Before and After: Kitchen Updates

This was a very big weekend for our kitchen, a very big weekend indeed! My sister Kari and her husband Ben came down from VT (where they now live! Much closer than CO! Woo!) and boy did they hook us up. Ben is even more handy than Jason is (sorry honey) and between the two of them they put up my much awaited backsplash and pendant lights over the new peninsula.

But as they say, begin from the beginning. I guess you could describe our kitchen as galley style. You walk in from the living room and there is one long row of cabinetry/appliances on left:

Straight forward faces double doors out to the deck:

And the right side has another little area, fridge, dining room access and then a half bath:

Other direction:

When we first moved, we immediately took care of two big things: appliances and lighting. After the new fridge and range were in, our electrician installed both under and over cabinet lights, which made an incredible difference in warmth and ambiance. And then I said, "You know, I feel like our cabinets would do much better with, like, bronze knobs instead of silver." A quick trip to Lowe's and we were in business. I don't have any real before and afters of this but trust me, it was genius at work.

So those changes held us for awhile but we always struggled with the big blank wall on the right that seemed to be such a waste of space. Well besides the nice comfy home it made for Ashton's highchair.

Surely we could find some way to get a couple stools and extra counter and cabinet space, but there was no doubt that our kitchen was too narrow for an island. So, we constructed a fake peninsula out of a wardrobe box and Ikea countertop to make sure it functioned well and didn't block the entrance to the bathroom because this was not going to be a small expense. We lived with that for awhile, decided we were 100% sure and then...

We went for it. Ordered the cabinets and granite, scheduled the install, and voila!

Now, enter Ben and Kari this past weekend. I'm getting to my point I promise. The project still was not finished. The lighting was now really off-balance being mainly on the left side and I have been wanting needing pendant lights. Short story: I ordered some and Ben hung them for me this weekend! Afterwards, my little DIY project went up on the wall (I found some cute dish towels at HomeGoods that I cut up and framed) and here is the finished product :)

There's still a little hole in the wall near the ceiling we need to fix. Ben opened it up to do the wiring and discovered that the contractor who refinished our kitchen simply put more drywall up over the old stuff. UNEARTHED: This lovely wallpaper of yore.

Drumroll please...My favorite part about the new peninsula:

Double bins for trash and recycling! This little baby is also known as my anniversary gift haha. It was an add-in that I couldn't live without so I invoked the nearest occasion Jason owed me a present for. I'm nothing if not resourceful.

Oh, but we are only half done my friends. Let's turn our heads to the other side of the kitchen to the wall that so desperately needed a backsplash. I picked a mid-sized subway tile in natural stone. Neutral. Non-threatening. No fancy patterns or inserts. But, um, tile that turned out to need monstrous amounts of grout due to beveled edges and to be more porous than coral. I was not Jason's favorite person during the grouting process, not at all. 14 pounds of it went on and then about 13.5 pounds had to come right back off in scraping. Whoops.

But what's really the most important thing here? Jason's tired arms or cracked fingertips? No. It is how beautiful it came out :) Little right side area next to fridge:

Left side:

Oooooo! Ahhhhhhh!!

Here's the down and dirty with what happened in between all the befores and afters:

In between all this they cut down a fallen tree from our back yard using rope and chainsaws and also switched out our old gold grimy firebox for a new sleek black one (part of the upcoming fireplace makeover). They made quite the team :)

So this is officially our new kitchen (minus my dish towel frames).

 I am IN LOVE! A huge thank you to Ben and Kari for coming down and making this all happen. I can't wait to return the favor once you move in to your new house in a couple weeks xoxox! Oh and thanks of course to my husband who always asks me what I want and (almost) never tells me no ;)

Mishmash

It occurs to me that it's been a couple weeks since I updated this blog. Even though I've had it for a couple of years now, every post I put up feels like a big task so once I hit "Publish", I tend to rest on the laurels of my accomplishment for a few days. Is that even a saying? Well in this case it's been a couple of weeks so I'll fill you in on the mishmash that has happened since Halloween.

First, Ashton had his first appointment with a pediatric ENT. He has always been a drooly kid and as he has gotten older and more active, things are just very wet all the time. Oh to have a picture of him without a bib or a saliva-soaked shirt! Besides that (and really the impetus behind his appointment) is the fact that he is in speech therapy and having difficulty making proper sounds. I wondered if perhaps his perpetual inability to breathe through his nose might have something to do with it. Just to rule out any larger medical issue (like adenoids), I made an appointment and off we went. The doctor was really nice and used an endoscope to take a peek up Ashton's nose. It was very thin with a little light on the end.

I really should have known.

It took three people to hold him down - he was petrified. I don't blame his little 2 year old self one bit. It turns out his adenoids are quite large, which was both good and bad to hear. Good in the sense that I was right to bring him in, bad in that he has had legitimate trouble breathing :( He also has rhinitis, which, given his allergic nature, definitely factors in as well. So the plan is to have him on Flonase for 4 weeks, see if it helps with the inflammation/breathing and if not, adenoids will come out. The Flonase does seem to be working so I'll have another update on that in a month or so.

Back to speech therapy. We have Early Intervention on Wednesdays at 8 am with Fran who we LOVE, and we started speech therapy with Shelby on Tuesdays about 2 months ago on Fran's recommendation. Shelby didn't quite hit it off with Ashton in terms of being able to fully engage him/control him, and Jason and I were worried that we weren't making much progress. We had asked if maybe Shelby and Fran could come together so Fran could teach Shelby some tricks to be more effective at winning Ashton's attention. But we recently found out that Shelby is no longer with the group (we don't know what happened) so we are starting with a new speech therapist next week. I hope it's a better fit!

What else. Oh, we took a long weekend last weekend for Veteran's Day and traveled to NY to visit Jason's parents and hit the Giants game on Sunday! This has become a yearly tradition whereby Grandma and Grandpa get to watch Ashton allllll day while Mommy and Daddy tailgate with their friends :) It's about a 2-2.5 hour trip from their house in Hampton Bays to MetLife Stadium so it makes for a long but super fun day. We met up with Jason's best friend Evan and Kaelyn and also Chera and Eric, who you guys all know. Evan and Kaelyn are recently engaged and Chera just found out she's having a baby GIRL (due 3 weeks after me, April 1) so we were all in great spirits!

The next day we attempted to get a christmas card picture of Ashton and my nephew Owen. It did not go so well.

A preview of what was to come. We traveled home on Monday and rolled in around 6 pm. I wasn't feeling great and went to bed early, which proved to make no difference because that famous 24 hour bug had bitten me. I was up all night and woke up Tuesday, November 12, my 33rd birthday, feeling terrible. I had already called out from work and expected to sleep in peace all day when we went in to get Ashton up and lo and behold, he had gotten the bug too :( Poor baby needed a bath and all his bedding, pajamas and his rug... it all needed to be cleaned and scrubbed. I felt so awful I hadn't noticed he had been getting sick too. But he hadn't made a peep! :( Anyway, my planned day of rest went into the wash with everything else. We spent Tuesday at home together in our sweats and watched an ungodly number of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes. We have seen finer times, him and I. Jason came home around 5:30 pm and made me french onion soup for my birthday dinner, which I didn't want any part of, which sucked. What I DID want a part of was my present which was the new iPhone 5s! Woo! Jason used his upgrade with AT&T to get me this very coveted life-altering device :) I told him that was true sacrifice and a sure sign that he must love me very much. I went to bed happy and things have been on the up and up for the past couple of days.

And that's about it since Halloween - although speaking of Halloween, Chera has a blog (link above) and I stole this picture she posted because Ashton and Owen were just that cute together :) Be back soon!

Halloween: Part 2

I feel pretty far removed from Halloween at this point but wanted to make sure to get it on the books, er, blog, before marching on. As far as the schedule events go, it was remarkably similar to Halloween 2012. Trick or treating at the local businesses in Cushing Square, home for dinner, and then back out into the neighborhood. So let's begin! I picked Ashton up right after work and we raced home to begin the great transformation into the king of beasts. It was a traumatic process and I learned that sometimes, lions just need their pacis.

But then Jason got home and we were out the door, up to Cushing Square to scare the local businesses.

Everything was going great until Ashton encountered one of his own. BEHOLD! Another ferocious lion!

Did Ashton roar and snarl? Did he stand to defend his territory and show no fear??

Not exactly. This lion is a lover not a fighter.

Speaking of fighters, then we met up with Owen SUPER OWIE! And of course Super Owie's mom Chera. These boys were the cutest thing you could possibly imagine :)

I wish I had more pictures of them together but they ran around like professionals getting candy and pretty much every shot I have is blurry (thanks to my big girl camera having zero battery, I had to use my iPhone. My OLD iPhone that, as Jason well knows, performs at a level so far below the new 5s that it's like carrying around an antique! *cough*UPGRADE*cough*)

So after Cushing Square we went home for a quick dinner. Because lions are such messy eaters, mine turned back into Ashton for some pizza.

And then we hit the neighborhood! Originally we were going to drive back over to see Super Owie (and in fact, for the first couple houses Ashton kept saying, "Owen come! Owen come!") but we ended up staying around our house to keep an eye on our candy bowl and to meet some more of our neighbors.

Okay you get it. Back at the house, Jason and Ashton went through his loot. I love this picture:

Ashton picked out a Dumdum, which is a lollipop the size of a pencil eraser that somehow took him nearly 25 minutes to eat. Perhaps because he was trying to eat the stick as well. Lions like sticks. Anyway, this resulted in a huge syrupy mess of spit and drool and it's the last lollipop he will have until next year. 

Happy Halloween from the Nills! ROAR! :)

Halloween: Part 1

Ashton's still at the age where, quite frankly, he is clueless. I mean he knows his routines, favorite stories and familiar people and all that, but has he been eagerly anticipating Halloween? Does he have any idea what it is? No. Which means I still have control over his costume, and I love me some hand-me-downs. We got the cutest dragon from Grandma and thankfully a couple weeks ago, Jason thought to have a try-on. I said, "Well, it's a size 2-4, how could it not fit?"

And judging from his reaction to having it on, likely too tight in the crotch as well. The whole thing was too small - the elastic ankle bands hit more like mid-calf and the part that did hit his ankle was supposed to be down over his shoes. So, Plan B: he is going as a lion. This is also a hand-me-down and strikingly similar to the giraffe he was last year. But again, does Ashton care that he will be a tan safari animal two years in a row? Nope. At least, I think he won't...check back tomorrow for an update.

Earlier this week we also got our pumpkins ready. Ashton really, really did not like the scooping out part. Wouldn't touch the insides, kept whining and repeating, "No. No. No!" It is definitely slimy so I get it. In general, he was very unsure with no smiles anywhere in sight.

After "Jack" was done, we put a candle in, turned off the lights and Ashton perked up a little...but in general they never truly hit it off so we saved the bigger ones for after he went to bed. Here is the final crew, ready and waiting for tonight!

Jason's is obviously the best and the one on top. Baby pumpkin stayed as is and I was so tired mine didn't even get a nose. 

Off to pick up my little lion for some Halloween fun! Pics tomorrow!

Baby Update

I do anticipate that unless you are a family member, are pregnant yourself, or have recently been through pregnancy, this post won't do it for you. Nonetheless, our next new Nill is halfway to being here so I thought I'd share an update.

First, we had the chance two weeks ago to find out boy or girl. We had told her in the beginning we were planning to keep it a surprise but at the end, when she said, "Ok, if you really don't want to know, don't look because I have to take some measurements." I said, "You know what it is?" and she said, "Yep!" and in that moment I nearly cracked and said "Tell me!!" But Jason reeled me in. So, we left happy in knowing that everything looked good but that we were able to keep the sex a surprise until March.

And little feet:

It's just so dark in there. And can you imagine how cramped? No thanks. 

So let's see. I remember feeling in general a lot better overall when I was pregnant with Ashton. The tiredness hasn't really gone away and a lot of days I just want to lay down. This probably has something to do with chasing a 2 year old for hours after work and all the associated extra cleaning, laundry and energy that said 2 year old comes with. Definitely not as easy this time around. 

Despite the additional activity, I am currently +15 pounds from my starting weight and last time at this point I was +10. With Halloween coming up (and uh, then Thanksgiving and Christmas) I don't see myself making up the deficit. Oh well.

Ashton is catching on. I first told him, "Mommy has a baby in her belly!" and he stared at me for awhile. I said it again and he came over and lifted up my shirt to look at my stomach. After a moment of confusion and seeing nothing regarding this alleged baby, he ran off to play. But now when I ask him "Where's Mommy's baby?" he will point or sometimes say "tummy!" and he nods when I ask him if he knows he is going to be a big brother. 

So here I am! Not the best picture haha. I look a little lumpy, among other things. 20 weeks down, 20 to go...

Head of the Charles

Last weekend was one of those picture perfect fall days in New England. Bright, sunny, just warm enough for no jacket but just cool enough to have your boots and a cute sweater on. The Head of the Charles is the annual crew race on the Charles River and schools and participants come from all over the country. It's really fun to go walk around, see the boats, and take in the sights - tents, music, food, etc. Even though Jason stopped working at the Lenox last April, they set up a spectacular hospitality tent and we stopped by to say hello to everyone. It worked out great because they were giving out freshly fried veggie chips that kept Ashton busy for a long time. We sat on the hay bales, snacked and soaked in the sunshine. I wanted to make sure to do a quick post on this but like most things, being there in person was far better than anything I could get in pictures. Oh well, here they are anyway :)

Totally chip happy :)

Air Jason

Despite having been married to Jason for 4 years, earlier this week I learned something about him that I never knew before: he can dunk. Like, on a basketball hoop. Whoa honey! I was somewhat less shocked to learn about his life above the rim than I was when I found out he used to have his tongue pierced (?!?!), but still shocked nonetheless. But this post isn't "fun facts you never knew about Jason" (al-thooooough...that could be interesting ;) )

But anyways there we were, down at the middle school tennis/basketball courts playing with a mini soccer ball with Ashton. Just passing it around, kick kick kick, la la la. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Jason grabs the ball, jumps up and soars through the air and slams it down through the net. Again, ?!?! "White Men Can't Jump"? Psssh! Not on this court! Ashton, naturally, went bananas. I got out my camera and totally made Jason do it again (uh, and again and again) so I could capture how cute Ashton was being.

It never got old. But after awhile, just to make sure we hadn't forgotten that he is a toddler with unreasonable demands, Ashton wanted to try it himself. I ended up learning something else about Jason: he is an incredible coach. After getting him comfortable with the height:

We somehow went from this: 

To this:

That, my friends, is a real picture.

After witnessing such a spectacular showing of unknown talent, I walked home in a shocked stupor behind them. Such an ordinary picture of two extraordinary boys. Extraordinary to me, anyway ;)