Bathroom Shelves

If you've seen my post about the laundry room then you may recognize the pattern on the shelves. Yes, it’s the same as the counter top, which was originally part of Pamela’s sister’s IKEA bed frame. If anyone was unaware, I love IKEA. I love IKEA furniture and I love IKEA hacking. Every time we go to IKEA I make Pamela stop with me in the “as is” section to see if there are any good pieces that can be salvaged or pieces that I can re-purpose. So when Kim was going to get rid of her broken bed frame in a move, I quickly snatched up all the pieces I could. I also have her old dresser in our garage. It’s functioning now as storage for my spare cables, sprinkler repair parts, and other various garage goodies. The dresser may be a little wobbly and missing some trim but it’s 100 times better than the cardboard boxes these items were living in before.

Before

After

These shelves were super easy to put up but make the little toilet room look like a fancy spa. Obviously Pamela was in charge of the cute decorations that adorn the shelves. If you recognized the white vase, pot, and fake grass you are an IKEA junkie like us. I simply cut the bed frame side rails to the right length and supported them with a few pieces strategically attached to the wall. I’m sure they’re not the most sturdy shelves ever but they will work just fine for holding decorations.

Laundry Room

I finished this project a while ago, even before Ryan joined us. However, I’m sure at the time we were more focused on keeping Pamela healthy and preparing the house and ourselves for his arrival than documenting this project.  I still managed to take a before picture so you can see the transformation.

Before

Just an empty room with washer and dryer hookups. I suppose sticking the laundry machines in a bare room is adequate for some, but we felt we could make this room more functional and give it some class.

After

We had cabinets over the washer and dryer at our old house so that seemed to be an obvious addition. The countertop though stands out as the major upgrade. Its visual appeal is surpassed only by its functionality. It gives Pamela plenty of space to fold and sort laundry as well as hold the detergent bottles without the fear of anything falling off or slipping between the machines. At our last house (no countertop), we had one incident where an unbalanced washing machine load tossed a full jug of detergent onto the floor. That soapy gross mess was definitely a contributing factor in deciding to add the countertop.

I usually try to be frugal with my house projects and this was truly no exception. The house purchase was only a few months in the past and my mind was probably still going over all the money we had just put down and the new monthly payments we signed up for. I ended up buying the plain white cabinets from Walmart. They look good enough for a laundry room and I didn’t mind a little bit more assembly to save some money. A piece of finished shelf board from Home Depot, cut to size, created the decorative shelving between the cabinets. Then my favorite part was the countertop which is a repurposed headboard from Pamela’s sister’s old Ikea bed. It was almost the exact perfect size, I only had to shave off about an inch from each side.  Pushing the washer and dryer carefully back into place was the finishing touch. A fairly easy and cheap addition turned the laundry room into a functional and attractive space.

Fireplace Mantel

Although most of the blog posts lately have been about Ryan, there is still other stuff going on in our lives believe it or not. It used to be that whenever I would tackle a house project Pamela would be following me around helping and documenting the process with lots of pictures. But now her time is much better spent taking care of our baby than taking pictures of me bent over nailing some pieces of wood together.

So here is a project I completed recently; the fireplace mantel:

Before

After

Wraps around the sides of the fireplace wall

Close-up artistic shot

Nothing terrible about the before picture but I think the addition of the mantel gives some character to that wall. It also does a nice job of concealing all the TV cables. That has been a big difference between this house and last. In the last house everything was way outdated and small changes like painting a room and hanging things on the walls made a drastic change. This house was in pretty good shape to begin with, so my projects have to be more unique and customized to really show an improvement. The mantel project wasn’t all that difficult or time consuming I just needed to set aside a few hours over a couple days and finally knock it out. I think the hardest part for me was choosing the right crown molding and trim pieces to use. My design ended up being pretty simple and only using 3 different boards all together. 1 piece of trim, 1 piece of crown, and 1 flat board for the top. I had just purchased a hammer drill for a different project so making my anchor holes was easy. Pamela helped me keep the bottom trim level as I attached the first board. Everything else went up easily and built off of that first piece. Unfortunately, I don’t have any in-progress pictures but it really did go up pretty fast. I cut out notches in the right side crown molding piece and in the back of the topper board to route the cables through. My step dad let me borrow his pin nail gun that shoots super small nails especially for trim pieces like this as well as his heavy-duty 12” miter saw. Using these tools and some careful planning there was not much finishing work to be done. I just added an extra coat of white paint and was finished. Just in time too. Later that day we broke out the Christmas decorations and Pamela had a perfect place to hang our stockings.

Ready for Christmas!

Ryan - Month 8

Month 8 - here we go!

• Ryan is catching on that he can get a certain reaction out of people with certain actions of his own.  So a funny new thing he started was fake coughing when he wants attention or doesn't want to be put down for bed.  Matt or his mom, Carol, would lay him down in his swing to nap, and he would start doing these ridiculously fake coughs, then, looking at you with a sly smile to see if it was working.  What a turkey!  

• Making some more headway in the crawling department: Ryan started inching forward while on his hands and knees.  He can't go more than one or two paces before he collapses, and he is very selective about what he will crawl for.  This month, it was only for the dog's feet or for stray water bottles left around the house.  Priorities.  

• He has become quite an expert at sitting up without assistance, which has made play time a little less nerve wracking for us since we don't have to worry about him toppling and hitting is head as much.  He also started pulling up onto things, namely the sides of his crib.  Matt saw that one coming and thankfully dropped the crib down to a lower setting just days before he decided to make his move.  It is really funny and also a bit sad to watch him pull himself up to the bars in his crib.  He looks like he's in a little baby prison (and acts like it too if we don't come to get him right away!)

• Peekaboo books are his absolute favorite, so we are accumulating quite a collection.  He likes to open the flaps himself and then shut them again right away.  I think he has a bit of his mama's OCD in that regard - nothing can stay open if it's supposed to be shut :)  I love reading to him and the interest that he shows in books.  I hope that's something he'll continue on as he gets older.
• While picking up our day-after Halloween candy, Matt and I made an impulse bubble buy to see if Ryan liked them.  And he did!  I would blow the bubbles around him and he would look around at them in amazement.  Matt showed him how to pop them with his fingers, and then upped the amazement by making enormous bubbles in the kitchen using his hands and some Dawn soap :) 
• Speaking of Halloween, Ryan wore a puppy costume for the big day and couldn't have looked cuter!  Unfortunately, he had a cold, so we weren't able to go to any of the parties we had planned.  But Jordan dressed up as a baby and the little duo had a fun time hanging around the house together.  When it came time to carving the pumpkin, he loved reaching inside to pull out the guts.  

Ryan - Month 7

Another fun month with the babe, and making progress towards some even bigger milestones.

• Bath time is always fun, but then getting ready for bed after the bath tends to be a challenge since Ryan is so tired by then.  We try to entertain him with toys or the dog while we put him in his pajamas and prep him for bed, but there's always a lot of whining and crying going on.  One night, he was sobbing pretty hard, and I went to close the cover on our thermostat (we hike up the heat during bath time so he doesn't get chilled, then cool it back down once he's dressed again).  I asked him if he wanted to help me close the thermostat and he very suddenly perked up, smiled, and shut the cover!  Matt and I cheered him on as he did this 3 or 4 more times, and now it has become his "job" after bath.  He is quite proud of himself every time he does it, and looks around to find Matt for approval and praise :)  So he has something to look forward to, and it has made our night routine a little easier.
• Another thing that has made our life a little easier is the fact that his hand-mouth coordination has caught on this month!  During meals, instead of whining for me to feed him bites, he now happily picks up pieces on his own.  And, boy, does he love food!  Everything that he tries, he loves.  It is funny to watch him eat so skillfully - he can get food to his mouth faster than I can break it into bite-sized pieces sometimes.  So meal time has become a fun event with a lot less stress for all 3 of us!

• His "talking" has turned to jabbering this month, and he can get out "mama," "dada," and "nene."  Right now, he doesn't have any association with these sounds, he is just trying them out.  But it is exciting to think that soon he will say "mama" and know that means me!
• One of the funny notes for the month I jotted down was that he started making what my sister Kim and I called the "Old Man Face."  I'm glad I wrote it down, because this phase has already passed, but it was a funny one.  He would curl his lips in, squint his face and move his jaw so he looked like a cranky old man without his dentures.  Cracked us up!

In his "Ready Stance"

• He was one step closer to crawling this month - he learned to push up onto his hands and knees in crawl stance and then rock his body back and forth like he was raring to take off.  Then he would get tired or frustrated and plop down onto his belly.  Matt needs to get a move on baby-proofing the house... :)

Ryan - Month 6

Uh oh, one month I am patting myself on the back for being up-to-date on my Ryan diaries, and now I find myself 2 (almost 3) months behind.  Whoops.

That baby is changing so much every day and is keeping us on our toes every step of the way.  Month 6 highlights:

• Ryan went through a short-lived but adorable phase of giving little baby kisses.  I would ask for a smooch, and he would open his mouth wide and slam his face into mine.  Drool everywhere, melted my heart.  I can't wait for this one to return - I love my baby kisses!

Smooches for the Pillow

• His hair started coming in finally after a few months of balding.  It is light blonde and sweet and wispy.  Right now it is close to the texture of my hair (fine and straight,) but I wonder if it will change again to be more like Matt's (thicker and wavy.)  

Handsome Boys

• His mobility is getting better and he is able to inch around on his belly a bit and pivot to look at things that catch his interest.  Still not anywhere near crawling, but a little closer...

This baby never stops moving

• In milestone news, he cut his first tooth on 8/19/13.  A bottom, front nibbler that is so cute we can hardly stand it.  It came without much fanfare, just some extra drooling and POP it went.  Soon afterwards, a second bottom tooth joined the first guy.  He loves to give toothy grins now and show off the chompers!

• Finally, his relationship with Jordan really blossomed this month.  Gosh, does he love that dog!  He is interested in everything that she does.  We sit on the floor and throw a ball or toy for her, and he will grin, squeal and bounce his little body when she starts returning to us with the ball.  He is learning to softly pet her, although he gets so excited to touch her that he often forgets and pinches her.  His favorite is when Jordan looks at his face, which is harder to get her to do than you might think.  She is awkward and avoids eye contact for the most part unless you have treats.  His solution is to give a little screech/growl when she is nearby and she will look to make sure he is ok.  As soon as she looks at him, he will laugh and smile at his accomplishment.  Fortunately for us, she is a very patient little dog and doesn't mind the obsessive attention from the babe.  It is really sweet to see them together - I remember how important my childhood dogs were to me, and I'm glad Ryan will get to have that with Jordan.  

Ryan - Month 5

Some great developments again this month.  I know I keep saying it, but it is just amazing how fast Ryan is growing into a little person with a such a big personality!  He changes daily and it is so cool to track his progress.  This month:

• He has become enamored with his "My Pal Scout" stuffed dog toy.  It is a green dog that you can program with a USB to say your child's name and a few of his favorite things.  He sings songs (including customized ones about the kiddo!), teaches about colors and animal noises and is just generally adorable.  Ryan loves to watch his collar light up as he barks and talks and sings.  He even gives the dog little snuggles to the forehead.  We had initially bought the toy off a registry for my cousin Shannon's baby, but Ryan saw it and loved it so much we had to go back to Target and get another :)

• Speaking of snuggling, Ryan is not the cuddliest of babies.  He has the SWEETEST personality, don't get me wrong, but he much too busy for my smothering love!  If I try to get him to just relax and cuddle with me, he has a million other things he would rather be doing - like playing with his toys, grabbing at whatever I'm holding, looking outside, etc.  He is just such an active, engaged baby and he is so curious about the world.  It is really one of the best things about him, but I sometimes long for a little love.  So this month he decided to indulge me a bit and will now cuddle into my shoulder if I'm holding him after a feeding.  He jabbers the whole time he is snuggling (like he's reminding me that he does have a lot of other things to be doing and places to be :)) and it is just sweet as can be.  

• He decided this month that it would be fun to chew on and smack his tongue whenever we try to put him down for naps.  If we don't hold his hands to his sides while he drifts off to sleep, they are irresistibly distracting to him and he just wants to play.  So while Matt would hold his arms gently to the side as he swung him in his swing, Ryan decided that playing with his mouth could be just as fun as playing with his hands.  It looks and sounds hilarious when he does it, but it's also frustrating since we can't take his tongue away from him to get him to sleep!
• This month we also decided to start introducing some solids to his diet at the advice of our pediatrician.  We are starting slow, just giving him small bites of whatever fruit, veggie or grain we happen to be eating.  But so far it is a great success!  He absolutely loves eating and has yet to find a food he doesn't like from bananas to blueberries to Cheerios to avocado.  He also developed a love for our water bottles and wants to take sips of our water and crunch the bottles any chance he gets.

• And in the big milestone department, Ryan learned to roll from his back onto his tummy this month.  Now, as soon as you lay him on his back, he is flipped over in a matter of seconds, wanting to play and push up onto his hands.  Next step, crawling!  Matt and I need to step up our baby-proofing of the house...

The little monster turns 6 months this Friday and we will hopefully take some fun family pics that I can post soon!

Ryan: Month 4

Ryan month 4 - what a treat!  I think I sense a theme here - every new age of his is my new favorite age.  It is so fun to watch him grow and learn and become more aware of the world around him.  A few highlights for the month:

• We took Ryan into the pool at home for the first time all summer and he had a blast!  Splashing and kicking his feet and just generally enjoying moving around in the water.  He liked it so much that we decided to sign him up for a swim class so he would be more comfortable with things like getting his face wet.  He was a baby champ in his class - never crying and just going with the flow whether he was practicing floating on his back or doing tummy time on a raft.  We ended up dropping the swim school since it was far away and too close to his bedtime, but now we know what to work on with him in our home pool besides blowing bubbles and making him laugh :)

• Speaking of blowing bubbles, his trick of the month became blowing "raspberries" with his mouth.  He would stick his little tongue out and thought the noise it made was hilarious.  His extreme drooling picked up this month, so between that and the raspberries, we were going through burp cloths pretty quickly.
• This month was the dreaded month when I had to return to work after my maternity leave.  Fortunately for us, it coincided with my sister Kim getting off work for summer break.  So she packed up her bags and moved on over to our side of town to watch Ryan in the mornings while I was in the office.  It was wonderful - I never had to worry a bit about whether or not he was safe or loved, which made my days at work a lot easier and more productive.  Plus I think it was great for him to form a strong bond with his Auntie and learn that people other than Mom are capable of caring for him.  Kim came up with fun games and silly songs that Ryan just loved, and taught me a lot of tricks for calming him.  After 8 glorious weeks, she had to go back to her real job and real life, but I am forever grateful for the time she spent watching him and loving him like he was her own.

• In the vocalizing department, Ryan took it upon himself to start growling like a wild animal when he wanted some attention.  Matt thought it sounded like a mix of an angry badger and a Tazmanian devil.  Funny, funny!

• And in the milestone department, he found his toes in month 4.  Now at every chance he has, he grabs his feet and holds onto them or sticks them in his mouth.  When he wears his pajamas with monkeys on the feet, he likes to play with them too.

Playing with the handsome baby in the mirror

Ryan: Month Three

Our 3rd month with Ryan proved to be a great one in many ways.  He started becoming less of a newborn and more of a baby in that he began interacting more with us and with the world around him.  Some of our highlights for the month:

• Cuteness overload: Ryan began sticking out tongue at us!  This ended up being a short-lived phase but it was a hilarious one.  Matt or I would start the game by sticking out our tongues and smiling and making a big production of it.  And Ryan caught on quickly and started to stick his out to elicit laughs from us.  Glad we got pictures of this one!

• This month was the first time he was able to grasp and shake his toys.  I still had to help physically guide the toy to his hand, but once there he could keep a hold of it and rattle it around a bit.  The first step towards amusing himself!
• Watching TV.  Oh boy.  One day, he suddenly became aware of and fascinated by the television.  We thought it was cute, the way he was zoning out like a little zombie to it, so we let him watch a few minutes of The Simpsons with us.  BIG mistake!  It wound him up so badly that he refused to sleep that night at all.  From then on, TV is limited to quick glances when we are trying to get him to stop crying and we've exhausted all other methods.  He just needs a couple of seconds of watching before he forgets why he was worked up to begin with, and we can all move on with our day! 
• Last month was the development of smiles and THIS month brought the start of Ryan's sweet baby laughs.  He is ticklish around his arms and giggles when we try to change him out of his outfits, but cuter still is that he laughs at belly kisses.  That will never get old for me and Matt - we just take turns smooching his stomach or neck and making funny chomping noises that are big hits with the baby.  His laugh is so sweet and so sincere.  It is wonderful to find new ways to delight him so we can hear those giggles as often as possible.
• In a nice change from waking up crying, now Ryan wakes up in the mornings with a big ol' smile on his face.  The morning really is the best time of day for him.  He is happy to see us and start the day playing and interacting.  It has made Matt and me (typically not morning people) look forward to waking up so much more.

• And in a fun developmental milestone, Ryan began propping himself up on his forearms during tummy time.  He seems to like that time so much better now that his face isn't mashed into the floor :) This puts us one tiny step closer to a mobile baby, which is exciting and terrifying at the same time.  Let the baby-proofing begin!

That's it for month 3 - I already have notes for 4 in the books, so stay tuned...

Ryan: Month Two

Ryan's second month brought some fun developments for all of us.  Here are the highlights:

The biggest and best development of the month is that he started to smile - and not just gas smiles!  Ryan started responding to our faces and voices with sweet little baby smiles.  It really floored me the first time he recognized me: Matt was holding him and I walked by and said "hi baby!"  He lifted his head off of Matt's chest, turned towards me and grinned the biggest smile.  It was incredible!  It is so rewarding to have him recognize and prefer us - makes all of the hard work worth it :)

On top of that, he started to find his little voice during month 2.  Tiny coos and gurgles come out whenever he is calm and content.  He just sounds so sweet and amazing by everything when he "talks" to us.  Since I am writing this a month late, I suppose I could update and say the talking has only gotten more frequent and intense.  He cracks us up with his early morning vocalizations that sometimes border on excited yelling!  Love to talk to our little one.

Baths are another one that Ryan started liking in month 2 and has only grown to love more.  As a newborn, he despised bath time, so we limited it to every 3-4 days as a necessity.  Somewhere along the line, he made a hard shift and started really enjoying baths.  He kicks his little feet and smiles at his reflection in the mirror while he bathes.  Now we have made baths part of our nighttime routine before bed: bath splashing, lotion and massage, new PJs, then food and bed.  And for the 4th month update - now it is like being in a splash zone at Sea World when we give Ryan a bath.  He is crazy about kicking the water while he grins at me and Matt.

The ceiling fans became Ryan's biggest interest this month.  I had heard a few moms joke before about how much their kids loved fans and now I am seeing it first-hand.  He is crazy about all of the fans.  All of them.  No matter where we are, if there is a ceiling fan, he is smiling up at it like a fool.  Doesn't matter if the lights are on or off, or if the fan blades are moving.  Love.

He also started experimenting with finding his thumb this month.  We don't have much luck with getting him to take a pacifier, so we were excited at the concept of him being able to self-soothe with his hands.  It is really funny and cute to watch him try to coordinate getting his thumb to his mouth.  Most of the time, he would give up and just suck on his whole fist or whatever fingers happened to be nearest to his mouth.  He still hasn't perfected the thumb on a regular basis, but can get it from time to time as he lays down for naps.  We'll keep trying!

And finally, we got our first glimpse of his giggles this month.  Ryan was sitting on Matt's lap facing him while I was in the next room.  Matt started saying "boop!" in an excited voice while he tapped Ryan on the nose and brushed his cheek with his fingers.  Apparently that's hilarious to babies, because I suddenly heard adorable giggling and squealing and ran in to find both boys cracking up over the exchange.  Now it's become a goal of ours to get as many giggles a day as possible.  It melts my heart!

Month 3 update to come and then I will be caught up for now... :)

Starfish Hugs for Aunt Kim

Chillaxin

With his best bud Zev

Snuggling with Dad

Sweet Sleepy Baby

Little smiles

Hanging out in the Moby