Ava's happy dance.

Because blogger changed the way photos and video get placed into a blog, I haven't figured out how to post a video. So, here's a link to the video on our flickr site.

Blogger changed things mostly for the better--it's much easier to see how your blog post will look before posting it. But video, I don't know.

I shouldn't be blogging at work...

...especially on a Tuesday, but this is just too much. I had to share. Ava and Grandma Jones had a little fun with makeup yesterday.

A party is in the works!

We've moved in, final inspection will take place tomorrow morning and we're finally planning a housewarming party! Everyone whoever listened to us complain about the lot split and house building process is invited. Consider this party a thank you for letting us vent about it all. :) Click on the image above to see the full-size invitation.

So, final inspection means that we finally got the county to see things our way about the eave soffits. It took 3 months to convince them that we meet the intent of the code and putting up the soffits would only be a waste of time, resources, money and materials, just to meet the code requirements as they are currently written. It's a long story, and I'm done bitching about house building. Really, I am.

Here's our remaining house to-dos:
prime & paint main bath cabinet
arrange studio (get paper from Art & Ann's!)
hang orange room closet rods, shelves & curtains
finish master bath tile
glass door for master bath shower
paint pump house
pump cover
gravel walk around house
clean up chicken coop
carport
master bedroom window curtains (almost done!)
master bedroom door curtain
orange bedroom roman shade
clean up orange bedroom (currently holding many unpacked items)
find a dining room table
bar stools
plant oak tree (redwoods are in the ground, yay!)
learn to program thermostat
move piano
wire for sound
hang artwork in hallway (most of it has already been hung through the rest of the house, yay!)
stained glass in cabinet doors
permanent shelving in hall closet
repair dings in American Clay Plaster

A few things were removed from the list, and a couple were added. Please do not bring this list to the housewarming party to see what we're still behind on...  :)

It's been 2 months. Geez.

Yesterday I took part in my 14th consecutive Pastels on the Plaza. My sponsor was Nancy Diamond, Attorney at Law. I've never heard of her, but it gave me the opportunity to draw whatever I wanted. I searched through my iPhoto library of recent pictures, and found one of Jane's koi pond in Redmond, WA from our vacation in August. It only took about 3 hours, (I was going for simplicity, since Andy was watching Ava and he had other things to do) but I think it turned out rather well.

Have you had enough adorableness yet?

In mid-July we traveled to Fort Bragg and Mendocino for a friend's wedding. We had a great time. (Mama was even a bit hungover the next day, as it was her first time drinking since the end of nursing!)

Ava with Erin, the glowing bride. They're both so purdy!


The day after the wedding, we rode the Skunk Train with Heidi and Mike. Ava liked the train a lot, but the rocking was just too much for her and she took 2 naps. It was heaven. :)

Ava likes to party, too.

That's Rowan at her and Tatum's birthday party, Ava stuffing a chocolate cupcake in her mouth at Rowan & Tatum's birthday party and Sylvia diving face first into her cupcake at her birthday. Yes, this was two first birthday parties on the same day! Madness!

Ava loves the water now...

Some of these are a bit old... the two of Andy and Ava are from yesterday.

What gives?

I don't like the way blogger/flicker are messing with the photo size... I'm going to keep trying...

Trying again, from flickr.

Ava couldn't get enough of my measuring tape. Maybe she'll be a tailor when she grows up.

Ava ripping apart my peat pots.

ava-pot-ripper
Originally uploaded by lynnerd707

I'm posting this directly from flickr just to see how it works. I'm not sure I like it yet... seems like you can only do 1 photo per post. Hmmm.

Ava eats dirt.

Trying this a different way, still through flickr.

OMG, it's been a month.

That's ridiculous and inexcusable. I have tons of photos to upload, and maybe not all of them will have captions. Sorry.

Here's that list of things that need to be done around the house, not in any particular order:
prime & paint main bath cabinet
finish putting up peg board in attic
build bench seat over bathroom fans in attic
arrange studio (get paper from Art & Ann's!)
hang kids' rooms closet rods, shelves & curtains
finish master bath tile
glass door for master bath shower
put desk in attic or orange room
paint pump house
pump cover
recycling bins
clean up chicken coop
carport
master bedroom window curtains
master bedroom door curtain
orange bedroom roman shade
clean up orange bedroom (currently holding many unpacked items)
dining room table
bar stools
entertainment center rearrange
plant bulbs by driveway entry
plant trees
learn to program thermostat
move piano
wire for sound
clerestory lights for living room
hang artwork
stained glass in cabinet doors
permanent shelving in hall closet
repair dings in American Clay Plaster

Yikes.

Happy 4th of July.

We moved in a week ago. I'm still exhausted and have been too busy to take any pictures. I'm not going to promise a meaningful post anytime soon... but I would like to thank everyone who helped us move in! We assembled at the old house at 9 am, had all our stuff out by noon, I was the last to arrive at the new house (pizzas in hand) at 1 pm, and the truck/cars were unloaded and all our helpers gone by 3 pm. It was incredible. And only one thing broke: the lid to a loose leaf tea brewing cup that we never use anyway. There are only a few projects that remain unfinished, as far as the contractors go; there are plenty of unfinished projects on my end! I'm off to mull those over as I drift off to sleep.

It's MOVING DAY!!!

See you on the other side...

Tell us about your grill!

Your gas grill, as in barbecue. We're looking for one to do all the basic things with maybe a few added features. So, here are our requirements. We'd love to hear about what kind of grill you have and if you like it or not.

• at least 3 burners
• under $400
• rust resistant
• no hot spots/frequent flare-ups
• decent grill/warming rack area
• side burner not necessary
• actual wheels, not just casters

Well, we move in the day after tomorrow. I'm already exhausted. The plumber's coming tomorrow to finish up, as is the water filter guy (synopsis of long story: Adam threatened to have the filters finished by someone else in a voicemail, and he called us back finally. Completely unapologetic, but full of excuses, he promised to get at least a temporary filter on our system before we move in. So unprofessional, I don't even know where to start.) Anyway, we have internet service, but our phone will take another week. The preliminary final inspection went pretty smoothly, with only a few little surprises.

I am typing like a LOLcat, so I think it's time to go to bed. This may just be my last post as a Eureka resident... we'll see.

I swore I was going to post tonight if it killed me...

...and it just might. It's been WAY too long since my last post, especially considering everything that's been happening at the house! Maybe that's why I haven't posted, I can't keep up, and we've been incredibly busy. There are SO many pictures to post, I just can't do it. Perhaps I'll get a bigger account on flickr and dump all of the house pictures there.

Everything is nearly done, final inspection is on Wednesday and WE'RE MOVING IN ON SATURDAY!!! There's one little problem... the water filter guy still hasn't installed the filter. So, we have water running through the house, but it's straight out of the well, and not good for drinking or washing things. We've been calling him everyday for the past few weeks, and nobody can get a hold of him. Ridiculous. I will be calling him once every hour until he calls me back starting at 8 a.m. tomorrow. We'll see what kind of response I get.

Mike, Sara and Sasha came over to help us pack tonight. What a huge help! We were so unmotivated, but having someone else around who can just put things in boxes (without emotional attachment to every little thing) was great. Sasha and Ava ran around like wild animals and now Ava is sleeping soundly. No problems getting that one to bed tonight!

I wonder how much of an adjustment it's going to be, living in Blue Lake. We won't be spending so much time driving, the weather will be better, these are obvious differences... but what about all the little things? Here are some reasons I'm going to miss our little house in Eureka:

Established roses in the front yard.
Being close to friends.
Being close to shopping, police, fire and hospitals.
The vintage charm of our house.
The small, yet still unmanageable, yard.

And some reasons I'm not going to miss our little house in Eureka:
It has very little insulation and is drafty.
There's not that much storage and we have too much stuff.
The layout of the rooms with the bathroom as the "hallway" between the two bedrooms. (Helpful when walking a newborn to sleep, otherwise annoying.)
Neighbors with loud Harleys and diesel trucks.
No off-street parking.
Noisy appliances right next to our bedroom.
The small, yet still unmanageable, yard.

Oh man. We're moving in on Saturday. I should probably get some sleep and try to relax, considering the migraine that showed up during the last moving session.

Press moving weekend

Everything went as smoothly as expected, with the exception of a migraine that knocked me out for a good portion of the day Saturday. I was rendered useless at the start of the second run to the storage unit and Adam even had to pull over to side of the freeway so I could puke on the way back to the house. (Thank goodness for that though, there are few things as awful as throwing up in someone's car.)

A HUGE thanks to everyone who showed up to help us move my printing equipment into the garage over the weekend! Whether you lifted heavy objects, cleaned something or watched babies, we couldn't have done it without you! A special thanks to Adam, Tony, Art, Shawn and Andy for filling in while I was out of commission. Here are a few pics from the first moving adventure:

Adam running the forklift, putting the last piece of equipment into the garage; an 1891 Chandler & Price treadle press. They moved it in like a 1-ton piece of butter.

There's Foreman Ava, on the job again, late in the day after I could stand to be outside in the daylight with dark glasses and a hat on. Adam looks like he's really concentrating, and I appreciate the fact that he didn't drop my cast iron baby.

Here's the print shop all set up. There are more type cabinets on the wall to the left, just outside the frame. And now there are boxes of stuff piled all over the cabinets, desk and floor, but that's just temporary while we finish up other projects around the house.

Today the kitchen sink went in, the molds were finished up for the stretch of countertop around the sink, the marble for the other countertop was test-polished, the garage door finally went in and probably a bunch of other things happened. More pictures when I can manage...

More Ava-Bird.

I don't think it's possible to get enough of this girl, but she gets cranky when I try to keep her awake so I can bask in her cuteness. (Though she's just as adorable when she's asleep, just quieter.) Here's a video, taken yesterday at Grandma & Grandpa's house.

The Ava-Bird is up and running.

In the evening, she falls and gets upset. Going outside usually calms her down. The roses in our front yard are bursting with blooms at the moment, mostly because we haven't done any yard maintenance in months.


For the three-day weekend, we drove down to GG's house and went to IKEA to pick up some things for the house. When it's time for Ava to change from clothes to pajamas (or vice versa) or get in or out of the bath, she likes to show off her new walking/running/stumbling skills while naked. This photo is the last we saw of that 'A' from the fridge. Who knows where she put it.



3 generations.


I wouldn't be thrilled if my mom posted my first real zit on the Internet for all the world to see either. Oh well, gotta document all the firsts, kid.


I love this picture. Andy took it during the zit photo shoot. She had been upset after a long day of awkward naps, so I was feeding her applesauce on my lap. She instantly perked up and gave us a little smile. Wherever I take her, people always comment on her beautiful eyes, but I still can't figure out why. :)

So many things going on.

On May 10th, I posted the following list of things left to do:
- Clean and dry concrete floors.
- Seal concrete floors.
- Install interior doors.
- Install baseboard and door trim.
- Coat all trim with polyurethane.
- Move in.

Since then, the gas & electric have been hooked up, the heat is on, the floor has been cleaned, dried and sealed. The interior doors and baseboard started going in on Wednesday. We are seriously in the homestretch. Looks like we'll be moving in the weekend of June 27th!

Now, if only I had enough time to sew quilt squares, create birthday and thank-you gifts for 5 people, finish the stained glass cabinet doors project, update the blogs, dye & sew curtains, stain and poly the shelves and desktop for the office nook, finish the tile in the bathroom, tile the kitchen backsplash, the master shower, entertainment center countertop and master bathroom vanity countertop, work 30-40 hours per week, care for a 13-month-old and maintain a relationship. Something's gotta give, and it sure as hell ain't gonna be one of the last 3 things I mentioned.

<< Deep breath. >>

We're moving all of my printing equipment into the garage on Saturday! Hooray! I'll be able to print again on my own press. I am really excited, and I hope this will be the smoothest press moving experience to date.

Here are some little random things that have happened lately:
Adam created the wrap for the front post. It has since been painted by Art. I like it, but it's not exactly what I had envisioned. I'll get used to it.

These are the pendant lights in the kitchen... 2 over the island and one over the sink. I'd love to show you what they look like when they're on, but that switch hasn't been wired in yet. Trust me, they look very different when illuminated. These were handblown by Mirador Glass just for us.

This light and the hall sconces were made for us by Old Town Antique Lighting. They look so good! More pics of these to come...

The floors are finished! They look pretty good, but unfortunately, there's evidence of some spills and dropped tools/wood/something in spots, but that seemed fairly unavoidable. I'm not upset about these--we're bound to add our own "character" to the floors sooner or later.

So, tomorrow the kitchen sink gets delivered and the guys clear out the garage. Saturday, we move in printing stuff. Sunday, the doors will get put on the kitchen/great room cabinets. Monday, the garage door should be installed. (We'll see about that... It's been weeks since they said it would be here.) There's something happening out at the house everyday now, and it's all good.

A nice day.

It was a gorgeous day in Blue Lake, too bad we were at work in foggy Arcata. Here's Andy and Ava when we were there to pick her up from Grandma & Grandpa's. (Looks like the back yard could use a little landscaping help.)


This is the bar countertop. The buffet and long wall in the kitchen will have similar tops. Adam and Dustin made them from colored concrete. They placed torn paper into the molds before pouring the concrete to give it that ragged effect running down the length of the top. Unfortunately, the paper bubbled and swelled more than they expected, and it left the surface pretty lumpy. Adam says he has a way to fix it.


I haven't posted an exterior pic for awhile now because all the work has been happening on the inside, and there have been few, if any, changes to the outside. Over the last week, though, Art primed and now has begun to paint the outside of the house. I'm excited, I think it's going to look really good.


I think the garage door may be installed tomorrow and I'm planning on moving my print shop in over the last weekend in May. Exciting!

Adorable now, blackmail later.

This is how Ava eats O's: shoved into her mouth by the fistful. Really, how do you get a 13-month old to take it easy? She eats like she'll never see food again.


Bathtime! We have successfully transitioned to baths without Mommy being in the tub, too. It's so much easier this way!


Ava's pants were off after a diaper change, so she decided to put them on her head. The first few times, she created a pretty good hat out of them, but then she saw that she was making us laugh and her technique got sloppy. Still cute though.

Photo dump.

The location of the electric and gas meters in relation to the house.

The new electricity meter. How many people have seen that reading on their meters?

The hatch from the master closet to the attic. Even that's pretty.

The blue concrete floor in the master bath along with the blue concrete caps on the half wall and curb. You can see the slate tile resting against the half wall there. Those pieces are a little more rust-colored than the rest of the batch—I hope.

The kitchen is SO getting there! The appliances are out of their boxes, the floor is in except for the edging, and the cabinets are in except for the doors and drawer fronts.

Progress has been made on the tile in the main bathroom... Over three sessions so far, I have completed the two end walls. Getting around the plumbing wasn't that bad. Now it's time to tackle the big back wall and window.


Foreman Ava is back! I think I've passed the preliminary inspection for the tilework and I think she approves of the wood choices for the interior trim. (Which, by the way, got its first coats of polyurethane this week and looks KILLER! It smells awful in the house, but it was raining outside and the garage is too dirty. Oh well, it'll air out soon enough.)