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!

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

Have I mentioned that patience is not my virtue?  Because it's not.  I don't like waiting for something that I know should be happening, or is going to happen soon.  Or maybe it's that I don't like not knowing when something is going to happen.  I actually like waiting for things like vacations or Christmas because the anticipation is half the fun.  So, maybe I'm a control freak (surprise!) and not such an impatient person.  I'm becoming increasingly jealous of all my friends who enjoyed the beauty that is the scheduled induction.
Anyway, all that to say that we're still waiting for Peanut to arrive.  He/she is not overdue yet (official due date is the 14th), but after my doctor's appointment last week, we thought this could happen at any time.  The doctor said I'm ready to go and could go quickly once the birthday party starts.  Well, that was now 10 days ago.  Boo. 
I finished up at work last week (Dec 4) and am now waiting for my new job of stay-at-home-mom to start.  This waiting period hasn't been all bad...I've got to spend some time with a friend and her babies (Peanut's first playdate...too bad he/she was still in utero), catch up on scrapbooking, get some Christmas baking done (although the closer to Christmas this baby comes, the less likely it is that the Klooster Three will be attending Christmas gatherings), clean the house, sleep in and run errands. 
But, I want this baby to get here soon!!  Because a) I'm pretty much done being pregnant, b) I'm beyond excited to meet this child, and c) nobody wants a Christmas birthday!! 
At my last appointment, the doctor said they wouldn't induce until I'm a week and a half overdue (granted, that's still a while away) and upon doing the math, I figured out that a week and a half after Dec 14 is Dec 24/25.  That would make for an interesting Christmas this year and bummer of a birthday for Peanut.  (I will be lobbying for an earlier induction, if needed, at my next appointment : )  So...we're hoping and praying that this child makes a grand entrance sometime in the next week! 

Long Time, No Blog

Fear not...we are still alive in the House of K.  I have been negligent in my blogging duties due to general busyness and things like growing a baby.  But projects around the house have not stopped!  Here's a little overview of what we've been up to...

Nesting in the Nursery...

Here's Daddy - putting together the furniture.  We got the furniture from Wal-Mart - 4 piece Graco set (crib w/ mattress, changing table, glider rocker w/ ottoman) for $400.  Best deal around!  (Side note: I think Pete looks mighty fine standing by that changing table, don't you? ; )

The Bedding: I struggled with whether or not I wanted to buy a bedding set or go rogue because a) baby bedding is ridiculously expensive and b) most gender-neutral stuff is animal-themed.  I don't like animals well enough to theme a room around them, even if it is a baby room.  But, I ran across this 10-piece geometric patterned set for less than $100 and in colors that would match the existing paint job.  Bingo! 

The set came with three wall hangings, but they looked like sad little potholders, so I needed to get creative on the walls.  On the wall across from the crib, I arranged a family photos in various sized frames.  I bought some cheap frames from Target (the "back to college" section is a great place to shop for affordable decor) and spray painted them the four main colors from the bedding (blue, brown, orange, yellow).  Below the photos is a cube bookshelf from Target with some baskets for storing toys and other goodies.

On the other walls, I arranged various sized circles that I made from adhesive wall vinyl.  I found a website (vinylexpressions.com) that sells 1'x2' sheets of removable adhesive vinyl for walls in a rainbow of colors.  I bought a few sheets and cut out circles in a variety of sizes using a cricut die cut machine.  I made a ton of them so I'd have plenty to play around with...if you need some giant circle stickers, let me know!

Once I had them cut out, I arranged them temporarily on the walls using masking tape until I got a look that appeared balanced yet random.  I then used the masking strategies I learned during my college summer job (working at the road commission making road signs) to apply them to the walls.  I must say, they look pretty sweet - much better than the lame-ola wall potholders.  (However, Pete has already informed me that I'm on my own when it's time to take these off the walls.)

 

Here's what the (mostly) completed nursery looks like from a couple of different angles:

Fixing the Facade...



 

Notice anything different?  We painted the front door and upsized what I call "the eyebrows" (the elliptical designs above the windows).  The previous "eyebrows" were about half the width (about as wide as a single window) and I thought they looked a little sad above the double windows.  These give the front of the house a little more presence.  Someday, I'm going to send Pete up on a really tall ladder to paint that white vent the same color as the door and "eyebrows".

Backyard Busyness...

We hired someone to do the excavating and lay the base for a paver patio area (to the right of the deck as you look at it from the yard) and a shed (to the left of the deck).  This would have taken us FOREVER and would have been hard work, so money well spent!

After the base was laid, we got to work on placing the pavers.  I toted literally tons of the them to the backyard from where they were dropped off in the frontyard...maybe not the best idea at 6 months pregnant  - definitely felt that for a few days.  Pete laid them in a pattern he designed using four different sized bricks.

It actually came together fairly quickly and looks really nice.  It was like tiling in the great outdoors...instant gratification!  We bought a patio set on "end of season" clearance at Menards that fits nicely on the space.  We are excited to eat out on the patio next summer!

Work has begun on the shed that will be to the left of the deck.  Pete and my dad are building it from plans they found online.

The rest of the backyard is still a work in progress.  The excavating for the patio and shed left quite a bit of turf damage.  Also, some repair to the sprinklers was required after the excavation and patio installation.  The township has finally installed the yard drain they promised us about 6 months ago, but now we (by we I mean Pete) have to dig a trench the entire length of the yard for the additional drain tile he wants to install yet this fall.  He will also tie in the gutters that were recently installed to the new drainage system.  Hopefully, there will be no "Lake Klooster" next spring!  As I type, Pete is beginning to dig the trench for the drain tile and my dad is cutting lumber for the shed rafters. 

Building a Baby...

So, while all this other stuff has been going on, I'm building a baby...and visiting the bathroom, eating...and visiting the bathroom, sleeping...and visiting the bathroom, reading pregnancy/birth books...and visiting the bathroom, shopping for toilet paper...and (you guessed it) visiting the bathroom.

Here I am at 20 weeks.

Here I am at 30 weeks.

And here is Peanut at 21-22 weeks!

Peanut is quite active these days.  The "experts" say to do kick counts twice a day and to make sure you feel at least 10 kicks in an hour.  I can usually get to 10 kicks in 10 minutes!  Peanut especially enjoys womb gymnastics at 1:00 am, 4:00 am and 6:30 am.  Not so much a fan of that. 

It's hard to believe he/she will be here in 9 short weeks, but we are ready to meet him/her! 



Open House

Mark it down!  You're all invited to check out the house live and in person on September 10!!  We're be having an open house (with ice cream sundaes : ) that Saturday from 6:00-8:00 pm.  Feel free to stop on by!  If you need directions, let me know!

Hostile Takeover!!

Let the baby invasion begin!

Today we acquired our first batch of baby gear (if you hadn't heard, we're expecting in December : ).  A good friend's sister-in-law was getting rid of all her baby stuff that is only a year old & very gently used.  We scored a major deal!!  I'm preparing for this tiny person and all the "stuff" that comes with him/her to takeover our house, but for now this gear is in the basement so that we can enjoy our grown-up house for a little while longer.

In other news, we (and by "we" I mean Pete & my dad, as I have taken up permanent residence on the couch) have begun work on the deck. 

The railing came off pretty easily...let's just say that it wasn't attached very well.

The "addition" part of the deck also came down pretty quickly.  It was basically a master class in how not to build a deck.   

We'll be putting a patio in the area where the deck "addition" was.

We left up the original deck framing and will be putting new timbertech boards on it.

Dad & Pete extended the original framing by about 4 feet.

In other, other news, we are still waiting to finish our refinance that we started about six weeks ago.  We were sailing to close after our stellar appraisal when the brakes were put on in a rather scary way.  Here's the thumbnail sketch of what went/is going down:  Turns out our house was foreclosed by MERS (mortgage electronic registration system), which is basically a service company that banks use to manage their mortgages.  A lawsuit was filed in November against MERS alleging that they are not legally allowed to foreclose on properties because they don't hold title, and a bunch of other legally stuff.  This spring, the Michigan State Supreme Court ruled against MERS, saying that they are no longer allowed to foreclose by advertisement, which is basically the most common type of foreclosure (this was how our house was foreclosed).  So, when the bank went to get title work and title insurance done for our refi, their title company saw MERS in the title history and freaked out.  We are one of the first post-MERS owners to attempt to refi, because you have to wait 6 months after a purchase to refi, and we started the refi process at right around 6 months.  Literally, no one in the "business" has had to deal with this situation before.  We were waiting for a while, but were getting concerned with the lack of answers to our questions, so we decided to consult a real estate attorney that my good friend put us in touch with.  He said we had "reason to be concerned"...yikes!!  We were stressing for a couple of days, planning on what improvement items we could rip out and take with us if we lost the house, and basically losing sleep over all kinds of other "worse case" scenarios.  After a couple of days of sorting out paperwork, the attorney got back to us and suggested that we contact the original title company/insurer who did the work when we bought the property and ask them to write the new policy since their necks are on the line from the first sale anyway.  Pete called them and they said they'd be willing to do that, but that this shouldn't be a problem for any other title company to do either.  Because we purchased the house before the lawsuit and the ruling, and after the house had been foreclosed (legally at the time), the ruling doesn't apply to us.  This is what we've been saying all along!!  Now we're just waiting for title work to be completed again...where we were three weeks ago before this hoopla got going.

Stay tuned, faithful followers, for an open house invite!  We're hoping to host a little party here once we have a deck... : )

Value Added

We recently had the house appraised to refinance it with a conventional mortgage.  The report came in today, and...drum roll please...we more than doubled the value of the house from when we bought it!  The current appraised value is $98,500 MORE than we paid for it!  Which is awesome on many levels....
#1 - Through the refi, we can get all the money out of it that we put into it fixing it up, plus have almost 30% equity already. 
#2 - Even in a down market, real estate karma has finally paid us back!  (See first blog post to read about the spanking we took selling our bachelor & bachelorette pads.)
#3 - An outside observer has validated our work and considers our house "well maintained & highly marketable"...yeah!
#4 - Five+ months of work was worth it!!!