After: Lucy's Room

Last, but definitely not least, dear Lucy's room. The girl has more space than she knows what to do with. (After co-sleeping with Mom and Dad for the first six months of her life, she handled the transition remarkably well. In true Lucy fashion.)

(From bathroom) 

Curtains and wall-art to come. As well as a closet build-out. 

And my personal favorite piece:

Balloons by Grandma Betty. Truly a work of art.

Afters: Jill & Jill Bath

On to the addition...

First, the Jill & Jill bath. ;)

Both girls have access to the sink room from their bedrooms.
The toilet/bath/shower is in a separate room.

Before and After: Renovated Bath

Though the initial plan was to totally reconfigure our bath, when the numbers came back it was financially unfeasible. So, we did the next best thing and updated everything. We love it.

Main upstairs bath vanity before:

Main upstairs bath vanity after:

Main upstairs shower before:

 (chocolate tub! pointless doorknob!)

Main upstairs shower after:

No tub. No doorknob. Amen.

(p.s. Our alternative to super expensive, difficult to clean glass Euro-doors? A ceiling-mounted shower track and custom curtain. Maybe someday we'll go with the doors, but for now, this is great, and about one twentieth of the price.)

Before and After: Maizey's Room

Maizey's room before:

  

(You'll see a furniture repeat in Lucy's room.)

Maizey's room after:

She upgraded to a big girl bed, lost a window but gained a bathroom, and is generally very happy with the change. Still to do? Closet build-out and bookshelf solution.

(p.s. The goose lamp lived in my and Pete's room when we were children.)

Befores and Afters

So, life is CRAZY. And not because I have a lot of extraordinary stuff going on. Just life. I've got a willful, wordy 2.85 year old and a 7 month old with an oral fixation. I've got a husband who commutes, works long hours and travels. I've got a design business I'm trying to run, a house I'm trying to keep somewhat organized and a yard the size of a small park. We're just busy. Living.

Although we're back in Milford, the home renovation "punch list" is far from complete, so I've been hesitant to post photos. But, enough is enough. The punch list may never be complete. Forgive the lack of wall and window decor. 

Here, the new playroom downstairs:

The couch pulls out when Grandma and Papa visit. We are still trying to suss out a "reading corner." And, we need more ikea storage.

Our bedroom upstairs:

The only change here was the floor, but we swapped out bed around too. In need of a good area rug. 

And, the hallway upstairs:

Check out the expansion and fabulously bright light tubes...

To summarize, on the first floor, we converted the office to a playroom/guestroom. We replaced the flooring throughout the upstairs.  We added a bedroom and bathroom on the second floor. We added sky tubes (LOVE). We made Maizey's room larger and redecorated. We completely renovated the existing second floor (now "master" bath). Rooflines changed dramatically. 

Tomorrow, photos of Maizey's room...

A real Wonder Woman

Today is a big day for a Spurgeon Family friend. Maizey and Lucy's amazing sitter, Kelly, is undergoing an elective double mastectomy at 10 a.m. Her Wednesday morning press conference garnered heaps of attention - ">WDIV, WJBK, WXYZ - among others. (In the past she was profiled by NPR and The Ann Arbor News). And, she has a film crew documenting her journey. (If you want to read more, my favorite info is in the FAQs on her blog.)

We connected with Kelly via care.com, when we were living in Ann Arbor and looking for a date-night sitter. Embarrassingly, my first email to her opened with "Hi Jessica." But, classy, sassy lady that she is, she didn't criticize or ignore my copy and paste oversight, just responded, "Hi! My name is actually Kelly :) but that sounds awesome!"

After a stutter start (Maizey went to bed at 6:30 p.m. on Kelly's first night - weirdo), it was love. After moving back to Milford we offered to compensate Kelly for mileage if she'd stay on. She agreed. Now, if we mention to Maizey that Kelly's coming, she watches out the window all day. And Lucy, well, this is how Lucy feels about Kelly...

After today, that chest will need some TLC. Sadly, for a while this means no more date nights c/o Kelly. (Though we are trying to talk her into co-sitting with her little sister, who can do the lifting.) But, we will get on her calendar soon, to shower her with all the little lady love that comes with M and L.