Home improvements

Since becoming homeowners, Kyle and I have embarked on new kinds of adventures.

• Kyle bought an electric lawnmower and mowed the lawn!
• I learned how to use our sprinklers and set them for the most efficient watering possible!
• My mom painted over the ugly sponge-painted pine trees and brown paint in our bathroom that I could not stand to look at for a day longer!
• Other people are about to install a new roof to replace the very worn wood shakes up there now!

In addition to all these fabulous and exciting undertakings, we are staining our deck, which had been neglected by previous owners for a long, long time. It's satisfying to do because it looks so nice when it's done though it is a ton of work. So far, we've done the power washing and staining in 40 minute chunks after the kids go to bed.

We also splurged on fancy blinds from Home Depot that pull down from the top, so that we can see the sky and the mountains from our bedroom, but still have some privacy. The old blinds in the room have been there for 20 years and pretty beaten up. I think these new blinds transform the room, though this photo doesn't quite do them justice. Thanks for hanging them, Kyle!

Sam has also contributed to our home improvements, because as of about 1.5 weeks ago, he is sleeping through the night! The final night of an attempted 2am wake-up resulted in an hour of crying and Kyle and I having a minor fight while we waited him out. He fell back asleep and hasn't yet woken up in the night again. He is almost nine months old, and eating a lot of solids, so we felt like he was ready for this. I am thankful to now be able to have my nights to myself again.