5 Years Later!

5-year Anniversary (August 28, 2009)

Eric, Hampton, Marin and Baby 2 - 8 months pregnant!

This past weekend was Eric and I's 5 year anniversary! It is amazing how quickly time flies...full of wonderful memories and adventures. We were so fortunate to have Collin, Greg and Abby come to town. It was an awesome long weekend. We made our way to Fenway Park for a tour (Hampton referred to it as "Wally's House"...Abby proceeded to give a heartfelt farewell to Wally at the Red Sox Team Store). We also made it to the Children's Museum where the kids played in the grocery, construction zone, kitchen and airplane to name a few hotspots. And, we also had a chance to take a long walk along the harbor and take a ride on the carasoul. We had the best weekend with them. Hampton and Abby played so well together - nothing like watching cousins interact...and share toys together. Too bad the weekend flew by. I needed more Murphy-time and hopefully we'll get more in 2010!



Hampton and Abby reunite!!

Mr. Ant

Yesterday at the Knight's pool, Hampton practiced his swimming skills - kicking, blowing bubbles, riding the "Whale" and sailing his blue boat (okay, it's just a blue raft but that's what he calls it). And, we also witnessed his impeccable manners. As Hampton stood on the stairs in the pool, he noticed an ant marching by. So, Hampton says "Hello, Mr. Ant!". Daddy and I chuckled. Then, he proceeded to say "Have a nice weekend!" Lucky for that ant, I didn't squash it given Hampton's sweet demeanor.

Before and After

The renovations are very near complete. The only things left to do are a few minor paint touch ups, install the knobs and pulls for the kitchen, replace some of the defective cabinet doors, install the glass surround in the master bathroom and install the kickboard in the kitchen.

Below I put together some "Before and Afters" for this particular renovation. I wish I could find some pictures of the house when we first moved in....the "Befores" in these shots are after some minor face-lifts. If I ever find the pictures of these rooms with all the wood pannelling, etc...I'll post them.

It's good to be back home! Hampton is very happy and Deacon is now back with us as well....though I think he misses Cody. We're done with renovations for a while....if not forever.

Before and after of the view when you walk in the front door of the home

Before and after of our kitchen. No more bathroom in the middle of the kitchen. It's amazing how much space it created just knocking out that bathroom and the chimney.

Before and after of where the fireplace is now. Behind that wall in the picture above is a covered up fireplace. It's been that way for a LONG time. We had to get creative with how we could continue to use that same chimney.

This is just a before and after of the view from the front of the house to the back on the first floor.

This entire wallis actually about 12" out from where it used to be, but we salvaged the old built in, installed a wine fridge below and made it into a bar.

The old bathroom and the (almost) finished new bathroom. There was a chimney behind that tub wall that we had to remove.

The door on the right down the hallway wasn't there before. It was actually inthe dining room that you see to the right and it was for a closet. We moved the door to the other side and made the closet into a half bath (below) so that we still had a bathroom on the first floor.

Happy 2nd Birthday Hampton!

July 26, 2009...Hampton turns 2! He woke up first thing on his birthday ready to party. And, we did so in style with a pool party and his favorite friends. He was absolutely adorable - acted a bit bashful when we brought out the cake but was far from bashful swimming in the pool.

Ask Hampton how old he is? He responds with 2...3,4,5,6,7,8,9 (and so forth). He also is in LOVE with his firetruck and other forms of transportation - helicopters, ambulence, trains, cars, motorcyles ("morcicals"), backhoe loaders, excavators (you get my drift). Fortunately, he stacked up on all of the above on his big day!

The second best part about the day was returning to our home in Charlestown. We officially spent our first night in our own beds.

Mid Week 10

Mid week, but we've got a lot of paint done, so I thought I'd post these. 3 days until we move back in.