Time flies...

I can't believe it's been three months since my last post...  time flies!

So here is an update on what's been going on!

O's room is pretty well finished! Mummy just need to hang things on the wall now!
The room looks gorgeous! My hubby did such a great job!

We've got some big news to share which will explain our next project!
We're pregnant and expecting our second child at the end of May 2012!
Therefore... you guessed it! Our next project is the nursery!

Other than that... we've made some big changes in our basement!
There's a washroom down there now... one which wasn't there before!
Our laundry room is in a new spot! The finishing touches still need to be done but it looks pretty good!

Also... we have our major undertaking downstairs... putting in a rec room!
Flooring is purchased... studs are going up slowly but surely... all is looking great!
My march we should have a completely renovated basement! Woohoo!
Looking forward to it!

Anyway... that's pretty much all we did since August!

I will be posting much more often these days as I plan on taking on many new and fun projects!

Can't wait to share our renovation and decorating successes!

Be in touch...

Where to begin...

It's been a very sad week. I've been so distracted with everything that my house has been a disaster for about... well... a week.
My grand papa passed away on August 11th, 2011. We knew things weren't going to get any easier for him, but I don't believe any of us thought this would happen so quickly.

He was the very best mashed potato maker! I used to eat at least two servings. Everyone always thought it was so funny how I inhalled those mashed potatoes! But they really were that good! Mmmm... I already miss his perfect version.

When my brother and I were kids, we always went camping - our family with my grand parents. I remember my grand papa going into the bush just off the dirt road while we were taking a walk and he derooted a small tree! Oh my goodness.... we were so impressed! He was our real life Superhero! lol!! What we didn't realize at the time is that the trees he pulled out were chiccos - dry dead trees! But he impressed us just the same!! It was just awesome!

My grand papa used to come up with all these great ideas! I remember him giving me this little ring once... he had cut a piece of copper pipe and made it into a small ring for my baby finger! I thought it was the coolest ring ever!

I remember him always saying... "Ok, BlueJay" ... I've caught myself saying that to my daughter for some time now... lol.

My grand papa was simply an amazing man. He loved his wife dearly - they got married in September of 1956 - that makes for just about 55 years of marriage! Incredible!

He was also a fantastic father to my mom... she admired him greatly and always will!

As for me... he was my dearest grand papa, my godfather and will always be that one extra special dance partner I had at my wedding in April....

Grand papa Marleau touched all of our lives in a very special way - he will always be in our hearts, in our thoughts.

Je t'aime beaucoup Grand papa... tu me manques déjà énormément... xox

Big girl headboard!

As we are renovating O's new room, we are also trying to transition her from her crib to a twin size bed. So far she's done ok with her toddler bed, but we've still got a long way to go before she's ready for her BIG big girl bed (twin size vs. toddler size). My grandmother was getting rid of a twin size headboard - which was perfect because the one I had bought at a second hand store was actually for a full size bed. Anyway, she mentionned she had always wanted to cover it in fabric! I LOVED THE IDEA! It is the perfect shape for recovering! So, last week I went to Fabricland with my mom to see if we could come accross something nice to recover O's headboard with! We were in luck! We came accross a fabric that was meant for the outdoors, but could also be used indoors. I took home some samples and sure enough it worked very well with the curtains I had made for her in our previous home.

So covering the headboard with foam and batter using staples to keep them in place, we then recovered it with this beautiful floral print fabric! It turned out fantastic!!

Check it out!!

I paticularly liked the curves on the top of the headboard and definitely wanted them to show once the fabric was on. We had to pull quite a bit to accent the lower part of the curves and we put a huge amount of staples... but it worked!

I intend on going to purchase the match to this fabric which is a nice striped fabric in the same colors to make her duvet cover! 

Mmm Mmm Good!

For lunch today, I suggested banana pankakes!
O - our daughter - completely agreed!
Since she has severe milk & egg allergies, I've done some searching and found an easy receipe that she really loves!
Here is it...

1 cup flour
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
dash of cinnamon
2/3 soy milk (I've used formula too)
1/2 banana
1 tsp vanilla

Usually I make them on the stove top... but today I remembered that my grandmother gave me a heart waffle maker! We had to try it!

Yes, I used too much batter! Oops...

But, she loved them!

We'll definitely be having heart waffles again very soon!

p.s. Grand maman.... merci pour la belle machine! Je l'adore! xox

Project of the day

Husband - gone fishing and camping for the night

Daughter - with my parents for the night

Me - time to do stuff around the house!

So my plan was a little more ambitious than I thought...
I had planned to do much more things around the house during my day alone, but everything took a little longer than expected.
First I tackled our daughter's room to be. When we moved into our new house, we decided to set her up in the spare room upstairs so we could work on her room right away. Well we've lived in the house for 3 months now and things weren't moving as quickly as I would have liked... so I've been bugging J - my husband - to do his half so I could get to mine!
I woke up this morning to the sound of sanding... yes... after spending several hours in the garage last night with a few guys and some refreshments he crawled into bed around 2am and was up at 7am sanding that room (he had done the mudding a few days ago). I knew he was going to do it today... but didn't expect him to be up so early doing it! Turns out there was a catch! He was leaving for that camping/fishing trip an hour and a half later!! lol!! At least he kept his word and got it done so I could finally prime the walls while he was gone!
So... that being said... I primed the walls and the ceiling! As you can see from the before and after pics... it's already that much better! Took me about two hours as I had to vacuum all the dust my hubby had left behind after his sanding job! Job done and I'm satisfied!

Before

Before

After   

After     

About the floors... we know there are hardwood floors under all the carpet in our house. But the carpet is in good condition and we aren't ready to splurge on new hardwoods yet... so do I take a chance and take the carpet out anyway?

I took a peek just to see what I could see!

OMG!!! They are beautiful!!
The varnish is still all there!

I'm in complete aww!! So I'm making the executive decision - we are definitely taking the carpets out ASAP!

So once J gets back from his grizzly adventure, he'll be able to fix the few spots that aren't so perfect with the mud, sand them and then I'll paint the walls! After all the work is done on the walls and ceiling... we will be uncovering that gorgeous hidden floor!!

Hopefully the renovation process continues to be a positive experience!! :o)

Here we go!

Well, here it goes! My first post on my new blog! I'm so excited about it! I've been admiring other blogs quite a bit lately and couldn't help but get my own started!
I'm hoping to share all my home diy projects & renos, our experiences with our daughter's milk and egg allergies, and hopefully.... (crossing my fingers)... my journey through another pregnancy in the near future!
Looking forward to this new adventure!! :o)