B is for Bluegrass

On our holiday trip to Louisville, we covered almost the entire alphabet...

A is for the Alphabet Song that we sang all the way there and back! Max loves to sing it, listen to it, and most importantly, dance and sway to it.

B for Bean Station, TN on our way to the Bluegrass State! Do you think they would like to have Bean Cat as Mayor?

C is for Cal, a baby we were so glad to finally meet!

Skipping ahead to...G for Guitar as Max learned to play!

J is for the insane number of J-named friends that we got to visit: Jasper, John, Josh, JB, and of course, little man Jack! (Not to leave out their wonderful significant others who actually read this, but your names don't conform to the system)

M and N are for Mike and Nana! We have always tried to get Max to call Mike "Papa Mike", but on this trip, he burst out immediately with just "Mike". I guess that's what he hears us call him :) Every few minutes, Max had to know what Nana and Mike were doing.

T is for Train - the pretend kind and the people kind! Thank you to Cooper for the fantastic gift of trains!

S is for Snow: Max got his first glimpse of snow this year when Louisville got a brief dusting.

Finally, Z is for Zumba: Mommy tried to accompany Nana to her Zumba class, but apparently it was too cold even for the teacher to show up!

True Gifts

Although Max got lots of these kinds of gifts from Santa, family, and friends...

This year we appreciated the true gifts of the season:

Hope

Faith

Joy

Peace

Merry Christmas!

The 12 Days of Christmas

On the First Day of Christmas, my true love said to me...

Ho, ho, ho!

On the Second Day of Christmas,

we finally got a tree!

On the Third Day of Christmas,

Max met some new friends!

On the Fourth Day of Christmas,

we watched Josh in a play!

On the Fifth Day of Christmas,

we started baking treats!

On the Sixth Day of Christmas,

we ate our goodies!

On the Seventh Day of Christmas,

we ate more cookies!

On the Eighth Day of Christmas,

we ate even more cookies!

(Okay, this is repetitive)

On the Ninth Day of Christmas,

we went caroling!

On the Tenth Day of Christmas,

we held the Christmas star "up high"!

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas,

we sang carols and prepared our hearts!

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas on Christmas Eve,

we handed out toys at Country Santa,

Read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas,

Left cookies for Santa

(the few that were left),

And relished the excitement of a 2 year old boy!

The Unveiling

At last, pictures of the final product! I really wanted to show the before and after pictures, but I do not have the patience or the time to upload all of those right now. Our internet connection is coming and going, so I thought it best to seize the opportunity while I had it. Obviously a lot of the major parts of the renovations, like the plumbing and electrical, are not evident. All of these pictures are pre-move and decorating except the dining room because it was still being painted when we moved in. Enjoy!

Our home

Foyer

Dining Room

Living Room

Den

This was the sunroom previously. We raised the floor to make it level with the rest of the house, put in hardwoods and painted.

Study

Powder Room

We relocated the powder room to the hall to make it more accessible. We did keep the original sink and cabinet because we liked its charm.

The Kitchen

The biggest changes were in the kitchen. Before, the kitchen was separated into 3 small rooms off a hallway. We knocked out the walls to create one large multi-purpose kitchen.

Drop Area

My nook!

Master Bedroom and Bathroom:

Upstairs we created a master suite by combining 2 bedrooms.

Kids' Bath:

The other bedrooms upstairs still look fairly similar. We did take out a chimney, enlarge the shared kids' bath and redo the guest room bath.

Laundry Room:

We also closed off a hallway to create a laundry room on the 2nd floor.

3rd Floor

We did not change much on the 3rd floor because it had already been finished out, but I don't think I've posted pictures of it before. It includes a huge play area, sitting area, another bedroom and bath. The doors are original, as are the large picture windows.

That's it! More pictures to come as we slowly unpack and decorate.

We hope you will all come visit soon!

Thankfulness

During this season of Thanksgiving, there are many obvious things for which to be thankful: our beautiful new home is finished, our son is growing and thriving, and our stable, loving marriage. But there are some others this year that may not usually come to mind:

I am thankful to have too many homes instead of none at all.

I am thankful that the funding for my job is still present.

I am thankful for my mother, who has been Super Grammy for the past five months, providing encouragement, support, and child care during meetings with the contractor, trips to choose facucets, granite, cabinets, closets, etc. , emergency visits to the house, and too many other times to list.

I am thankful for the people who worked on our new home. I do not know many others who can say that they truly trusted their contractors. Phil and Jon were absolutely amazing, demonstrating respect and hard work as if it was their own home. Even the demolition crew was always friendly and accomodating. Several of them have asked to come by and see the finished product.

I am thankful for memories. As I am surrounded by packing boxes, I am constantly stopping to reminisce about different objects. Some of my favorite finds: The green concealer, the doctor's bag, the delta blocks, and many other treasures.

I am thankful for all the people that helped create these memories. And I am thankful that there are more to come! Let the moving commence!

Finito

June 15: Demolition Began

6 Weeks of Demolition

5 1/2 Months Total Renovations

8346 Decisions (an estimate)

2 1/2 Weeks later than the estimated finish date

November 25: Completion

The dumpster has been removed. It is officially done.