the hutch is finished!! the hutch is finished!!

So Tyler and I have been working on this hutch along with multiple other projects since Adelaide was about 1 month old and we finally finished it this week. We're supposed to be throwing a "going away" party for my sister and brother-in-law who are moving to Italy and this is pushing us to get some things done. So, if you didn't read the blog that showed the before picture, here it is...

Lovely isn't it? That's four, count them, four layers of paint removed with stripper and sanded. Tyler only about blinded himself with the stripper once and has some nasty burns on his arms to prove it. Not to mention the entire top portion was stripped and sanded in 100 degree heat in our garage. Can you say smelly?! So here is our hard work...

We both love it! This lovely piece of furniture has inspired us to paint our entire kitchen, including the cabinets. One project always leads to the next. We'll be painting it this fall. Walls will be blue and cabinets white. The awesome Amy Butler fabric inspired the colors. We decided to leave the original hardware, it grew on us. May I remind you that this hutch was FREE on craigslist. Just bought paint, fabric and a few little hardware things plus steel wool. And please disregard the weird strip of dark green pain above the cabinet, we had to take down a pot rack to put this here and the genius that painted the kitchen last, painted around it. It is making us want to paint the kitchen sooner though!

We also did a little work on the sun porch. Still want to do a little more but this is the furniture we painted. 

We got the love seat and two chairs for $25 on craigslist and another chair and table from Tyler's parents for free! Just the cost of spray paint and you have a fantastic room.(Okay, we did buy some cushions but most of them were on sale, I swear!) The orange cart I got at a flea market for $5 and painted. You can't see them in this picture but there are 2 other chairs in the other corner of the room that Tyler and I got from the dumpster of our duplex in Lawrence and painted green. We figured we furnished the entire porch with room to sit 8 for only about $130. It's turning out to be a festive little porch and with the fans on full blast, we're ready to entertain!

My next blog might be of my next project, killing EVERYTHING in my backyard!

Can't leave without a cute picture of my growing sweet pea. Look at her sitting up like a big girl!

petunias, peas and pools...a blog of firsts

So Adelaide being 6 months and all, is really into firsts. She's growing so fast and is just about ready to sit up on her own! Here's a few of the wonderful things she's been discovering.

I'll start off with a picture that I'm absolutely in love with...

Have you seen a more perfect child?  I think not. I'm a little partial. 

Anyway, Adelaide and Dad went out and sat by the petunias for some pictures. Adelaide thought they'd be good to eat, as is everything else put into her hands. Daddy let her as most daddies would. Builds the immune system. 

She enjoyed it!

Next we tried peas...

Not a fan yet. My blending wasn't the greatest. I don't think she liked the texture. We'll try again!

And the last thing we've tried was the baby pool. I thought this was a great idea because she loves baths so much. I was wrong. It started out okay, as you can see below.

Then we went from "I'm not sure about this" to "get me the heck out of here!!!

Oh well, try again next year. 

I'll leave you with a little father/daughter moment. She loves her daddy. Or just his nose. 

zoo

This Sunday we took our first trip to the zoo! No, we did not just take our 6 month old, she didn't give a hoot about it, but we did take our niece Allison and my sister-in-law Ashley. Allison turned 2 last week and this was sort of her birthday present. She's really into animals and copying everything you say, a good combination.

Our first stop was to the polar bear. They were feeding him so we got to see him swim.

Our next stop was to the snakes. Allison thought those were pretty cool. I'm not a fan but she got up close and personal.

This is Adelaide not giving a hoot. But she was good for us. It was the perfect day, not too hot and there was a nice breeze...until it started to rain. 

It started to get cloudy and Ashley and I, being the good mother's that we are, thought we should head back. We got to the tram and Tyler thought we should just walk back. "It's not that far" Ash and I felt differently and said we're taking the tram. No sooner had we gotten on and it started to downpour. We have great luck. Although we only spent an hour there we had a great time. Plenty of time for a 2 year and 6 month old. The Kansas City Zoo is definitely for older kids, too much walking. Oh, Allison figured out that Adelaide likes to lick and chew fingers right now, she took advantage.