it's a...

while this may look like a "kitty-cat" to some...

{like you Gray!}

I assure you all, it is not!

it's a healthy baby boy!!

it was a close race

{at 50/50 for a boy}

but those of you who guessed it were right!

now to work the idea of a baby brother into Gray's head...

or not...

remember this guy...

well, keeping with the true nature of renovations...

he's still with us!

 turns out this guy, is backordered!

so while other people figure out how to get it to us

{worst case scenario is december 5, not that bad}

we keep chipping away at the new floors.

baby room done!

{notice that new window?! but ignore that old fan!}

husband hard at work finishing Gray's big boy room!

{guess our clothes need to find a new home!}

and finally the transition between the kitchen and the living room.

{now the "easy" part of the living room can begin!}

all in all,

can't complain, because we did get this beauty in...

{wait for it....}

tah-dah!!

so worth it!!

{don't worry, we're changing the handles and staining the wood!}

woah...

didn't expect that to be hiding under there!!

we're getting the bedrooms ready for hardwood {yay}

and and what do we find hiding under the laminate?

some lovely old lino!

 that's classy!

{who puts lino in the bedrooms?!}

won't be for long, 

soon it will join the ranks of our kitchen and dining room

{which are finished by the way!}

also...

get a last look at this puppy

{bye-bye window}

there are crews working on upgrading you to a patio door...

right now!

{or tomorrow perhaps...but soon none the less!}

glory...

oh stove!!! how you were missed!

oh to be able to cook on a stove top again!

oh to be able to make dinner all at once instead of multiple stages!

oh to be able to cook in a pan bigger than 8"x8"!

what a great day!!

here we are...

on the other end of the kitchen floor

tah-dah!! 

{as of saturday}

{uhhhhh...ignore the brackets on the island...not so pretty now but once covered by beautiful marble who will notice?!}

and then...

 {ok so you can't see all of it, but under that cardboard is some awesome hardwood!}

it's been a bit of a slow process...

working our "day" jobs means getting home late...

which means by the time husband gets all the tools ready,

it's dinner time and then bedtime for the babes...

which means no using those tools because hardwood install is loud!!

so weekends only it is!! 

it doesn't help that we started in the most difficult room,

having the most objects to cut around.

{don't worry island, we love you!!}

it only means that now that we're done the kitchen

{I say "we" like I myself did something...it's really all husband on the labour front}

its all open rooms from here!!

so hopefully next weekend we get the bedrooms and living room done!

until then...

we are all going to enjoy the new, proper placement of our fridge and dishwasher!

{don't they look so pretty and proud in their new cubbies?!}

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!}

fleas...

flea markets everywhere!!

it was glorious!

during our weekend in nyc,

we dedicated a whole day to walking around brooklyn 

scouring through tables of beautiful vintage-ness.

even the brick roads had me head over heels!

 we scooped this baby up for $5 {!!!}

to go with his friend from calgary {seen here}

then these little guys

{not sure why the band-aid, maybe for its simplicity and charm?!} 

we had to get gray's initials in the letterpress letters,

onward with the collection of g's!!

and as if the lantern wasn't going to be challenge enough to bring home,

we stumbled upon this find

a very rare and delicate surviving map

of the 1939 world's fair in new york

{walking through the busy streets of manhattan was a little nerve-wracking with this one along...

but sooooo worth it!}

you see, a while back

I snagged a few photos from a box of old stuff from my grandparents...

I took photos like this guy here

just because it was a giant sphere and it intrigued me.

looking into what that was exactly, I found out that my grandparents 

{living in new jersey at the time}

were at this 1939 world's fair and these were from that trip.

so now, we have these awesome family photos,

and a map to give them context...

{found in new york no less!!}

pretty exciting find!

now to have them framed...

home...

to stay {sigh}

we had such a good family tour

that it's hard to come back to reality!

first stop, our toronto family

 

{time with cousins}

{time at the zoo}

then it was down south for our new york family

  

{which means lots of beach and doggie time!}

{and playing around of course!}

{a big city trip too}

{making new friends in the city!}

{checking out the dinosaurs at the museum}

so much fun!

can't all our family live in one place?!

now back to the daily grind...

{which means I have to catch up on laundry!!!}

 off we go, buh-bye!

{more on our big city finds next time...}