The upstairs in our home has three bedrooms, one of which has never been finished, as far as I can tell.  We decided to make the unfinished space our bedroom, but first we had to address a rubber-roof porch off the back of the house.  The roof had been leaking badly the past couple of years and that leak led to a hole in the ceiling of a downstairs bedroom.  Here's what it looked like before we enclosed the porch:

We enclosed the porch into a dormer that matches the dormer in the front of the house.  This gave us a nice seating area in the bedroom.  This dormer will be stuccoed (if that's a word) sometime in the next week or two.  

The floor of this bedroom has never been refinished and it was exciting to see what shape the floors are in.  We are not going to sand the floor all the way down to the raw wood, but have decided to leave some of the gray tones in the wood because we like how the ruggedness ties into the gray brick on the exposed chimney.  

Here's what the floor looks like today:

The tub is getting moved into our bathroom tomorrow and the trim work in our bedroom and tile work in our bathroom will begin this week as well.  [Hello, awesome herringbone floor.  Looking forward to meeting you.]

This past week, there's been burst of activity here.  I haven't been able to post as most of my time is now dedicated to homework, floor sweeping & scrubbing from drywall and sawdust, sorting an endless pile of paperwork from the girls' school, and kissing the wrinkled forehead of a sweet lil' babe.  

Last Thursday, the install of our kitchen cabinets began.  It's incredible how a kitchen can make our house feel less like a campground and more like our home.  Here's the kitchen we've been working with the past couple of weeks (it had a nice, minimalistic design):



I was feeling a little apprehensive about the new cabinets because I have never actually seen them in real life.  I was hoping they would be the perfect shade of cream and not too white & institutional-looking.  Turns out they are a perfect cream and pair wonderfully with the floor color.  Today, the cabinets were all hung and the crown molding was put on.  The countertop guy came yesterday with my 230 pound sink and took measurements. Fingers crossed that the countertops arrive yet this week.  Here's what my kitchen looks like today, without any staging or tidying up.  I have no time for such frivolity ;)

Our bedroom has also been drywalled and painted. Thankfully, I have not done any landscaping in the backyard because a giant truck pulled all the way into the yard to lift the drywall into the house through the rear window.

A lot of work has been done on our room in the past couple of weeks.

I had originally purchased a giant orb light fixture for the living room and it was way, way too large for the space.  We decided to hang onto it and use it in our bedroom which has a vaulted ceiling.  We looked the light over this weekend and decided to upgrade to the larger size.  So glad we did because the light is now up and is the perfect scale for the room.

As exciting as this past week has been, I was reminded today about what really makes our house a home.  Sure, it's cool to have a house with a rad light fixture, but what's really wonderful is watching our kiddos work on puzzles in the living room, do homework at the table, and help me out with gardening; it's sitting outside with our neighbors at a block party; it's walking to friends' homes for playdates or dinner; it's inviting friends & family into our home. Those moments are what breathe life into the culture of our neighborhood & our home.  I want my contentment to come from that.

I have a friend who is very gifted in photography, among her other talents.  Megan did some photos of me with the girls earlier this month and came last week to take some photos of Marielle & I. She takes beautiful pictures.

This was my first time that I had a newborn photo session and Megan was amazing at making the session feel natural, candid, and fun.  

Now I just have to overcome some mother's guilt about not doing a photo session with the other kiddos when they were newborns…. :) 

Megan works in the Milwaukee area if you'd like to contact her for your own special photos.  It was a wonderful morning with her!                           

meganmanne.com

The electrician has been here quite a bit this week, installing bath fans and new light fixtures.  One of the first fixtures I purchased  for the house was a total score: it was a clearance floor model and the last one left.  At first, I thought it was just too large for my house, and walked away from it, only to realize that it would be perfect for the hallway after we removed the drop ceiling.  I came back and picked it up and am so glad that I did!  It was hung this week and I just love it.

The fixture is by CobiStyle:

Oh, hello blog. 

The past couple weeks have been a blur.  We packed up our apartment and moved (again) into our house.  (The first move was in June to load most of our belongings into the basement).  Our house isn't done yet, but we had to move in because our apartment lease was up.  We don't have our kitchen installed yet, or our bedroom, and lots of plumbing/drywall/electrical work has yet to be completed, but we're just happy to be home.  We're still living in sawdust mess and lots of people in and out, but it's all supposed to be completed by the end of the month.

In the weeks before moving, we had so much help and I am so thankful for it.  People helped us paint, watch our kiddos, assemble bunk beds, brought us food, cleaned and scrubbed, tore out old fencing, remove stumps from the yard, clean windows…I can't even remember all of it.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

We moved in on Saturday, August 24th and on Tuesday, August 27th, we were introduced to this little babe:

School began on September 3rd, so we got to sneak in a family outing to the zoo with the babe before the start of the school year.  The girls have been asking all summer to ride the train and they finally were able to.  They loved every minute.

On the evening on the 3rd, we went with Marielle and our friends to the Mumford & Sons concert.  I know that some people would call me crazy for taking a newborn to a concert (especially because it turned into a late night), but you just have to understand how I feel about Mumford: their music is the theme song of my life (okay, that was a bit exaggerated, but you know what I mean). 

Now we're settling into our "new normal", with two kiddos in school and two at home.  The girls love Marielle, but I can't get any of them to change her diaper (yet)!  I'm working on that.

This week, the crane is loading the drywall for our bedroom in through the back dormer and next week is the kitchen cabinet install.  So excited for that.  In the meantime, there's the dull jobs, like painting ceilings and cleaning up sawdust mess that's been keeping me busy.  The only room that I can say is done is the babe's, which is ironic because it's the only bedroom we aren't using right now.  She's in our temporary bedroom with us until  our bedroom is completed. Here's her room:

The electricians are here today hanging the remaining fixtures.  I am loving the hall light fixture and will have photos of that one tomorrow....