So I wrote a long, long post last week

And it did not save.  Loosing motivation on blog.  Will try to rewrite tomorrow!!

Day #2

Officially I am 2 days in to my full time mom status.  I am sitting here while Abby naps and Jace is at a friends house writing this blog so I don't feel guilty for sitting still.  

On Monday, I watched Abby give Finley a stick of butter at breakfast and her laugh when I asked her "why?"  

 We met up with 10 or so friends at a park to play in the spray ground and fields.  

I have organized our winter closet and played catch in the backyard.  Swim team and grilled dinner at the pool.  At the pool negotiated with a 3 year old to wear her floaty (which last summer I did not win that battle once).  You don't understand how this may have been my biggest accomplishment this year.  

8:00 pm yoga class.   Ended the day with a class of wine (it was strange to not open a computer).  

Today Abby went to a half day "Tiny Chefs" camp so I could take Jace to be assessed for elementary school.  Dropped Jace off at a friends house to quickly get Abby to start the laundry and packing to leave for Atlanta first thing in the morning.  So I guess that means I need to stand up now and get started on packing.  Standing up before I loose motivation.  

Blogging

On Friday, I shut down my computer for 3 months.  There is a law in which after 2 years of contracting for a company, you have to take a 90 day break.  So here I am, 2 years later, taking my break.  I have had babies over the last 6 years which fell during those needed breaks but no baby this time.  I will actually get to sleep during this break ;)

I decided to pick up my blog again.  Mainly so I don't annoy our family or friends with way too many text messages or Instagram posts about our summer adventures.  Also - I have lots of "to do's" this summer and maybe if I write them down someone will hold me accountable. You know like - having a picture of Abby printed in the house that shows her past the age of 6 months or unpacking those boxes in the basement from when we moved 2 1/2 years ago.  

It's gonna be strange not working but fun to hang with the kids.  You probably will get super bored reading this but it will help me remember that summer that I hung with my minature humans......

Finishing touches

We had a little bit of motivation this weekend.  We continue to work on finishing touches.  This could last us a couple of months.  Our "to do" list looks something like this and continues to get longer . . .

We were able to get some of the finishing touches done on some of the customized features of the kitchen.  Beside the pantry is a fake cabinet.  The inside of the cabinet is a cork board.  This took cork tiles and then rolled cork with spray adhesive to complete.  

The top door will have a dry erase board.  They don't make one in this size so we have to figure out how to make this.

This is the inside the fake cabinet.  It is mini mudroom.  We recently added the shelf below the electric outlet to hold phones and jay's wallet.  It was a spice rack from ikea which took 3 coats of paint to get it to match but at least it is done.  We found the basket from Homegoods.

We also did some other random items from the list.  Some of the touch up painting included the back door trim.

It was a fun weekend.  Took the kids to the Zoo on Friday.  We hung out with our neighbors on Friday night an met up with them at a festival on Saturday.  We went hiking off the GW Parkway today.  When will our life not be so exhausting?

Let's get organized, organized. Come on let's get organized.

We are trying to get organized as we unpack.  Which led to a Saturday trip to IKEA.  We did not do that much work this weekend.  Just some organizing. 

This is a closet in the basement.  Shelving from IKEA.  

We would have gotten more accomplished but we went out with Jay's brother and girlfriend.  We had a great time but realized we are old.  We could barely function today we were so tired.  We went to a birthday party for one of Jace's friends.  That is the only time we left the house.   

Time for bed.  Goodnight. 

Basement bathroom

We are gradually getting the basement finished.  The basement which was for the most part unfinished included adding finished space with a full bath, laundry room, main space (office/playroom), and we kept an area unfinished for storage.

Currently I am trying to unpack the unfinished area which includes many boxes from our move but also all of the stuff we stored in the basement during the renovation.

• Renovation Lesson #48 - don't leave anything in an area that is being renovated.  Get a storage unit.  

Everything that was stored in our basement during the renovation (even covered in plastic) is so dirty.  Luckily we have a bath tub in the basement now so . . . . everything is getting a bath.

(You may be wondering about the squirrel head.  It is a mask.  It was giving to us so we could screw with Finley.)

So this is the bathroom in the basement.  Hard to show before since this space pretty much did not exist but here you go. . . . .

Before

  

After

Bathroom details:  paint color - Benjamin moore Manchester Tan, shower tile - home depot cheap subway tile, floor tile - lowes, toilet kohler, vanity home depot, mirror (clearance section $10 Lowes), shower curtain - Target from Raleigh bathroom, faucet and shower head - Pegasus (build.com which is our new favorite place to buy things from for the house), and accessories Homegoods.

And here are some pictures along the way . . . 

Main level bathroom renovation

We renovated the main level bathroom as part of the overall renovation.  The overall bathroom size increased to accommodate the addition of a shower.  Here are some pictures of the bathroom renovation (hard to get a good angle).

Before

After

The wall color is Benjamin Moore Glass Slipper.  The shower door, toilet, and pedestal sink are Kohler.  The light is Capital Lighting.  All the accessories came from HomeGoods.  

I feel bad for the guests that came before the renovation.  We only had one shower in the house.  Now you get your very own!  

Here are some pics from along the way . . . .