kya and my expanding tummy

Always lots of fun around the house with Kya.


For example, today she decided it was topless lunch day (I wore my shirt).


Last week we had sub-zero high temps so we made popsicles on the back deck.


She found new reading materials ... my new Bradley natural labor books. While I was getting ready for church she jumped up to my spot in bed and made herself at home. Kya said she knows how to get the baby out now. Oh my.




Speaking of baby ... here is my ever-expanding tummy. I'll be 16 weeks on Friday.


I made Cajun chicken pasta last night and mixed my own cajun spice. Pretty hunh? This really brought back memories of layered colored sand at the county fair ... Corey didn't have any clue what I was referring to, anyone else?


My newfound favorite pregnancy snack of the week, maybe month — granola with yogurt and a drizzle of honey.


Kya got a big girl bed! She's been in a twin bed for a while but we finally got around to getting her a headboard set.


Fun with play-doh


Yesterday Corey and Kya went on another winter exploration walk. This time they went across the railroad tracks to the little creek (which both dry and frozen - and is what Kya is walking on).

trim in progress

The trim guys have started work this week. They should be finished with the trim, doors, etc. by Tuesday. The electrician is coming out to install fixtures, lights, and outlets on Monday. Cabinets will be installed Wednesday (wet bar and bathroom). Flooring will happen Thursday.

Getting quite exciting!

Kya is getting very anxious to get her toys out of storage – the ones that were being played with in my studio (her slide, play house, table and chairs, and quite a few miscellaneous toys) are in the plastic-wraped storage in the basement. Every day when the workers leave, she asks if they are done ... I have to be clear about saying "they are done working today, but the basement is not done yet."


the family/theater room


the Bison Booties studio


one of the french doors that open to the studio

Kya and her imagination

Some days she's going to the beach, some days she's a football player, some days her blanket is a bunch of fish she just caught, some days Kya and her baby are going shopping ... I never know what our day will bring, but I know it'll be precious.

Oh how I love this little girl.

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Now this post will get a little random with a photo update form my iPhone:

Kya (and I) have taken on a new love of apples, the fruit. I think that between the two of us, we ate 5 last Friday.

On Sunday, the weather was beautiful! The snow/ice was melting and the sun was shining, so we headed out to splash in puddles.

Yes, Kya and I have matching yellow boots.

Then we wandered down to the pond and creek for soccer and exploring.

Kya and Corey showed me their secret cattail maze.


Family movie night (with popcorn) - watching The Lorax.

My friend Tiffany came over for a Saturday visit (over a week ago) with her adorable little boy Evan. Evan is my God son and I just adore him ... as you can see, so does Kya. She got some great big sister training :)

Kya woke up from her nap while I was in the middle of cutting out Bison Booties. She asked to help and took out her play sewing machine. I gave her a lifetime supply of scraps, and we had lots of fun cutting and sewing together at the dining room table. Oh how I wish I could save moments like this forever.

Today was also FRIGID cold. Again. So we dubbed it mandatory pajama and blanket fort day. I'm getting pretty good at making blanket forts.

Corey's "Bison green" wall was painted on Monday!
The trim guy will come out tomorrow and start trim work around the windows.

first coat of paint

The first coat of paint went on today and it certainly makes the basement look cozier. We're still on schedule to finish before St. Patrick's Day!

I'm quite happy that our painters selected VOC-free paint, so there are no dangerous chemicals floating in our air. Great choice, especially for kiddos and pregnant ladies.

Paint should be complete by Tuesday and trim should be nearing completion within a week. The doors arrived and are being stained. Cabinets should arrive within 10 days. Quite exciting, indeed!

Edited 2/15/13 to add paint colors. All paints are from Sherwin Williams.


The Bison Booties studio
accent wall: Festoon Aqua SW0019
other walls: Indian White SW0035


Family/theater room. Bright white wall on far left will be painted dark green.
walls: Indian White SW0035


Miss Kya (wearing swim suit bottoms). Greenish wall on right is part of our game room.
accent wall (at right): Meadow Trail SW7737
other walls: Indian White SW0035


Game room and doorway to studio.
accent walls (greenish, left): Meadow Trail SW7737
accent wall (blue, right): Festoon Aqua SW0019
other walls: Indian White SW0035



Guest room.
accent wall (at left): Riverway SW6222
other walls: Indian White SW0035

textured and ready for paint

Tape was finally completed last week, and the fellows textured Friday afternoon. Tape seemed to take forever. I suppose most of that time is expected since the walls needed three layers of tape and each had to fully dry and be sanded before the next layer could be put on. Plus the whole lot had to be sanded before it was textured. Add in some really severe weather and a weekend and yup ... it took a while.

Happy to have all that behind us so we can forge ahead to paint!
The texture looks a little sickly in these photos because I photographed the walls immediately after the crew left and the texture was still quite wet in some areas.


The Bison Booties studio (Kya absolutely loves her little doorway and checks on it each time we go downstairs)


The family/theater room.

The lighted room behind is our storage room ... which is FILTHY with sheetrock dust. Filthy I tell you. We're running low on toilet paper and I'm quite sure I have a good supply of it on a shelf down there but after one attempt at getting to it (and getting very dusty) I gave up and will buy more at the store tomorrow. All our storage is protected by plastic draping (which has a thick layer of sheetrock dust on it). Good thing toilet paper doesn't have a expiration date. Getting that storage room cleaned will be a task all itself.


From left: Bison Booties studio, stairs, family/theater room

Doctor Kya and the case of cabin fever

Kya gives baby and me a check up no less than 10 times — before lunch — every day. It's the sweetest and most hilarious thing. She listens for the heartbeat (which I'm sure she can't hear with her Fisher Price toy stethoscope but insists she communicates with baby) and then asks me to "breathe deep." She'll love accompanying me to my monthly appointments!

We've asked her if she thinks baby is a boy or girl, to which she replies, "just a baby."

By the way, my tummy isn't quite as large as it appears in the photo, although my pants are certainly tight in the waist. We're about 12.5 weeks along.


Kya and I (and Corey too) are getting a serious case of cabin fever. Kya is a more obvious case ... as she has dressed herself in full swimming attire for the last two days.


I need to teach Kya about proper baby sleeping and transportation methods.


During our deep freeze last week, we made many living room blanket forts and camps.


I am so blessed that I get to spend these freezing (and rather lazy) weekday mornings snuggling with Kya.


We spotted some lovely sun dogs last week during the coldest day of the season. Photo taken from our back deck. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_dog


This is random (and possibly pregnancy-craving-induced) but I made the BEST layer dip last weekend.  I loosely based it off of The Pioneer Woman's recipe, but made my own guacamole, used far less cheese, and used plain diced tomatoes instead of pico.

two coats of tape

The first coat of tape went on the walls on Monday, and the second coat was applied today. The Monday crew was quite entertaining: the guys were on stilts and listened to classical/opera music. This made them the classiest worker group we've had out at the house, by far! I half expected to look downstairs and find them painting a mural.

The crew also taped the garage, so the garage is now being heated (so the tape cures currently). Our builder brought over a diesel heater that certainly got the garage warm, but the exhaust smelled horrible and the heater had to be manually turned off and on. This meant a long restless night for Corey and I. It was kind of like having a newborn baby around - up every couple hours - but with a very ugly machine instead of a baby. Thankfully, our permanent propane heater was installed Wednesday, so heating the garage is much easier. I can't stress how great this timing was - the temps dropped during the day on Wednesday and haven't risen above -10°F since. It was -40°F windchill this morning. Heating that garage manually would have been quite a chore.


from left: Bison Booties studio, staircase, theater/family room


theater/family room

. . .


The third coat of tape will be applied on Monday, with sanding mid-week and texturing after that. Then it's paint time!

Kya is getting very accustomed to having workers at the house. Today as I was putting her down for a nap, she told me that she couldn't sleep yet, that she hadn't said good night to the workers yet.