Basement - Week One

Our weekend was all about the basement. When I got home on Friday, this is what I saw:
It started to seem very real. I couldn't believe how much progress they had made in only one week. Initially I freaked about the size of the cubbies, but Casey reassured me it would be fine when the entire unit was up. He was right...this is what I saw when I got home today:

Awesome! The biggest task at hand now is painting. Not sure I knew exactly what I signed up for when I thought, "Why pay someone to do what I can do?" Um...several reasons. 1. They are better at it. 2. More free time for me. 3. Less work for me. 4. Why not? Anyway, you get the point. This coming weekend is devoted to painting, painting and more painting. It will be good for the muscles:)

Saturday we went researching a TV and sofa. If there is anything I have learned in my 6 years with Casey, it is researching actually means we are going to buy something. Which is fine. At least we have a decisive way of going about it. I trusted Casey to make the call on the TV. As long as we stayed in budget I was cool with it. After scoping out Best Buy and Sam's for deals, he decided to take his knowledge home and do some more research online. Seriously, what did we do before the Internet? I know it sounds ridiculous, but it truly takes comparison shopping to a whole new level. Later that evening he pulled the trigger. I am nervous about how large it is going to seem, but I can't wait to watch a good ol' Packer game on it. I know that much.

Next mission: sofa. We went to La-Z-Boy Galleries because we saw one online we were interested in. Walked in and through the entire store without a single person greeting us. Hmmm. Next we went to Scandinavian Designs. We at least got a hello when we walked in, but nothing more than that. Geez. I didn't realize that during a "recession" I would have to work so hard to actually spend my money. Curse you IKEA - there are about 10 sofas there I would be content with. Oh well. We headed back to Sofa Mart - where I originally saw a couch I loved when we were just browsing months back. I still liked it as much as I did that first day and Kate assured me it was a good fabric to have with kids because it is easy to clean. Sold. We even made a sale with the orginal salesperson we spoke with. And he convinced me to get an ottoman too:) Take that La-Z-Boy and Scandinavian Designs.

Ian was a trooper throughout it all. He sure has logged a lot of miles in his new car seat. I love having him face forward. The first day we drove to daycare I swear his mouth was hanging open at the whole new world he had been missing out on! There is so much for him to see, but the best part is that we can easily see each other:) What a cutie!

He is such a big boy. This weekend he started climbing...on everything! He loves to help me unload the dishwasher and I welcome the help. I remove the knives and then he would help me with the silverware. Occassionally he helped with dishes, but when they ended up broken on the kitchen floor I decided that we should keep it simple. Not anymore - he has moved up to the top rack. Yikes! This happened overnight. What?! I am thankful for his kind, sensitive nature though. He is a helper at heart. It is sweet. He loves to help carry things too! Like his "new" favorite toy of the week: a cane. He loves to carry this cane around the house with him. It belonged to his Great-Grandpa Rais - hand carved by him. I know he is smiling...

His 7th tooth popped through on Sunday. His bottom left. I am afraid we have a biter on our hands. I am not quite sure how to handle it. The first of many parenting challenges to come my way, for this I am sure of. I need to do some research, i.e. Google it. Any pointers?

Stay tuned for a status update on the basement and garden. For now, I must go. Casey is waiting on me for a double dose of HIMYM. Best show ever. I heart Doogie!