i have a floor!

so i can't promise any of this is in order and i probably missed a bunch of stuff (ongoing lack of sleep = severe short term memory loss), but i'll do my best.

bryan labored through the long weekend to get the new tile down. save for a few pieces around the door jamb in the backhall (which will need all sorts of weird cuts), the floor is in! it looks so fantastic. i love the color and the look of the natural stone. some of the pieces even have botanical fossil imprints, which is something bryan was hoping for. it now needs to be grouted and sealed, which will take a few days. bryan will also use a pumice like stone to soften some of the edges; since it is a natural stone, not all the pieces are the same size or thickness, and many have variations of thickness within the same tile. so some corners may be a little higher than others. while he did his best to set them in the grout evenly, we'll want to soften some areas just to be sure we're not stubbing our toes. the sealant will make the colors appear more darkly.

it's exciting to see the kitchen starting to take shape. i just remembered i need to buy a sink before june 15th too. that would be good to have. washing dishes in the bathroom sink is even less fun than is sounds. thankfully we've been able to run some through mom's dishwasher. and i bought paper plates because keeping up with cleaning real ones is just not feasible at this point.

additional pictures of the various stages of tile install are in the projects gallery.

we've agreed on cabinet hardware, so i'll be ordering that in the next few days to ensure it arrives by the time we have our cabinet install (in less than 3 weeks!). we're going with a fairly simply oil rubbed bronze pull, which will match our oil rubbed bronze faucet. i'm thinking of going for a similar look in the light switch plates and outlet covers, and our light fixtures will be in the same tone as well.

no word yet on whether the granite we ordered is in stock. *fingers crossed* i'll be calling tomorrow to see if there is any word. if it's sold out, we'll need to decide between our 2nd choice of granite (very similar colors as the flooring), or the icestone. we'll probably be bugging shannon to take a look and see what she recommends. we both really like the granite, but bryan worries that it will be too similar to the flooring (i think the cabinets would do well breaking it up). we both like the idea of the icestone (green = good), but it's a totally different look than the granite AND we're worried dealing with the vendor here in milwaukee will be a royal pain (they're incredibly forgetful and slow hippies). so it's hard to choose, especially since it's kind of comparing apples to oranges.

that decision will drive our selection of backsplash tile and paint. since we want to paint prior to the cabinet install, we really need to get that nailed down! we also need to remove the upper cabinets, the soffits, replace drywall where the soffits were, remove the old tile backsplash from behind the stove, and spackle and sand everywhere before we paint. which needs to be completed by june 15th. just a few things, yea? :)

last thursday oliver and i headed to my parents' house for dinner. shannon made curried beef pot pie. unfortunately, it took a little longer than expected and oliver began having his evening melt down earlier than expected, so he and i had to head home before it was ready. lucky for us, though, mom brought the leftovers to bryan and i to enjoy. and boy are we glad she did - this was SO GOOD. i'm generally not a fan of yellow curry but i couldn't get enough of this. i had 2 helpings, and not 3 only because i wanted to save enough for bryan. shannon made her own crust rather than using phyllo as called for in the recipe, and served the mango chutney on the side as she forgot to mix it in before baking (which i think was a happy mistake, as the flavor would have gotten lost inside). we ate the rest of the pie (which was 2/3 of an entire pie). shannon made *2*, the other of which is on tonight's menu of leftovers. i may have to send bryan over there while i put oliver down to filch some...

oliver decided to go on strike against naps for most of the weekend. so THAT sucked. lucky for him he is cute so i still love him. he did take a 2.5 hour jobber saturday afternoon, which means he slept until 6, which is too late for napping... but as i also was conked out, he got away with it. i'm not sure if his allergies are bothering him, or if he's teething again, or if he has an ear infection, or if he's just being a normal 7 month old (his new trick is rolling onto his belly and getting up on his hands and knees, which i keep catching him practicing in his crib)... but it was highly uncool and i hope he is napping better at day care today. one of the baby sleep books says that infants with sleep problems tend to be more intelligent. if that is the case, our baby will think rocket science is child's play.

since he napped late that afternoon, he and i skipped over to my parent's house for a quick dine and dash dinner. shannon made zesty tilapia with grilled zucchini, grilled corn, and mango sticky rice. scrumptious. oliver tried some of the grilled zucchini, which he enjoyed very much.

saturday, the weather was nice. not too warm, but not cold either, so not complaining. oliver and i took a nice walk through the park, and stopped to play on the playground for a little while. he had his first swing ride!! he *loved* it. we also went down the slide a few times, which he thought was a riot. we walked again on sunday, but skipped playing (too many kids running around), but we stopped by the park again yesterday for some more. the weather was amazing both sunday and monday, so both days were perfect for strolling around the park. i even got a little pink sunburn, go figure! i hope ollie has his daddy's skin in that regard.

mmmm, zwiebak.

monday afternoon, mom and dad had some family over for grilling for memorial day. oliver and i almost didn't make it due to his unwillingness to nap, but at the 11th hour he took a just under 1 hour nap (i managed to catch a few zzzs during it was well) and we made it just before the food came off the grill. shannon made grilled pizzas, turkey legs, and polish sausage. she also made a delicious spicy cashew dip with crudite and crackers; i'm not telling where that recipe came from because, as good as it was, we'll never admit we used one of this person's recipes. ;) oliver tried some more zucchini, this time raw, as well as some graham crackers. both were big hits, but i think he still prefers his toes.

we bought oliver some new toys. it was time to move up to the next learning bracket! i picked out a little baby laptop for him, which has various settings, lots of buttons (he loves buttons), and flashing lights (another favorite). he works very hard on it, as you can see. he is also doing much better at sitting up - hardly any teetering at all! he can right himself if he starts to tip, unless it's too fast, then the momentum of his not unsubstantial weight gets the better of him. he takes it all in stride though, and has perfected the rolling fall.

many more new pictures are in the may gallery. i took a LOT of cute pictures this weekend and a few cute movies (including one giggling in the swing movie!).


we tried benedryl for oliver's allergies wednesday, thursday, and friday night. while it wasn't a perfect cure, it did seem to help. he did not wake up freaking out because he was so stuffy. it did not make him sleep as well as i had hoped for, though (we had some gas problems which preempted that). silly me for wishing. saturday morning when we went for our walk, being outdoors seemed to aggravate him a little bit, but not as bad as previously and no where as much as on sunday - the poor kid looked terrible when we got back from our walk! red, watery eyes with purple bags under them and red splotches all over his face. he immediately started looking better once we got inside. there's no way you can tell me that is not allergies! i left a message with his doctor this morning, so hopefully he'll agree and prescribe some zyrtec or something. it's not the end of the world, but i'd like him to feel better!! i gave him a small dose of benedryl sunday night, and that seemed to help again. he wasn't too bad off being outdoors yesterday. this morning it seemed to flare up again while he and bryan were hanging out before leaving the house (the window was open and he had a stuffed animal he had against his face, so who knows).

i think that is it. it's a short week (WOOHOO) and i'll even be working from home on friday as oliver's day care provider has the day off.


if that doesn't make you smile just even a little bit, you're cold hearted and mean.