Backyard Renovation: "Before" Pics

I'm going to attempt to keep up with our backyard renovation on the blog to share with our family and others who are planning similar projects. Sorry in advance, I don't have a lot of free time these days, so these posts will likely be some drive-by posts with lots of pics and few words!

Here is the backyard when before we tore out the deck and the lattice privacy walls on either side of the pool:

And here are a bunch taken post-deck and wall removal:

No more lattice wall! Everywhere that used to be covered by wood deck will be stamped and stained concrete patio.

No more lattice wall on this side either. This is where a French drain will be installed to re-drect run-off from the neighbors' yard which is situated at a slightly higher elevation than ours.  Any time we get a heavy rain storm, buckets of silt run into our pool from under the fence.

 

The textured concrete under the covered patio and around the pool will be stained a darker color to freshen it up, modernize the look, and hopefully prevent stains from showing as easily in the future.

The knockdown-textured concrete around most of the pool and under the covered patio will be this French Gray color:

Source: http://www.concreteideas.com/contractor/concrete-repair-nashville

And the stamped/stained concrete will look similar to this to hopefully tie in our red brick coping around the pool:

Source: Cedar Park Concrete

Double Digits

Side by Side

Newsflash

I suck at blogging. Here, have some pictures.

Watching big brother swim.

Pool = awesome.

First head bump. She needed some glue and tape.

Looking at Papa before her ear tube surgery.

Doesn't need a floatie!

    

My girl.

She's cool.

And then this happened...

More of those here (definitely play the song): http://www.libbyannphotography.com/slideshows/schoepflin-ss/

Piper in the NICU

Just when I think my girl is still tiny, I remember that she was teeny tiny.  These pictures were taken by a good friend who came to visit Piper in the NICU on October 6, 2012, the day she was moved to her open crib from her isolette. We took her home with us 6 days later.  She probably weighed about 3 lbs 12 oz in these. I'll post more when I get them.

February in Texas

Just a tad bit different from February in Minnesota.

Al fresco dining at 7pm.

No stocking caps on a Sunday visit to the park.

Still too hot in short sleeves.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Oh right, this happened

"This" being pretty much the cutest set of newborn baby girl photos in the history of history. 

 http://www.libbyannphotography.com/blog/2013/02/austin-newborn-photographer-piper-7-weeks/

We waited until after her due date for her newborn photos, so I think she was about 6ish lbs in these. A few of my favorites:

Here is our slideshow with all the rest:

http://www.libbyannphotography.com/slideshows/piper/

And since you now want to hire Libby of Libby Ann Photography:

http://www.libbyannphotography.com/

Piper's Yellow and Turquoise Nursery

In all the craziness with Piper arriving early, I never posted any pictures of her finished nursery.  I got so much inspiration from others on Pinterest that I wanted to be able to contribute there for others.  Here are a couple pics taken when my mom was in town last month.  I will come back and add more when I have some time (so a year or so from now).

Crib: Munire Urban Collection

Fabric for window seat cover (made by a friend) and valance/pillow (made by mom): Premier Prints Twill Suzani Corn Yellow

Picture wall collage: center print from Etsy seller happydeliveries, upper right print from here (free printable), lower left print from here (free printable), upper left and lower right are just a framed piece of fabric with scrapbooking stickers on the glass (insipred by this).

Quilt: Grandma Dee

Wall color: No clue. Jon brought a Tiffany box to Home Depot and asked them to match it.

Hutch/changing dresser: Munire Urban Collection

Yellow baskets: Michael's

Yellow metal bin: Hobby Lobby (party supply section)

Changing pad cover: Babies R Us (bought in desperation when we realized she was about to be released from the NICU). I also have this one from Etsy seller LittleOwlsNest and I love it. Both are super soft and well made.

Bird house: $6 find in the garden section at Tuesday Morning

The glass bowl is filled with pacifiers. I got that idea here.

The wall hanging on the left is from Etsy seller MaisieMooNZ. I ordered the night before I was induced.  Call it retail therapy when I realized I was about to have a teeny tiny 33.5-week-old baby girl the next day. Here's a better picture of it:

I first fell in love with this lamp, but $395 for a lamp was out of the question (and silly if you ask me).  A little Googling lead me to this one from Bedroom Expressions.  I called the local store and had it shipped there.  The first two arrived in pieces, but the third time's a charm. In other words, if you order a lamp from them, make sure they open the box and check it before you drive yourself down there and waste your time.  I girly'd it up with some yellow ribbon and hot glue.

There are a few other touches I'd like to document in there, but I'll have to come back and post those.

**Update**

Relatively recent additions to the collage wall:

Happy February!

Ms. Piper Dee is ready for her first Valentine's Day.

And since today is Superbowl Sunday, here's a side-by-side of Amery and Piper in their Bambino Balls onesies.  Think they're related?