5 things that should not go well together…
Renovations, kids, pregnancy, holidays, and messy people. See how we are dealing with it all while living in less than 800 SF of our home during a large renovation.
.jpg)
The technical stuff… What are we doing to our 1915 2 bed 1bath craftsman style home…? We will be adding about 650 square feet and a detached office in the backyard. The house addition will include the rip out and remodel of a new kitchen stepping down into new living area about the size of the cut down tree, deck and rock area on the right in the picture below. Where you see the wall of windows on the left … we will have a new hallway filled with storage cupboards and a laundry closet, a new bathroom that will hang over into the driveway space, and a doorway to our new modest sized bedroom. Extras things we have had to do and will be doing during this remodel are, leveling and adding footings under existing house, re framing old kitchen floor, adding new roof to entire house, new electrical to existing house, (currently old knob and tube) stucco entire house ( we wish we could afford siding…) 2 new front windows if we can afford it, and new porch window framing and railing…
If you want to follow along daily… head over and watch my Instagram stories… @jennbartellkids or view my highlight reel named “remodel” to see all the way back to the very beginning…
.jpg)
.jpg)
BEFORE – KITCHEN
BEFORE – LAUNDRY ROOM
It may be because this has been a dream of ours since we purchased this house in 2009… but we have not been put out too much by not having a kitchen sink, a dishwasher, an oven, or a stove…. The temperatures of the house have been mostly dealt with since finding 3 space heaters that do the job pretty well while our central heat is non existent. The kids have been great. Never complaining about anything house related… they do make sure to tell us every time we say things like, “go throw that away in the kitchen garbage…” that “we don’t have a kitchen…” but other than that, they have been champs. Justin and I have been pushing through… not without little disagreements here and there… but we are getting the decisions made and compromising sometimes. He is super generous and lets me have my way on a lot of things. Him having a design background and me thinking I know what I want because I saw it on pinterest can sometimes bring us head to head on a simple decision like a faucet color. haha. At least Its just the little things that bring it on.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
I feel so lucky to have had a very simple pregnancy so far. We were already scheduled to start this project in Sept and expected to be done in March when we found out in 3 months before starting we were pregnant with our third baby. Justin always says I’m pretty much the same person while pregnant and he wouldn’t know what to do if I was an emotional wreck like I am supposed to be… but I am giving all credit to the pregnancy gods…I have no idea what I have done in life to deserve three very simple pregnancies and almost feel guilty saying so. I had started at a lower weight than I had been for awhile this pregnancy. Maybe that has made this one extra easy… ?? I had been eating Keto to try and get back in shape for about 4 months before becoming pregnant. I felt great and have continued trying to eat mostly Keto but slipping often the closer we get to the end. All I want is sweets and of course they are very easy to find from Halloween to Christmas…
.jpg)
We wanted to make sure the kids are getting the same Christmas experience as they are used to… so, yes… we got our tree and all of our decorations out. (We don’t keep a ton of Christmas decor so that made it a little easier to bring out) The tree is in the dinning room / our makeshift kitchen. Its a little tight but I don’t think I could go all of December without a little Christmas magic in our house. The backdrop for our tree is a plywood wall where there was once a wall dividing our dining room and kitchen. On the other side of that plywood is a lot of cold winter air, a couple of tarps and all the construction. We have been cooking with only a microwave and toaster but went ahead and added a good size toaster oven recently so we can make cookies for Santa.
.jpg)
.jpg)
We are starting to see the addition taking shape… its exciting! The rooms are mapped out, slab is poured, and framing is starting this week. We have been delayed a little with all the Sacramento rain… but hoping framing goes quick so we can get a roof on before the rain comes back!
.jpg)
Until next time. Lots of materials to choose and kitchen planning to get done in the next month… Wish us luck!
ADELYN
Name
-ADELYN
How old are you?
-6
What’s your favorite food?
-Broccoli… No wait… Mac and Cheese
How old is your mom?
-I dont know
How old is your dad?
-I dont know
Does your mom or dad cook dinner?
-Um, my mom
What is your moms favorite food?
Salad and Broccoli
Whats the most exciting thing you have ever done?
-Go to Disneyland
Where is the best place you have ever vacationed.
-Lake Tahoe
Do you have brothers or sisters?
-You know that I just have one sister…
Do you love your sister…? Is she your best friend?
-Yea, but not really…
How can you tell your parents love you?
-Because I am good
What’s your favorite song?
-Disney Songs. Ooooo Moana!!
What is your favorite movie?
-Ariel
What is your favorite book?
– Rapunzel
Do you have a favorite Toy?
-My little umm.. uhhh… my little baby doll…
What does the word “kind” mean?
-Loving
Are you kind?
-Uh huh…
What is your Favorite Holiday?
-Christmas and Halloween
Who is your idol?
-A princess
What city do you live in?
-Uhhh America
What does the word share mean?
-I think that means you are good…
What did you learn at school today?
-Ahhh I dont really know… I didn’t learn nothing…
What’s your favorite part of school?
-Playing with friends outside during recess…
Whats your favorite color?
-Pink and yellow
What color is your heart?
-Red
If you could meet anyone who would you meet?
-The news people
Do you have pets?
-Coco bear but she died…
What do you dream about?
-I dream about princesses a little… but sometimes I get nightmares.
If you could have one super power what would it be?
-Strength
How many teeth do you have?
-Ahhh, Can I count them…?(turns around and counts) 23! I just lost two teeth and I have two wiggiles.
Do you have a boyfriend?
-Ahhh noooo! I’m only 6! You have to be thirty or something to have a boyfriend!
Where do babies come from?
-Bellies
What do you want to be when you grow up?
-Princess
So many new things happening and new ideas to move forward with. I am excited the kids are now both in school at the same time, 3 days a week and I can now focus on some fun new things we’ve recently created or want to create in the coming months…
First… Kids Untold is back in session! So excited to add more of the super fun kids interviews we’ve been doing over the summer break!
Second… My Photography class for parents “Documenting Children – for the everyday parent” Is coming back in a new way! Have you ever wished someone would come into your home, teach you how to use your camera, show you beautiful places to shoot in your own home and then learn to edit on whatever programs you have and use on your own computer… ? I am so excited to start offering Documenting Children, for the everyday parent, mentor sessions in your own space… one on one… !
Third… The Motherhood Stories Series is coming back to the blog after a summer break! I am excited to bring you more real motherhood stories from my own personal clients!
Fourth… We are about to break ground on a huge home remodel and you better believe I will be keeping a blog category open for all the before and afters, horror stories of living through a remodel as a family and anything we may learn along the way. We will be staying here in 4 squares of less that 1,000 square feet… as a family of 4… becoming a family of 5 nearing the end of the remodel. Scared is an understatement. I am overwhelmed sitting here at 21 weeks pregnant, demo starts next week. We are scheduled to be done in March and baby is due in Jan! We have no space to put baby clothes, or for a baby to sleep… There will be no mama nesting, as I have no room available to design, organize or purchase items for… we will basically be adding on the room we will move into as our master and the baby will get the current room that we are sleeping in now. The boys have a shared room that they will be staying in throughout and after its all done. Total… we will be adding on a little over 600 SF to our current house…. a new kitchen, living area, and a “master” bedroom (no connected bath) Then we will be adding a separate detached “office/ guesthouse” in the backyard. Its exciting! It is a modest remodel but to us… this will fulfill all of our wants and needs! It will totally be worth the 6 months of crazy living! So excited to start and be done!
Fifth … Baby! Is it a girl or a boy. WE are so excited to find out in Jan when baby is born, but until then… pick a team and make your vote!
.jpg)
Sixth… I am excited to start adding to the new “For Photographers” Category I’ve recently added to my blog. This will contain tips, articles, tutorials, videos and possibly mentoring, or class opportunities in the near future…
It is going to be a busy Fall and Winter season!! I can’t wait!