At home

A couple of weeks ago we found out that our little boy has a number of food and other allergies. He has also been sick with one virus after another and so the doctor recommended that we take him out of childcare for a while to try and break the cycle of illness.

So now me a Mum that normally goes into an office three days a week has been at home for nearly two weeks and possibly will be here for at least another two, after which my husband will take over.

Although upsetting at first having a sick child and having to completely change his diet, I looked at the positive and thought I will savour this time where I can just focus on my children and the house.

So to the house - a time I thought to think about bathroom design and other things that need looking into before we start work on the renovation in a few months. This however hasn't been the case, but instead stuck inside on these cold Winter days I have been moving furniture around in our living spaces (as really feel the lack of space in Winter) and making decorations with my daughter to hang in the family room play area.

Living in the house - the staged plan

As mentioned in previous posts we plan on living in our house while we renovate and extend. If it was just my husband and I this wouldn't be too much of an issue. We are happy to use a portaloo or shower for a while and move from room to room at a quick rate as different parts of the house are worked on. But with two kids under five, one a very active toddler this becomes a little more difficult and we have realised has to be planned out a lot more.

With this in mind we have decided on a two stage process. Step one to convert the main bathroom into an en suite, requiring us to move out of our bedroom into the lounge for a couple of weeks. Then a few months later step two, once we have moved back into our bedroom we will be able to use the lounge for all our living as the back walls get knocked out. Plus at this stage we loose currently our only toilet, hence the need to have one operating in the front of the house before this happens.

The other plan we have just realised we need to put in place (through a recent bathroom store expedition with two kids in tow) is a babysitting one, for when we need to pack up parts of the house or go hunting for fixtures.