Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Fireplace

Here's a quick post from my phone. Tommy and I went to Home Depot after dinner yesterday and finally picked out our materials for our two fireplace hearths.

We went with marble tile. We wanted one marble slab but it was going to cost too much. So here it is!

Still need to grout the tile but it's looking good. Just one more fireplace to work on.


Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Flooring 4-1-1

It's here!

Tommy and I picked up our flooring today! All 58 boxes of them.


Each box contains 19.70 square feet (which equals 1,142.6 square feet total). So that means Tommy and I have a lot of flooring to install. Each box weighs 47.4 pounds. Tommy and I got a great workout today carrying each box (up 5 steps) into the house. Phew!

It's called African Thuya Burlwood. It's a wide plank, 12mm laminate (decided against real wood since we have two toddlers and a 140lb. dog). I think it's beautiful! Here's a pic...


It will be installed in our entry hallway (including closet), dinning room, living room, and office. We already purchased the wood (in real oak) for the stairs. We are working on finding a close stain to match the burlwood.

We still need to finish leveling out the flooring as best we can and laying the underlayment before installing the wood. We also have to lay marble/tile/stone (haven't decide which yet) for our two fireplace hearths.

So, we are still far from getting the downstairs finished but getting the flooring in makes us one step closer. Stay tuned for flooring updates in the days/weeks (hopefully not months) to come!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Sunday, May 15, 2011

18-Month Check-Up and "Mini" House Update

Howdy ya'll. It's been a busy week at the Hitch household. Hudson and Brayden had their 18-month check-up last Thursday (Happy half birthday to my munchkins!).

Everything went very well. They have both gained four pounds to their weight and three inches on their height in six months. Funny they both gained the same, although they are still apart from each other. Stats...

Hudson at 18-months:
Weight: 24 lbs. (25th percentile)
Height: 33 in. (75th percentile)
HC: 18.8 in. (45th percentile)

Brayden at 18-months:
Weight: 22 lbs. 8 oz. (10th percentile)
Height: 31.8 in. (45th percentile)
HC: 17.8 in. (5th percentile)

Brayden moved from the 5% to the 10% in weight. YAY! He's gaining! However his little head is still so small. I think it's odd that Hudson's head is only 1 inch larger and he's in the 45th percentile while Brayden is only in the 5th. Odd.

Their pediatrician also recommended we start using "time outs" for when they act up...but only in three instances. One, when they do something that physical hurts someone else. Two, when they do something that physical hurts themselves. And three, when they damage property. Ha! They both were caught drawing on the wall with crayons today. I forgot to put them in time-out. I think it's going to take me awhile to remember to do that.

Now, on to the "mini" house update. After 2 1/2 months of waiting (and a threatening email by me) the flooring has finally arrived at the store and is ready for pick-up. Hallelujah! It was supposed to take just 2 weeks for the flooring to come it. Poor Brayden and Hudson have been playing on bare plywood for too long. I had had enough of the company's many excuses as to why there was a delay on the delivery 5 times (and I won't go into all the details) but I decided to write them a worded email. After threatening to file a complaint with the BBB and contacting our credit card company to get our money back...guess what?...they "found" some of our flooring at another store in St. Louis and had it shipped to our store in just two days. WHAT?!?! That's all it took?!?! Why didn't I do that sooner?

Whatever...moving on. So Tommy and I will be spending the next few days (and probably weeks) prepping the floors and get the wood installed. Very excited! This is the FINAL step! We'll be done with the downstairs (minus the kitchen) and ready to decorate. Are you as excited as me? Probably not but this is epic to me!

Anyways, stay tuned for more house updates in the NEAR future!

Friday, May 6, 2011

Lions and Tigers and Bears...

...oh my!

So we didn't see any lions...or bears, but at least we saw some tigers.

Tommy and I took the boys to the Nashville Zoo yesterday. It was their first time at the zoo. Brayden REALLY enjoyed it. He's much more interested in animals. Hudson...well he just sat back in the stroller and enjoyed the ride. He did really like the birds though.

He said "bird" for the first time this morning during breakfast. It was really an owl (close enough) who-o-o, who-o-oing outside. I hear it ALL THE TIME! Haven't seen it yet.

Anyways, back to the zoo...their favorite part was the "petting zoo" area. They ran around like two maniac toddlers hyped up on sugar (which they weren't). I think it was because they were dying to get out of the stroller and stretch their legs.

And we went at the perfect time. It was during the week, at 2:00 pm, and the weather was sunny in the low 70's. Couldn't have been better! We got a great parking spot, didn't have to wait in line to get in, and there were no crowds. And one of the best parts? All the animals were out enjoying the day too.

Granted, the Nashville Zoo isn't like the San Diego Zoo. It's not very big and they don't have a lot of the animals I was hoping to see (lions, koalas, and pandas) but it's not bad. Very clean, easy to get around, and still plenty of animals to see. I think both boys enjoyed it. At least I hope so, cause we purchased a season pass to go back many more times this year. ;)

Here are some photos of our visit...

Welcome!

Look! No lines!

Hudson, you're looking the wrong way!

Some kind of jungle-gym area for kids. We didn't go in there. We will next time.

Looking at some sort of ugly swine.

Elephants!

Giraffe!

A meerkat chillin'.

Looking at the meerkat exhibit.

Crap...I cut off half of Hudson, and I think he was waving at me. Darn!

Zebras.

Brayden and I looking at the Zebras. He wanted a better look.

Rare albino tiger. Actually, I don't know if they are rare.

Some type of monkey trying to escape.

Pink flamingos. I felt like I was in Florida...for only a minute.

Hudson checking out the camel.

Brayden running from the camel. Just kidding. He wasn't running away. Just running to the next animal.

Admiring the camel again.

Brayden excited about the "I can't remember what those animals were called" animals.

Had to add in this photo. It makes me smile.

checking out the fishes, frogs, and turtles.
Next time we hope to ride the merry-go-round and spend some time playing in the children's jungle-gym area.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Finally...some family photos!

While we were in Knoxville for Easter I asked Tommy's brother Marcus if he would take some photos of us since we didn't have any good family photos (our last one was an impromptu photo from last August). We went to the park behind the YMCA (I didn't even know one existed, and I lived there for 14 years). It was huge and beautiful!

Here are some pics...captioned of course...

Brayden and Hudson kept looking at the runners passing by. And dogs being walked!

A nice butt shot...

Another butt shot...thankfully I'm not in this one.

You'll thank me for editing out the snot that was running down Hudson's nose. And the drool that was running down Brayden's chin.

Can't remember what Hudson was smiling at. Let's just say he was smiling at me. ;)

Hudson was crying because he didn't want me holding him for the photo...so I tickled him instead. Punishment.

I guess there was something in my hair for both boys to be so engrossed.

Both boys are finally getting better at holding our hands (more like us holding their wrists) during walks.

They are obsessed with slides!

Brayden was pointing at the swings.

Then he turns to us and says "eh?" That's how he asked for permission to go on the swings.
Brayden swingin'.

Hudson swingin'.
 Then huge storm clouds came so we yanked the boys out of the swings and took off to the car.

This storm later dumped hail throughout Knoxville causing lots of damage.

Brayden then cried the whole way back to the car...well...at least until he saw someone walking some dogs. Then he stopped.
And here's a good "behind-the-scenes" photo showing a bit of the chaos while trying to get a decent photo. Brayden was upset about not being able to go to the playground (which was probably 15 yards in front of us) and Hudson decided to just try and run for it. Sometimes you just need to smile and laugh about it!


Oh...and thanks to Marcus for curling my hair for the photos. Apparently you can curl hair with a flat iron! I tried myself when we got home and was only able to curl two strands. FAIL.