So, I had surgery the other day...

Hey, all :)

I'm happy (and thankful) to report that I'm on the mend after Thursday's surgery. It was fairly minor... but surgery is surgery, I'd guess. Not pleasant. But, I'm glad to have it done. My kidney stone was larger than the x-ray had indicated because much of the outer most layers were soft and didn't show up. It turned out to be just slightly smaller than a golf ball.

A golf ball.

Craziness.

So, I'm resting. And resting. And resting.

I went downstairs today for the first time since Friday night. I can't seem to be comfortable for long anywhere else but propped up in my bed. But, really, even when I'm uncomfortable... it's not bad at all. I think of all the major surgeries my poor mom has gone through. This is nothing in comparison.

Since I'm sitting here staring out the window, I might as well post something, right? I took my camera into bathtime with Baby the other night. I miss her. I've read her a few books, snuggled her some, but she's kind of in a bouncey, rough stage. I can't have her on my lap for long. And it will probably be weeks before I can give her a bath, again. So, I'll share those photos and we'll all smile at her squishy cuteness together :)

Sweet baby girl.

I'm seeing the children, of course. And definitely hearing them. It's just not... normal. Yet. And it's weird to not be in a position to take care of your own family. To have your husband take care of you. Strange.

I've been more emotional that I thought I would be... I'm always analytical and reflective, but I didn't really expect to cry. But I've just been missing normal... but being thankful that normal is there to get back to. Lots and lots of thankfulness.

Finally, today I just had Punkin and Dude come sit on my bed and cut out paper hearts with me. Just to do something motherly with them. I think that was good for us all. And we'll make a cute garland for the kitchen out of them. I like that.

And baby just sat here beside me for a while tearing up toilet paper and trying to stuff it in my mouth. Which cracked me up completely. Sam walked in to see shredded toilet paper on the bed and just shook his head at me.

Deep down he loves my gypsy ways :)

I don't think we'll be away from normal all that long. I already feel so much better than I did Friday night. I'm hoping to be able to be with the children alone by the weekend. Until then, my sister and mom are helping. Friends from church are bringing dinners. I couldn't be more supported or feel more loved.

It's very humbling... in a good way.

Sam and I are about to snuggle up together and watch a couple of episodes of Downton Abbey. We're behind and trying to catch up. Please, do NOT tell me about last night's episode! I had to block a good friend's Facebook post today for fear of reading too much. I know it was something shocking, though.

Eep!

I love shocking.

House Tour 2012: Children's Bathroom and Bedroom 4

Alrighty!

Get down to bidness.

I'm going to show you the children's bath. Which started out like this...



And which we finished up last spring and posted about here.

Now, I have to say something first. One of my peeves is when someone shows a room online somewhere and says things like "but I don't really like it" or "it's not really what I envisioned"... blah blah blah. This old thing? It always strikes me as kind of snooty. "Oh, you may like it, but it's not what I would call anything great."

Well, I'm about to get on my own nerves.



Because, honestly, this really isn't what I saw in my head when I thought these wall things up.



It isn't going to be like this much longer.



I wanted color... pronto. And the five was an impulse purchase. A number of guests have remarked, "Wow. That's a big five!" :)



I still really like the bathroom, though. It's my favorite room in the house! Wall color is Sherwin Williams "Open Air" and trim is Benjamin Moore "White Dove".



I just think I might like it a little better if the artwork didn't somehow remind me of Woodstock. It might as well be a tie-dyed peace sign.

It was so much cooler in my head.

So, that's what the children's bathroom looks like right now. Now then, we have progress in bedroom 4... soon to be SweetP and Shug's (hopefully) permanent, for realz bedroom.

Yes, the wall color is very similar to the bathroom. I had no idea we were going to go the robin's-egg-blue-with-a-pinch-of-aqua-in-it route in here when I chose the bathroom color. Oh, well. They are slightly different. The bedroom is a touch lighter and ever so slightly more... aqua!



I painted the trim around those closets this weekend. I timed it. Because I'm a dork. It took 45 minutes for one coat on one doorway. Wall color is Sherwin Williams "Buoyant Blue" and trim is Benjamin Moore "White Dove".



Oh, woops! I forgot the before shot!



This picture was when we had the family room tv cabinet in the room so the concrete floor down there could be bleached and the new carpet put in.



Those pictures make me even more thankful we have the opportunity to remodel this room. Even though it's (clearly) not done, it's already so much fresher and prettier now.





It will be fun to see what this room looks like a year from now. I hope something is on the walls!

Dream big.

Okay... one more for the day. Check back before dinner... I'll have Bedroom 3 up. Punkin and Little Dude's room :)

children's bathroom: after

As promised, here's the kids' bath reveal! (finally).

But, first, I think we all need to take a moment to remember the bath that was.





shiver.

gives you the willies, doesn't it?

well, it's long gone, sistas! here's the first layer, all finished up :)




Ta da! I know. Crazy it's the same room.











a few details...











So, there you go! It's been so nice to have it done. Bright, clean, new :) Well, it's clean now, anyway. Thanks, Anonymous, for getting my duff in gear to clean it really well for today's post. Ha.

Have a great weekend, everybody!!!

classic children's bath {SNEAK PEEK!}

As promised, here's a sneak peek at what's happening in the children's bathroom as of this afternoon. T and Mr. V are really crankin' it out, now. Their work light came in handy for photos, so here are a few. It's getting really exciting now, guys!











If you click on the photos and then zoom in, they'll get really big for you. Tomorrow we get grout in the floor tile :) Super fun.

Later, taters!

children's bathroom design board

Hey, all. Super quick post. Sam is out of town all week, and I've been attacking the spring cleaning like a maniac (with the help of my sister and my parents!), so at this point, I'm complete toast. If I keep this really quick, I may sneak in a quick nap. Incentive :)


The children's bathroom is coming along. The plumbing and wiring took longer than expected, so we're not quite up to the finish line, but we're getting there. They finished placing the tub surround tile today, and plan on grouting it tomorrow. It's starting to finally look like a bathroom again!


The plan with this bathroom was to redo everything, but do so in a way that didn't look brand new. Well, maybe "brand new" in terms of everything being in new condition, but we didn't want it to scream UPDATED. Actually, we wanted it backdated. And, of course, you know me - classic, as well.


Here's the design board I put together a little while back (with the intention of listing out sources for you, but that will be for another day, another post).




I was a bit nervous about the addition of the black detail tile when the time came to get it up on the walls. But, now that it's up, I definitely don't regret it. It adds an instant charm. As Mr. V put it, "Without that black, this'll look just like everybody else's bathroom with all this white tile." The black gave it some character. I only wanted a pop of black, though. Most of the room is crisp white and whatever color I want on the walls. Since this is the children's bathroom for the forseeable future, I went with something very youthful and happy. A clear, bright blue. "Open Air" from Sherwin Williams. It's pretty close to this... OPEN AIR. When I want to change it up, there's just a little wall to paint and the rest of the bathroom is designed to be super flexible and classic with any color.


I'll take some photos and post a few sneak peek shots this weekend. It's been cloudy and rainy most of the week, so photos have been bleck. I should be able to manage some better shots today or tomorrow. Y'all have a great weekend! Sam gets home tomorrow evening :)

two big, exciting, wonderful announcements

Remember back before I decided to take my bloggy break? The bathroom plans we were making? Well, after much deliberation, it became sufficiently clear to us that Sam just was not going to have the time to remodel the bathroom this winter. Or this spring. We did some calculations and figured it would take 10 to 12 Friday night/ all day Saturday combos to get anywhere near done, and that was if he worked every single Saturday, all day long. Which, as you probably know, doesn't happen very easily. We do actually have things we do on Saturdays now and then besides house stuff.


Anyway, the long and short of it is we have excellent news for you. We've decided to hire out the work for the children's bathroom. "T", a gentleman from another area church, estimates he'll get the work done in about 10 or so days. He's done work for quite a few of our friends before, and his price was soooo good. Done deal, friends. Done deal! :)


I'm excited. Like, really excited. I have a bathtub, pedestal sink, toilet, and several smaller boxes of things like lighting, sink fixtures, etc. all waiting in the garage right now. Pumped! And, today...check it out :)










Crazy stuff, huh? They did all of that today while Sam was at work! He did come home at lunch to check a few things with them and to make sure a few bases were covered, but I'm so glad this whole project is off his shoulders. It seems like it will be nice for him to enjoy something new in the house without the stress and strain of DIY, for once. We can't afford to hire T for everything, but this project is certainly worth it!

The other big project I have to share with you will take much longer to complete. We're thinking at least another 5 and 1/2 months. It's by far our favorite kind, though. Here's a pic!



Our estimated completion date is September 27th :)

More soon!

on the calendar: bathroom remodel

It isn't going to happen immediately, but we have our first bathroom remodel in the inspiration/planning stages now. Probably at some point this fall, we'll actually bust out some tile and have a whole lotta fun reworking one of the upstairs bathrooms. The other, we hope, will follow soon after this winter.

I've been saving some images and thought it was time to share them with you all. We're drawn to a vintage-y, "old house" feel, but we have to be careful about trying to pull that off. This isn't an old house, after all. I'm skeptical that we could successfully integrate a claw-foot tub into our split level home, for instance. So, we aren't going to try. We are, however, planning on making some less dramatic, period-inspired choices that we think will go a long way. Things like sinks, fixtures, lighting, tile floor patterns.

Well, I'll just let these inspiration images give you an idea of what's grabbing our attention. If you click on the pic, the photo's source will be mentioned in the address bar.












Don't you just want to take a long soak in a tub, now? A pretty tub? I do. Right now we only have one bathtub in the house and it's in the children's bathroom. I admit that I miss the soaking tub we had in our previous house. I love taking baths and that thing was huge and very, very comfortable. I'm thinking a bathtub in the master bath is a pretty high priority. If at all possible.

We need to figure out what configurations are possible, exactly. It won't do much good to plan to move the toilet if the plumbing can't be done or to put a tub in if there just isn't space. So, a floor plan, Stan. That's what we need to start working out.

More soon :)

Children's Bathroom (Before Pics)

Not that there are really any "after" pics to share anytime soon. But, I've got that overdrive nesting-ish feeling that has me painting everything that will stand still for more than a few minutes (thankfully, that requirement excludes my children as canvas options), and who knows how long before this bathroom gets a few coats? I already started experimenting with the cabinet color last night.

So, before I forget to chronicle the "before"... here's my rather sad-looking little hall bath. As with the rest of the house, there's a lot of BROWN.

This is the bathroom the children most often use, and it's also the only bathroom with a tub.

It's the first door on the right as you come upstairs, and the closest to the living room/kitchen.

That means guests use it. (wince) This light fixture is straight out of Jules Verne.

Wobbly towel rails hung on a hollow door (that's splitting on the side a bit). The cabinets are pretty worn out and tired.

Weird feature that lots of homes in the area have. What is this little empty space supposed to be, anyway? Possibly a place for a trashcan? Big trashcan! Not meant as a vanity area - the potty is blocking the way and makes that idea impossible. Like I said, it's a mystery.

Through the mirror, you can see the bathtub/shower area on the other side.

And the beige faux cobblestone flooring.

That's it! :) Hopefully it'll look MUCH different relatively soon.