Baby Cakes — aka: My My — aka: Meyer is such a big girl these days! She now chooses walking as her preferred method of transportation, and she’s FULL of silliness, mischief and cuteness. Today I found her hiding in a corner…chewing a piece of peppermint gum that she found in my purse…smiling. When I told her “no, no!” she smiled even bigger and nodded her head yes. Uh oh, baby has some spunk! She loves playing outside, swinging, and of course…eating! She brings us so much joy!

Mischief.

I'm so funny.

Raise your hand if you want mama to blog about you!?

sweet friends...

It was a sunglasses, high heels, and best friend kind of day (or so Evyn thought! )! Hello spring time! Don’t break my heart and disappear on me, please! I’ve pulled out the flip flops and don’t want to see my boots again until next year! I love the warm weather because it means the kids can play outside….all. day. long! Yes please! Grateful for our sweet friends who live just a few doors down. Evyn loves her little friend and I snapped these adorable pics today of them. Can you stand the cuteness of these two little precious ones?! Love it!

more serious look.

And who’s this cool cat?

This cool little mug from Anthropology must really scream “EMIILY!” because 3 people who know me the best have all randomly given me this mug recently….

I love drinking anything from these mugs…glad I have three…you know, just in case one…or two…of them break I’ll still have one!

I’m typing this post from our new space in the basement…which I love.

Oh my goodness! Friday night around 8:30 we finally got to see the finished basement. We came down the steps and I was at a complete loss for words! We loved it! Even the “ugly” green carpet wasn’t so bad when all the other furniture and accesories were put in the space! I eat my words — Anitra (the designer) was right. The green carpet works! The “Reveal” was such a funny experience. Remember that awesome-knots-in-your-stomach feeling you used to get as a kid on Christmas morning just before your parents let you come in and see what Santa brought you…yeah, that is the feeling I had all night. There was so much build  up to the moment that I was sure I was going to be dissapointed…but I wasn’t. I didn’t cry…but I almost did! I totally understand why people cry in those moments — so, so overwhelming! Not only was it completed with excellence, they totally outdid themselves on the furnishings and gadgets they gave us. I have never had a room with completely new everything– crazy! I can’t wait to see how funny we look when the episode releases in August. Unfortunately I’m not allowed to post any pictures until the show airs. Sorry! I know you are all dying to see the carpet.

It was such a fun and once in a lifetime opportunity. I’m so grateful! Everyone should apply for a home improvement show! You won’t regret it!

Friday 6:39pm Update: Will I love it or hate it?! I’m about to find out. Reveal was pushed back from 3pm to 6pm…and pushed back again. I’m really excited and nervous and excited and nervous….it’s a definite mix of both emotions!

Well, here goes nothin’! Stay tuned to find out what we think of it!!

Sidenote: This is definitely the most random/crazy/funny/silly/fun week our family has ever experienced! How do we get ourselves into these things!

Things were going so well. I should have known better. Something was bound to happen…and it did. It happened in the form of green carpet. Green. Seriously? It’s possible the designer picked the ugliest carpet made. Maybe she beat up someone’s grandma and took it out of another 1960′s ranch house?! Green. Really?!

My mantra has been “Trust the designer. Trust the designer. Trust the designer.” But I think she just lost me. I’m trying not to panic and I keep reminding myself that at least the bones are good and I can swap out carpet if I need to. I’m just going to stay positive, roll with it and keep an open mind until I see the whole space completed tomorrow at the reveal. I know I hate when people see/judge my work half way through, so I’m trying to give the same courtesy to Anitra (the sweet designer) and just trust her. Maybe she really will be able to pull it all together. I’m willing to eat my words — but as of now, I’m not very happy with the carpet choice. Green. Sigh.

We are really grateful to be a part of this, so I’m not meaning to sound ungrateful…just being honest! If nothing else, this should make for some interesting TV!

I haven’t been able to snap very many pictures but here are some BEFORE pics of our fabulous unfinished 1960′s basement in all it’s glory with exposed and cold concrete floor and walls…

Steps to our basement...

the play area. That's torn strips of fabric from Mali Africa hung on the ceiling. You do what ya can with what ya got!

another angle of the play area

art space

under the stairs and storage wall

looking into the storage closet...

And here is day 2 progress…

It's a mess!

working area in the backyard

Out with the old windows...

the driveway chaos...

shout out.

The catering zone on our patio...

Our garage...where everything from the old basement was piled up! Looks like I have some major work to do next week!

one of the new walls and windows.

the back corner is where they are creating the build in bunk bed... behind that is storage. This is where the old storage doors were located...now the doors are on a different wall. You can also see how they exposed the duct work. I think they are leaving it like that.

The crew was welding something in the back yard...I snapped this from my bedroom window looking down.

Building out the frame/walls for the laundry nook. Glad that my washer and dryer won't be out in the middle of everything anymore!

One of many delivery trucks arrive. Lots of surprises!

That’s the scoop so far. I have a “project” I have to work on in a little while, then all of us — Me, Bryson, and the Kids — have to so some b-roll. I’ll try to act natural. I hope the kids don’t cry!