S P A C E

We bought our house knowing we would need to do a lot of work to it. Some things were unexpected (water main break), and others have become priorities (gutters), but then others just had to be done for us to be comfortable living here. The first major rehaul was our kitchen. We changed the entire layout in order to join the 21st century and install a dishwasher (yay!!!!). We can't call the kitchen completely done yet, but the parts currently left undone are just cosmetic: walls need to be plastered and painted, and crown moulding needs to be applied to both the walls and the new cabinets. And then, finished!

I got sidetracked. What I really want to talk about is the upstairs. While selling the house, the previous owners listed it as having three bedrooms. I've drawn a (very rough) approximation of what the floor plan looked like (I've since discovered that it's wrong, oh well).


See how the "third bedroom" does not have a closet? And how you have to walk through it to get to the two REAL bedrooms?

That's what it USED to look like. This is what Senpai and his Dad have done:

There's a room for R!! She doesn't have to be in our room anymore since the in-laws are in the guest room that used to be R's room. Actually, the whole reason I started this post is because the in-laws are currently on a trip. Building the means to take this journey is the very reason they moved in with us in the first place, and I'm so happy for them that they are finally able to do it, after wanting to for so very long. They'll be gone for three weeks, and we've been given permission to move R back into the guest room while they are away, as her new room still needs plaster and paint. It was no big deal to move her from the guest room to our room back in October because she wasn't quite as aware of her surroundings. All she knew was that she was sleeping in the same crib, it didn't matter where it was. But she's grown in the 4 months that have elapsed, and now she realizes that she can't look over the bumper and see Mommy sleeping anymore. She is confused and upset. Mommy and Daddy are in seventh heaven. ^_^

On a final note regarding the upstairs floor plan, this is my dream if we can ever get to it:

Hee hee. Dream on, right?

Gravity Always Wins/ Right Foot Sonata

Today was not a good day for my right foot.

I love our house. It is a two story brick house built in 1892. It is a gorgeous house... As such, nothing about it is kid friendly. Senpai and I bought it before we were even thinking about kids. We were young newlyweds in love with each other, and we made the mistake of falling in love with the house, too. There is no carpet, only worn wood floors. I love wood floors, but these are OLD wood floors. The flooring upstairs is caked in paint (what to do, what to do..), and the flooring downstairs is a mix between the 1892 original, 1 cm gaps between splintering planks floor, and a cheap laminate that gouges easily. There used to be carpet in the guest room, but it stank of cat urine (Not from our cats. If it was our cats, that would have been a different story) so we ripped it out and replaced it with bamboo mat. The guest room is now R's room... I'm kinda thinking I'd like carpet in there. Sigh.

Aside from the floors, the staircases are steep. I never really thought about it until a friend mentioned, "Hey, your staircases are steep," and now I can't stop thinking about it. I go up and down the stairs many times a day, mostly because our laundry machines are in the basement and we're using cloth diapers. One load of cloth diapers equals 6 jaunts up or down stairs. Daily. (I love cloth!!!)

Today I was on my way down from the second story. We were all going out to a nice Italian dinner using a coupon I got in the mail for my birthday, and I wanted R and I to look nice. As soon as I started changing R (should've changed myself first, whoops) she was not happy and started to scream. I got her to calm down, then tried putting her down so I could change, haha, no. I managed to change my shirt, but I was still wearing the wrong skirt. The usual tricks weren't working, and I realized this situation called for the sling. It was downstairs. I picked up the crying baby, also grabbed some other things I wanted to take to the main level, and set off down the stairs.

I always watch my feet as best I can going down stairs because I never want to miss one. Even if I can't *see* my feet due to a baby and other miscellanea in my arms, I still look. Well, today I missed one. I thought I was at the landing already, but there was still one step before the landing, and down we went. My right foot folded back against the stairs, my left knee hit the landing, R was jolted, and I was in shock: I wasn't expecting that to happen! I had made a promise to R that I would never drop her, and even today I kept that promise, but if she didn't need sling therapy before she certainly needed it after that! I picked us up, safely finished descending the steps, and gingerly walked on my right foot. My main concern was, "Can I walk? Because if I can't do laps around the dining room table with R in the sling then I'm in big trouble! Nothing else can calm her down!!!" Thankfully, I could still walk, the sling worked its magic, Senpai came home, and we all went out to dinner.

Sling Therapy, with the amazing Hugamonkey sling.

That would've been a happy ending, except while at dinner I scraped my right foot against a sharp piece of metal that was sticking up from the floor. Ow! It didn't break the skin, though. And no, we can't get all pissy at the restaurant for the metal sticking out of the floor. The reason it was exposed was because Senpai had moved the booth seat to make more room for R and I. Ah well. I'm fine, really. Just hoping that's the last of the unfortunate mishaps. My right foot thanks me in advance.