Weekend whirlwind

How many family members does it take to reorganize a house? In our case, five, as Cortney's parents and Curtis joined us to tackle a broad range of fixes and furniture moves toward getting the house baby-ready. Jon started by installing a new shower head. Next up was the unexpected necessity of fixing the drainage hose for the dishwasher. This required a major battle with the floor to pull the dishwasher out (and we thought that with this trouble was behind us with the new linoleum!). After that was done, we could get down to the real business of hauling Cortney's office furniture downstairs, and the crib furniture brought in from the cars. Cortney's dad installed classy corner shelves and a key rack in the laundry room, and helped Jon assemble the new nursery furniture. Meanwhile, with the kitchen sink now available post-dishwasher-fix, Cortney's mom taught her how to make the family recipe for hand-made noodles that go into Bot Bie. After dinner, the crowning glory of the day was in hanging a special piece of metallic artwork over the stairs. This was definitely a team effort, but would really not have been possible without Curtis' Spider-Man moves. Affectionately known as "Ray," the artwork was courtesy of Cortney's godmother Lonnie. It was a favorite of Cortney's godfather, Bob, and its reddish-bronze hues are a perfect match for our maroon living room accents. It was a productive weekend. Still on the docket for March: wiring a light in the basement, taking a look at the weak water heater, and painting the nursery. We don't want to give away the nursery decor too early, but we've included a picture of the crib mid-assembly in the empty room and we'll give you this hint--we had to buy two colors of paint! More nursery info coming in three weeks. Thanks, family!