Handy Husband

This weekend my husband finished up a multitude of projects that he started over the past few months but hadn't completed in lieu of starting another project.

1. Baby-Proofing. We had, of course, already added plug protectors to all of the outlets in rooms Andrew typically wanders. He has quite the fascination with outlets, especially when nightlights or cords for loptop battery chargers or lamps are plugged into them. Andrew also really liked opening the cabinet drawers in the kitchen and would pull out pots, pot lids, rolling pins, every single spatula and spoon, parts of the food processor (though thankfully, never the blade!), unused sponges, and any other item that interested him at the moment of discovery. It was getting a bit annoying to put everything back and to try to keep him out of the cabinets under the sink with all the sprays he shouldn't be touching. As of yesterday, Chris added the grip latches to all important cabinet and kitchen cart drawers! Andrew has already tried pulling on several cabinets and seems a little confused and frustrated that he can no longer get into them, but I am no longer worried about what he might find when he walks over to the doors.

2. Living Room. We purchased our living room furniture earlier this year. To go with it, we had also purchased lamps, curtains and curtain rods, and a mirror. On Saturday, Chris finally installed the hooks and tassels to drap our curtains. He also hung up and cleaned the mirror that had been sitting on the floor as an amusement for Andrew, which was smudged accordingly.

3. Shed. As I may or may not have mentioned before, Chris built a shed, which I think of as a mini-barn, in our backyard back in May. He's still working to finish it, but he got a little closer this weekend. On Saturday, he took all of his tools out of the shed and piled them in our dining room with the goal of reorganizing all of his tool boxes and bags at some point this week. On Sunday, he asked my uncle to come over to help cut out a whole for an air vent and it definitely adds some character to it as well as being necessary to circulate air. At some point in the near future, Chris will add a second loft space for more storage and will paint.

4. Master Bathroom. Chris remodeled this in February; however, the bathroom door was never rehung. He was waiting until he painted the trim to put the door back in place. For the most part, I didn't care that we didn't have a bathroom door. Yet, every time Andrew would find his way into our bedroom, he darted straight to the bathroom and went after the cap for the screw on the toilet, the toilet brush, plunger, or the toilet paper. He had even figured out how to pull the lid up on the fairly new simplehuman trash can (in white). To thwart Anrew, Chris completed both the painting and rehanging of the door yestrday.

5. Guest Bathroom. In our guest bathroom which Chris remodeled sometime before Andrew came along, Chris re-caulked the place where the shower door meets the tub. Every time I would go to clean there, I would accidentally scrub more of the caulk off, because the dirt clung to the caulk. Chris had already repaired it once, but he fixed it again after months since I destroyed it.

6. Pictures. Additionally, Chris hung up pictures in our guest bathroom. Before Andrew's birthday a month and a half ago, I had finally chosen two pictures I took in Italy of a gondola and one of St. Peter's Basilica from the square. I had picked out silver-pewter type frames from Michael's and textured matts and then printed the photos in black and white. They look gorgeous in the bathroom and I am so excited about using photos I actually took, which has been a dream of mine for years. Chris also hung up our picture of Pope Benedict XVI that we bought at the Papal Mass in DC in 2008. It's in our dining room and I am so happy we finally decided on a place to put it!

Afterward, he even vacuumed the floors and dusted furniture then made a delicious dinner out of random food items in the freezer and pantry while I put Andrew to bed.

My heart is still bursting with thankfulness for my husband and his motivation to finish or move closer to finishing these projects and the pride which we can both have in our house.