeeeeeeed Motivation!

I have so much to get done in the 18 days before the baby shower!  AHHHHHHHHHH!  I have to get on it!  I didn't have any coffee today, but I went to bed at 8:30pm last night!  lol  Let's see what I can do!

So, after weeks and weeks of my husband saying he absolutely did NOT want a 4D ultrasound, he asked if I wanted to do one on Tuesday!  Of course I excitedly said YES!!!!!!!!!  He previously didn't want to "ruin" the "surprise" of what the baby looks like.  But he gave in and the look on his face was priceless as he was looking at his first son actually created by him...  I wish I could have taken HIS picture while we were there.  lol  I love him! 

But, onto the fun, here's some of my favorites out of the 30 or so pictures we got. 

 

Here's a face shot, his hands are to the side and his feetie's are to the right, he frequently had his hands and feet up in his face.

 

His little feeties crossed

 A foot in his face

 yawning!  This one shows a little better just how chubby those little cheeks are!  I LOVE it!

 His hand on his face and smiling!  :D

 

Another face shot!

I absolutely can not wait for him to be here!  Before I was really enjoying just being pregnant and not really in a "rush" to get him here.  Now that it's so close and he's so big, making me SO uncomfortable, I'm ready for him to be here.

I'm 33 weeks today.  At this ultrasound I was 32.5 weeks and the tech estimated him at 5lbs 9oz, she said usually it's 8oz off so more like 5lbs.  That goes right along with the estimate from our doctor at our last two appointments as he and my belly were measuring 5 weeks AHEAD.  Even though some how I'm 1lb LESS than what I was before I got pregnant.  And yes I eat, quite a bit!  lol  I just crave salads a LOT, and fruit.  We used to eat fast food quite a bit and I don't crave that at all.  I'll crave a good burger here and there, but from a restaurant not a drive thru.  And I crave a good steak pretty much daily!  lol

Ultrasound tech said he's pretty much out of room and very squished, she doesn't think he'll go all the way to when I'm Due because of that fact.  With my Nolyn it was kinda the same.  He ran out of room at 39 weeks, my water broke and he came out 9lbs 6oz.  This baby's much bigger earlier, and the hubby and I as well as the doctor are hoping for him to come at 37-38 weeks.  Due to the fact that this baby is so much bigger, the doctor thinks I may have a problem delivering a child that would be 10-11lbs at due date.  Not that I couldn't do it, but the baby can get hurt on the way out, and I could suffer quite a bit of damage.  With Nolyn there was quite a bit of damage and I lost quite a bit of blood, so damage worse than that I'd like to avoid if at all possible.

So, that said, we will be doing everything possible to get that baby to come the day I hit 37 weeks.  at 37-38 weeks we're looking at closer to a 8-9lb baby, and The doctor and I are both confident that I can deliver that vaginally without problems.  But, 39-42 weeks would probably be a c-section.  The doctor's leaving it up to me at this point if we get to 39 weeks.  

On the up side we're both completely healthy, which is good because we're healthy, bad because I absolutely can not be induced before 39 weeks without a health reason.  lol  

At least we'll stay busy the next few weeks.  I'm working on the playroom and getting the house ready for the baby shower, baby shower's in 3 weeks and we'll be trying to get Mr. Chubby Cheeks out in 4 weeks.  Almost done! :D