Moving pep talk and a poop face

In an effort to put off packing for a few minutes, I have decided to compile a list of fun aspects involved in moving. (Note: this is to convince myself that I am having fun more than anything else, kind of like a pep talk).

1. I have already taken two trips to the thrift store to donate some stuff that we just don't use. We aren't going to have a big storage room in the new house, and I really don't like clutter, so this is a good way to sort and organize EVERYTHING.

2. It's fun to come across random boxes that Liam has decided to pack for me. I will list the contents of one such box: my hair brush, a toy car, a wooden block, a picture book, one sandal and a box of band aids. The kid's a quick learner.

3. If there is something that has been missing for a while you're bound to come across it sooner or later!

4. There is nothing more exciting than packing something you don't think you will need in the next little while, only to discover that you really could use it right about now.

5. I get a bit of a break from cooking meals that are up to my usual gourmet standards. Four courses just is a little too much when you spend your free time packing (or stalling like I am doing right now).

I will leave you with a picture of Liam's poop face. It's usually quite the ordeal when he has to poop, the face goes red, he grunts, clings onto something to give him support and goes at it. The other day he did it while we were at the bank, attracting a fair amount of attention. He did what I think any little boy would do in his situation, he hammed it up even more.

progress...

Things are coming along at our place, the painting has started, the hardwood floor is going in soon, and the new railing is being installed as I type. The excavator started today too! We are digging an entrance to the basement for the suite, as well as fixing up the yard. Although it looks worse right now, I promise it will look better at some point (it really can only get better looking from here):



You can hardly see the excavator in this jungle!


Other than that we are up to our elbows (or for some of us over our heads) in boxes! I'm trying to pack up and clean our current house so that on moving day we are extremely organized and can move without a hitch (here is to hoping). Liam is still sharpening his packing skills, he is remarkably good at re-arranging my already packed boxes. Boy, if I thought moving was busy enough, trying to do it with a very active 14 month old just adds a whole new level of excitement!


That's all for now, I need to keep packing. But I will upload some more pictures as I take them! Oh I should note, instead of buying moving boxes we just get them from the liquor store, so no these boxes are not representative of our weekend habits :)

Liam's bedroom

The house is coming along nicely! So far we are on schedule, which is always really nice, especially when you are moving in on a set date regardless of how much is finished.

Here is a picture of the kitchen so far, the drywall went up yesterday:



The bathroom also has drywall, but I couldn't get a good picture of it because it was a little dark in there.

In the mean time I will post a few pictures of what I have been up to in the past months. I actually made this clock when I was pregnant with Liam, but recently updated the colours on it so that it will work in his new bedroom. Its inspiration comes from this Eames clock that was a little too expensive, and not exactly the colours I wanted (but oh so beautiful):
Here is the one I made (with some drilling help from Jake). Not exactly the same, but as close as I could get to it:


Chances are if you have been over recently I would have showed you these pictures I have for Liam's new bedroom. I found a book at the thrift store with great pictures, and painted some IKEA frames orange to go with them. There are eight of them in total, and will go on his wall in his new room.


And then in the weeks before we got possession of our house I made this quilt to go on Liam's bed.


So that's a good portion of what will be in his new bedroom! I love children rooms, and figured this would be a fun way to update his nursery with the move.

I will be adding more pictures of the house in a few days, we had some trees removed in the front and back of the house, and ripped out the basement for the suite so there is going to be lots more progress in the next little while. And later next week we get to start on the flooring and the finishing!

it has only just begun

We got possession of our new house yesterday! Jake and I are very excited, and couldn't wait to get to work on it. Its only been 29 hours and already so much has happened. We have had so many family and friends out to help, and we are incredibly thankful for them having given up a few hours of their weekend to help us out.

I'll share a few pictures of what we have been up to, and since I took these already so much more has changed. It is a little sad that it takes only two days to gut a house, but its going to take a month to put it all back again!

Here is a picture of the kitchen yesterday afternoon:


And one from this afternoon: (Since taking this picture the drywall has all been removed)


Here is the bathroom yesterday:


And the bathroom this afternoon:



I also took a picture of the yard, because I didn't have one last time I posted pictures of the house. This just gives you an idea of how big it is. I stood at the back of the yard and took this picture:


And finally, one of my favorite finds in the house so far, the many different layers of laminate. If only we could have salvaged that beautiful green and orange one. (sigh)

Book Display

Liam's number one favorite thing to do would probably be the slide at the park, but on rainy days when we can't go outside, his second favorite thing would be reading books. We could sit for hours and read books, he goes and gets one off the bookshelf, brings it to me and we read it.


This usually ends up with a big pile of books on the floor as he sifts through them, picks one, and then dumps the rest. I figured if I made a book display this would help him see the fronts of the books, and only take out the one he is looking for. I found the plans for this on an amazing site my sister Rachel told me about, here.


It was pretty easy to make, and a purchased one from Pottery Barn would have cost me $119 American, while this one only cost me $16.99 for the materials. The plans were very detailed, even including a cut list, and Home Depot did the majority of my cuts for me for free! I do have to give Jake some credit here, as he taught me what a counter sink was, so that I didn't split the wood when drilling into it. And so far Liam really likes it, he loves taking the books off and putting them back on again.

It has been almost a year!

It's been one year since our first visit with the neurosurgeon at Children's Hospital, and looking back now I can't believe how quickly we have gotten to this point! It is also getting close to five months since his surgery date as well!

For a year the words Metopic Craniosynostosis were always on my mind, not a day went by that I didn't think about it. I can still remember that first visit pretty clearly, and everything that happened between then and the surgery. They were some pretty intense times, but now I can look back with an overwhelming thankfulness, and a huge sense of relief! Not only did Liam's surgery go well, the doctors told me on our last check up that Liam would likely be in the top ten percent in terms of how well he has healed, how good he looks and how everything worked out for him.

Plus, I haven't thought much about Craniosynostosis at all these past weeks. Except I have this weird tendency, I cant help but study people's foreheads, especially babies.

Here are some pictures of his beautiful forehead!


He is learning to feed himself, so excuse the jam all over his face!



Um, when did he get so big? His first haircut! (I was pretty sad to see it go to be honest).

Finished at last...

Liam has been getting up at 6:30 every morning for a while now, which means that I have that many more hours in a day to get some things done! This side table is a good example, I had started it a few weeks ago, but never got around to finishing it completely. This morning I did just that.

I didn't think to take a before picture, so you will just have to imagine it. I found it at the salvation army, with a slightly broken drawer, in a boring Ikea wood finish. Fix it up, add some paint, wheels and new hardware and you get this:


I also added a toilet paper dispenser to hold my ribbon for easy access. Also, this isn't just any black paint, it happens to be chalkboard paint! (Which I recently discovered and am in love with)


Now not only can I label the drawers with the contents, Liam can have some fun with it too!