Construction Part 2

DONE! We are done! I am so thankful that the construction is all done! Dust and noise all day long is not the best remedy for healing sick kids! But now it is done and they couldn't be happier! We love it and have gotten lots of rave reviews on it on Instagram and Facebook. Gummy and Guppy like it too.

Can't get over how much wasted space was there. Yes, the bump out of the wall was originally there. And I think this is the perfect thing to put here. And we were talking that this could make a closet or pantry or any other type of storage area besides just empty closed off space. I am just shocked that it was so closed off. But this is perfect for our family and since we aren't done having kids we are going to get years and years of enjoyment off of this!

So I hired a contractor to cut the door and window in the walls. He had to move load bearing supports for the stairs. He put in headers to support them and anchored in the stairs to the studs on the sides. He installed 2 lights. And did the drywall. Then he was done. My fun started on Thursday night where I had to prime the walls. 2 coats. I have never had to prime bare drywall and was nervous about it. But it was nice to have the walls go from the splotchy drywall to all out white!

Friday night after Mason went to bed I painted the room. Matt held Collin down here and we were up till 12:30am (Collin feel asleep before then but then had to get him back to sleep.) I was so glad that I decided to knockout the 2 coats that night! The next morning I painted the trim white on the window, door and inside. We went to a holiday party and when we got back it was mommy quiet time for Mason and then I started on the floor.

The floor took forever and I was super nervous about it but I did it. It worked perfectly. I used ever single time we had. We only had 37 and they were all used. (only just a small little part of the A tile was used but we were missing a piece of the A so I couldn't use the tile anyhow) Also I couldn't find my tape measure so I had to improvise for the cutting of the tiles around the entrance and the half tiles. Thankfully I made it work! We love it and am so glad that we have it!

~~~I have been getting a lot of questions on the color of the blue that I used for the room. I used an old Pottery Barn color by Benjamin Moore called Buxton Blue (HC-149). It really is more of a slate blue and not as boy blue as it looks in the pictures. I will be using the same color in my morning room when I get that painted.~~~

December Week 3 Recap

Training has taken a standstill for me the last couple of weeks. I have had 2 sick kiddos and when the kids are sick I can't get to the gym to run. And with construction going on early in the day I didn't get my workout in either. I am doing my min 3 days a week of working out which is great but MAN I AM MISSING MY RUNNING!

How on earth am I going to do the 10 miler in mid March without all the training? I was thinking back to last year though I got super sick last year in December and my running took a huge hit. I still did the half marathon. So like everyone else, after the holidays, I will be back in it. I am ok with that. My kids come first and this is Collin's first big sickness and to be honest I have been worried about him. He is still sick even today after about 10 days now. He had a fever this morning and I am staying on top of it but man this sucks! I hate it when my kids are sick and have a super bad cough that will not let up!

I feel bad that I have this health and fitness blog and I haven't been a very good example of that lately. But that is what makes us human. We have good days and bad days, good months and bad months. As long as we never quit then that is what counts. And I really think having the race a month thing will be just the motivation that I need to make sure I keep it up. I do have my first race of the year on New Year's Day and I am doing it no matter what! It is only a 5k and I can totally handle that!

So that is what is going on with my life right now. Taking care of the kiddos and trying to get better myself. Oh and this week, enjoy Gummy and Guppy in town for Christmas! On a plus side, the construction is DONE and Mason and Collin love it!

Construction

This past week has been full of lots of banging, dust and good fun! We have been busy doing our kid's Christmas present. And the contractor doing the work has let me get my hands dirty and help out a little bit and explain things to me. It has been great!

Final touches and stuff like that he won't let me near but I will be putting in the flooring and doing the final paint and such.

We are making a kids cave under the stairs in our basement. we have put a lot of work into our downstairs area. The backyard has a fence around it and we put a patio in for a safe place outside the door. Now we have a fun, kids only play area that Mason already loves! With all this being done I haven't had much time to write. Mason wants to go in and play so I have been trying to keep him occupied and away from all the fun, which has not been an easy feat!

Today I go and buy the paint for the cave and hoping to have that done Saturday morning. So sorry for the lack of posts but man, trying to keep a 3 year old from exploring all the cool tools and mess has been CRAZY!

Easy Homemade Baby Food

~Today's selection is: Oatmeal and Butternut squash. Blended together to give a more runny consistency. Add a small pinch of cinnamon for extra flavor. Just because they are babies doesn't mean they don't like good food!~

I am now in the journey of solid foods for baby Collin! I can't believe that we are already here and I even waited till 6.5 months. Time really does go by more quickly when you have more than 1.

Even though I am a busy mom of 2 boys I am still trying to fit in making baby food. It really is a lot easier than it seems. And a lot less expensive, even buying organic.

First of all I love this book. The Best Homemade Baby Food On The Planet. It is my go to book for this age. It is the first thing I will recommend to other mothers when they ask me what I use! It has EVERYTHING! It goes month by month, what your baby should eat. Talks about the consistency and how to slowly introduce new foods and why. And it has amazing recipes! I have tons of pages dogeared and notes written about how to make it work best for me. It even takes you to 2 years old of yummy recipes! We have used many a recipes and even used the older ones for a family dinner recipe. Veggie "Meat" Balls were pretty tasty!

A lot of stores have pre cut and washed foods available to buy. All the hard work already done. I love going to whole foods and getting the butternut squash chopped up. All I have to do it stick it in a pot and steam it or in some boiling water for just a little bit to cook and soften. Stick it in my blender and warm bam DONE!

Also frozen foods are easy too. I used frozen peas, put them in boiling water to cook for about 3-4 min and blended them up. DONE! How easy is that. I know that Whole Foods has frozen sweet potatoes too and that was Mason's fav so I bought a ton of those for him.

~With the lid off. the cubes are rounded off on the bottom to make removing from the tray. Just close up the tray run under hot water for a little bit and they just slide out!~

You will also need ice cube trays or I have these: Mumi & Bubi Solids Starter Kit. This portions out the food to 1 ounce cubes, that I then stick in a ziplock bag, run under warm water to defrost and it is warmed and ready for Collin to enjoy! All you do is just pour your blended up food into the tray, pop the lid on and stick in the freezer. Once they are frozen transfer them to ziplock freezer bags so that you can make more baby food.

~Peas and butternut squash~

Cost of my homemade baby food: 
Container of Cut and cleaned butter nut squash from Trader Joe's: ~$4
Makes 27 ounces

Jar of Earth's Best Sweet Potatoes: 2.5 ounces:
$.89-.99 per jar.

Helpful hint: Make your own rice or oatmeal cereal for baby! Place 1/2 cup of oatmeal or rice in your blender and place on the highest setting to pulverize it to a fine powder. When cooking I find that it makes it really thick. So I add the cooked rice or oatmeal back to my blender and add more breastmilk or water to thin it out. Easier for baby to enjoy.

JANUARY 2015 first race is going to be...

New Year's Day 5k here in C-ville VA! It is a race recommended for my training program anyhow and I wanted to do it last year but with being pregnant and ice, I didn't run in it. I stayed indoors on the treadmill. But not this year, I will be hoofing it with the rest of them!

Looking for a February race. Need to find out what my mileage for the training program will be in February first to see if it can be a 10k or not!

Know any good races in the central VA area for February???