December Showers

December showers are going to be happening in our new shower, just finished today!  It will still be a few days from now because the grout needs to be sealed.  But hey, we've waited three years for this, so what is a few days more?

We're really excited to see it all come together.  Our bathroom is officially completed!  We're also officially pooped.  We've been working a lot and also the whole family has been fighting off a wicked cold.  I've been trying to take a cute picture for a Christmas card this year, but have been unsuccessful so far.  Plus, I had to take a break from my attempts since a crusty nose is not an adorable accessory.  So, any of you wondering where your Christmas card is, perhaps it will be a New Years Card?  

Tosca Gets a Ride

Jason took a couple of cute videos yesterday.  Grace is laughing so hard in this one that she chokes!  Who hasn't experienced that?

In this one, Grace is fascinated by bubbles.

Christmas over here

It is Christmas over here!  Just this year, my Mom gave me my Great Grandmother's Santa sleigh because she no longer has a mantel on which to display it.  Because of this, I was actually EXCITED to get the Christmas decorations out this year, which is probably a first for me.  

The reindeer were made in 1956 by Napco, a Japanese ceramics company.  

Mr. and Mrs. Claus are salt and pepper shakers, so we imagine this was a table centerpiece display.  They are also made by Napco, and both they and the reindeer have something called Spaghetti trim.  I guess that is the trim on Santa's hat?

The sleigh is made by Brad Keeler.  He died in 1952, so we know the sleigh dates before then.  Anyway, I am very pleased to have it and I think it looks great on our mantel!  We would have put up the stockings here, but we realized they temptingly dangle at the perfect baby height.  We hung them up downstairs instead.  

We also put up our tree!  Grace really enjoyed watching it go up and "helping" to put the decorations on.  Christmas time is definitely much more fun this year, and I feel less of a scrudge!  Let's not overdo it though, I'm sure I'll be plenty sick of it and exhausted by the time we get to January!

Plus it snowed here for the first time this season today.  It doesn't look like it will stick, which is perfect because I need to drive in it later.  

Couldn't Be Beat

Another great Thanksgiving!  This one seemed special to me because Grace was able to eat everything, so it really felt like a family event.  

Here she is, fork at the ready!  She was definitely hungry because we were trying to hold her off with cheerios.

Just for fun, we changed it up this year with a southern oyster theme.  We had fried oysters as a starter.  They were awesome!

The rest of the meal included a Nut Terrine, Oyster Stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, brussel sprouts and of course, a pumpkin apple pie!  It is hard to get a good baby smile when there is no one behind the camera to look at, but at least she is facing the camera (unlike the 5 other pictures we tried)!

She takes after her Momma because the mashed potatoes were the biggest hit!  She may have eaten her weight in potatoes.  She kept asking for more, and she says "potato" very clearly because that is what she calls her current favorite toy, a Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.

Hope you all had a fantastic holiday!  Today was a day of debauchery and relaxation, tomorrow is a day of cleaning.  

Last Summer Post

It has been a hard week for my family.  We lost our Patriarch, a great pillar of our family whom we all looked up to.  He set a long and beautiful example of how to live a great life and we all are so thankful for that in many ways.  I could go on and on about him, but I don't think the internet is really the appropriate forum for me.  Just know that I think it is safe to say that we are all broken hearted right now, and though we will never be healed, we are learning to carry on.   That is why I thought a post featuring the last of our summer trip photos might lighten the mood a bit.  

On the last leg of our journey, we drove past some pioneer landmarks.  I wanted to stop and take pictures, and though Jason humored me, he was pretty annoyed by the whole thing because we were hot and tired.  Independence Rock is also a rest area, so that is nice and convenient.  

We also stopped at Scotts bluff which offered some pretty cool views.  

Grace enjoyed getting out of the car and taking a stroll with Daddy, though she really wanted to get down and crawl around herself!

Another crazy view of Scotts Bluff.  It was, like most things, much better in person.  I can imagine why this was a landmark for the pioneers after all the flatness.  

We're number one!  Go team Strom!

Much love to you all.

Boo! Grace's favorite pastime

I hope this makes you smile today!  It did for me and I really needed it.  

(Almost) Completed!

We have a vanity, a working faucet, a medicine cabinet, a mirror and a light fixture!  

What more could you want?  Well, besides a working shower, of course.  

There are a couple little details to add; I need to pick out a towel bar and other accessories, plus we need some trim along the bottom of the vanity and we need to paint the door.  But it is a usable bathroom again, and that is what matters!  

Halloween 2012

Grace was a lobster for Halloween!

She loved wearing her costume!  We tried it on in the morning to make sure it would still work for that night.  When  we took it off to go shopping, she cried, so we let her keep it on all day.  

She also enjoyed sitting in this pot for another cute picture opportunity.  

How did she fit in this pot?  

We decided to dress up too.  We have a ton of costumes from past Halloween parties during our pre baby days, so Jason was Zorro and I was a pirate.  Grace loved wearing our hats.  I forgot to take a picture of us dressed up though, sorry!  I also forgot to take a picture of our living room decked out in spider webs and fake spiders.  

Grace's best friend Avery came over along with her parents Jason and Erica.  Avery was a butterfly, one of her favorite things.  When she says butterfly, it sounds like "applewhy."  

  

Bathroom Progress

A lot has happened since I last posted about the bathroom over two weeks ago!  

We have walls, a glass block window AND a floor!  The tile guy came this weekend and put up the cement board and installed the window and the floor.  We are LOVING the glass block window.  It looks really sharp and it lets in a ton of light.  There is a sad part to this story however.  The tiles we ordered for the shower did not come in at the tile store because the tile store FORGOT TO ORDER THEM!!  It will take up to a month to get them in!  We are pretty bummed, but we asked our tile guy to at least install the floor so that we can once again have a toilet upstairs.  

This is the only thing that is staying from the old bathroom.  I'm SO excited that I don't have to walk downstairs to use the bathroom anymore!  We should have the vanity and medicine cabinets in soon.  We chose a bluish green color for the walls.  No more pink!  

Fall Leaves

Gracie loves playing in the yard!

She loves it when I throw the leaves on her head.

She loves to throw them in the air too!

Hotels with a Baby

After the Tetons, we were totally pooped and had to stop for the night.  Unfortunately, we had a hard time finding a place with vacancy that wasn't ridiculously expensive.  We finally found some places that had ambiguous names like Traveler's Cove and Wilderness Hotel - I just made those up, I don't remember the actual names.  It was a gamble for sure as to the quality of these places, but we were so tired we didn't care.  The place where we stayed was pretty unique, so I just had to share some pictures with you.  

We were so exhausted that we just collapsed on the bed, so these pictures are from the next morning.  Don't you love the wood paneling and wall paper?

It even had majestic artwork complete with log-like frame.  $100 was a bargain for this place, don't you think?

I didn't take a picture of Grace's sleeping area in this hotel, but I'll show you what we figured out by the end of our trip.  On our first night on the road, we set up Grace's pack and play at the foot of our bed, did the bedtime routine, turned off the lights and got in bed.  She then proceeded to stand up in her pack and play and scream at us for... forever.  Apparently, our baby will not sleep if she can see us.  So from then on, I made sure we always had a room with a two beds so that I could do this with the extra comforter:

It took some creativity and jury rigging, but it did the trick and everyone had peaceful nights sleep.  

Driving through The Tetons

We decided to take a different route home this summer since we've driven this distance many times and because I-80 leaves a little to be desired in terms of scenery.  Jason had never seen the Tetons, and it has been 15 years for me, so we thought it was worth a detour.  

We stopped for picture opportunities of course, and we even tried to take a couple hikes.

Well it turns out that a cranky baby tired of traveling doesn't really make for a good hiking companion, so we turned back fairly quickly.  We did find this beautiful spot to sit and eat a snack, however!  

We saw just enough to know that we would LOVE to spend some real time here someday with our little family because we know we only scratched the surface of the beauty to be enjoyed here!  Even though we didn't give the park the time it deserves, I think that a $25 admission to a park is money well spent, hopefully helping to ensure it will be here in 10 years when we are back!

Drywall is in

Jason finished putting up the drywall today!  The bathroom still has a long way to go, but I can see it coming together.  The hole you see is where the mirrored medicine cabinet is going to go.  I ordered it online and it hasn't arrived yet, but no worries because there is still plenty to do.  Next, Jason has the time consuming task of mudding and sanding the drywall.  Then it will be ready for paint, and we will be rid of all remnants of its former pink glory!

First Beach Trip

First of many beach trips I imagine!  These pictures are from our summer trip once again.  I still have a few posts left to share with you all from that trip.  

She was definitely mystified at first.

  

She got the hang of it pretty quickly.

Hanging out on the beach with Grammy and Mom.

The seaweed was especially fascinating.  I was making sure she didn't eat it.  

She loved playing with these beads from the July 4th parade.

I think it is safe to say she had a blast!  Wish we were there now...

Rub a Dub

We have a bathtub again!  With the help of a plumber, Jason installed the bathtub today.  The worst is over, now it is just putting it all back together again!  

Words and More Words

Wow it has been too long since I last posted.  Jason has a lot on his plate right now.  He has been working really hard on the bathroom, work starts up tonight for him, and he had his 31st birthday last week so we've also been trying to celebrate a little.  

This morning Grace spent a good half hour getting in and out of this basket filled with her stuffed animals.  

This is a little odd, but her new favorite thing for the last couple days is this plastic water bottle.  She wants it first thing when she gets up and it has to sit with her while she eats lunch.  I guess it makes funny sounds when you crinkle it and when the water sloshes around inside.  

She is talking up a storm now.  I stopped counting her words when I reached 50!  Some of the words only we understand.  For example, she says "mup" when she means up, "dat" means that and "yogie" means yogurt.  I love it when she says banana because she usually adds some extra syllables.  Banananananana!

Jason needed the air compressor in the bathroom this afternoon.  He discovered that since there are holes in the ceiling now, he doesn't have to lift it up the stairs!  

Cool Morning Relief

Fall is coming!  It is getting colder at night, which has been really nice for our morning walks.  

Here she is looking out the window.  She LOVES going outside and asks to do so all the time by standing at the door and saying "DAT!"  

She is learning some new words, but pointing is always a go to method of communication.

An action shot!  Her hat says Grace and her sweater has a big G on it.  

Progress on the bathroom is coming along.  Jason thinks he is done with demo now, and he is now working on putting things back together.  Here is some of the plumbing he has put in.  Stay tuned!

It's Labor Day so we Labored.

The tub is gone!  Jason broke the handle on his sledge while busting it out, so we had to go and get a new one to finish the job.  

So is the wallpaper.

We're exhausted.  Now what?

No Turning Back Now

"What is this?" you say, "What happened to the baby blog?!"  Not to worry, it is still here, but we're getting back to our roots here at the Strompad and starting another remodeling project!  And it is a dirty, dusty, sticky mess of a project, with lots of demo debris!  Woohoo!  

Our story starts with a hole in the ceiling.  We're remodeling the upstairs bathroom, so Jason capped off the water to that bathroom so we can still have water in the rest of the house.  He knows how to keep a wife happy!  Those pipes are under our dining room table, so it was better to get to them through the basement ceiling than through our hardwood floors.

Just for reference, here is what we've been living with for 3 years.  

And it is already looking much better!  There is no turning back now.  My job is taking down the wallpaper. Did you not see the wallpaper in that before picture?  That is because it has been painted over - twice.  I've been wondering what kind of atrocity has been under those layers since we bought the house.  Is it a psychedelic print from the 60's?  I was hoping to see something crazy!

I was pleasantly surprised and slightly disappointed that it was this demure white paper with silver fleur-de-lis.  I think it is original to the house because there is no paint underneath.  

Here is some of my work.  It is a huge sticky mess getting this stuff down, but it has been made easier by the steamer we borrowed from our very kind friends Jen and Carl.  

What do you call a pink bathroom half demoed?  A good start!