Lately we’ve been trying to make some improvements around the home. First off we had a lot of baby proofing to do. After living as a childless couple for 6 years we really hadn’t thought about just how dangerous our house could possibly be to a baby because we just hadn’t thought about it. It’s not like I purchased my furniture 6 years ago thinking “in 6 years I’ll have a baby, so I need something with rounded edges”.
Before Elliana was born we did the basic stuff like putting the safety plugs in all the outlets and making sure none of our blinds had cords that could strangle her, but we didn’t take into consideration how much stuff we’d have to do. Now that she’s on the verge of crawling it has really hit us, and we’ve been running around baby proofing everything in sight. Hubby got the drawer and cabinet latches installed, and we gave up on the toilet seat latch as we both found it to be too much of a hassle for us. We keep the bathroom door shut anyway, so I just bought one of those handle covers that keeps the kid from opening the door.
We’ve been buying bumpers for table edges, making sure furniture is attached to the wall if it’s not sturdy enough to prevent being pulled over, and stuff like that. I found one of those baby coral things that I’m going to get to go around the wood stove so she can’t get to it.
Of course while we were baby proofing we started making a list of 1000 other things we’d like to do in the house as well. We’re going to finally finish our kitchen remodel, so while we were purchasing baby proofing stuff at Lowe’s we started checking out appliances. I’ve been trying to find the cash to upgrade our old appliances to more energy saving versions, but with everything else I haven’t been able to make it happen. Instead I’ve been researching everything waiting for the day I could afford to do just that. I’ve done so much research you’d think I was trying to get an energy auditor certification.
I finally saved up enough cash to buy a new fridge, and then something awesome happened. One of the homeowners Hubby was doing a remodel for gave us their old fridge. It’s actually only about 2 years old, and it meets standards in energy efficiency that I could only dream about since it’s way more expensive and better than anything I’d be able to afford. I’m very thankful because this happened right about the time our fridge decided to die, too.
Now I’ve still got money saved up that I was going to use to purchase the fridge, so it’s time to upgrade something else. One of the first things we need to upgrade is the oven. It’s about 30 years old, and it’s a stand alone type that’s built into the wall. As old as it is I know it can’t be very energy efficient at all. Heck I’m surprised the thing even works, but then again it was built in the days when things were built to last. Now I’m off to do some online browsing to see if I can find a stove that I like in our price range that will meet the criteria I’m looking for. If I have some cash left over I might even be able to upgrade to a tankless water heater now, too!
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