Our House: Before

Happy Sunday!

I hope you've all had a fun weekend.  We have been busy hitting up every Home Depot within a 50 mile radius for various odds and ends on our to-get list for our house.  Mom and I went out yesterday with Newbie after breakfast and didn't come home until the dinner.  It was a busy, super fun day spent picking out all sorts of stuff for the house.

Today the Hubs is headed over to crank up the jams and start some prep for all the renovations we're beginning this week.  Last Thursday we both snuck away for the evening to pull out nails and pull down wood and scrub, scrub, scrub cabinets and counters and shelves.  I took a trillion pictures, knowing this is the last time this house will look like it does since we have some BIG plans in the works.

Here are several "before" shots so you can get a feel for where we started.  I'll post some pictures of the process as we work through it the next few weeks, and of course, lots of "after" pictures when we're finally done!  Think tons of paint and new flooring for starters...

 

(Here's the Hubs with a double thumbs-up for the kitchen)

  (The half bath...say goodbye to just about everything in this room- especially the creepy motel medicine cabinet above the sink and the what-were-they-thinking wicker toilet seat!)

 (Oh!  This is one of our favorites...stairs to the basement covered in carpet that looks like wood. Very classy, just the way we like it. =])

 (This is where I will (won't?!) be doing lots of laundry...it needs some TLC, but we'll get there.  Don't you love the random shower?  You never know when you'll need to take a dip before folding clothes, man.)

 (Here's the dining room...check out that glass display case and kiss it goodbye.  The Hubs got for real on that thing and its already outta there.)

 (Back down to the basement for a quick shot of the vintage stove. Its in perfect condition and is hooked up to cook away.  If I could paint this sucker red or teal and stick it in my kitchen upstairs, I totally would.  We may hold on to her for a while or put her up on eBay.  LOVE that thing.)

 

(This little beauty was a treasure left behind from the original owners.  Newbie has already claimed it as his new favorite chair, and we're going to let it stick around for a while.  I'm a big fan of the vintage kitchen look, so she stays.)

 

(Here's our cutie's little hallway, leading to the full bath and the three bedrooms.  Newbie runs in and out of all the rooms shouting "biiiiiig hows!"  The Hubs and I don't think Newbie's figured out the actual square footage of this baby.  =])  

 

(Here's a little peek at the full bath.  We picked out tile for the floor in here yesterday and I may or may not have snagged a ruffled shower curtain.  LOVE.)

 

(One of the bedrooms- they are all similar in style and size.  I can't wait to get some beds in these puppies and start calling this place home!)

 

(Be still, my heart.  When we met the sellers at the closing, the woman mentioned she left some of her mother's dishes in the cupboards, and if I wanted to keep them, I could.  I held my breath and hoped it was the set of green glasses I spied the first time we went through the house....and guess what?!  It was!  My grandmother has a similar set that I have always loved and I was thrilled to see these darlings still sitting in the cupboard.  Hooray!!!)

 

(After several years of no AC and old radiators, this thermostat is a sight for sore eyes.  We are so pumped about having AC and fabulous heating.  Praise the Lord!)

 

("Clark, this here's our pride and joy..."  The Hubs went all Demolition Danny on the hutch in the dining room and I love the way it looks now.  So excited to see those cupboards go from plastic that looks like wood to white! I think this might be my favorite part of the whole house.  I love a dash of character, man.)  

 

This weekend has been a lot of fun- we've done lots of planning and dreaming for this new house.  We are so blessed to have a place to call our own, and we are so excited to begin the work and move in!  There is a lot of painting and fixture-replacing and scrubbing on the agenda, but it is going to be such a fun project to take on.  The Hubs and I can't stop talking about how grateful we are that God has provided us just exactly what we need right now and how exciting it is to get settled into a new nest.  I've been benched for most of the renovating due to the bun in the oven, but I'm enjoying hanging out with Newbie and being a part of the planning.  Wahoo!

Newbie has been such a trooper over the past week.  He had some time to unwind Friday night on the iPad G-Mama (who Newbie now calls, "GiGi") has checked out for her class.  He was a whiz on it, asking over and over again for "lowdy" (Woody- it was a Toy Story read aloud book) and "da bugs! bugs." (a game where you smoosh bugs with the tap of your finger...gross!).

We've also done a lot of coloring lately.  Opie has a real taste for Crayons, and last night Newbie was coloring with his daddy when he ran up to me and said, "Mommy!  Opie eated a boo one!"  I can't believe my little guy is talking in complete sentences like this!  He had me cracking up.  He is always right when it comes to "Opie eated it" accusations.  Sure enough, blue Crayon right down the hatch.  Opie has a rainbow assortment of treats out on the lawn, and had apparently decided to add some blue to the collection.  What a winner.

In other news, Baby is doing well as far as we know, and we have our 16 week appointment on Tuesday.  No ultrasound this month, but we'll check in on the heartbeat and make sure everything is still looking good.  Prayers for our littlest little would be so appreciated!  Thank you, friends. =)  Only a few more weeks until we find out if we're having a baby boy or a baby girl!  Any guesses?  The Hubs and I think we've got a little girl in the works, but I thought that about Newbie too, so it's still anybody's game. Can't wait to find out and start planning another nursery.  What a gift new life is! There is not a day that goes by that we take for granted this fragile little life and what a blessing each moment we have with this little one is.  God is so, so good.

Newbie and I are gearing down for a nap soon.  Baking a baby and scouring Home Depot after Home Depot can really wear a girl down. =)  I'm thankful to have a day to slow down and rest.  Newbie could stand to catch a few z's too, after the busy week we've had.  There's just something so lovely about napping on a Sunday afternoon, isn't there?

Happy Weekending!