" get in my belly!!"

we may need to start working on table manners before thanksgiving.

update

so we just got the internet a few days ago and it's great to be reconnected with the world. as you all know, we have spent the last month fixing up our new house and we are finally in. we moved on halloween and want to thank everyone for their help in fixing up our house and also in moving us!!

it was carter's first halloween and as you can guess we were too busy with other things to think about dressing our kid up. but thanks to my friend trisha (who gave us a lion costume), carter was able to be a lion for halloween. ok, so really he was only a lion for about two seconds. he didn't care for his costume and since it was pretty big, i released him from the torture. but not before i got a few pictures.











































we weren't able to finish everything before we moved in but it's a work in progress. we still have holes in some of the walls, flooring missing and a whole list of other projects, but we are not suffering. i am almost growing fond of the cardboard flooring in the hall :) when we moved in we didn't have any appliances in the kitchen because the floor was not finished. but by the end of the first week ty finished the kitchen floor and put in all the appliances. having the kitchen completed has made all the difference! we are loving our new house and it provides us with a continuous project, i guess that is the beauty of home ownership. the following posts have a million pictures of the house so sorry. i only post them because some have asked for them and most people who read this live very far away, so here you go.



oh and one last funny story. last night tyrell and i went to a baptism. carter was with us and because i had to play the piano, it was tyrell's job to take the baby out when he was fussy. and boy was he fussy. tyrell was outside with him nearly the entire baptism, during which, you could periodically hear carter crying. but it was when tyrell took carter into the bathroom to change him that it became embarrassing. the bathroom is of course, connected to the baptismal font, so when they were in there you could hear carter crying really well (carter does NOT like his diaper changed, so by the sound of things, he was putting up a good fight).

mean while, in the service...we were singing the closing song. at this point, i was trying not to smile too much while i was playing the piano. the song ended but the crying did not. it was then time for the closing prayer (and of course the silence made the crying that much more obvious and awkward), and to conclude the prayer, the missionary prayed "and bless the baby that he will be happy.... amen" . it was pretty funny and i could feel my face turn red as i tried not to laugh out loud.

before and after

dining area




























our bathroom

































our bedroom



(which is hard to take pictures of but here is the south west corner from the doorway)
















































the kitchen




(which looked a lot bigger with out the fridge)

the front bathroom

this is what it originally looked like. the floor is white linoleum covered by stick on square linoleum which was coming up and smelled like urine.












once we got that floor up we found the mold on the OSB













so tyrell had to cut a chunk of it out and replace it












the cement board down and ready for tile
















tile in












the finished product


ready for visitors!

the front room

the continued progression of the front room

it's still a work in progress but we are liking it so far

the tile

it was always understood that when i married, it had to be to a handy man. i have five brothers and while some are more handy than others, lets just say handiness is lacking in my family. so when i met tyrell, i knew he would fit the bill.

he is handy alright, and it is really nice to have someone who can fix things (especially because i have a tendency to break things). after we bought the house and made the decision to fix it up, tyrell was sure he could do all the improvements himself. now the improvements we wanted to make, also included things he had never done before, and one of those things was tiling.

my mom was a lot of help and came up to get us started. she was here to tell us what supplies we would need and the basics of tiling. but unfortunately we had to send her back to AZ before we actually started.

so last friday we were finally in a position to lay tile. after tyrell had asked all the questions he thought he needed, he started mixing the thin set. i was not at the house when he started and when i arrived at the house he was a bit frantic. he was trying to mix the thin set in a 5 gallon bucket with an old piece of baseboard. he was stirring with all his might (because at this point the mixture was barely moist at all) and complaining that the ratio of thin-set to water on the bag was not correct. i read the instructions and asked if he has added the right amount of water. after realizing that he had only put half as much as it called for, we added the rest of the water (and a bit more) and the thin set was still pretty dry and lumpy.

(don't let the smile fool you... this was a real low point)

so as always, my mother was called ( because she is our point of reference) and we asked what consistency the thin -set should be. she told us it should be "cream of wheat-y". well this is a pretty relative reference and after talking to her we called my friend chuck. he told us it should be the consistency of peanut butter. so after we spoke to our food relating references, we took our lumpy thin- set and laid the cement board. (we were on a time crunch because you only have two hours of working time once you start mixing the thin-set)

anyway after a long process, with lots of questions, lots of... 'i don't knows', some yelling,

a few mild explitives,

and some referencing to the flooring book,

he was finally able to lay the first tile.

and after a whole days work... he was able to lay three tiles. learning is a long process.

upon my suggestion he went to the class they have at home depot the next day. he was able to ask all his questions and get a visual (non food related) idea of the correct consistency of thin set. i think that this next week laying tile should be a little easier.

thanks tyrell for being so talented!!

later: adventures in framing, drywall and electrical.

carter

so carter has been drug to the hosue everyday and had some new experiences. he has been pretty good and i am sure has enjoyed:

1. playing in the middle of the construction zone in his exersaucer, while learning about framing and dry wall.

2. being strapped to a folding chair for lunch

3. playing in his pack and play with a paint stirring stick

4. and i think his all time favorite.... playing on a card board box with the new wood flooring.

even though he has had to endure working on the new house, (don't call CPS yet -well if you hadn't already due to the broken leg) we are still finding time to:

1. eat delicious meals at home. (and flash the new teeth) he loves feeding himself and is getting really good at it.

2. enjoy taking baths

3. play before bed

4. and hang out with dad (look at those cheesy smiles)

he got his cast off on the 9th of october! free at last.