Wade's Baptism

Wade was baptized this past Sunday (or " 'tized" as our little friend Libba calls it!) and we had a great time entertaining family at our house afterwards. We have been in our house for a year now and it is finally starting to feel like us.  Did you know that in the past year we sold our first house, moved into our second, renovated it - gutted 2 bathrooms and added a third, got pregnant and had a baby. It's been a big year for us!

Here are some pictures of the baptism, the family, and a few shots of our house that my mom took while getting ready for a family brunch. It was a rare occasion that all of the toys were out of sight!

The family. Right before going to church.

One of my favorite photos of the day!  My mom caught this unsuspecting moment.  Doe Doe (my dad) was talking to McCord about how Wade was going to be baptized at church today and McCord would get to go in front of the church next to the baptismal fount and be next to him and what a special privilege that was to be the big brother.  I think he understands much more than we give him credit for.  

This is my mother-in-law, Gee Gee.  Wade is wearing the gown that she was baptized in as an infant.  Since then, Bo and his sister wore it during their baptisms as well as each of our children.  We are so thankful for Gee Gee for sharing this special tradition with our family.  In retrospect, I wish I would have gotten a picture of all of the people who have worn the gown.  It would have included: Gee Gee, Meredith (my sister in law), Bo, Emily, Kyle and Will (Meredith's kids) and McCord and Wade.  Amazing!

And here's the house.  I pulled out my collection of vintage children's prayer books and used them around the house as decorations for our brunch. 

We hope to renovate this kitchen one day - but we're slowly making peace with one another. 

The playroom - it takes a beating every day, got to love a hard working room!

And it would only be fitting to include Wade's prayer for the day, the same prayer McCord offered on his baptism.  

God in heaven, hear my prayer,

Keep me in thy loving care. 

Be my guide in all I do. 

Bless all those who love me too. 

Amen. 

Hello :: A Post From McCord ::

Hello Friends,

Just popping in to say, "hello" before I officially assume my role as big brother.  Daddy's still at work waiting patiently for a call from Mama to say it's go time.

And we're building a fence!

And we have a leak in my new upstairs bathroom that will require some pretty invasive repairs from the downstairs guest bath!  Yikes!  Mama's thrilled about that  as you can imagine!  Just what we need when we bring a baby home from the hospital!

I can't wait to find out if I have a baby brother or sister!

Finders Keepers: Campaign Dresser

Guess what the Habitat Restore was throwing out last week?!!!  I found this fabulous solid oak Drexel Campaign Dresser under a pile of goods waiting to be discarded on Thursday.  I spoke to the store manager, and he said that they couldn't sell it because it required too much work.  My mom who was with me convinced me that I could handle refinishing it, so I inherited this dresser for free and have been working on it over the weekend.

This gorgeous dresser from Lonny Magazine was my inspiration.  This image has been popping up all over blog world and pinterest and I couldn't get it out of my mind.  

Here's the before picture.

And still wet with paint, here's the after.

It's in the sewing room for now, but may find it's way up to the kids' room.

Guest Bath (almost!) Complete

We're missing a doorknob and the ceiling needs to be painted, but otherwise, we're almost there.  I couldn't wait to post pictures of our Guest Bathroom.  It has been a long work in progress, and we're so glad the renovations are almost over.

Basketweave tile. German Lap Siding. Glidden paint color - Wood Smoke.

All of the light fixtures I found at thrift and antique stores.  The vanity is a converted dresser that we already had.  We picked out a Cararra marble remnant for the top. 

Under mount sink came from Habitat Restore

The nude screenprint is one that I found years ago at a thrift store for less than $10 and had it reframed.   The artist's name is Phyllis Sloane. 

For before pictures, click here.

Big Day for Renovations (almost done!)

This is the new headboard that my dad and I made.  He made the wooden frame, and I upholstered it.  Can't wait to have our contractor install it in the master bedroom!  I'll update links to tutorials that we followed in a later post.

This is a window seat going that is being installed in McCord's and baby brother/sister's bedroom.  It will become a little reading nook with shelves on the wall for books.  Drawers pull out for toy storage.  We just had the sconce installed and got it from the Pottery Barn outlet.  I have lots of sewing to do in this little corner of the house - window treatments and a cushion for the window seat. 

They installed the vanity today for the Master bath - loving the walnut stain we chose!  We picked out a Cararra marble top which should be installed early next week.

What you see when you wall in the master bath - shower on left, vanity on right and toilet in far right corner.

We carved out a little space in the master bedroom  for this closet which was installed today too.  We'll keep linens here and some of Bo's clothes.

New (to us) lantern in master bedroom. I think I found this at the Habitat Resale store. We are using antique bronze finishes in the bedroom.

Master bath shower - obviously some work needs to be done here....

...but I couldn't resist showing the marble hexagonal tile on the shower floor.  This will also be the backsplash behind the vanity.  I think this is my favorite thing about the bathroom.

View from Master bath looking out into bedroom.

These are the colors we are going with for the bedroom. Except the pillow, all of the fabrics are part of my stash I've been hoarding for years - picking up remnants here and there.  I found the water color painting a few months back at a thrift store for $2.

Downstairs bath is still not complete, but our contractor is working on the drawer fronts - fitting them around the plumbing.

Here's our new banquette being installed in the dining room.

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!