An Izzard Upgrade

We have wanted to redo our floors downstairs since we moved to our home almost 2 1/2 years ago. A friend suggested we wait until after we had the next baby and got through the spit up stage, crawling, and walking to upgrade. That made sense to us, so we waited. Funny, at our old home we upgraded the floors to TILE a couple weeks after Jackson learned to walk...Ha!

Sierra put me in charge of finding a flooring company and choosing the wood. We both loved the way distressed wood looked--and let's be honest, with kids it makes sense. Those little scrapes that they will make with their toys will blend right in! I had three companies come out and all had different approaches, ideas, estimates, professionalism, etc. 

We chose Medinah Flooring because Joe asked me questions the others did not. His suggestions for flooring were in line with my thinking, and we chose the same sample together. I also liked that they are local and not a huge chain. And, they specialize in flooring, unlike some bigger places like Home Depot, who I've been dealing with for three months just to get an office door installed. SIGH. Joe gave me a written estimate just a few hours after stopping by with his samples. Then, Sierra gave me a text with two thumbs up (literally), and the process began! Joe came back, we paid for the materials, and a few days later the demolition of downstairs began...with the plan for 6 days of discombobulation. 

Before...

Entryway Before

Living Room Before

Kitchen Before...this tile took one full day to remove!

Family Room Before 

Dining Room Before

Powder Room Before

The Process...

Eric, "the best wood layer in Southern California," according to Joe, arrived at 9 a.m. on Monday morning and within five minutes the living room carpet was gone. Just. Like. That. Wow that was a little too easy! All of our furniture was moved to our garages or stored to the side of the room...which made for an interesting life upstairs, where we spent a lot more time than usual since downstairs was a disaster zone. 

Day One: Demo

That's Eric by the door pulling up the baseboards.

Very excited to see the demo of carpet and tile!

The tile was awful to remove. The entryway and kitchen had tile that apparently was stuck on a little too much...like four times the amount according to Eric. He removed it all...by himself. We got to know a lot about Eric over our days together. But mainly, we tried to stay out of his way. Our days would start with breakfast in the garage and end with dinner outside on the patio. Sometimes Eric was still working while we were having dinner. He is a perfectionist and a hard worker. No wonder we liked him! 

Day Two: Having fun on carpet rolls!

We ate breakfast in the garage for 10 mornings.

Yay! The wood arrives!

I did have a small panic moment on day three when we came home and could not go into our kitchen. Turns out the floors were put in unevenly by the builder, so we spent two extra days (and extra money), to "float" the floor. Otherwise, our flooring would be uneven, have dips, and you would notice especially with hardwood. The tile and carpet hid these "imperfections." The builder had marked where these spots were...pretty shady if you ask me. Eric hired help and over those two, actually almost three days, floated the floor. He even worked on Saturday. 

Day Five: Floor is going in!

Finally Eric is doing what he does best!

See the sub floor? That was an extra two days of work. 

So happy to see that it compliments the kitchen's wood!

...After!

Family Room After

Kitchen After

Craft Room After

Entryway After

Living Room After

Powder Room After

We are in LOVE with how the floors look! 10 days of dust, being upstairs, eating out, and having our things packed away was worth it for sure. It is amazing to feel the wood on our feet...and feels so good not to have the carpet and grout tile. We ended up using distressed hand scraped birch and replaced the old vinyl with new "travertine" vinyl in the downstairs bathroom. All new baseboards downstairs, too. Love how clean everything looks and somehow our furniture looks newer, too! 

This morning we ate breakfast in the kitchen and Jackson said, "I'm going to miss Eric." If you are local and are looking for a true professional hardwood floor installer, check out Medinah Flooring and you can get to know Eric, too! 

Music and the (Farmer's) Market

Last Friday we returned to the Bernardo Winery to see our favorite kid band, Hullabaloo. Steve plays kid music and keeps the kids entertained while the moms (and dads) can sit for a few minutes without any interruptions. Jackson has been a fan of Hullabaloo since he was just a few months old and saw them play at Mission Bay Stroller Strides. The weather was gorgeous and the setting perfect. We bought a new CD to add to our collection. 

The RB Winery is a fun place to visit on its own--it has shops, a restaurant, a large grassy field for the kids to run on, wine tasting, and on Fridays, a Farmer's Market. We stopped by for some fruit before the Hullabaloo show. Riley enjoyed the sample of Greens Please's Green Dream smoothie so we bought a serving...and she drank almost all of it. The owner asked to use her picture on his website and Facebook so we agreed. She loved the mixture I think because we juice pretty often and use the same ingredients. Jackson is not a big fan of kale, but Ri seems to enjoy it at this point. It was delicious. 

The face of GreensPlease. 

Music, fruit, running, and juice made for a perfect early afternoon. Riley napped for three and a half hours after this adventure. Maybe it was the juice? 

Big Girl Bed

You may remember our darling escape artist...this wasn't a one time deal. Almost every day after nap, or sometimes before she napped, Riley would climb out of her crib. Jackson and I would hear her playing with toys--outside of her crib--on the baby monitor. 

A few weeks ago I wondered what the bruises on her legs were from but thought they were from her daily falls. Turns out they were from getting her legs between the crib railing/cage area. We planned to convert her crib last weekend but she had a really bad cold and later the doctor diagnosed a Tympanic Membrane (TM) Perforation in her right ear. Poor baby. She was miserable last week as well from cutting four teeth at once. 

After lots of mommy suggestions (thank you) and removal of the beautiful Pottery Barn Hayley bumper/step-stool, we decided it was in Riley's best interest and safety to convert her crib to the toddler bed. 

Her last night in the crib. I wanted one last night with this bumper.

Operation Conversion Complete.

Jackson was all too eager to show her the new bed. He asked if he could have a slumber party with her...ummmmmm not tonight. He loves her dearly and really can't wait for her to grow up a little more. He is excited when she has new words and can do things on her own. Our Big Girl! SNIFF! SNIFF! SNIFF!

Daddy giving her kisses before bedtime. 

Finally!

Hmmm....I think I need more of my stuffed animals in here!

We followed her usual bedtime routine and she slept the entire night. She did the same things Jackson did at this milestone--she tried to climb out (even though there is a clear spot to get down from) and brought her favorite stuffed friends in her bed. As an added bonus, she brought Abby the cat's treats and blankets to her bed. She then tried to get Abby to stay...no such luck. But Abby did enjoy the extra treats from her bestie! This morning she actually slept in until 6:45 a.m. (usually up at 6:15 a.m.) and I awoke to, "Mama! Mama!" a little louder than usual. I found her waiting at the doorway. She had thrown her favorites (kitty, Ah-Goo, and Cuddle Bear) over the safety gate. 

This is how she woke up--the gate keeps her in her room...for now.

Big Bro was pretty tired after helping Daddy convert the crib.

First nap in her toddler bed. We had to put her down early so we could attend a birthday party later.

I cheated and nursed her to sleep. She's still in her same PJs from last night. 

Jumping...


Riley trying out her Big Girl Bed!

So now that Ri is a Big Girl, I've been pinning ideas for what to do with the bumper. Her PBK bumper is so  pretty and has brought us so much joy. Riley loves looking at those birds and saying "night, night" to them. Any ideas? I found some cute jumbo blocks I think both kids will enjoy stacking...but they only make a few.

source: Makin' Projiks

Hmmmm...and sweet...I don't remember seeing this before but I just had to order the matching growth chart for her room. I mean, she is growing up after all! 

xoxo