Extra Insulation

This has nothing to do with Ellasyn or being a Father, but I took pictures of before and after so I thought I would share. I have been wanting to add extra insulation to our home for awhile now, but the project got logged in the back of my head, like a lot of my other projects.... Anyways I was reading some posts on this blog and H had added extra insulation and it brought the project from back burner to front burner. So I completed this project on Saturday. It was fairly easy, most difficult thing was working in the tight spaces behind our knee walls. My plan was to add extra insulation to the back of the knee walls, as well as add extra insulation over the existing insulation in the floor joists. Behind my closet the previous owners had laid plywood sheeting down and used the area for storage, this compressed the current insulation and we didnt use the space for anything but our X-mas tree and window air-conditioner so out it came. We did keep a small area in front of the door to continue keeping the tree and A/C up there. Behind Amanda's closet there was no sheeting, just some random junk, this was cleaned up and the removed sheeting from my side was temporarily moved over to help with installation. The project took about 6 hours to complete. Hardest part was adding the insulation to the back of the knee walls, because the horizontal pieces had to be secured with twine to hold in place. I shouldnt say the project is 100% complete, more like 90% I still have to add foam insulation to the backs of the access doors and weather stripping to seal the doors, then I'll be done. Here are some before and after pictures.

Daddy can I help you?

My Side Before.

My Side over the Dining room, The previous owners had all kinds of scrap wood in here, all was cleaned out.

My Side After

Area above the dining room cleaned out and insulated.

Amanda's side before.

Amanda's side after.

Tools used:

R30 unfaced Batt Insulation (13 rolls)
Razor Knife
Staple Gun
Twine
Work Light
Flash Light
Tape Measure
Shop Vac
Gloves
Mask
Great $tuff foam Sealant

Overall a pretty simple project, don't know why I waited so long....

Whats next, Redo Computer Room, or Organize the Basement??

Is Pink the new Blue?

Have the Collar Poppin' Douche Bags popularized pink shirts so much that people now associate pink with Boys? I have lost count of the number of people that have approached us when were out with Ellasyn, fully decked out in pink, and said "Oh he's so cute!", "Oh what's his name?", "How old is he?" Pay attention people, with babies Pink = Girl, Blue = Boy!

Camo on the other hand can go either way!

As Promised!

Blog has been updated with lots of pictures from over the Holidays....

Slacker!

New post with pictures to come this weekend...

New Years Eve

Because we were such party animals the night before we stayed low key on New Years Eve. We went out to dinner at Carino's our favorite Italian Resturaunt, then walked around Target for a little bit, then headed home to watch VH1's Top (insert crap) of 2009 all night. Amanda and Ellasyn fell asleep and slept until just before the ball dropped.

Overall 2009 was a great year! And here's to an even better 2010!!

Snoozing before the ball drops.

Waking up for the ball drop.

Happy it's 2010!

Hanging with Daddy in 2010.

Party Time

On December 30th we went to our friends Josh and Leah's house for a friend gift exchange, and maybe a little bit of drinking and game playing. Our other friends Eric and Christy were also in attendance with Baby Boston. He's 2 months older then Ellasyn. We had lots of fun watching the 2 play with each other. Then after both went to bed the adults had fun drinking and playing games.

Best Friends

Boston teaching Ellasyn "Patty Cake"

Boston Sneaking a Kiss!

Boston practicing his wrestling moves, "Fish Hook!"

Ellasyn opening her gift from Josh and Leah.

Christmas Day

Christmas day was a busy one for us. We did gifts at our house 1st thing in the morning, then headed up to Bad Axe for Christmas and Dinner with Amanda's Family. It was a long tiring day but was very enjoyable! Here are some pictures from the day.

After Santa stopped by.

"There are just so many, I don't know where to start?"

Who knew the bows would be her favorite!

Post Gift Opening

Opening more gifts with Grandma.

"I told you I liked the bows best!"

"I'm exhausted, good night"

Christmas Eve

Our Christmas celebrations got started on Christmas Eve when we invited my Parents and Brothers over for dinner and exchanging gifts. I was fortunate enough to have the day off to be able to cook while Amanda was working. For Apetizers we had spinach dip, and veggie pizza squares, for dinner we had prime rib, a sweet potatoe and apple dish, and cheesey potatoes, and for dessert there were sugar cookies, pumpkin cheesecake, and a cream cheese strawberry dessert. It ended up turning out great but was very stressful trying to get everything ready and take care of Ellasyn. I have much respect for stay at home moms now!

After dinner was cleaned up we all gathered in the living room and did our gift exchange.

"What I get gifts?!"

"Now were talking Cash Money!"

Vines the Monkey

"I love my new Exersaucer from Gramma and Grampa"

"I've had enough, wake me after Santa comes"

1 Year from Ellasyn's 1st Photo's!

Today is 1 year from Ellasyn's 1st photo's. She was just a tiny bean then, now she is a beautiful precious little girl!

12/12/08 Ellasyn's 1st Picture

12/12/09 1 year later! (Also 1st Trip to Bronner's)

Here are some other pictures from her trip to Bronner's

"Look Im a Snowwoman!"

"Gramma Loves me!"

"How many more times do I have to see Santa!"

Mass Update and 3month photos

I have been so busy with work lately that I havent had a chance to update my blog. Since I am such a party animal on Fridays and Saturdays now I had lots of time last night to go back and make lots of posts with lots of pictures of Ellasyn and whats been happening since Halloween. Hope you enjoy!

We also had Ellasyn's 3 month pictures taken. The photographer Emily Dowd does such a wonderful job! If you would like to check them out go here then scroll down to client login and enter 3mosellasyn then click enter, on the next page enter your email address and click enter and you will see our little model! Its so hard to choose which we want to order....

Awake Time

Sleepy Time