Our Newest Addition

We've added a new addition to our home and it's not the warm cuddly type so don't get your hopes up, ha!

We milked the little potties for as long as possible and about 6 months ago I just about had it with cleaning out poop from them. The boys have never been afraid of using the big potty (aka the regular toilet) but it's inconvenient because they are short and it takes extra effort to pull up the step stool and put on the adjuster so they don't fall in. So to encourage them to poop in the big potty I told them if they went in it I would give them a cookie in exchange. Yes! It worked like magic until they started pooping several times a day in an effort to get more cookies! In addition to that, so many times I had to kick them off the pot because I or one of their brothers had to go and they had been on there for several minutes and still hadn't gone (they have no concept of what urgency means!). So because of this we were still using the little potties for peeing. After a couple of months of going through a pack of Oreo's a week we decided that we really really need another bathroom in our house! While construction was in progress I wised up and bought smaller cookies and told them that as soon as the new bathroom was up and running it was bye bye little potties and no more cookies after pooping.

So the last weekend in August Phil got to work and did all the skilled labor himself except the plumbing. He worked on it in his spare time all the way until mid October. Then I came in and did the unskilled work (painting, and decorating).

Let me tell you it is soooooo nice having an extra bathroom. I grew up in a family of 5 with only 1 bathroom my whole life so I knew very well the hardships to come once we had completely outgrown the little potties. I just couldn't live like that again!

We had this "office nook" that had a desk which we never used and just had piles and piles of crap on top of it. A complete waste space!

TA DA!
Plaster was torn out, gypsum board replaced it, a wall was built, insulation was placed, holes were made, piping went in and so much more! It's amazing how much material and time such a small space can take! We still have a few details to address (like the threshold) but it's pretty much finished : )

I re-purposed an old drawer to use instead of a vanity (I got the idea from Pinterest)
The drawer was like $3 and the mirror was $20 I think, so it saved us a bit of money!

I love LOVE my octagonal tile and wainscoting, it looks so good in old houses!

Phil had a great idea of building a wall niche, I didn't plan on putting these pics of the boys up but I quite literally had them laying around so they'll stay here until I can find and print out some more bathroom appropriate photography, ha! 

Another re-purposed drawer with a picture that I did mean to put in this bathroom.
So we were planning on remodeling our other bathroom to match this one but after ALL that work and a wedding in New York coming up soon (woohoo!), I think we'll put it off until next summer : )

These boys only go in big potties now! Yay, less work for mami and papi!