Updates from Babyland!

Welcome back blog readers!!  So, here's the thing.  I started writing a status update on facebook about the babe, and realized that I was basically writing a blog post.  I'm not going to be writing every day like I used to, and I'm not going to promise it'll be anything but baby info for the family members that ask, but I'm bringing A Day in the Life back to life!  I'm also not going to do a giant "catch up" post because chances are, even if you only occasionally peek at my facebook, you have some sort of idea as to what's been going on.  Namely: a baby.  Without further ado, here is what I was going to post, and what will from here on out be a (hopefully) weekly Sunday night feature: Updates from Babyland!

Updates from babyland (10 weeks old): This week I officially packed up the last of her newborn clothes and diapers and we transitioned into full time 0-3 and 3 month clothes wearing!  They don't fit her great (mostly because they're too wide), but the added length is nice for her fancy new big girl cloth diapers! 

She discovered her tongue this week and sticks it out pretty much all of the time and licks everything.  It's pretty funny and we laugh that she learned from Lila :)

We have one week down taking acid reflux medication and it's making a HUGE difference, even if we're not a fan of the weird peppermint flavor.  The spitting up, grunting, flailing, and overall fussiness surrounding the constant feedings has all but disappeared.  She was even able to put herself to sleep a few times this week while laying down instead of having to be propped! We may be on our way to a self soother soon!  I was cooking dinner last night while she was in her bouncer, looked over, and was shocked to see that she had fallen asleep!  This is progress people!

I started keeping track and timing her naps throughout the day today, and will continue to do so for the rest of the week.  We're hoping she's establishing some kind of sleep pattern on her own that we can try and predict without having to "force" nap times or feel like we have no idea what our day is going to look like.  We have a pretty good morning routine down including a nap around 11:30, but honestly I think the rest of the day is a blur for both of us so hopefully this helps.

To close out the week - Has anyone ever taken an infant on a boat?  Did you get them a life vest?  Emmalyn is only 2.5 months and roughly 11 pounds, but will be taking her maiden voyage soon and we're not sure the best way to keep her safe (in all honesty she would probably be fine just in our arms, but I want to do the right thing here).

Renovation Details

Ok, so now that you've seen the onslaught of before and after pictures, I'll give you the deets.  We're nearly done with the main renovations upstairs! Yippee!  We've painted, put in laminate floors, new baseboard and door moulding, curtain rods, curtains, and the best part - finally unpacked!!!!  It's pretty much the best feeling in the world.  None of the the rooms are completely finished (still need a dining room table that's not plastic, the green room needs a round rug and the yellow room needs a comforter etc. etc.) but we're nearly there! 

The next month and a half we're really going to focus on putting in doors (thank goodness), and finishing up the yard.  We got to a good start when my dad came to visit at the beginning of August, but fall is for pruning and laying sod.  I'm sure the neighbors will appreciate us getting rid of the dirt back yard :)  Depending on Colin's work situation, we're holding off on bathrooms until we get solidified word on what his schedule is (more on this once that word is passed to us). 

A few weeks ago we got a ton of quotes from window installation companies, but none of them were really within our budget or made us jump to get it done, so we're still looking around.  Our neighbors said a great local company installed their new windows a few years ago at a very reasonable price, so we're going to see what they can do for us before we decide if we'll be doing them this season, or in the spring (realistically, it'll probably be spring). 

All in all, it's been a really crazy few months, but putting all of this work into the house and watching it come back to life has been an amazing experience.  Now that we're at a point where everything is livable again, we absolutely love this house and can't imagine moving away (uh oh).  It's been so wonderful to have this time to really put the work in ourselves and be able to do it together. 

Now that we're almost done, you'll have to make some time to come visit and see it in person (especially if you saw it when it looked like we were in way over our heads!).   What's your favorite transformation so far?

Backyard Makeover

 

 

Master Bedroom Renovations (sorry for poor picture quality on this one)

Pink Room Renovations

Yellow Bedroom Renovations

Hallway Renovations

Living Room Renovations

Dining Room Renovation

I am officially the worst blogger.

I've had some long breaks from blogging before, but I'm pretty sure this one takes the cake.  I promise you though, there is good reason!  Not only have we been kicking butt on the house during the week, but we've also been spending the weekends with all of the wonderful people that we love and missed over the last two years! (If we haven't spent a weekend with you yet, it's not that we don't love you, or that we didn't miss you, it's that we're saving the best for last!) 

I'm going to spend the rest of this post sharing pictures from our fun adventures over the past two months.  However, I have to preface this by saying that I wasn't the best at capturing every little detail this summer.  Sorry.  And most of the pictures are of the new best thing in my life little Lydia Hutchinson (so sue me, she's an adorable baby).  Check back for updates on each and every room in the house as the night progresses!  Happy Labor Day!

We spent a long weekend with Colin's sister Kristy and her husband Aaron, and the only pictures I came away with were of their adorable little hedgehog Oxford.

Kristy made me this sweet hat.  And I'm sorry I made you so jealous wearing it while holding that adorable little animal.

Let the Lydia show commence:

Sure there's a baby now, but we're all still the same crazies.