Vacation to Gulf Shores, AL

Most of you have already seen our pictures from our trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama, but I thought that I would put it on the blog as well.  Our friends, Jessica and Evan, were planning on going there for vacation and asked if we wanted to join them.  We were a little hesitant at first considering Lana would be only 6 weeks old at the time, but we didn't want to pass up the opportunity with friends, having time off due to maternity leave, and Greg having more vacation to spare.  AND, it was going to be Lana's first vacation, plane ride, and trip to the beach!  

We did some research on bringing babies to the beach since Lana isn't old enough to wear sunscreen and babies can't regulate their temperature as well as adults.  We also learned that sand isn't supposed to touch babies skin because it can scratch the surface when you try to rub it off.  Jessica and Evan were driving down there, so they came to our rescue in packing the extra items for Lana.  They purchased a beach shelter from Walmart that would provide some shade and protection from the sand.  We also packed a cold pack that Greg had from his shoulder surgery that we laid her over.  Below is a picture that Evan took of Lana laying in her shelter.  Needless to say, she looked pretty miserable on the beach for the half hour that she was down there, so we went to the pool most days.

We would start off our days with breakfast at Jessica and Evan's condo and then feed Lana and head down to the beach or pool.  Then, we would go out to dinner or lunch at some pretty cool places.  We had a lot of seafood on the trip.  Greg ordered either shrimp or Mahi tacos everywhere we went, which is a nice change from his buffalo chicken wraps that he usually gets at every restaurant that we go to. :)

The trip was really nice catching up with Jessica and Evan, getting our fill of HGTV, and spending quality time with Lana, and just relaxing.  Jessica was good in suggesting that we get pictures on the beach one morning.  

Then, Lana started getting fussy, so we went back to our place, calmed her down, and took a ton more pictures in her adorable lobster swimming suit that Jessica gave her.

It was so nice to get away.  We have so many new memories and adorable pictures of Lana.  Greg helped out a ton with Lana, and it was so nice to have him home another week.  We're already talking about trips to New York and Brussels to visit family over the next couple of years.  I can't wait!

Welcome Lana Addison

This post is a little late, but this blog has been more so documentation for Greg and I and the things in our lives, and we love looking back at all the posts and seeing everything we have accomplished.  So, we introduce to you, our daughter, Lana Addison.  The birth of Lana is by far the most monumental experience that we have shared together.  I cannot put into words how much I love this little girl that we have created.  I knew I would love her before she was born, but from the moment she was put into my arms in the hospital, I could not stop telling her that I loved her, and I continue to fall in love with her everyday.

I don't want to go into my birth experience because I understand that all experiences are different, and how different they can be from child to child.  I read so many women's stories beforehand to prepare myself, and none of that knowledge was needed for when we were at the hospital.  I was thankful to have Greg there right by my side sharing in the experience and making the hospital room a calm atmosphere.  Greg is always so calming, and I'm lucky to have him as a husband.

So, we checked into the hospital at 9:30 AM, and Lana was born at 6:18 PM weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces and 19.5 inches long.  She was a little angel and perfectly healthy.  That's all I wanted.

Since then she has grown like crazy and constantly changes each week making more and more people fall in love with her.  Everyone says that I'll miss this stage of cuddling and quiet time before she talks, and I'm already realizing how fast people grow up.  She has such personality in her silence and the faces she makes just taking it all in.  

With only a few weeks left until I go back to work, we're making the most of our time together.  It's been an awesome 8 weeks, and we have been so blessed by all the visitors that we have had, dinners that have been made for us, and the time people have taken to share in our daughter's life.  

Progress in the Room Above the Garage, Part 2

In another few weeks, the room above our garage will be complete!  Kind of crazy to think about!  It won't meet the baby deadline, but it will be ready for the slew of guests that we are sure to receive a few weeks after she is born.  We cannot wait!  In this room, our dreams are truly becoming a reality, and we are so grateful!

The last update stopped with rock hung on the walls, and then we quickly got into the finishing process after that.  

The knock down finish on the ceiling makes such a difference.  That and the added can lights makes the room so much brighter.  We brought back the fan that we bought and exchanged it for one without a light kit because the room is so bright already.

We decided that we eventually want taller base throughout our entire house to add to the character of the wood casing around our room openings, so we started with this room.  We picked out a base that's 5-1/4" tall from Lowes.  It changes the entire look of the room, and we are so happy with it.  It's unpainted in all the pictures below, but it will eventually get painted to match all of our existing base, wood blinds and doors.  I mentioned in a previous post that we painted the walls in this room a color that Greg picked out as a potential color for the baby room.  It's Glidden 38-D8 "Dusty Miller".  We thought it was fitting that our last name was in it.  :)  It's a very calm green-gray color.  It's going to look so good once we have everything finished.

We met with a casework provider and went over some ideas we had for the casework and showed him Greg's original design.  Below are the pictures that we printed for our meeting.

This picture is similar to Greg's original design, but we liked how only the TV protruded into the room, so we could still maximize the space in the room since we're already losing some because of the slant of the ceiling.

These 2 pictures show the type of casework that we like, which is referred to as the "craftsman" style.  It has the simplicity of the square border around the edges.  The gentleman with the casework company suggested that we still install a small piece of quarter-round on the inside edge because this style didn't go with the design of our doors in our house.  It was nice to have the suggestion, and we saw an example in his showroom with the quarter-round piece, and it's very subtle, but a nice touch to pull it all together.

Then, there's our beloved craft/computer table, which is the whole inspiration of the room, really.  We were going to build this ourselves, but I just couldn't resist the help and the idea of just having it all done.  Without this table, the function of the room would be lost, so we threw it in our order.

He left our house and a few days later, we had some shop drawings to review.  At first there were 6 drawers next to the TV because of the concerns with weight of the items placed in the drawers.  They were just so small, so we had them change it back to 3 drawers, and we changed the drawer glides to help better support the weight.  The first round of shop drawings also had the height of the casework stopping at 30" with a full depth of 24" for all drawers and shelves.  It was just so short causing the drawers to be shallow, so we had them raise up the height to 40" and make the top drawer less deep.  This will also make the countertop only be around 14" deep.

For the countertops, he put the idea of granite in our minds saying that they may have a leftover slab in their boneyard pile that will be large enough for our project.  We couldn't say no to that!  We went into their showroom and picked out a couple slabs for them to use.  We also picked out the hardware for the cabinets to match the pulls on the casework in the picture below.  We ordered 20" long pulls for the drawers, 8" tall pulls for the doors on the cabinets, and 6" long pulls for the drawers on the craft table.

We also have carpet picked out from Lowes.  They are having a deal on their Stainmaster carpet right now (through August, I think) with free installation if you order that carpet and a Stainmaster pad.  We are getting a little ahead of ourselves, and we are going to have them measure the entire 2nd floor for pricing.  After we brought home the samples, they were just so fresh and clean compared to our dull, set-in, stained carpet that we have on our landing upstairs and our bedroom is probably the worst of all of the rooms.  They come out on Tuesday to measure, so we'll see how the pricing comes in.

Other than that, it's down to furniture and accessories...my favorite, and yet the most challenging!  We'll hold off on that for a little while.  We have a double bed to go in the room for now, but we will eventually purchase a smaller foldout couch.  Oh, and a TV.  You know Greg won't wait on that for long, and I think I saw some good upcoming sales for 4th of July, so we might have one waiting to install in the room.

Well, the next post for this series will be the finished room!  Can't wait!