Tag Archives: renovations

Happenings with the Hsumans

February 10, 2015 Only Hsuman Leave a comment

First of all, thanks to my readers and friends for the sweet comments here and on Facebook about our newest news that bump #3 is a boy! Everyone seems just as pumped for a little brother as we are!!

Here’s a little life update on the house and bump numero tres…

I’m 16 weeks tomorrow (we go ahead and count it, right?) and I’m feeling awesome! Nesting would be happening if renovations weren’t already making things crazy… however, I’ve been reorganizing things here and there, and a little interior design sure feels like nesting. I’ve been making plans for the kids’ new rooms, their furniture, and what I need for the new baby.

Here’s my dilemma of the hour, so if you have some advice, hit me with it!

When I had J, EK was old enough to move to a big girl bed. So what I did was change over the nursery colors, and move all of EK’s clothes, etc to her “big girl room”. We amped it up big time, and started letting her do everything but sleep in there a couple of months early. Then, when J was born, she spent a couple of weeks really getting used to sleeping in there (J was still in his little Moses basket anywhere we felt like letting him sleep). Then, when he needed to move to the crib, she was already in her new room and big girl bed. Well, J will be too young, I think, to put him in a big guy bed, especially downstairs in his new room, so I think I’ll want to keep him in his crib/a crib.

That seems like no big deal, but I have a few problems. #1: We only have one crib. #2: It’s too big to get through the doorway of his bedroom (to move it downstairs) and it’s a MAJOR pain to dissemble and assemble. #3: Yes, we have a pack ‘n’ play, but it’s in rough shape, and I don’t think it could contain my 30lb son if he wanted to get out.

So there’s my dilemma. Basically, I need a crib to put downstairs in J’s room for a few months, until he’s ready for a bigger bed. He will probably move downstairs sometime between April (when the renovation is done) and July (when the baby comes) and then into a big boy bed in the late fall or early winter. I don’t want to go buy a crib just for 6 months or less, but would love to borrow one or take one off someone’s hands if they’re done with it (or done for 6 months time). I’m trying to work out the time where I need it for the shortest amount of time (without rushing J into a big boy bed), in case we end up borrowing from someone.

And on to other things… current prego status…

Craving PIZZA and Arnold Palmers
Taking less naps (finally)
Working out a little more (weather-dependent)
Getting to the bump stage instead of large dinner stage (no bumpie yet, sorry)
Getting up to pee in the middle of the night (I didn’t miss it)
Not into maternity clothes yet, but wearing mostly leggings and yoga pants for now.
Still really excited to get those Piko shirts that shipped today (I mentioned them here )

Today we’re at my in-laws’ house, because the drywall installation is loud (think power drills x 100) and because they installed the tub, which turned off the water for several hours (think about the potty training toddler and the pregnant lady and see the importance of having the potties). We’ve done several loads of laundry already, and caught up on some paperwork, and decided on preschool plans for next year, so I’d say it was a good, productive day so far.

I’ve got two basically boring pictures of the basement I can put up… and I’m sorry they’re not better. The first one is the laundry room getting insulation, and the other is of the powder room. They were the only two spots that had enough light to see what was going on when I took the pictures. Once the drywall is done and the lights are hooked up, I’ll be taking more and better ones.

You can see the washer/dryer hookup on the right side.

Standing in the mudroom, looking into the powder room.

That’s what’s going on in my world right about now. What’s going on in yours?

home, mommyhood, pregnancy, random thoughts

Currently… – Back Again!

February 9, 2015 Only Hsuman 7 Comments

If you’ve been following me for a while, I used to do a Currently series every Monday and link up with several other blogs. Well, that Currently series kinda tapered off, and I’ve been missing the weekly prompts. So, when I visited From the North to the South and saw her Currently post, I was ecstatic to join Becky at Choose Happy for her Currently link-up! So here’s my rebooted, brand new (again) Currently series kick-off!

Thinking About || What to name our sweet (healthy!) baby. I feel like we are getting nowhere. We used family names we loved for our first two kids, and now there isn’t a name that I feel super strongly about, and I’m not finding inspiration anywhere else yet.

Reading || Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. It’s semi-historical fiction about architect Frank Lloyd Wright and the woman he had a years-long affair with. It’s actually a great read, despite the cheesy-sounding nature of it, and I’ll be sure to post a review when I’m done! It’s a little slower-going that the Divergent Series (I wonder why? Oh, teen fiction. Got it.) but I’m loving it all the same.

Crafting || Nothing. At. All. Y’all, my crafting game has been out since Christmas. With this basement reno (they’re drywalling today! WOO!) my space has been more limited, we’ve been hopping around to friends’ houses to do laundry and avoid noise, and also hopping around to pick out cabinets, tile, carpet, etc. I feel like my “crafiting” has morphed into “interior designing” for the time being. And I’m totally okay with that! I’m sure I’ll find a lovely project for the kids’ new rooms that I can blog about.

Watching || The Bachelor! But I’m way behind, so please don’t post any spoilers. The next episode for me to watch is the fourth one… so I haven’t even seen why (apparently) I’m going to dislike Kelsey from now on. Sad times. Anyway, I’ve never watched a season of the Bachelor or Bachelorette, and so this season has been a new thing for me.

Excited About || A gal pal’s recommendation for Piko shirts. I’m pretty sure they’re going to change my life. I’d never heard of them until last night, when my friend Sarah was wearing one, and I knew immediately I needed to live in them for the next… rest of my life. I ordered two last night from Simply Dixie (very cute boutique, by the way!). They were reasonably priced and had tons of colors. I may be ordering… all of them.

Thankful for || A good report for my tiniest baby! A supportive, wonderful Hubby. Two (soon to be three!) healthy, adorable kids. LOTS of sweet friends and family who have loved us well, and let escape to their quiet houses to do laundry.

What are you Currently up to? Join the link up!

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Beginning the Basement Renovation

January 13, 2015 Only Hsuman Leave a comment

Y’all. The basement renovation is happening. And it is happening FAST. We (when I say we, it’s really Hubby and his buddy) have been tearing out the basement (carpet, crown molding, sheetrock, interior doors, fixtures, etc) for the past two weeks, and the crew is coming over the next few days to do the rest of the demo and start moving the bones of the place around to make room for NEWNESS! I am so excited.

I’m also really nervous. It’s going to be loud. My babies like to sleep. Not sure how those two things are going to go together. Also, we won’t have laundry for basically the entirety of the project. That’s a little scary for a family of four. My mother-in-law and a few others have graciously told us their laundry rooms are open for our use, and we are so grateful to have family and friends close by to help us out. It’ll be like living in a big city where no one has their own laundry space and everyone goes to a Laundromat. Except the Laundromat will be a friend’s house. With cable. Thank goodness.

The entire basement is either packed into our UNIT in the backyard, sold, donated, or stored in a friend’s garage. That includes furniture, linens, baby clothes and toys my kids have grown out of but we aren’t ready to part with (I mean, I’ll need them come summer!), Hubby’s and my out of season or rarely worn clothes (including my zillion bridesmaids dresses that I can’t figure out how to deal with), copious amounts of musical/sound equipment, and other various things that for some reason we can’t part with but don’t really belong upstairs. Soon, all the kids’ bedrooms will be downstairs, we will have a laundry room and a mud room, and lots of the spacing problems will be taken care of. I can’t even imagine how wonderful that will be! Come on, three months. Pass quickly.

Has anyone else lived in a home while a renovation was happening? How about with young kids? How did you survive?!

home, mommyhood, random thoughts

What I Was Doing Last Year

September 25, 2014 Only Hsuman 4 Comments

Last year in late September, I was expecting a baby boy to come in a couple of months. I was working, exhausted all the while, on a Christmas program, because everyone knows you need months for that. I was learning to lead worship on my own. I was beginning to feel the terrible twos coming on for my daughter (yes, several months early) while I tried to get the quality time in before her sibling arrived. I was rearranging my home, in anticipation. I was planning visits and trips before it would be harder to travel.

But this year? I’ve got two amazing, busy kids. I’ve got a husband who I appreciate and love more every single day. I’ve lost two family grandparents, but gained a niece and a nephew. I’m looking forward to my 10-year high school reunion this weekend, and reconnecting with old friends. I’m gaining more confidence in my new roles, and not mourning the old ones that I’ve moved on from. I’d say I’m doing well.

Another thing I’m doing is looking ahead (possibly way ahead) to needing more space for a bigger family (read: we are not currently pregnant). We’d like to have another child. But even if we don’t, I hear that the bigger kids are, the more space they need. And right now, every closet is full, every corner has something in it, and my kids have full roam of our home. We love our house. We’ve been here for four wonderful years. We’ve rearranged a hundred times, redecorated rooms, moved kids around, added and taken away furniture and in general changed up the feng shui.

One of my absolute favorite spots in our home. I'm sitting at the kitchen counter. — One of my absolute favorite spots in our home. I’m sitting at the kitchen counter.

But it’s time for something more. An addition, perhaps, of another bed and bath. Or a move, to a different home. We haven’t decided. We are early in the process. But our hearts are excited and mourning at the same time. Hubby and I have conversation after conversation, discussing what the best options are. We’ve met with our real estate agent who sold us our current home, seen a few houses, and even found one we think we could love. We’ve also met with a friend who does additions and renovations, discussing options if we decided to stay. It’s an overwhelming idea, whichever one we choose.

So that’s what’s happening with me right now that’s different from last year. I’d say it’s a good place to be one year later. You know, other than working my job, raising my kids, adoring my Hubby, the usual.

What were you doing a year ago?

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