Meet Catherine

So this post is a touch late.  But I have a really good reason: writing a blog post is super hard to do while holding a baby.
Catherine Elizabeth was born March 20 at 11:25 pm. She weighed in at 4 pounds 14 ounces and was 18 inches long.  Little miss impatient was also four weeks ahead of schedule, we are so thankful that although she was scrawny she was healthy and we were home two days later.
We are so in love!!!! But it has been a wild ride when she was around three weeks old she was re-admitted to the hospital for a fever.  Now it was not a high fever, just high enough to (according to the paperwork from our pediatrician) require a call to the doctor, on a Saturday.  Apparently fevers in babies under two months require a full sepsis workup.  Turns out she just had the nasty cold that Bruce had the week before and that I was coming down with.  But they keep them hospitalized until all the culture results come back which was two nights.  We are thankful it was nothing serious, I can’t imagine what it would be like to have a seriously ill child, my heart would probably break.
I have been pretty good about taking a weekly photo of Catherine.  We’ll see how that goes when I get back to work in July but we will cross that bridge when we get to it!
She had her two month check-up this past week and has beefed up to just over nine pounds and is 21 inches long.  At nine weeks old she’s just starting to out-grow newborn size clothes! I’m excited about it because everyone has given her so many cute things to wear this summer.

Progress Everywhere

We kept busy this weekend!  I had ordered the futon for the office with a sale code at Overstock during the Superbowl while the paint on the basement floor was drying.  Sunday Bruce emptied out and took apart his desk.  He’d had it for a while and it had moved three times (I’m pretty convinced that particle board furniture has a three time moving limit) and it was time for it to go.  His desk-top computer will relocate to the desk in the basement.  I emptied my filing cabinet in the fall also is going away and the old school desk went upstairs for storage, it’s a cool piece that we will repurpose eventually.  This is what Bruce’s side of the office looked like back in July when I was taking my old desk apart to build the Murphy desk.
The futon came after the snowstorm Wednesday and we left it in the garage until Sunday when Bruce took his desk apart and we put it together! That side of the room looks so much more open and I’m sure once the pile of stuff on the desk is put away the whole room will look bigger.  It is a big piece of furniture, but we need the office to also function as a guest room and this folds down to a full sized bed. I can't wait to add a few pillows and for the cushion covers to relax a bit after shipping.
This weekend we also moved some of the furniture around in the basement, working on the Phase Two layout.  Here’s what it looked like last winter before we started Phase Two:
Here’s where we are now.  Don’t let those club chairs fool you, they are heavy, Bruce got them down from the attic yelling Doctor Jones!!! Doctor Jones!!! as if they were the giant boulders chasing him down the stairs.  Last night after dinner we just sat down there by the stove and hung out for a bit before starting our chores, it was really really nice.
Next is to get the workshop set up so that Bruce can start building the shelving unit for our closet, while he’s doing that I’ll be re-homing everything else that’s stored in the closet in the nursery. He's also working on our taxes and I'm working on filling the freezer and pantry with easy meal options for after Baby arrives.  It feels good to get a few things done every week and know that we are definitely making progress!

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!

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

Where We Live

I almost titled this post "Where the Magic Happens" but I thought that might be a little to MTV Cribs. It was going to be this nice house tour where I used the tripod and took lovely composed photos of our house just after I spent all day cleaning it.  But life happens and I didn't clean the whole house and I just grabbed the camera yesterday morning, put up the shades and closed the toilets.  As a result the white balance is bad, there are messes and a few photos might even be a little blurry.

I didn't do the breezeway, it is better than it was but I still can't let you see the utter mess. So into the kitchen.


We need new counters, something needs to be done about the cabinets and the layout of where the fridge is (which you can't really see) needs work.  I love our appliances; particularly the stove, I love that stove. Off the kitchen is the half bath, not much has changed since I finished it in 2010.


Now into the office.  We are mid-makeover.  The Murphy desk needs a few finishing touches, then we need to organize, purge, re-organize, purge, toss the other desk, find a couch/sleeper sofa . . .  hence the mess, most of my time in there is organizing and purging.


I didn't re-photograph the hallways, the back hallway still needs one more frame and these photos of the front hall would be ruined by an 8am photo session. We also haven't done much in the full bath since the reno we did right after we moved in.  I had one of our favorite photos from our Cape Breton Adventure made as an acrylic print and bought a new (not see-through) shower curtain.  You also might notice what looks like a pile under the sink, it is actually a square wire basket to catch laundry, honestly one of my favorite things.  It doesn't take up much room visually when empty (helping to make the room look bigger) and corrals the laundry during the week.


Since the last master bedroom update, we've hung new curtains and some artwork.  I just hung those faux pewter frames this past weekend and the hangers on the back are irregular so they look pretty wonky right now, they also don't have anything in them, still working on that.  The other print I made for Bruce for our anniversary, it has lyrics from our wedding song over the infinity symbol.


There isn't much to say about the guest  room, Bruce gets ready for work in there hence the ironing board.  It is kind of the catch all for lost things, including furniture.  There are plans, that's all I am going to say about this room for now.


Last the living room.  We tossed the big couch in July when the dumpster was here.  The speakers have moved to the basement (another home for lost furniture) and we decided that we like the room better with out a big coffee table.


The dining room decor hasn't really changed since I "finished" it.  There still isn't any art on the walls but I have fun in here with seasonal decor. Right now I'm in between summer and fall, so there's nothing.

So that's what we're living in every day. Yes, I make the bed every morning that way at least if the rest of the place is a disaster the bed looks nice. Since I took the photos I've already cleaned up my desk so you can see the top of it again.

Long Over-Due

So Tuesday's post was obviously very very long overdue. Opps! A Few weekends ago we sat down and put together a list of all the things we need to do around the house; for right now, for the near future and for what we think should be done for re-sale.  It is big and scary and we kind of put it together and ignored it for a little bit. Not to say that we haven't been chipping away at it.  But it has sat over on Google Drive barely organized for ten days.  Earlier this week I gave it some attention.  I mentally divided it into two major categories: This year's outside tasks and everything else.  Then I organized everything else and semi-prioritized our fall list. So here it is:

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

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)

Living Room

Prime and paint coat closet (smells bad)

Prime and paint

Hide TV wires

Hang art.

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.

Second Bedroom

Prime and paint ceiling, walls, trim, closet and radiator.

Decorate

Office

Finish murphy desk

Replace paneling with drywall

Replace Bruce’s desk pullout couch or futon.

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.

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

Of course looking at this made me realize that the project list over on the sidebar needs seriously to be updated.  So I've given each of these categories their own spot on the list so we can all keep track of the progress around here.

Because July was Crazy.

Because we are a little crazy.

SERIOUSLY you guys! What is going on around here!?!

We'll re-do the breezeway roof over the fourth of July holiday Famous last words.  It's almost done.  While you do that I'll paint the front door, we should build a 'Murphy desk' from the free Expedit TV system we got, I'll re-seal the floors.  More Famous last words, the desk is done but not organized and with no system to hold it up, there will be a tutorial someday; it will be great.  The front door still needs another coat of paint and only the living room floors are sealed.  Chole the chinchilla has conjuctivitis because she had been in the basement since March, well either that or she needs a CT scan to see if she needs a root canal (are you kidding me!!!).   Last weekend we spent with friends and family for my big 3-0 it was great, almost as great as the Saturday of fouth of July weekend would have been if Bruce had been with me.  This weekend I made fresh pasta and ribs.  I cannot say that we have not been productive.  But I can say that this is the first year since 2003 that I have missed all the NSW planning meetings and have not visited camp at all and I can say that this is one of the first "first weekend of August" that I have missed in a long time.  And I have been prickly (to quote Bruce), in a definet funk, but now I'm getting out of it and there are new posts in the works.

June Wrap-Up

June was crazy busy. This is my google calendar, it has everything on it, see any empty days in June? Me either.

Bruce has a big project planned for long weekend, so hopefully I'll get lots of little projects done and post about them when they are done.

Heat Wave

We just got back to our house yesterday afternoon. Priority number four was to get the air conditioners into the windows! 

We took so many photos on our trip it's going to take me a little while to weed through them but I wanted to let you know that we are back at the homestead for a little bit so keep your eyes peeled for some new posts!

Were you wondering what priorities one through three were? Unpack, tidy the house and get propane (for the grill because I do NOT want to turn on the stove or the oven in this heat!

Lent Wrap-Up

     I took my camera with me for Easter but I forgot to take any photos. Not with my camera or my phone.  No photos of the cute new baby in a bunny hat, or the amazing spread that my aunt put together, or everyone's Easter outfits. Nada.  Let's be real though, everyone and their sister has posted Easter photos and you're over it.

     I can't even tell you what we ate during the last week of Lent. There was a pizza, some black beans and some pasta. I can tell you what we learned: I learned that I can pull together a satisfying vegetarian meal just as quickly as a "meat and potatoes" meal.  That, we can cope with life, without a beer or a glass of wine to help us along.  It was a challenge and a sacrifice and we have prevailed, stronger for it.

Incidental benefits: We were more productive; it is much easier to get things done on Saturday and Sunday morning when you aren't in a haze from the previous night's cocktails.  We got healthy; I lost 11% of my starting weight and got my metabolism moving again, Bruce lost 5%~ish.  Our pants and belts fit (better) Hooray for not needing a new summer wardrobe.  We saved our pennies, on average the grocery bill was 25% lower.

Moving Forward: Our goal is to not slip back into I don't feel like cooking let's just go out.  Also to save the drinking for the weekend.  I still have many meatless recipes that I want to try, so that element of our life will stay.  I want to eat down our freezer stocks before I run out to buy fresh proteins and before our CSA starts in June, which I feel much better prepared for this year.

We took Easter Monday off for traveling, we came home Sunday night snuggled on the couch drank the growler of BBC that had been in the fridge for a month and watched the season premier of Game of Thrones. It was awesome, all of it.

Lent Weeks 5 and 6

These two weeks were a little crazy, Bruce was away and I did some serious detoxing. Once Bruce's trip was scheduled I decided it would be the perfect time to give up coffee.  Once I started thinking about no coffee, I decided I should do week one of Whole Living's Detox Challenge.  It was rough, I did four full days of no caffeine, sugar, dairy, gluten or anything processed. On Monday (day 1) the headache was so bad I decided to turn our bathroom into a sauna and sweat everything out. Now that it is over, I feel so much better, particularly I have so much more energy. Bruce got a pass on our Lenten sacrifices because he was traveling out of the country for work.

Bathroom Sauna: (This is not out of focus that is steam!) Fill a very hot bath very slowly with the door closed and the fan off.  Do Not get into very hot tub, add cold water and don't scald yourself. The extra sweating helps eliminate toxins from your system, remember to replenish with lots of water.

What We Ate: (pre-travel/detox)

Wednesday: no idea it was two weeks ago!

Thursday: no idea

Friday: Black Bean Burger I added shredded carrots and used more bread crumbs

Saturday: no idea, possibly we ordered pizza

Sunday: Corned Beef and Cabbage with Beers (for St.Patrick's Day)

What I Ate: (detox)

Breakfast: Smoothies

Lunch: Smoothie and Roasted Corn, Red Pepper Soup

Dinner Monday: Roasted Veggies and a salad

Dinner T- Th: Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew

Dinner Friday: Homemade Mac&Cheese with parents

What We Ate: (post-travel/detox)

Saturday: Black Bean Burger same batch, frozen just as good

Sunday: Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew

Monday: Black Bean and Avocado Tacos

Tuesday: Eggplant Parm

Bloglovin

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I just signed up for this and I'm so excited.  I use google reader to follow most of my favorite blogs but after the news this week that google is discontinuing this service it was time to find something different and this is it!

Lent Week 4

We've reached the half way point!  So technically Lent is seven-ish weeks, so I counted this weekend as the half way mark.  We started out pretty grumpy but after a productive weekend we had both gotten out of the funk.  We weighed in, and have both lost a good amount of weight, which, is a nice perk.

Sunday Night Dessert: Vanilla Tea with Hand-Made SnowCaps

What We Ate:
Wednesday: Roasted beet, rice salad
Thursday: I worked late and had left-overs, Bruce had tomato soup and grilled cheese.
Friday: Eggplant Cacciatore Subs
Saturday: Out for Pepe's Pizza with Tim and Nikki
Sunday: Cheesy Rigatoni with Roasted Potatoes and Cabbage
Monday: Egg and Cheese Sandwiches
Tuesday: Noodle Bowls

Lent Week 3

We're still going strong.  Even with a growler of BBC in the fridge softly calling Christine, Bruce come drink me.  We were super carb heavy this week, I won't lie I was being a bit lazy and we discovered a new pizza place near us. I finally got back into my groove Sunday night cooking.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter Balsamic Sauce

What We Ate:

Wednesday: Pizza

Thursday: 3 Bean Chili

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Chili Nachos

Sunday: Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter Balsamic Sauce

Monday: Buckwheat Crepes with Spinach, Mushroom and Swiss

Tuesday: Stuffed Sweet Potato Skins

Master Style

Looking back, our bedroom has come a long way.  Here you can see what it looked like when we bought the house.  Gross walls and curtains straight out of the seventies. The closet looked just as gross as the walls.

Before I started working in November of 2010 I painted the closet and bedroom, purchased new curtains, bedding and accent pillows.

Here is where we stand now.  We've always had the dresser and hamper, the bedding was on our wedding registry (West Elm discontinued).  We are still using a footstool and a storage cube for night stands and the duvet cover is busy so we need a few solid accent pieces for the bedding.

Still To Do:
Night Stands
Paint the "holidays" on the ceiling.
White Curtains
New Accent Pillows
Paint Fountain (on the dresser)
Art on the Walls
Customize Closet
New Shade for the overhead light

Bear With Me

As you've probably noticed there have been some major design updates.  Please bear with me as I continue to tweek them and attempt to remember the little bit of html that I learned in the eighth grade!

Lent Week 2

We made it through a weekend away from home.  Which was huge. Huge in a hung out with my dad, went to a baby shower (with Mimosas) and stuck to our sacrifices, huge. My mom made us homemade Mac&Cheese (thanks mom!) that we didn't eat Saturday night so we took it home and ate it Sunday and Tuesday.  Totally against the be vegetarian and not eat all carbs rule, BUT, so good. Please exscuse the lack of photos for this post I have some completed project posts that I'm working on that will be a bit photo heavy!

What We Ate:
Wednesday: Stuffed Tomatoes
Thursday: Spicy Salad with Buttermilk Dressing
Friday: Pizza (homemade)
Saturday: Pizza/Eggplant Parm Sub (take-out with dad)
Sunday: Mac&Cheese
Monday: 3 Bean Chili
Tuesday: Mac&Cheese

Lent Week 1

Woof.  What a struggle. We are doing some serious detoxing and trying not to get bored.  Friday night we went to the gym and I may or may not have went to bed before ten to "read".  I pinned many many vegetarian recipes then spent entirely too much money at the food store. We have drunk a lot of water and had a few nice fires and I used one of them to do my photography homework.  It is very rewarding to learn how to use my camera out of automatic mode.

What We Ate
Wednesday: Stuffed Peppers
Thursday: Heart-shaped Pizza
Friday: Grilled Cheese & Tomato dipped in Tomato Soup
Saturday: Southwest Mac & Cheese
Sunday: Lentil Shepherd's Pie
Monday: 3 Bean Chili
Tueday: 3 Bean Chili (leftovers by request)

Goals Update:

Purge and Tame: Two bags of trash and a bag of donations taken out of the office.  That doesn't even count the cedar closet. We also had a blitz cleaning session Thursday and Friday to prep for an appraisal Saturday morning.
Blogging:  I took plenty of photos, but other than last week's update nothing made it to publish, I hope to do better this week.  This month I'm taking an online course to better understand my new DSLR, looking forward to taking better photos.
Health and Wellness: Saturday we went out but other than that we've done very well with our healthy living.  We managed to abstain from the beer with dinner Monday thru Thursday, big deal.  Bruce went to the gym a few days.  I went to the gym Monday and made a valiant attempt Wednesday, to no avail. I left work with plenty of time to get to one of my favorite classes, horrible traffic and I missed the class.  I changed, figuring I could run anyways, no dice or more like no running shoes.  It was sad and it made me grumpy.  Better luck this week!

Goals Update

Purge and Tame: The dining room is still pristine. We are maintaining a clean kitchen table.  We are still making babystep progress in the office, both of our "shred" piles went up the chimney this weekend.  While I was painting yesterday afternoon and evening Bruce spent his time attempting to make sense of this mess:

Workbench closeup!

All I can say to wrap this up is a giant contractor bag came up the stairs and to the curb.
Blogging: I did get last week's progress up, but it was pretty late.  Guilt blogging at midnight on Sunday,  Monday is going to be rough, I still need to shower before I make it to bed.
Health and Wellness: I'm still boycotting the gym.  Bruce is not. Maybe I'll make it this week.  Thursday night we had a date so we ate out, we left our phones at home, this falls under the category of relationship wellness which is so important.  We came home and went through a giant box of Bruce's photos from high school and the beginning of college.  I might have said about photos of his high school girlfriend "Can I send these back to her 'Love Bruce's wife?" he said no; it was still a great night. I also bought lunch one day but it was a salad.  We're eating lots of home-cooked meals and breakfast everyday.  I have so much more energy and when I get home from work I'm ready to DIY and organize.