Backyard Remodel

We decided to remodel our backyard.  We added cement, stained the cement, added a shed, and a pergola.  We have had to replant grass, added berms between the trees, and then planted the berms.  It has been crazy but it is finally paying off.

Our Inspiration

Before

Cement & Grass

We extended the rock circle the was on the left and made it cement.  We also took the rock/gravel that their hot tub was on.








In the process of removing our dirt (and our neighbors), and putting it in our backyard for berms, dad's tractor hit a frost pocket and it looked like a whirl pool of grass in our back yard.....

 We then had to till the whole whirlpool and start fresh with grass.....










Once the cement was poured, it dried to quickly (supplier error) and we were not able to scrape it in time before it dried.  This meant we had to grind the cement down to have the pitch correct.

The grinder didn't work the first day so our contractor had to come back a second and grind again.  After two days of grinding, the pitch was correct.

A big shelf cloud came through, but it also shows the progress (cement done) and the grass not yet planted.

Grass is planted and we are watering the grass.  Cement is done.

 The grinding didn't look the best (in my personal opinion but I am a perfectionist) so I decided we needed to dye our cement to cover it up. So began the many-step process.  Here is the dye choice we made.

Cement originally (after being washed so the dark spots are just wet.  The Color at the right is in the shade.

The first color (Canal Blue) turned out a little more blue than we anticipated...

The accent color was not quite what we expected, but we do like the end result.

 

The final colors close together.

The color changed a bit when we we added the sealant.  It also made it slippery (since a lot of the texture was ground off when fixing the pitch).  We are working on reducing the slip with out changing the color to much.

We purchased a fire pit from wayfair.com and it is on the round part of the cement.

Shed

We framed out the shed and were all ready to apply for our permit only to discover though it is regulation to stay 5 feet away from the lot line, we have a 10 foot easment due to drainage.  We picked up the frame and the gravel that was already in the frame and moved it up five feet.  We poured cement the same day.  

The shed went up quickly with out much incident. 

Pergola 

The pergola is going in this week.  We ordered smooth saw cedar posts, but they came in rough so we had to special order them again.  The pergola is going up over the new rectangular part of the cement.  I will update soon!

10 months

10 Months!

He is starting to be such a ham!  It is very tricky to do...this is no longer a 1 man job!

Weight Gain/Growth
At his 9 month doctor appointment, he was 19 lbs, 11oz.  They believe his 6 month appointment weight was off rather than he lost a bunch of weight.  The 6 month appointment removed, he is has steadily been in the 50th percentiles. He moved from the 21st percentile to the 45th percentile in height.  He has a tiny head apparently, only being in the 33rd percentile.

Nolan has this one crazy hair that is growing by his left ear.  We call it his ObiWan hair.  It seriously has a mind of its own, but I dont have the heart to cut it!


Sleep & Bedtime Routine
Sleep hasn't been great.  Nolan is back to waking multiple times a night and getting up early.  His routine is pretty consistent.  He is still nursing to sleep, but it his hard to nurse until groggy and not asleep because he falls asleep so early into nursing I know he is not full when he closes his eyes.  I also think teething played into the bad habit and now he just misses me.  Darn momma's boy!
Uncle Max has been over quite a bit for homework help and ACT prep so he has been around for bedtime quite a bit as well.  He loves Max, and he is loving his story from Max.

Milestones & Likes
 Oh boy did he grow this month!

He learned to wave hi

Saying Mama

Nolan has developed his first favorite show.  He loves to watch Mickey Mouse Club House.  He doesn't watch whole episodes, but he does stop to watch it, it holds his attention for a short time, and then he goes back to playing.






Pushing a walker

















Feeding the dogs...and its hilarious

Touch Down (Father's day present)

Seeing himself on camera and talking about it.

Signing and saying "All Done"

Moving around like a crazy person!

Firsts

His first Memorial Day

Nolan, Badger, Pudge, and Piper went to my parents to play in the water (see the pool) and to nap when the cement was being ground at our house.

Grandpa came to plaster to the garage and Nolan was a helper!

putting he feet up watching the parade

pulling himself forward eating
Cheerios while watching the
parade.

Nolan had his first Cheesefest experience in Little Chute.  He went to the parade with grandma and grandpa Gloudemans, went to the petting zoo with his Godfather, and ate some cheese and milk.  

Petting the llama and the calf were ok, but that tortoise he was not getting close to!

Milk and Cheese #wisconsin

With his Godfather, Ryan

We went to our first Brewer's Game. St. Edward had a reading incentive program so Nolan and I went as well.  We had a lot of fun.  The weather looks bad in the pictures, but it was honestly perfect.  Nolan hung out with mommy, tried cotton candy for the first time, and even met Hank, The Brewer dog.  

They told us not to touch Hank because he needed us to quickly take pictures to allow the rest to go through the line because it was hot and Hank was pretty much done, but they wanted us all to get a chance.  Nolan loves dogs, and wanted to touch.  Good thing Hank was so good and the people were so understanding.

Nolan had his first swimming lessons this month too!

Mommy and Nolan went to Grandpa Ken's cottage on Legend Lake for the first time.  We had fun boating and exploring the water.  He is not really a fan of his life jacket, but he did pretty good!  He liked helping grandpa drive the boat!

Nolan and Charles had a parade at our house

Watching a dvd and Badger chilling

Nolan discovered Brittany's shoes
and tried them on.

The following weekend we took Nolan to Grandma and Grandpa Jansen's cottage on Pelican Lake.  There was a lot of packing involved and a lot longer drive, but we had fun!  It was cold and rainy all of Saturday so we had to come up with ways to keep our selves busy.

Chewing on a flashlight with a diaper
on by head, no big deal

Hanging with cousin and grandma

It finally got nice out on the Sunday, so we went in the water a bit and out on the boat.  Daddy and Nolan learned "cheers"

Swimming lessons with Daddy.

Eating guacamole at Tanners.  Little stinker ate ALL of our guac!

This little stinker would not let mommy do her chalkboard.  He not only would sit on it while I was working, but he was erasing it as I wrote it as well.

He has also started begging for my food. I was sitting down to eat for the first time of the day at 2pm and it was between his meals, but he still kept coming up and begging for some.  How can you say no to this cute face?

Nolan has also discovered the dog water this month.  He is almost always in it and even when he is caught and brought into the living room by his toys, he crawls as fast as he can back to the kitchen to splash.  Our floor is taking a hit!

Nolan is becoming a little toddler and he is changing so much it is freaking me out!  He is close to walking and he is laughing and playing.  He is figuring things out and you can see his wheels turning.  This little boy is our world and he makes our hearts so full of love. I know this is getting long and these are just little brag sessions, but I just cant help it!

This one came out late because we have been working our buns off to complete our back hard remodel project.  We are in the final stages of this (finally).  Check out the pictures in the remodel post.

We also had our 9 month photos by EllieFay Photography Please go to her page and "like" it to see all her great work!