Lissa's blog

If you're dying to know what's going on with the house, here's the skinny.  I will post updates once a week, usually on Wednesdays. We were told to expect about a seventy-day build, so there will probably be about ten updates (and then a thousand more pictures as we move in and decorate ). 

Here is what our house looks like after a week.  It's pretty funny because I go out there in the mid-afternoon each day with Brennan, and although work clearly gets done, Brennan has yet to see a real construction worker on our lot.  One of these days we'll actually catch someone doing something! 

Last Wednesday the trenches were dug and filled, and for about a week the lot looked like this, but with tons of mud and water, thanks to the constant rain:

It has finally dried out, and hopefully the foundation and footers will be totally done in this next week so framing can get started. 

In other news, our current house is rented out beginning June 15th, which is awesome on many levels.  Obviously it's great because our new house is supposed to be done in May, so we won't be homeless. It's also terrific because we don't have to prepare for showings anymore, and I can start packing things up without worrying about people walking through the house.  All-around good news.  

We are a tenth of the way in, and things are finally moving! We're very excited!

As soon as we signed the purchase agreement on our house, I headed straight to my favorite fabric stores to pick up swatches for the window treatments I would be making for virtually every room in the house.  It was so fun!  Now I have made some decisions and even have a few months in which I could start making those drapes and curtains, but I don't dare spend the money on fabric.  I make real window treatments and not Nesterized "mistreatments," and I don't have exact measurements on the completed windows yet, so don't want to regret anything. Plus, we need to save our money for crazy closing costs.

So.  I am thinking about other projects I can do that will make our home beautiful and can be done ahead of time for less cash.  One project I have been wanting to do forever is painting the kitchen table.  Here is what it looks like right now:

Our new kitchen is going to have black appliances and an island with an overhang. These are the counter stools I really want to get from my favorite place, Ballard Designs:

I have never loved the orangey color of our kitchen table, but I do love the style.   I have thought about painting it black, which I know would look good with the black appliances and the bar stools.  It would also look good with our furniture in the family room, which is mostly red and tan.  (I was thinking about throwing in some black patterned accents, like throw pillows on the checked couch.)

I feel confident that the black would look good, but I think Jim will be a hard sell.  I don't get the impression that he ever prefers paint over stain (am I wrong, honey?).  Also, I can't decide whether to leave the tabletop and seats stained like this:

or to go all-black like this:

So, this is where you come in.  Tell me your thoughts.  Should I paint the table?  Should I leave the top stained as is, or should I go all black?  Should I go solid or distress it to let some wood color show through?  Keep in mind that I am impatient and inexperienced at refinishing
furniture, and I have a five-month-old, so this cannot take a super long time or require tons of elbow grease.  Here's another shot of the table so you can think:

Okay... go!

The next time I post a picture of this lot, it won't be empty anymore!  We had a construction meeting today with the project manager for our
new house, and things are finally getting started! 

I had no idea what to expect at today's meeting, and mostly it was a lot of construction talk that went right over my head.  But the one thing I did understand was when Ryan said, "We're going to pour the foundation this week."  This week?  Awesome!!!  Even crazier is that at the end of the meeting, when we went out to look at the lot with him, several guys showed up and started putting up some kind of black plastic sheeting around the lot.  At that point Ryan said that they were trying to beat the rain and could possibly start pouring today.  We were shocked.  Today??? 

Well, I don't think they poured the foundation today (they said they would email us if they did it), but it will be done soon.  By this time next week it should be well under way, and by the end of the month we should see a house!  Of course, it won't have drywall or anything, but there will be an actual structure sitting on the lot, and that is exciting!

Originally we were told that the house would be done around the first week in May, but now we're look at the middle or end of May.  That's more what I expected anyway.  Hopefully we won't have a ton of spring rain hold us up more than that, because we want to be out of this house by mid-June at the latest.  

Which leads me to the other news for today.

We found out last night that our landlady has already listed this house for rent (we thought she was going to sell, but she must have changed her mind).  Then, I got a phone call this afternoon that there is a showing tomorrow afternoon at 2:00.  Um, what?  I have two children, two cats, and a dog, and my husband has to be at work at 4 AM.  How on earth am I going to make this happen? I haven't even done prep work for a first showing!

My mantra today has been, "I can only do what I can do."  I have been chanting it in my head all day long.  I will give my best effort to not leave layers of dust or dirt or piles of toys for the world to see, but I certainly can't make the house look as perfect as I would like.  And that will have to be okay.  I am going to focus on daydreaming about my new home which is finally going to become a reality, whether this house gets rented or not.  It is a nice position to be in.

Okay, this was a long enough break.  I'm off to clean and get ready for tomorrow.  After that I'll be dreaming about my house (until Cora wakes me for her a midnight snack). Hope you have pleasant dreams too!

The past two weeks have brought a ton of milestones for little Cora!  In just a short time she has learned to squeal with delight at the pets, roll over, eat rice cereal and infant oatmeal, and sit unsupported for a few seconds at a time!  She is trying to tuck her knees up under her so she can learn to crawl, and last night she slept from 10 PM until 4:30 AM without waking for food! 

Here's a video of Cora sitting up yesterday.  Her balance has already gotten better since the video was shot! It won't be long before she's mobile! (Eek!)

Look who woke up in her own bed this morning!  I only had to make two trips up there in the middle of the night - once to put a pacifier back in Cora's mouth, and once to feed her.  She was up there from 7 PM until 7 AM!  It was wonderful to be able to walk through our bedroom without having to whisper, tiptoe, or keep the lights down low.  I could get ready for bed without worrying that I'd wake her, I could watch television in my own room, and I could have a conversation with my husband! 

Two months ago I didn't think Cora would ever learn to sleep flat on her back, and a month ago I never thought I would be able to put her in her own room.  Hopefully this means that my fears that she'll never sleep through the night are wrong, as well? 

Brennan loves that he is growing up.  Every day he says, "I am getting bigger and taller!"  It's true, and both of our kids have been showing us just how big they've gotten this week.  Cora has figured out how to roll over, and she loves putting her new skills to the test.  It seems like every time I turn around she is on her stomach!

Brennan has made huge strides in recent months and weeks, and he is finally trying new foods more willingly.  Just this week he has eaten meatloaf (he calls it "beefloaf"), a meatball, pot roast, and baked chicken.  The real kicker is that he has decided he likes broccoli, and he asked me to cook him some for a snack this week!  I almost cried, I was so happy!   He has tried a few vegetables, but so far the only fruits and vegetables he really likes are apples and broccoli.  (Hey, that's two more than he was willing to eat six months ago!)

While we're on the subject of food, Cora has started rice cereal and seems to enjoy it.  After discovering (the hard way ) that Gerber rice cereal contains both soy and milk, we now use Beech-Nut and have a much happier baby.  Currently we're experimenting with the cereal once a day, mostly just trying to slow down her spit-up habits, but since Cora will be five months on Monday, we will start introducing other baby food into her diet sometime in the next several weeks.  Should be interesting...

Potty training has been going much better for Brennan, and yesterday was the first accident I can remember in a long time.  (I take a little responsibility because I had forgotten to ask him if he needed to go.)  I suppose it is now time to try to kick the nighttime water habits and work on overnight potty training.  (Ugh.)

Brennan is a fantastic big brother, and he enjoys keeping Cora company while she plays in her Excersaucer (her favorite thing in the world, next to my arms).  He is a terrific encourager, too.  He praises Cora for every little thing she does.  (One day, when she successfully made her toy play music, he said, "Cora!  You're doing it!  You're a hero!")  He likes to tickle her and make her giggle, bring her toys, and greet her every time she wakes up.  She is one lucky little girl, and I am one blessed mom.

And now I understand why every mom says, "They grow up too fast."  It is not just a cliche.

Yes, I am aware that I posted Valentine's Day photos without any text in my last post. That was actually my intention, though it apparently threw some of you for a loop! Sorry to confuse you!

I wanted to write more about the chair backers I made for the kids when I had some time to get better pictures.  So here it goes...

A couple of years ago Pottery Barn Kids had really adorable bags hanging from the backs of chairs, and I was in love.  But they were expensive and impractical, and now they are no longer available.  A few weeks ago I came across this great tutorial on how to make your own chair backers, and, in the spirit of all things Valentine, I decided to give it a whirl.  Snow days, sick kids, and other unpredictable events made it take a little longer than I had hoped, but in the end it was worth it. 

This was my first ever attempt at making a buttonhole.  I don't know why I thought it would be so hard.  It was easy peasy!

I have to give huge kudos to my friend, Gaylene, who made these with me.  It was her first ever sewing project since home ec. in junior high!  I was so impressed that she was willing to tackle something harder than a pillow as her first project!

All in all, I think they came out pretty darned cute.  Now, if only I had a sewing machine that did monogramming!

We're having another snow day today.  It stinks. Big. Time.  I wake up in the morning with such dread on days like this, wondering how I will entertain my children yet again without leaving the house.  (As I write this, Brennan is ironically singing, "Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, please shine down on me!")  I think this is our fifth (?) snow day in just a few weeks!  It's enough to make me ca-ray-zee.

I'm keeping myself entertained with thoughts of our new house.  I have fabric swatches and paint chips lying around everywhere, teasing and tormenting me, as it will be a long time before the house is built and we have enough money to do all of the things I want to do.   Nonetheless, I will plan and dream because it's half the fun.

We have a model home of our floor plan in Hendersonville, less than an hour from here.  I've been out to visit once, and Jim has been out twice.  On his second trip, Jim took a bunch of measurements and lots of pictures.  If you don't have a great imagination, it will be hard to picture how great the house will be beyond the crazy decorating in this model.  But you can try.

This is the formal living room (open to the dining room).  It is the first room on your left when you come in the front door.

This is the view from the front door with the living room and dining room on your left and the family room and kitchen straight through in the back:

Here's the view from the middle of the house looking forward:

To the right of the stairs is the entrance from the garage and a coat closet, and the closet to the left of the stairs is nice and deep.

Here's a view of the family room from the kitchen:

And below is obviously the kitchen.  We will have black appliances and different countertops, and the floor will be wood.  The cabinets will be about the same, and none of the paint in the house is what we will have (they're painting everything white and we'll paint colors ourselves).

All four bedrooms are upstairs (exactly what we wanted) as well as a play area for the kids and the laundry room!  (I'm so excited to have the laundry upstairs near all the bedrooms!)  There is also a huge storage closet off our bedroom (separate from the walk-in clothes closet).

The master bedroom is absolutely huge.  You can't even tell in this picture how gigantic it is:

It's fun to have time to think about how I will organize, decorate, and nest before the house is even built.  Knowing my sick personality, Jim took pictures for me of all of the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen so I could pre-plan where I would put everything before we ever move in.  (True love, I tell you.  I didn't even ask him to do this.) 

And I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to have this:

It's a walk-in pantry, and half of it is hidden in this picture!  I never dreamed of putting a walk-in pantry on my wish list because they are ridiculously uncommon.  But it is, along with the upstairs laundry, one of the things about which I am most excited!  Well, those things and this...

This is a study located just off the family room.  It's tiny, but it will be a dedicated space for my craft supplies.  It has a door on it, and there won't be a server or other computer equipment in it.   'Nuff said.

Now, if it would just quit snowing so that people could go to work and finish approving our loan, prepping our lot, and ordering our materials, we'd be much closer to making this house a reality!!

1. Brennan's self-portrait:

He says he is going to wear glasses "when he gets four years old."  Below his smile the three blobs are the "river" (stream) that will be behind our new house, a balloon, and an island.  I'm not sure why they're inside his face. 

2. Cora's sleep position:

There is so much to love about this.  First and foremost, it is significant to note that she is sleeping flat on her back!  She has done this every time she has slept for the past 48 hours!!  This, in and of itself, is a huge victory. 

Another victory, not as obvious, is the fact that Cora is now taking a pacifier when she falls asleep.  (It had fallen out by this point, but you can see it beside her.)  Again, huge. 

And the obvious cute reason I took the photo is the elephant lovey.  Cora really likes to have that thing over her face when she falls asleep.  It makes me nervous (I have suffocation and breathing hang-ups), so I always monitor her and move it when she is asleep, but I had to laugh at how effectively she used it just to cover her eyes for her nap yesterday.

It's the little things.