Recent Projects and a Little Spring Cleaning

We have always got a project (or 5) going on here!

Ellie Jo running after her daddy on a recent
shopping excursion to the Home Depot

Especially since we had our neighbors' 80ft cedar tree fall on our house and property back in November, we've added many, many projects to our to-do list.

When we first bought this house in 2013, we knew we had a lot of work to do before we could even move in. There was nicotine running down the walls, and a horrible stench. It had popcorn ceilings, scratched hardwood floors, old doors and windows (single-pane aluminum glass), and 1/4 acre of unkept property.

With a lot of hard work, a lot of help from family and friends and determination, we moved in 2 months after we closed.



After we moved in, there were still many projects. The windows and sliding glass door, finishing the bathroom (including installing a new window), landscaping, etc.

What we didn't plan on was a rotten, unmaintained tree from our neighbors' yard hitting our house and property! Our punch list quickly grew. Items we lost when the tree fell included: Our BBQ, shed, canopy, outdoor heater, and hot tub. There was significant damage to parts of our house, mainly the roof. Our total settlement from our home owner's insurance company was plenty for us to do the work ourselves. But, it meant that a lot of our winter was consumed with repairs. We were able to replace the BBQ and outdoor heater, and we're planning to rebuild the shed and canopy. Speaking of which, this is one that I saw at Costco that I felt would work great for us:

But, that price wasn't working for Robert. He insisted that he could build one just as nice for about half the price.

So, recently, we placed a gigantic order with Lowe's, and the materials to build it are included! Yay!

This project is not as high on the list as others, though.

Ellie Jo on our adventure at Costco

We decided against replacing the hot tub for now. It's not a necessity, and we weren't using it anyway. We're using that money for projects around the house instead!

A lot of our purchases have been ordered online through Ebates so that we get cash back for all our purchases (I will be detailing the expenditure and savings tracking in an upcoming blog post). The only problem with ordering online is that sometimes, we don't know exactly what we're getting. A lot of the nuts and bolts (literally) aren't what Robert has been expecting, and the BBQ was quite the adventure... We ordered the biggest, most expensive BBQ we could find, because I got it on sale for an amazing price, and our insurance money covered the whole expense. (Yup, we got cash back from Ebates, too!) Anyway, when we got to the store to pick it up, they wheeled a box the size of a smart car around the corner at the Customer Service desk, and I thought Robert was going to pass out! He said, "Uh... so I guess there's not much assembly required?" We had to scramble to figure out how to get it home in the pouring rain, but luckily it worked out, thanks to his parents' perfect timing being at the store next door at the exact same time we needed to borrow their pick-up truck! Haha!

I was able to order our outdoor heater online. We went from a tabletop sized one to a full-size 7-ft tall outdoor heater! (We may be buying a second one, as I didn't realize that Robert wanted a different style than the one I bought).

My garden is a more pressing project, as I've already started to miss spring planting dates. But, as with  most things in my garden, it's pretty subjective. So I feel like waiting a bit is okay.

I saw this idea on Pinterest, and Robert said it wouldn't be difficult at all to build. We do have a different gate, which was given to us from my cousin, Melissa. But I am so excited for how this turns out! I'm planning to plant lower-growing crops like lettuce, carrots, potatoes, celery, etc. in this garden. My other two raised beds will still house my corn, artichokes, peas, beans, etc. We also have about 20ish pots (blueberries, peppers, tomatoes, etc.) I'll be posting an update on our garden plans soon.

For now, check out how much work Robert has done just since Saturday!

(Please ignore the weeds in my other garden to the right. It's been neglected for awhile).

I swear, my husband can build, fix or re-do anything. And he does a very respectable eye-roll when I start dumping Pinterest plans on him! Haha!







In addition to all that, I've been working to get some spring cleaning done. I have no official list - I'm just doing what needs the most attention. To be quite honest, we've just been accustomed to living in a renovation zone for the last 2 1/2 years, and it means that things are kind of crazy most of the time. Cleaning the 3 carpets we do have, the upholstery, and giving the floors a good cleaning in general were at the top of my list this year. I've already cleaned 2 of the 3 carpets, and I have to wait on the upholstery until we have an evening where I can do it quickly before bed. I also did a lot of toy sorting/ cleaning/ rearranging with my dad and Robert last week.

Here are some pics of the progress I've made with cleaning:

Ellie Jo's carpet

Living Room carpet

Ta-da! No more Mt. Vesuvius of toys in the
family room!

I swapped Elizabeth's toy box with her Princess shelves, and now the toy box houses toys in the family room, and the shelves are in her bedroom. Much cleaner! 

Before & After of my recent
painting project: hand-me-down
3-drawer bins that were reddish-
orange, and are now watermelon
pink!

Drawers to the left of Ellie Jo's play kitchen
area.

The only place I can put this for now to keep it
out of our way...

I recently purchased this Disney Princess Dream Castle thing on a buy/ sell/ trade site for $5. It retails on Amazon for $349.99! It was a little dirty and had some marker/ pen stains on it. I cleaned it right up with my favorite cleaning tool, a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, and it looks brand new! (Of course, I sanitized the rest of it, taking apart what I could and soaking it in Lysol!) I called Mattel, and they shipped me all of the missing pieces for this! (I haven't received everything yet, but I'll take a picture when we get it all delivered!) What a deal! This may be the best deal I've ever scored!



Of course, we never miss our nightly FaceTime session with Grandpa, no matter how busy we are!

 

The blanket I made for my sweet friend's baby shower recently! I was inspired by one on Etsy, but I think mine came out decently, compared to the "perfect" one I saw online.

Here's Robert showing all his tools to Ellie, and
explaining the difference between the "Daddy,
Mommy and Ellie" sized hammers!

For Christmas, Robert's parents gave us 3 of our new windows! This was a huge and generous gift! They were custom-made for our house, so that we do not have to rebuild another wall (that is something that we now know how to do, but don't have time to do), and they even ordered us windows with grids in them for the front 2 (Ellie's room and my office) and one without the grid for the back bedroom (our master). Robert and I decided to I convinced Robert to install Elizabeth's window last weekend, because we were all home on a weekend day when she took an early nap! Opportunity!

He actually took baseball swings to get the metal
frame out, but I missed it with my camera :(

Helping Daddy remove screws

Because no home improvement project is complete
without an impromptu trip to Home Depot.

What the window(s) looked like before: Aluminum,
single-pane glass with a storm window (ew).

Finishing touches installing the window itself
(obviously, we still have to do some drywall)

The new sill I insisted on, haha!

A project I decided needed to happen... our Master
Bedroom closet doors. I've always wanted bi-fold
doors (I cannot stand bypass doors!), and I
found them at Home Depot this weekend. I said
that I couldn't possibly paint/ prep them if I didn't
own them, ha! Many trips in our SUV have this view...

The last picture doesn't look like much, I know. But Robert and our friend, Jeff, spent 13 hours (13 hours!) on Saturday, clearing all the debris and yard waste from the tree falling. They hauled 3 full dump trailer loads to the dump, totaling around $200. It was about 3.5 tons of stuff! WOW! 

Needless to say, this picture is progress. PROGRESS! 

As you can see, we're busy! We have a lot going on, and we like it that way. Ellie Jo is learning a lot about what we can do with what we have, and how to use simple tools like hammers and Daddy's power tools (just the screwdriver function, and only with help). 

*Disclaimer: If you follow me on Instagram, you've already seen a lot of these pictures. And if your name is Keri, you've already seen all this in our most recent texting conversations, haha!

More DIY House Progress {and Bittersweet Notes}

We're making more progress on our new house! Big things are happening!

Here's Elizabeth's cherry blossom tree - with the
first layer of cherry blossoms!

Here's our good friend, Paul, installing our new
custom-built entertainment center! He is seriously
amazing with carpentry!

It fit beautifully!

Here's our bed in our new room!
I think the hardwood stain looks beautiful,
especially with our bed!

Almost ready for us to sleep at the new house!

Entertainment center installed! Just need to paint,
and add hardware, and glass or panels to the doors!

My kitchen is starting to look like a kitchen! :)

Got our dining room table in, so
we can sit in real chairs to eat! (As
opposed to the camping chairs we've
been using!)

So what's the problem? 

I miss my precious baby girl. Most nights, I don't even get to spend time with her, because we're working so hard to get the house renovations finished. Robert and I have made it a point to cuddle with her in our bed on the weekends now, and really give her a special morning on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. She misses Mama and Daddy very much, and my heart just aches when I have to be away from her.

Don't get me wrong; everyone has been very helpful and understanding throughout this entire process. We are forever grateful for people who are willing to babysit, and people who are willing to help us at our house. And by "people," I mean grandparents. It makes me very thankful that my husband does not have a job that forces us to move away from family, and even more thankful for my own job! I absolutely love what I do, and I'm so glad I get to do it to make a living.

That being said, I'm feeling very stretched. I'm tired all the time. I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. I'm desperate for some sewing/ crafting time (that I currently don't have), and maybe even a pedicure (very selfish; I know). I want to spend all the time I have with my baby, and I just can't. It's so hard to work on our house this hard and this long - but I just try to remind myself it's all so that Elizabeth can have a special new house to start growing up in. It's a season, and it will be over soon.

And then, it will be Christmas, lol.

Speaking of seasons, I've had some questions lately about plans for Elizabeth and breastfeeding. I was finding it really difficult (almost impossible) to keep up my supply while I'm working and renovating a house. Elizabeth started on solid foods within the last month. It was really hard for me. I didn't want to start her on solids that early, but at her 4-month check-up, her doctor suggested that she was probably ready, based on what I told her about Elizabeth's behavior around food/ bottles. (Lunging forward for my food when she saw me eating, opening and closing her mouth a lot when she saw anyone else eating, etc.) She's always been a good sleeper, though, regardless of what she's getting for nutrition. She has had to have some formula recently, as my supply was low (due to a cold, I had to take cold medicine, which really impacted my supply negatively). Anyway, it's been a challenge for me to deal with it. All this to say, I was previously considering weaning her sooner than later (because my supply wasn't as high), but I was encouraged not to, and I'm not going to. It's better for both of us if I don't do it yet, and I am getting better about eating enough to actually get a good supply built up. Water (surprisingly) hasn't been an issue.

It's getting tough to be so "in between," with our house. Having all of our stuff scattered between 4 locations (our house, Robert's grandparents' house, my parents' house and our temporary storage unit), has been really trying. We emptied out the storage unit, and turned in the keys this weekend, so that's a step in the direction of getting back to one location, one home, one family together. 

So, all in all, we're hoping to move into our new house this week, and I'm looking forward to being in our new place - settled, and all together a lot more often!