Monday, January 23, 2017

Outside Our New House at East B St

Welcome to the jungle aka the outside of our house!  The first thing we noticed when we arrived was all the trees at the front.  Sure, we love trees, but this was kind of excessive. They were compromising the foundation, sewer lines, and making the house so dark.  



See our house back in there? 


It's a good rule of thumb that a tree that has to grow AROUND the eves of your house is too close to said house. 
So, the trees...They were clearly too close.  It was sad to say "goodbye" to the cedar trees, but it was worth it for all the light we get in exchange!  We had several bids from tree guys, and found a great one.  Phase 1 of the outside renovation is now complete:
  
We all loved watching the guys work from the safety of the house.  


This crazy girl! 

Ah, much better! Hello, house! 
Now for the rest of the yard: 

The back patio (view from the kitchen/mudroom, toward the shop/garage)

Just SOME of the pots and random stuff we found in the yard 

The previous owner caged EVERY plant he had. 

The side yard facing the kitchen (middle window)

The rest of the yard from the kitchen patio


The other side of the house from the tree line 

Nana's cottage (or rather the garage that will become a mother-in-law apartment for mom)






Tuesday, January 17, 2017

No More Giraffe

Today was a big day in the McPhee household!  

We went to the pediatrician this morning for Lucy's three year checkup.  She is healthy, and in the 75th percentile for height and weight.  There were two suggestions from the doctor: First that we buy Lucy some scissors (gee, thanks, doc), and second that we take away the pacifier.  I talked it over with Isaac and we decided to rip off the bandaid.  We've been on the verge of taking it away several times, but a life event always seems to get in the way. 

When we came home, we took Lucy to her room and let her cut off the paci from her giraffe.  Her first time using real scissors.  She was excited about the scissors, but wailed pretty hard when she put the giraffe up to her mouth and the paci wasn't there to comfort her to sleep.  My poor little love! She was heartbroken. Absolutely devastated! She sobbed for her giraffe for at least 20 minutes while daddy sat with her and sang to her and I sat in the hall with Malcolm and cried!  I went in and calmed her down, and we let her get up from her "nap".  
Talking it through. Lots of tears. 

Cutting off the paci with daddy's help. 

Not thrilled with the end result. Poor sweet baby!

We took her to Target to pick out a present for giving up her paci (yes, we're those parents).  She had some birthday money left from her GG Pat so off we went!  She picked out some kinetic sand and purple scissors. 
Excited that she got to go to Target AND bring giraffe with her! 

Lucy and her brand new scissors!  She didn't want help at first, but I convinced her to let me give her a little cutting technique. 
Unorthodox cutting technique


I had to include this video because if you watch closely you can see her jaw moving in sync with each scissor cut.  She was so, so proud of herself! She did really great! 


Tonight Isaac was gone and I had to handle bedtime solo.  I covered this evening in prayer. So much prayer! I put Malcolm down, got Lucy bathed and in jammies, put on some music, and laid her down in bed. We sang some songs, prayed together, and she began to whimper that she didn't have giraffe. She did cry and scream, but it didn't last long. Within ten minutes she was quiet. I finally gathered up the courage to peek in at her an hour and a half later and found this sweet sleeper. We're not out of the woods yet, but this felt like a gift from God: a welcome respite in a season of hard parenting! 
Look at that sweet, sweet baby girl! Growing up so quickly! 



Inside Our House at B Street

Here we go!  We're somewhat settled now, so I wanted to get some photos.  These will also be known as the "before" pictures! We've already begun making improvements, which you'll see, but nothing is really finished yet. So far we've managed to clear out most of the furniture that was left that we aren't keeping, but a few pieces are staying put until they sell and/or get replaced. I'll take outside pictures when the rain lets up again. (hooray for rain and warmer temperatures!!)  Forgive the terrible flash photography. I took these pictures at night and the house is pretty dark inside right now with all the trees (and the drapes were shut). Any who!! 

Our living room:
You enter from the side of the house into the living room.  That organ that you see is up for sale if you know anyone (or a church?) that needs one? It's in PERFECT condition, but we want a piano, so it's got to go.  Our living room looks really small in these pictures, but it's actually really spacious! There's even an Ikea tent and tunnel peaking out from behind that loveseat there! The kids both love it! 

Isn't that carpet fantastic? Wow! 

Perspective: that coffee table is five feet long. 

From the living room, through the door next to the organ is the dining room.  We're selling that hutch, will eventually replace the chandelier and the chairs. We're keeping the beautiful, sturdy table that was left behind, and the radio cabinet to the right of the hutch. 

Through the dining room is the den that we've decided to call the playroom. I also have my very own sewing corner! (Insert excited squeals of anticipation and sheer joy here).  Note the carpet change. More shag, but orange and gold instead of green. The couch, the bookshelves, and the sewing table were left behind, and we're going with it! I love that table! 

Yes, there's an antenna cable floating across the room. Isn't that pretty? And that dog? He's Malcolm's, and Lucy's named him "Eggo".

The kitchen is off the living room, and also leads into the dining room. It will get updated eventually, but we can totally live with it. I even kind of like the wallpaper and counters! 


Another dream come true: a laundry room/mudroom with a half bath and everything!! Seriously, I've danced for joy over this! It has two windows and it's just generally super cheerful! I think I actually giggled with glee the first time I did laundry here. True story. 

This is the main bath. The flash did something weird with the mirror and there's a bunch of lines that don't exist in real life. We've already added a storage cabinet and started testing out paint colors (under the light bar), and I tore down the weirdly kitchen-looking wallpaper borders in this room.

Down the hall is the master bedroom. It doesn't need too much work: mostly paint, a new window, and some pictures on the walls. 


Our second (of THREE!) bathrooms. This one is a half-bath off the master. So nice! Just needs paint and a new light fixture. And one less towel bar. These folks were obsessed with hanging towels everywhere.

Across the hall from us is Malcolm's room.  Yes, that IS pink shag you'e seeing.  Paint is in the works, and I've already removed all the pink hearts from the wall!  


 Check out that happy, happy boy right there!

Ah, Lucy's room. It needs some love. The drapes are broken (and so very Sound of Music-esque). That wallpaper is going DOWN! I already peeled back out of curiosity, which means Lucy has now taken to stripping it off each time she passes it... It looks loverly.

Gray and pink walls are in the works.  Lucy insists her "yoom" should be brown and purple. I'm hoping she'll come around to my way of thinking. Round one of pink was about 20 shades too bright, even for a toddler's room accent wall, so we're back to the drawing board. 

"Pretty" wallpaper...

Last on the tour is Isaac's office! HE HAS AN OFFICE, Y'ALL!!!!! Aaaah!  
*No muppets were harmed in the making of this carpet. We think...

















Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Dedicating Malcolm Lewis

We wanted to dedicate Malcolm while we were still at Harambee.  We feel it is important to make a public profession of our faith and to commit to raising our son (and daughter) in light of the Gospel truth.  We love you, Malcolm!  Thank you, John, for praying over us, and teaching us so much about parenting and our perfect Father!  





Noah and his "mini me" 

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Malcolm at 8 Months

I finally did it. I missed taking pictures on the day. Malcolm turned 8 months old on the 4th, but these are from the 5th.
He got his first haircut and looks like such a big boy now! (Thanks, Nana!)
He's wearing 18 month clothes, is a total mama's boy, and crawling and pulling himself up on anything and everything. 
He has started doing the furniture shuffle, walking along the table or couch, and transferring between them. 
He loves baby food, and is totally excited about big people food now, too. His favorite is hash brown casserole, bananas, and mac n cheese! He lunges for them. 
He's a happy baby with an open mouthed smile for just about everyone! He's slowly transitioning from Army crawling to up on all fours.  



WHAT is happening back there, mama? WHAT is Nana doing?