Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Feature

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to have a reporter come out to the house and do an interview for the paper.  They were interested in our home renovation story, and also the Renovation Roadtrip we participated in last October.  The timing was a little stressful since we had JUST refinished the upstairs floors and the house was a hot mess, but it all turned out great.  Ok, we are still looking for stuff that I shoved into random closets....but anyway, the story is in the paper today!  Check it out HERE.

Oh, and I really wish I had worn a different sweater.  You just can't remember to suck it in all the time, right?  

There are also lots of links to the Roadtrip, I hope Meryl and Chris are ready for the traffic!  Thanks to Jackie Loohauis-Bennett and Rick Wood for coming out to Racine and giving this blogger a thrill!  

10 months

Ashford turned 10 months old on the 5th. 

He has two more top teeth coming in, which brings his grand total to 6.  He has also eaten all the paint off his pretty white crib.  I got this just in time to not prevent the damage.  Luckily, it works, and I guess I can always touch up the crib later.  Grumble grumble.

This kid has been all over the place, non-stop.  He is able to walk with a walker toy, stand without holding on, and crawls and scoots on his knees so fast!  He also loves to randomly cry for no apparent reason, and has started crying when other people hold him.  Boo.

We have started adding some formula to his bottles so I can pump less.  He hasn't been that interested in nursing (and loves to bite!), so it seemed natural to stop that at this point.  I'm sad about it, but I will still be pumping for a while, and he will have my milk until he's 1.  It was a good run.     

Unfortunately, he still doesn't like to eat solids, whether it's purees, pasta, fruits, meat, you name it.  I joke that I will have to give this kid formula until he's 2 because he won't eat anything.  I joke in a sad, defeated way.  I hope he comes around, we are both tired of wrestling with him over food!  At least he still loves baths.

So, that is the kid in a nutshell.  Keeping us on our toes, and keeping me from wasting the day by sleeping past 6am.  Ever.   

I am taking him to swim lessons this Saturday, I can't wait!  Although, I'm less than thrilled to get myself into a suit.  I did find one that flatters my 'still 5 pounds to lose' bod, though...just in case you are looking!  

The 'not bathroom'

When we bought this house, we were told by our new neighbor that the little room attached to our master bedroom was a full bathroom at some point.  

I have no idea why they knew that or what made them tell us about it before we even closed on the house...maybe because Boozy Susie took out the plumbing for no good reason and they couldn't believe it?  Since we were never able to find any traces of plumbing, I started referring to it as the 'not bathroom.'

To be fair, it usually looked like this:

I realize I have a problem with organization.  Anyway, we are lucky enough to have the original blueprints for the house, and it appears that this 4' x 5' space used to have a sink....and a closet rod.

Not sure what was popular in the 30's, maybe they liked to splash their armpits quickly before getting dressed?  Either way, it doesn't appear that it was ever a two piece washroom, let alone a full one.  While I would've loved a half bath attached to the master, we decided to leave it as a closet to avoid an expensive 'can of worms.'  It had some laminate floors, not sure if it used to be tile back then?  This room also has drywall while the rest of the house is plaster, so something happened in here.  

We pulled out the laminate in anticipation of our floor guy adding new red oak to match the bedroom.  

And this is what I saw when I got home from work a few Thursdays ago....  

The transition turned out beautiful!  It looks like it was always there.  

Of course, I already have a bunch of junk back in there.  

Now I just have to:

Replace the boob light with a DIY chandelier (hope that project is happening soon)

Paint the ceiling

Paint the walls Behr Aqua Smoke to match bedroom

Add base and shoe trim 

Paint all trim and window/shutter

Research, purchase, install closet system.  Any suggestions?