First Haircut

I've been putting it off for a long time, but McCord is almost 18 months old and I finally realized that he's long overdue for a haircut.  I've been afraid that he'd look too grown up, so I gave the stylists instructions to shape up the front and sides and leave the curls in back intact - without looking like a mullet.  And she did a great job!

BEFORE

BEFORE (profile)

This was actually his second time at the salon.  Last time Bo got his hair cut, we took Mc to watch.  This time when we went back, Bo got his hair cut first and then he held Mc on his lap for McCord's haircut.  We we all surprised that Mc didn't even flinch.  He remained his typical serious self the whole time and then looked at himself proudly in the mirror afterwards. 

AFTER

AFTER (profile)

After Bo went back to work, Mc and I decided to have a little celebration party - just the two of us - at Chickfila.  Icecream and playground.  What fun!

Christmas 2011

just a few pictures to help me remember the first Christmas in our new house...

Sitting at the top of the stairs waiting to see if Santa found us at our new house.  I was so excited Christmas Eve, I woke up and 3 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep.  Christmas is so much fun with a toddler!

McCord discovering everything that Santa left.

Mc trying out 3 new gifts: rain coat, shoes, and yogart covered raisens - all at the same time!

Merry Christmas

from our little elf.

Claustrophobic

Santa visited Ebenezer Grill this morning!  Had we gotten this shot earlier, I could have submitted it in this contest....

Pimp My Ride & Bathroom Progress

 Aside from wagon rides, this little guy has been enjoying all the hustle and bustle of renovations.  Here he is watching the crew using the saw outside.  He can't take his eyes off of them! 

I chose this penny tile for the kids' bath and our contractor offered Mc to put a penny on the floor in place of one of the tiles.  I loved that idea so much, I decided each family member needed to have a penny on the floor - here we are strategically placing pennys - each one dated for the birth year of Bo, Mc or me- even one for New Baby - just a random year since they haven't come out with a 2012 penny yet.

We got a toilet in the Kids' Bath today!

Here's a quick shot of the Master Bath shower. Floor is marble hexagonal tile and the walls are large subway with a marble and seaglass trim up top.  Can't wait to show a finished picture soon!

Renovating our 3 Bathrooms

I don't recommend this, but renovating 2 existing bathrooms and adding a 3rd at the same time, does make for exciting days around the house. 

Our downstairs guest bathroom is almost complete, but our contractor put that project on hold to work on the bathrooms upstairs since all of their plumbing is tied into one another.    Here are a few pictures of the progress downstairs.  For before pics, click here. 

Pardon the makeshift window treatments.  Basket weave tile from The Tile Shop

I'm loving this old light fixture I found at an antiques store for $10.  The electrician hung it today and it makes the coolest shadows on the wall.

The walls are German Shiplap Siding and will run on this wall and the wall with the window, but we're waiting on more lumbar to arrive at the Lumbar Yard.  This is an antique dresser that we converted into a vanity.  Right now the drawers are being adjusted to make way for the plumbing underneath, but I hope to show a better picture when it's complete.  Carrara marble top.

Walls will be painted Glidden's Wood Smoke when all of the siding is up

We still have a long way to go, but we're so glad to have a functional bathroom downstairs. 

Meanwhile, Bo and I moved our stuff downstairs to live temporarily while we gut the kids' bath and add a third to make a master suite upstairs.  We hope to finish shortly after Christmas, but I think that's wishful thinking. 

Here are the before shots of the kids' bath. It was pretty gross in there, but we were thankful for it, since the downstairs bath was unusable when we bought the house.  It had a great old cast iron tub and tile wall, but both leaked and rotted out the wood in this bathroom and the one downstairs.  It had to go.

Today it looks like this. 

You can't tell much, but the walls have been demo-ed and the electrical and plumbing have been roughed in. 

The most dramatic change will be in the master suite.  For the past few months, this has been McCord's room, but we decided to switch him to the other upstairs bedroom and make his old room the master br.  It was the largest room in the house and shared a wall with the kids' bath.  This meant that we could more easily add an additional bathroom there by tying into the plumbing in the kids bath. 

Sadly, I don't have a very good before picture of this space. 

Just picture a window to the right of the red bookcase and another wall just beyond that.  It is sort of a boxy space. 

Here's a shot of the room looking the other direction (taken before we moved in). 

Here's what it looks like today.

They finished erecting the wall so you can kind of get an idea where the bathroom will begin.  It won't be anything too fancy, just a tiled shower, single vanity with large counter and toilet. 

Funny how living in a house for just a few months can change your perspective on how you should renovate it.  I never thought, McCord's room would make a nice master bedroom, but here we are.  As messy as it's been to live in the house while renovating, I'm so thankful we have done it this way.  I think it makes the changes we make more thoughtful. 

Plus, this 17-month-old loves all the commotion. 

On another note, High Cotton has been put on hold for a little while.  The before mentioned 17 month-old has decided to stop taking naps and replace that time with temper tantrums.  So needless to say, sewing is pretty much impossible.  Thanks for understanding while I pull my hair out practice patience. 

Here's a picture of my last sewing project for a while.  A maternity skirt to wear to the Jr. League Christmas party.  Many thanks to my mom who watched McCord on Friday so I could wrap this project up for that evening's cocktail party.  Nothing like the last minute!

My Wagon Gets Around

: : A Post By McCord : :

A few days before Thanksgiving, my mama and I took my wagon to Ikea so we could do a little shopping.  As you know, my wagon gets around.  She wanted to post about this shopping excursion several weeks ago, but it's been pretty hectic in our house between renovations and sewing and getting ready for Christmas, so I've hijacked her laptop to share a few photos with you. 

Here I am getting ready for my first Ikea experience.  We arrived early before the store opened so we could get in a full Ikea lather with all the crazies. 

And here I am practicing my Ikea happy dance. Inspired by the music video Thriller.

It helps if you get your mouth involved in the dance too.  Just let it all out! 



Now that we've gotten that behind us, let's shop!

Here are a few pictures my mom took of products she was tempted to buy...

This big stripe runner for $35

And this one for $39

She loved this fixture and I think she wants to go back and get it for the new room I'll be sharing with baby brother or sister when renovations are complete.

And she liked this too - but couldn't figure out where to put it.

She did a little Ikea dance herself when she saw that this fixture was drastically reduced from $90 to $40.  She really debated but....



...decided to go with this large pendent instead.  I'm really glad she chose it, but we'll see how long it takes her to assemble it.

The wagon was perfect to lug around all of our loot!



I'm a lover, what can I say?  I hug and kiss everything. 



After a full morning of shopping, we refueled in the cafeteria.  I had a fine meal of chicken fingers and fries. 

And then I made some new friends in the kids' play station in the cafeteria.  This little girl has 5 brothers and sisters!  Her mom brought all of them to Ikea. 



This friendly guy is one of her siblings.  His name is J-A-A-D-E-N.  I know because every time he told me his name he spelled it out for me.  

After we played, mama loaded me back in the wagon and proceeded to take the tray with our dirty dishes to the tray station.  Right then, J-A-A-D-E-N came running over to me to give me one last hug.  As mama was turned around to watch us, she must have forgotten about the tray she was carrying while pulling the wagon, because it tipped forward, and she dropped the whole thing on the ground.  Dirty dishes and all.  And they all shattered to pieces of course.  It was kind of embarassing.  All I could say was, "uh uh uh uh uh uh uh OH!"

And here's one thing you should know about taking a wagon to Ikea.  If you do something embarassing, and then decide to go hide in the crowds of shoppers and act like you're a normal human being, the wagon will give you away.  Not that we tried to do that or anything.   

Mama also contemplated these fun panels for the playroom.

And I'd love to have this swing in my bedroom, but mama said we should wait until I'm a bit older.



And this one's pretty cool too.



Check out the little boy in the background.  He's checking out my ride!



I dedicate this post to Papa and Gee Gee for giving me the wagon for my birthday.  As you can see, it was a perfect gift and I'm thinking about decorating it for Christmas.  It's kind of like my sleigh.