Why Must Something So Cute

be so darn expensive?

It says "little helper"

It even has little matching socks... hehehe.

A Compromise for Price

Ok so this isn't the greatest photo in the world, but I've discovered it's very difficult to photograph light switches.

The electricians were here and everything is now wired except for a few upstairs bedrooms, the downstairs bath, and the dining room. The under the cabinet lighting is in and getting heavy use, and the radiant floor heat in the kitchen is defiantly a splurge I'm very please we went with. Yes, I now classify it as a need not a want.

Originally downstairs we had planned on going with the replica push button light switches. But as the bills piled higher and higher we realized that they were going to have to be a "later" installation.

So we talked and decided that this house would have probably had the plastic molded switch plates anyway. We asked our electrician if you could still purchase those, and of course you couldn't. However, he did have a bunch of boxes of them in storage that he hasn't been able to get rid of for years, and he'd give them to us for free. Yea!

He had enough to do the main rooms downstairs and the hallway upstairs. I think they turned out pretty decent. But I still dream of the day when I can push for lighting not flick.

Stellen Sie sich der Herausforderung!

At least that's what the living room wall paper's web site says. It's amazing I was able to navigate it and find a photo of my sample (just kidding there was a little flag button that you pushed for a rough English translation).

I love saying the paper is from Germany (and it is) because it makes it sound so much more impressive than what really happened. We went to Sherwin Williams and picked it out one weekend. In fact, I don't even think I combed my hair for the "trip".

The rolls that showed up are actually much lighter than what the above sample and the sample in the store showed. I'm not really happy about this, but I've told you this before.

You Can Actually Walk Through the Room

Since Dale has taken a few truck loads of woodwork home to his shop to work on our foyer has become less of a hazard.

Check out this posting from July to see the various stages of foyer walkablity.

Another Round of Woodwork

Tim and Dale split up the woodwork for the living room (actually, I'm willing to bet Dale has most of it), and Tim's been busily refinishing that.

We just have to get the woodwork that's still in place around the run of three windows and see if we can remove the pocket doors. If we can't we'll have to refinish them in place also. Then it's off to the local hardware store to rent a floor sander.

Tim thinks we'll be moving furniture into the room in a week. My bet is a month. Anyone want to start a pool?

Please Dear

Reverse psychology has always worked well with Tim. Unfortunately I forgot to use it this time.

I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY want the downstairs bathroom finished by the time the baby comes.

I plan on putting a changing table in here one the one long unused wall. Also, once the kid gets big enough that bath time on the kitchen counter is no longer feasible I'm going to have to break down an kneel in front of a tub. This tub would be so much easier to deal with than the clawfoot upstairs.

I made the mistake of explaining this to my husband. Who was at the time trying to decide what project to do next. After that discussion he cleared out the room and got the tile board on the floor.

Then it happened. He decided that the living room was much more of a priority. And so here the poor bathroom sits with out even a coat of primer for modesty.

Tim if you read this I really would like you to wait until hell freezes over to finish that down stairs bathroom. Please.

It's Just Like Christmas...

so maybe I should get those Christmas cards sent.

As I dig through piles and I discover all sorts of lovely things that I've forgotten we have. Like the above picture we got from Tim's mom awhile ago. It's now hanging in the hallway to his office. It's amazing how much one can come to appreciate a "finished" space.

The Pantry Has All the Doors and Drawers...

but not all the knobs.

Oh it's so exciting to have them up! And the light fixture is the first one we had purchased for this house. The three year wait so see it up and lit has been worth it.

I spent last week/weekend cramming lots of things into it. So once again we've had a significant reduction in the box pile. Yea!

Life in General

So I guess readers would like an up-date on not only the house but life in general.

I am feeling much better. My energy level, while not quite up to the usual Becky standards, is such that I now get out of bed at least a few hours before having to go to work. And I haven't had a bout of morning sickness for three weeks now. Yea!
We had an ultra sound at the beginning of the month and that was really neat. The baby wasn't as excited as we were because at the beginning it yawned, stuck its thumb in its mouth, and flipped its legs over its head for a little R&R.
I would post pictures of the nursery, but we don't actually have any nursery items yet. I really need to take a hint from the early appearance of Grace over at HIP and get my butt in gear.

Tim is doing well also. With the help of a wonderful doctor up at the Mayo clinic he was able to get his third class medical back as of last Friday. This means he can fly "privately" i.e. not for hire. I know it's not what he had hoped for, but everyone can't help but notice what a better mood he is in. Plus this doctor is also working to get him a special issuance of a second class medical i.e. fly for hire for smaller companies. If he gets it he would be the first in the country. The doctor thinks his changes are good, just that it might take a few tries. But his health has been outstanding. He's never had a low blood sugar episode and his long term sugar level is better than most healthy adults.
He currently braving the world of finding a job. In his entire career he's never had to apply or interview for a position, he had such a great reputation in the local flying community. So that whole process has been kind of a shock to him.

My car broke down a couple of days ago and got taken in for repairs. I discovered yesterday it has my camera charger in it so you'll have to be patient, and I'll get some pictures up of the pantry. Dale got the doors up and the knobs are in process. And I of course spent all weekend cramming them full of stuff.
In other exciting house news our living room wall paper is in. And guess what Mary (my sister the German major), it's German! Unfortunately it's quite a bit lighter than we had remembered too. But as my mother-in-law pointed out, it's going to be a dark room with the wrap around porch blocking all the windows so we will probably come to appreciate its light color.

So thank you everyone who has thought of us. I promise to try and be a better blogger. At least until the dirty diapers start.

I'm in Love

With my new cement board siding.

In the above picture you can see the old and new siding. Which is which you ask. Would you believe it's this hard to tell in real life too? Honest.

The right hand side is the new cement board and the left hand side is the old cedar.

We've got another great carpenter working with Dale on putting the stuff up for us. I don't know what we've done lately. Maybe it's the bad run of luck we've had in other areas of life, but we've had amazing carpenter karma. Actually it all started when I got pregnant. Is that the secret? People do say I'm glowing. Or has it just gotten around town that I'm pregnant, married to an unemployed guy, and living in, as Greg would say, a fuculent hell hole. Do I invoke pity? Hell! Does it matter?

On another note the picture above shows a little surprise we uncovered. The two different colors of wood shows where they raised the roof of the original house at some point.

Fan Mail

Got this note delivered to me yesterday.

I already had guilt because I haven't sent my Christmas cards yet.