Summer Lovin'

Yup...Summer Lovin' on this guy and lovin' summer!  Well, trying to survive summer, more like.  This summer's average temperature is about 20 degrees higher than my ideal zone, but we're surviving.  Here's a little overview of what we've been up to (besides finding out which toys make the most noise, changing dirty diapers and shoveling food toward Ben's face)...
Basement
We're slowing plodding along in our quest toward a completed basement. The walls are all painted and as of today the trim and doors are hung (sadly, not yet painted). We went out to Home Depot tonight and bought a $24 piece on vinyl floor for the bathroom (not much to write home about, but the price was right for a tiny basement bathroom). A couple of weeks ago we got a vanity/counter top/faucet combo (for $210!!) at the Williams Outlet, so the bathroom just needs to be assembled and it will be finished. After I get around to painting the trim, the next step will be carpet and then we can move the stuff back down!! I'm so ready to have my dining room back and not have drywall dust tracked everywhere! We'll finish the drop ceiling later this fall when the finances bounce back from the carpet purchase.
Here are some pics of the progress (Sorry for the water spots!  Guess the camera lens could use a cleaning :)

 

 Here's Ben's little workbench all ready to go in the play area!  Found this on a garage sale for $5 :)

This is the cubby under the stairs that I painted with chalkboard paint for Ben.  So easy!!

This is the bathroom.  All but one wall are painted this bright blue.  The other wall is white and will host a piece of accent art.

Craft Room!!  This area will be my scrapbook zone.

This area will be my sewing zone.  The walls are yellow & grey - my new favorite color combo :)

This is the great room - standing in the play area, looking toward the TV area

We (dad) trimmed away the wall at the bottom of the stairs to make the hallway area feel more open (and make it easier to move furniture in & out)

And these dusty footprints are EVERYWHERE ELSE!  Yeah for dark wood floors :(

Backyard
AKA Weed Field.  The good news is it hasn't flooded this year (not like we've had any rain), but the bad news is the newly planted grass from this spring hasn't exactly flourished (not like we've had any rain).  Oh well.  Baby steps.  Baby Steps.  We haven't done any painting back there yet (neither the fence nor the shed) because it is just too darn hot!  Someday. 

This picture on the left is looking from the house into the yard - you can see where the drain tile was installed.  I'm told that grass will eventually grow over the gravel.  The picture on the right is looking from the yard back to the house - you can see the shed, deck and patio, which we've been enjoying this year when it's not a million degrees outside!

There are a couple of bright spots.  The first is the garden.  It's doing pretty well considering the hot, dry weather.  We're just starting to get some tasty goodies.

Our little garden!!  This year we're experimenting with what we want and how much, etc.  It will be refined next year. :)

Here's the garden bounty I picked one day last week!!  Yum!

The other bright spot is the newly installed clothesline.  Man, do I love me some line-dried sheets.  Nothing better.  Except maybe homegrown tomatoes, which we also have. :)

Today I felt like a pioneer woman living off the land (well, the land and the Target store a quarter mile away - which I walked to, so that's kind of pioneery, right?) 
After I hung my washin' on the line, I commenced to puttin' up some homemade pickles with zucchini from my garden.  Hopefully they're edible!

My Zucchini Pickles - (potential) yum!

Hopefully my next update will contain finished basement pics!!

B..B..B..Busy!

We're welcoming Spring (or is it Summer?!?!) at the House of K!  Lot's of things have been keeping us busy, but there are a few highlights...

The Backyard:

You may recall that we've had some drainage issues with the backyard since last spring.  The township agreed to fix the problem, which they did last fall, but they didn't fix the entire problem, just the part that affected their domain - the sidewalk.  Plus, when the patio was put in last fall, the equipment used did quite a bit of additional damage to the lawn.  The backyard looked lovely under a blanket of winter snow, but needless to say, yard carnage returned in the spring.  :(  Pete has been diligently plugging away at the multitude of issues, but we're afraid the time has come to bring in the professionals.  This goes against our DIY grain, but we are looking into having the entire backyard regraded with top soil and having new grass seed put down.  Our DIY projects include painting the fence (it is ugly!!) and the shed (didn't get to that before winter).  I'm also hoping we can get a clothesline and garden in this spring.  Then I can have two of my favorite things this summer - line-dried sheets and garden-fresh tomatoes!!

The Basement:

 

We started working on the basement this winter and hope to be done(ish) in the next couple of months.  My dad and Pete framed the walls, Pete's dad is currently working on the electrical, and drywall will be starting soon.  We will have a large storage area, a half bath, Ben's play area, Daddy's play area (home theater) and Mommy's play area (craft room!!!!! :D ) when we're finished.  I can't wait!

The Bubba Roo:

Ben is now three months old and getting cuter (and more fun!) by the day!  His favorite things include eating, NOT napping, smiling, going for walks, playdates with friends (well, they play and Ben tries to not get stepped on or sat on :), and consignment sale shopping with Mom.  Well, maybe that's not his favorite thing, but Mom sure enjoys it!!  And it's a good thing, too, with the rate this kid grows!  He's in 9 months size clothes now, and unfortunately, I'd stocked up on winter clothes in this size.  With the sudden onset of warm weather, I've been hustling to find summer options instead.  We're looking forward to the start of garage sale season soon! 

Up next for the Bubba Roo is solid food (which is good because making baby food has become my new obsession and the freezer is stocked with baby delights :), laughing, rolling over and sitting up.  We're also trying to wean him off the Nap Nanny he sleeps in.  This is proving difficult...he loves to snuggle in that silly thing and has gotten pretty good at going off to sleep by himself and going back to sleep if he wakes up.  The crib alone is not so cozy.  Ben misses the Nanny and so does mommy.  : (  But he can't sleep in that thing forever (he'd look a little goofy dragging it along to his dorm room), so we're trying to live life without it. : (

For those interested in a more detailed look at the life and times of Mr. Benjamin, you can visit our YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/user/bubbarootv.  I've tried to upload videos to this blog with no success, so I put them on YouTube instead.  This link should work for viewing all the videos.  If it doesn't, let me know!  I'm new at this... : /

Four Weeks Later...

He's here!  Benjamin James Klooster was born on December 21, 2011 at 12:49 pm.  He weighed in at a whopping 9 lb, 15 oz and was 22.5 inches long.  Four weeks ago today we were in the hospital, 10 hours into labor and getting close to thinking about pushing.  A lot has changed in the past 4 weeks and I've had several key "learnings"...
#1 - Being tall does not equal having an easy labor. "They" all said this to me, but oh so not true. 12 hours of labor and 3 hours of pushing is not an easy labor in my book. Granted, many people have far worse birth stories than mine, but I wouldn't describe mine as "easy". I never thought that such a level of exhaustion was humanly possible. The end result is worth it, though.

#2 - The epidural is the greatest invention in the history of mankind.  Seriously, I do not know why anyone would not have an epidural.  They don't give out medals for having a child without one!

#3 - A bigger baby does not equal a good sleeper.  This is another thing "they" told me.  "Oh, he'll be sleeping through the night in no time."  As previously stated, they are dirty liars!  We're definitely making progress on the sleeping thing, but are seemingly no where close to sleeping through the night.  Going from 10 solid hours of sleep to 5-6 broken hours was/is quite the adjustment for this momma, but we're surviving!

#4 - Babies have to learn how to be babies just as much as parents have to learn how to be parents.  It's amazing to see how much Ben has adjusted to life outside the womb in the past four weeks.  He really is quite a good baby.  Things that used to majorly upset him like diaper changes, baths (he's still not too sure about those), the car seat, his crib, and having clothes put on and taken off no longer bother him as much.  He enjoys the swing, bouncy seat, being held, eating, being passed around...he's pretty easy going with most things.  Except naps and sleeping though the night!

#5 - We are incredibly loved!  I knew this already, but we've seen it lived out in the last month.  I haven't had to cook since he's been born and we still have a couple of meals in the freezer.  I won't have to buy clothes for this little guy until this summer - the gifts were plentiful!  We've had so many visits and well wishes from so many people.  Ben gets all kinds of affection wherever we go and that makes this momma happy and proud. 

Here are some other highlights from this past month...

Happy family of three at the hospital on Dec 21

Hmm....what should I do next..eat, sleep or poo?  I know!  How about I cry and make mom guess?!?

He likes the bouncy seat.  I think I took this picture after I turned on the vibrate feature for the first time...this is his "whoa" face.

Testing out the play gym for the first time...not too terribly interested yet, but maybe soon!

Ben was baptised on January 15.  We had close to 50 people over to our house after the service.  We are so blessed to be a part of a great extended family and church family!

This is what Ben wore at his baptism.  I think it's so stinkin' cute.  Pete said it's a giant argyle sock.

Sheesh people!  I know I'm the most adorable baby in the history of babies, but enough with the pictures!