A lot of nights, alone.

It's summer which means no more Glee, no more American Idol and no more Parenthood (these are all TV shows for some of you over 50...). I love summer because of the warm days, trips to the park, hiking, biking, walks with friends but I also get really contemplative when the TV isn't on. With Nathan gone every night to work on the house, it gets worse. Tonight I'm going to be real honest on this blog, I miss people. I think as a mom my relationships have changed so much. Several key friends moved right before Harrison was born and my best friend of all time, I haven't lived in the same state with since high school. I am the WORST at keeping up with people especially if it means picking up the phone. I find myself on Facebook way too often just hoping to read something a good friend of mine will post, just to get a glimpse as to what's going on in their life. It's my way of keeping up with them... It's a terrible way... It's summer, no TV, no hubby, a sleeping toddler and me, left to think.

I was also struck tonight when I went to search for a friend on Facebook who I haven't seen or talked to in over a year and she was gone. No more Facebook. It hit me. I've been a bad friend. I should have picked up the phone a long time ago. I always worry it's been too long every time I think about doing so and then I don't. But here I am, on the blog, writing to way too many people about what I'm thinking.

Anyway, for all of you who I have lost touch with, I have never stopped thinking about you. No matter who you are, you've left an imprint on my heart and have forever changed me. I miss you more than you'll know. Don't quit Facebook, otherwise I'll feel like I've lost you, for good! :)

Now... I need to find something to keep me from thinking!!!! :)

I'm starting a summer book club with a few women from my church. I'm really looking forward to reading.

-Me

CABINETS!

Yes, the title of this blog is in all caps because I'm that excited that our cabinets are installed. I'm also excited that they look better than what I expected and that the paint compliments them really well. It gives me hope for the rest of the house. I tend to second guess my interior design skills so it's kind of nice when it comes together and I can breathe a relaxing breath. Here are the pictures:

Painting is taking a lot more time than I expected and the last few days have been more about taking time to fix things that we didn't expect rather than doing what we had planned to do. I'm starting to get anxious again about moving in on the 15th. I'm nervous it wont be ready. Praying, praying, praying.

XOXO

May 15th, 2011

Yesterday I painted with my friends Ashley and Lindsey. Today Ashley and her husband Chris watched Harrison while Nathan and I continued to paint. Don't worry, I googled "painting while pregnant" and the American Pregnancy Association said to wear a mask and only paint in well ventilated areas, I followed both suggestions. No pictures of paint yet because we only painted primer but the good news is, all of the ceilings, the kitchen, the master bedroom and master bath are primed. Paint starts tonight. Nathan's there by himself but I'm sure he's blasting the music.

Evidence of today's work:

Here are our cabinets:

Saturday they come out of the box.

Here is the lovely work my father-inlaw did on the basement. He removed all of the really weird wood paneling. My co-worker suggested we keep it and just add a disco ball, I wasn't sure about how that would affect resale.

There are two things I would like to point out about this picture, the walls are textured and the can lights are in!

The backing is up around the master bath. Once we are finished painting we'll add the tile. The goal is Sunday/Monday of next week.

Lastly, very little purple left. This pictures gives more justice to the texture:

Now on the Harrison front. BED HEAD!

Nathan took him out of his crib and rushed down the stairs to show me what yesterday's nap created. I love being there right when he wakes up.

The goal for this week, to take pictures of us all in action including our helpers. There are many more blogs to come now that I'm not grading and barely working (summer is a bit quiet in the office).

Nathan just texted and update, the kitchen ceiling is now butter cream (paint color).

Quick shout out: Thanks Grandma Bev, painting wouldn't be possible without you :)

XOXOXO

Newest House Pictures

Sorry, it's underlining again.

This is kind of a boring picture but important none the less. This is all the wood it took to re-build the very broken and old fence.

No more underlining, thank you Blogger.

Here are all our old windows. A friend from church actually took the metal and sold it. He also is in chronic severe pain from a surgery gone wrong yet came over several times to help however he could. His servant heart is amazing and we are so thankful that he's spent some of it on us. We are so thankful for him and the many other's who have helped us. We look forward to when we can help in return.

The door frames to our bathrooms were oddly small so we opened the doors. This is the new framing Nathan did for the doors.

Here I am, working on the wallpaper. I was thankful for an easy job ;)

This is the new drywall around the window that Nathan built up. Also note the new plumbing Nathan built the drywall around.

Here is our very FULL dumpster. I can't believe it's full! I really thought we would only fill it half way at best.

This is not our living room but our inspiration. We hope to make our fireplace look like this.

This is our current fireplace.

Nathan decided to take action.

Ta da!

There are many more pictures to come.

We did pay someone to finish our drywall and retexture the whole house. What would have taken us weeks took them a total of six hours over three days. It was definitely worth it!

Today we started priming. Nathan's there now working on priming the kitchen.

I have found out a deep truth about myself in this process, I can not not be involved. I can't sit at home with Harrison while the count down begins to the move in day, I have to pick up a hammer, or wall paper remover solution or a paint brush. It helps me not worry. I am SO thankful for the friends who have watched Harrison. I'm excited for the the day when there's carpet and we can all be there working on the house, as a family. As of now, too many staples, screws, nails texture dust and paint for Harrison to walk around safely and breath safely.

Nathan turns 30 this week, I think this has been an addictive hobby for him because all he wants for his birthday is to work on the house. I love my very handy husband!

Until the next blog.

No longer a baby...

When Nathan e-mailed me this clip it caught me off guard. Right away I realized, Harrison is no longer a baby he's a little man.

I've realized more and more this week how much of a BOY Harrison now is. He's changed from reading books where I just say what's in the picture to full stories. His favorite is The Diary of a Worm which a co-worker gave me at my shower. He's drinking from a real cup. He insists on brushing his own teeth. He's talking a whole lot more, using some words I recognize and some I don't but he mostly uses full sentences. When he knows daddy is on the phone he insists on talking to him and he does. He tells him about his day and says bye when he's done. He hums to music. He wants to carry anything I'm carrying and he's running everywhere he goes. No more walking, only running! What caught me off guard this week was his interaction with the other kids at church. On sunday I was talking with a friend and noticed Harrison actually playing with the other boys that were a year or two older than him. He was laughing at them, talking at them (not with them since they can't understand him) and chasing them. He typically stands by the wayside watching but Sunday he decided to get involved. I'm still amazed.

I love being a mom and Nathan is the best dad in the world. Harrison is always asking for his daddy. I'm treasuring every moment and sometimes I wish time would just stand still. I also remind myself when Harrison is screaming/whining while we make dinner every night, that this will be gone in a flash.

He was this:

Then an infant:

My baby boy:

My little man!