Before and After

Projects are finally slowing down around the house. I still need to unpack a box of books, organize the shoe situation by the doors, clean the boys' bathrooms, swap out all the sheets, go through backpacks for school and vacuum the family room....yet...here I am uploading pics on my blog!

Obviously the AFTER pics are going to look much better than the BEFORE pics, but at least you get an idea of all the labor, sweat, money, time and STRESS that went into it all.



Kitchen:

BEFORE: A view from the side door. Orange tile!
DURING: laid down the hardwood floor...and now painting. What a mess.


AFTER: I do love my high maintenance hardwood floors.


The family room. The pictures were taken at night, so it was a bit dark. We replaced the stained and smelly carpet for some fun and plush "wrestling worthy" carpet.

BEFORE:


DURING:

AFTER:
Isaac and Jared were awake when I was taking the pictures...Jared was not super excited about my timing, but I was anxious to snap away!


BEFORE: The "piano" room (I hope to buy one with some extra money I earned while doing recess duty at school this winter). This is the front entrance room on the left. All carpet and peach paint before.



DURING:. Hardwood was laid, painting being completed.


A view from the front door...what used to be all carpet is now hardwood floor.


AFTER:

BEFORE: The downstairs bathroom....large orange tile. We shall see how I feel about a hardwood floor bathroom. Yikes! Lots of splashes of pee from my boys for sure.



AFTER: I have always wanted a "butterfly" bathroom. Leslie went with me to Ross and we were thrilled at what we found! Butterflies!
BEFORE: A view of the two upstairs lofts. This one we made into a bedroom for Isaac.


AFTER: Now with the walls, you can see what we added. Still need to decorate!


BEFORE: The loft was going to be enclosed for Isaac's room...the railing was taken down and walls put up.

DURING: putting up sheet rock and carpet.

AFTER: Isaac has a bedroom!

BEFORE: A view from the "piano" room. The "library" is where I have decided to put up some fun new decor...including some historical items from our missions and splashes or red.
AFTER: from carpet to hardwood. I do love the shutters!

AFTER: A view from the stairs. The "library" is there on the right, next to the front door and runner carpet. I think our family "collage" turned out nicely.

The library corner. Next to the front door, on the right.

In front of the chaise lounge chair. I finally put up George Washington! I also have been enjoying our only living indoor plant...a gift from my mom before moving to Argentina 2 years ago.


BEFORE: A view from the tv unit/wall looking into the kitchen.


AFTER: A look into the front door entry. Jared was only a little amused at my late night picture taking. His face says it all. Love you honey!


Hopefully I can budget in some fun decor into this next year! I would love to put up some curtains for color, buy a bright colored rug for my piano room and toss pillows for the couches.

Pictures are included in my last two posts if you have made it this far in the blog post!

settling in

I need to find a babysitter that lives closer to my house. This rush rush rush thing in the morning is not good for my stress level. Jared is good about getting the kids ready by 6:30am, but even with me coming in from the gym at 5:55am...it doesn't give me enough time to feel like I have a good handle on the morning.

My morning rush:
5:55am Get home from gym, make a protein shake, pack water bottles, lunches and snacks into backpacks (prepared the night before)

6:10 Make bed. Rush into the shower. One day is hair washing, no shaving. Next day can be body washing/shaving, but no hair washing...you get the idea. One or the other...no time for both!

6:18 STRUGGLE to find something to wear. I am so sick of my outfits!!!

6:25 Throw on some make up, fix up hair (if I am straightening it, I have to really rush through the last 10 minutes), put on jewelry, carry shoes downstairs. Call out to boys, "Vamos!"

6:35 Carry backpacks, lunch bag, purse, Isaac (who is often barely waking up and drinking down his smoothie...barely getting a diaper change and clothes thrown onto him)...all outside

6:40 Load up boys. I AM ALREADY LATE!

6:42 Family prayer in the car or driveway with Jared (I impatiently tap my foot and want to just leave)

6:45 Speed to my babysitter....try to get there in 8 min. Crossing over the Highway 303 is tricky b/c sometimes there is a lot of commuter traffic.

6:52 Toss Isaac into my babysitters arms, kissing him all the way to the doorstep

6:53 Back out of the driveway and SPEED to school. It's a 10 min drive, at the least...on a good morning (no tractors, school buses, cops or slow drivers to slow me down)

7:03 Roll up to school. Corral the boys out of the car. Walk them to breakfast, check for my principal (to see if she is looking for me yet), catch my heart rate that is through the roof...

And then my day begins...

Not quite the way I like to start my day. Everyday I am trying to play catch up at school with lesson plans...and then again at home with laundry, grocery shopping, menu planning and family planning.

Stresssssful. Where can I find more time in my morning? I already get up at 4:10am...and don't get home from work 'til after 4:30pm everyday. I am already tired just thinking about tomorrow. Another day, another little dime (vs dollar).

By the time I am home, we do homework...start on dinner...go to a park/play a game/catch, etc. Dinner is at 6:30pm, bedtime routine 'til 7:30pm. I play with Izzy for a bit longer while we clean up; vacuuming the hardwood floor, prepping for tomorrow's snacks, etc. It's already 8:30pm by the time I sit down to relax...and then I am tired by 9pm and need to be in bed by 9:30pm.

Someday I will look back on these days and just shake my head at how crazily busy I am with this working routine and child rearing days....until then, just gotta do it again and again and again.

Here are pics of my sweet baby Isaac who I MISS DEARLY EVERYDAY....sigh...

What a smile! He loves that Spiderman glove.
Yogur...with a mustache.
Autos
I love that he loves accessories.
He loves hats!

He looks so cute from behind...with those shorts and hat on backwards.

His morning licuado.
Learning to feed himself...so fun and messy.


Te amo mucho! Even if you are super ornery and irritable in the mornings...and afternoons...and won't let me sit down while holding you...I still love you.

new house

Thoughts about my new house...been here for 4 days now.

Packing and cleaning 'til 11:3opm on Friday night. Slept on a couch without linens. Boys were at a sleepover (why have I not pawned my kids off before with other moves! What a relief it was to not worry about food or bedding for them!) Up by 6am, worked and labored in new house until 10:30pm. Jared was a working horse as he sweated away his body weight 3 x's over. Woke up the next morning feeling like we had been hit by a freight train.

I was frustrated by all of the HAIR in the fridge/microwave, soap scum in the shower and splattered ovens. That took me so long to get cleaned out, that the rest of the unpacking/shuffling/ organizing really had to be put on hold.

So grateful for good friends who came through once again! Thank you so much for watching my kids (including sleepover, food, love, entertainment and soccer games), helping organize my entire kitchen, cleaning my high-maintenance hardwood floor, bringing over lunch and dinner, etc.

Jared and my heart was full.

Appreciation. Exhaustion. Sacrifice. Commitment. Generosity. Sweat. Rubber Gloves. Ross decor.

Still trying to get my house to where I can "maintain" it. I really have to work extra hard to get projects done, while still preparing meals and enjoying my kids! Our routine is totally thrown off b/c
#1 We are not used to being at home during the school days
#2 New house/rhythm/rumbo
#3 I am stressed out!

Overall, very happy with the home. Lots of potential for fun dinner parties and play dates (need to get our backyard fixed up) and excited about the new space.

The hard workers: Jared, Marc Taylor and Alex Molina. Sweaty sweethearts.

Isaac "helped" in many ways. Especially moving boxes and tearing the edges.


A last look as things got packed up from the Sierra Montana house.

Leslie Boley, my loyal friend. Been with me now for...oh...6 moves or so. She is such a hard worker, scrubber, cleaner, excellent organizer and has an eye for details. That woman will do anything for me; including scrub out a baggie of rotten ground beef that got left behind in our freezer outside...the smell alone would kill a person. That took some serious love.


Tim, "Boom Baby" painted up the house in about two weeks time. No easy task, but we enjoyed his company all along the way. This is the third house he has painted for us, and hopefully the last.

Baki, the German contractor oversaw the hardwood floors and other fixtures. What a work ethic that man has.
Loading up!
Laying down the carpet and hardwood floor.

Just watching these men haul up the front loader made me nervous and I had to leave the room. It took some monster strength to lift it up the stairs. So glad that was NOT my job.


First night: The boys LOVE our shower. It has 5 shower heads and they love to get soaped up!


Isaac reminds me of one of those 4D ultrasound pictures. What a sweet baby.
Isaac is still trying to figure out where he is...

Oh...the unpacking begins...what a MESS.


Here to save the day with lunch is my dear friend April. Even though she is prego, she is still here to help out!

Even though we were working, we loved all of our chit chatting amidst the tupperware, forks, boxes and dishes. Leslie even found my lost dishes...of course they were the last box in the garage.

Did you know you can buy Subway bread and make your own sandwich? April is so smart.
Trisha Mariner and I scrubbed out most of the nastiness from the previous owners. I was on my knees with a toothbrush in many areas. Disgusting.
Leslie and I started to organize the garage. Jared and I finished it...12 HOURS later. Exhausting. At least we got to de-junk most of the "stuff" we had been carrying around from house to house.


This is what my fridge looked like on my last week. Where is the food? I had to be creative with meal planning.


I hope my pantry stays this organized always. It's a bit smaller than I would like, so I can't stock up on many "food storage" items here, but I am happy to start fresh.
This was Isaac's way of helping me. He would take out the fridge items, line them up and then laugh. What a cutie.


The first night: sleeping soundly.
Pack 'n play for Izzy...check out his pot belly.

Sleeping, but not so soundly?

First morning; Oct 4th, 2010 (our Fall Break). We are so excited to be here! I am tired with all I have to accomplish this week.
Isaac is feeling right at home.



















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