It’s so hard to say goodbye…
06 Oct 2011 4 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: 3rd trimester, Home Improvements, Me, pregnancy
Well, the time has come my friends. I had hoped to avoid this, if at all possible, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that the situation was deteriorating, and I needed to take action. So, for 4 days I tried – everything I could think of! Water, soap, olive oil, ice cubes, air conditioning…nothing worked. My engagement ring was stuck and stuck tight. I was having visions of my finger tip turning blue and having to go to the hospital to have them cut it off. What if I gained another 10 pounds before this baby came?! There was no room for that! It was already leaving an indention on my finger.
But yesterday, the stars aligned and something went right, and I noticed while I was in the shower that the ring felt a *bit* looser. So I gave it another try. And I tried and tried and pulled and flexed and rotated, and FINALLY, off it came. Thankfully, my wedding band is a half size larger than my engagement ring, so it still is fine to stay on for the duration. (I hope!)
I’m sad to have to take off my ring, though. It was sort of like my badge of honor that I had been able to keep it on this long – I didn’t want to give it up. But, practicality (and panic) won out.
In other news, it was not one bit hard AT ALL to say goodbye to the heinous bathroom wallpaper that Scott and I have lived with for the last, what, 7 years that we’ve lived in this house?
This picture was taken prior to purchasing the house.
Scott is nesting hardcore and our master bathroom is now his current project to check off the list before the baby comes. All that floral-vomit wallpaper came down and then he had to texture the walls and paint everything, and then new flooring will go down in there, too, along with all new hardware and fixtures, etc. It has meant a very late night every night this week for him, and since I can’t really help out too much or be enclosed in that small area with all the paint fumes, I’ve gotten a ton of reading done in the evenings while he’s been working. (Book tangent: I just finished The Hunger Games Trilogy and it was really quite good. I’m not usually into Young Adolescent reading, but I’d heard such good things about the books, I couldn’t resist. The books were really easy to read, so they didn’t take me long, but the story was very imaginative (albeit mostly depressing and a horrifying look at government gone wrong) and the characters were ones that you feel like you’re really friends with by the time you are done. We had a connection. Anyhow – I recommend the books. Read ’em.)
And really, the sitting down and just reading has probably been the best thing for me, since I’ve had some sciatica really kick in the last several days and last night was the worst so far. I don’t notice it when I am sitting down, but as soon as I stand up or take some steps, yep – there is is. Only on my right side, thankfully, but still, it isn’t pleasant, and so I was fine last night to mostly sit in a comfy chair and not move for most of the evening.
Hopefully something shifts soon and the pain goes away, but I’m mostly preparing myself for just dealing with it until the baby is out, which from all the books I’ve read, is the only surefire way to make it stop hurting. And since today the countdown has reached 29 days to go, I don’t have too much longer to wait! (Yeah, I know he can, and likely will be, late, but don’t you burst my bubble!)
29 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
35w6d
The *almost done* nursery reveal!
03 Oct 2011 3 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: 3rd trimester, Gearing Up!, Home Improvements, pregnancy
Last night we hit a milestone! I think I had my very first false labor contractions. Since I am still currently pregnant at this moment, I feel pretty confident saying it was false labor. Everything started right after we had eaten dinner last night and I started to feel really nauseous and yucky. I was sitting on the couch and I tried changing positions and moving around, but I just felt so gross. I thought at first that it was dinner not just sitting well, but the baby was being very active and it didn’t feel like normal nausea. I don’t know how to explain it other than that. Eventually I just sat cross-legged on the couch and closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, and it lasted about 10 more minutes and then sort of started to abate. So we went upstairs to watch a movie and while I still wasn’t feeling great, the nausea definitely wasn’t as bad. Until I noticed that I was having some cramping going on that was lasting about 45 seconds-1 minute and then subsiding, and I would feel fine and then in another minute it would kick in again. It took about an hour or so of this on and off until my brain actually kicked in that something was going on and was aware that it was something unusual. I went to the bathroom and started drinking some water and after about another 20 minutes or so, it stopped altogether. The cramping was not very painful and I was fine watching the movie, but I was surprised at how active the baby was being during all of it. I wasn’t expecting to feel all of that movement, but I guess if he was being squeezed in there, it makes sense. Today I feel totally back to normal, and Lisa suggested I call and tell my midwives that it happened, just so they are aware, but other than that, I guess it is par for the course at this point. (It did freak both Scott and I out for a bit there, though. Especially that part when I told Scott to pause the movie and I just blurted out “I think I’m having contractions. But I’m not sure.”)
OK – on to the nursery! So, like I mentioned already, we still have more stuff that we (I) want to do to the baby’s room (rug, side table by the glider, bookshelf, closet organizers shelf-thingy, more wall decor, etc), but here are the basics as it was last week!
Crib! Glider! Ottoman! Really cute little stuffed bluebird.
You can see in the slightly open closet door that there is one more grey tissue-poof hanging in there – I think I want to hang it on the other side of the crib – in that little space between the crib and closet.
Another view so you can see my poofs all hung up. And my Ikea curtains!
Also, I made that blanket that’s draped on the glider – but don’t look too closely, as it is really poorly done. I don’t mind though, and the baby won’t know, so we’re all good.
Dresser/changing area
You can see my little bird picture on the wall in this shot, too. The picture, that along with the Ikea lamp, sort of started the whole room ‘theme’.
Up close!
Lamp shelf with pig variety
Taa-daa! Scott really cranked this one out. Luckily the wall color was already in place – I just had to do some touch ups, and paint the baseboards, but other than that, it was all him, including all furniture assembly. As usual, his work is top notch, and I couldn’t be happier!
35w3d
Check-up Check-In
13 Sep 2011 2 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: 3rd trimester, Home Improvements, Me, pregnancy
I had my 32 week appt today and all was well. It was a very uneventful visit, so that’s good – everything looked fine and my BP was a little high again, but since I seem to show a pattern of one visit high, the next visit normal, they aren’t concerned. I don’t have any swelling or headaches, and no protein in my urine, so no other signs that there is any problem. I got praised for my excellent weight gain, and told that I am very healthy! I love passing tests. Sandra, the midwife, was able to feel that the baby was still head down, and she was able to pick up a butt, a head and an arm during her poking around. And while she was checking his heart rate, he gave a couple of good kicks that made the doppler unit bounce, and she was able to tell that when he kicked his heart rate went up, which is exactly what you want to happen. It indicates he’s got good oxygen flow. I go back in 2 weeks for the next visit…
Other than that, not a lot to report on, so this is just a quick update post.
(Although I did manage to get the new baseboards and the clothing rod for the closet painted this weekend (outside, with very good ventilation), and Scott tore off all the old baseboards and pulled up the tack strip, so now he just needs to secure the existing plywood boards down tighter to eliminate the squeaking, and we’re on to new floor installation!)
32w4d
We have lost our minds.
11 Sep 2011 1 Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: 3rd trimester, Home Improvements, pregnancy
So, with only 8 weeks to go, you would think that we were about ready to clear out the last of the miscellaneous stuff from the baby’s room, and start putting together the crib and folding clothes, and hanging pictures on the wall, etc. However, on Scott’s birthday yesterday, clearly dementia began to set in for both of us, and instead, this is what we decided to do:
We thought it was a great time to put in a new floor! And really, it needed to be done – the floorboards underneath the existing (gross) carpet were really squeaky, and it was bothering both of us. And since the whole room is getting a decoration overhaul, it makes sense to go ahead and replace the floor and the baseboards and give it a complete fresh start all at the same time. Thankfully this is not Scott’s first flooring replacement rodeo, so at least we know what we are in for.
We are sticking with the laminate flooring that we have used throughout the downstairs, since it it easy to install, and doesn’t dent or scratch. Easy to clean, too! Which will be handy in a little boy’s room, when you consider the likely “pee” (or other bodily fluid ) events that are going to happen, and later on, the throwing and dropping of toys, etc. We chose a relatively neutral color so that it will (hopefully) blend with any future wall and furniture colors. For the time being though, we’ll just put down an area rug that coordinates with the room colors, for a nice soft spot to play or hang out.
We’ll Scott’ll have this flooring project done in no time, and together we’ll have all the details completed by the time everyone is in town for the shower on the 25th, so you can rest assured that you will get to see a cute, finished nursery if you will be here in person. But, if not, don’t worry, I’ll make sure to post lots of pictures!
And just a quick snippet to say Happy Birthday to the best husband ever. This will likely be our most eventful year so far, but I am sure it will also be our best. I’m so happy to be bringing this baby into the world with you. I love you!
32w2d
Happenings
25 Aug 2011 Comments Off on Happenings
in Uncategorized Tags: Domestic Bliss, Home Improvements, Me
So, not a lot has been going on baby-wise this week, and I noticed the other day that I had some pictures on my phone that I thought might be worth sharing, at the same time I caught everyone up on the weekend recap.
This past weekend Scott and I got to spend a lot of quality time together. We started off on Friday night by deciding to go out to eat and then to a movie. But there wasn’t really much showing at the theater that we were interested in seeing, except ‘The Help,’ which I had planned on just going to see by myself one day since I considered it a chick-flick and didn’t think Scott would be interested. I loved the book so much, that I was really anticipating the movie coming out, but nervous that it wouldn’t live up. But… I had heard from friends that the movie was well done and a good representation of the book so I was hopeful! Anyhow, lacking anything else that sparked our interest, we just decided to go out to eat and then come back home and watch a movie here, so we went ahead and got ready to go. But when I came downstairs, there were 2 tickets to ‘The Help’ printed out and ready to go! Yay! So we had a fine time out to dinner, wandering around Barnes and Noble to kill some time, and then heading to the movie. MMMMmmm..Coke and Reese’s Pieces.
(Side note: The movie was very good. I was quite happy with it, and even Scott liked it a lot. Of course, there was a lot of stuff left out, and the characters can’t be quite as developed as they were in the book, which is understandable. There’s only so much info you can fit into a 2.5 hour movie. But overall, they did a great job with it. I even dreamed about those characters that night – and they were all knocking around in my head for day or two after, as well. Kind of like getting to see, and visit with, old friends, but then having to say goodbye again. They stick with you for a while!)
And then on Saturday, we had planned to drive out to this gas station in Circleville (which is seriously a map-dot town about 20-30 minutes away from Georgetown) for lunch – Scott had a recommendation for fantastic hamburgers at a gas station there, from one of his co-workers, so we decided to be brave and check it out. I really wish I would have snapped a picture or two of this place, but there was no need to draw anymore attention to ourselves. I’m pretty sure they all knew we were ‘not from around those parts.’ It literally was an old, run-down gas station, kind of combined with an antique junk store, and it seriously looked like a perfect movie set for a scene where some hapless folks from out-of-town are driving through, and stop in for directions, never to be seen again. Obviously we made it out fine, and the burgers were quite good, but the place…well, I wish you all could have been there.
After lunch we drove around Taylor, Texas and Granger, Texas just for the heck of it. Mostly checking out the old, abandoned downtown areas and all the really cool old industrial buildings that Scott would love to get his hands on. And we stopped at this one really old historic home that was for sale in Granger and peeked in the windows and walked all around it, until we noticed some indicators that maybe someone actually still lived in it, so we got back in the car and took off before we got busted for being peeping toms.
Some shaved ice for me, and coffee for Scott, on the way home, and we were happy. I can’t really remember what happened on Sunday, so it must not have been too exciting, so we’ll just skip over it.
On to the random pictures!
So, Mom and I found this picture when I was in FL, and I loved it so much that I took a picture of it just so I could have it. It’s of me and Lisa and I really would love to know why I’m looking at her so suspiciously. She says she was probably pinching me under the towel. Also, be amazed, because Mom still has that towel in her possession.
Here is the finished china cabinet project! Which really wasn’t a ‘project’ at all – it was just me unpacking all the china and putting it in the cabinet, but it took a while…so…project! It turned out that every single piece fit just fine and looks quite nice, if I do say so myself. It is a full 12 place settings, with more plates for each setting than I really know what to do with, a coffee pot with sugar and creamer vessels, gravy boat with its own saucer, serving platters and a covered vegetable dish and an uncovered….other vegetable dish?
If anyone has a guess to why there are 14 coffee cups, but only 11 saucers, let me know.
I’m glad it’s done…hopefully the dishes will see some use, finally, during the upcoming holidays.
And just because the cats don’t get enough airtime here, a gratuitous picture of Bodhi in one of his latest favorite sleeping spots.
29w6d
Cute Stuff
05 Jul 2011 1 Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: 2nd trimester, Domestic Bliss, Gearing Up!, Home Improvements, pregnancy
So, this weekend was full of projects and progress! The baby’s room is *almost* all the way empty now. Just a few more things to clear out and it will be paint touch-up time, and then I can go to town. My little starter pile of baby stuff that was in a corner of the guest room has been growing and is quickly taking over one whole wall! Granted, everything is still in bags and packaging, so once it is opened and organized it won’t seem like nearly as much, but for now it is staying as-is for easy transport to its forever home in the yellow room.
Scott was able to check another project off his list when we installed some shelves in his arcade room for display and storage purposes yesterday. While I didn’t get up on the ladder, or do any drilling, I still say “we” since I was an active participant, and handed him tools and peeled labels off the shelving pieces like nobody’s business. Now that the shelves are up, the lingering things out of the baby’s room have their official place to be relocated to, so we’re in the home stretch!
In anticipation of the day when I can start putting the fun stuff in the room, I’ve made a couple of small, decorative (otherwise known as OH MAN BABY STUFF IS SO CUTE I CAN’T RESIST!) purchases. Well, this lamp wasn’t originally intended to go in the baby’s room, and isn’t technically ‘baby stuff’, but I have since decided it will be perfect in there, so just humor me.
IKEA!
We have a floating black shelf on the wall, right inside the door, and this lamp will be perfect sitting on it. It’s a pretty dim light, so I think it will be great for going into the room at night and needing just a bit of light to see by without waking us, or the baby, up too much with the bright overhead light. (Plus, it goes along with the trend I seem to have created of leaves, trees, and birds for the room. Official colors yet to be determined, so the color palette may just end up being whatever we find that we like, we choose.)
And this was an Etsy purchase that was just too good to resist! It’s an illustration that will need to be framed once it arrives (I think a white frame will be the best.) Since the middle bird is pretty close (I’m hoping) to matching the color of the walls, it should look darn cute once it’s framed and hung up.
I’m getting closer and closer to the day that I start to work from home, and I’m really looking forward at getting to work on some of the sewing ideas I’ve had knocking around in my head for a while. I’ll keep you updated on my progress! (unless I really flub something up…in that case I’m not telling anyone.)
Also, in case anyone wanted an update – our new sprinkler system is FAN-tastic and already the grass is looking so green and fluffy! Several shoots have already started creeping into the barren areas, much faster than I was anticipating, so I think within just a couple more months, it should be well on its way.
22w4d
Keep reading for cute baby sightings…
15 Jun 2011 5 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: Family Fun, Home Improvements
So, not too much has been going on here recently. The biggest excitement is that we are now the very proud new owners of a sprinkler system. This has been on our wish-list for years now, and Scott finally made it happen. Meaning that he made the calls and dealt with the sprinkler companies (I say multiple companies because despite what the news would have you think about the economy, apparently small sprinkler businesses in Texas are SO overbooked with work that they cannot return a phone call about a job) and got it done. It only took them 2 days to install it, minus one flower-bed drip line that we are still pending. We’ll see how much hassle it will be to get them back out to finish up that one little detail, now that the rest is done.
Our front and back yards (and flowerbeds!) will now be showered with live-giving water on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays, (with essentially no effort on our part!) and we expect to have a beautiful, fluffy green lawn in no time. This is going to be SUCH a huge time saver for Scott during the summer months. No more hours and hours of moving sprinklers around.
And I’m pretty sure that I never wowed you all with the really cute pics from my recent trip to Portland to meet Ada, so with no other big news to report, now’s the time!
Pre-bath
Looks like she fell asleep while bored.
She loves me...clearly!
19w5d
At least one of the three was free.
24 May 2011 3 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: Domestic Bliss, Home Improvements, Me
So, it was my birthday last week. I have a tradition of refusing to work on my birthday, and this year it worked out great since my birthday landed on a Friday. Long weekend! I slept in a bit and met Kristi for a nice long lunch, and was delivered flowers from my very thoughtful husband.
Speaking of whom…he went out on a limb this year for my birthday present, and was hugely successful! (Though, when is he ever not, am I right?) Very early on in our relationship he gave me a jewelry box for Christmas and over the years, I have…outgrown it. A while back I had mentioned in passing that my jewelry collection was starting to unite and form its own government in there, and this was his solution to prevent total anarchy:
This is the best jewelry ‘armoire’ ever. Both of the sides open for necklace hanging and the top flips up with more space for rings and bracelets and earrings. And the drawers! Look at all of those! The storage possibilities are endless.
To say I love it would be an understatement, but it was not the only new thing that made it into our house recently. We knew that we needed some art for the living room wall above the couch. It was pretty bare and we wanted to consider the living room ‘done’ so we did some searching and found a piece we liked. We braved pouring rain and Friday night shopping crowds in order to bring this baby home:
It's technically called 'Autumn Elegance' but we refer to it as 'Red Trees'.
It’s about 5′ by 2.5′ (the picture makes it look deceptively small) and goes great in the room. Now we can check that room off the list. On to the next!
And last but not least, we inherited this really cool china cabinet from Scott’s great aunt after she passed away.
I know she would be so happy that we have it, and you would never guess how old it is, given that it looks like such a modern style. The glass is all original, though, and has that uneven look to it which just makes it that much cooler. Now that I have a display space for it, all I need to do is pull out the boxes with my grandmother’s china.
If you come to my house for Thanksgiving this year you can eat off of it and feel really special.
16w4d
Weekend Recap
09 May 2011 4 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: 2nd trimester, Domestic Bliss, Family Fun, Holidays!, Home Improvements
Well, this was a weekend chock full of interesting events. (Also, it is of note that Sunday hit a record high temperature of 98 degrees. This will be important later on.) Being that it was my first ‘honorary’ Mother’s Day, Scott surprised me with 4 (FOUR!) boxes of Bissinger’s chocolate treats. The man knows the way to my heart…and also that he gets to eat half of the goodies, since we always share them equally. He said they weren’t necessarily for Mother’s Day, but maybe a present just because he loves me. Awwww!
Saturday I went to the mall for a bit in the afternoon and thoroughly wore myself out. I am noticing that I’m having a little bit harder time breathing, and since I have been trained (hi mom!) to walk really fast and purposefully in the mall, I noticed that I had to force myself to walk slower so I could breathe a bit easier. I got home and parked myself on the porch with my Kindle to relax for a while. And good thing I relaxed then, because Sunday was not a day of rest.
We got up and pretty much headed straight to Home Depot. Not really my favorite way to start the day, but hey, *I* didn’t have to load 19 (80 lb) bags of concrete into the back of the truck, so who am I to complain? My job was to carry the metal bolts. Sunday was the day for pouring the concrete foundation for the long-awaited, much-anticipated greenhouse! To say the least, I worked hard. Scott, however, worked MUCH harder. Under the blazing sun (see above re: record high temperature) we mixed and poured concrete and Scott placed the anchor bolts, and got it done.
Wood forms before concrete installation.
Close up of concrete and anchors. (Those are the bolts I carried at Home Depot!)
But it was hard, hard work, and unfortunately we were out there right in the prime heat of the day. It was sweaty and filthy work, but nothing a couple of Flavor Ices couldn’t fix.
Right about the time we finished cleaning up and came inside, I spoke to Lisa on the phone, and she said that she was having contractions that were close together and feeling pretty steady and strong. yay! This is it! While Scott and I rewarded all of our hard work with dinner at Chuy’s, Lisa and Josh headed off to the birthing center to have that baby. I kept my phone by me all night, and at 4:45am, I got the text from Josh that said “it’s a girl!” Oh, such relief that everyone was OK, and baby Ada had arrived. (Coincidentally, my eyes popped open about 3:30am and I could not go back to sleep to save my life. 3:30am my time is 1:30 am Portland time, and little Miss Ada was born at 1:26am. My brain must have known that she had just entered the world! At least that’s what I’m telling myself.)
So now I’m an Aunt for the 5th time!! That’s a record that neither Ali or Lisa have. I win!
14w3d
