#nbd

Just a quiet Sunday afternoon with Travis, installing a new hot water heater.

The Playroom Kitchenette

Pine Hill has a large, open upstairs loft area, which is destined to become a playroom for the kiddos.  When we moved in, the wall that abuts our master bathroom was plumbed for a wet bar, but there wasn't anything beyond that.  I thought it would be so cool to have a playroom equipped with a sink - what kinds of messy play can we get into?

So as a "nesting" project for Clara's entrance, Travis, assisted by Gpa Jerry, decided to tackle it. 

We shopped around for all kinds of cabinets - new, reclaimed, etc - and found a lovely custom set on Craigslist for $125 with base cabinets, countertop, sink, and two sets of wall cabinets (even though we only had space for one) all included.  Because they were custom built for another space, we had to do some slight adjusting, but they turned out almost perfect.

There was a little bit of drama with the staining, which was my job.  I wasn't happy with the color of the first coat - it seemed slightly too light to me.  I had the brilliant, featherbrained idea that I was going to put on a slightly darker color over the top of the light color.  This of course looked absolutely terrible, and resulting in us sanding the whole thing down for the second time and me restaining the whole thing in the first light color.  Which, upon a second look, was pretty darn near absolutely perfect.  I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I can be taught.

Andrew very much enjoyed helping out with this project.  He even got his own set of tools so that he could "help."  He is adept at driving screws with his little drill/driver, pulling out his measuring tape to the maximum length, plugging in the shop vac, climbing the ladder, and helping to "stain" the cabinets. 

Andrew's painting in action:

More "helping":

The finished product.

Early November

Lots of cute pictures...

I know it's not quite in focus, but... love the grin!

Big brother is SO FUNNY

Who doesn't like to read the paper while sitting on the throne?

This is Andrew's camera smile

We went for a walk in the snow to visit our neighbors.  They were butchering a deer and gave us some venison.  Yum!!

Andrew is getting more adventurous in the kitchen.  Here he decides to bake a turnip in the toaster oven....

...and saute up some goldfish crackers.

I have a much longer blog to do on our most recent home improvement project, but for now... aren't these the cutest safety glasses and ear protection you've ever seen?

The Beginning of August

 Here are some photos from the beginning of August...

Gpa Jerry has been helping us install a sink and cabinets in what will become a playroom.  A playroom with a sink? Totally awesome!  Can't wait to do all kinds of projects...

Andrew asked to hold Clara, so we made that happen.  He has been very loving with her - wiping her mouth, holding her hand, giving her snuggles, hugs goodnight... today he wanted to help me put her in the car seat.  I'm so proud of him, and I'm so hopeful for the relationship they might have.

Andrew can show you where Clara's nose is...

...and then he can find his own.

Here is the infamous "defeating the childproof gate" video:

Grilling on the porch

 We celebrated Gpa Jerry's 69th birthday.  Andrew actually wanted to eat the raspberries more than the chocolate cake!

Daddy has big shoes to fill

Also, Andrew knows where his belly is

Driveway

You may have heard me talk about our driveway (1/8mi long, 100 ft of elevation gain) which is one of the perks of living here.  Because of its topography - sand over bedrock and very steep - it takes a beating when it rains or the snow melts.  The previous owner told us that he had it worked on about once every five years, and 2012 happens to be five years since it was last done.  Interestingly enough, 2012 was also about the time that the erosion situation got really bad.

We got a few quotes from local contractors who had a couple different approached, but we thought it would be worthwhile to do a little DIY and see if it made a difference before calling in the professionals.  So we rented a mini-excavator with a plan to clean the sand out of the drainage trench (in some places digging new trench where there had been none before), unplug the culverts at the bottom of the drive, and relocate the liberated material back onto the driveway to smooth it out.

Andrew was, of course, thrilled to watch and "help."

Dressed appropriately: his shirt says "I dig my dad" with an excavator on it.

Even I got in on the action...

Operating spacecraft?  This is much cooler.

When we were done, we had set of awesome new trenches... now we are just waiting for some rain to test them out!!

Nesting, Part 2

Well, here's an update on all of the projects going on around Pine Hill in preparation for baby's arrival.

Last weekend, thanks to amazing Tyler and stupendous Monique, we were able to complete the "double vanity" project in the master bathroom.  Check it out:

Before

After

So what's the next project for the man of the house?  That would be ripping out the old exterior access to the basement, and building an awesome new lower deck to serve as, among other things, covered storage for the snowblower. Here's the beginning and the progress...

My fabulous mom was in town last week/this weekend to help set up the nursery and prepare for the baby.  She also got roped into sealing decking pieces for this project.  In her "office with a view":

Oh yeah, so she was also here to help with the nursery... and boy did we make progress.  So the "theme" is loosely camping, the outdoors, forest creatures, the mountains, etc. etc.  So on the crib wall, we painted a mural of aspen trees:

Over the changing table, we hung canvases of various campsites of ours and one of our Jeeps in the mountains:

The sitting/nursing area is mostly the same, just set up a little nicer with the lamp and stereo.  We have the valances (temporarily hung in the window here), but my mom is going to make some burlap shades to go underneath them, and then we'll hang them up properly:

We also spent lots of time doing laundry, organizing the armoire and changing table with bins, shopping for the  baby essentials still needed, and packing up the birth bags.  It seems like we are really ready to have a baby!  This is a good thing too, because I have been fatigued, nauseous, without appetite, and having some fairly strong practice contractions over the past three days.  I fully realize that by saying this, I virtually guarantee that I will still be pregnant at 42 weeks, but the reality that he *could* come early is still setting in, and I'm glad that we're ready.

Here's a bonus picture -- my dear Caitlin knitted us a nerd blanket.  I don't know if you can read it that well, but the first row says "E=mc2", second row says "V=IR," and third row says "F=ma."  It makes this nerd-mama's heart happy.

 Clearly this kid is going to get the right start.

Stay tuned for more updates to the new lower deck... there's already been enough progress for me to take another round of pics.  I can't keep up!!