tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22892638299553069472024-02-07T19:19:20.792-08:00Wood and ClothMaking our house our own one nail and stich at a time.Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-84669840350927759192013-06-09T14:02:00.000-07:002013-06-09T14:02:13.772-07:00Still No Deck: Deck Day # "I lost count"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It has been a busy couple of weeks. We have had a lot of obligations that have taken time away from decking. Also my maternity leave ended and I headed back to work. (That was really hard and is probably a separate blog post!).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So as it stands we are still working on finishing up the deck. I am at the point that I am beginning to think we will never have a finished deck. That is probably okay because we will never find furniture for the deck anyhow. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why don't people sell patio tables separately from the chairs for under 1000 bucks? We have found a few tables we like but very few in our targeted price range. The husband refuses to buy an outdoor table that we will only use for a few months a year that costs more that what we paid for our dinning table, agreed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This past week we did find a couple options at Crate and Barrel and one online at Home Depot. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4vHllBNqIiG0XJNvREnnQeIPiLlnVe8J4fht2S-hBPXKZ3Imu1DdZmxyBJnYe_qOEkDh_UI7YTRCGtI92gEhtc189cyyizLa56OJ0xWFmIKt-X5C0wXRs9OXg608QitoLP-kFsI9dFwY/s1600/alfresco-grey-rectangular-dining-table%5B1%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4vHllBNqIiG0XJNvREnnQeIPiLlnVe8J4fht2S-hBPXKZ3Imu1DdZmxyBJnYe_qOEkDh_UI7YTRCGtI92gEhtc189cyyizLa56OJ0xWFmIKt-X5C0wXRs9OXg608QitoLP-kFsI9dFwY/s400/alfresco-grey-rectangular-dining-table%5B1%5D.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now the problem is trying to determine if they will be heavy enough to withstand our hurricane force winds we get pretty regularly. One of our neighbors had their huge propane grill blow off of their deck last year during a particularly forceful wind storm. We would like to make sure our table does not act like a sail and shoot straight into the neighbor's house.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So back to the state of the deck. Last time we checked in the husband was convinced that he was going to have to redo the stairs which meant taking out one of the big rocks. After a backyard chat with some of the neighborhood dudes a new plan was formed. With a few off-label adjustments to the placement of the railing on the stairs we get back a few more inches on the walkable width space. Yay, no redo!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As it stands all of the posts for the rails are in and bolted. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cutting the railing pieces began yesterday. This is not fun. It involves a reciprocating saw cutting through iron too close to fingers for my comfort. The husband maintains their is no risk to fingers but I still hold my breath. What makes it really fun is the saw bounces around a tad as it is making the cuts. The result is that you get a few nicks in the railing. These will have to be treated with rustoleum to prevent rust forming. Not a huge deal but still a pain.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiigNx-cj_2YufBlIAj1aTiULChe8xRS8S3zHKCqSTdQr10wTrV4Jk-ZY1Ty3yllc53YkpONN_F6cPZTzu_ZGwg1GrRiqYIj1wLtHX9tQ0DVvU-ES3TbRNOimKkxo-ggDxxzenofVZ4-zw/s1600/IMG_6789.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiigNx-cj_2YufBlIAj1aTiULChe8xRS8S3zHKCqSTdQr10wTrV4Jk-ZY1Ty3yllc53YkpONN_F6cPZTzu_ZGwg1GrRiqYIj1wLtHX9tQ0DVvU-ES3TbRNOimKkxo-ggDxxzenofVZ4-zw/s640/IMG_6789.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What you are looking at is 1 of 10 panels of railing installed (no post caps yet). The goal for today is to get a couple more done but with temperatures getting close to 100 today we may retreat to the cool air conditioning. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That sounds like more fun than decking...let's do that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am now starting to realize why the deck is not finished yet.</span><br />
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<br />Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-70113320814618288672013-05-27T15:29:00.000-07:002013-05-27T15:29:46.300-07:00Happy Memorial Day...also I Hate Decks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv99gOFfEosHNTSaPVJQGIPx0guBZHwo6MOsLz4XlLjzuVc9BAQJpJ8t0PmtDp8ANG-jPF-R9XAwdw3nuBWDSQs2gALamR1P8MsKalWTjrJHypPLkcqu1_4-VeF8pcAonPhLKPennB0rbi/s1600/IMG_6021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv99gOFfEosHNTSaPVJQGIPx0guBZHwo6MOsLz4XlLjzuVc9BAQJpJ8t0PmtDp8ANG-jPF-R9XAwdw3nuBWDSQs2gALamR1P8MsKalWTjrJHypPLkcqu1_4-VeF8pcAonPhLKPennB0rbi/s640/IMG_6021.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">First things first. Thank you to all of the military keeping our country safe. Hopefully everyone is enjoying some BBQ today.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our grandiose plans of sitting out on our new finished deck with scrumptious food are not going to materialize. We did make some progress this weekend however. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Good news...the stairs are in! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj6g6YR74d7VHSXGivERygOfpcb2ri8WpjFWCG-o0B1kYM53gKL_S3_FtDJa0ngHiKfHTNh0Jh17fSN3UCVKj8VBEixlehFgbZI1dQTkRCl6x6OhVloLUkXQm0qGYtQfecK7TXTcnaZu2G/s1600/IMG_5999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj6g6YR74d7VHSXGivERygOfpcb2ri8WpjFWCG-o0B1kYM53gKL_S3_FtDJa0ngHiKfHTNh0Jh17fSN3UCVKj8VBEixlehFgbZI1dQTkRCl6x6OhVloLUkXQm0qGYtQfecK7TXTcnaZu2G/s640/IMG_5999.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bad news...they are most likely going to have to come back out.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXb4CUBgsSbVP_IC8sbL0G-KdNy_5kaQbDmT161VWN2YcKsO0LL_ghg6XgO7B4WxJCXgOJtVEL4Dnskwai1KYVeoJ4sRjidMXLSIWdofTjWD-rLGGmYLRUVCPcnvUkBSpaL49t4MlTd7MB/s1600/IMG_6024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXb4CUBgsSbVP_IC8sbL0G-KdNy_5kaQbDmT161VWN2YcKsO0LL_ghg6XgO7B4WxJCXgOJtVEL4Dnskwai1KYVeoJ4sRjidMXLSIWdofTjWD-rLGGmYLRUVCPcnvUkBSpaL49t4MlTd7MB/s640/IMG_6024.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Due to a slight miscalculation the walkable space on the stairway once the railing is in may not be enough. Code is 36 inches for the stairs. I am pretty sure that is walkable space and not total. We have 36 inches total but once the railing is in it will be more like 26 inches. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">26 inches is pretty narrow. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The problem is that it will be very difficult to fix the stairs after the railing is in....and expensive. So if we want the stairs bigger we need to make the correction now before the railing on the deck goes in.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknfwKeAW6IiUGJanrP4JLQfA9eNDbBsu1uQGr0AMNvv0Fm7zO1o8bQLq-Z5ggFANiLMw83VY5BiNogw-2mHsKVqJrr2inIgd_Y529WN1NDilzJyqrP_qD2XXz-AtcLS2GPkJN3A5MkHzw/s1600/IMG_6004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjknfwKeAW6IiUGJanrP4JLQfA9eNDbBsu1uQGr0AMNvv0Fm7zO1o8bQLq-Z5ggFANiLMw83VY5BiNogw-2mHsKVqJrr2inIgd_Y529WN1NDilzJyqrP_qD2XXz-AtcLS2GPkJN3A5MkHzw/s640/IMG_6004.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As has been par for the course it will not be easy to increase the width of the stairs. It is going to require breaking apart a huge rock that is at the bottom of the stairs. It will also require the stairs to be completely redone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">With the setback the decking took a back seat to some other yard work today. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At least for now we have stairs...although the pugs refuse to go down them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This project is beginning to annoy me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So Happy Memorial Day to all of you that have decks. I hate you.</span><br />
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Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-65579652677561292252013-05-26T06:27:00.001-07:002013-05-26T06:27:22.983-07:00Stairway to Heaven...Almost - Deck Day #7<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7jYb4zPglJdsrUXkDWHwdNsXIpwsnTuHOigYQxqehQcA8ueXlyN427Pv7ENkjEIA_nQbi9gP5yXCPb7_GJaJ5SHQstiphTs4ykJImpASJmeFA1MdxR9Pk7XYSDEbcYh7vxL1V5EfVpZD9/s1600/IMG_5724.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7jYb4zPglJdsrUXkDWHwdNsXIpwsnTuHOigYQxqehQcA8ueXlyN427Pv7ENkjEIA_nQbi9gP5yXCPb7_GJaJ5SHQstiphTs4ykJImpASJmeFA1MdxR9Pk7XYSDEbcYh7vxL1V5EfVpZD9/s640/IMG_5724.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thank goodness for long 4 day weekends. There is about an 80% chance that 100% the deck will be completed by close of business on Monday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yesterday the husband and wife (mostly the husband) worked on the stairs. I have never been looking forward to a set of stairs so much in my life. It has been two really long weeks of letting the pugs out the front door to go to the bathroom. Getting them out is not hard. Getting them in is virtually impossible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">First piece of business was to remove a small amount of sod from the area where the stairs would be coming off of the deck.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKvNKJEuBNGgevRcsA1gf7eLTXqN9_ffNY8lXPAdHZzuAbU_I4omTLwYIAvrPHNfFzM_XJoKXu9waTcDVCsGcFbFDA76L3sqtaxUpilNj2qDiY_loBIrBAoC6IshyphenhyphenQY9Sq28SC7KYpJ8CZ/s1600/IMG_5728.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKvNKJEuBNGgevRcsA1gf7eLTXqN9_ffNY8lXPAdHZzuAbU_I4omTLwYIAvrPHNfFzM_XJoKXu9waTcDVCsGcFbFDA76L3sqtaxUpilNj2qDiY_loBIrBAoC6IshyphenhyphenQY9Sq28SC7KYpJ8CZ/s640/IMG_5728.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next up was the assembly of the pre-formed braces. The husband needed a bit of help holding things together so baby girl did a bit of supervising on the deck.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK-lMxfrCfgjYDYYeGITLKfM9cew-udqym89iQMRsi_p7908T3wR8XcXMQ3uCH92Za-QcMLSdRc6J-pAXrhNsqQ9ZWYfRzQyo6sFYdu93MmwcKBrhSFxHrBhPeaDUQIIUYm1vevxD-mD_i/s1600/IMG_5721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK-lMxfrCfgjYDYYeGITLKfM9cew-udqym89iQMRsi_p7908T3wR8XcXMQ3uCH92Za-QcMLSdRc6J-pAXrhNsqQ9ZWYfRzQyo6sFYdu93MmwcKBrhSFxHrBhPeaDUQIIUYm1vevxD-mD_i/s640/IMG_5721.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then came attaching the assembly to the hangers on the deck.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA60rWiwIK32ivKDZsxPeKXQRBrr7equDmbLT6mNu3nt4h5U7DxTMN0RPOrIPoBbA0O8K2psD06TeWuYTnM9LvGIpC0JLNytW245Ox4zVt-DAzEJgnmQFnxmOKVdx8A-L9SwCAMoAlH8ww/s1600/IMG_5734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA60rWiwIK32ivKDZsxPeKXQRBrr7equDmbLT6mNu3nt4h5U7DxTMN0RPOrIPoBbA0O8K2psD06TeWuYTnM9LvGIpC0JLNytW245Ox4zVt-DAzEJgnmQFnxmOKVdx8A-L9SwCAMoAlH8ww/s640/IMG_5734.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally the stair boards.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim4YVMupWvsAlbnzUn3GcQxpqlH0W6vGGX-0608pEw-L_s31BXLeai965eT5pZ2cGJpfB8JsY3eMMmPNo8PHTp3RjM4u7wED0hBSt8bFQo2nUevpL7vPR230SKJPGqcdIrMm1RjV2Q4sDL/s1600/IMG_5881.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim4YVMupWvsAlbnzUn3GcQxpqlH0W6vGGX-0608pEw-L_s31BXLeai965eT5pZ2cGJpfB8JsY3eMMmPNo8PHTp3RjM4u7wED0hBSt8bFQo2nUevpL7vPR230SKJPGqcdIrMm1RjV2Q4sDL/s640/IMG_5881.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There was an issue. The top stair is slightly bigger than the others and will require a small additional board piece (or the purchase of a 5 1/2 inch wide board vs. the 5 inch boards we have). Take home message here is that the stairs are not done. Close but no cigar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am starting to have serious doubts that this project is ever going to get done.</span>Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-17643851770955376602013-05-20T08:44:00.002-07:002013-05-20T08:44:47.381-07:00So close, yet so far... Deck Day #7<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrtfyUWWbTHbQGxKUrO-I0sPvX9arE5J28gI44xBxjeKTOvz_GDQr0jS6ejCq9hVTq6BuoQ-WY5IJUnnP37M5lNfpuxHgqx8zxzVslYsOhZc4NO2kVChrFjmhZ6po60WRSQm4UA0N8ek7g/s1600/IMG_4967.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrtfyUWWbTHbQGxKUrO-I0sPvX9arE5J28gI44xBxjeKTOvz_GDQr0jS6ejCq9hVTq6BuoQ-WY5IJUnnP37M5lNfpuxHgqx8zxzVslYsOhZc4NO2kVChrFjmhZ6po60WRSQm4UA0N8ek7g/s640/IMG_4967.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The day started out again with rain, a lot of rain. The decking did not commence until 1:00. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It had been a long night. The husband didn't sleep well, he was going over stabilization options in his head. The sway of the deck was troubling. I think baby girl must have been worried about the deck too as she decided to get up 2 times something that she hasn't done for weeks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So waking up to the rain was a bit frustrating. The husband was ready to go sore muscles and sleep deprivation be damned.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0DPUnoeG-_EZevS51M4SHhoCHuTW_kTSUcZb9UOvEjWk6tINThyphenhyphenxrl3s2uY-O4i8QVHs8c-KxLj3EnNCCBJPijbm1hvelQ4s-_qUAeaIG_viNgLjN38Pk5lvhZDgXRAo7uYGiSumD1U1h/s1600/IMG_4951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0DPUnoeG-_EZevS51M4SHhoCHuTW_kTSUcZb9UOvEjWk6tINThyphenhyphenxrl3s2uY-O4i8QVHs8c-KxLj3EnNCCBJPijbm1hvelQ4s-_qUAeaIG_viNgLjN38Pk5lvhZDgXRAo7uYGiSumD1U1h/s640/IMG_4951.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>(Note the whale kneeling pad that we use when we bath baby girl...hey sometimes you need to improvise)</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once the weather cooperated it was on like Donkey Kong. The goal being to finish all of the deck boards and get the stairs up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was a lofty goal.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRcGi5LtzmMfKHEyUBMQmgwDpV0npOmCo_gGniScPhdeG0s3FbMyeXs1BZpwLpIIl63LeveHdtMMxmxvmApXtiOMAI4U0hMnDYgEu9wr_D6NH2DJMAlh0oZfO6xM605gSYCATz4RY5CkEM/s1600/IMG_4957.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRcGi5LtzmMfKHEyUBMQmgwDpV0npOmCo_gGniScPhdeG0s3FbMyeXs1BZpwLpIIl63LeveHdtMMxmxvmApXtiOMAI4U0hMnDYgEu9wr_D6NH2DJMAlh0oZfO6xM605gSYCATz4RY5CkEM/s640/IMG_4957.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was fun to see more and more of the deck put together. It really started to look like a deck. In addition a wonderful thing happened. It was very clear about halfway through that the addition of the boards was in fact stabilizing the wobble a ton. While the husband may still put a couple of angle supports on they are probably not necessary. It is pretty solid.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJyFrcP7BTUh3Y67qxsjf_FWFqbLPie9SxozLEtNwSYRZdUnCucED0MKcjIBTBobWL7gYS-aRyGum5UpO1xqp3nsSbcNAecIpaU9pshR66JJWXlCETCaihb9fctjJC8YRHieOS6sXu0kii/s1600/IMG_4960.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJyFrcP7BTUh3Y67qxsjf_FWFqbLPie9SxozLEtNwSYRZdUnCucED0MKcjIBTBobWL7gYS-aRyGum5UpO1xqp3nsSbcNAecIpaU9pshR66JJWXlCETCaihb9fctjJC8YRHieOS6sXu0kii/s640/IMG_4960.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">They worked until 9:00. They got really close to finishing up the deck boards.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This small gap is all that remains. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ6J2AF9cSJ17QSVCIWeEa2JCj-8vq1D1LLkRhm1t6jGYbMUcO8eyHEjlfpv19Ha11-ICcWMqiOs3a_d0pmqwF_SUrla5XBugHhDeHazhEf50y9nYeDa5wuqh57rCmiXsd0cWTAafU6Htm/s1600/IMG_4963.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ6J2AF9cSJ17QSVCIWeEa2JCj-8vq1D1LLkRhm1t6jGYbMUcO8eyHEjlfpv19Ha11-ICcWMqiOs3a_d0pmqwF_SUrla5XBugHhDeHazhEf50y9nYeDa5wuqh57rCmiXsd0cWTAafU6Htm/s640/IMG_4963.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The husband is going to work on the remaining deck boards and the stairs this week. Leaving only the railing (which we still need to decide on) for this long Memorial Day weekend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The new goal is to be able to sit out on the deck on Memorial day and enjoy some BBQ. There is a bunch of work left to do in order to make that happen. Including me doing some shopping for patio furniture. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We haven't been doing a great job of meeting time lines recently so we will see. We may be eating BBQ sitting on a deck with no railings and no chairs but at least we will have a deck.</span><br />
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Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-64739403385212841072013-05-19T07:56:00.000-07:002013-05-19T07:56:37.805-07:00A Break in the Rain - Deck Day #6 (Part 2)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTcB3gF3UM_t-Qu-O-ec9rXIuJ0-Bni6gbtz7nsT2U9iokVXT8pt1XZLOa2faGPRbyA4HhaxbKMCAZX-YGfTxq0sZCdHlk76zDYnCkefMFZ1Sy8Sxv1imhdM-Tm4lJpFUMxJk0qvtTIBb/s1600/IMG_4916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTcB3gF3UM_t-Qu-O-ec9rXIuJ0-Bni6gbtz7nsT2U9iokVXT8pt1XZLOa2faGPRbyA4HhaxbKMCAZX-YGfTxq0sZCdHlk76zDYnCkefMFZ1Sy8Sxv1imhdM-Tm4lJpFUMxJk0qvtTIBb/s640/IMG_4916.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yesterday morning was a complete loss as far as the deck project was concerned. Thankfully the rain let up a little bit in the afternoon and some deckery was done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We now have some deck boards in place. It is finally beginning to look like a deck.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnoL-Wxu1J_wXnmNLaq5G8CbLN5bAcUV0dpiWPjORW2e6L7iZsx5Bxq_NmIJsMsVryECYOtLdtogL-rLDULUYWX5ET7zdckhoL0IDOaugGRS8O4QISTRCJ774MR2ZqVhHATUHNX3vK_Bsm/s1600/IMG_4939.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnoL-Wxu1J_wXnmNLaq5G8CbLN5bAcUV0dpiWPjORW2e6L7iZsx5Bxq_NmIJsMsVryECYOtLdtogL-rLDULUYWX5ET7zdckhoL0IDOaugGRS8O4QISTRCJ774MR2ZqVhHATUHNX3vK_Bsm/s640/IMG_4939.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Truth be told the progress was pretty slow. Passing rain showers would force the husband and brother to pack up the tools and come inside pretty regularly. It is hard to work up any momentum when you have to stop every 45 minutes.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpp9DLFLtuXE8D-QybKTFkJzOMhO2qlhCmH_VPlWxIIeTLFOSvC_1HUYMo8LnQ5JCJOxwnUy8PDKSP_Q4phoSzYPltUuuEiDouXQ3U8JoZWQ0VBfEZ5zpJsZXX3W76uGPlWJydPqYHwizE/s1600/IMG_4941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpp9DLFLtuXE8D-QybKTFkJzOMhO2qlhCmH_VPlWxIIeTLFOSvC_1HUYMo8LnQ5JCJOxwnUy8PDKSP_Q4phoSzYPltUuuEiDouXQ3U8JoZWQ0VBfEZ5zpJsZXX3W76uGPlWJydPqYHwizE/s640/IMG_4941.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We also have another potential issue.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The deck is a bit wobbly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is a bit more sway in the deck than the husband would like. When this issue was first brought up to the wife I panicked a bit. The husband however is not as concerned. There is a pretty good chance that when all of the boards are in place it will stabilize. It is a large deck so a small amount of sway is to be expected and the boards will help make everything more solid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If that does not correct the issue then the posts will be reinforced with either angle braces or some additional concrete.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The husband is taking all of the issues in stride. The wife is a little more concerned.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFTPgNBxHBSHNfAb4SXLItc1UDjzZwMRPpSozLk9TV7Sfhc5CvsOjbMuCvFfcp1WStoUcDyq8YXTM3n03KEZ9Pfp1JdwMQLvKAECwGlDpW77XoO-g57JF0Tdoum0iJXNAlPelRKzN2gS6/s1600/IMG_4948.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFTPgNBxHBSHNfAb4SXLItc1UDjzZwMRPpSozLk9TV7Sfhc5CvsOjbMuCvFfcp1WStoUcDyq8YXTM3n03KEZ9Pfp1JdwMQLvKAECwGlDpW77XoO-g57JF0Tdoum0iJXNAlPelRKzN2gS6/s640/IMG_4948.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today the board laying continues and will hopefully be completed although we have rain showers forecast for the afternoon. In addition ideally the stairs would be put in but I think there is about a 0% chance of that happening. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If there is one thing we have learned with the deck project...it is everything takes longer!</span>Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-46371839800294527792013-05-18T09:40:00.001-07:002013-05-18T09:40:29.487-07:00Rain Delay - Deck Day #6<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDRqpTLqaW18lbPBkQdPdrY4CILXuEAnIG3R1BmR8ZRLgp6xiuh-cYlTGzIOvdKV0GfWJ1WSBXNliUGqVfwxsZYli11J-KGvuKT8A9BRakPJYMsmLet4IwUn0q8m_c5iKdr9Fcrg4mjK7/s1600/IMG_4843.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDRqpTLqaW18lbPBkQdPdrY4CILXuEAnIG3R1BmR8ZRLgp6xiuh-cYlTGzIOvdKV0GfWJ1WSBXNliUGqVfwxsZYli11J-KGvuKT8A9BRakPJYMsmLet4IwUn0q8m_c5iKdr9Fcrg4mjK7/s640/IMG_4843.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After a VERY long week of letting 3 pugs out to the front yard to go to the bathroom I was looking forward to the deck work this weekend. The husband's goal was to have all of the boards laid and the stairs in by the end of Sunday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mother Nature has a different plan...<strong>RAIN</strong> all weekend.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAWC5J8I7Eq-1buqadkEHyYvv9Scskuyv4_NWWKgSFg8ou5j_pD6x816iZjqC7cQ4lc6U_j6HGTOSaEPDp7UoVJwCZOISnLWn-f62HQkvpkr327NhjPDDnH5LscILbuRAGW8kxVj-f4SQC/s1600/IMG_4841.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAWC5J8I7Eq-1buqadkEHyYvv9Scskuyv4_NWWKgSFg8ou5j_pD6x816iZjqC7cQ4lc6U_j6HGTOSaEPDp7UoVJwCZOISnLWn-f62HQkvpkr327NhjPDDnH5LscILbuRAGW8kxVj-f4SQC/s640/IMG_4841.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Is there such a thing as a Sun Dance? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am going to have to Google that.</span><br />
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Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-8715780907909017282013-05-18T09:28:00.001-07:002013-05-18T09:28:05.197-07:00Easy DIY Picture Shelf<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6FIzkCf-1QYhiee6QSRpcDvAS78EZQTkx0kMtfCJggQ0Pr96xuJ6_P0RrSj9kA27VIbnvNLzqIveSDOrDOwHxDxhNc4vMPrCvrf23irTr1W-adItfkEvrCI-SngY4kI7fYb6y229Q9oKK/s1600/IMG_4897.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6FIzkCf-1QYhiee6QSRpcDvAS78EZQTkx0kMtfCJggQ0Pr96xuJ6_P0RrSj9kA27VIbnvNLzqIveSDOrDOwHxDxhNc4vMPrCvrf23irTr1W-adItfkEvrCI-SngY4kI7fYb6y229Q9oKK/s640/IMG_4897.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">No one ever accused us of not having enough projects going at the same time. This past weekend we worked on the deck, planted the garden, planted the flower pots, dug and sprayed dandelions, shopped for patio furniture, purchased bushes for the backyard, played with a baby, and built the picture shelves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After pretty much running all weekend I made the following observation: Either we need additional days in the weekend or we need fewer projects. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of those things we can control.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We didn't control the projects well this past weekend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><strong>Easy DIY Picture Shelves</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Link to project start posting <a href="http://woodcloth.blogspot.com/2013/05/too-many-pictures-picture-shelf-project.html" target="_blank">here<em></em></a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikqZ9K0MEiB1FLBCBd4ue6eb3Zo_C8CYhKjn0enzVHNaEbjviLSkyZhYttV_Zt5UtVAzvgkEmJJPaU4EPRSSYaLoRetarsciHgg9pJi-O9EWxYnSivXo2VMdTI-_jWEglo1EsuHT6BaLH3/s1600/IMG_4892.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikqZ9K0MEiB1FLBCBd4ue6eb3Zo_C8CYhKjn0enzVHNaEbjviLSkyZhYttV_Zt5UtVAzvgkEmJJPaU4EPRSSYaLoRetarsciHgg9pJi-O9EWxYnSivXo2VMdTI-_jWEglo1EsuHT6BaLH3/s640/IMG_4892.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Project Rankings</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Difficulty - Easy</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Frustration Level - Low</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Makeability - 100% Worth It</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Materials</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Crown Molding</strong> (Note: You want to have 2 flat surfaces on the crown. You can make the shelves as beefy as you want depending on the size of crown you get. We wanted the shelf to be fairly skinny so we went for a small crown)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>MDF Board</strong> (Note: The width of the board will be the width of your shelf. You probably don't want to go too big here unless your crown is really thick and beefy. If you get too big of a shelf and put weight out on the front it may not be able to support it all. We stuck with a 3 1/2 inch width. That easily works for the frame width and even allows some small decor items.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Thin board for the shelf lip</strong> (we used lattice board)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Paint (If you want to do a stain you will need to switch out the MDF for a wood board instead)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Step #1:</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Determine the length of your shelf/shelves. You will want to cut your boards (all the same length) before you paint. I didn't actually do this so I ended up having to do some touch up painting when the shelf was up on the wall. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Step #2</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Paint all shelving pieces. Make sure you paint all sides of the MDF board as well as the lattice board. You will see all of the edges of these 2 pieces. You will not need to paint one of the flat sides of the crown as it will be against the wall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Step #3</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Deterimine the location for your shelf/shelves. If you are doing multiple shelves on top of each other, like we did, you will need to make sure that you have sufficient spacing between them to get your frames on the shelf. Locate your studs in the wall. Frames get heavy. You will want to make sure that you go into a few studs. Using a nail gun (if you have one...if you don't you should they are awesome) nail your crown molding piece to the wall.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtVop8p8CjWT1XPQSQrKR1bRGfb5oIl1baYl7a-eQvVANe7pXcT9A-4vFXuDZCtozw37ZJtpS4Uy19yTjRAjPlumrPy2K5YksRygu8N1DNOhbbeXRYAIRYkM63vbJinAQRtt_dRRHnGSPF/s1600/IMG_4186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtVop8p8CjWT1XPQSQrKR1bRGfb5oIl1baYl7a-eQvVANe7pXcT9A-4vFXuDZCtozw37ZJtpS4Uy19yTjRAjPlumrPy2K5YksRygu8N1DNOhbbeXRYAIRYkM63vbJinAQRtt_dRRHnGSPF/s640/IMG_4186.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Step #4</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next position the MDF board flush on the crown molding and nail it down into the top of the crown.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Step #5</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Position the lattice board on the front of the MDF board, creating a lip for your shelf, and nail into place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Step #6</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You will probably want to fill in any nail holes and do some touch up on the paint.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There you have it. Now comes the hard part...at least for me! What frames and pictures to select.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">FYI after looking at a ton of different picture frames I did end up getting all of my frames from IKEA. I was going for a bit cleaner/simpler look so I choose simple frames in a couple similar styles. I do like the look of a bunch of different styles of frames...but not for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Add a few small decor items if you want and call it a day. The beauty of this project is that you can easily switch out photographs, frames, etc. No drilling and hanging frames on the wall.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWh01rCnXMoJwqN1_mr7OqZfK9zZUkSAfcnHenOVRRRRHKERHSymqesnDbf5rSZhQRGTjncmG-e1ygRegdfVKVXVFOmybiOJ2zNRFifKLCFdVS-t3hb5teSX18z0Bec8lgKcmc18Maurur/s1600/Before+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWh01rCnXMoJwqN1_mr7OqZfK9zZUkSAfcnHenOVRRRRHKERHSymqesnDbf5rSZhQRGTjncmG-e1ygRegdfVKVXVFOmybiOJ2zNRFifKLCFdVS-t3hb5teSX18z0Bec8lgKcmc18Maurur/s640/Before+(1).JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><em>Before</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><em>Concept</em></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifm2_9TTQStuvfjGV7IQyk4RUqpwKs1-d-Z644H51Tqs_LgMU3ujM9dq1QOojpLvhJ7j1Vo9XF_OrryiPh0w09OyZHowIMyOHOo1ic1kdtDM3w8l_-Kl26qAQgJkTU5ge3ch1IoFMeuyrW/s1600/IMG_4886.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifm2_9TTQStuvfjGV7IQyk4RUqpwKs1-d-Z644H51Tqs_LgMU3ujM9dq1QOojpLvhJ7j1Vo9XF_OrryiPh0w09OyZHowIMyOHOo1ic1kdtDM3w8l_-Kl26qAQgJkTU5ge3ch1IoFMeuyrW/s640/IMG_4886.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After</span></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am really happy with how this project came out. I even like the red color!</span><br />
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<br />Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-32999625275649887802013-05-13T03:00:00.000-07:002013-05-13T03:00:09.597-07:00Maybe We Don't Need a Deck - Deck Day #5<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmto8APndtXBiO0wFnbbDpqFXnU774OnJrhsDdwnJrFyExJgb379jbdQC1Vl65jFKs_ivEQLI4si1rOu2Of0hnV0B_FJ6dKf6MqaNIOhFR9UvUWKFOrhl7k_mgVqYcP6YjtalRHVAEjKzE/s1600/IMG_4063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmto8APndtXBiO0wFnbbDpqFXnU774OnJrhsDdwnJrFyExJgb379jbdQC1Vl65jFKs_ivEQLI4si1rOu2Of0hnV0B_FJ6dKf6MqaNIOhFR9UvUWKFOrhl7k_mgVqYcP6YjtalRHVAEjKzE/s640/IMG_4063.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There may have been a slight underestimation on the amount of time building a deck would require.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A couple days ago the husband and I were planning a big Memorial Day BBQ to christen our new deck. We would have plenty of time to finish up the deck, get furniture, and do a bit of backyard maintenance (plant some new bushes) before Memorial Day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We were smoking crack.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Demo day was a holy mess. You would think that ripping something down would be much easier than putting something up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After a long morning of back-breaking hammer and crowbar wielding work we now are sans walkout. Now we just have a drop off from the kitchen sliding down to the gravel below. It is a bit surreal to look out and not see the stairs. The pugs are confused. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The goal for the day was to get the frame completed. Mission NOT accomplished.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">With the demo taking much longer than expected, a couple of trips to the hardware store, varying issues with boards, yada, yada, yada....there are still joists that need to be hung.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaVbDPLzEzOF9dIkIfBOrHupQcUo8gHf5-Ch6bH7n_q-p5eKP3Kn9aS_5Uuq9QalH6_OsMRcrsUsCEmc6i3FwBvkIgc02Cv6KP1VkIi8zgvI_3y1joiyBWR-rAGlwMsMQgqVVB9O9tNoQS/s1600/IMG_4080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaVbDPLzEzOF9dIkIfBOrHupQcUo8gHf5-Ch6bH7n_q-p5eKP3Kn9aS_5Uuq9QalH6_OsMRcrsUsCEmc6i3FwBvkIgc02Cv6KP1VkIi8zgvI_3y1joiyBWR-rAGlwMsMQgqVVB9O9tNoQS/s640/IMG_4080.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yesterday the deck was be put on the back-burner. The battle will continue next weekend. Until then the wife gets the super fun job of walking (the term herding would be more accurate) three pugs out the front door through the side gate to the backyard....all while juggling a baby.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The husband needs to finish this deck.</span><br />
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<br />Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-68295449316736195672013-05-12T04:23:00.003-07:002013-05-12T04:23:46.063-07:00My First Mother's Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvm1J_zjeXccUE36eiC_xSDNHf7_C01uZtbs6g7-yiWjifiVVst43ylGWRoBdIkbE3DHlf15pmt-S0188V3YlBITBMNKLOBJKvFzA17zoVaKIDHcXjYyCQb4A3lMrU26VaCxycPjyZbRF_/s1600/TulipFestival2013+(37)edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvm1J_zjeXccUE36eiC_xSDNHf7_C01uZtbs6g7-yiWjifiVVst43ylGWRoBdIkbE3DHlf15pmt-S0188V3YlBITBMNKLOBJKvFzA17zoVaKIDHcXjYyCQb4A3lMrU26VaCxycPjyZbRF_/s640/TulipFestival2013+(37)edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Mother's Day!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For the past five years or so I have avoided Mother's Day like the plague. I have blown off family dinners and pretty much cocooned myself inside my house.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When you are not a Mom and are desperately looking forward to being one the day can be overwhelming. Last year was probably my lowest point. The day before Mother's Day I found out that I was not pregnant...yet again. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was a mess.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What a difference a year makes. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYb8T5Yidsj_bqK3ym3zS8QOd_Xd5A3hTCK_d0CM9mNoPKeze3KhCCgvWmhoJxsUzxxh8AWqPxwd2VFqyl-McR7eYE1oAivNGT7i-h_sIbCxrXn1w6RSccXIJUpMDhJ9PT8pUIkWX_zxO/s1600/Hadley_031013+(8).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYb8T5Yidsj_bqK3ym3zS8QOd_Xd5A3hTCK_d0CM9mNoPKeze3KhCCgvWmhoJxsUzxxh8AWqPxwd2VFqyl-McR7eYE1oAivNGT7i-h_sIbCxrXn1w6RSccXIJUpMDhJ9PT8pUIkWX_zxO/s640/Hadley_031013+(8).JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am a Mom. I can finally say that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As I reflect on my first Mother's Day I can say that all of the cliches are true. You do not truly know how much you can love until you have a child. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In my short time as a Mother I have already experienced stronger emotions than I thought possible. I can't watch the news anymore as all of the sad stories hit me harder. What if that was my daughter? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I will often find myself holding her and feeling such a wave of love that it actually hurts my heart. The biggest heart-melting position is when I am burping her during a night feeding over my shoulder. She is drowsy and buries her little head in the nook of my neck...gets me every time. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglPB_yQjA2E4M-N7Ik3T3Ngp6b1xDs4azW1-BR5qKsuxZ7F7zi1S7ALkzF64URsH2p5tZiu0nunZSwICtHASCDY_GBRG5t2aVZZwytBl-Mzz0_sIgwnJ02NDkyzjGGtpQBD6GdBMH2LN0N/s1600/Hadley050713+(220)edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglPB_yQjA2E4M-N7Ik3T3Ngp6b1xDs4azW1-BR5qKsuxZ7F7zi1S7ALkzF64URsH2p5tZiu0nunZSwICtHASCDY_GBRG5t2aVZZwytBl-Mzz0_sIgwnJ02NDkyzjGGtpQBD6GdBMH2LN0N/s640/Hadley050713+(220)edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Motherhood is hard and I am sure it will continue to get harder. I believe the Army's slogan is "It's the toughest job you will ever love." I call bull crap. Motherhood definitely holds that title. Bring it on! I can't wait for all of the "firsts" yet to come.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Being a Mom has also opened my eyes to the love my Mom has for me. It has been wonderful getting to see her become a Grandma.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEeX592dkNqFg0bRbTUZhd5Mj7at6kGkLrD5ID1aCvHWzo0LiwkUW67Phsf1G_0ck-Sko_v41KJttM3LHWKbi4LLcPCY5I3emuFAt_y1XFdWKP_K3XvolqNsWO3nTeqYCb4W_In9NIcOy/s1600/FH150024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="627" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEeX592dkNqFg0bRbTUZhd5Mj7at6kGkLrD5ID1aCvHWzo0LiwkUW67Phsf1G_0ck-Sko_v41KJttM3LHWKbi4LLcPCY5I3emuFAt_y1XFdWKP_K3XvolqNsWO3nTeqYCb4W_In9NIcOy/s640/FH150024.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><em>Mom,</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><em>I love you so much and I am so lucky to be able to call you Mom. I can only hope to be half the Mom you are. I am so lucky that my little girl gets to call you Grandma. Enjoy your new title this Mother's Day but know you will always hold the title of Mom.</em></span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Love your little girl.</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So Happy Mother's Day to all and prayers and good thoughts to those still struggling to get there. Hold on, it will happen. It may not happen in exactly the manner you envisioned but then again nothing does. Know you are not alone. Many struggle but you will soon have your own story, no matter how many plot twists.</span><br />
<br />Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-38388427262619941962013-05-11T06:49:00.002-07:002013-05-11T06:49:46.310-07:00Level Schmevel - Deck Day #4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4cv2J6kPfCDumDKOvDjl39dvHwjAOWWSrWA_JcGkVCWXzdPNG-sqppiO1OJambgx4Lwt_vZOjVwoHyEqkMIm6983lZZJoYBrN90-TcyPdGZYXzpSgolzVj3YliRzV88STAPOlfJ_tttXp/s1600/IMG_3964.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4cv2J6kPfCDumDKOvDjl39dvHwjAOWWSrWA_JcGkVCWXzdPNG-sqppiO1OJambgx4Lwt_vZOjVwoHyEqkMIm6983lZZJoYBrN90-TcyPdGZYXzpSgolzVj3YliRzV88STAPOlfJ_tttXp/s640/IMG_3964.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The deck is again fully underway. Yesterday was an important day for the deck project. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And by important I mean frustrating.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The husband got the beam and most of the joists up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I had not fully appreciated how difficult and critical it was to get all of the numberous pieces of beam and joist placed correctly. This is especially difficult when the lumber you have recieved is slightly different widths and heights (the husband may have uttered a few colorful words...).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thankfully the husband had some beefy help (his brother).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6LEnNPWXJi-vvOnuGM47K2vBobxi7FCfMgYuAbyeSiOXk1B1hfiVqaqd8wU-FibwLQeHnvdaR_MBFCNOC8Ir35TehrkmghShijxKa2yHd5UK7kgDoDrHlEZJTwdxv-9eNJE0l3-LFUClB/s1600/IMG_3971.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6LEnNPWXJi-vvOnuGM47K2vBobxi7FCfMgYuAbyeSiOXk1B1hfiVqaqd8wU-FibwLQeHnvdaR_MBFCNOC8Ir35TehrkmghShijxKa2yHd5UK7kgDoDrHlEZJTwdxv-9eNJE0l3-LFUClB/s640/IMG_3971.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The first step was to get the big beam pieced together. The deck is going to be about 30 feet so no one board was going to cover that distance. The beam is actually multiple joist boards placed together. Again getting everything level and lined up was a pretty big challenge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After the beam was in place it was time to hang the joists. There was additional measuring, leveling, and swearing.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqKVHy974ztrXAk3A1geweTiAF1Issa-8XWvlWiC57xFWrDiGWW8iPBSY6f2SQTYwUIxOzFJeqK9W-L32AS-2OxguIWDaH2zBg0Zh1Dv1gCDeavBv5NJiLLX3_k7qrYWwK9uL31NORZ08e/s1600/IMG_3976.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqKVHy974ztrXAk3A1geweTiAF1Issa-8XWvlWiC57xFWrDiGWW8iPBSY6f2SQTYwUIxOzFJeqK9W-L32AS-2OxguIWDaH2zBg0Zh1Dv1gCDeavBv5NJiLLX3_k7qrYWwK9uL31NORZ08e/s640/IMG_3976.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></div>
<em><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <span style="font-size: small;">(Yes, that is a pink gardening glove...long story!)</span></span></em><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQODG6FC-rNAf5e_jHMCR31DNIUUfI8vJL4W-iiS9sO7-nJh4HvuKsXlDTRdszwcTFaMGL6zLX4B5rghxddKkd45H4Lok10nuhYF78KkzwALEnl79mxy-JaP2_10Z3Z8V-roOccpPZ4uu5/s1600/IMG_3979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQODG6FC-rNAf5e_jHMCR31DNIUUfI8vJL4W-iiS9sO7-nJh4HvuKsXlDTRdszwcTFaMGL6zLX4B5rghxddKkd45H4Lok10nuhYF78KkzwALEnl79mxy-JaP2_10Z3Z8V-roOccpPZ4uu5/s640/IMG_3979.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At the end of the day the majority of the joists were up. In order to hang the remaining joists the old walkout will need to come down. Demo is tomorrow's project. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That means a sledgehammer.</span><br />
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<br />Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-40324827696897266472013-05-09T03:00:00.000-07:002013-05-09T03:00:11.937-07:00Deck Guts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQdWdzkpPGk9reIEUGsSdd4z193elz_ZAHhBw7yzafOBKePvCZY8Yx1nft8D9NkLSgheP2ySYbTBV8FFGFNWJ1m-CpoGcU2aYXiTsmC53dsuIEfRQW6qo-E9xUaph39_ZuAuSPOCx9jJcx/s1600/IMG_3564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQdWdzkpPGk9reIEUGsSdd4z193elz_ZAHhBw7yzafOBKePvCZY8Yx1nft8D9NkLSgheP2ySYbTBV8FFGFNWJ1m-CpoGcU2aYXiTsmC53dsuIEfRQW6qo-E9xUaph39_ZuAuSPOCx9jJcx/s640/IMG_3564.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Deck materials have been delivered.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This pile of material will be transformed by the husband into a deck this weekend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Last night we took a drive around the neighborhood to look at the different railing systems that people have used for their decks. I like the aluminium ones, the husband is leaning toward the vinyl type...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">...between you and me I suspect I know who will win.</span><br />
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Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-69120138074063767412013-05-08T10:39:00.000-07:002013-05-08T10:39:14.725-07:00Red Rum<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-Ew7Zt4ddMzptlrUfC562jUcmA1jQUcTbs4_fAX48QLxhgoBxp1sictiKgZqGrgqQCAWsbBCvlqW8VO_wxIV9Z-rMivLJitPE-2JzeVe73R0O09zqDy5kQSc5EBBiVysC8gLZU-rPrMS/s1600/IMG_3473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-Ew7Zt4ddMzptlrUfC562jUcmA1jQUcTbs4_fAX48QLxhgoBxp1sictiKgZqGrgqQCAWsbBCvlqW8VO_wxIV9Z-rMivLJitPE-2JzeVe73R0O09zqDy5kQSc5EBBiVysC8gLZU-rPrMS/s640/IMG_3473.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I <em>may</em> hate the paint color I picked for the picture shelves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I broke one of my own cardnial rules...ALWAYS get a paint tester and try out a few shades before making a final selection.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I didn't get a tester, I just made a selection.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I <em>may </em>have messed up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It <em>may</em> be too red.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I <em>may</em> have to repaint.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My plan is to do a final color check with the boards inside the house later today once everything is completely dry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I<em> may</em> be painting again tomorrow.</span><br />
<br />Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-48358704973109605232013-05-07T03:00:00.000-07:002013-05-07T03:00:12.984-07:00Spending Money - Deck Day #3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEyvHr0NPhQc4aeoq95Dg-kJchURnQw2HIXRVknyP-aeVzL2iYdyRdUtS-Nd90-tPoUsIzxNkzJ43UXgBGWATs9luMOwa6Yw9lkSkWNu_YL_ZjjWQ4rSaV5_ERVtvor2ap7weocw0dIRqP/s1600/IMG_3240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEyvHr0NPhQc4aeoq95Dg-kJchURnQw2HIXRVknyP-aeVzL2iYdyRdUtS-Nd90-tPoUsIzxNkzJ43UXgBGWATs9luMOwa6Yw9lkSkWNu_YL_ZjjWQ4rSaV5_ERVtvor2ap7weocw0dIRqP/s640/IMG_3240.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today was spending money day!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We decided to go with composite decking, TREX. While the upfront cost is a bit more it does weather better and the upkeep is minimal. Neither the husband nor the wife wants to be out there every year staining. So composite here we come.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My dad and I headed out to the lumber yard in the morning. His hook-up at the yard ended up scoring us an employee discount. Not too shabby. All of the materials have been ordered/purchased with the exception of the railing system. That decision still needs to be made.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We had a slight hope that they would be able to deliver the materials today. With the dad leaving tomorrow we had hoped that maybe some additional work could be done today. Unfortunately we will have to wait for the materials to be delivered tomorrow.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkY0n7xND0ofP5gONjDGGhpOce2WbbGX9f-uXqTdWQa5PAUmNvYMhav8162lcCUk7wf31wn9Y8TNSCGXQkQYJmFssSUGorXesIPeXi4mH0F2pAFgPiXjDYrQwQNdwxFsCVBy2O45jLQjV/s1600/IMG_3242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkY0n7xND0ofP5gONjDGGhpOce2WbbGX9f-uXqTdWQa5PAUmNvYMhav8162lcCUk7wf31wn9Y8TNSCGXQkQYJmFssSUGorXesIPeXi4mH0F2pAFgPiXjDYrQwQNdwxFsCVBy2O45jLQjV/s640/IMG_3242.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The husband did take off a bit early from work so that they could work on getting the posts put up. It was a race against nature as a rain storm decided to move in right when the deck work began. Thankfully no one was made of sugar and even with the rain drops coming down the post work got finished.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2kvc-c18LLug52jRr5AuqPdkPS2M26_MgNKq4iJe4jUoackaJt_syChYStPK5tHglafAnjhyphenhypheni6DeUzWdBq6XXFAI2ttqGs9qRv2p_RX6xer3o9NQfPHsfsVPzgCsBygWQeFpjELkqdw8k/s1600/IMG_3244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2kvc-c18LLug52jRr5AuqPdkPS2M26_MgNKq4iJe4jUoackaJt_syChYStPK5tHglafAnjhyphenhypheni6DeUzWdBq6XXFAI2ttqGs9qRv2p_RX6xer3o9NQfPHsfsVPzgCsBygWQeFpjELkqdw8k/s640/IMG_3244.JPG" width="426" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The deck project is now on hold until the weekend. The husband is going to recruit some help and hopefully by the end of the weekend we will have a deck (at least a deck without the railing). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Also as a confession...I haven't started painting the picture shelves yet...maybe tomorrow. Maybe not.</span><br />
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<br />Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-73086810179212838652013-05-06T03:00:00.000-07:002013-05-06T03:00:09.804-07:00Too Many Pictures: Picture Shelf Project<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE520iT0csYqRrqjVhFL3rKZv_GOqXGbloAsCZyYcszA7sPio6MUb2BHVi6m1kXch9jXRFgfv9Hr2w4yIh_wx907E2cAp7kLa3QXxsChw52UocNIEXFoDdKQFKA9IBxd21TomIRDPKCvGf/s1600/Hadley042413+(27)edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE520iT0csYqRrqjVhFL3rKZv_GOqXGbloAsCZyYcszA7sPio6MUb2BHVi6m1kXch9jXRFgfv9Hr2w4yIh_wx907E2cAp7kLa3QXxsChw52UocNIEXFoDdKQFKA9IBxd21TomIRDPKCvGf/s640/Hadley042413+(27)edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I knew it was going to be a problem.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have so many pictures of baby girl that I am a bit overwhelmed. How do I pick just a few to print and display? Where do I put them?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As I have posted in the past I am not really good at hanging things on my walls. I over think. Now with all of the cute baby pictures I need to get my act together and get displaying.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Have I mentioned how much I like Pinterest? I have...well I am mentioning it again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I knew I wanted some sort of wall display that I could easily switch out pictures. With her growing so much everyday my favorite pictures change quickly. I also want to be able to change the orientation of the frames from landscape to portrait and back again. I hate being stuck with a specific direction needed for a specific frame as I don't like to think about what direction I need the picture when I am taking it. I want to be able to shoot the picture in the direction that I think looks good in the moment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bottom line is that I wanted maximum flexibility.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After looking around at a ton of options I was really drawn to picture shelves. Not only could I rotate the frames and switch out the pictures easily I could even potentially include a couple small decor items to add some additional interest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Which wall to choose?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I immediately knew I wanted to put the shelf/shelves on one of the walls in the main living room. After all I wanted everyone to be able to ooh and aah at baby girl (can't hide those away in an obscure hallway).</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWv8Osj30FhbSG6dWPE8obwopEWap89Sq1rV8LBD7kJ3sR5PFzmRZ51CucSjlTLHOQi2i7qlHwXiH_6OZ89t-F_P_24RR2YnMbqw2v6khyhIEK2EWVxpq6n9oZPm_IFpYGOyQ_If0ExeX7/s1600/IMG_2743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWv8Osj30FhbSG6dWPE8obwopEWap89Sq1rV8LBD7kJ3sR5PFzmRZ51CucSjlTLHOQi2i7qlHwXiH_6OZ89t-F_P_24RR2YnMbqw2v6khyhIEK2EWVxpq6n9oZPm_IFpYGOyQ_If0ExeX7/s640/IMG_2743.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The wall I picked out is a main wall that is against the stairs. The problem was that it had a light switch and thermostat on it. The husband did not think this wall would work. I begged to differ.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Visualization works well for both of use when we are trying to sell a project plan to one another.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So I took a picture of the blank wall. Uploaded it to my favorite photo editing site PicMonkey. Added in some shelves and then did another one where I did a quick mock up of some frames.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiStXQ18GAe1dcKf_mip8lFp8lwruboQu8R3CvLQGXjiBYhpB7k70hT09tZMM9RmBBZdNQ_8ZdsGfGT91h2NXOG3LdWfYBWi2veQKR5jdT3bJqH2zAYWmo4LKvVuHQB-e0IftH6EFbM477C/s1600/Wall+Option.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiStXQ18GAe1dcKf_mip8lFp8lwruboQu8R3CvLQGXjiBYhpB7k70hT09tZMM9RmBBZdNQ_8ZdsGfGT91h2NXOG3LdWfYBWi2veQKR5jdT3bJqH2zAYWmo4LKvVuHQB-e0IftH6EFbM477C/s640/Wall+Option.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It really helped the husband to see how it would work around the light switch and the thermostat. Doing the mock up also helped me get an idea of how many and what sized frames I wanted. I highly recommend doing some sort of visualization either by putting paper up on the wall or by photo shop, especially if you are wall art impaired like me.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjesY_3iYChQJzpN4wRb0Grah6hU-PNJnrJmiT6I4W1svupBb0W90_Qb_3JrwYU1uWhROpJfEf2pyp8ma5DPYeB1E0rbCuWjsuNCm6pLrAxFoYoAnZmFyMw3Yh4WUjdoEPZLk_rB4jKzNFG/s1600/Wall+Option+%231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjesY_3iYChQJzpN4wRb0Grah6hU-PNJnrJmiT6I4W1svupBb0W90_Qb_3JrwYU1uWhROpJfEf2pyp8ma5DPYeB1E0rbCuWjsuNCm6pLrAxFoYoAnZmFyMw3Yh4WUjdoEPZLk_rB4jKzNFG/s640/Wall+Option+%231.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHuMVh5taUshPJyueFmK_TMgf-w-sidlzOuDkvdZMSNPs-SePTN1XV5un6I1lgZy7ZL23jFm0qiTajM3Vf2c8gV7w6bpICFTlaj6if0i-ImeGp64CU6_rcw7fpJSNfGc8FQpH2SrbQtaC-/s1600/IMG_3204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHuMVh5taUshPJyueFmK_TMgf-w-sidlzOuDkvdZMSNPs-SePTN1XV5un6I1lgZy7ZL23jFm0qiTajM3Vf2c8gV7w6bpICFTlaj6if0i-ImeGp64CU6_rcw7fpJSNfGc8FQpH2SrbQtaC-/s640/IMG_3204.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">The plan is to build a simple shelf using a piece of crown molding.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So in the midst of all of the deck shenanigans I will be working on the shelving project. Wood has been selected...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">...I'm off to paint. </span><br />
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<br />Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-8482113098824742672013-05-05T07:02:00.002-07:002013-05-05T07:02:54.255-07:00When the Decking Gets Tough: Deck Day #2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidJ7SuZkDQ5KZ_bswOFbiKv4eLBkTQYxD-lLKH3YBKfI46ZzEfTXvBo6PL535WMJEQbhcBSSUqhkHKrdTRpDrJ3NkqIZK7AWgx1M3BsSxUB1myfzH3NFYmcrvm7Wv_6Eso4QZGIOm8QVy3/s1600/IMG_3139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidJ7SuZkDQ5KZ_bswOFbiKv4eLBkTQYxD-lLKH3YBKfI46ZzEfTXvBo6PL535WMJEQbhcBSSUqhkHKrdTRpDrJ3NkqIZK7AWgx1M3BsSxUB1myfzH3NFYmcrvm7Wv_6Eso4QZGIOm8QVy3/s640/IMG_3139.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So 2 days into the deck project and the shiz is getting real.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Like most all DIY projects numerous trips to the home improvement store were required. In addition plans had to be redrafted, tweaked, and/or adjusted a few times. The main issue being that the husband was trying to utilize some of the existing deck components (like the joists, posts, and ledger board). What became clear is that the little walkout deck that the home builders put in was not built with any tender loving care...no pressure treated wood. Also the size of posts and the ledger board did not jive with the new stuff decking.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So a lot of standing around and pondering happened today.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiAOCMDsAazHqrqRX0vHl3rVgW4J-CQ18OWDok7mbwuRzgZKkfynU_-g6451GCrb-5ZxVsNBepFdZgnMxp5oLTm2yIfKUiHPomQBfGtQEokkAFH67DInoO9qh1eKcvi9qgi8M1STAqvWRT/s1600/IMG_3146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiAOCMDsAazHqrqRX0vHl3rVgW4J-CQ18OWDok7mbwuRzgZKkfynU_-g6451GCrb-5ZxVsNBepFdZgnMxp5oLTm2yIfKUiHPomQBfGtQEokkAFH67DInoO9qh1eKcvi9qgi8M1STAqvWRT/s640/IMG_3146.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A lot...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3xceMtbArqs-fQQxIVx8YgmYagusZczb4_oqVXGJXwD7onATldH2u2_AbOLoRIViwdGRiPoZtMDFSO46cfCPhbV4LhXdQVE2JWWwsp8B1Kihfg9fMwBM3NL9IOS9g-YbUb2mPaJG1-fS4/s1600/IMG_3149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3xceMtbArqs-fQQxIVx8YgmYagusZczb4_oqVXGJXwD7onATldH2u2_AbOLoRIViwdGRiPoZtMDFSO46cfCPhbV4LhXdQVE2JWWwsp8B1Kihfg9fMwBM3NL9IOS9g-YbUb2mPaJG1-fS4/s640/IMG_3149.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally after a large amount of discussion the plan is to now rip out the entire existing structure and start from scratch with new materials. It will be easier than having to jim-jam sizes and it will weather better with the pressure treated lumber.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yeah it was a "2 pencil behind the ear" kind of day today.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJp2bIzvBixn01fPyvXFyHXWltmQZ0-Prw4_VaddOCE0jvF_OzLYddjXESbeE_f9Q-QM3ujt3DfP-foOXp2DttEl5vegovhM4dglACHO4ZJlOlXLW0e-9Mr7ce1xPgLj4rUvbBd8X7FQTO/s1600/IMG_3153.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJp2bIzvBixn01fPyvXFyHXWltmQZ0-Prw4_VaddOCE0jvF_OzLYddjXESbeE_f9Q-QM3ujt3DfP-foOXp2DttEl5vegovhM4dglACHO4ZJlOlXLW0e-9Mr7ce1xPgLj4rUvbBd8X7FQTO/s640/IMG_3153.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">All of the adjustments aside today's To Do List was completed in time for some late afternoon naps by the husband and the dad. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The concrete footings went in without a hitch.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRL6hxJMGU9UAs1eTJ0iYQDUAnSTwHBNXP61jo19Z_xB8hqIH8Rn6U6JTpS6WRT4L51D6esypwuoPjgNnsqD3QBjMBXe9b8mOwA_Z9MgNJ-A2M_-QsNdijb-zzbMox8SyzbiH2J9GbRFEI/s1600/IMG_3136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRL6hxJMGU9UAs1eTJ0iYQDUAnSTwHBNXP61jo19Z_xB8hqIH8Rn6U6JTpS6WRT4L51D6esypwuoPjgNnsqD3QBjMBXe9b8mOwA_Z9MgNJ-A2M_-QsNdijb-zzbMox8SyzbiH2J9GbRFEI/s640/IMG_3136.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">All of the ledger board is up and ready for joists. That almost went up without a hitch...almost.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj50BD2CY8EiobjkOsiaNDC3h_vD5sVmGdTJPB3KqWrfHiXQe_7PjFfNqG6avlrkUnvQda-0M3fbhrw_DhqeS_MrStK_SWGOLSpREW3rIeG86DuxLhSZ_ZbRsn-lvhIoX7XBAqwuvHKYfOb/s1600/IMG_3154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj50BD2CY8EiobjkOsiaNDC3h_vD5sVmGdTJPB3KqWrfHiXQe_7PjFfNqG6avlrkUnvQda-0M3fbhrw_DhqeS_MrStK_SWGOLSpREW3rIeG86DuxLhSZ_ZbRsn-lvhIoX7XBAqwuvHKYfOb/s640/IMG_3154.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There was a slight miscalculation on one set of holes which required some quick hole filling. No big whoop. You have to roll with the punches. However it does always seem like the punches get thrown at the end of the day.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS18fODQbrBfCMzAkjytf7Y-zJPYoL4Gg6cO1QJ2_4_pZod0GynnQHWQTg6Usfu5cmJcB4eMAtOuNNUwILceUv65jI8tRH_-da9mSUmqz6PDp2ojQmefDPNhyaGtcmag_OU40oga4ayDjs/s1600/IMG_3159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS18fODQbrBfCMzAkjytf7Y-zJPYoL4Gg6cO1QJ2_4_pZod0GynnQHWQTg6Usfu5cmJcB4eMAtOuNNUwILceUv65jI8tRH_-da9mSUmqz6PDp2ojQmefDPNhyaGtcmag_OU40oga4ayDjs/s640/IMG_3159.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tomorrow is an off day for deck work as the concrete needs to dry before the posts can be attached.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Monday's plan is to get the posts in as the husband will need help with those and Monday is the last day the dad will be able to help before leaving town. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Also on Monday we will be ordering all of the composite lumber for the actual deck. The dad was in the hardware/lumber business for about 40 years so he has hooked us up with a connection to get a great discount on materials...bonus!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tasks Completed Day #2</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">**Ledger boards attached.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">**Finalized plans for existing deck (will be tearing it all out)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">**Concrete forms poured</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Day #3</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">**Order composite materials</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">**Attached posts to the concrete forms</span><br />
<br />Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-80145332637439909042013-05-04T07:46:00.001-07:002013-05-04T07:46:06.229-07:00Hi Ho Hi Ho...a Decking We Will Go - DAY 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4btB9VhtHy9NmsRI-p_aJwXZ7voepuij6G-CcMQJvx1eTYScSLp7Dmd0jtWb4dhxrZHciiW5ji0esLTZnnDHWPUUVnBV2akJfbt_QcBodi5ZR962eqgkjmClmWd9McLbXfHQDePcUnXyK/s1600/Day+1+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4btB9VhtHy9NmsRI-p_aJwXZ7voepuij6G-CcMQJvx1eTYScSLp7Dmd0jtWb4dhxrZHciiW5ji0esLTZnnDHWPUUVnBV2akJfbt_QcBodi5ZR962eqgkjmClmWd9McLbXfHQDePcUnXyK/s640/Day+1+(1).JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is official the deck work has begun!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Admittedly the husband started this project about 2 weeks later than first anticipated....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There was a last minute MAJOR change to the overall plan. After a couple frustrating weeks trying to work with Lowes and Home Depot on the multi-level deck plan he made the decision to go a bit easier (and bigger in the end) and keep it a simple one level deck.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Getting rid of the two level design is really going to open up the deck. The main issue was the levelness of the ground (or lack there of) and the fact that the stairs to connect the two deck levels would completely cut into the usable square footage of the deck. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3b_0GiEZKhpfKltBoVBsA73HEV1VmE1_F9izv6ISqyONSnWh2fk3lOuTTJju1FbWfZeyRQazPoiYulS4fgUlYj9mc3I8N_mWJYQapDF9GGv1vRoKYoo5DysmexNbt47nfAhS-qGteBb7P/s1600/Day+1+(8)edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3b_0GiEZKhpfKltBoVBsA73HEV1VmE1_F9izv6ISqyONSnWh2fk3lOuTTJju1FbWfZeyRQazPoiYulS4fgUlYj9mc3I8N_mWJYQapDF9GGv1vRoKYoo5DysmexNbt47nfAhS-qGteBb7P/s640/Day+1+(8)edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So this weekend is the weekend. The wife's Dad is in town for a few days visiting baby girl before he takes off for his Alaska fishing house for the summer. We decided to put him to work. He has experience in building houses and decks so the husband welcomed some advice. Drilling into the side of one's house will give a person pause. It is nice to have some back-up support.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After spending the better part of an evening reviewing plans the first trip to the hardware store was made. On tap for Day #1 was to dig the holes for the posts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">While this may not be a massive all day undertaking in most backyards ours is full of rocks. I should say full of boulders. If you look around the yards in our neighborhood you will see everyone has landscaped with large rocks. Many of these landscaping choices were not made solely for aesthetics. These rocks came out of the ground during the home building and had to go somewhere.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1783V6FhUvvX2jalZk9P1oQDEhyphenhyphen1gq6ByPqi4DPbSzy3GEKi5GE3TLvYVdTIG6Zil5Lav-8-cQX6y9qxtbxkHtAC3HGtBhhcZK2Jplf4wEIwdniu0cLGCHr5VnSaf3imJW2LCG5PaUcp4/s1600/Day+1+(4)edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1783V6FhUvvX2jalZk9P1oQDEhyphenhyphen1gq6ByPqi4DPbSzy3GEKi5GE3TLvYVdTIG6Zil5Lav-8-cQX6y9qxtbxkHtAC3HGtBhhcZK2Jplf4wEIwdniu0cLGCHr5VnSaf3imJW2LCG5PaUcp4/s640/Day+1+(4)edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As we have chronicled in the blog previously it is always a bit of a crap shoot to make a hole in the yard. If you are living right you may be able to dig a few inches before encountering your first rock. When the husband was planting all of the fruit trees he would often start digging only to find a huge boulder in his way. The nice thing about planting the fruit trees is he could pick a different spot to plant if the boulder was too big.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When digging holes for the posts on the deck they only had one option for where each post hole needed to go. So if a boulder was encountered....it needed to come out. Luckily there was only one really big rock in one of the holes. Unluckily there were a ton of mid-sized rocks making the digging really slow hard work.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Eitync7e4cEljKrNyzUePYg-XBd4eBGheuXJgUab9k-urchwx5FTkzt-IWe1yXd2ZVY2_PGSdZyC6x8ZDcAtzLf9MMe9sasmHxwqs_A-hd7B012QZpMShrOf5res8KvFsp-yy1cbJ9pQ/s1600/Day+1+(20)edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Eitync7e4cEljKrNyzUePYg-XBd4eBGheuXJgUab9k-urchwx5FTkzt-IWe1yXd2ZVY2_PGSdZyC6x8ZDcAtzLf9MMe9sasmHxwqs_A-hd7B012QZpMShrOf5res8KvFsp-yy1cbJ9pQ/s640/Day+1+(20)edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am not sure that the Dad was fully aware of what a massive effort it was going to be to dig 5 holes. By the end he was no doubt rethinking his enthusiastic "I would love to help with the deck" comment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Of course as always there was plenty of pug help.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0RL_IG6UtJ9vYVLhlF5B1u9OoUa_RIkgmC8pYrksKB7ZkDsTl-twwhLsphg18qHxGGO-g0YtnC5ynI3nuD4yZwJHPAou7dfLqRMNMYeDg01FCO8DdKLkMT7qLWGolDa4lQH18D1DXYvKL/s1600/Day+1+(23).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0RL_IG6UtJ9vYVLhlF5B1u9OoUa_RIkgmC8pYrksKB7ZkDsTl-twwhLsphg18qHxGGO-g0YtnC5ynI3nuD4yZwJHPAou7dfLqRMNMYeDg01FCO8DdKLkMT7qLWGolDa4lQH18D1DXYvKL/s640/Day+1+(23).JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Task accomplished Deck Day #1:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">**Post holes dug</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">**Concrete forms placed</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Plan for Deck Day #2:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">**Attach the ledger boards to the house</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">**Pour concrete</span> <br />
Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-14611658677181804712013-05-04T03:00:00.000-07:002013-05-04T03:00:09.805-07:00Little Red Riding Dress<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am really enjoying sewing little baby clothes. I have about 5 patterns that are waiting in the queue for fabric and time. (Time being the limiting factor...who knew having a baby would be so time-consuming....oh yeah, everyone!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I did manage to make a Little Geranium dress by </span><a href="http://www.made-by-rae.com/2013/01/free-little-geranium-dress-pattern/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">MADE BY RAE</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">. This pattern for 0-3 Months is free on her website.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The instructions were great and the dress came out very cute. I do have to say that I wish the neckline was not so "boxy." I feel like it goes too far up on baby girls chest so that you can't see that she has a neck.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The good thing is that </span><a href="http://www.made-by-rae.com/2012/12/geranium-dress-sewing-pattern-is-here/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">MADE BY RAE</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> does offer a Geranium dress pattern for sale that includes additional options for necklines as well as shelves. It also is for additional sizes. I will most likely be buying the full pattern as I really did like the way the dress came together. I even got to use my button hole maker settings on my machine for the first time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The material is from the Little Red Riding Hood line from Riley Blake. There are some really cute fabric patterns in that line. I have some other patterns that I am trying to figure out what to do with. They are just too cute not to use.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I also made another little pair of pants using the same pattern that I used for the </span><a href="http://woodcloth.blogspot.com/2013/03/hopping-down-bunny-trail_31.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Easter outfit</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">. I really do like that method for making leggings. They are really easy to whip up and she has gotten a lot of use out of them. I am ordering some fun knits online so that I can make some additional leggings for the fall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My next clothing project is most likely going to involve making some shorts. It is finally warming up around here and will soon be too hot for little pants.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have not been able to find a pattern online that I really like. Most seem too involve for infant shorts. I don't want to spend a bunch of time with pleats and darts when the little shorts are going to be bunched up sitting in a bumbo or kicking around on a playmat. I will save the super cute time consuming stuff for when it can be toddled around.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I think my plan is to approach the shorts in a similar way to the pants. I am going to use a pair of existing shorts as a pattern. Hopefully I will be able to post a tutorial soon. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you don't ever see a BABY SHORTS post...it means they did not turn out. Don't hold your breathe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Really all of this baby clothes making is just an excuse to take pictures of baby girl. She is an adorable model.</span><br />
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<br />Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-36966612321390913452013-05-03T09:35:00.002-07:002013-05-03T09:35:44.606-07:00Bottle Boot Camp<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The past week has been rough. If you read the "Hitting the Bottle" post you will remember that baby girl was still not taking a bottle and my maternity leave is rapidly coming to an end.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At our 2 month doctor's appointment we mentioned the "no bottle" issue to the pediatrician. We were anticipating her telling us "it's okay she will eventually get it" or "don't stress just keep trying." Instead she told us we were in trouble and if we wanted her to take a bottle we needed to start getting aggressive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Aggressive...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Her suggestion was to leave the baby all day with a grandmother. And I do mean LEAVE. She said that we should not be around, especially me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The gist of the plan was to leave the baby with someone patient, familiar with feeding babies, and someone that could listen to crying for hours without giving in to nurse. Parents usually crack under the pressure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After leaving the pediatrician's office I felt panicky. I guess I was pretty delusional. I had just thought that one day we would wake up and she would magically take the bottle. We were now facing the harsh reality that we had a baby that would need some additional training. I was not certain I could just leave my baby for this stressful but necessary time. I didn't want to put stress on a Grandma and I didn't want my daughter to think I had abandoned her when she was hungry. While on some level I knew that baby girl would not feel abandoned, I struggled to get past that hang up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After going back and forth over the options I decided I wanted to be the one to work with her through the "bottle only" feeding period. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I did not fully realize how hard it was going to be.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We started at 2:00 PM on Sunday. She cried pretty much non-stop until 8:00 PM. They were full blown gut wrenching cries. She would look up at me with red-rimmed tear stained eyes, pleading.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It broke my heart. I cried, a bunch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was very close to giving in and nursing multiple times. It is extremely difficult to see your child cry. Usually there is nothing you can do to stop the discomfort. This time there was something very easy I could do to make it all stop...but I didn't. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I felt like a horrible Mom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When she finally took the bottle it was a mix of emotions. First being great relief. The second caught me a bit off guard. It hit me that she may not go back to nursing. What if our experience was over? I felt an overwhelming sadness as I was not sure I was ready to let that special bonding go. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The tears continued to flow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The next couple days were a mess. I did not want to offer nursing as an option until I felt like she was really getting the hang of the bottle. There was NO way I was going to go through the boot camp again. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is really hard to bottle feed a breast milk baby. I found myself really tied down the next few days. She was still fighting the bottle so our feeding sessions would take up to an hour and a half. Then I would need to pump. After the pumping I would need to wash and sterilize nipples, bottle, and pump accessorizes. Pretty much by the time I finished with all of that it was time to feed again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I hate the bottle. I hate the time it takes away from me being able to hold and play with my baby girl. I hate the cold feel of it against my skin as I tried to struggle with her hands and tongue to keep it in her mouth. I hate the way I have to hold her away from my body to get her to take the bottle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I hate it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">True it does give us more flexibility. The husband and I are looking forward to our first date night in a long time. I will be able to go off to work confident that she will take the bottle from her caregivers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I still hate it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is one redeeming quality to the bottle. One that almost makes it all worthwhile. With the bottle the husband does get to share in the special experience of feeding his little girl. True she is a fussy little thing right now but he still enjoys her looking into his eyes as he holds the bottle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I hate it a bit less.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am gradually introducing a few nursing sessions into each day. I am limiting these to the night feedings. Thankfully she did go back to nursing with no problem. That was a large relief for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I know that far too soon she will not be nursing and will eventually be graduating to sippy cups. When that time comes I will miss the bottle feedings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But for now, you guessed it....I still hate the bottle.</span><br />
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Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-63422567658165038792013-04-11T06:53:00.001-07:002013-04-11T06:53:11.856-07:00Project Fever<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We have the fever...project fever!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It has been a long time since we tackled a big home project that wasn't baby related. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The husband made a bold proclamation last weekend. He has dubbed 2013 the "Year of the Deck." <em> I probably would have gone with "Year of the Baby" but oh well.</em></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We have been threatening to do a deck for the past two springs but for one reason or another it kept getting back-burnered. The space is ready. When we designed the back yard we had the landscapers put in a gravel pad that would eventually be the future home of the deck. It is a great space as we face the east. We will be able to escape the summer heat in the afternoon/evening hours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The husband wants to design and build the deck himself (I wouldn't have expected anything less). He will admit he is a bit intimidated. This will be his first large building project. He shows no fear with furniture and remodeling but ensuring something is weight bearing and up to code had him dragging his feet a bit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In true husband fashion he has done a ton of research and has a solid game plan for this year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The end goal is to have a two-tier deck that will eventually include a pergola (that may not be this year). He will remove our existing small porch, expand it out, and tie it into a lower deck with a new set of stairs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That is the plan anyway.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So check back in for more updates as we hope to start this project next weekend. I suspect we will run into a few problems during the post digging (we have a ton of boulders in our ground), the husband will be renting an auger, and there will no doubt be some frustration over getting everything level.</span><br />
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Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-42129154666606645412013-04-10T06:11:00.002-07:002013-04-10T06:11:42.919-07:00Hitting the Bottle<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One bottle, two bottles, three bottles, four.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Five bottles, six bottles, seven bottles...more!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The past few weeks have been pretty stressful in the baby feeding department. We were really lucky and thankful when baby girl took to nursing as quickly as she did. We had no problems from day one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That is all catching up to us now. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As we approach 7 weeks old she will NOT take a bottle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In a quest to find the right baby/bottle combination we have amassed an enviable collection of pretty much every bottle on the market.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We have tried Tommee Tippee, Playtex Vent Air, Playtex drop-ins, traditional latex nipples, Simalac, Medela Calma, Dr. Browns, and mOmma. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am going a bit crazy. Not only have I been looking forward to being able to have the husband give a meal or two so that I can either sleep a bit more or just be able to leave the house for a quick baby free errand...but now I am also concerned about going back to work in a few weeks.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We have tried dozens of tips and tricks suggested by friends. Scoured the Internet for sure-fire bottle techniques.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Baby girl is stubborn. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What we know at this point is that she does not care for any bottle that has a nipple that drips milk into her mouth before she is ready. Unfortunately even the slowest flow nipples seem to be too quick for her. She does like to pause a bunch during feedings so this was not a huge surprise.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We have had very limited (VERY LIMITED) success with the Medela Calma and the mOmma bottles. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">All of this bottle work has left mom, dad, and baby tired and frustrated. Feeding time is pretty much all of the time now as we start with trying the bottle for about a half hour. We then rest for 15 minutes (to calm down and not associate the refusal of the bottle with getting to nurse) before nursing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So by the time we are done with one feeding it is almost time for the next feeding.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To complicate things one of the repeated recommendations is that mom should not give the bottle. This makes things really hard as the husband works during the day. Baby girl usually is pretty sleepy in the morning before he goes to work so we only have one shot at the end of the day right when he gets in the door. Not ideal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have started to try giving her a bottle during the day. We need more practice so we are just going to have to jump right in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You really can make yourself crazy trying to figure out if there is something about the bottle, milk temperature, feeding position, etc. that is causing her to reject.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was not anticipating this struggle and wish someone had given me a "heads-up." I sat in a lengthy breastfeeding class where they did a great job of putting the fear of God in me about introducing a bottle too early.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><em><strong>Don't introduce before 4 weeks</strong></em> they said or else you are likely to get nipple confusion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What they failed to state is that babies that have not taken to a bottle before 6 weeks are very likely to struggle with bottle acceptance. If I had known that little fact we would have been more aggressive about the bottle training beginning at 4 weeks. We wasted some time not introducing the bottle right at 4 weeks and then when we did we only worked on the bottle every once in a while. We should have been working with her everyday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have no doubt that baby girl will eventually figure this whole bottle thing out. We will continue to search for the right bottle/feeding combination.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am less sure how much of our sanity will be intact when that glorious day happens.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wish us luck!</span>Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-57131382001187035722013-04-02T18:57:00.000-07:002013-04-02T18:57:25.977-07:00Friends<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-D04gRcMbda9yAeu_121M01Nu-yU9tH8OorZoqSy40O7HI-GRHB6ccu9Qkg9Igb9DjbXxQsrjCv8PnriZPeuzbIKOBXZUCrlS7ykWmrvjoqOfZUvTfvXU0POKvnfC-HpTbgoyO2t3sriX/s1600/Scan39_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-D04gRcMbda9yAeu_121M01Nu-yU9tH8OorZoqSy40O7HI-GRHB6ccu9Qkg9Igb9DjbXxQsrjCv8PnriZPeuzbIKOBXZUCrlS7ykWmrvjoqOfZUvTfvXU0POKvnfC-HpTbgoyO2t3sriX/s640/Scan39_1.jpg" width="440" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tomorrow my life-long friend is coming for a visit. Too many people throw around the phrase life-long friend. They typically mean someone that they have known from early childhood. In some cases they may have even known the person before kindergarten. While that is a long time I challenge the statement of "life-long".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not to brag...but mine is a true life-long friendship. It acually started in-utero. Our mothers were friends before we were born. They were friends before they were married. Friends before their pregnancies. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ16quwEsT_b6_re-AGwWprvnkcu4ErwomKu1TSUXubdXOATxhyP2_E1MouHUlk1F0lvbLnYgnscVW-BF6VCAAauKy8JKiJ0edvpnZTeBIp80NG4cZOOmKekn6ydjGW84EtW_nrf2h6yKd/s1600/Scan99_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ16quwEsT_b6_re-AGwWprvnkcu4ErwomKu1TSUXubdXOATxhyP2_E1MouHUlk1F0lvbLnYgnscVW-BF6VCAAauKy8JKiJ0edvpnZTeBIp80NG4cZOOmKekn6ydjGW84EtW_nrf2h6yKd/s640/Scan99_1.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once roommates they ended up loosing touch after one moved across the country. After moving back years later they ended up running into each other on the street both pregnant by this time. Our mothers started up their friendship again supporting each other throughout their pregnancies. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On the day of my birth my Mom called up my friend's Mom to see how she was doing. When she called she found out that she had actually gone to the hospital; she was in labor. Not long after making that phone call my Mom went into labor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My Mom ended up in the same delivery room as her friend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We were born on the same day...40 minutes apart.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSoLEwhUrJVs1smGH2Y1WpHuS3Kdy4n_Jr4C7rRTyiUpo7zv8u3uCUJAiCYKUvoGucVu5cy_-9rDgX66F3TvyrkNp5VuMVxlQUK9ZaAjrU3jOm1D6TOyFbgGHcUSe5Hl9wN0lpwyTniFrC/s1600/Scan36_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="502" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSoLEwhUrJVs1smGH2Y1WpHuS3Kdy4n_Jr4C7rRTyiUpo7zv8u3uCUJAiCYKUvoGucVu5cy_-9rDgX66F3TvyrkNp5VuMVxlQUK9ZaAjrU3jOm1D6TOyFbgGHcUSe5Hl9wN0lpwyTniFrC/s640/Scan36_1.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We grew up together. Even though we went to different schools and had different circles of friends we had a special friendship that has lasted through the years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have been lucky to have her in my life. She has two beautiful twin girls that mean the world to her. They have had their struggles. Born premature they needed extra TLC from the beginning. When one of her girls developed liver problems and needed a liver transplant she handled everything with an amazing inner strength. She had to struggle through long days and nights, numerous trips to the hospital, and watching her little one go through multiple procedures. She is the strongest person I know and I hope I can be half the mother she has become.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGbIoJp1jPoG_wJaaxtnwSzvEAeL5tgPssOwaiv-5opygt4osP11O9n9b_caZhvjZMMObM7LAdGoO82TNx1mmLJoml7xkpdXLwzXUnWS1TFFhoJ8mPVYex07fmEhhwhvYY5Q11JxB7TtL/s1600/Scan115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGbIoJp1jPoG_wJaaxtnwSzvEAeL5tgPssOwaiv-5opygt4osP11O9n9b_caZhvjZMMObM7LAdGoO82TNx1mmLJoml7xkpdXLwzXUnWS1TFFhoJ8mPVYex07fmEhhwhvYY5Q11JxB7TtL/s640/Scan115.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Last week she called and let me know that she was making a surprise visit to see me and baby girl this week. I didn't realize how much I missed her until I knew she was coming.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I want her to meet my baby. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I want to hug her. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I want my best friend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our friendship has evolved over the years. We are no longer the girls that used to sing stupid songs, fall off chairs, and spin around until we touch hands. We are mother's and have our own girls now. While they won't be able to say they are life-long friends I hope we can raise them as special friends. Friends that don't necessarily need to talk or see each other everyday. Friends that will be there no matter what, no matter the distance, no matter how much time has gone by.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kristie (you will always be Kristie to me) thank you for planning this trip. I love you and can't wait to see you tomorrow.</span> <br />
<br />Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-23528425557259158822013-03-31T12:12:00.002-07:002013-03-31T12:12:58.204-07:00Hopping Down the Bunny Trail<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Easter!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8lyJZh9do2morPgXFUuXywV5Mc8rm3C7DsbwmP23AgjYeHfaPNDrLAZcBg9dYYc8xKjVMpDcIBCyRkLgELSVcPhsMmRU8adtFOCDMy3oIChtNcJZM9uvwcWrkHcKLtFBUvhB2zRGV2gyq/s1600/Hadley_033013+(335)edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8lyJZh9do2morPgXFUuXywV5Mc8rm3C7DsbwmP23AgjYeHfaPNDrLAZcBg9dYYc8xKjVMpDcIBCyRkLgELSVcPhsMmRU8adtFOCDMy3oIChtNcJZM9uvwcWrkHcKLtFBUvhB2zRGV2gyq/s640/Hadley_033013+(335)edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was certain I was going to rush out and buy an over-the-top Easter dress for baby girl. However after I had looked at a few stores I changed my mind. Don't get me wrong I saw plenty of outfits that could make you just die from the cuteness. But little babies tend to get lost a bit in all of that flounce. Many of the dresses just wouldn't look right on a baby, they needed a toddler that could stand up to do the cute justice. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So I decided to wait another year for the big time Easter dress. I should probably warn her now that next year she will be in ruffles and there will be an Easter bonnet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I figured a cute onesie and a skirt would do the trick for this year. This was going to be my first craft project post baby.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let me just say that this little project, that would have taken me a couple of hours pre-baby, took me multiple days and required I forgo a couple of Mom naps to complete. I think it was worth it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Onesie -</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">No big deal here all I did was find a cute bunny picture and stitch witchery it onto the onesie.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOrD9QJwRNPKrpD6kQi_LWXWS2uZ6F1U3PFZmqRlSeStTHG6JQ6QMjn60M_ANgOT5EAnDPO8g_OKfdHPTgA08gZgik-o13Xfy76rfzTp5mAJzB7aE_a6Y5VNMXGzLfvhNH44YKvyQVEvvc/s1600/IMG_1476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOrD9QJwRNPKrpD6kQi_LWXWS2uZ6F1U3PFZmqRlSeStTHG6JQ6QMjn60M_ANgOT5EAnDPO8g_OKfdHPTgA08gZgik-o13Xfy76rfzTp5mAJzB7aE_a6Y5VNMXGzLfvhNH44YKvyQVEvvc/s640/IMG_1476.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Skirt -</strong> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I "semi" followed the tutorial found </span><a href="http://crazylittleprojects.com/2012/10/three-layer-baby-girl-skirt.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> from Crazy Little Projects. I will say that this works a bit better for a larger baby. I ended up having to make the top layer much smaller than it should have been because I didn't have enough real estate to get in 3 layers. If I had to do it over I would probably make my skirt a bit longer in order to accommodate all 3 layers. I still like the end result so no biggie!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Leggings</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">These are probably what I was most excited about on this project. I love little baby leggings but I can't seem to find exactly what I want. I had actually tried to find white leggings at the store without any luck. I was very excited when I stumbled upon this tutorial for easy baby leggings from </span><a href="http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2011/09/super-simple-leggings-only-2-fabric-pieces.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Make It Love It</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">. While the tutorial was very simple I was concerned about sewing with knit. I have a pretty cheapo sewing machine and I was unsure if I could even sew on the fabric. I made a bold move, bought a twin needle and just went for it. Despite one complete baby fuss meltdown during a critical step everything went together super easy. I will be making more of these. They are very easy and I can get exactly what I want.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKPteUY_tDtF5Bft1naeYBzfuc6q3GbvbCn07royzx1Im5EjRIPMFXwUcb8UgWzQIEw1n53Wp7P_XYxOou431kxnix1OmdiyiaEvm11trplF4DAoqW1RDLWKlW4pJsbOnDfH7lLWpbHvpr/s1600/IMG_1467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKPteUY_tDtF5Bft1naeYBzfuc6q3GbvbCn07royzx1Im5EjRIPMFXwUcb8UgWzQIEw1n53Wp7P_XYxOou431kxnix1OmdiyiaEvm11trplF4DAoqW1RDLWKlW4pJsbOnDfH7lLWpbHvpr/s640/IMG_1467.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So not to toot my own horn but I am pleased with my first post baby craft (even if it did take a long time to complete). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Add a few Easter eggs and bam...cutest Easter baby ever!</span><br />
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Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-78854039254684799462013-03-27T04:00:00.000-07:002013-03-27T04:00:01.504-07:00Little by Little<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4JjzIL4bxWAlxIZfBt87TeDjx-3fCqQbR8qBohyphenhyphenvuBMmiFqhQedk9aeL26JdqIMsV9SoqTYAcRiKTMx6JZBv4kw4PvHk2n0htKvkN3d36hPl7IJ_MCyoNSqF5dssEWdvux8iKY1dh_WRi/s1600/Hadley_031213+(9).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4JjzIL4bxWAlxIZfBt87TeDjx-3fCqQbR8qBohyphenhyphenvuBMmiFqhQedk9aeL26JdqIMsV9SoqTYAcRiKTMx6JZBv4kw4PvHk2n0htKvkN3d36hPl7IJ_MCyoNSqF5dssEWdvux8iKY1dh_WRi/s640/Hadley_031213+(9).JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Look who is one month old already. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is true what they say, time goes by too quickly when you have a baby. These past four weeks have been filled with little things that have turned into the biggest moments of our lives.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Her hands will never be this small again.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9SgzjRRrjBj9yAHj7fdOw0Mx6dqCH3a-1K1SzkbzQsx3C2Ug0atVDujOccPF0aqgZT7yTScP7WmJFrE9tFCWiZuoPXsuFv6T9nB6tmOHX0pgM6TVtJw2eKj6fRL11jKWoRiU5d9hzOSCC/s1600/Hadley_022413a+(2)+edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9SgzjRRrjBj9yAHj7fdOw0Mx6dqCH3a-1K1SzkbzQsx3C2Ug0atVDujOccPF0aqgZT7yTScP7WmJFrE9tFCWiZuoPXsuFv6T9nB6tmOHX0pgM6TVtJw2eKj6fRL11jKWoRiU5d9hzOSCC/s640/Hadley_022413a+(2)+edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">She will no longer fit so easily in her daddy's arms.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvqhpVzj3VhyxgkAQqp0cPzKwyFdlhkZaiYe16xFExnhlh7pIlJA1IrMlPRmkzEToiKVTCtmAj9Z1EgV8R3PEF_UM_MYKlFIlOBw2sq6pxUcEbzZCLPQjxSjtis6Kz2lTwBC3_LEJ9LrrR/s1600/Hadley_030213a+%25288%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvqhpVzj3VhyxgkAQqp0cPzKwyFdlhkZaiYe16xFExnhlh7pIlJA1IrMlPRmkzEToiKVTCtmAj9Z1EgV8R3PEF_UM_MYKlFIlOBw2sq6pxUcEbzZCLPQjxSjtis6Kz2lTwBC3_LEJ9LrrR/s640/Hadley_030213a+%25288%2529.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">She will never have a first bath again.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0yfro17CNuHi90LPPbZPx6ZsQf7qY68mLpvWRAM1v_x4rmoNZ_O3c9Z5Tt8S6m1x5rfZBI2ml21Cs3fJVtSuP8yJZW7Vh2KAO6dE0r7wYfWYbusHK-rkWgtwDa6LHb2Gc0C2YaSlKsyIG/s1600/Hadley_022513FirstBath+(15).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0yfro17CNuHi90LPPbZPx6ZsQf7qY68mLpvWRAM1v_x4rmoNZ_O3c9Z5Tt8S6m1x5rfZBI2ml21Cs3fJVtSuP8yJZW7Vh2KAO6dE0r7wYfWYbusHK-rkWgtwDa6LHb2Gc0C2YaSlKsyIG/s640/Hadley_022513FirstBath+(15).JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Her little bottom will not fit as well into the nook of Momma's arm.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5PGks9iUto6_EkWMUrn7ObxzTh0IdVZjEA3WjpuEjgsbSdgQ22PRTKkHoQUgf16oewzhfyn8jeLSLWEs6sIEHbpy7FlkKTTzvUnqMnlXGePdB7lEv0CgQn3EmmAR83lteBHE96teV4mm-/s1600/Hadley_031613a+(14).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5PGks9iUto6_EkWMUrn7ObxzTh0IdVZjEA3WjpuEjgsbSdgQ22PRTKkHoQUgf16oewzhfyn8jeLSLWEs6sIEHbpy7FlkKTTzvUnqMnlXGePdB7lEv0CgQn3EmmAR83lteBHE96teV4mm-/s640/Hadley_031613a+(14).jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">She has been to the park, seen all of her Grandparents (and Great-Grandpa), and has been kissed more times than can be counted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This past week I packed away the newborn clothes. I will admit...there were tears. Tears for the time that has already gone by too quickly, but also tears in anticipation for all of the firsts that are still yet to come.</span><br />
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Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-14210943810886300382013-03-25T12:53:00.001-07:002013-03-25T12:53:23.142-07:00Babies Don't Like To Be Naked<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisg272RdXvBKB69TtHYEcmX5eD-xGZ1vTHobiW8PdfRRB7VghkTCyL6RCf1gR8utMscgo7sK9fnVfCE0buV211Uv9GdZYZzMcT_B6Jm5pIgN311qGLJnak_8bTfWiUielqg0DU29RVyhi5/s1600/Hadley_022613a+(3)+edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisg272RdXvBKB69TtHYEcmX5eD-xGZ1vTHobiW8PdfRRB7VghkTCyL6RCf1gR8utMscgo7sK9fnVfCE0buV211Uv9GdZYZzMcT_B6Jm5pIgN311qGLJnak_8bTfWiUielqg0DU29RVyhi5/s640/Hadley_022613a+(3)+edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I like to consider myself an amateur photographer. Emphasis on the amateur part. So I of course had grand delusions of taking my own newborn photographs. Up until now my photographs have mostly been limited to macro photos of inanimate objects or the occasional child of a friend that I manage to wrangle for a few minutes. I don't typically do posed photos I tend to focus more on candid shots. Just capturing small moments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So of course now that I have my own child and unlimited access to her I decided to try my hand at doing some posing. And what is more cute and sweet then a sleeping naked baby?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is a reason that professional newborn photographers exist. After spending a couple of days trying to get some decent shots I have determined the following things.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">1) Babies do not like to be naked.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1OWy1mJA1P9ILMmxDul8m-nWYpMQAFnC9ezMQChQnm7Oec57gkMeJDRttu8bYpIL2dRkTn_IBD2DoN5t9YMyonMPhyVbUBS_tsG2PNP1AGgDB-i0cGzkRjsoOtCcA60BskWdr3xxGUT82/s1600/Hadley_030113+(27).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1OWy1mJA1P9ILMmxDul8m-nWYpMQAFnC9ezMQChQnm7Oec57gkMeJDRttu8bYpIL2dRkTn_IBD2DoN5t9YMyonMPhyVbUBS_tsG2PNP1AGgDB-i0cGzkRjsoOtCcA60BskWdr3xxGUT82/s640/Hadley_030113+(27).JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2) Babies really do not like to be naked in a ceramic bowl.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">3) Naked babies will take any and all opportunities to pee or poop on you when naked (especially if they are in a ceramic bowl.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">4) Babies do not like to stay in the position you have placed them.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj88zgohSZICQ4HrjvwZkjFIu8tdzMHOa_JoH3tmLreQB7qsKKtvuoQ_OKuYVBY-M3PKVfPnQ3G70vAFgY_m4-zVzRHrAi_1SXemweNIr5Z50P_tdz8PuQUBgSZmIi5Jauf5HKcwkJr7Yp9/s1600/Hadley_030313+(68).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj88zgohSZICQ4HrjvwZkjFIu8tdzMHOa_JoH3tmLreQB7qsKKtvuoQ_OKuYVBY-M3PKVfPnQ3G70vAFgY_m4-zVzRHrAi_1SXemweNIr5Z50P_tdz8PuQUBgSZmIi5Jauf5HKcwkJr7Yp9/s640/Hadley_030313+(68).JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">5) Babies to not adjust their feeding schedules so that you can use the natural light coming through your living room. They instead sleep through all of the good light so you are reduced to scrambling around your house to round up any floor lamps you can find. Only to have the baby be ready for the next feeding by the time you are finally ready to start taking pictures.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">6) Babies will squint, squirm, and spit up just when you finally get them positioned correctly.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxmGqUrQj2XArfRNMgACUue5uP8r87I2Txp5RQQ9JXyfJKxqnUgc93Y8w42XocMc_n80vndy0W69iUHnBY7dkGBy5hLsmliXmpw1tBnXDHzlv0CaO5WGGWsq2N_cJaAfFrBtGVU490enT/s1600/Hadley_022613PosedPic+(23)ed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxmGqUrQj2XArfRNMgACUue5uP8r87I2Txp5RQQ9JXyfJKxqnUgc93Y8w42XocMc_n80vndy0W69iUHnBY7dkGBy5hLsmliXmpw1tBnXDHzlv0CaO5WGGWsq2N_cJaAfFrBtGVU490enT/s640/Hadley_022613PosedPic+(23)ed.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">7) Babies do not like to be naked...they will poop on you. (Yes this is a repeat but I feel it needs to be stated more than once as it happened more than once.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">8) Babies will let you know when the photo shoot is over. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6XnpMRtLbNyUtP3vbv9ZZbVjWzzVJ5-RKL2eielSUCriBC4HzsLWnGd2VU1VZUsU4I7mPiiYWjUGycaVVtSBd37RvAslEySltMKsdYsjlVb8BaRgqu32uaLbVe5Tzy-b-xcSHz0kVU6Bg/s1600/Hadley_022613PosedPic+(21).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6XnpMRtLbNyUtP3vbv9ZZbVjWzzVJ5-RKL2eielSUCriBC4HzsLWnGd2VU1VZUsU4I7mPiiYWjUGycaVVtSBd37RvAslEySltMKsdYsjlVb8BaRgqu32uaLbVe5Tzy-b-xcSHz0kVU6Bg/s640/Hadley_022613PosedPic+(21).JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bottom line. If I want posed naked newborn pictures I am going to have to find someone else to take them...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">...however if I stick to a mix of clothed poses and candid shots I will be okay.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuRpoY2GKclNa4xbpMnaCErD1uJ-8GIbGdfwv3Rb_kjZnUlsJA9E0PbkLJtbcXRLFdqujcbis-cYTAI10f7HaXm8LGCMdb3SmKqObFyXR0m5DtwGysRzlpJHzwQzaMLjhmI59kUtnu-sQT/s1600/Hadley_030213a+(7)+edit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuRpoY2GKclNa4xbpMnaCErD1uJ-8GIbGdfwv3Rb_kjZnUlsJA9E0PbkLJtbcXRLFdqujcbis-cYTAI10f7HaXm8LGCMdb3SmKqObFyXR0m5DtwGysRzlpJHzwQzaMLjhmI59kUtnu-sQT/s640/Hadley_030213a+(7)+edit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"></span><br />Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2289263829955306947.post-25884823917666583442013-02-28T06:38:00.001-08:002013-02-28T06:38:24.835-08:00Happy Birthday!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvKLhyPj1R0fUpCEq1HgAekLr2eO21Bep_jM72nQi6D_wZsZ_nMZrI2PwoSazWN6nv9SyAznbKooK0jQggUGTasM8ufEqq2KFQGryagr5g0VXQOPNguy-d3t-mvxpa3ezHikICjItRTy-l/s1600/IMG_8548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvKLhyPj1R0fUpCEq1HgAekLr2eO21Bep_jM72nQi6D_wZsZ_nMZrI2PwoSazWN6nv9SyAznbKooK0jQggUGTasM8ufEqq2KFQGryagr5g0VXQOPNguy-d3t-mvxpa3ezHikICjItRTy-l/s640/IMG_8548.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I woke up on Thursday the 21st still pregnant. I was ready to get labor going. There are a ton of theories and induction superstitions out there. Some have a loose medical tie (walking, etc.) and some are just down right stupid (touch your left foot to your left ear...who can even do that when they are 9 months preggo!). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I decided that I was going to up my efforts to move baby girl along. As stated above I was unable to get my foot to my ear (yes I tried) so I went a bit more conventional.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My Mom and I went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant to get some spicy food. I had initially planned on meeting a friend downtown to get some amazing enchilada suzas but decided at the last minute that I probably shouldn't be driving over an hour away from home base. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next up on the "get the baby out mission" was some shopping. Went headed to the mall to do some window shopping while getting in some good power walking. At the beginning of the walking efforts I was pretty sure that I was going to be pregnant forever...however toward the end I was feeling a bit "off." We made one final quick stop to pick up a baby book. I had been going back and forth on if I actually wanted to do an actual book...I decided yes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">With baby book in the backseat we headed home. We had only been home about an hour when I felt my first contraction. Of course I wasn't sure at the time that was what was going on, only that it hurt and it was a new sensation. What happened after that was a roller coaster that ended in the birth of my beautiful baby girl.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoHYuQFCEBzOyuN7hzrJtj1c4BiEdHdNdySV14nr3AGhqznz6QYuPu30bzmXcselh5lJPQtH8PsNrwpo5oo31j6OLeMo_JGN2884Sldv0IFDZ9rokPpFM7xxatJhdJR6AUKpBr1cSlW-H3/s1600/IMG_8571.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoHYuQFCEBzOyuN7hzrJtj1c4BiEdHdNdySV14nr3AGhqznz6QYuPu30bzmXcselh5lJPQtH8PsNrwpo5oo31j6OLeMo_JGN2884Sldv0IFDZ9rokPpFM7xxatJhdJR6AUKpBr1cSlW-H3/s640/IMG_8571.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>4:00 PM</strong> First contractions started.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>4:15</strong> Called the husband at work and</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> told him that he needed to skip his 5:00 meeting as "I think things are getting started".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>5:00</strong> The husband came home. He instantly thought I was probably over reacting and that if I was in fact having contractions we still had a long way to go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>6:15</strong> We made the decision to head into the hospital. I had been having regular very strong contractions every 20 minutes...however I was having some slightly milder contractions every in between the strong ones. Obviously 20 minutes apart is too far to head into labor and delivery...but if you counted the milder ones we were looking at every 5 minutes apart. I panicked. I was convinced that all of the contractions should be counted and we needed to head in. The husband was prepared to be sent home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><strong>6:20</strong> While the husband quickly packed up the car I quickly slapped a layer of frosting on the cake in between contractions. This was probably one of the stupidest things I have done but at the time it was really important to me. I will admit that my Mom had to finish the frosting effort as the contraction pain knocked me down a bit and I needed to get in the car.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>7:00</strong> Arrived at the hospital and got checked into labor and delivery. The husband insisted on leaving all of the bags in the car as he didn't want to have to do the "walk of shame" back out with all of our stuff when they sent us home to labor a bit more before admitting us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>7:45</strong> The decision was made to admit us (Ha! I knew it was the real thing!). I was dilated to a 4+ so we were still expecting a long labor ahead of us...but thankfully it would be with an epidural.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>8:00</strong> We were in our labor and delivery room waiting for the IV to get placed. As soon as the IV was in the anesthesiologist can in to do the epi. I will admit I was pretty nervous about getting the epi. I mean it is a needle going toward my spinal cord! I know the topic of drugs vs. natural is a huge one for pregnant women. I personally cannot recommend the epi more! It was amazing and took the pain away instantly. Mine was also a really good one that allowed me to still be able to move my legs a bit. I never felt overly drugged up and I didn't have any side effects. The doc did mention that because of my height (I am a shortie) I would most likely have my blood pressure drop a bit which would be fine as they could correct that with a simple administration of drugs. I was supposed to let them know if I got nauseous. So all was good. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;"><strong>9:00</strong> The doctor broke my water to try and jump start everything.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>9:30</strong> The nurse told us to get ready to wait around for the next 5-9 hours while my body dilated from the 4 to a 10. The husband was doing jumping jacks trying to wake up a bit and we were getting ready to watch a couple of movies on Netflix. I started to feel nauseous. I called the nurse and waited. While waiting the alarm on my blood pressure went off. My blood pressure had begun to drop rapidly. The anesthesiologist and nurse came in and gave me the mediation to stabilize my blood pressure. The OB doctor also came in around that time. He said he wanted to do a quick check on my progress as there was a VERY SLIM chance that the blood pressure drop and nauseous was due to me being in the final stages of labor and not actually due to the epidural. The doc and nurses reassured us that this was REALLY RARE for a first time mom. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>10:15</strong> "You are dilated to a 9. Get ready to push in 30 minutes." After the doctor made that statement pretty much everything else is a blur. There was a flourish of activity with nurses getting things ready. The husband had to make a quick call to the Grandmas (both my Mom and his Mom) to let them know that they needed to get in the car and drive to the hospital NOW. I got a bit panicky as things were happening so fast I did not have time to mentally prepare myself. Looking back it was probably a good thing as I would have only succeeded in stressing myself out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>11:00</strong> - After some great coaching from the doctor about how to push we were ready to go. It was just a couple of nurses, the doctor, and the husband in the room. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. Because I had the epi I could not feel when to push or if I was pushing correctly. The doctor had to guide me. After a few rounds of pushing the alarm on baby girl's heart started sounding. She was in distress and stuck in the birth canal. The husband and I could tell that the nurses and doc were concerned. Out came the vacuum. I had hoped to avoid it but obviously we needed to get baby girl out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>11:30</strong> - Our lives changed. One final set of pushes and one application of the vacuum and Hadley Anne was born.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMijpisqhvSVyqy0qMx6kZfbIQAfmvTbFkXjqIRjbbiVe93BhADafBr91SgVLHaUNwjGrmlpZccD0sSVzbAupVnMTZVp3J_byoHCl_JPzb_UktXiGA4cyrrXL2lf2W5gVHIcYw6V09qswB/s1600/IMG_8564.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMijpisqhvSVyqy0qMx6kZfbIQAfmvTbFkXjqIRjbbiVe93BhADafBr91SgVLHaUNwjGrmlpZccD0sSVzbAupVnMTZVp3J_byoHCl_JPzb_UktXiGA4cyrrXL2lf2W5gVHIcYw6V09qswB/s640/IMG_8564.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Through a bunch of tears I finally was able to see my baby girl as she was placed on my chest. The husband cut the cord and she was quickly whisked away to be checked out by the pediatric nurse. The husband went to the other side of the room with baby girl while the doctor finished with me. I ended up having a pretty good number of stitches but honestly I didn't even ask anything about myself I just wanted to hear her cry and see if she needed any time in the nursery or NICU. Thankfully she did not. She passed all tests and was eventually placed into my arms.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I can't even describe that feeling...there are no words.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQaXBUNTbSUgu9MCBgP04MWXTArIASXwsBQHbqXdwyu1vFZRVeTyX22ek7lkWK7akQCn8EjMnTB51h8K0HtG1s5F2eUpZxe3pxvNwv1mMdbxrdaNumVtDUIC74ihpK7RdkJeTR0_f-klfA/s1600/IMG_8572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQaXBUNTbSUgu9MCBgP04MWXTArIASXwsBQHbqXdwyu1vFZRVeTyX22ek7lkWK7akQCn8EjMnTB51h8K0HtG1s5F2eUpZxe3pxvNwv1mMdbxrdaNumVtDUIC74ihpK7RdkJeTR0_f-klfA/s640/IMG_8572.JPG" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>(She was upset that she didn't get any cake!)</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Happy Birthday Hadley!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Love Mom & Dad</span><br />
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<br />Wood and Clothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476993905026570313noreply@blogger.com2