Home Improvement/Organizing Weekend

We decided that having a working shower would probably be a good thing after the baby comes, so we started finishing the windows in the bathroom (both windows touch the shower surround). Luke primed them a couple coats, then caulked around everything on Saturday. On Sunday, he started painting, only to realize that the caulk we had bought is non-paintable!! Even after attempting to put primer overtop, we are just left with caulk, the paint will bead overtop of it. I told him, screw it,it's a shower, there is supposed to be caulk everywhere anyways, so he went ahead and did a couple coats of paint on the windows.

Fast-forward to the christening last night...

#1 The fabric shower curtain makes the shower a bit dark.
#2 Even though the curtain said you didn't need a liner, we will buy one anyway.
#3 Apparently semi-gloss paint hates being in the shower, and it started to bubble up on the window from getting wet.

The new plan...

#1 Look for paintable caulk and rerun a small bead overtop of the non-paintable, so it's less noticeable.
#2 Buy all weather indoor/outdoor white paint for the bathroom trim, so we know it can stand up to the constant water exposure.

The shower was nice though! Easier to wash hair in a shower than a bathtub when you're this pregnant.

I went through a small cleaning spell on Sunday, and got the crib cleared out, bedroom more organized, baby clothes more organized. All the floors were swept, 2 loads of laundry washed, dried, folded, and put away. Dishwasher is almost ready to run again, garbage was switched out, and best of all, we bought one of those 9-bin toy organizers for the girls, and went through all of the toys. They now have special places for blocks, animals, cars, track, food, and many other things. Clean up in the living room is now easier, because they don't tear everything out looking for a specific toy. It also helps Lilly tremendously, because when all of the toys are on the floor and we ask them to clean up, we believe she gets very overwhelmed and her brain just doesn't process taking directions. She gets so lost, and we have to give her specific tasks like "clean up the cars and put them in this tote" while physically showing her, and helping her out. She seems to be able to handle this organizer more on her own, so I'm sure she will adjust even further as they learn where all of their toys go.

Still no baby. I've had plenty of miscellaneous contractions, but nothing consistent...

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

OK, so it wasn't as big as the Berlin Wall...

Over the weekend we tore out the rest of the pantry wall. Now I have 3 trashcans full of broken tile and horse hair plaster that will slowly go out with the trash, because it is really really heavy. The next step of the plan is to rerun the outlet to the outside wall, so we can turn the fridge. The back of the fridge will then be against that wall with the little window, and we will have to flip the fridge doors so they open the right way. I'm hoping to get that done in the next couple of evenings. We also need to look into getting some wood to even out the floor where the wall was attached. The floor now dips a little bit there, and I don't need anyone breaking an ankle in the house, especially at the birthday party.

The bathroom still hasn't been touched, but I don't plan on doing anything this weekend, which means something should get done. I will also focus on the dining room, since it wasn't finished last weekend due to the pantry wall.

Home Improvement Project 1: Downstairs Bathroom

Our first major home improvement project will be the bathroom. We have $250 from Christmas to get a jumpstart on the project, and we budget $50 a month for home improvement. Right now we bathe in a bubble, since the shower tile isn't finished, so the first step will be to get new window trim up, so we can finish tiling the tub surround. After that, we will turn our focus on the rest of the bathroom trim (base, crown molding, backsplash). We also need to buy or custom build a medicine cabinet, build a false wall to hide the shower pipes (but keep them easily accessible), and enclose our shelving to make it look more like a built-in cabinet. I just want to shower without plastic trying to cling and attack, so that is the main focus.

We have some minor projects that need attention as well. The girls' bedroom outlet needs rewired so we can re-position our heaters in the house. The kitchen power is out as well; accept for the fridge, freezer, and dishwasher. We have a trouble light from the bathroom hanging above the stove right now, so we can keep in plugged in, and have a little light in there when it gets dark. We have the kitchen blocked off with a blanket now anyways, since it's so cold out, so the kitchen isn't top priority right now. Keeping warm is! We don't need to buy anything to do the wiring, so the budget won't need adjusted. We just need to find the time.