Getting closer

I'm running a day behind on my bathroom updates, which I'm sure is so disappointing to my readers! Below are photos of the completed, tiled shower. Of course, we'll be adding a shower door. I can definitely see why the current trend is to go without a door. Who would want to hide such beautiful tile? (And imagine if you get the expensive stone tiles!)

Today the contractor worked furiously to paint and install beadboard, trim and a vanity cabinet. It was fun to see the various colors in the room come together. I only had a picture in my mind of how I thought everything would come together, but I had my doubts!

The countertop company, Rock Tops, also created a template so our granite can be cut and installed within the next two weeks. Tomorrow, we'll see the finishing touches: lights, shower doors, another coat of paint here and there, and accessories such as a towel bar.

So far, we are very pleased with our contractor, Ron Parko. Believe it or not, we found him on the Internet. The fact that he had a website that was somewhat decent encouraged me to call. From that phone call on, he has been the most professional contractor we have ever dealt with. At least from our experiences, he is atypical in his profession. Let's just say that he said he'd finish the job in two weeks, and he'll come under that timeline. It's not from luck; he's kept everything running on track since day one. We plan to be repeat customers.

A view of the shower, looking toward the bench seat.

In the corner above the bench, there are two shelves for soap and shampoo.

A closer view of the accent tile.

Five months old!

Kelsey is five months old today. It's hard to believe that five months have passed since she was born. It also is hard to believe I have to return to work in a month. But focusing on happier topics ... Kelsey at five months:

• She is beginning to sit up more. If you partially recline her in a stroller, she tries to pull herself up.
• She's handling her toys better now, moving them around a little better.
• She rolls from her back to stomach with ease.
• She'll stand on her feet with lots of support from Mom.
• Kelsey mostly smiles and laughs. She tends to laugh most when her brothers are entertaining her or she's getting lots of kisses.
• She naps anywhere from 2-4 times per day. Within the past two weeks, she has started taking a 2-3 hour nap around noon. She'll nurse, fall asleep, then move to her bed and sleep until 3 or so. This doesn't happen every day, of course. Her other naps are mostly catnaps.
• She goes to bed between 7-8 without too much fuss and sleeps until 3-5. She'll nurse and go back to sleep until 7 or so. (The other night she slept from 7:30-6:15 and I was in heaven! A full night's sleep!
• She loves her exersaucer, her main source of entertainment in the playroom.
• Kelsey will sit and watch my water bottle or drink through dinnertime.

Soon, she'll start cereal. I think she's ready. She watches with great interest when we're eating these days.

Laughing Kelsey

Can you see her chubby thighs?

Progress

The bathroom renovation project moved quickly this week. An update:

• The vanity is in! Yeah!
• We have a fully tiled shower and floor now. We're very pleased with it, because we find ourselves constantly looking at it.
• This week, the cosmetic touches will be completed, such as painting, installing the light fixtures, and vanity.
• On Tuesday, the granite guys (ooh, catchy name) will measure for our countertop. So that will be installed within the next two weeks, hopefully.

Some photos from the past week:

A view into the attic from the bathroom. It's amazing how quickly that room warmed without insulation above.

The shower is framed, including a bench seat that my husband is eager to have.

Drywall is installed on the walls, and half of the floor is tiled. Unfortunately, our contractor underestimated how much floor tile we needed. So I had to make a trip back to the tile shop. Then we made one more trip back when the tilers broke one of our shower shelves. Ugh.

Turn your head to the left and you'll see a partially tiled shower.

How much will that cost?

The master bathroom has been a hot spot in our house the past few days. We've had the plumber, contractor and his assistant, electrician and his assistant, inspectors, and tilers (I'm sure that's not the correct terminology) working throughout this week. Right now, it's actually quiet in the house. And I'm really enjoying it.

The good news is, our contractor is keeping this project to his timeline. He worked until 8 p.m. last night to do so. We also now have a framed shower stall complete with bench seat, lights and a fan installed, the plumbing lines reworked, and drywall with insulation. The bathroom is taking shape.

The bad news is, well, where can I start? First, it's not all that bad! But as with any project, there are surprises or delays you can't anticipate.

• Our vanity cabinet still isn't in. That's not good, because our countertop will be installed 2-3 weeks after our vanity arrives. Ugh. More than likely, by the end of next week, we'll have everything in the bathroom finished and ready to use, except we won't have a countertop.
• Ah, the inspectors. We chose to use a contractor who pulls permits, thus requiring inspections. We felt it was the right thing to do. But we also knew that we would be opening ourselves up to scrutiny in other parts of the home. Sure enough, we're now spending an additional $200 to add two outlets in the garage, which will accommodate the garage-door opener and sprinkler system. This is actually a good move, we know, and $200 isn't much money ... when you're not already doling out thousands of dollars.
• If we pursue a building permit, which we shouldn't need, we'll have an additional $500 to spend, bringing our house to code with new smoke detector requirements. Again, we know this is the right thing to do, but we really can't take on the additional expense right now.
• Finally, we discovered our current bath fan vents right into the attic, which isn't where it should be venting. So add another $150 to our bill.

I'll post more photos of the progress tonight, hopefully. Right now, I'm off going to enjoy a little down time while Ryan and Kelsey nap and Brendan recovers from school.

Goodbye, bathroom!

After weeks of planning and years of dreaming and saving, we're finally beginning our bathroom renovation project. At 7:30 Friday morning, the dumpster was delivered to our driveway. I spent one evening last week cleaning out our existing bathroom vanity and relocating our everyday essentials to the kids' bathroom.

About a year after moving into our house, a wise friend made the comment, "It's about quality of life." She's certainly right. Late last year, with a third child on the way and my working full-time, we decided we could afford and needed a new master bathroom that was actually functional. We could no longer function using one shower/bathtub for the entire family.

This project really is more of a necessity than a luxury. The bathroom is not the master bath retreat of modern homes. It's the typical 1970s setup, which means small. And seriously outdated. It's the only room on the main floor of the house that we haven't updated -- at all.

The shower stall is so small that it would be nearly impossible for me to shave my legs, or fit a pregnant belly into it. It's also not working. About two years ago we discovered a leak in the basement, which was linked to the shower. Since we didn't use the shower anyway (we all use the main bathroom's larger shower), we opted to disable the shower altogether in hopes of replacing it one day.

The old shower, which my husband would say is so small, you can't change your mind in it.

The biggest change we're making is moving the toilet to the old shower location, and moving the shower where the toilet was.

We've had these holes in our wall for ... well, it's embarrassing how long it has been. Those holes are now gone!

That day is here. This weekend, Ken spent many hours tearing out drywall, pulling up tile, and knocking down walls. The plumber also laid the foundation for moving pipes so we can relocate the shower to a larger, more comfortable location!

Our demolition crew arrives before dinner on Friday. We're a bit nervous that Ryan will think it's OK to knock holes into walls now.

This was all Ken's idea ... having Brendan sit on the old toilet in the dumpster. Actually it goes way back to a trip Ken and I took to Ohio State during my senior year. Somewhere in this house, we have a photo of him sitting on a toilet in someone's front yard.

If I had the energy and time (mostly, the time), I would start another blog to chronicle our first major home improvement project. (We've done many other projects, but none that cost quite this much money.) But, I have no time, largely thanks to this project. So you can read all about it here. With any luck, in less than three weeks, I'll be posting photos of a beautiful, functional, new master bathroom. With a shower where I can shave my legs and void of any bath toys.

Forners visit

Two weeks ago, we had special visitors from San Antonio ... the Forners! Pat and Riley flew into Ohio with their two beautiful children, Sean and Claire, to visit family and friends. They were also attending the Forner family reunion/campout in Chelsea, which happens to be 30 minutes west of us. Riley was thrilled, because that meant she didn't have to attempt camping with two young children but could call our basement their home for a few days.

The campout's organizers were wonderful to rent this inflatable slide for the kiddos. It definitely kept our children entertained! Brendan spent at least an hour on the slide before moving on to other activities. Ryan was timid at first, but after this first slide down, he was unstoppable. Here, Ken takes the plunge with both boys. Below, Pat goes down the slide with Brendan and his niece Kay.

The children had a wonderful time playing with one another. Brendan and Claire, who is two weeks younger than Ryan, seemed to form a special bond. I enjoyed watching, as I would expect this is how Brendan will treat his younger sister as she gets a little older. Sean was content to spend all weekend, with no exaggeration, playing with the boys' Shake 'n Go racers.

Brendan was so sweet with "Claire Bear," a nickname he picked up from Riley. He played with her quite a bit during their stay.

Mostly, though, it was the four adults who truly enjoyed hours of sitting around, reliving the old days and catching up on one another's lives. Though we have friends in Michigan, none of their friendships will ever compare to those with our friends from college and Texas.

Pat and Ryan continued to bond on this visit. Pat is Ryan's godfather.

Turn it around!

In addition to starting kindergarten, Brendan also joined his first soccer team. His first game was last Tuesday (that's how Ken and I celebrated our wedding anniversary!). Brendan's introduction to the sport came complete with heavy rainfall, cooler temperatures and wind. Kelsey, Ryan and I sat in the car for the game's first half, then finally made it to the sidelines when the bad weather passed.

Brendan poses for some soccer photos in our backyard before we head to his first game. The rain hadn't started yet!

I was a little nervous that Brendan wouldn't enjoy the game, since he told Grammy last week that he didn't like "real" soccer. But he was thrilled to be on the field and play with the other boys. We often yelled, "Turn it around!" when he'd kick the ball toward the wrong goal, but at least he was going for the ball. At this point, we're mostly interested in teaching Brendan the value of teamwork, to have fun, and giving him another avenue to make friends. So the direction he kicks isn't all that important.


Two notes regarding younger siblings:

1) I can see now why younger siblings often begin organized sports at a younger age. Ryan has been exposed to it earlier than Brendan was, and as long as he has an interest in soccer, I can see him wanting to play much sooner.

2) I would never have expected Brendan to sit on the sidelines of a soccer field for 30 minutes at age 2 without a battle or meltdown. Ryan seems to be getting the hang of it -- this waiting on his big brother.

Perhaps missing the Frogs on TV was a blessing in disguise

No Frogs

All week, we have eagerly awaited tonight's matchup between TCU and Texas. Bonus: We would get to see our Frogs on TV. Or so I thought.

Turns out, in Detroit, the Tigers' 365th baseball game of the season is more important than the second week of college football. So FSN will be showing their game, not the Frogs. Oh, we can wait until 2 a.m. to catch the game, if we choose. Argh. We are not happy.

So instead of huddling around the TV cheering on our Frogs, we'll be huddled around the computer watching play-by-play on gametracker or sitting in the back of my mom's Expedition listening to the game on satellite radio.

Animals, animals, everywhere!

Wednesday we visited the Domino's Farms petting zoo with Aunt Jenn and Grammy, who made the drive on Monday from Oklahoma. Brendan made fast friends with a baby donkey named Jack, and was even invited into the donkey pen to meet the crew. Ryan wasn't so sure about petting the animals but insisted on staying close to his brother while being carried in Grammy's arms.

Brendan follows his web-footed friends out of the barn. When we later fed the ducks, we were quickly surrounded by nearly 20 ducks looking for food!

Brendan, Grammy and Ryan are invited into the donkey pen to meet the donkeys.

Brendan and Jack.

Ryan holds on tight to Grammy. He was a little unsure of the animals but enjoyed watching.

More photos from the week at school

Ryan insisted on carrying his own backpack on this morning's walk to school. He also chose where to pose for his own photo in front of the school.

Ryan trails behind the other children on the way to school this morning.

Brendan listens to a story, "The Kissing Hand," on the first day of school. In the book, a young raccoon learns that giving and receiving kisses to his parents on the palm of his hand will give him a reassuring way to connect with them when they are away.

Brendan shows off his new Batman backpack while waiting to walk to school.

School begins

This week has been busy, so I'm late getting around to sharing in Brendan's exciting day! He attended his first day at Gallimore Elementary on Tuesday. We walked with the neighbors, which made Brendan even more at ease about his first day.

The morning was short -- only one hour with Mom and Dad in attendance. Brendan had no interest in leaving but was eager to return the following day.

His teacher is Mrs. Benedict. She began the morning by having all of the children sit on the blue alphabet carpet, a concept Brendan was quite familiar with from his Montessori preschool. He chose to sit on the letter B. Then she read the book, "The Kissing Hand," which tells the story of a young raccoon and his first day of school.

Afterward, Brendan worked on his first assignment: decorating his snack bag with a picture of a healthy snack.

Brendan's been excited each day to go back, and even asked why he can't stay all day. I'm sure that will change soon, but for now I'm enjoying his excitement!

A side note: Ryan also made the transition quite well this week. He walked Brendan to school Thursday morning and only cried briefly when we left him. On Friday morning, he didn't shed a single tear though was a little nervous to leave his brother. But as Jimmy, the safety partol fifth-grader in charge of walking the kindergarteners to class, said to Ryan, "He'll be back by noon!"

Rolling along

An update to Kelsey's four-month post: She rolled over on Monday, just minutes before Grammy and Aunt Jenn arrived at our doorstep. Unfortunately, I missed the big event. She was in her crib playing with her mobile friends while Brendan and I vaccuumed the living room. I went in to get her afterward, and found her on her tummy!

She looked quite proud of herself, as was her big brother. Brendan has been working with her on this skill for a few weeks, helping her to roll while playing on the floor.