Finished!

Our kitchen renovation is finally complete! Here are a few before pictures to refresh yourself with the fabulous 1970's style.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

This project was almost completely a "do it yourself" renovation. We contracted out the counter tops and new cabinet doors/drawer fronts. Everything else was on our own. I can't even begin to count all of the trips we took to Home Depot...enough for a 2 year-old to know exactly where you go to "fix things"! Of course, it was much more complicated than we had imagined it would be...and more time consuming. After removing the old dropped ceiling, we realized that all of the plumbing for our upstairs bathroom would have to be redone so that the ceiling could be raised. New electric lines had to be run for several of the new appliances and new lights as well. Jesse has now officially earned his Master's in plumbing and electrical work.


This part of the kitchen makes me so happy for several reasons! I now have a little more pantry room with the tall cabinets, the stove is large enough to hold a normal cookie sheet, and there is a space for cookbooks, bowls, etc.





My favorite details: the subway tile backsplash, the bead board above the cabinets and wrapped around the bar, and the school house pendant lights above the bar.



We extended the bar to take the place of an eat-in kitchen area. We have already spent hours and hours playing, cooking, eating, talking here... I think it is my favorite place in the house now!







Now Jesse has 2 more weeks of school until he is finished with his Master's, and then we will start on the new nursery for baby Charlotte!

Catching up...

We have had a lot going on since I last posted. Life has been very busy...I can't believe it is July! Keeping up with a very busy Annabelle and growing this baby(26 weeks along) has just left me with very little extra energy, but I am going to try to be better about keeping this blog updated!

I don't want to forget what we have been doing, so here is a photo recap.

Jesse and I took a trip to New York just for fun! It was our first trip since Annabelle was born, and we thought we might should get one in before there are two little ones!


The trip was really low key and perfect. We slept in every morning, ate great food, walked a bunch, sat in parks and talked a lot, and saw two shows (Phantom and How to Succeed in Business - both were fantastic).




Lots of time has been spent trying to do fun things inside the past few weeks. Pregnant Mama is not enjoying the 98 degree days! We have been swimming every other day or so...that helps!








A few "in the works" photos of the kitchen remodel. As of today, we just have a little bit of trim work and a little painting left to do. I can't wait to get some final "after" pictures up soon! I have to say - it is beautiful, and I love everything we did! The "during" part was frustrating and tedious, but very much worth the work!




My cousin/"sister", Mattison, came for a visit last week.

She starts college in a few weeks, and we were thrilled to get a few days with her! She is as sweet as she is gorgeous, and she will be a feature twirler for Baylor University this year. Baton twirling is in the blood in this family :)

Annabelle just adored her, and we miss her so much already! We had a great week of shopping, playing, and a trip to the Aquarium.


Annabelle and I made peach jam yesterday with some delicious peaches from a local orchard. YUM!