New Years

My parents came for New Years.  We loved having them here, and I think they loved being here.  Grandpa Sorensen loved getting to play with Kate, and she quite liked him.  This is them playing peek-a-boo together.

The boys entertained themselves New Years Eve with Twister.

And the rest of us played Apples to Apples.

Our house was still very much under construction, but we managed to cook meatballs in a little toaster oven that Scott's parents let us borrow and we did fondue in the the crockpot.

Everyone made it till midnight except Kate and Josh. We are all excited for this year.  It will be a big one.  A trip to Disneyland.  A half marathon planned for me this summer.  Kate learning to walk.  So many things to look forward to in 2014!!!

House Update

It's been a while since I updated on the kitchen remodel.  So much has happened over the last month, and it's so close to being completely done.  It's functional now, and that's the best part.  Here is a photo summary of the progress over the last month.

Wainscoting went in the eating area.

The island was placed in the kitchen.

I had a hard time picking paint colors.  I wanted something that would blend well with the grey in my living room.  I thought about going dramatic and doing a dark grey (bottom), but in the end went with the honey color on the right.  I wanted to keep my kitchen bright, so in the end, I'm glad I went with the lighter color.  The blue in the middle is the color we did in our pantry.

The granite was placed on our island and the holes were drilled for the faucet.

Our awesome electrician hard at work (my cousin Travis), and his brave little helper (Owen).

I was so excited when the shelves went in my pantry and I was able to start filling it with food.

I LOVE my granite.

I love my pull out trash drawer.

It was such a happy day when my sink went in.  I was so sick of doing dishes in my shallow bathroom sink.

 The future home of the double ovens.  Owen thought it made the perfect little hang out place.  Seriously, this was his favorite place to be.  I was kind of sad to fill it up with ovens and take it away from him.

The rest of the floor went in.  Casings went in around the doors and windows and they got painted.

The painting done....

My finished hallway with my new rug.

 I hung my first picture.  This sums up my whole motivation behind this remodel.  It was never about having a beautiful kitchen (although it has ended up gorgeous), it was always about having a functional kitchen that would work for our family.  I wanted an eating area that was big enough for a table that we could all sit around and eat together.  Of course I got a lot more than that, but functionality drove every decision I made throughout the whole remodel.  I really feel that the kitchen we have now will make it easier to be a family.

I thought about doing a more dramatic back splash (colored glass tile), but in the end went with something clean and simple.  I love the way it compliments the granite.

My double ovens.  Currently they aren't usable.  We waited so long to get them, and when we turned them on the first time, they made a terrible noise.  We had a repairman come out, and he said he needed to order parts for both ovens, and that if it were him, he would return them to the store and ask for new ones.  So we are waiting for our new ovens to arrive.

I agonized forever over what light to get above my table.  I found one online called an "ochre pear chandelier" and LOVED it.  I searched around and discovered it ran a spendy $10,000.  Slightly outside of my price range.

This is the original ($10,000)

So I searched online some more and found a great knock off of the ochre pear, but it was $900.  Still too expensive.

This is the $900 one.

So I looked more and found a knock off of the knock off for only $200.  I was worried it would look cheap and wouldn't compare to the original, but I LOVE the way it turned out. I really really love it, and think it looks remarkably like the original for a fraction of the price.

Just today the crown molding went up on top my cupboards.  I love my row of glass cupboards at the top and need to find more pretties to display.

For the first time in my life, I have a gas cook top (instead of electric).  It's an adjustment, but I think I'll love it in the end.

And I really really really love my pantry.  We moved our "milk fridge" in from the garage, and it is so nice to not have to go outside to get a gallon of milk every time we run out. 

Still waiting on a door knob, but I had to show off my pretty reeded glass pantry door.

And my pendant lights above my island. 

We now are just waiting on the vent hood to go in above my cooktop and just a few more doors to go on cupboards.  I cant wait till it's completely done.  Then I'll take lots of pictures from every angle to show off how great it turned out.

And then the upstairs bedroom and bathroom addition will start.  I don't think it will be so rough as the kitchen will have been.  With the kitchen we were kicked out of a pretty major existing space.  With the upstairs, they will be working in a new space.  It will be nice, though, when I finally have my house back to myself.  Even though I've gotten to know these workers really well, I can't say that I will miss having them show up at my door every day at 8am.

Owen Sleeping

Here we go with another addition of "Owen's strange sleeping habits".  He seriously just goes and goes until he cant go any more, then he just collapses where ever he is. 

Here we have him stretched between the edge of our bed and the ottoman.

Notice how he is on top of Nate.  Nate is such a patient brother.

Owen found Josh's old glasses, and decided he needed to wear them around for two days.

This was just last night.  He collapsed right in front of our bedroom door. 

Therapy

I just dropped Aaron off at therapy.  As we were driving there (it's about a 15 minute drive), he turned to me and said, "So today I found out that Sara was right, I can't draw very good."  We were stopped at a stop light, so I turned to look at him and said, "What did Sara tell you?"  He said, "She said it a long time ago, that I wasn't good at art.  And today I found out that she was right.  We had to draw something, and mine was terrible.  Everyone else's looked good, but mine was aweful."  He had tears welling up in his eyes, and I could tell that he wasn't just fishing for compliments, he was really upset about it. 

I sighed deeply, then tried to heal my little boy's feelings.  "Aaron, do you remember why you started going to therapy?"  He shook his head "no".  "It was a long time ago--two years ago.  You were in Kindergarten, and you couldn't hold a pencil to write.  But, we started going to therapy, and you worked really hard to be able to hold a pencil, and worked so hard at making your hand writing better, and now it's great."  He interrupted me, "I'm not talking about my handwriting, I'm talking about my drawing".  I said, "I know.  But, you know you had to work really really hard to learn to write and make it look good.  You've had to work harder than any of your other friends.  But you've done it.  Drawing is a lot like writing, and it probably is harder for you than everyone else.  But, just like writing, if you practice enough you will get better."

Sometimes I wish I could ease Aaron's burdens.  He has to work so hard on things, and it doesn't seem fair that it comes so easy for others.  I do know it is making him strong, and that's a good thing.  But at times, when he has a hard day, I wouldn't blame him for just throwing in the towel and saying "enough!".  Over Christmas he really struggled.  He needs stability.  This kitchen remodel has been really hard on him.  He doesn't like change.  At all.  And then not being in school, and having the craziness of Christmas, he really struggled.  We ended up doing two days of therapy (two hours each day) each week he was out during Christmas break, and I think it helped. 

Aaron is a tough kid.  I remember him being little (like 2 or 3), and being so frustrated that he was so incredibly strong willed.  I kept telling myself that it would be a good trait for him to have later in life.  And I can now see that it is that strong will that is enabling him to concur his SPD.  He has come so far and improved so much.  He will always struggle, but I hope that he came to our home because we were the best equipped to help him live a happy and full life.  But it's days like this that I find myself hoping that I'm doing enough.  I hope I am.