Friday, January 31, 2014

29 Weeks

We are officially in the third trimester! I’m still feeling pretty good overall, sure there is a fair amount of heartburn and bending over is a thing of the past, as is sleeping all night long but that’s really not much to complain about. Baby is very active when I’m waking up and going to bed at night and definitely growing!
People always ask about cravings, I haven't really had any.  Other than chocolate but that's pretty normal for me even when I'm not growing a tiny human.  I try to cook healthy, well balanced meals but again still pretty normal for me, possibly we are eating less vegetarian meals but they are still around in the meal plan.  Every night I take my mulit-vitamin and half a calcium supplement (I halved the calcium when started eating more Tums to combat the heartburn!).  So I'm happy to report that recent blood work all came back normal.  AKA I'm not anemic nor do I have gestational diabetes.
I've been reading about natural childbirth and cloth diapers, we're planning on give both a well educated try, with the full understanding that even the best laid plans can go astray.
So for the next few weeks we'll be chugging along doing stuff around the house before the whirwind of bridal and baby showers and baby prep classes start at the end of February!
29wks

Monday, January 27, 2014

Basement Adventures: Planning

It's just one line item on our Big Adventurous List but waterproofing the basement is a huge task with what was a huge post, but I’ve decided to break it down into a few posts.  What make this task even more cumbersome right now is that I can't help with much of it AND getting the basement under control is step one in the cascade of events to pull together the nursery before April.


This is the basic layout of things that we can’t move, or at least can’t move with out a lot of trouble.  I didn’t include the support columns but they run down the middle of the space the long way, there are a few doubles right in the middle of the house near the furnace.  Phase One of the Basement Adventure was the massive cleaning we did after we moved in.



This is the layout of things as they are now(the built in shelving under the stairs is still there somehow the labels got lost!), the wall with the storage shelving on it and the floor from that wall to the bottom of the stairs have already been painted.  Those will not move during Phase Two.  The other storage shelving was all existing, we kept the best of it and moved everything to the middle of the space to paint/waterproof the walls and the perimeter of the floor.  Not included in this layout is furniture that will be part of the Phase two re-arrangement but it has all been moved around for painting.


This is how we will hopefully have things arranged at the completion of Phase Two.  It will give Bruce a nice open space for his workshop, his many, many tools aren’t on the layout but the will most likely line the short wall.  Our wood stove has been a workhorse this winter and running it cuts our oil bill way down but so far we can’t really enjoy it the way we’d like to.  But once the majority of the waterproofing is done it will feel safe to bring the old club chairs down from the attic for some comfy seating and Bruce will set up his desktop on the vintage metal desk that has always been down there.  The purple box around the washer and dryer area will be the only area un-waterproofed, setting up a finished laundry area will be Phase Three.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Nursery Plans

As I had mildly alluded to in my Where We Live post back at the end of September I started planning Baby’s nursery months ago!  I knew it would be gender neutral and that I didn’t want to go with the jungle theme, not that there is anything wrong with it but I’ve seen it done to many times and wanted something a little bit different.  I think I decided on the color palette first, although I could have found the rug first then decided on the color palette; gray, yellow and white with some green.  Either way then I came up with “Stars and Moons”  that way if the little one is a boy we can take it in a space direction or if she’s a girl we can make it nice and dreamy.

Nursery Moodboard
The rug is the Colonial Mills Natura, Confetti Braided rug and the color is Daisy.  I waited and waited for it to go on sale and got it during Cyber Monday(from RugsUSA)!  It didn’t come until right before Christmas and because the room really isn’t started yet it’s still rolled up, it seems to have more green in it than I remember but that’s fine.

The crib is from BabyMod sold through WalMart, we looked at so many options then realized that the most important thing to us was how it would be constructed and finished.   I got to researching and ended up back at my favorite blog YoungHouseLove and their crib search four years ago and that’s how I got to this company.  It is constructed of solid wood, no plywood or particle board that could off gas yicky things and has a non-toxic finish. Win-Win, now if it just wasn't out of stock. I guess it's not a huge deal as the little one will sleep in our room for a while but I'd ideally like the room together before the grand arrival.

For the walls we will probably go with the same color that is in our bedroom, Gray Owl potentially 50% darker.  I’m hoping to do some star vinyl decals on the wall, potentially in some constellations from UrbanWalls in gold metallic up towards the ceiling. Then add lots of fun yellow and white accents.  We’ll be using a dresser that my parents just picked up from a local consignment furniture shop and are bringing down this weekend.  We will secure a changing table pad to the top of it instead of getting a changing table.  I think this will give us better storage options and a piece of furniture that will grow with Baby.  We are also very lucky to have a rocking chair that has been in Bruce’s family for a few generations made for short people like us!

For more of what I’m thinking take a peak at the Nursery Pinterest Board.  But for now here is a list of things To-Do for the Nursery!

Nursery
Save Full Bed (Upstairs for now)
Relocate Bruce's clothes and trash crappy dresser.
Go through random things stored around the room.
Prime
Paint
Clean and Seal Floors
Purchase Rug
Purchase Crib
Purchase Dresser
Secure changing pad to dresser.
Train Kenny to Invitation-Only policy.
Make Cute!

Before we can take down the bed we need a convertible sofa for the office, before we can get that we need to get rid of Bruce's desk, before we can do that he needs to empty it out.

Before we can relocate Bruce's clothes we need built-ins in our closet, to build the built-ins he needs a finished workshop, to finish the workshop we need to finish waterproofing the wall the work bench is going to be placed against.  We're waterproofing this weekend.

Kenny is well trained with Invitation-Only for the basement, the couch and our bed; meaning he only comes into that space when we tell him it is OK or invite him UP (bed/couch). Hopefully this will give us a space to have tummy-time without Kennay in Baby's face! 

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Big Adventurous List Update

Like I said Monday We have been very busy around here. We have gone from one item crossed off to 17.5 items crossed off!  Many of these projects deserve their own post, someday!

Our Big Adventurous List
Before the Snow
FINISH JETTA (and probably tidy the garage)
Fix flat tire on Snapper
Get mulch
Front wall bed
Fix Tractor
Check out chipper/mulcher
Garage door trim
Replace old garage door
Finish trim on the garage
Replace shingles on the side of the house
Paint new Shingles
Paint outdoor breezeway trim/clean up
Call Dillon roofing about replacing the roof
Order firewood
Clean chimney
Finish painting front door.
Build back step
Replace back gutter
Scrap/Donate Passat
Scrap/Donate Big Red Truck

This is where we have made the most progress!!!  My parents came down for a weekend this fall and we were able to knock out the front wall bed, during which we separated all the hostas that lined the back of the house and planted some of them along the wall in the front yard and planted over daffodil and tulip bulbs.  My mom is a trooper, we both got poison ivy in the process!  
She also finished painting the front door for me that weekend.  
We decided to wait on the mulch until the spring to make sure that the plants come up, we were afraid the mulch would make them too deep to know when spring is.  
We also had to put the garden to sleep which took the better part of a weekend that I forgot to plan for.
It was sad to see zeePassat and the Big Red Truck go but we scrapped them both, so in the end we made some cash along with significantly lowering out auto insurance.
We've been in touch with the roofers, we just need to pull the trigger and commit to an actual timeline, we're lucky this company likes to keep their crew busy and they will do it during the winter.

Breezeway
New light box for overhead lighting.
New window
Ceiling (bead board) and insulation
Remove wall heater and install baseboard heater.
Vinyl/snap together floor
New doors/windows in the front.
Fix or replace back screen.
Kitchen
Solution for cabinets (repaint/reface/replace)
New counters
Solution for dining room/fridge wall.
New flooring possibly matching/coordinating with breezeway
New range hood. (vent outside if possible)
But we did change the flow and look of the room by replacing the table with a hutch giving us more storage space in the process!
Living Room
Prime and paint coat closet (smells bad)
Prime and paint
Hide TV wires
Hang art.
I cleaned tidied the coat closet and added some drawers for better storage and jar of lavender scented baking soda to keep it smelling nice.  We'll call it Closet Phase 1.
Master Bedroom
Built-Ins for master closet
Hang art work
Find/build new bedside tables.
Move mirror inside one of the closet doors and put hooks on the back of the bedroom door.
Bruce received great new tools for Christmas and has been diligently working on cleaning the basement to have an area for building the built-ins.  They are on the top of his list.
I have hung some art but there is more to do!
Second Bedroom
Prime and paint ceiling, walls, trim, closet and radiator.
Decorate
Stay tuned Friday for an overhaul of this list and potentially a mood board!
Office
Finish murphy desk
Replace paneling with drywall
Replace Bruce’s desk pullout couch or futon.
There has been a lot of cleaning/purging to accomodate the switch from two desks to one.
The futon is picked out, I just need to pull the purchasing trigger which seems silly to do unless Bruce's desk is gone!
Basement
Install hot water heater
Finish waterproofing and cleaning out.
Build a bike rack.
Get rid of metal shelving in the basement and move wood shelving together.
Mount die grinder
Make workshop functional
Build wood rack
Lift washer/dryer have defined laundry area.
Define wood stove area (under living room) with old metal desk and seating.
I take very little credit for this. Bruce has been very busy downstairs we are planning a big weekend of working on waterproofing the walls this coming weekend.
Second Floor
Clean out
Whole House/Outside Projects
Clean/Seal hardwoods.
Remove cedar tree and build deck/low patio off breezeway.
Remove pine tree by the street.
Have stumps pulled or ground down.
New garden fence.
Remove “widow maker” branch.
Paint house exterior.
Replace windows.
Craig’s List/Donate/Trash old furniture with no use.
Replace Front Door

Monday, January 13, 2014

Lately


Big things are happening around here.  Baby C is coming in April whether or not we are ready!

 Announcement

Since my last “update” post in October we’ve been busy trying to knock things off the giant list we made in September.  I’ll go through that later this week but for now here are a few photo highlights from the past few months.

Canning
Even with first trimester exhaustion I still managed to can more this year than ever, something crazy like three dozen pints and and dozen quarts of tomato sauce, a batch of stewed tomatoes, a batch of chicken soup, a small batch of peach plum ginger jam, apple pie filling and a batch of chili.

Paste
I also used the last of our paste tomatoes to make actual paste which I froze in ice cube trays.  I has been great for thickening sauces and soups already.  I also roasted then froze the last of the cherry tomatoes which I should be able to just thaw and toss onto pasta.

Hutch
This fall we also made a huge goodwill run while cleaning up the basement, while there we found this hutch, it functions so much better in the kitchen than the table (that we never used) did and adds some much needed storage.

Baby
We had our anatomy ultrasound.  Everything looks good!  We decided to wait until Baby C is born to find out if she/he is a she or a he!

Christmas
I did decorate for Christmas, although for some reason that I can’t remember I tossed some of our window lights at the end of the 2012 season and did pick up replacements until the weekend before Christmas and they never actually made it into the windows.  But we got and decorated a tree and most of the rest of the decorations made it up.  We made the rounds to see family during the holiday and are so blessed by the love and generosity we receive during the season.

Newyears
I’ve been battling congestion for most of my pregnancy but just before Christmas is morphed into a full head cold.  Because of that we decided to stay home on New Years Eve this year.  We celebrated with lobsters (and oysters for Bruce) then waffles on New Years Day.  Although I’ve been relatively quite here we have been very busy not only with Baby C’s impending arrival this spring but we are in four weddings in 2014 so we are gearing up for a busy year!  I hope to keep you better informed now that the craziness of the holidays has passed and we’ll have exciting things to share as we get the house ready for Baby.