OK, I want to keep my kids safe from lead too but this is INSANE!!
On Feb 10, 2009 Federal law "mandates that all products sold for those 12 and younger — including clothing — be tested for lead and phthalates, which are chemicals used to make plastics more pliable. Untested items will be considered hazardous, whether or not they contain lead."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/6195695.html
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-thrift2-2009jan02,0,2083247.story
http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/handmade-childrens-items-unintended-consequences-consumer-pr-3056/
HELLO!! Say goodbye to thrift store shopping (I will DIE first), EBAY, Etsy, Kid to Kid .... NO WAY!
Come on people. I think you need a reality check.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Monday, January 05, 2009
Days 10-12
We are EXHAUSTED but got a lot accomplished this weekend. We primed the walls and laid the tile! The entire floor is DONE! We were up until 4 a.m. Sat night but we got all the tiles laid. Then the following day we finished the grout. It is so amazing to see it all done! I love the tiles and think we did a great job. We even build a few of the cabinets last night so we are getting close. The counter guys will come next Monday and design the template for the counters so we have a week to get things all placed. But now that the floor is done we can move in our stove and dishwasher and then set up everything else. It's coming alone quick nicely!!
My poor tired and dirty feet...
We are EXHAUSTED but got a lot accomplished this weekend. We primed the walls and laid the tile! The entire floor is DONE! We were up until 4 a.m. Sat night but we got all the tiles laid. Then the following day we finished the grout. It is so amazing to see it all done! I love the tiles and think we did a great job. We even build a few of the cabinets last night so we are getting close. The counter guys will come next Monday and design the template for the counters so we have a week to get things all placed. But now that the floor is done we can move in our stove and dishwasher and then set up everything else. It's coming alone quick nicely!!
My poor tired and dirty feet...
Friday, January 02, 2009
Remodel cont.
Things are moving along quite nicely!!
Day SEVEN:
Jer took on the gas pipe and it turned out so great! We got it moved, all new pipe and fittings and a fancy new shut off valve as well.
Day EIGHT:
More backerboard and wall patching. Nothing too exciting.
Day NINE:
We were hoping to get to the flooring today but that didnt work out quite as planned. We even had the wet saw rented and every thing for the tile.... oh well. But we did get the floor patched up and got the water for the fridge all set! I think it turned out so nicely!
But all the backerboard is down and the walls and ceiling are almost smooth. Our cabinets arent going to go all the way to the ceiling this time (cheaper and easier!) so we want to make sure everything is smooth. We thought about texturing everything but then that would be harder to clean, which is not good in the kitchen. Also, we are holding off on a backsplash and the walls were tiled before so we have been patching and sanding like crazy!
We also removed the pocket door in the 1/2 bath which we were pretty proud of! The door sticks when it closes all the way and has trapped several people inside! It will also a bit too long once the tile is in so we needed it out to replace it. Those doors are wonderful but pretty tricky and you are basically sunk if they break. Cutting out a wall of sheetrock to repair a track is one thing but cutting out a plaster wall... for get it! So luckily we just removed a few screws and the oor popped out. We'll probably end up replacing all of them now though =) Which means then we will probably replace the regular doors too. How come one project always leads to ten more?
We also have a very good helper around:
Abby just loves being right in the middle of it ALL THE TIME! She's just lucky she is so cute.
Day SEVEN:
Jer took on the gas pipe and it turned out so great! We got it moved, all new pipe and fittings and a fancy new shut off valve as well.
Day EIGHT:
More backerboard and wall patching. Nothing too exciting.
Day NINE:
We were hoping to get to the flooring today but that didnt work out quite as planned. We even had the wet saw rented and every thing for the tile.... oh well. But we did get the floor patched up and got the water for the fridge all set! I think it turned out so nicely!
But all the backerboard is down and the walls and ceiling are almost smooth. Our cabinets arent going to go all the way to the ceiling this time (cheaper and easier!) so we want to make sure everything is smooth. We thought about texturing everything but then that would be harder to clean, which is not good in the kitchen. Also, we are holding off on a backsplash and the walls were tiled before so we have been patching and sanding like crazy!
We also removed the pocket door in the 1/2 bath which we were pretty proud of! The door sticks when it closes all the way and has trapped several people inside! It will also a bit too long once the tile is in so we needed it out to replace it. Those doors are wonderful but pretty tricky and you are basically sunk if they break. Cutting out a wall of sheetrock to repair a track is one thing but cutting out a plaster wall... for get it! So luckily we just removed a few screws and the oor popped out. We'll probably end up replacing all of them now though =) Which means then we will probably replace the regular doors too. How come one project always leads to ten more?
We also have a very good helper around:
Abby just loves being right in the middle of it ALL THE TIME! She's just lucky she is so cute.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Happy New Year!
I wish I could say we were spending the NY drinking Black & Tans out of our custom Squatters mug club mugs...
Aren't those awesome!! But no..... I have strep again for the 3rd time in 2 months and Abby is still sick so we spent the night in. We ordered pizza, I drank 1/2 a beer, which took about 5 hours to get down, and then I was asleep by 10. I did wake up at 12:30 though to give Jer a New Years kiss and then fell back asleep.
We are old....
Aren't those awesome!! But no..... I have strep again for the 3rd time in 2 months and Abby is still sick so we spent the night in. We ordered pizza, I drank 1/2 a beer, which took about 5 hours to get down, and then I was asleep by 10. I did wake up at 12:30 though to give Jer a New Years kiss and then fell back asleep.
We are old....
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Kitchen Remodel
So Jer and I figured we didn't have enough chaos in our lives and decided to gut our kitchen over Christmas. The cabinets were falling a part and the sink was broken so it was time.
We decided to get everything from IKEA. So after a few trips and some re-designs we have all the cabinets, new appliances scattered throughout our house and garage. The door fronts and GRANITE counters are on order. The tile is from Home Depot and we picked all that up as well! We are going with the 16x16 tiles and not doing any of the fancy stuff. Not the greatest pictures but still gives you an idea:
We still need to decide on a wall color but we may hold off on that until the end just to make sure it all looks ok.
Day One: DEMO
Tile counters with about 2" of concrete
Day TWO: More Demo
Yes, those are dirty dishes still in the sink... Its a process!
Day THREE: Demo progress
Upper cabinets GONE and are now in their new home in Jen and Mikes gagare. Sorry they were so DIRTY you guys...
Day FOUR:
Wallpaper trim down, holes spackled and Jer got a new toy to help with the demo.
We only had to loose hot water for about 24 hours because the shut off valve to the sink was broken. Quick and easy fix so it wasn't too bad!
We thought why stop here and decided to rip out the tile in the bathroom that we did a few years ago too so that the floor will be continuous. That was one of our first projects any ways and we did white tile with WHITE grout (Well, we know now how dumb that was!) so this will be much better:
Day FIVE:
We had a bit of a setback due to a sick baby and exhaustion from lack of sleep so day 5 was a bit slow. We did get some backerboard down though:
Then we had to cut a few holes in the floor to get to the water pipe we laid before we finished our basement so now we can have water and ice in our new fridge door!! (Thanks honey!!) Also, the gas pipe to our range is over too far to one side so we need to move that over. But that seems to be the only issues we have run in to (so far...):
We decided to get everything from IKEA. So after a few trips and some re-designs we have all the cabinets, new appliances scattered throughout our house and garage. The door fronts and GRANITE counters are on order. The tile is from Home Depot and we picked all that up as well! We are going with the 16x16 tiles and not doing any of the fancy stuff. Not the greatest pictures but still gives you an idea:
We still need to decide on a wall color but we may hold off on that until the end just to make sure it all looks ok.
Day One: DEMO
Tile counters with about 2" of concrete
Day TWO: More Demo
Yes, those are dirty dishes still in the sink... Its a process!
Day THREE: Demo progress
Upper cabinets GONE and are now in their new home in Jen and Mikes gagare. Sorry they were so DIRTY you guys...
Day FOUR:
Wallpaper trim down, holes spackled and Jer got a new toy to help with the demo.
We only had to loose hot water for about 24 hours because the shut off valve to the sink was broken. Quick and easy fix so it wasn't too bad!
We thought why stop here and decided to rip out the tile in the bathroom that we did a few years ago too so that the floor will be continuous. That was one of our first projects any ways and we did white tile with WHITE grout (Well, we know now how dumb that was!) so this will be much better:
Day FIVE:
We had a bit of a setback due to a sick baby and exhaustion from lack of sleep so day 5 was a bit slow. We did get some backerboard down though:
Then we had to cut a few holes in the floor to get to the water pipe we laid before we finished our basement so now we can have water and ice in our new fridge door!! (Thanks honey!!) Also, the gas pipe to our range is over too far to one side so we need to move that over. But that seems to be the only issues we have run in to (so far...):
Monday, December 29, 2008
Poor baby
On top of a jammed pack December and home remodeling project (post to follow...) my poor Abby got sick. What started out as just a cold has turned in to quite a nasty bug that has lingered on for over a week and resulted in a Febril seizure on Sunday morning at about 5 a.m. It was one of the scariest things I have ever been through. Abby was acting fine all week but obviously had a cold and her fever never got above 101. But that night for some reason she just got too hot too fast and she had a seizure. I heard her fussing and then all of a sudden the noise changed. In my head I knew she was having a fever seizure. I have never witnessed one before, so call it mother's intuition or something, but I ran in and grabbed her and we called 911. Her fever still was only 101! I though it needed to be over 104 or something before a seizure is a worry. So off to Primary Childrens Medical Center (PCMC) we went in the ambulance.
Jer ran over to get the neighbors since K was asleep and then he called Jen to the rescue so he could come down and be with us at the hospital. It is an amazing feeling to know that you have someone you can call no matter what time for what ever reason and they will be there. We called her so we could leave K sleeping and not have to worry in case we were at the hospital for a long time and then Jen ended up bringing her 3 kids down at 5:30 a.m.! Isnt she AMAZING!! (Jen thank you and you have no idea what you mean to me. xoxo)
But back to the story... so I rode in the front of the ambulance and Abby didnt cry the entire ride there which made me so scared. They didnt turn the lights on so I knew it wasn't a total emergency but I really wanted to hear some sort of response from her. Plus all I kept thinking about was Charlie and what if Abby has meningititis and her poor little brain doesnt recover! But after a few tests and some Ibuprofen and Tylenol her temp was back to normal and all seemed well. Looks like it was just the fever seizure. So this means she is more suseptible to these again and we'll just have to watch her when she gets sick.
Today I made a follow-up appt with our regular doc and I am really glad I did. He took one little look in her ears and BINGO! Major double ear infection. HELLO!?!?!?!? They checked that at PCMC and I even asked about it specifically because Abby is prone to ear infections and they said she was all clear. I had her in Sun to get checked too because I knew she was getting something and she was all clear then so I guess I took her in a few days too early. So it took a seizure, ambulance ride and ER visit to diagnose an ear infection. I cant beleive they missed that at the ER! ARGH! But it is great that's all we have to deal with. So a simple prescrip of amox and we'll be set.
Sunday was a pretty rough and irritable day, and Abby is still pretty worn out today, but hopefully the worst is behind us and she'll be feeling better soon now that we have the right medicine.
ETA: The meds are workng and my baby girl is doing MUCH better. Say CHEESE!
MN Trip
We have had quite a busy month! I am a bit behind in posting too but there is a lot I want to share!
We had a great trip back to the frozen tundra for a pre-Christmas family visit. We got to meet our new niece Paige:
And visit with the both sets of grandparents:
The girls got out to see a lot of fun stuff on our trip. They went to the Children's Museum:
We also went to an amazing indoor park in Woodbury called Lookout Ridge:
Of course we opened gifts too and auntie Lea completely spoiled the girls again!
I even had time to stop at Big Ten. I was in heaven!
Jer and I got a night out on the town so we stayed at The Depot in Mlps and got upgraded to a jucuzzi suite!
...and we had a great night out with old friends:
Quite a bit to pack in to one week but we always manage to do it and have a really great time.
We had a great trip back to the frozen tundra for a pre-Christmas family visit. We got to meet our new niece Paige:
And visit with the both sets of grandparents:
The girls got out to see a lot of fun stuff on our trip. They went to the Children's Museum:
We also went to an amazing indoor park in Woodbury called Lookout Ridge:
Of course we opened gifts too and auntie Lea completely spoiled the girls again!
I even had time to stop at Big Ten. I was in heaven!
Jer and I got a night out on the town so we stayed at The Depot in Mlps and got upgraded to a jucuzzi suite!
...and we had a great night out with old friends:
Quite a bit to pack in to one week but we always manage to do it and have a really great time.
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