Long over due carpet

Ever since we moved in, 7 years ago, we have wanted and needed to get new carpet. We couldn't convince ourselves to do it until the boys were old enough to not throw up or have an accident on the carpet. Well we are 2 out of 3 and we can't take it anymore! Darryl was the one who spearheaded it. He ripped out the flooring in the bathroom and laid tile so it would be ready to tie into the carpet-- the carpet we hadn't yet looked at. So we decided we better go look at carpet. We found some we liked called the carpet guy and then waited for an installation date, but instead he went on an anniversary cruise and left us hanging. I decided to paint the baseboards while we were waiting for him to get back. I really wanted to paint the walls but since they are connected to the downstairs I would have to paint the whole house-- a much bigger job. I cut the old carpet about 2 in. away from the baseboards so I could paint them. This left all the tack strip exposed so once the paint was dry I laid the carpet back over the strips to deter some little tikes from getting poked. The rollercoaster to installation time was: we were getting carpet, we weren't going to be able to get the carpet we want, then we can get the carpet in 2.5 hours! I found out they would be coming while I was headed to work. I would need to teach, pick up Cole, Alex, and James, then move the rest of the furniture, rip out the carpet and pad, pull out the staples, and then vacuum up all the dirt/debris, all before they came. Hmmmm, seemed impossible but I didn't care. I was going to make it happen I needed that carpet laid and if I didn't do it now I didn't know when it would happen. Well I made it happen and they showed up about 30 min after I was done. Three hours later the new carpet was in and I was so glad that was over. When I looked at this picture later I couldn't believe how we lived on that nasty carpet for 7 years.  The hallway is the before pic.  The other is the after.