January

January

Mom and Dad had some projects around the house they wanted done and Aaron was looking for work, so they put him to work on their house. It was a great deal for us because they fed us and housed us and paid us to do the work. It was a good deal for them because Aaron did the work cheaper than it would have cost for someone else to do it and he does amazing work.

Mom decided she wanted a laundry room instead of a pantry, so we took out all the shelves and everything out of the pantry and opened up the walls. 

He took out the drywall and rerouted the plumbing so the washer and dryer would fit into the space. He put in all the hardware for hot and cold water and a draining tube through the studs and into the next room.

We used to have a door there separating the room into two spaces, so Aaron took out the door and redid the electrical so the light switch would work on both lights. He put in new lighting, and opened up all the drywall on the ceiling and removed the moldy insulation. Who ever had put in the dryer pipe had done it wrong, and it wasn't going outside. The air was just being released into the ceiling, so Aaron drilled a hole to outside for it to vent properly. They were lucky they had not had a fire!

Breaking up and removing all the old tile.

We installed all new insulation and put new drywall back up on the ceiling and the walls. We tested the washer and dryer to make sure they didn't have any leaks before we put the walls back up. No leaks!

Everything patched up with mud so it looks seamless

Aaron textured all the walls and mom primed them to be painted

This is orange peel texture. He did a different texture on the ceiling.

Painting

While Aaron painted the new laundry room, I worked on the where mom wanted the new pantry. It's just on the other side of the wall. Aaron had already fixed the walls there, so I just painted it yellow.

My cute little Gracie bump

Mom was watching Dylan while Julie had her surgery, but he came to help us when mom was at work. He helped us pull out all the spacers in the new tile floor we put in.

New tile floor and new backdoor we put in.

Some of the wood we had taken out of the pantry

We didn't take a picture of the final product, but mom bought cabinets and Aaron hung those too. Mom put down a huge rug and it looks so pretty in there. It has plenty of storage and dad has promised her a new washer and dryer to go in there.

Aaron built all of these shelves for Mom's new pantry where the washer and dryer used to go. It's in the kitchen, so it's much more convenient. 

We forgot to take pictures, but we also fixed all these water damaged spots in the house, changed out all the broken outlets, painted the whole downstairs a new color, and painted the casings, doors, and baseboards white. He switched out the bathroom fan, and fixed all the drawers in the kitchen so they don't fall out when pulled on. It looks so clean cut and new in there. Mom and Dad were really pleased with all the work.

After fixing the water damage, he put up new drywall and patched up the hole where the wood fireplace had gone.

Mom and Dad also had a leak on their roof that was causing the water damage, so Aaron got up there and took off all the tiles. He found a rip in the tar paper so everytime it rained, the water would soak through the wood and into the house. 

After the new paper went down, they haven't had a problem with leaks anymore.

Mostly, January was full of work, but we found time for our sweet puppies. We went up and hiked around on Smith's Mesa.

Jax had his first birthday and we all got to help him celebrate. What a cutie pie! Jessi had decorated their house so cute, and Jax loved opening his presents. 

He got his very own cake, but he wasn't sure what to do with the candles, so Dylan helped him blow them out. 

Jax didn't really want to smash into it like we thought he would, but he didn't want Dylan to touch it either. He liked the frosting, but was very careful with it.

What a doll!

Dad took us out to Cafe Rio afterwards. Happy Birthday little buddy! You are so adorable!

We took Dylan to LuAnn's house because she has a dog run full of guinea pigs. LuAnn let Dylan name one of the babies. He settled on Piggy Bank and really wanted to take it home, but when we called Julie she said they already had too many pets. He had a blast and was so excited to tell his mom about Piggy Bank he ran around the coffee table yelling "They say Reet Reet Reet Mom". It was hilarious. Dylan has got a lot of character. He's pretty fun to hang out with, but I don't think I'll ever play Hiho Cherrio ever ever again. A billion times is just one too many. 

I never really thought Dylan looked like Julie until I took this picture, those blue eyes and blonde hair with freckles make him look just like his mama. 

Gracie is growing up so fast. My doctor finally vetoed all cardio but light walking, because my heart rate would go up so high I would end up blacking out. My resting heart rate is right between 120 and 130. It was in the 60's before and I've had a hard time breathing my whole pregnancy. The doctor isn't too concerned. She thinks it is from having such a low blood pressure, that my heart is working overtime to move the blood through my body. You have extra fluid in your blood when you are pregnant and it's really taking it's toll. Pregnancy isn't really that much fun. I was sick the first six months, and now I can't exercise. I call her my ninja because she is always moving and those kicks are all over the place. I'm so glad she's healthy and happy. I already just love her like crazy!