Done Done!

At our house, there's a difference between a project being done, and a project being "done done". Our bathroom renovation was done a year and a half ago (just in time for Thanksgiving), but was really and officially "done done" just this week! I know it's hard to finish up the teeny details once a room is functioning just fine, but it's those details that really finish off the space. We always try to keep sale-ability in mind, and certainly we could never consider putting our house on the market with "mostly finished" projects throughout. (Not that we're planning to sell anytime soon, but that we like to know we have the option, you know?)

Here is a "before" picture of the bathroom from when Tony bought this house. I remember loving the original medicine cabinet, but for some reason there was a smell inside that we could not clean out! Plus, it was way too huge for such a small bathroom. Add that to the fact that it was off-centered from the sink, and it made the decision to remove it slightly easier. We do try to keep the original fixtures, woodwork, and finishes whenever it adds to the character of our home, but not when we have challenges like this:

Really hard to get a good photo of the bathroom, because like the rest of the house, it's pretty little! But you can get the idea.

So here's what we (okay, mostly Tony) did:

Patch the window in the shower (and hire a company to stucco the exterior)

Remove all old tile and wallpaper

Skim coat walls

Replace flooring

Add beadboard to the walls

Install shower surround and fixtures

Remove and replace pedestal sink with smaller space-saving option

Install new medicine cabinet and over-the-stool cabinet

Hang new hardware

Paint everything

Install ventilation fan

Re-do ceiling

Hang crown molding

We decided just to hang a white shower curtain because anything darker or more patterned would bring to attention that the shower was alarmingly close to the bathroom entry! We can't do anything about the size of this space, but I love how useable Tony made it. We have plenty of storage between the medicine cabinet, additional cabinet, and linen closet (just outside the bathroom) and it definitely blends with the style of our home. Yay for being done done, Tony! I love this bathroom.

While he's been working on that, here's what I've been working on this week:

Snuggling with our dog,

... and putting on the lbs!

My job is so much easier.

Catching Up

I know I fell behind a few weeks ago, so thought I'd post a couple of the things that we've had going on around here since then:

Jill spent her spring break in Fargo which was so much fun! We worked together on a fitted sheet for The Bun's crib. This is us in the process:

And I realized that I won't have a picture of the finished product until I have a crib mattress to put it on, but for the record, we tried it on Leighton's crib and I'm thinking it will work just fine. It was a really easy pattern and it was actually a lot of fun to make! Once I'm certain that it will work for The Bun's crib I'll start on my next set as well as the crib skirt.

On March 12th, my grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary - I just love that Tony and I have role models like them and our parents to look up to! I was talking to my grandma on their anniversary because I wanted to get all the details of their wedding. Long story short, it was a simple affair! Not even a wedding photo to document the day. The funny (terrible, really) thing is, we didn't get a photo of their 60th anniversary, either! We did have a little family get-together at Ryan and Kristin's the next weekend, where we got lots and lots of pictures of that darling baby. I mean, she wouldn't even be here but for grandma and grandpa, so it does all tie together!

Oh! That girl - she is just getting funnier and more animated every day. Pictures cannot even do justice to her adorable personality! (Grandpa, I really am sorry that you didn't get in to the picture with Gram and Leighton. I'll do better next time we're all at your place - promise.)

And, last week Tony and I met our first nephew! His sister Tori and her boyfriend Mike welcomed a very, very handsome boy into the world on March 31st. He was almost two weeks early, but still a good-sized guy, for sure. Tor's delivery wasn't exactly easy, but I'm sure she'd agree that she'd do it all again when you look at these two:

What? You couldn't see Owen's face through all those blankets!? I think it's so funny because this is the same type of picture I have of Kathryn and Leighton their first day or two of life. How they can even tell it's their baby is beyond me! I'm just going to assume that's Owen in there, for my pictures' sake.

And poor Kathryn, who at 28 days old is now left to fend for herself, being the "older cousin". Her time as the baby of the family was pretty short! But she seems to be getting by just fine on her own... Tony taught her to hold her pacifier in herself so she should be basically self-sufficient by now : )

The following Sunday was Easter, and we loved being able to celebrate with both sides of our family. We had a lunch in Frazee, followed by dinner in West Fargo. Here are the new little families on Tony's side. I kept talking about how crazy it was that a month ago there were no babies, and now there are two! So much can change so quickly!

(It looks like Owen is crying in this picture, but he wasn't. He seems to be a very peaceful little guy in general... Except for the minute that I held him in a picture, in which case he was justifiably uncomfortable and a bit panicked! I'm not even posting the photo due to the risk of ya'll deciding that I'm not qualified to have my own baby.)

Here are Kathryn and her parents. She's also a very mild-mannered little one! Makes me nervous because it seems like a hellion-baby is about due in our family...

Grandma and Grandpa brought little cupcakes for dessert at Ryan and Kristin's dinner. Here's a picture of the "big baby" eating her first cupcake! She thought it was silly - and delicious.

(That's her cheesy smile!)

....and it's gone. And you may notice that her clothes are too! That's not a long-standing holiday tradition. The rest of us stayed dressed the entire time we were at Ryan and Kristin's, FYI.

So that basically sums up the past couple of weeks - I'll be back to my regular, chronological postings soon!