S-n-L: A Little Behind

Yes, I have put blogging on the back burner lately. I'm pretty sure this happened when I was pregnant with Adalyn too. It's just one more thing to blame on the pregnancy. haha.

I realize it's almost Easter, but I just can't go forward without posting some pictures of our epic Christmas. Yes, I said epic. Santa spent a lot of time and energy making Adalyn's present this year. It wouldn't be right to leave it off the ol' blog.

So here goes.

We went to see Santa at the Shops at the Riverwoods in Provo. Seth had been practicing with Addy on what she was going to say, but she didn't say a word. She didn't even look at him. But, she didn't cry either. And if you ask her, she told him exactly what she wanted. victory.

No emotion.

And of course, we had to attend an "Ugly Sweater Christmas Nogger" with some BYU friends during the season.

Addy asked Santa for a kitchen this year. He said, "Oh, like an easy-bake oven?" We said, "No, like a whole kitchen." Haha. Luckily, Santa had some awesome helpers to get the job done. It all started with this old entertainment center that was sitting in Seth's parents basement:

Lead elf #1, yours truly, got to work and took it apart. took the doors off, the back off, filled in holes, and yes, even cut holes for the sink and faucet. Assistant elves (Seth, Nate and my dad) were there to help with the big saws and hinge work as well as anything else the lead elf needed.

Primed and ready to be painted!

Painting complete. Sort of...painting is one of those jobs that just doesn't end. Since it was freezing in the middle of December we decided to move it into my parents basement at this point so we didn't have to have 4 heaters in the garage going at a time. I don't even have any other pictures of the process...so I guess it's time to skip to the end result.

Here it is!

I couldn't be happier with the end result. It is exactly how I envisioned it! It was so. much. work. But Addy has played with it almost everyday since Christmas so it is sooo worth it!

One side has hooks to hold her brooms, dustpan, and apron.

The window is an old picture frame, we made the shelf and curtains. The sink is a buffet steam tray and I got the faucet from the ReStore for $8. It was like new!

You can tell it's been getting used because of all the fingerprints ;) sorry, didn't clean it up for the photos. The counter is painted with a stone spray paint, I really like how it turned out!

The stove hot plates were all cut out by hand by my dad! See? So much work went into this thing to make it perfect! The knobs are real oven/stove knobs that I found on Amazon. They really turn!

Pots and pans and bars and hooks were all from IKEA. They are just the right size. The red shelf is also from IKEA, it was a spice rack that I just painted.

We cut a hole in the oven door and attached plexi-glass. There is a magnetic closure and a weighted hinge so that the oven doesn't fly open and hurt anyone and closes smoothly. (Just like a real oven)

Of course there's always something baking in the oven...

There is storage under the sink and in the basket for all her food and baking items (she has a ton!)

The other side has a chalkboard that I made. I got this ugly oak wood thing from DI, it might have been one of those calendar holders? and painted it red and inserted a piece of wood I had painted with chalkboard paint. Underneath it is a place to hold chalk and erasers. On Christmas morning, Santa wrote a message that said "Merry Christmas Addy!" but I didn't take a picture of it :( This is a great drawing by Adalyn though.

So, there it is. The one and only kitchen I will ever make. I've had a lot of people say that it must have been really expensive to do. I am quite certain that I spent under $100 easily. It took a lot of manpower though. Thank you to everyone that helped! Just because it's fun, here's one more before picture:

And here's the after: