Remodel Reveal

It has only taken a few months, but here are the before and after pics of the main level remodel.

In other big news, today is Owen's first birthday!  In honor of the big day, he is taking an early nap and the big boys are playing really well together.  A great way to start off the weekend.  :)

KITCHEN/DINING AREA, before:

AFTER: (new floors, added the raised breakfast bar, new lighting, cabinets that go to the ceiling, added the "super susan", moved the dishwasher....)

View looking in the other way, BEFORE:

AFTER: (raised breakfast bar, no more popcorn ceiling!, took out the small wall on the right)

Living Room/Fireplace, Before:

AFTER: (my parents got us a TV for Christmas... the first time we have had a TV on the main level... no more "not white" carpet)

Detail of the tile and the counters in the kitchen:

Hallway, before (got rid of the shoe thing in the hall and the cupboards at the end of the hall)

AFTER: new lighting, flooring, rug, and the new coat hanger shoe thing in the corner.

New wall hanging at the entrance:

New main bathroom.  I don't have a before picture because this was not part of the plan.  It was tiled and getting the floor out without tearing out the walls was not going to happen, so the tile got ripped out and it got drywalled and painted.... and the old sink broke when they took it out, so we ended up with a new one.....

I don't have a before picture from this angle either, but I added this shelf to somewhat hide our thermostat that is right in the middle of the wall.  Who does that?  I'm really happy with the little shelf though.  Just need to get a couple things to use to decorate it.

Long nap is over!  Off to celebrate Owen turning ONE!  :)

2012

I love sending out Christmas cards... partly because I love receiving Christmas cards.... but I also enjoy getting to do a recap and reflection of the year in a letter.

As it came time to write our Christmas letter this year, I just didn't want to.  We were having a really crappy couple weeks and it just didn't seem like there was anything good to write about this crazy year. This was largely (or entirely) overly dramatic.  So, here is a recap of 2012.  :)

2012.  A crazy, amazing, truly nutty year.

Owen, just a day or two old

On January 11th, Owen Anthony joined our family.  Our prayer had been for a joyful baby and God definitely answered that prayer.  Owen laughs a lot.  He loves his brothers.  He giggles when Gavin climbs on him or uses his toys to hammer on him... which seems completely counterintuitive.  He is in the not-so-amazing phase where he loves the dishwasher and taking things out the kitchen cupboards.  He loves to climb to the top of the stairs and then squawk for someone to come rescue him and bring him back down.  He also loves trying to get the doors open to the wood burning fireplace and then grabbing for charred pieces of wood.  Ick.

Being his joyful self this spring

Climbing all over Gavin this fall

His grin as he makes his way up the stairs.... again

Always making us laugh

Silly guy - again

Gavin.  He is such a joy.... when he is not making us crazy by just being two.  :)  He enjoys making people laugh.  Running - anywhere.  Jumping - off anything.  Tackling - anyone, anywhere.  Climbing - furniture, toys, you name it.  Shooting - Nerf guns are great.  And yelling. Gavin generally speaks on one of two levels - yelling or whispering.  He is so stinkin' cute.  Everywhere we go, people comment on his cuteness.  He knows it and if someone does not comment on his cuteness, he will at times remind them by saying "me cute".  It is just as much his looks as his silly personality.  He is just fun to be around and makes me smile nearly every day.

He played t-ball this summer on a team
Marty coached.  

Our eldest kiddo, Elijah.  Elijah started kindergarten this year and it has been an amazing experience.  We all love his teacher and his little school.  He is excelling in reading, math and spelling.   He also enjoys helping out at home; he recently helped Marty finish insulating the garage.   He has been studying (as much as a 6 year old can) Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for the past year and also played T-ball this summer.  Each week he looks forward to an afternoon with "Great Aunt Vic" for fun things like tractor time and Angry Birds StarWars (two of his most favorite things combined into one).

Elijah helping Marty in the garage

The craziness.  2012 has been crazy.  The self inflicted craziness came as we remodeled the entire main level of our house.  For a month I cooked our meals in our hallway or master bedroom.  I even threw together a crockpot soup in the master bathroom.  We washed whatever dishes we had in the bathtub.  We ate our meals on a card table in Owen's bedroom.  It was kind of awesome.  More awesome though is the finished project.  :) After the Christmas decorations come down I hope to post some before and after pics.

The non-self inflicted craziness has all been medical.  Aside from Marty, all members of the Stow family have gotten to spend some time in the ER or hospital this year.  I was just there to give birth, so at least one stay was joyous!  :)
* Owen visited the ER for RSV (in March), but thankfully was not admitted.

Elijah during his hospital stay
in April.

* We learned the hard way that when Elijah says he can't breathe he isn't joking.... he went to the ER and was then admitted to the hospital in April.  We are still playing with medications and learning to manage his asthma.

Gavin, post tonsillectomy.

* Gavin: after seeing half a dozen doctors (literally) he was diagnosed with Celiac disease in August.  The poor little buddy also had sleep apnea, so in November he got his tonsils & adenoids out.  The 3 weeks following surgery were so terrible (which is when I decided not to write a Christmas letter), but now he is doing so much better.  His adenoids were blocking 99% of his nasal passage.  CRAZY.  We are still working with a pediatric GI doctor out of Denver to try and help his little tummy feel better and hopefully he will soon be feeling 100%.  :)

My sisters and the Iowa cousins.

Colorado Cousins @ the YMCA in May.

FAMILY: I was lucky enough to get to take the boys to Iowa twice this year.  Once this summer and again during harvest time.  The boys do so well in the car... it is about 13 hours each way.  My parents came our here numerous times throughout the year and my entire family was here over Thanksgiving.  It was fun to get to see them so frequently.  Marty's family lives an hour or less from us, so we still see them frequently throughout the year.  We spent Memorial Day weekend with them up at the YMCA of the Rockies - great little get away. We have especially enjoyed getting to spend more time with his dad this past year.

Fun & Friends:  We love our friends - they are such a God send.  We had some close friends move out East this year which was definitely sad for us.  But we have also been blessed to be back in Fort Collins and reestablishing many friendships we have had for years.  We attended a new church when we moved back... which ultimately dissolved, but also resulted in making some great new friendships.  We did make it out on one camping trip this summer.... and decided we needed to wait another year or so to actually enjoy camping.  :)  We mostly enjoyed just spending time with friends and having dinners with them.  We are blessed.  

Marty and I celebrated 8 years of marriage in February.  Some wonderful friends came to watch the older boys for the night while we spent a night at the hotel where our wedding reception has been held. Marty had the chance to go on a fly-fishing trip to Utah with some friends in the spring.  He continues to work at Advanced Energy and I continue to stay at home with the boys.  We are generally enjoying this crazy, crazy journey of parenting 3 boys.

That is my lengthy summary of 2012.  We are praying for calm and amazing things in 2013.  :)

Pancakes, pancakes & more pancakes! :)

I think all parents of toddlers could use this secret recipe.  It is amazing.

Our current answer to toddler eating is PANCAKES.  In the most untraditional of ways.  G currently eats mostly grain free, dairy free and soy free.  And very little fruit.  And he only really likes one vegetable: sweet potato in the form of homemade sweet potato fries.  He doesn't like the ones from the store.  That leaves us with eggs, meat, corn tortillas, some questionable dairy free "cheese" and "monkey snack" (aka Gorilla Munch cereal).

The pancakes.  He LOVES pancakes in all forms.  My wonderful friend Megan called a couple months ago with this recipe: 2 eggs + 1 mashed banana = pancakes.  The dietician helped me realize 2 eggs + about 1/2 cup of anything else also = pancakes.  The only other thing I've tried so far is acorn squash.  I did add a little bit of cinnamon and maple syrup, but G loved them.  And if he doesn't eat them all in one serving, I can make them into peanut butter sandwiches.   Perfect little snack.

My second most favorite new thing is chocolate avocado pudding.  There are a whole bunch of recipes out there.  And honestly, Gavin has yet to try it.  But I think it is amazing and he keeps asking for it.... it is just the toddler in him who is unsure about trying new things.  So, I'm making it again today.

Happy toddler feeding and Happy Thanksgiving.  :)

Just. Can't. Win.

A random catalog came in the mail sometime last week.... for outdoorsy, camping type stuff.

It had a picture of a cartoonish Paul Bunyan on the front.  Elijah and I had just finished reading a book about Paul Bunyan so he took a quick interest in the catalog as I set it on my desk.  The conversation went something like this....

Elijah:  "Mommy, can I take it and look at it?"

Me: "No."

Elijah, being the ever questioning 6 year old: "Why not?  I just want to look at it?!"

Me, likely in not the most patient of tones:  "Because what you're going to do is take it downstairs or some other random place in the house, look at it for 2 minutes, then forget about it, set it down and it will just be one more thing for me to pick up.  So just leave it on the desk."

Tonight I find it downstairs in the middle of the floor as I'm cleaning up.  

Marty left it there.  

I'm glad I can see the humor in it or my head just might explode.  :)

What the ?!?!

This is just a silly little story, but my house is quiet and I am avoiding about a million things, so I am going to write it down.

Gavin, Owen and I went to the grocery store this morning.  It was great.  The boys were cute and happy and all was well.

At the end of the shopping trip, Gavin generally gets a penny to go ride on the little pony machine as long as he has made good choices.... which he generally does.  Today, just as we finished paying for the groceries, three little kids got in line to ride the pony.  We were already in a rush because we needed to go pick up Elijah from school, didn't have much time to spare and couldn't wait for the three kids.

I made a deal with Gavin.  He gave me the "one little one" (penny) and I gave him "two big ones" (quarters) and he could get a prize.  Seemed like a good enough trade to him and he went over the vending machine to see what he would get.  So exciting..... there were little guys, dice, mini hand-cuffs, monsters.... so many cool prizes in this vending machine.

Out comes the little container and he is so excited to open it and find out what is inside!

Guess what it is!?!?  A random piece of rubbery plastic.  In the shape of nothing.  Not a monster, or a guy, or well.... anything.

Gavin was all excited and exclaimed with excitement "MY STICK!" (which actually sounds very similar to the inappropriate comments mentioned in the previous post.... but that is old news)

So, our fifty cents bought us a piece of rubbery plastic.  In the shape of a stick.  Made in China.

What the ?!?!  Really.  I didn't expect much for my fifty cents.... but can it get more random than that?

Ok.  I am off to actually unpacking my new fancy pants kitchen.  Hope to have some before and after pictures soon.  :)

Completely Inappropriate Humor

*Disclaimer:  If you are easily offended or don't find somewhat inappropriate things absolutely hilarious.... this likely is not the post for you to read.  

Alright if you made it past the disclaimer, welcome.

Gavin.  2 1/2 years old and is really working on mastering the art of speaking.  His language skills have really skyrocketed in the past couple of weeks and it has just been a joy.  He speaks in two word phrases and then expects us to fill in the rest.  Some boring examples are:

"No, Mommy." (very standard)

"'Yay-yay', wake"  (translation:  Owen is awake).

"More hatty" (translation: I want to wear my hat)

In the past couple of weeks we have been busy with a contractor in house remodeling the main level.  He has just been great and Gavin REALLY enjoys him.  He is great guy and he also really enjoys all the boys.  His name happens to be Dick.  Which is where the inappropriate humor comes in.  Even as I think of all the examples over the couple weeks, I chuckle to myself.  Part of it is that Gavin speaks about everything with such a level of passion and excitement.... oh, just too funny.  So, some examples.

* Dick's truck and Marty's truck are nearly identical.  One day as we were pulling up to the house Gavin was trying to ask if it was Daddy's truck or Dick's truck parked in the driveway.  What came out instead was "Daddy's Dick, Daddy's Dick" over and over again....

* The last week of the remodel a plumber named Mike was here a few days.  Gavin was having a tough time saying Mike, so he renamed him "Two Dick".  And every time we saw him, Gavin would stop, point and yell "Two Dick"

* We made a few trips to Home Depot or Lowes during the remodel project.  Gavin would see tools that he thought looked like they should belong to the contractor.  He would go down the aisles yelling "MY DICK" (meaning, those belong to the contractor.... someone should really return them to him!).  It was so hard not to chuckle, but to just repeatedly tell him "It's okay Gavin, Dick has his tools at our house".... mainly just loud enough for the other patrons to hear so they would be less concerned about his word choices.

* Gavin has his first dentist appointment last week.  The prize he picked out was a tiny little monkey.  When we got back to the house, he wanted to show it to the contractor.  So, he ran up to the house yelling "MONKEY DICK, MONKEY DICK"

That's all.  You get the idea.  Maybe only really funny to me, but maybe it will make someone else laugh as well.  :)

Every couple years....

We really like to pack up all our belongings.... just to see how many boxes it might take.  

We especially like to do this when we have a baby who is somewhere in the 8 month to 11 month range.  These adventures haven't ever been planned, really.  It is apparently just how we roll. 

When Elijah was a baby we got tired of 'having discussions' out the window with the college students who lived behind us.  These chance discussions regularly occurred somewhere in the 1am-3am time frame in the middle of the week.... and since we were usually up by 5am or 6am to go to work.... it wasn't our favorite time to catch up with them.  We decided on a whim to list our house to see what would happen and a month or so later we moved across town.

Elijah and our-former-dog, Kiley, around the time that we moved.  I know I have one of him in a box... but I can't find it.  It has been a couple years.

Then in 2010, when Gavin was almost 8 months old, we moved to Oregon on a total whim.  No planning involved there whatsoever.  So, once again, we packed up all our stuff with 2 little kiddos and moved.  

Gavin and Mommy - on our way to Oregon in November 2010.  

It must just be in our blood or something.... so since we have been throwing around the idea of remodeling the main level of our house for a few years, now seemed like the perfect time to do it.  This time around we got to pack up all the stuff and move it upstairs, downstairs, or into storage in the midst of taking care of 3 kids....  It is getting to just be a part of the routine.  :)

Owen, in the midst of packing up all our stuff...  he found the laundry basket.

Our "kitchen" set-up is currently in our bedroom.  Thankfully, I am currently in Iowa with the kids.... but we will have about a month where we will be able to eat breakfast in bed every day - literally.  It is going to be an awesome adventure.  

This is what our kitchen looked like after Day 1 of demolition:

The next 2 days got even "better".... the contractors took out all the drywall in the ceiling and in part of another wall.  Marty sends texts or emails with updated photos.  Now they are starting the slow process of rebuilding everything and scraping the "popcorn" off the ceiling.  

So, instead of being in the midst of the drywall dust, we are in the midst of corn harvesting dust.  It is great fun.

Kyle (cousin) and Gavin looking at the pig. 

The pig was equally as interested in looking at them. 

Elijah and Gavin helping Grandpa farm. 

Elijah was riding in the tractor with Rex.

Gavin riding in the combine with Grandpa.