The Kitchen Remodel (before & after)

As I am sure you have surmised already I have fallen out of the routine of blogging.  Maybe I'll get back into it, maybe I won't?  But as we are completing projects around the house I decided I wanted to at least post some before and after pictures --after the 100 million hours we spent on the project I figure one hour of blogging is a small price to pay to have a record of it.  Ironically I did not take enough before pictures of our house, I think once we finally closed I was so antsy to get started that I wasn't thoroughly taking pictures, but here are two that show how it looked on the day we closed (my brother and sister-in-law are obviously enthused with the state of it in the picture):

Hotness right?

And here is how the kitchen looks today:

Here is a brief rundown of all the phases of this on-going 18 month project:

• The day after we closed I got to work painting the cabinets before we moved in.  I did two coats of a primer/surfacer and two coats of paint before we gave them a light sanding and sealed them.  This whole process was pretty lengthly but since the cabinets were actually only  a few years old and in excellent shape I think it was definitely the way to go rather than replacing them.
• We found the hardware online for a great deal and installed this and replaced the fridge (the old one, along with not fitting well had a problem with the door not latching), the first couple months we lived there.
• After that the kitchen was at a standstill for about a year until this summer when we ripped up the floor and put wood there as well.  This ended up being quite the demo project because we found underneath the tile two different layers of linoleum with plywood in between, but as our entire main level is in the same wood now I think it made the whole space look more cohesive (not to mention the aesthetic benefits).  It took us a good ten days (since we were mostly working in the evening and on the weekend) to demo the floor lay it and get the new baseboards up but it really got us excited to keep working on the kitchen.
• A couple months later we decided we wanted to raise the ceiling, for some reason it was cool to drop your ceiling height in the kitchen in the late seventies (my parents actually had the exact same thing in their home which was built the same year as our house).  In order to raise the ceiling we had to take down all the upper cabinets and then replumb some of the lines that were running through the dropped ceiling (we took our the cooper lines and put in plex up in the joists).  
• Then our friend Ben came and helped us frame out the coffered ceiling box and wire for the new canned lights and for under-cabinet lighting.  Our dining room right off the kitchen also has a coffered ceiling so we thought it made sense and we had an HVAC duct we needed to keep framed in anyway.  Even with building out the box it is still six inches higher at the box level and about 16 inches higher in the center from where we started.
• Once we got the drywall back up we installed the canned lights and the pendants above the bar.  We also decided we wanted to put bead-board on the ceiling -- we knew we wanted to put this around our bar and also on the outside of the cabinets.  This ended being trickier than we originally planned cutting the panel to fit, but in the end we got it done with a jigsaw and I love it. 
• Before we rehung the cabinets I decided to do some open shelving and reconfigure the cabinets we actually used our old existing cabinets but hung them up in different places and actually left half of them down (we gained 8 inches in space around the window) and we built out the open shelves on the north wall and the curved shelves on the East wall.
• Once we rehung the cabinets we installed the under-cabinet lighting, (the cabinets are about three inches higher than they were before which makes it feel more roomy working on the counter).
• Next we framed out the window in mdf (which makes it feel so much bigger?) and started laying the backsplash.  Initially we were just going to do under the cabinets but then we decided to do all of the walls in the kitchen (behind the open shelving and the entire wall on the West side).  We chose white subway tile because I love it, I hope its timeless, and extra bonus it is very very inexpensive and we grouted it white.
• After the backsplash was installed we put up the crown molding above the cabinets, and put the bead-board around the cabinets/bar/etc. and finish painting things.

The kitchen is still not 100% done (I would love to get a new double oven, preferably to match our fridge and eventually replace the dishwasher), also new countertops are on the "someday" list.  But to say that I am thrilled with how its come together would be an understatement.  Overall from start to finish we spend just under $2500 on this remodel -- this includes everything but the fridge.  The most expensive parts were definitely the flooring, the drywall/framing expenses, and the lighting but I think those two things perhaps make the biggest difference.....however we have definitely put in the man hours so if you look at it that way it has been a very very expensive project in time.  We have a fair amount of experience with renovating (after redoing our old house), but in my experience everything takes longer than you estimate in the beginning, but it is usually worth it in the end.  And since I am married to the most careful perfectionist I know its going to be anything but sloppy in the end.  

Hopefully I will sit down long enough to document some of our other rooms in the house, which we feel very fortunate to be able to work on making our own.

Gavin is 3! And a superhero!

Introducing Lydia May Jones

Yes I haven't posted for two months. But here is an update. I had a baby!

 

And she is pretty gorgeous, if I do say so myself.  Our Lydia was born on May day, which contributed to us using May as her middle name, but mostly she is named after her 5th great-grandma, who was also named Lydia May and was serendipitously born on May day as well (we found this out after we had already chosen the name).  

Since everyone is interested in this type of info (read:  the select few friends who actually read this blog), here is the "birth story" of Lydia.  If you remember my labor with Gavin when fast, and so as my due date with Lydia got closer and closer I started worrying about having a baby in the car or on my kitchen floor.  Ironically, my cousin Alyssa was due two weeks before me -- twelve days before Lydia was born she delivered her sweet little girl on her bathroom floor after laboring for all of thirty minutes.  After this experience, Jordan was all about us setting up a tent on the lawn of the hospital as he was NOT keen to deliver a baby by himself (without nurses this time).  Alyssa & I go to the same doctor, so when I went in for my 40 week appointment and he saw that I was dilated to 3 cm, he told me I could choose to do what I liked and wait to come on my own (this is the c.y.a. disclaimer the doctor tells you before they give you their honest opinion), but given my history and that of my family (aka the women in our family tend to have quick deliveries) he thought that once I started into labor it could go really fast and he recommended meeting him at the hospital first thing in the morning to schedule an induction.  

I was induced with Ike and it was NOT a pleasant experience so I was apprehensive to try it again, but as I mentioned before a car delivery didn't sound fun either and so I thought it sounded like the best idea.  So we went the hospital the next morning -- the doctor broke my water and two short hours later she was here.  Typically inductions take longer than if you come on your own because your body isn't as "ready" to have a baby so if I had come on my own it is entirely possible I could have had a thirty minute labor, which would have made getting to the hospital stressful.  Also, I decided this time to get an epidural.  I had tried to get an epidural with Ike, but it had worn off by the time I delivered and that was an awful experience.  Gavin's birth obviously was natural and while it was mercifully quick it was definitely pretty excruciating while I was in the thick of it.  I had such a great recovery with Gavin that I had planned on going natural again, but the day before I went in to be induced, my mother-in-law pretty much convinced me to give the epidural one more shot.  She has had ten children, several without the epidural and several with and in her experience when the epidural worked she thought it made for the best labor.  

Also, my doctor pointed out that you don't "recover" from an epidural.  In fact people get epidurals for other things besides labor and have absolutely no recovery at all.  What you recover from is labor and the fact is that I was in labor with Ike for over twelve hours and in labor with Gavin for under two hours.  So I decided to try the epidural one more time.  Since I anticipated that I would come fast I got the epidural just before he broke my water and this time it worked just great.  After my experience with Gavin this labor felt like a walk in the park.  I told Jordan I've had sneezes that hurt worse than having an baby with an epidural (um perhaps I was a bit elated about no longer being pregnant at this point?)  

So to sum up Lydia's delivery was the antithesis of Gavin's (and Ike's for that matter), in that it was peaceful and not frenzied and relatively painless and altogether awesome.  It is always magical when you see your baby for the first time and the experience with her was enchanting.  And the doctor was right, she was my easiest recovery yet and Jordan and I left the hospital after the 24 hours they make you wait to come home and begin figuring out how to parent three children.  EEk we are outnumbered!  

Today Lydia is two weeks old and I am in heaven.  And why yes, heaven is pink & ruffled and has plenty of bows.  She still is sleeping awesome in the day and not so awesome at night, but I know how quick this baby phase slips through your fingers and I am soaking it up.... having a baby sleep on your chest why you smell all that newborn goodness is really one of life's simple pleasures.  

Unexpected Blessings

If you know me personally, you know that my oldest son, Isaac, has some pretty significant special needs -- I guess the most appropriate description is that he is pretty severely autistic.  I haven't written much about this on my blog for several reasons (probably the foremost is that it is such a huge piece of my day to day life, that I spend so much time worrying, thinking, and praying over -- that I'm almost all talked out about it when I get to updating my blog -- which I view as more of an escape to talk about fun trivialities).  Even now, the thought of cataloguing all the challenges that effect his day to day life (and consequently mine) feels exhausting and is definitely not the point of this post.  But I guess over the past several days I've been thinking about writing about one way that his trials have positively affected our family.

I am not obsessive about reading blogs devoted to families with those with special needs, but I do follow a few people that I know personally and a couple more mainstream ones I read occasionally.  Often these blogs are full of embarrassing daily stories that are difficult and even sometimes humorous --  many of which I can relate too.  Frequently they voice frustrations over how people outside of their family treat them or their child with special needs in an unfair or judgmental well and I would be lying if I didn't say I have had my fair share of these experiences too, but one thing that I don't think gets discussed enough are the many ways that random people make a positive difference as well.

I am getting quite accustomed to making some sort of scene or getting noticed in public when I have Isaac with me -- whether its at church, the store, or the park.  Often it doesn't take people long to figure out that Ike has some unique challenges, but sometimes its easy to confuse him with a child that is perfectly normal that is just acting totally inappropriate....this is mostly because he is so gosh darn beautiful (no I'm not bias), that his physical attributes give no clue to his mental handicap.  Sometimes I think it would be easier if you were able to tell he had difficulties just by looking at him as it would make people more understanding, but alas for better or worse he's a heartbreaker.

There was a time when after these public "episodes," I would feel frustrated/disappointed/hurt by the way strangers would treat me or my son or things they would say to me, and I would find myself complaining about it, which lets be honest is just reliving it.  Then I decided I was going to instead of being annoyed with people, just give them the benefit of the doubt.  Most likely they have no idea what challenges Ike has, most likely they don't know how hard I am working to help him the best I can without inconveniencing others, most likely they don't know how mortified I already feel that he may be ruining their experience, most likely they are just having an awful day and wouldn't be so rude otherwise.  Its amazing because once I started actively trying to think like this, things got better.  No, Ike's behavior didn't get better -- if anything his anxiety is hitting a high note lately making even simple things really difficult for him and often anxiety attack inducing.  But I noticed a lot of more people went out of their way to be nice to me or help me, or even give me a commiserating smile.  Perhaps this was happening all along and I just didn't notice.

In fact last week when I went to costco (with both boys and extremely pregnant), some woman came over and insisted on unloading all of my groceries into the back of my car while I dealt with the boys.  At first I wanted to protest because the back of my car was a mess and I was embarrassed and I didn't know if Ike was going to pull out a huge chunk of my hair when I tried to get him from the cart to the car, but luckily I thought twice and decided to let her help me as I drove away I was no longer caring whether or not my trunk was clean enough for a perfect stranger to put groceries in, but was just grateful that someone took time out of their (no doubt very busy) day to help me.  I feel like I do not do this enough myself.  The more I have been trying to think kindly of others, the more I have realized how completely inadequate I often am myself at stretching outside of my own trials to help someone else.

This post is probably a bit out of place on this blog (which I almost never update anymore -- sorry), but I just thought I should record it, because who knows probably in three months I will need to reread it myself.

my kids are pretty cute

we are a little excited for Christmas around here

Lets Re-cap

1. Thanksgiving was AWESOME!  I love good food.  We also had a family bowling competition over Thanksgiving and had a chance to catch up with friends from out of town over the break so we're feeling lucky.

2.  We found out that we indeed expecting a baby GIRL!  Serious excitement for this spring!  Look how gigantic my firstborn is, seems like yesterday I was expecting him.

3.  Jordan and I took a vacation by ourselves (without children) to Florida for a week.  I pretty much read on the beach all day everyday.  Bliss!  Eventually I'll get around to posting recent reads :)

4.  Its Christmas time!  This year has been especially fun since Gavin is very interested in all things Christmas.  Ike is still entirely indifferent, but Gavin has enough enthusiasm for the both of them.

Book Review: The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

Just finished reading this one last night.  It was interesting.  Essentially is a compilation of short stories, each one about a different character - all of whom work at the same newspaper.  Obviously the stories intersect and character appear in each one, but somehow each of the stories seem self contained because they have their own theme/moral/point.  The first half of this one started a bit rocky for me, but the truth is by the end of it I couldn't put it down.  Most of the stories actually made me somewhat angry, which probably is a sign that its well written because in one short story I managed to become invested enough in the character to be completely annoyed by their choices.

I guess the overarching theme of this book could be that:  everyone has problems.  That person you see once a week at the grocery store who seems to have it all together, they have problems too.  In fact they are probably more involved and stressful than you think.  Overall I think Rachman is a good writer, an interesting writer.  The downer was that most of these short stories somewhat end on a depressing/sad note.  Things don't get resolved (or at least the way you want them to) for most of the characters and the world view held by so many of them is so utterly selfish -- which is also annoying in its own way.  Also a dog dies, literally dies in this book in a heart-rending way.

Jandee Rating:  7 of 10 stars -- the second half is better than the first, its well written, but as I said before can be depressing/infuriating --yet still fascinating.
Content Rating:  PG-18 -- No language, and no explicit mention of sex, but it definitely was written for adults and alludes to a lot of promiscuity without discussing it directly (thank you Mr. Rachman)

a few things.....

 

 -- Currently Gavin is really into "helping," right now. It is the most adorable thing and while the "help" of a two year old is usually the equivalent of entropy I am fascinated by his willing nature. No task seems to boring/dirty/trivial. He insists on helping with every chore of my day to day life. As you can imagine this has made each of my daily chores take much longer, allowing him to help. But even when I am in a hurry I try to remember than I am sure the day will come when I complain constantly about how he doesn't want to help -- so I should enjoy it while I can. This week he has the most fun "helping" to shovel the walks.

 -- I know its been a week, but I'm still a bit in a post-election slump.  I feel no shame in admitting to blogland that I am utterly disappointed in the reelection of Obama.  I should state that I am not one of those individuals that believes Obama to be inherently evil.  In fact I am sure he has the best intentions to be a good president, I hardly think anyone would exert that much energy to secure a job and then put in that many hours on the job intending to perform poorly.  Mr. Obama and I just fundamentally disagree about a few things and I don't think his track record over the last four years is encouraging for our current economy.  It is dumbfounding to me that the rest of the country thought he did a good enough job to warrant a second term.  I mean how bad does it have to get?   Read this article today.  You should too.  Its thought provoking (and depressing).

--Obviously we are new to our neighborhood for the holidays this year, but I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that our neighborhood does an annual food drive in lieu of exchanging neighbor gifts around the holidays.  Now I have been the recipient of many generous neighbor gifts in the past and have made my own attempts at them, but in the end sometimes I feel like they end up being more convenient than thoughtful.  However, I love this idea of as a neighborhood pulling together to help those in need and eliminating that pressure & anxiety of worrying over whether your own neighbor gifts are appropriate.  Good work new neighborhood.

Book Review: Home To Harmony by Phlip Gulley

I told you I was serious about this return to blogging.  See two posts in two days!  This book was recommended to me by my sister-in-law, Mary, ages ago.  I am afraid with the move & remodel I hardly did any reading this summer (very uncharacteristic of me), but much of the fall thus far has had me under the weather (no fun), but the upside is that I am bit by bit returning to my reading.  I'm pretty sure I read most of this book in the bath tub at various times trying to feel better and this book was an awesome bath tub read:

--Its quite funny.  Especially if you belong to a church congregation for a long period of time where member inevitably become sort of an extended family -- this book rang true to me with all of those funny yet completely wonderful relationship we form at church that we would not necessarily make in any other work/fun/neighborhood setting.

--Its an easy read.  Just what I needed when I wasn't necessarily feeling on my "A" game mentally or physically.

--Its short, yet the characters (especially the narrator) have some real depth and voice to them.

--Its filled with lots of observations about people/communities/families that are poignant some are really thought provoking.

--Its a great mix of funny & thoughtful.

Verdict:  Read it!  Its easy and quick yet rewarding.  Thanks Mary!
Content Rating:  Squeaky Clean:  PG-12
Jandee Rating:  8.5 of 10 stars, of course its not Shakespeare, but such a nice easy read.