Life at Our House in Pictures

We continue to chip away at the long list of house projects before baby boy joins the family in just 6 short weeks. but in the work, we have had some fun. here is the proof...

Family picts from Easter Sunday!!!

A Dad and his Girls...

My sister and her family

My brother and his family

Our best attempt at getting 5 girls under 4 years old to all look at the same time...

Eva moved to her big bed last friay night. The transition has gone much smoother that I anticipated. There have been a few times when Eva has got out of bed, but a little discipline, she has learned that she needs to stay in bed. The girls have had a great time sharing a room, they spend time at night laughing and talking before bed. It is so precious.

The girls helping Chris put the "big bed" together

Eva is so tiny in her full size bed...she snuggles to the front corner every night.

Last month Melia had the opportunity to be in her first wedding. She made the most adorable flower girl I have ever seen. She gets to be in another wedding next month, when Chris's brother gets married.

Season of Change

It's been a while I know...but there has been a lot going on in the Rayner household. With a baby boy joining our family in just 8 short weeks, we have been chipping away at a LONG list of house projects to get done before his arrival. The biggest being moving the girls into their new room. This has definetly been a labor of love. This 36x15 room was dressed with hunter green carpet (not my choice) and orange walls (my choice). See pict below...

When we moved in this room was my craft room. when the girls came along it became the craft/toy room. Chris was glad to see the orange go...he was never a fan.

In less than a week the room has been transformed to this...

New carpet, paint and chair rail make it one of my favorite rooms in the house. I have spent MANY hours this week (with help from my husband and a friend) taping, painting, re-taping etc. I wanted the room done by the time the carpet was being installed (today), and I was successful at achieving my goal. It made the late nights and many hours worth it to hear Melia say, "I love my new room...it looks AWESOME." every time she walks in it. After the carpet was installed today, the girls ran around the room playing for almost a half-hour. The room being complete, brings about many changes in and of itself. Both of the girls will be in the same room, something they have been getting a taste of this week (they are sharing Eva's room while the new room is being finished) All in all the transition to sharing a room has gone well. It has made for a few late nights and lots of laughing and giggling . Chris and I enjoy listening to them interact and laugh. The final big change that will take place, is Eva moving to her big bed. When we set up the new room this weekend, Eva will no longer be in her crib (a little sad for me), but she has been climbing in and out of Melia's bed all week, getting a lot of practice. We bought another set of furniture to match Melia's so the girls have a matching set. The boy will be in Eva's room and use that furniture.

Along with this project, we have been in the process of re-doing our bathroom upstairs. This will be the kids bathroom. It is close to being done, but still a work in progress. See picts below. The bathroom had a green and gold light fixture, hunter green carpet (who puts carpet in a bathroom??? especially with 7 kids (four of them being boys)), black and gray counter tops, white walls, and white cabinets with oak trim (they sound better than they looked). It now has a refaced vanity, with new cabinet doors, new counter top, tile floor, new mirror, and soon to be new paint. This bathroom has two halves (a shower room and the powder room) The shower part of the room is done. It has new tile and paint.

Next week the stairs and hallway carpet is being replaced, which means between now and then, all the trim (which we replaced last summer) needs to be caulked and painted. An easy task in comparison. There are other things on the list when these are done...so we continue to chip away at them.

It is an incredible feeling that almost every room in the house has been painted, updated, and decorated to our liking, and that when this list is complete our house will be just the way we want it. The kitchen is the last project to tackle, but this will be down the road.