April 2016

House closing! 

Painting in the rental backyard before the move

We started working on the house the day we closed. We tore out all of the carpet upstairs and refinished the wood floors in 2 bedrooms, a hallway, & the living & dining area. Look at how beat up these floors were! We bought the house not knowing what was under the carpet. The carpet was only 2 years old and it was super tight so we couldn't lift it to check without really yanking at it so we just hoped it was wood under it. We were relieved when we lifted it on closing day. 

Tearing out the carpet tack strips 

This beige/yellow color was in EVERY room of the house. I am a fan of cool colors so I had to get rid of this warm color asap. I've noticed that the colors of the space I live in really affects my mood. If I spend a lot of time in a warm color space I get super tired. I painted everything a pure white and have a lot of pops of color in the art and furniture. It feels so fresh and bright. 

Before pics of the bedrooms 

Before pic of the living/dining area 

We replaced all of the light fixtures, pics of those coming in May.  

Pumping while painting. We closed on a Tuesday and I rented the floor sander for Saturday. I was on a mission to get all the walls that were in rooms with wood done in 4 days so I wouldn't drip paint on the finished floors. 

Little "helper"

My friend Becky helped A LOT, I wouldn't have gotten it done without her! Every room required at least 3 coats. I bought the paint and primer in one Behr Ultra paint and it still didn't stick to these old walls. We even tried KILZ paint to see if that would stick better and it didn't. We used 18 gallons of paint so far and I still have to paint the back entry and basement steps. 

The red color on the floor is beeswax. We went through 12 sandpaper belts on the drum sander trying to remove it. 

We applied wood filler to All of the wood. There were huge gaps and gouges in every room. There is oak in the living/dining area and pine in the hall and bedrooms. The bedrooms had huge holes in the wood. Who knows what was going on in these rooms for the last 69 years. 

Wood filler complete  - Gordon warming himself in the sun 

We have sidewalks at our new house! We lived in a wooded neighborhood with dirt roads and dirt driveways in CO so it's a nice change. 

Walking to the park! 

Some kids floating the creek in April! 

Creek near our house 

The edge sander was a pain to use. We went through about 30 pieces of sandpaper on the edger to get  through the beeswax. 

Dusty boy helping around the house 

Drum sander

Beautiful raw oak 

Raw Pine 

Next step was cleaning the sawdust which literally covered everything. I had to wipe down the walls, windows, ceiling, cabinets, doors...everything, otherwise the dust would fall onto the polyurethane. 

After the first coat of Poly 

After 4 coats of poly the floors felt rough so we rented the square sander and used the screen to "buff" it. Then we put one more coat of poly and they are super smooth. 

We took a break to check out the Bozeman Children's Museum. 

April "showers" 

Installing the shoe molding and painting the trim. I'll post after pictures of the rooms when they are done. We still have a lot of art to hang. We worked SO hard in April. I literally worked my ass off, almost all the pregnancy weight is gone! It's the "pump a ton of breastmilk while fixing up an old house" diet. 

My sister and brother in law have been helping us with the house every weekend. I really don't want to spend the whole summer working on the house so we are in a sprint to get a lot done as fast as possible. Summers in Bozeman are paradise and I don't want to miss it. We are still deciding what to do with the outside. Ideally, we'd like to remove the asbestos siding and insulate the hell out of the house, then seal it and put on some dark grey corrugated metal siding with some ghost wood on the front of the house and replace the doors with bright colored new doors, but that might wait until next Spring. 

Drinks & a fire with our wonderful neighbors on our first night in the new house. 

Montana shirt day in the neighborhood 

Gordon turned 5! Bagel with cream cheese and capers was requested for breakfast. 

Playing trouble with Aunt Lissa 

Gordon wanted a sleepover party 

I love rainy Spring days in Bozeman - I'm pretty lucky to have this view when I leave Target 

Cool clouds in the Valley. This is why Montana is called big sky country. 

Finally taking advantage of living right next to Pete's Hill Trailhead. 

Views from Pete's Hill 

Beautiful Bridgers

You can see our little white house from the trail - it's to the left of the other little white house! 

Playing in the mud at the neighbor's 

We love living downtown. We can walk to date nights! 

I accepted a position at the Gallatin County Health Department. I'm filling in for someone on maternity leave but I'm hoping it turns into a long term position. I'm excited to work with breastfeeding moms & be involved in breastfeeding events again & possibly teach some basic breastfeeding classes. It'll only be about 12 hours a week which seems like a lot after being a stay at home mom for over 7 years but I think it'll be good for me to do something I love and spend some time with adults! The Health Department is located downtown so I can walk and bike to work. I'll post more about the position in May's post.