step one...

to getting our kitchen floors in...

getting the hallway done!

our before - laminate out, tar paper down...

our after - beautiful hardwood!

ready to expand into the kitchen

{for now}

and then the dining room, living room and bedrooms!

so much more to go...

but this little teaser keeps us motivated!

at last...

a step in the right direction!

the guys came and installed today!!

{ahhh we can breathe! and put things back!} 

you probably can't notice the melt-down inducing complications we had...

so let me point them out!

* firstly, the waiting an extra week for them to show up... 

oh and scrambling to finish all that prep work the weekend before

{you definitely can't see that}

* secondly, the professional who insists it's not imperative to measure the depth of a fridge...

really?!? because the surrounding cabinets that are now 6" too shallow tell me otherwise!

thankfully, I have the handiest husband there is.

he built out the wall behind the offending cabinets to make up the difference

{that's where you may notice some framing peeking out around the fridge!

but fear not, hubby will make that go away!} 

* lastly, {let's hope, right?!} the small detail of door fronts...

not the ones we chose!

but that seems to be the easiest fix ~ wait 2-3 weeks for proper ones to come in,

guys come back, we have proper and complete kitchen!

this is what was shipped

{boooooo! boring and looks like it came off the shelf}

this is what we selected

{yaaaaay! selected because of the name, perhaps!}

up next, countertop templating...

bye bye wall...

it's time to fall!

{clearly too much Dr.Seuss lately...}

ahhh so nice and open!!
{verrrrrrrry messy - but open!!}

we made it, we survived...

it took a week of near torture and agony...

but we are ready for the kitchen!

{let's just hope our kitchen guys feel the same}

no good reno goes without it's roadblocks,

we should be used to it by now...

{is it really something one can get used to though?! shouldn't be!}

this kitchen has brought us several roadblocks!

the first irritation: one week later,

here we are still waiting to get our kitchen back.

{don't they know I'm "cooking" out of a toaster oven in gray's big boy room?!?}

tomorrow is supposed to be the day...

so keep your fingers crossed for us!

and at least someone has adapted nicely to the chaos!

update...

our progress at the end of day two looks something like this:

so far we have found:

 * the dishwasher is hooked up to the bathroom plumbing

* there is no water shut off in the entire house!

* the mess tile leaves behind is time consuming to remove

{really?!? can't you just crumble away so we can move on?!}

but not everything is a set-back!

kitchens always seem to unveil the best of lost treasures!

{we're pretty sure that key unlocks a treasure chest buried somewhere in the house...}

push it...

push it real good!

anyways...

the push is on for us over here ~ 

we have a new shiny kitchen coming next week!!

{goodbye dishwasher that mocks me by sprinkling water on my dishes and telling me they're clean}

all this glory comes at a price though, we have three days to:

* pack up old kitchen {take out food here we come!}

* rip out old cupboards/appliances {minus the fridge, you stay, sir}

* board up back door

* tear down a wall

* rip out tile floor

so here we are...on day one...

{really not a full day since we will be starting after g goes to bed!}

I'm not even going to try to clean it up for you!

this is our coping mechanism through renovations:

give up!!

there's nowhere to put everything,

plus it's pretty gross and ugly to begin with, so why maintain it?!

so take it all in now people!!

because after the beauty is restored to this portion of the house,

you will not see this level of ghetto in my house again!

stay tuned for our progress on day two...

just a smidge...

that's all it takes

when it comes to paint colours.

and not only paint colours, but matching paint colours -

just the tiniest bit off and it's wrong, wrong, wrong!

take g's big boy room here

{ya know, now that someone else needs the crib!}

{you can see the difference too, right?! the one on the left is baaaaad!}

he already went through the difficult process of choosing the perfect colour,

so naturally, when I went to paint his new room the same colour,

I had none left!

now I have to go get some more...

but I go somewhere else because the price is better... 

{mistake number one, yes.}

and I forget my paint deck...

so I have to use a wet sample...

{mistake number two, yes.}

I do my first coat, and think this is pretty darn close!

{good thing I got two gallons...mistake number three, yes.}

letting it dry and living with it for a few days,

{by living I mean visiting the empty room every so often to see if the colour grows on me}

I realize, something is not right about this!!

this is not the colour we're looking for...

gray's colour was much softer and creamier...

this kind of felt like purply-dinosaur skin!

{I'm sure it existed ok?! and in hindsight he probably would've liked it!}

so after convincing husband that it wasn't just his blue compact fluorescent light bulbs,
I went out {with the paint deck, check!}
and tried again.


this time I new right away we had a match!
long story short...we got the right paint...
and it only takes a teeny-tiny variation in colour to drive me nuts!!
the joy of renovations and finding the perfect fit!

you ask...

we deliver...literally!

{well one of us does anyways}

when are we going to have another, you ask?

well, april 2012 as a matter of fact!

meet our baby no2

we don't know what we're having yet...

{oh yes, we're finding out!!}

but maybe you do?!

there's two more months until we know ~
so let's take an official poll and see who's right!

will it be a boy or girl?

oh, roost...

is there anything

you do that I don't love?! 

this little score will join g's big boy room...

{lucky boy!!}

more on that room later...

{yes, this is a teaser!}