Home improvement

My mom and dad drove up from Utah to help me the week after Brooklin was born. It made my recovery so much easier!! Simple things like getting AJ on the bus and entertaining AJ and Natalie would have been absolutely miserable for me to try to do by myself while I was still in pain from my surgery and trying to feed a newborn every 2-3 hours. It was nice to spend some time with my parents, even though I know they were bored after day 1. My poor dad had to resort to trimming my cherry tree and other labors to stay busy.



By Saturday the 7th (which was my original due date), I was feeling enough better that Joe and I decided to start tackling some of our home improvement projects. Joe and my dad bought paint and tools, and we painted our dining room. It looks so good!! We also switched out the light fixture for a chandelier Joe found on sale. We still need window treatments, chair rail and crown molding to finish the room… and a new dining set and a new area rug and shelves or something to store tablecloths and such in...




Grandma and Grandpa Johnson finally got to come see the baby this week. They’ve had pneumonia and other various illnesses, so they graciously stayed away to prevent the baby getting sick. It must have about killed them to do so, but I know Brooklin appreciates it! They brought dinner one night and spent the evening with us.

This last week we’ve started working on our downstairs bathroom. So far, we’ve pulled up the vinyl flooring and subfloor, layed down hardibacker, replaced the toilet supply line (not because we broke it; it was just really cheap), pulled off the tile backsplash and mirror, mudded over the backsplash and various holes in the wall. Next, we’re going to paint, replace the vanity light fixture, and lay down tile. It’s really fun to have a project like this, but expensive! The hardest part is not having all the tools we need. We really have to work hard to keep our budget in check.



The baby had her 2-week checkup on Friday. She is already up to 7 pounds, 12 ounces and 19.5 inches long! I am still in awe at the difference of having a full-term baby. It astounds me that I don’t have to wake her up to eat or worry about jaundice and all the little things that I had to worry about with AJ and Natalie. Brooklin’s such a good baby. She’s already starting to sleep 6 hours at night. Unfortunately, she likes to stay up until midnight before she goes to bed. But I guess that’s better than waking up for the day at 4 am. It would be nice if she’d sleep in her crib, or even her bassinet, but she’s pretty sure that she needs to cuddle all night to be happy.




Andrea and Scott came over Sunday for a visit. They were nice enough to bring us a replacement entertainment center since ours had a big crack in it when we bought it on our last trip to Spokane. We boxed the old one and sent it back with them yesterday. We didn’t do much besides play with Brooklin and rip holes in my bathroom walls removing tile other than that, but we enjoy spending time with family. We even convinced Scott to hold the baby. He swears that he doesn’t want one of his own, but I think we’ve managed a crack in his resolve. They had to leave yesterday afternoon, so Andrea could study for a test.