The Final Countdown

Approximately 8 1/2 months ago we found out we were going to have an addition to our family.  Since then we moved into a new house, did some major renovations to the house and have attempted to prepare as much as we can for the little one. As I have not had to carry the baby around the last number of months I don't think the realization of all of this will be with me until I am holding something in my arms.  Needless to say I am so excited about the thought of our new arrival and cannot wait to meet him or her.

Before I go on about the baby I wanted to discuss what has been distracting us for the months leading up to the birth which has been our renovations to the house.  There were three major things that we need/wanted to change to the house before the baby arrived, which were: to lay new flooring in living room and kitchen, completely redo the kitchen and make upstairs spare room larger by cutting into the hallway.
  
First was the floors as the original floors from 1850 were still down in the living room and needless to say they were worn in places.  So much so that we feared that the new baby could get lost down one of them if we were not careful.  We went with some reclaimed pine boards that were 125 years old but in pretty good condition. See image

 Secondly was the kitchen and to be honest the original kitchen was really nice to look at but not overly functional as there was only half of a fridge, the oven was broke and everything else was just a bit worn out.  So we decided to gut the whole area and start fresh which was both exciting and challenging. Old kitchen picture:

We ended up getting referred onto these two builders from a friend and they ended up being brilliant.  They actually were involved in all aspects of our renovations which was a bit risky but totally paid off in the end.  They hand made the kitchen to spec as we had an image from a magazine for them to reference from.  The only gaps that we needed to look after were the appliances (Fridge, range cooker and dishwasher) as well as a tap for the sink and tiles for the splash back.  We soon found out that we had expensive taste and the thought that we would have these for many years to come was a great excuse to go for quality.  This resulted in a Gorenje retro style fridge and Rangemaster cooker.  Here are some pics of the final product which we are really happy with.



Finally the last part was making one of the rooms upstairs larger so we could use it for a spare room and my office.  Basically there was a hallway upstairs that we felt was wasted space and we needed a second double bedroom.  This was the easiest part which simply involved moving a wall.

 The actually time took about 3 weeks which meant living in a dusty work site, but the planning bit took a few months which was a great distraction from the baby as the bump continued to grow and grow.  We are now in the final days before baby arrives and there is definite excitement in the air.  The Berry patch back in Canada are excited, well actually for some excited doesn't do it justice.  We have already received a baby package full of all sorts of goodies which is very much appreciate.  We have also had help from Niamh's mother who managed to get a few key bits from a friend who was giving them away via facebook (Pramette and toys).  The one bit I wanted to get right was the Pramette and this one we were given is practically new which is a huge help.

Last thing to mention before signing off is that I was fortunate to have my mate Grantus come over from Australia for a visit in June.  He was in Ireland for a friends wedding and then was in London for another week for business.  Was great to have the house ready for him and the spare bed showed up 2 days before he arrived which was handy.  We spent most of our time discussing how our lives has moved on (he is expecting as well) and how it would be nice to live a bit closer.  Other than one major day out in the Dublin pubs it was a very respectable and quite catch up.

For those who are interested here is a video preview of the house after the renovations.  No commentary unfortunately only a walk through.

That is all for now, next time I will be a new father, bit mental but I am up for the challege......I hope!

Much love,

Garnet