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Life Updates and Where I’ve Been Again

Written by Tiffany H

It’s January.

JANUARY. Like MID-January. I can’t believe it. It feels like it was just the June before last when my sweet baby boy was born.

But alas, it’s not, life goes on and in the blink of an eye things are different. The last few months for us have been crazy.

As some of you know, a little over a year ago my husband and I bought and moved into a fixer upper in a small WNY town that looks a little like Mayberry. 😉 We immediately went to work tearing down walls and ridiculous drop ceilings, ripping up carpet and flooring, jacking up floors that were literally falling into the basement, redrawing almost the entire floorplan (sans the living room) and gutting rooms like the kitchen, dining, bathroom, laundry and first floor bedroom. I’ll write a more in depth post on exactly what we came across, but suffice it to say, the quality of workmanship in this house was 100 times below sub-par (think two pieces of drywall taped together and painted for trim work – yes, yes someone really did that) and pretty much nothing in this house is the way it was 1 year ago. Thank God. 🙂

It’s been a loooooong year.

Living in an extensive reno project with a 4 month old is not easy. It’s hard actually. Super duper fluper hard. (I know that’s not a word). 😛 Then we got pregnant again, ramped up the work only to realize that 9 months is a short, short period of time (unless you’re the one pregnant 😉 ) and we don’t have enough time to get this finished before she comes. So we scanned Craigslist for handymen who do drywall taping/mudding and being Ryan’s secretary, I got to call and talk to all of them. Hubby had almost all the drywall up, most of the flooring done in the dining, kitchen, bath and bedroom, pantry built, hall and bath/laundry moved, re-plumbed, tiled and drywalled, and our bedroom insulated, ceiling redone, walls taped, mudded and painted, closet built and almost entirely finished, but the amount of work left along with the amount of time he had left to work on it meant that we wouldn’t be finished until February, if then.

So we found a guy who could do the rest of the big work – taping and mudding the kitchen, dining, ceilings, hall, and bath, skim coating the dining where the three layers of ancient wallpaper were peeling, but not totally ok with coming off, priming and painting each room and ceiling. He was reasonable, knowledgeable, and willing to do it quickly – as in within a week. At the end we were not super happy with his work and my poor hubby ended up patching up stupid spots he, the professional, somehow missed, but at least now we’re painted and done. We were hoping hubby could enjoy some time off over the holidays to spend with us and relax, since his last four years have essentially been remodeling something during every free moment, but we ended up working and cleaning all through the night on Christmas. Never again, we said, shall we do another project like this!

It seems when my house is in turmoil, I can’t focus very well to stay active on the blog or even in ‘real life’ with friends and family. I have finally been able to ‘nest’ a little by stocking up on groceries, cleanings, scrubbing and organizing things like our entryway closet, my new lovely pantry (that has a door!), our linen closet and medicine cabinet in the bathroom, and catching up on laundry. I’m finally feeling a little more relaxed in our house.

Along with all of the above, add us trying to be present and Hubby very involved in church, new plans with our new Pastor, being over 8 months pregnant, the holidays, both his grandparents dying within weeks of each other, family birthday parties, and get-togethers which of course mean the kids sharing viruses and both Baby Boy and I catching them. And before that, Baby Boy and Hubby spent 3 weeks fighting a bacteria that wasn’t letting go. This was a first for both of them. Burn out, less than optimal food choices, no time to relax or refresh, little sleep, and relational tension from all of it makes for a sick, run down immune system. Here’s hoping we can change a lot of that very soon!

So now, as we wait for Baby Girl to decide she’s ready to meet the world, hubby is keeping busy with turning our back room (it was another addition to the house that had 3 windows and a door to outside – none of which with headers, again *rolls eyes) into a functional, usable, well insulated, room with heat, 2 new windows, new carpet and less a door and window. It’s going to be Baby Boy’s bedroom, and I’m so excited about it. 🙂 I’m keeping myself busy feeding the guys as they work and keeping caught up on all the housework, because I know that last time things fell apart super quick when I was no longer up wiping down counters, doing dishes and laundry, and making meals. I’m focusing on keeping the dishwasher washed and emptied. sink clean and empty, laundry caught up (washed, dried, folded and put away), floors vacuumed, diapers changed 😉 and food made/stocked. I made hamburger and dinner rolls to freeze tonight, along with stew, more rolls and cookies for the guys. Tomorrow’s plan is to do more laundry, make cookies to freeze for my midwife and doula, and an extensive list of easy meal ideas (with groceries already stocked in the pantry, fridge and/or freezer) for Hubby, as he takes over that for a while once Baby comes. 🙂 Phew. Does that sound like as much as it feels like it is?? 😉

What has your life been about lately? How are you getting through the rough spots?

About the author

Tiffany H

Hi! I'm Tiffany, mama to the handsomest little boy and sweetest little girl, and wife to the best man ever. I love my Savior, being a housewife, mama and personal 'bakist' to the hubby, living naturally, and making real food taste yummy. I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into my crazy, happy life. Join me on the journey, let's get to know each other!

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2 Comments

  • Don’t know how you did it!! I’m tired just reading about all you went thru!! 🙂 Glad you are feeling more relaxed now with most of the house done.

    • Haha, thank you, Kathy. 😉 However the guys have been tracking dirt, dust and insulation through the clean house again! Ah! It’s really grating on my nesting nerves. 😉 Lol