I can't remember if I communicated how overwhelming paint color decisions were for me .... I guess it wasn't as agonizing as choosing tile, but when it came down to the entire house coordinating, choosing paint was tough. I wanted to have a clean, crisp feeling, but one with warmth, that fit our style and that didn't reflect every color in the rainbow. (We painted just about every wall in our previous house, but it was one at a time and we had all the time in the world to choose each color, so it wasn't so bad.) Thankfully, I had some assistance this time around from some experts in this department and they made my job much easier. Thanks Lauren, Amy and the lady from Benjamin Moore ... you guys were a lifesaver when it came down to choosing paint!
Thoughts of house color have been distant the last week or so because we've been engulfed with granite/countertop decisions, but today was a beautiful today. Wall and trim priming ended and glimpses of color went up on the interior walls of the 909 House!!! Monroe Bisque, Sea Salt and a shade of gray/blue (sadly, the color doesn't have a name ... just a number) went up on the wall today and I'm very pleased! (The house was somewhat dark when Caed and I were there today, so I could be off, but from what I can tell, it looks better than I had imagined!) I'll be excited to see additional colors tomorrow! It's especially exciting to see our master bathroom semi-painted next to the recently laid, white subway tile in our shower ... it's all coming together ... woohoo!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Decisions, Decisions and MORE Decisions
Whew, what a weekend! Starting Friday, we realized that we were behind on ordering the light and plumbing fixtures for the 909 House that we've had picked out for a while. So I ended up heading over to Mom's for the morning (which turned into the day) so that Caed could tag along with her while I made a few last-minute decisions on fixtures and placed all of our orders ... like 6 different online stores to be exact! How exhausting!
Then, Saturday began nice and early as Caed woke up at 6:50 am (he usually wakes up at 8 or later), and not too long afterward, we were out the door to choose our granite slabs for the kitchen countertop and downstairs powder room. Doesn't sound too difficult, but when you're working with a tired and cranky 14-month-old, the level of difficulty escalates greatly! As we were sorting through the slabs, we thought that it wasn't a bad idea to let Caed out of his stroller and walk around a bit. (The granite is way to heavy for him to move or damage, so we thought he would be fine.) But, he is our son and has the curiosity of a cat, so leave it to him to get into EVERYTHING. Before we knew it, he was pulling on the fire extinguisher and pushing his stroller into things, so his time of freedom came to an end quickly. Lots of screaming proceeded, but we really had no other choice. Eventually, he got sleepy and just gave in ... thank goodness ... but no sleeping.
Then, as we were browsing th
rough all of our options, we realized that the sample slab that we've been carrying around to match up with other kitchen decor wasn't the type of granite that we thought it was. We love the sample and thought it was Kashmir White, but turns out that it's Colonial Gold ... ha. So after looking through all of the Kashmir White slabs and realizing that none of the slabs look quite like our sample (slabs tend to vary based on their lot ... where they originated), so we just thought the lots were pretty different. But then we found other types that looked more similar to our sample -- Bianca Romano and River White. (Bianca Romano is pictured to the left.)
(We didn't realize that our sample was Colonial Gold until the end.) Feeling pretty confident that we had found our slabs though, we left with the intent to order Monday. However, we decided to swing by one more granite lot on the way to choose our appliances (yes, another big decision). Funny thing, we arrived at the second granite lot 5 minutes before it closed, so we didn't have much time ... but as soon as we walked in the warehouse, we saw the River White granite and loved it ... it looked a great deal better there than at the other location, so that made our decision that much easier. (I still need to go back tomorrow though, take a second look at it and choose the exact two slabs to use ... more decisions! But at least the granite decision is almost over!) I'm excited ... our countertops are going to be beautiful! (The picture below is just a sample I found online, our slab will probably look a little different from this.)
From the gran
ite lot, we then went to HH Gregg to make our final selection on appliances: Refrigerator, Dishwasher, Range, Mircohood.
We went into the store confident that we were going to go the Whirlpool route for our range, microhood and refrigerator, and we were pretty sure we were going to get a Bosch dishwasher, but trying to decide on appliance finishes threw a few kinks in the road, so we had to deliberate a bit. But after heading home and Brad returning later in the evening to make a final decision, we stayed tried and true with our original Whirlpool and Bosch decision and decided to go black on the finish for the refrigerator and dishwasher and stainless steal for the microhood and range. (That may sound a little strange, but based on the placement of each appliance in the new kitchen, we think this will look great and emphasize the items that we want to emphasize and 'hide' the others. We'll see ....)
The sales guy, Yiuly, was really helpful and gave us a great deal in the end, so if you're heading over to HH Gregg in the near future, you might want to look him up.
Oohh, I can't wait to use my new dishwasher! We've been without a dishwasher for 1 year and a month now and it's driving me crazy! Not too much longer now!
Well, that wraps up a good bit of our decisions this weekend, now we just need to figure out what we're going to do with our windows and then finalize our granite selections tomorrow. We'll keep you posted ....
Then, Saturday began nice and early as Caed woke up at 6:50 am (he usually wakes up at 8 or later), and not too long afterward, we were out the door to choose our granite slabs for the kitchen countertop and downstairs powder room. Doesn't sound too difficult, but when you're working with a tired and cranky 14-month-old, the level of difficulty escalates greatly! As we were sorting through the slabs, we thought that it wasn't a bad idea to let Caed out of his stroller and walk around a bit. (The granite is way to heavy for him to move or damage, so we thought he would be fine.) But, he is our son and has the curiosity of a cat, so leave it to him to get into EVERYTHING. Before we knew it, he was pulling on the fire extinguisher and pushing his stroller into things, so his time of freedom came to an end quickly. Lots of screaming proceeded, but we really had no other choice. Eventually, he got sleepy and just gave in ... thank goodness ... but no sleeping.
Then, as we were browsing th
rough all of our options, we realized that the sample slab that we've been carrying around to match up with other kitchen decor wasn't the type of granite that we thought it was. We love the sample and thought it was Kashmir White, but turns out that it's Colonial Gold ... ha. So after looking through all of the Kashmir White slabs and realizing that none of the slabs look quite like our sample (slabs tend to vary based on their lot ... where they originated), so we just thought the lots were pretty different. But then we found other types that looked more similar to our sample -- Bianca Romano and River White. (Bianca Romano is pictured to the left.)(We didn't realize that our sample was Colonial Gold until the end.) Feeling pretty confident that we had found our slabs though, we left with the intent to order Monday. However, we decided to swing by one more granite lot on the way to choose our appliances (yes, another big decision). Funny thing, we arrived at the second granite lot 5 minutes before it closed, so we didn't have much time ... but as soon as we walked in the warehouse, we saw the River White granite and loved it ... it looked a great deal better there than at the other location, so that made our decision that much easier. (I still need to go back tomorrow though, take a second look at it and choose the exact two slabs to use ... more decisions! But at least the granite decision is almost over!) I'm excited ... our countertops are going to be beautiful! (The picture below is just a sample I found online, our slab will probably look a little different from this.)
From the gran
ite lot, we then went to HH Gregg to make our final selection on appliances: Refrigerator, Dishwasher, Range, Mircohood.We went into the store confident that we were going to go the Whirlpool route for our range, microhood and refrigerator, and we were pretty sure we were going to get a Bosch dishwasher, but trying to decide on appliance finishes threw a few kinks in the road, so we had to deliberate a bit. But after heading home and Brad returning later in the evening to make a final decision, we stayed tried and true with our original Whirlpool and Bosch decision and decided to go black on the finish for the refrigerator and dishwasher and stainless steal for the microhood and range. (That may sound a little strange, but based on the placement of each appliance in the new kitchen, we think this will look great and emphasize the items that we want to emphasize and 'hide' the others. We'll see ....)
The sales guy, Yiuly, was really helpful and gave us a great deal in the end, so if you're heading over to HH Gregg in the near future, you might want to look him up.
Oohh, I can't wait to use my new dishwasher! We've been without a dishwasher for 1 year and a month now and it's driving me crazy! Not too much longer now!
Well, that wraps up a good bit of our decisions this weekend, now we just need to figure out what we're going to do with our windows and then finalize our granite selections tomorrow. We'll keep you posted ....
Friday, November 6, 2009
Box Entertainment
Ever since the day we opened the box to Caed's "new" car seat, he has not only had a larger, more confy seat, but a great box to play in. As soon as I realized he was interested in playing with it, I cut a few holes for windows and a front door. Then, a few weeks later, Brad added "barn doors" in the back to give Caed and Aslan a second entry point.
Caed has had this box since the week before his birthday (August) and it continues to be a great source of entertainment in the Hodgson house. Sadly, each new day brings this box closer to it's demise ... it has been flattened a few times as Caed tries to roll the box over while he's inside ... but thanks Evenflo for making such a great box. And even when you need to be replaced, one of our upcoming appliance boxes will fill your place. (Thankfully we'll be moving into a bigger home that can house you!)
Enjoy this video:
Caed has had this box since the week before his birthday (August) and it continues to be a great source of entertainment in the Hodgson house. Sadly, each new day brings this box closer to it's demise ... it has been flattened a few times as Caed tries to roll the box over while he's inside ... but thanks Evenflo for making such a great box. And even when you need to be replaced, one of our upcoming appliance boxes will fill your place. (Thankfully we'll be moving into a bigger home that can house you!)
Enjoy this video:
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Caedmon's Dedication at Vintage21 Church
At 14 months, Caed finally had the opportunity to be dedicated at Vintage21 Church today.
For those of you that are not familiar with this process, this means that Brad and I brought Caed before the church to say that we commit to raise him in the ways of the Lord (pray for him, teach him and shepherd him well) and to ask our church family to help us in this process (to love him and us and to be a positive example of Jesus to him).
For many people, baptism is a traditional step to take a baby through at this age, but we believe that baptism is an outward sign of an inward decision to follow Jesus (Colossians 2:9-15), and we pray that this will be a decision that Caed will make for himself one day when he outwardly professes that he believes in Jesus and wants to use his life to glorify him. That is a day that we've prayed for since the day he was born and will continue to pray for until it comes into fruition.
Until then, we pray that through our own example in his life, through the truth that we teach him in scripture, through our ongoing prayer for him, and the positive example of those around him, that he's able to see Jesus and realize that he desperately needs a savior to save him from his brokenness. This is obviously a lot to comprehend for a one year old, but I believe that as his little mind develops and he begins to understand the difference between right and wrong, he'll be able to comprehend that God did not intend for us to be broken, but because sin entered the world, our hearts are broken and we can't fix them ourselves. We need Jesus, the perfect savior, to redeem our brokenness and give us new life. This is the truth that Brad and I hope to share with Caedmon as he grows, and despite our own brokenness, it is our prayer that Jesus will allow us to be good teachers of His word and be able to love Caedmon well so that he can experience this truth for himself while he is young.
Here's a picture of the new Bible that Caed received today. His buddy Mason already received one a few months ago, and he was already showing him all the cool stories that it tells.
For many people, baptism is a traditional step to take a baby through at this age, but we believe that baptism is an outward sign of an inward decision to follow Jesus (Colossians 2:9-15), and we pray that this will be a decision that Caed will make for himself one day when he outwardly professes that he believes in Jesus and wants to use his life to glorify him. That is a day that we've prayed for since the day he was born and will continue to pray for until it comes into fruition.
Until then, we pray that through our own example in his life, through the truth that we teach him in scripture, through our ongoing prayer for him, and the positive example of those around him, that he's able to see Jesus and realize that he desperately needs a savior to save him from his brokenness. This is obviously a lot to comprehend for a one year old, but I believe that as his little mind develops and he begins to understand the difference between right and wrong, he'll be able to comprehend that God did not intend for us to be broken, but because sin entered the world, our hearts are broken and we can't fix them ourselves. We need Jesus, the perfect savior, to redeem our brokenness and give us new life. This is the truth that Brad and I hope to share with Caedmon as he grows, and despite our own brokenness, it is our prayer that Jesus will allow us to be good teachers of His word and be able to love Caedmon well so that he can experience this truth for himself while he is young.
Here's a picture of the new Bible that Caed received today. His buddy Mason already received one a few months ago, and he was already showing him all the cool stories that it tells.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Clearing Out the Jungle
If you'd seen the 909 house prior to last Friday, you definitely wouldn't think that I was making an understatement if I said that my new backyard was comparable to a jungle, but thankfully, mom and I had the chance to make a dent into the overgrown wilderness Friday and I finished it off (within my capacity) today. (We still need to go back in there with some heavy-duty tools, i.e. chain saw, some other tool to pull up the ground vines and masses of ivy.) Thanks to Erika for watching Caed Friday and mom for watching Caed today so that this feat could be possible!
I can't even begin to imagine when the last time someone pruned the shrubbery, trees or vines in this backyard. They were all over the place. There were even random shirts, shoes, a toilet and unmentionables. If you would have peeked into the backyard last Friday afternoon, you would have seen mom and I practically swinging from several of the vines to pull them down from the trees and yank down all the other garbage that was attached to them. It was quite comical ... and impressive, if I do say so myself. With our joint strength, we took care of quite a bit of work!
Here's a few pictures after our work on Friday (Brad cut down a decent bit of the overhanging branches a few weeks ago):
And here's one of Caed climbing up the stairs on Saturday:
He LOVES his new house and all the exploration that's involved. (Climbing stairs, hitting boards on the floor, clanking the pipes, opening and closing doors, you name it ... what more could a 14-month-old boy want?)
I'll take a few more tomorrow to show you the progress I made today.
I can't even begin to imagine when the last time someone pruned the shrubbery, trees or vines in this backyard. They were all over the place. There were even random shirts, shoes, a toilet and unmentionables. If you would have peeked into the backyard last Friday afternoon, you would have seen mom and I practically swinging from several of the vines to pull them down from the trees and yank down all the other garbage that was attached to them. It was quite comical ... and impressive, if I do say so myself. With our joint strength, we took care of quite a bit of work!
Here's a few pictures after our work on Friday (Brad cut down a decent bit of the overhanging branches a few weeks ago):
And here's one of Caed climbing up the stairs on Saturday:
I'll take a few more tomorrow to show you the progress I made today.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Cabinets and More!
909 is really transforming. The cabinets are almost completely in place. The tile guys are set to lay mud room tile today. The trim is completely done, and the painters will be on their way early next week to paint the interior and exterior of the house! (Yikes ... we have to make quite a few more paint decisions!) Shelving is being built for the pantry and plans are coming together for the shelf and desk nooks. I can't believe it ... everything is REALLY coming together!
Here are some of the pictures I took yesterday while Caed and I were deciding on paint colors and working out the details with the kitchen cabinets:
The Back of the House
The Front Door
The Dining Room
The Kitchen
Upstairs pictures will come in a later post!
By the way, Brad had to run back down to Ikea Wednesday night to pick up more cabinets. Our measurements were apparently wrong and we still had some space to fill (thank goodness it wasn't the opposite problem!) So ... it actually allowed us to have the cabinet configuration that we wanted all along ... with a few glass cabinet doors and all! Although it was a pain in our butt, the contractor's butt and the cabinet installer's butt, it will work out for the best in the end, hooray!
Here are some of the pictures I took yesterday while Caed and I were deciding on paint colors and working out the details with the kitchen cabinets:
The Back of the House
The Front Door
The Dining Room
The Kitchen
By the way, Brad had to run back down to Ikea Wednesday night to pick up more cabinets. Our measurements were apparently wrong and we still had some space to fill (thank goodness it wasn't the opposite problem!) So ... it actually allowed us to have the cabinet configuration that we wanted all along ... with a few glass cabinet doors and all! Although it was a pain in our butt, the contractor's butt and the cabinet installer's butt, it will work out for the best in the end, hooray!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Preparing for Ikea Saturday
Tomorrow's the BIG day .... We're heading down to the Charlotte Ikea to wrap up final details on our new Ikea kitchen and make our purchases. So, in preparation, I'm running through their website today and creating our online shopping list. We plan to get our kitchen cabinets, mud room cabinets, mud room countertop, shelving for our built-in desk nooks, one bathroom vanity and a few other odds and ends. We hope to take it all home in the Volvo ... ha, just kidding. We're borrowing mom's Trail Blazer and we're renting a trailer, so hopefully that will do the trick. And as you may remember, mom and Judy will be keeping Caedmon Saturday, so we'll be able to have the full day to do this. Sounds exciting and exhausting all at the same time. Wish us luck!
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