Last blog post {The house is complete & we aren't newlyweds anymore}

Well, I knew this time would come and that's why I started a new blog, "The Simmons' Blessed Nest" before Cooper was born. I knew we (Clay and I) were approaching that transistion from newlyweds to crazy parenthood life and thought it would be fun to end "The Newlywed Diaries" blog with a few final pictures of the house. We worked so hard on the house and feel extremely blessed everyday to be living and loving in it with our son! Here are a few pictures of the finished product. We still need to complete the bathroom aka paint and put up our open shelves in the kitchen. We chose to use the open shelves instead of having top cabinets. Also, the bedroom was FULL of Cooper's Christmas loot so there isn't a picture included in this post. I'll have to add pictures of it on my other blog.My camera is MIA right now so I took them with my camera phone around Christmastime...all signs that I have a newborn son, huh? Anyways, I was hoping to have the side-by-side pictures of each room, but without my camera, I couldn't! Sad day...but lucky for us, it is very easy to see the improvement through any type of picture =) My new blog is thesimmonsblessednest.blogspot.com and we would love for you to share in our journey of parenthood through it. Enjoy...
         This is a picture from the front door looking into the living room.

This is a view from the living room into the kitchen (just need to add our shelves above the counter)                               

          

           Kitchen view from pantry

              Kitchen from windows

           Outside with new siding and room...still waiting on the porch to be finished

 I can't wait to have a porch on the side of the house! I can see many of Cooper's parties being held on the porch =)



The Simmons' house these days...

Well, who knew that I would become so consumed with this pregnancy and blogging would go out the window?! Since the last blog post, which happened to be in July...yes, it now September, many things have happened in the Simmons' house. We added a new metal roof with overhangs that will one day have a porch underneath them...can't wait! Pretty much the entire house is done and now we get to enjoy it. We recently realized that all of the remodeling was for Cooper to have his own house and for us to just be able to stay there too. Seriously, I cannot believe how much a baby needs or what I think he needs! Every room has his stuff in it, but here's the great thing...it's complete, for the most part and very livable. We are still doing things here and there, but just having a house to make a home right before Cooper gets here has been unbelievable. On the list of things still to do are finishing the bathroom (it's functional, but needs finishing touches), adding the open shelves in the kitchen above our cabinets (these shelves are from a man who cuts/sells cedar planks...found him at Canton. We bought a small piece last month from him and used it for our bar that separates the kitchen and living room. Clay sanded the raw wood down and used polyurthane to finish it off nicely. It turned out so great that we decided to do our open shelves from the same wood...love it!), putting up siding, and last, but not least, adding finishing touches of furniture...aka dining room chairs and a recliner for the living room.
Here is a picture of the piece of wood that is already done...

Notice the baby jumper-roo in the background?...like I said, Cooper has stuff in every room of the house lol!

As mentioned before, I still need dining room chairs because I purchased the table without the chairs since they were out of stock at the time...sad day! And yes, I have no seating whatsoever, except for my couch, so this whole chair thing needs to be fixed pronto! Here is a picture of the table *mimus the chairs* from a party we had at the house a couple of weekends ago.

I love the idea that I am adding pictures and blogging about furniture and decorations for the house. We (me especially!) have been waiting so long to be able to be at this point! We definitely have been enjoying our time in our home and can't wait to bring Cooper into our world. I guess we actually made our deadline except for the few finishing touches. Now we are counting down the days until our family of two becomes a family of three...Simmons, party of three! Love it and makes my heart smile!
More to come...





Where did July go?!

My, my, this month has been super busy and have obviously flown by! I came into work today and realized, my goodness, it is already the last week in July. It probably went by so fast because we have been working like little busy bees on the house...oh, and did I mention we squeezed in a mini-vacation to Port Aransas, too?! This trip was a much needed vacation and I think Clay would agree with me that we both came back more relaxed and stress free. Here are a few of the pictures from the beach vacation...

And yes, I found this sand dollar! I have never found one that wasn't in pieces so this was the highlight of the day on the beach.

As far as the house goes, this past weekend Clay finished so many small things that add up to greatness! I couldn't be more happy with what he finished this weekend. The bathroom is complete, except for the walls...we are still trying to decide what we want to do in there. The stove is hooked up and ready to be cooked on...I can finally bake again! We are now officially ready to move back into the house. We don't have our bedroom suite yet, but plan on sleeping on a mattress in the floor for a week or so until we get it. I feel like a newlywed again...ya know? when you move into your first house together and the cable isn't hooked up yet and you are sleeping on a pallet in the floor for a few days? These are the best times in marriage! I'm sure Clay and I will look back on these days and love and cherish every minute of them. At least I hope so, because right now, we are ready to pull each other's hair out! Remodeling is such a hard process to go through, but such a rewarding one all at the same time. The good Lord has blessed us in so many ways and we are thankful for these things everyday!

Another exciting house update is the fact that Clay let me move some furniture into the house this weekend! We moved my couch out of storage and even put down a rug in the living room. Here's a picture of our stuff in the newly remodeled living room...not sure if this is where it will end up, but regardless...

Also, in remodeling news, today was the first day that the roofers were at our house. They are busy ripping out shingles and doing the dirty work as I type. The estimated time of completion is either late this week or early next week. I can't wait for it to be done...I have been the only one in the state of Texas who has been secretly hoping for no rain. I know, I feel bad even as I type it! At least by this time next week I can join the rain dancers and pray for rain. I'm not sure if I mentioned what exactly they are doing to our roof. We are getting a metal roof put on, which will do wonders to the outside of the house! Also, they are adding overhangs on the east, west and south sides of the house which will be over a wrap-around porch someday. I can't wait to get home today and take pictures of the progress so far.

More to come from the not-so-newlyweds...



Finishing Touches {Base Boards}

This weekend was very productive when it comes to the house remodel. Of course, our floors were completed last week and we needed to finish them off with base boards, which we did this weekend. They look great! We also installed the bathroom vanity and bought the base of our kitchen cabinets...waiting to install them next week. My mom and dad were also so gracious enough to give us their "old" dishwasher and stove...I say "old" because the appliances are only about a year old. They bought new appliances last year, but then decided to buy a new home that came with new appliances, therefore, leaving us with some good stuff to put in our home. Clay is in the process of installing the new water heater, but the plumbing is complete for the entire house now, which has been a huge project for him! This picture is of the base boards in the corner of the living room, but more pictures will be posted as we finish the kitchen and bathroom...

More to come from the not-so-newlyweds...



Great Week {Floors}...

This past week the floors were completed in the house, except for a minor adjustment of the carpet in the bedroom. We did not realize how thick and plush the carpet we picked out would actually be, which isn't a bad thing, unless you want to be able to open the back door in the bedroom...yes, the carpet is so thick in the bedroom that we cannot open our back door! Who knew?! So, we are having H&R come out once again to fix this little dilemma we have found ourselves in. The fix...we are putting an entryway around the door opening that will be done in either vinyl or laminate. This should allow enough room for the door to be opened, hopefully! On a better note, the floors are in and they look amazing! I just cannot believe how much this house has changed right before our eyes. We have put in so many hours...well, Clay moreso than I, into this house...not to mention blood, sweat and tears! We have stressed and fretted over so many different things about the house and it feels great to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. As soon as I saw the carpet in the bedroom, I threw off my shoes and layed on it for a good 15 minutes! This made Clay happy...what's the saying? "Happy wife, happy life"...needless to say, this was an exciting completed project.



Along with the floors, Clay and Mike finished installing the toilet and laundry room door. The bathroom vanity will be in today and I can't wait to see it! As soon as the bathroom is complete, we can move back in.
In fact, I'm hoping that it will be as soon as this weekend! My best friend, Emily, is coming into town and I would love for her to help me decorate and arrange furniture, which is one of the many things she does best! So I'm crossing my fingers that everything gets done by then...

Here are a few pictures of the floors, which have not been cleaned by the way...what's the point, right?! I will wait until all construction is complete to actually clean my house again. =)
This picture was taken from the front door and even though there is a refrigerator in the middle of the room, this is the living room.

 This a the view from the living room into the kitchen...with the two happy workers!

 This is the hallway closet...

 This is the bathroom, opposite the closet...

 And this is the bedroom from the hallway...

This is the laundry room door that I LOVE...

Next, we will be putting in base boards and completing the bathroom. Then, we can move back in!
More to come from the "not-so-newlyweds"...



Big Weekend {House Update}

Ok, so this weekend was huge for us and our future home. We finished painting trim, doors, etc (except for the bathroom door and laudry room door)! At the last minute, we decided to do a bathroom demolition and so it threw us for a loop when we needed to finish all of the painting before the flooring arrives TOMORROW! I love saying that...the floors will be in by Wednesday and I could NOT be happier. So far, the bathroom is the last room that needs attention besides flooring, but who cares...we are almost done! I bought the laundry room door Saturday, which I love! Mike is installing the bifold door that is louvered today and I am thinking it will look great in the house. I can't wait to see it =) Here are a few pictures of some of the progress that was made this weekend...

This is what our front yard looked like for pretty much the entire weekend...we looked like white trash. We even had a girl pull up to the house asking for directions to Dallas (man, was she WAY off track) and yes, this is what the yard looked like. Not to mention, I was in the redneck pool, 6 months prego in a bikini! I'm sure she thought real highly of us =-)



This is the bathroom that all of the above mess came out of...ready for flooring tomorrow!

These are a few of the pictures around the house that show the paint and trim on the windows...notice that I have a caulking gun in hand and am actually helping! Not the best I have ever looked, but hey, I had to prove that I am actually contributing in all of our house projects.

Ps. I have to apologize for the crummy pictures! I had to take them with my cell phone, becasue I forgot my regular camera at my parent's house...shocker!

I can't wait to post pictures of the floor later on this week!!

More to come from the "not-so-newlyweds"...







House Update {Paint}

I am a happy little wife today because our house was completely painted this weekend. Thanks to Clay, Mike and Harwell, we now have textured/painted ceilings and walls! Our ceilings are a flat white color and our walls are "cream rich" in color. I am still debating on whether or not to paint an accent wall in either the bedroom or living room, but I figure I can do that later if I choose to. Here are some pictures of the house...painted!!

This is in the kitchen...in half view...

This is looking from the kitchen into the living room...

This is the view from the front door in the living room...

And this is just a close up because it is kind of hard to see the contrast in paint colors in these pictures...

Now, all we need to do is put up trim and base boards! Well, I shouldn't say that's ALL we need to do, but this will complete the wall project. This next week we should be able to install flooring, which is exciting because after flooring...we move back in!!

More to come from "The Not-So Newlyweds"...