Time flies...

Our baby girl is 6 today!  It seems as if it was only yesterday when she was born, our little 6 lb. 4 oz. peanut!  Ahh..what a cutie she was and still is today.  She has been a spitfire from the minute she was born and continues to be to this day.  She never misses a beat and is wise beyond her years.  She has enjoyed school to the max and we occasionally get a note/e-mail from the teacher to say what a joy she is in class.  Somedays we wonder about her attitude and sassy personality, and as most parents struggle with setting boundaries and consistently enforcing rules, she reminds us what a miracle she is and we thank the Lord for giving us two beautiful healthy children. Happy Birthday Brooklyn!!!

Well since we've been celebrating birthdays, passing around the stomach flu, and working at our paying jobs the house has been a SLOW work in progress.  Dustin did get the majority of crown moulding on the cupboards, part of the backsplash up, another door hung, the fireplace framed, undercabinet lights hung, hardware on, countertops screwed down, more wood stained, and the appliances all hooked up....ok so maybe he hasn't done ANYTHING at all, but it sure feels like we should be further done. I am tired of living out of boxes, not having a dresser for my clothes, not being able to find my kitchen spices and small appliances I need when I need them.  Ok, now I'm whining, but I guess my dad did tell Dustin when we got married..."I spoiled her for the first 24 years of her life, now it's your problem."  Poor guy!! 

I am on call this weekend, so all of you reading this post please pray for good health for the entire Redfield and surrounding communities and that I find the knowledge and resources to treat those that need my assistance! For anyone that knows me ER is the least favorite part of my job!! Luckily the nursing staff is fabulous! Plus I need a nice weekend to get some work done around the house. 

I will show you a few new pictures, but keep in mind there is no grout on the backsplash and there is dust on the cabinets.

This is in the corner of the living room, in the picture below there was a shelf in the right upper corner.

Green grass...



So people have been asking me when I think we'll be in our house. Me being optimistic has said, "Oh superbowl weekend." Well after spending countless hours Saturday helping Dustin put up cabinents in the kitchen and looking around at all the work that needs to be done...I'm saying maybe when we see green grass and when Brooklyn asked today when the house would be done we reassured her by the time the pool was open we should have a house to live in.  If only I could see the look on my in-laws face as they read this right now! They may stay South longer than they planned!!

Dustin has almost everyday filled this coming week with jobs, next weekend we are going to Pierre for Brooklyn's birthday, and the following weekend I am on call and then it's superbowl weekend before we know it! Hmm..don't they say "time flies when you're having fun?" Who the hell came up with that saying anyways?!!

We did get quite a bit accomplished this weekend and I'd have to say for a couple of rookies putting in cabinents we didn't do too bad.  No instructions and/or experience hanging a full kitchen worth of cupboards...you be the judge.  Keep in mind there is no backsplash, no undercabinet lights, no appliances, no crown molding, no toekick, no hardware,and no touch up on the paint yet.  We put some of the appliances in and it's starting to look more like a kitchen all the time. We did have to call on a friend to help get the 400 lb. fridge in the house. I was not nearly strong enough to get that puppy up the front steps! Otherwise what you see is what the two of us did!! Don't worry we do have a dishwasher, but we didn't get it put in yet.
Don't expect an update for quite sometime now, unless it's a plea for help or a counselor for the 2 of us!! 



Like father like son!




A new light to put a little light on the subject!























 





Progress...not much

What progress have we made in the last week or more....not much!!  Dustin fortunately has been busier with his business, so unfortunately that means our house has been put on hold for a while.  We got the floor grouted last weekend and it is sealed where the future cabinets will go! We still need to finish dehazing the floor and clean up the grout lines and finish grouting the entry and 1/2 bath but the floor tiling is completed as far as cutting and laying. Thank goodness my worker was getting mighty cranky about tiling!  Little does he know I have big plans for the bathroom tub surround! 

I will give you a little sneak peek of what lies ahead for the future kitchen (sorry for the suboptimal pictures, I keep forgetting my camera at the other house)....now you have to stay tuned to see the finished product. We started putting in the cabinets tonight, so maybe in a couple days you can see some progress!!



Counter tops!



Not fully finished, but you get the idea!



Backsplash and cabinet!







Floor after grouting, before dehazing!

All is well....

I am sure some of you are wondering what we've been up to?! This first pictures explain a lot of what our energy has gone towards for the last week or more! Thanks to my parents, my brother, Ed, Dustin's parents and his brother we have officially moved out of the rental and now instead of 3 houses with our belongings we have just 2! I wish our Mayflower movers could have been here to assist us this time too!
We enjoyed Christmas at mom and dad's and Rich's retirement party too, some people enjoyed it more than others and didn't feel so well the next morning, but I won't name any names or else he may get upset!  I guess he deserved a night out after all his hard work on the house!
We are back at it again and in full force.  My mom was here until Monday helping to organize and get our chaotic life a little more on track!  Thanks mom!!  Dustin's parents hit the high road on Sunday for warmer weather and are secretly hoping our house is complete and they can have their own home back free of clutter, laundry, and hungry mouths! 

Dustin has almost completed the tiling job in the kitchen. It's a lot of work for one person, but he's been a trooper blisters and all!   Brooklyn and I on the other hand have been painting to our hearts content in the bathroom. I will give you a glimpse of it, but it's far from complete.  I have not had the best reviews on the color choice, but good news is they don't have to live there and there is a 1970s bathroom in the basement if they need more a netural tone to do their business in! The new bathroom is a beautiful red accent wall with a tan color to tone it down. Dustin says it looks like ketchup sprayed on the walls and wanted to know if I was going to do one wall mustard yellow and the other relish green! Not a bad idea, but I can't seem to find a shower curtain with hotdogs on it, so I'll stick to my original design!

As far as the kitchen you can see in the first picture we've put sheet rock up and the ceiling is patched in.  Now just to paint the ceilings, walls, finish the tile floor (grouting & sealing) and the kitchen will be ready to install! Woot woot!!  I can't wait!  The cabinents are patiently waiting in the garage, me on the other hand am getting slightly impatient, but I haven't revealed my emotions in fear of irritating the help! He's pretty cheap, just make sure you feed him and have Dt. Mt Dew on hand and he's content to work minus the few complaints of stiff back, blistered hands, and sore shoulders! I love you honey! 

The above pictures are just of the hallway down to Brooklyn's room and of the new carpet and Dustin's tiling! I think he would rather I wouldn't have asked for a design in the tile and just did the 12X12 or 18X18 tiles as we originally envisioned!  He'd probably be done and moved on to the next task! Oh well..for better for worse he's committed to me and knows if momma ain't happy ain't nobody happy! It's going to look so nice when it's completed.  

You are probably wondering if we've seen the marriage counselor yet...happy to say we haven't called on him/her yet. No major "discussions" as of now, but this project isn't over yet. Stay tuned for the rest of the story!