countertops

So it turns out there IS one thing that can redeem a morning of mopping 5 gallons of rainwater out of your living room. New countertops! We just had a successful installation in both bathrooms and the kitchen!

All three are recycled countertops called ECO by Cosentino; we ordered through Lowe's as that was the most affordable source.

This is the downstairs bathroom; it's called "polar ice." We haven't chosen a backsplash or paint or anything like that yet.

Upstairs bathroom:

"Riverbed" is the color of this counter-- it's our favorite. In person you can see the colors better and it's pretty. Would have been too busy for the kitchen though, since we were trying to salvage the slate backsplash. So we just did it on the small counter upstairs. Again, no paint or backsplash picked out yet.
In the kitchen is "iron ore". Please excuse the painter's tape. The first picture is the most accurate color-wise. It goes with the slate quite well.

It shows up a bit green in the next photo, but I wanted to include a picture of the sink that came with the counters.

Obviously, I'm in the middle of working on the cabinets. The bottom ones are almost done, but the tops still need paint and the doors are far from done. Now that the counters are installed though, I can put things back into the bottom ones and start clearing the disaster zone.

Also need to disguise the gap between the counters and backsplash. In some places it's too big for only caulk, I think. But once the microwave and toaster are back in place you won't be able to see much anyway.

They did do an excellent job with the one seam-- you can hardly see it, even up close.

The walls also need paint, and then there's the longer term project of making that wooden bookshelf into a countertop hutch and putting a pot/pan bar between it and the cabinet top over the fridge. (But that's the sort of thing that isn't urgent and will actually be fun to do whenever I get to it).
So yeah, apparently we have a dire need for better landscaping to keep heavy rainfall from flooding our living room. But the misery of that information thankfully pales in comparison to what feels like a total eye-feast after looking at yellowed cultured marble bath vanities and overly busy, faux-granite laminate kitchen counters (see below).

I couldn't find a picture that showed the old counters against the slate-- it was all way too busy together. But you can probably imagine, just from seeing the above picture.

Ironically, our new apartment in Queens... guess what counters are in the kitchen? Yes. The very same faux-granite laminate.

God thinks he's pretty funny, doesn't he?

letter from Mama Jo

Since I do a pretty weak job of documenting tidbits and stories about Josephine on here, I'm posting the e-mail I got from Sean's mom after she kept her last weekend. (Sean took her to Teague so I could get some solid work time in on the kitchen). I thoroughly enjoyed these stories and feel inspired to start making more notes about our amusing moments and conversations!

"Loved the weekend with your daughter and your husband! Hate you weren't able to be here but hope you got a lot done. Somehow a pair of Josephine's pink socks were left at my house. Let me know if you want me to send them to you. They were under my shoes. We spent a lot of time going in and out and putting shoes on and off. I can see how it happened.

Just a few notes for you in case you can't understand the thought process of that brilliant 2 1/2 year old!

We walked to the bridge and looked in the creek. She was very disturbed by the trash in the water. I told her that Grandfrog and I would try to get it out. I told her it really made me mad when people threw trash in the water. She started saying, "It really makes me mad, too. Mama Jo and I are both mad.!"

She discovered she could hear an echo after Sean had backed the car out of the guesthouse garage. I told her that was an echo. She would go in there and say, "Echo, echo, echo. Where is that little girl?" I tried to explain that it was just her voice. She really liked doing that.

She and I played "Queen Josephine" and "Queen Mama Jo". All we would do is tie a blanket around our shoulders and walk around demanding respect while saying "Queen Josephine" and "Queen Mama Jo".

Totally corrupted her by taking her to Walmart to buy a toy and McDonalds for a snack, but mainly for the playground. She is great on climbing and sliding. You will be proud of her though. We got her a Happy Meal with a burger, fries, apples, and orange juice. First she ate her apples, drank her orange juice, took a bite of burger, and a couple bites of fries and quit. This was all on her own. No direction from Ricky or me. We let her choose whether she wanted a car or a doll. She did choose the doll (sorry, a Barbie); but, lost total interest in it and hardly played with it at all. She would let Micha hold it as "her doll".

She chose a toy cash register at Walmart. It really is quite cute and she played with it a lot. Had credit cards, cash, coins, groceries, conveyor belt, calculator, key, scale, and microphone. She really pretended well. By the end of the day, we were calling for "Clean up on Aisle 5" on the microphone. Adorable.

We were talking about you at breakfast one morning and I told her that you were LUCKY. She told me, "Mom's not yucky, she's nice." I think I convinced her that I wasn't saying YUCKY; but, just in case she didn't get it--I think you are LUCKY, not YUCKY!

She knows that a mommy cardinal is brown and the daddy cardinal is red. However, to her, all the rest of the birds are their babies. She would point out the daddy cardinals whenever she saw them.

Everytime she hurt herself, she would say "Mom". I would always try to comfort her and tell her that Mom would kiss it when she got home. By the end of the trip we had decided that "Mommy is going to give me kisses all over!"

We ate dinner at The Grille one evening and she ate a couple of crackers before her meal came. She started rubbing her eye and we asked her if she got something in her eye and she told us, "Yes, cracker juice." Adorable.

Right before they left, I took her for a walk outside. We put on her black shoes and she told me that one of them was "too tight". I asked her if she wanted to wear the brown ones. She said, "No, just one brown." So we wore one brown and one black. I thought about it more after she left and decided that there isn't any reason any of us should HAVE to wear the same shoes on both feet. If your left one wants one and the right one another, go for it. Perhaps she will adjust my rigidity!

You've done a great job with her. I think I fell short on getting the proper number of vegetables down her. I promise to improve in the future.

Hope you have a great week.

Love, Jo Ann

P.S. I went to bed at 6:45 the night they left and slept until morning!"

progress of the peanut: 13 weeks

I have more pictures of Christmas to post, but I'm poning that post (ha. get it?) because my conscience is whining about how I'm already neglecting my second child. Josephine got near-weekly updates on her in utero growth and with this one, my pregnancy brain actually manages to forget I'm pregnant on a regular basis. Terrible. Of course, I suppose along with the weekly fetus updates, this blog also used to contain adorable pictures of Wilbur, various other musings, and the occasional house project update. All of which has mostly fallen off-- so perhaps it's just the blog I'm neglecting. Not my second child.

Let's go with that, okay?

So that we can all feel a little more connected to the wee one: according to babycenter, the baby is about the size of a medium shrimp, 3 inches long or so, and weighs about an ounce. It's looking pretty human-- the face has ears and eyes in the right place now, and the body is starting to catch up with the head (which is still about a third of the length). The baby also has lost the webbing between the fingers and toes and has developed reflexes, so it's in there swimming and kicking and grasping at who knows what, though I don't think I've felt it yet. I thought I had once or twice, but I'm second guessing that now... it's still a little early. The baby also has toothbuds in its gums, all vital organs formed and functioning, and fingerprints and fingernails!

I'm officially in my second trimester, and I have my second check up next week. So far, I haven't gained any weight, though it has redistributed and I started digging out maternity pants yesterday. Other than a bit of nausea midway through the first trimester, this pregnancy's been a piece of cake. I was severely exhausted and constantly nauseous/sick with Josephine for the first 16 weeks of that pregnancy. Not fun. This time, I've been sensitive to smells and have been tired, but it's been a thousand times simpler than the last time, which I'm very thankful for, as we've had so much else on our plate! (And thankfully, the lack of nausea has meant I've still been able to go for walks and eat food as I choose. Last time, I had to eat constantly, hungry or not, just to ward off the upset stomach, and I spent a lot more time curled up in my papasan in misery. So this feels like a pretty good, healthy start to things!)

Josephine seems to have a pretty good grasp on the whole thing-- or at least an interest in it. The other night, she heard my tummy rumble, and she pointed and declared, "That baby's SNEEZIN!" :-) Some friends of ours had a baby recently, and she didn't immediately make the connection that the baby came out of the mommy's womb, because she was asking if the mommy still had a baby in her womb. When I clarified this, she immediately demanded, "Did your baby come out of YOUR womb???" :-) I think she's pretty clear now that it won't come out until summertime. It's funny though, all of it, when I catch insights into her understanding of it. Like she seems pretty excited about it riding in the backseat with her and seems convinced that as long as we hold its hand, it will be able to walk. I know it's all typical toddler stuff-- but it's the same as everything's been the last few years: when you experience YOUR kid experiencing it, it's just remarkably impacting, I guess because you know their eyes well enough to truly be able to see through them-- and that's funny stuff.

Christmas spunk

Christmas decorations, in general, could count as Josephine's third heavenly experience in December. Inside, outside, ours, others', the touchables, the breakables, the mere idea of them. All pure ecstasy.

Peanut in a Black Blob

I find this photo miraculous for a couple reasons.

The obvious miracle, of course, is the fact that the wee gizmo came from a couple cells and now has a heartbeat and appendages and will one day grace this family with even greater joy than it already has. The more I think about that, the more my brain spins, sputters, and threatens to abandon all reason.

The second (perhaps equally blatant) miracle is the fact that the rather, uh, lackluster first trimester sonogram photo has become the ubiquitous announcement for something so precious. Surely there's a clip art image, even, that'd be more inspiring?? Maybe this?

Well, pick your preferred announcement image.

The point I'm trying to make is that we're expecting a second! (child, not hedgehog-- not right now, anyway)

A secondary point is that I need a different blog title. I've needed one for a while now, really.

Gingerbread Party and Christmas Chapel

Josephine's day school hosted some fun yuletide events for the kiddos. Sean took her to the Gingerbread House Party (that was the weekend I was sick), where she had a buffet line of candy from which to choose her house decorations. This was the second time she visited heaven in December.

I admit I was shocked at the size of the creation they brought home. We still have parts of it in our fridge! (Umm, maybe that says more about my fridge upkeep and less about the gingerbread house itself...)

I would say her third heavenly experience was during her school's Christmas Chapel, as her classmates were all decked out as angels. Seems heaven-appropriate, right? But our little angel kept refusing her halo.

Make of that what you will.

friends!

Let's see... you last heard from me when I had a stomach bug that left me bed-ridden for a few days in early December. So I have a lot to catch up on!

Josephine got to spend a Friday evening at a youth fund-raiser with Zanna (the church youth babysat the youngsters)-- this was an excellent arrangement which every member of the Sims household enjoyed!

You should have seen them at pick-up time... their sleeping bags next to each other and both of them wide awake, playing. Josephine thought she'd died and gone to heaven.

And we also enjoyed a visit from the Spindles! Couldn't believe how Sophia had grown since I'd last seen her.
She was fascinated by the ruffles on Josephine's shirt-- and Josephine ate up the attention. Just today she saw a picture of Sophia on my desk and she said, "This is Sophia. Sophia's a baaaaaby-- she's so cute." I had to agree. :-)