Happy Day

Jim's brother John came to help us with our house today and brought along his family. Valerie and baby Sage entertained Lilly and I while John worked hard on making things better at our new house.

Of course Sage came dressed in her adorable Penn State cheer outfit, so we had to get some pictures. Lilly loves to hold babies and Sage was the perfect baby to hold. When Johnny came to visit at 14 months Lilly really wanted to hold him, until she realized he weighed more than her and could knock her over with a hug.

While the girls were being cute John and Jim were hard at work making our house better. He took out the 1970's florescent light fixture that hummed out of our kitchen and replaced it with track lighting.

(I didn't think about before and after pictures until well after, so here is the big wood frame that housed said 1970's light fixture.)
Here is the new track lighting! We still need to paint the ceiling and fill the holes, but doesn't it look fantastic??

He then updated our ceiling fan for us in the living room. I can't believe what a difference it made.

(Again, I didn't really plan out the pictures. Here is our old white fan with gold trim in pieces on the floor)

Here is our new fan which just looks great!

The most exciting project of the day was the garbage disposal John installed into our kitchen. I am very happy.

After the lighting updates I now want to update every single light fixture in the house. John doesn't live with us and we don't feel totally comfortable playing with electricity so that will take some time.

Thank you John!!!! We owe you big time!

Last Day of Vacation

On the way home from the beach we went to the Air and Space Museum out at Dulles Airport and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Both were really fun and very exhausting.

Sitting on Jefferson Rock at Harpers Ferry

At the John Brown site

Air and Space (Jim and Lilly learning how to fly the Cessna)

More Beach Pictures

Worth it.

We went to the beach last week with our good friends. We had a wonderful time and managed to do some damage to our camera getting these shots:I think the damage was worth it.

Saturday

I happened on to this picture today of Jim and Lilly.

It's hard to remember her that tiny.

She's very grown up now and tells us that daily. She and Jim spent the entire day outside. Jim worked on the lawn and garden while Lilly played her little heart out with her new friend next door. She didn't have much interest in us today, her friend and pool kept her plenty busy.

At the end of the day we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows in our fire pit. It was a pretty good summer day. They wore themselves out completely and promptly went to bed at 7pm. (Where was I all day? I worked in doors, with a good nap in the middle.)

Our house is still a wreck, but little gems of a happy functional home are popping up here and there. I organized the office space and my computer is finally off the ground and in it's proper place. Some books are on a shelf and storage bins are put away in their appropriate closets. I have all sorts of grand schemes of design with new drapes, paint, crown molding and new lighting fixtures. It will take a long time to get it all worked out, but that's ok.

Happy second chance father's day tomorrow.

P.S.- My brother thought I was just a jerk and didn't care about Father's day. So not the case - I didn't forget at all, it was just such an insane weekend that it didn't get the proper attention it deserved. Just wanted to clear that up in case the rest of you thought the same.

Father's Day? Are you sure?

Word on the street is that last Sunday was Father's day. What? No, last Sunday was the day after we moved. Not a holiday in which I am responsible for celebrating the father of my child.


My friend Katie posted on her blog that she didn't have the greatest Father's day and it made me feel so much better. I kind of blew father's day in my house, of course Jim swears up and down that it was fine, but he's just sweet.

I am going to attempt a re-do this Sunday complete with Rita's Italian Ice and whatever food Jim fancies that day.


Jim has saved us every single day this week from his toddler and not-very-helpful-pregnant-crazy-wife. He has fixed things, planted gardens, worked on the house and yard, and saved us all when he unlocked our bathroom door. He has put together furniture, assembled things, done serious manual labor all to the sounds of whining women coming from his new home.

After Jim unlocked the bathroom door Lilly jumped up and down and said "you're our hero!" it was adorable. However, a few minutes later when Jim couldn't get the jammed door open again Lilly said "oh daddy's not our hero anymore."

Don't worry, it's so not true.

Just moved

We moved last Saturday for the 6th time in our marriage. This time was very different because we moved into a house that we own. There comes with home owning all this freedom and opportunity, but mostly scary responsibility that I don't want. If you put a hole in the wall it's ok because no one will charge you for it, but that's because you have to fix it.

Sadly moving and pregnancy don't mix. Pregnancy makes me...super crazy; and moving adds to the craziness making everything worse.

We're still trying to find homes for our belongings, which is always the most disconcerting part of moving. Where do your cups go and where should you put your shoe rack. Luckily, those are minor adjustments that require no tools or manual labor. I wish I could say the same for the rest of home owning.

We have been to the hardware store every single day this week for something else we needed. I already have my hardware store list for tomorrow. It's so bad that Lilly was begging me for a copper bolt last time we went, then relented and put it on her birthday list.

The wonderful thing about our property is the yard. We are set for summer with a fire pit, swing, play set (thank you Dymond family), sand box, kiddie pool, and grass. It will be great to have friends and family over. Sadly though, you're not invited. No one is aloud in my house for a long time. There is too much renovation, painting, furniture arranging, and organizing that needs to happen. It's ok, I have come to peace with that and I just wont let anyone inside until I am good and ready.