Well, I think it’s time to make a stronger commitment to updating the blog more often. There are things that I have wanted to post within the past few weeks and months, and I have either not had time or worried that whatever I had to say wasn’t specific enough about Maddie. So, I am making a commitment to writing more often, but it may be about our life in general rather than only about our little toddler tornado.
Maddie turned one on Monday, which was an amazing milestone. After years of trying to get pregnant, several months of fertility treatments in preparation for in vitro, 10 months of pregnancy, and a year of infancy, getting to the first birthday was an enormous accomplishment for Hank and me. Of course, we were euphoric in our celebration of the day for Maddie’s sake, but I really do feel that this one was just as much a celebration for us too. Hank and I have been through so many challenges and changes within the past few years, and now that we are becoming more practiced at being parents, we are proud that we have worked together as a team. We can see the results of our love and hard work in our daughter.
In preparation for the first birthday party, Hank and I bit off a little bit more than we could chew, deciding to paint the bathroom and install Pergo flooring starting only two weekend before the “deadline” of having all of our loved ones over to our house. Not only was this a lot of work, but with at least one of us also responsible for taking care of Maddie during those days as well, it is amazing that we accomplished it all.
The smaller project was painting the bathroom, and that one was my responsibility. This is a bit embarrassing to admit, but we had been living with our upstairs bathroom in terrible shape since we moved in. There had been cracks between the tiles in the shower when we bought the house, which of course was a project that was on the To-Do list, but wasn’t actually done until we discovered that when the shower was on, water would leak out over our front door! I guess the cracks had gotten bad enough that the water was going into the wall and dripping through the overhang. Hank did a terrific job of ripping out the tiles, scooping out the yucky stuff in the wall, and installing a new shower liner. He did the project while I was pregnant, and unfortunately, we had been living with some remaining holes and unpainted areas for way too long. So in preparation for the party, I decided to paint the bathroom. All was going well until I dropped an OPEN gallon of paint! It splattered all over the walls, ceiling, trim, window and ME! It took quite a while to clean up and definitely delayed progress on the project. I went ahead and finished painting the walls and touched up the ceiling, but truthfully, we really need to completely rip out everything and go down to the studs at some point, not just because of the paint spatter but just because the whole bathroom should be updated and improved. It did get done for the party though!
The bigger project was taking out half of the terrible pink carpet we had downstairs. I have HATED the pink carpet since we moved in, and it was one of the first things I had wanted to get done. Well, nearly five years after buying our house, we have finally gotten rid of the portion that is in our room with the fireplace, which we use as a dining room. The weekend before the party, Hank and his dad installed Pergo flooring, and it looks AMAZING! The whole room is so much better. Hank then spent the entire day before the party putting in the trim. He did a LOT of work, and it definitely paid off.
The party was on Sunday, and even though a lot of work went into getting ready for it, I believe it was a success. I thoroughly enjoy entertaining, and we have not done much of it recently. Now that our bathroom and dining room are in better shape, I feel more proud of my house and more comfortable having people over.
Maddie seemed to enjoy her party. Although she was a little overwhelmed at times, she did very well being the center of attention. I helped her open her gifts, and she was so sweet as she explored each one and figured out how they all work. She was not interested in the cake at all though! She ate a very healthy portion of her lunch and then a cookie. When we finally put her in her chair for cake, she was giving me her signal for “All done!” She didn’t understand why were trying to make her eat again! I did give her some cake the next day, and she loved it and made a little bit of a mess, but unfortunately I was the only one to witness it.
A friend of mine took pictures at the party, spending a lot of time not only with Maddie but also my nephew Stephen. There are some posted online, but there will be more to come!
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I've been thinking about blogging again
6 years ago
