Kitchen Remodel, Part 1

This was our kitchen before the great dishwasher breakdown/kitchen-basement flood of '09.
(You can tell how old this photo is by the presence of the exersaucer! It goes without saying that you must excuse the mess.)


This is after the Husband ripped out everything, EVERYTHING, down to the studs. The water had seeped up into some of the cabinets and, because the original cabinets were custom-made, and because of the way they were installed, none of them could be salvaged. We have been completely sans kitchen since October 2009. The refrigerator and oven are in the dining room. The mircrowave is on the dining room table. The toaster oven and coffee maker are on top of the oven. We have not had use of the oven. We have had only our little bathroom pedestal sink for washing dishes (well, that, and occasionally the Ouisers' dishwasher). We didn't even have the microwave, toaster oven, or coffee maker at first. It took a while to get the dining room serviceable as a mini kitchen. During the serious demo, we didn't even have that, as it was closed off from the rest of the house to try to contain the dust. I think I've gained maybe two pounds after five months of eating out. I think that is a MAJOR success!




We took out the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. We're remodeling the adjacent mud room at the same time. The Husband did all the plumbing and electrical himself. We hired someone to take out that wall, and to put down the sub-flooring. We had another guy do the tiling. The Husband did all the sheetrocking with the help of his brother, Mr. Ouiser, and Ouiser's brother. It took FOREVER since everyone involved has, you know, a full-time job. And OMG, I think the Husband could have written his own blog on the trials and tribulations of home remodeling, especially in a 1930s home.





There's more, but I'm out of time. The Husband is at the lake, studying for a work-related test, and the Liliputian and I are on our way to Monkey's Treehouse. More to follow...at least it's a start!

As Reported to Me this Morning

the Husband: Liliputian, you need help with that sticker? *reaches for sticker*
Liliputian: No, Swiper! No swiping! *turns back on the Husband*
(Only those of you fluent in Dora the Explorer are gonna get that one.)

Liliputian: Humpy Dumpy sat on wall. Humpy Dumpy have great fall.
the Husband: Something, something, couldn't put Humpty together again.
Liliputian: *stares at the Husband* .....Need Mommy help. *nods*

Liliputian: Daddy's gonna buy you a billy goat... If that billy goat not pull, Daddy's gonna buy you a billy goat. And if that billy goat not pull, Daddy's gonna buy you a billy goat. And if that billy goat not pull, Daddy's gonna buy you a billy goat. And if that billy goat not pull, Daddy's gonna buy you a
the Husband: CART AND BULL!!!
Together: And if that cart and bull fall over, Daddy's gonna buy you a
Lilliputian: Billy goat. And if that billy goat not pull.. *continue ad nauseum*

She's just awesome. :)

You'll All Know the Cause When I Finally Go Postal

Many of you know that the Papoose's surgery scheduled for last Wednesday was rescheduled for the next day, then canceled and rescheduled for today, and that today didn't happen either.

We got up at 4:45 am, as planned, got on the road with the poor, sleepy, whimpering girl at 5, arrived at the surgery center at 6:05, only to be told that they couldn't "find her on the schedule." The receptionist made a bunch of phone calls while we sat in the waiting room for nearly and hour with our daughter crying and screaming for mum-mums, until the receptionist told us she'd called the surgeon's office and they didn't have us on the schedule. She sent us home and said we'd have to reschedule. There was much breaking down on the way home on my part. The Papoose was just happy to drink her milk, finally.

After we got home, before we got her off to school, the liaison from the surgeon's office (not the surgery center) called the Husband and was like, "Um...did you forget something?" And he was all, 'Um...NO, did YOU?!?' and explained what happened. So, the woman from the surgeon's office was like, "WHAT?!?! Dr. Christoferson's standing in the operating room right now, scrubbed in, and the anesthesiologist's team is all geared up."

Somewhat satisfyingly, she was all kinds of indignant on our behalf, made some phone calls and called us back. She said it was very much on the schedule everywhere EXCEPT at the surgery center, for some reason, and someone there must have somehow deleted it from their schedule. So, it somewhat soothes me that it's not the fault of the surgeon's office again (though, seriously, how many clowns are involved in this procedure?), but I am IRATE that as the woman at the surgery center obviously LIED to me about having spoken to someone at the doctor's office and told me it was their fault, I teared up, saying something about this being the FOURTH time and WTF happened?, and she was all sweetly, "I'm sorry, hon" and I was all, "No, it's NOT YOUR FAULT." BUT IT TOTALLY WAS!!!

FML.

Anyway, we're rescheduled for tomorrow morning. Send every positive thought you have, please! My nerves are shot.

It's Like a Greek Tragedy over Here with the Knees

So, every day's not working thus far. In my defense, I've worked all three days that the Papoose has been at day care this week. And I REALLY need to be cleaning house in preparation of my brother-in-law's arrival tomorrow morning. He's flying in for the weekend to help the Husband with the kitchen remodeling. Is that sweet or what? We like him.

In the meantime, we seem to have triggered mass hysteria with our overly brief mentions via Facebook and email of the Papoosekin's pending knee surgery, so let me lay it all out with some bullet points lest our friends and family make their way here to lynch us on the grounds of incomplete detail-sharing.

• The Papoose's knees have snapped, crackled, and popped since she was a newborn. I seriously remember her being weeks old and us commenting on how her knees sounded like mine already - all loose cartilage and crap. We probably should have mentioned that to someone earlier, but we were dealing with other things that seemed more important at the time, like, you know, jaundice and feeding her through effing tubes and her lack of weight gain and my PPD and Hey! Let's move across the country! You know, that stuff.
• This past fall, we started hearing the popping more and kept catching her popping the knee herself, like, as a fidgeting motion, over and over and over. Luckily, the Husband's father is a retired pediatric orthopedic surgeon AND he happened to be visiting for Thanksgiving.
• He examined her while he was here and suspected a discoid meniscus. Now, for all of you who are reading the word "meniscus" and remembering my surgeries from almost ten years ago, yes, same part of the knee. Mine was torn. Hers has too much cartilage: instead of being c-shaped, hers is solid. This is preventing the bones from sitting properly in their little space and causing them to slide and twist and pop out of position.
• She had an MRI last week. It sucked. It's very scary to see your baby in a hospital gown. It's even scarier to see her with an IV in her hand. And oh! It's LOTS of fun to have her go limp and unconscious in your arms as they sedate her, and have to leave her tiny body on that huge MRI table, surrounded by half a dozen adults in white coats and have to exit the room for an hour and a half.
• I also realize that in the grand scheme of things, this is NOTHING. It's fixable. We are truly blessed if this is the biggest health challenge we have to face with her. I know that very well; I work in a hospital. But still. It's my baby.
• So, the MRI showed that there is now a tear in the meniscus, so it's going to get worse if they don't operate. Also, when it pops, she falls, and that's happening more and more, and resulting in secondary injuries (minor, but still, a busted lip here, a banged head there, it's no fun). We don't think she's in any pain.
• The surgery will be Wednesday. It will be arthroscopic, just like mine were. We expect to be stuck on the couch with her for about a week. Like with my surgeries, she will be weight-bearing, so it's just a matter of when she feels ready to walk on it. I can't find much online in terms of suggestions for dealing with post-op toddlers other than that now is not the time to worry about how much tv or sugar they're getting.
• The Husband will be granted some time off work, too, so it won't be me stuck with what's sure to be so much fun in dealing with toddler pain management and entertainment all week. Still. It's gonna blow.
• Please don't tell me that it's good that she's so young because she won't remember it. I remember having to have knee surgery. It wasn't traumatizing; I could talk her through the scary parts if she wasn't two. If you have any ideas on how to explain to a two-year-old why she can't run and jump and play and climb and get out of the g-d house for a week THAT would be information I'd be interested in hearing because THAT'S the major problem. That, and why she's in so much pain and why mommy can't fix it.
  

FML. I'm just sayin'.

In Which I Claim YET AGAIN to Be Back

Okay, so another two months have slipped by with no blogging. The holidays were busy, yo! I cannot seem to keep up with my life. Here is a list of excuses, in no particular order:

• kitchen remodel (you want pictures, I know. It's all still totally demoed, though. There's nothing new to see yet, but I should at least give you some before and during shots.)
• holidays
• purchased a vacation home
• Papoose's second birthday
• started working again: per diem for our local hospital, and in two weeks will start per diem for a Nashville hospital as well (it will be every Wednesday at the Nashville hospital, some Fridays, and then a more traditional as-needed basis at our local hospital)
• um, I have a two-year-old
• my house is a constant disaster due to kitchen remodel (have I mentioned that I have no sink? no food prep area? I'm lucky to have a working fridge, toaster oven, and microwave, but it's still not like I can cook anything because there's no way to wash any dishes or utensils. Except for the occasional bag of dirty dishes we cart over to Ouiser's house and sneak into her dishwasher when she's not looking.)

So, I'm not doing the whole New Year's resolution thing, but I'm going to make an effort to try to blog every day for the next month or so. Just to get back in the habit. I think I've just gotten into a routine of putting blogging behind all my other priorities so I never feel justified to spend the time to write these big long posts with lots of pictures, etc., like I used to. So be prepared for some Twitter-like posts as I try to get back on board with this whole blogging thing.

As for today, we spent the morning rearranging some furniture in the dining room/kitchen to try to beat back the crazies that are trying to take over my head. We got the china cabinet out of the hallway and back in the dining room. Things are newly configured so that there is space for the Papoose's kitchen to go, whenever it gets finished. (He was this close to finishing it when our dishwasher went kaput in September and we had to start this whole remodel thing.) The Husband is working his fingers to the bone every. single. night. on this remodel. Seriously. He comes home from work and goes to work in the kitchen until midnight-ish or later. He spends all day, every weekend, on it. It's like a second full-time job, no exaggeration.

My plan this afternoon is to pack up the rest of the Christmas stuff. The tree is down, but not packed, and the stockings are still out. I'm vowing to get that done before Valentine's Day...

Cowgirl Vest

So, I got a request for further details on how I made the cowgirl vest for the Papoose's Halloween costume. There's really not much to say... I didn't use a pattern; I just sort of free-hand cut the fabric after looking at a fleece hoodie of hers in her current size. The fabric was from my stash, some kind of faux shearling-type stuff with a suede-look on one side and fleecy texture on the other. The fringe I picked up at JoAnn's a while ago, planning to do something with it for this costume, though I had no idea what at the time. I just topstitched that on before sewing the vest pieces together. And the stars are just felt, machine-appliqued on. Really, everything was just very free-hand and completely winged, which I NEVER do, but I'm very much glad I did this time. It's nice to step outside your comfort zone and have the results be so satisfying.

Anyway, hope that helps.

Howdy

Holy cow, November! Hi! So...I thought I was back in the blogging world, and then...well, October kind of got away from me. The way a raging bull on a shoestring leash would get away from me. There is so much I need to talk about here that I'm almost too intimidated to even start. So, let's just go with some distractingly cute pics of the Papoose from Halloween and call it a day.



She was a cowgirl, of course, since the Earth revolves around all things "horsie." No, I did not make the skirt, but I did make the vest. And I was extra proud of myself for totally winging it with the vest...no pattern, no plan, no trip to the fabric store. It fit perfectly and totally made the outfit. She wouldn't wear a cowgirl hat, but she was wearing cowgirl boots. And she had a horse, she just refused to carry it.



Oh, and the green frosting? Wasn't aware of it until I saw the pictures. The pink nose? Leftover face paint from a Halloween party at Verizon that morning where they painted her as a cat. Cute, but she later looked like she had a cold!

I'm pretty sure this was the only time she held Biscuit, the horse, all night. It mostly rode, inexplicably, inside Mr. Ouiser's shirt all night. Don't ask me; you'll have to take that one up with the Ouisers.

A good shot of the back of the vest.





Another good shot of the back.

We handed out candy across the street at our friends', Ouiser's aunt's, house for a while before trick-or-treating around our neighborhood with the Ouisers. The Papoose gave some candy out herself, after much pep-talking. She very clearly wanted to do it, but when confronted with a big kid right in her face...well, we were proud of her.

Our neighborhood is a MAD. HOUSE. on Halloween. It was last year, too. Like no place else I have ever seen in all my 31 years of Halloweening. It's probably the nicest, safest neighborhood in our area, so I understand why, but criminey. I bought even more candy than last year and we still ran out. The Papoose learned to say "Trick or treat" by the third or fourth house, and also said "Thank you" and "Bye-bye" with minimal prompting.

After we put the girls to bed, the Husband and I and Mr. Ouiser hung out by the fire pit at the aunt's house for a while, relaxing and talking. It was great. That fire pit is great. It has a chimney so you don't smell too much like campfire afterwards and it's just perfect for pulling some chairs up to, roasting some hot dogs, and having some drinks.

The only thing missing was costumes for me and the Husband. Dude, I just CANNOT get the Papoose's costume and birthday party AND costumes for us planned all at the same time. But after three years of no Halloween parties to go to and no costumes for us, I'm done. Mark my words, next year, I MAY throw my own party, and we WILL have costumes because I WILL start planning earlier. Consider that my Feast of Samhain resolution. (Is that the right feast for this time of year? Dad?)

My Child Genius

I got so excited this afternoon: she counted to four all by herself for the first time. That little voice going, "One, two, three, four!" with such triumph!

Until I looked over and saw that there were only two sheep and one horse.

Then, she added another sheep and declared, "Ten, four, five!"

*sigh*

She's Got Mad Potty Skillz, Yo!

I expect props to go out to our girl, Papoosekin, for some very appropriate potty usage this morning. After peeing all over both me and the couch, she later completely redeemed herself by not only announcing her intent, but carrying out said action in its entirety, and in the potty. After much applauding and rejoicing, she rejected the proffered sucker and instead demanded a fifth reading of A Mud Pie for Mother. Bless that child's little bibliophilic heart.

Potty Power

Why I've decided that today is a good day to start potty-training, I have no idea.

Maybe it's because we're going to NYC in a couple weeks. Helping a newly trained toddler figure out how to go potty in airports, on planes, and who-knows-where-else in the city sounds delightful.

Maybe it's because we're about to be exiled to a hotel as our kitchen gets ripped out, asbestos and all. After we came back from Austin and found that the floor had been soaking in overflowing dishwasher water the entire week we were gone, destroyed down to the subflooring, had contractor after contractor come in and go, "Aw, hell. This whole floor's gonna hafta come up. These cabinets aren't gonna make it. And that wall's probably gonna hafta go, too," we're very thankful for homeowner's insurance.

Maybe it's the fact that it's the middle of the week, so there's no husband around to help me clean up the puddles.

Whatever the brilliant reasoning that led me to the conclusion that today is the day, the end result is the same: my leg has been peed on. The floor has been peed on. But the potty has also been peed in, a little bit, and I'm not holding down a screaming toddler trying to slap a diaper on her, so maybe it could be worse.

Aaaaand....We're back.

Alright, summer vacation's over. I'm back. I couldn't stay away from y'all forever. Plus, I sense that I'm one step away from receiving threatening letters from certain readers.

The feathernesters have had a heck of a summer. Most recently, we were in Austin for a week visiting Toddler Tamer and brood. Baby S is even cuter in real life than in her pictures; what a happy, easy-going baby. My Papoose loved her and asked for the "Baby" first thing most mornings we were there.

Cont'd five days later...

The Papoose is still talking about J and the "baby."

She's talking up a storm in general. Tonight, she got ice cream down her dress inadvertently that neither of us realized was there until I peeled her dress off of her, saw the bright red spot where it must have been freezing her, and it started dripping down her belly. "Oh, MAN!" she exclaimed, repeatedly, to much hilarity from her parents. She's awesome.

I have so much more to update, but I'm going to go ahead and post this very random and jumpy entry. I've gotta ease back into this bloggy thing, y'all.

Our Month in Pictures

So, declaring a hiatus seems to have relieved enough self-placed pressure to finally spur me to post. At least some pictures, if not much text. Enjoy.

Pool time

Wading in the creek

Figuring out the intricacies of water fountains

The robin family that hatched in the nest in the tree in our front yard. They've all flown away now, though we still see the parents around.

My future's so bright...

Rockin' out at the Farmer Jason concert

Typical conversation these days: "Papoose, is that a hat?" "No..." "What is it then?" "Not-a-hat!"

Happy Fourth, peeps!

Too cool to ride in the stroller these days

We use big, emphatic hand gestures these days. Especially when talking about horsies.

Getting up the nerve for a pony ride

Petting zoo...yes.

Pony ride...not so much.

I'll Be Back.

Hey, strangers. I know this is going to be shocking news, but I'm taking a little blogging hiatus. I assume you'd pretty much drawn that conclusion on your own by now, but I just thought I'd spell out the obvious in big, black letters:

TEMPORARY HIATUS

I'll still try to throw some pics of the Papoose up now and then, since I know the baby eye candy is what really draws in the hordes of readers I enjoy. I'm just taking a little time, thinking about going back to work sooner rather than later, spending more time with the Husband, getting my butt to the gym a LOT more (read: at all). I fully expect the blog to regain a spot on my priority list at some point because I've loved having it. But even good things need to be changed up a little now and then.

Keep me in your google readers; I'll show up again soon.

North Country

Two weeks ago, the Husband and I drove from my parents' house in Upstate New York to our ten-year college reunion. The Papoose and I spent the week and a half prior to that hanging out with them for a little country vacation. We played in their giant yard, drove around looking at cows and horsies (the current faves around here), and spoiled the Papoose with cookies and popsicles.

On the shore of the Saranac River. Before she fell in.

My parents kept the Papoose for us for the two nights we were at Reunion. I think she surprised us all at how well she did for her first nights away from us. And we were able to enjoy the first morning since she was born that we were both able to sleep in. We had an amazing time with all our friends, proved that we were, in fact, not still 20 years old, and that Slices is still the best food one can find after midnight.

For the record, I flew to NY with the Papoose by myself. The Husband couldn't take that much time off work. About a month before the trip, it started to sink in that I had signed up to take this flight by myself with a toddler. And not just any toddler. An extremely busy, high-maintenance, strong-willed, and impulsive toddler. And I planned to keep her on MY LAP. For 11 hours of travel. Yeah, RIGHT!!!

I bought her a ticket for her own seat. Best. Thing. I've ever. Done.

On the way home, I had the Husband with me, but still no seat for the Toddler. He had restained himself nicely from complaining about the money I spent to buy her a seat on the way out because I was flying by myself and he knows about The Anxiety. But I knew he secretly thought it was a waste of money. The trip home with her, even though there were two of us, was pretty much awful, but with the silver lining that he is now 100% sold on never flying with her again without her own seat. You just CANNOT keep a toddler in your lap for that long. Not ours anyway. It's impossible.

Did I mention that the flight up there, without the Husband, when she had her own seat, a woman from our flight came up to me in baggage claim and went on and on about how the Papoose was the most well-behaved child she had ever seen anywhere, ever? No, well, we'll just be modest then. The secret is that it had nothing to do with her behavior; it was all about having that extra seat.

A word to the wise though: Be prepared to be your own sherpa, schlepping a toddler, stroller, carseat, and two carry-on bags through the airport. It is somewhat of a super-human feat. Making me Supermom? That illusion has a nice ring to it...

500 Pieces of Prudent Advice for My Baby Daughter

via Ohdeedoh

God, I love these. File this under, Why Didn't I Think of That? But at least I can point her to the link.

Gay penguin couple adopts abandoned egg in German zoo

I heart this story.
Gay penguin couple adopts abandoned egg in German zoo

Shared via AddThis

The Darker Side

Okay, in my attempt to distract myself from the copy editing I'm supposed to be doing and wade through the 5,317 items in my Google Reader, I came across this hysterical take on Thomas the Train meets railroad mafia and just had to share. Hysterical. Enjoy.

Baby Gifts

We are back from a FABULOUS vacation and I will try to fill you all in later, but right now there's no time.

I came home to a spotless house (best Husband EVER!!!), but the unpacking and laundry and trying to get back into the swing of things, along with an extra-clingy daughter (who thinks I'm going to disappear again at any moment) and a copy editing deadline looming, leaves me with a full plate.

However, I have a new niece!!! And Scarlet will be delivering her baby in another month or two. In light of all the baby goodness, I thought this was a great post about what families really need in the early weeks following a new baby.

Toddler Tamer, know that if I were there, I would be doing as many of these as possible for you. In the meantime, maybe you can direct your readers here.

(link via ohdeedoh)

First Tech Support Guy

Dining Room

This is our dining room. Notice I didn't even PRETEND to TRY to pick up for the pictures. We keeps it real 'round here.

This is my new dry bar. I'm pretty sure that it's gray, not black, as I thought in the shop, given that the tag said it was black and the lighting was poor.
I'm also pretty sure that I want to paint it black, but I want to hear what you think, too, Internet. What say you? Also, keep the hardware, or replace with brushed nickel? It's from an antique store, but I don't think it's a real antique, so I'm pretty sure there's no actual monetary value to the current hardware.
Also, cute kid.
The table and chairs are also new. We bought them on craigslist. We're going to resell the table when the Husband finishes the one he made us. The chairs have already been colored on with orange marker. I haven't even bothered to try to wash it out yet. We believe in artistic expression 'round here, too.

So, vote below: to paint or not to paint? That is the first question. Then weigh in on the hardware. Pretty please.