HGTV Live!

Our bathroom renovations began on Monday.  We started with a powder bath that looked like this:

Here's a close-up of that linoleum so you can get the full effect and perhaps understand why it was not our personal preference.

By the end of Monday afternoon, it looked like this:

 Tuesday morning, we got tile!

And today, it looks like this:

At the same time, we had this in our upstairs master bath:

This bathroom sort of jack-and-jills between a bedroom and a hallway.  The first pic is a view from the bedroom, the last one is the view from the hall.  The tub is across from the toilet.  This isn't a true master suite, but it works swimmingly.  While the kids are still young, we want to be on the same floor as them.  Later we will swap with the guest room, which is currently the downstairs master.  So if you come to see us, you get a big ol' room with your own bathroom.  (Except you still have to look at that linoleum because that bathroom is going to wait a couple of years to be re-done.)

Today, that bathroom looks like this:

No, I don't recommend a sideways bathtub.  But the drain needs to be scooted a smidge before it can be set in its final place.  Should be set right by end of today.

This kids' bathroom started out like this:

Very similar materials to the other bathroom.  When the tub came out, we found this:

Yes, there was some water damage to the sub-floor.  We were sort of expecting it based on the drywall next to the tub surround.  This is one of the reasons we wanted to get rid of the fiberglass one-piece tub/shower.  They seem to be more prone to leaking.  We were very glad it wasn't more extensive.  So we had to replace that part of the sub-floor before moving on.  Now we have this:

 Just backer board so far on the floor in there.

 Tub's sitting in place, but it will need an alignment with the drain as well.  You can see the problem below:

Our new tubs were supposed to be ready for pick-up on Monday along with all the other materials, but they were not.  If this were really HGTV, this is when the dramatic music would play and you would get a zoom-in headshot of me looking very frustrated and hear my stern one-sided phone conversation with Lowe's.  Real life isn't quite so theatrical.  It has been frustrating, but the contractor was able to do other work while we waited and we finally got our tubs today.

We've had a few hiccups like that so far, but overall everything is going very smoothly.  The hardest part for me has been the daily trips to Lowe's with three children.  Oy, vey!  The folks at Lowe's start ducking down the aisles when they see us come in the door.

We've been promised that the work will be done by Tuesday, so we're hoping for that but won't be surprised if there are still finishing touches to be done.  We are all living out of the guest bathroom downstairs in the meantime without too much conflict.  I'll try to post more pics when the work is all done.

New Chapter

When it comes to reading through our life's story, we prefer speed reading in the household.  Pregnant? That was a re-run.  Newborn?  Just a couple pages.  Homeschooling a kindergartner?  Might need a sequel.  Moving?  Old news.  So we apprehensively start a new chapter titled, "Renovations."

This house was a foreclosure, so we knew going in to it that there were some projects to be done.  Nothing ghastly.  The house is wonderfully livable.  But we're going to be doing some renovations over time to make it our own and make it last a little longer.

Today begins the first round of repairs.  We've got some rotten exterior wood trim around one window in the living room and an oddly-pieced together, shaky stair rail that will be rectified by the contractor of our choosing, whom we shall call Joe from this point forward.  This is sort of a test to work the kinks out of the contractor communication method before beginning our big project next week--bath renovations.

We're going to replace some interesting-colored linoleum with tile in three bathrooms, get new baseboards, and new toilets.  The upstairs baths currently have the one-piece, plastic tub and surround.  We prefer a steel tub with tile surround, so we're doing that.  The powder bath downstairs is the first thing you see when you walk in the door.  So we're replacing the non-descript box vanity with a pretty pedestal sink and oval mirror.  I've been assured it will all be finished by Thanksgiving.

I will try to be all HGTV with before and after pics as the work progresses.  But let's be honest, I'm really still writing the above-mentioned chapters on newborn, moving, and homeschooling.  So please don't hate me if you don't get the scoop until January.

That's Fast!

So my last post was all about my babies not growing up too fast.  Get a load of this... In the last week, C has looked potty-training in the face and told it who's boss; Z has sprouted two teeth; and A has lost one!!  Slow down!

C is doing great with potty-training and I'm ready to declare "mission accomplished," but I'm not going to be fool enough to do that because then she'll regress and I'll have to eat my words.  Let's just say that we have moved on to the conversation about changing our underwear every day even if they are clean and dry all day.  I apologize profusely to all my friends who have struggled so hard with potty-training.  I wish I knew what spell has been cast over our potty-training efforts to date and could bottle it up with a bow to give to you.  It is certainly nothing of my own doing at all.  I'm just going to praise God for it, whatever it is.

I guess it was a week and a half ago that I noticed Z's first tooth had broken through.  It was only two days later that J announced the next one had surfaced.  He's eating cereal twice a day now and trying out jar foods.  Peas and squash, so far.  I think that boy would eat a bus if I could get it on a spoon.

A complained on Wednesday morning that her tooth hurt.  I didn't make much of it because she often has a malady of some kind or another that affords her a few minutes of delayed obedience.  But I decided to take a good look when she brought it back up again at lunch.  Sure enough, it was loose.  We had much drama at mealtimes for the next few days as she pampered that tooth.  I was so relieved when it got bumped out on Friday night during some horseplay with cousins.  She didn't shed a tear or even utter a blood-curdling scream.

(This is not a scream.  This is Mom trying to get a picture of the hole left by the tooth.  Not as easy as I thought it would be.)

And for inquiring minds that want to know, we decided against the tooth fairy.  We're such party poopers.  She told us a few months ago that she knew the tooth fairy wasn't real.  I don't remember why it even came up, but I wasn't going to lie to convince her of something she had already figured out.  J told her he would play the "tooth game" with her.  She could put the tooth in an envelope under her pillow and he would give her a dollar for it before the next morning and she was to try to catch him doing it.  She didn't catch him and she was thrilled to find the dollar under her pillow the next morning.

So much for not growing up too fast.  Not only are they speeding past milestones, they're ganging up on us and hitting them together.