Weekend Update 05-19-12

Hi everyone!

This past weekend was so busy- I am sure I'm going to leave something out.

My dad and stepmom came for a visit. It was really nice to have them here to help with the house. Dad installed 4 ceiling fans and six light fixtures for us. All ugly fixtures have been banished! And my stepmom made us a fried fish dinner two nights. Of course this was fish my dad caught and vegetables they grew. Yum.

Remember these hideous things?

Well now there's this instead

And the ceiling fans were soooo eighties. White with brass trim and fluted ruffled bulb shades and oak-colored with brass trim and the same lovely shades. Now we have this!

I know the details look brass but it's just the lighting. They are nickel and the fans blades are espresso. With translucent-ish white marbled shades.

And I never took photos of the two bedroom fixtues and the hall/foyer/laundry fixtures, but let me tell you they were hideous. They looked very similar to these:

The square fixtures were converted to ceiling fans and the globe fixtures were changed to these:

Again, the glass is semi-transparent white marbled. Not sure why it's glowing yellow in the pics.

In between all the frustration of getting these mounted, we snuck in some trips to the beach.

Hermit crab racing

The kayak's first trip out this year. Beautiful Destin Pass.

We had a great time at the beach and I got a nice even coat of color :) Now I just need to keep layering it!

Dad and Gena also brought their new puppy, Miles. He's a 6mo old yellow lab and can be quite precocious. Poor boy just wanted to play, but our dogs were having none of it. They barked, growled and nipped at him all weekend. Thankfully he did not care one bit and just kept trying to play- by swatting them with his giant paws.

"I'm ready for dinner"

Unfortunately the plate was his dinner. Lol.

Me, John and my stepmom also went out yardsaling Saturday. We went to a great neighborhood sale and then about 2 others. I got a lot of baby stuff as listed in this post. I also got 2 nice wiooden folding chairs for $10, a curved shower rod for $7, a causal purse for $2, a beach chair for $1 and several other things I just can't seem to remember! We had to stop because there was no room left in the car!

Overall it was a great and productive weekend!

Baby White- Week 14

Ok so I figured if I want to have a "scrapbook" of pregnancy I better start documenting on this weekly. It's also been brought to my attention that several friends and family are wanting some updates! :)

We had an appointment with our midwife and were able to hear the heartbeat finally! I did not cry, surprisingly. To be honest, it still all seems a little surreal. It was a good and strong 156 beats per minute. Per the midwife this is still "girl territory". But we shall see. My next appointment is June 8th and she said I can schedule my ultrasound two weeks after that. So 5 more weeks until we find out if Baby White is blue or pink! :)

We may do a gender reveal party. Still have time to think about that.

I've been doing better with nausea this week. Three days out of the last seven I have not taken nausea meds. I find I do ok without them. Smells still get to me, however. Not that the nausea meds stopped that. But, they did make it easier not to feel puky when I encountered an offensive odor. My appetite is better, but still not great. I still have to keep something in my tummy or I'll get a stomach ache.

My belly is growing! Still no weight gain as of last appointment. But, things are sure shifting. My grandma swears I'm having twins or a big baby. Thanks grandma! But, she was always sick as a dog the whole time, there were no meds, and she gained very little weight. So, showing is not normal to her until very late. Yes, I know a lot of first time moms don't show until 5 or 6 months, sometimes even 7. Well, that's just not me and I'm not the only one! I was already carrying more weight in my middle before baby showed up. I'm just proportioned straight through the hip and butt and round through the middle.

So I snapped a quick pic on the way to the beach. I'm in my swimsuit which is nice and snug so you'll get the full effect of my belly. I don't look quite so obvious in normal clothes.

We're also on a good start for baby items- we have a crib, swing and bassinet. Over this weekend of yard sales we got a second swing (for my mom's house), a bouncer, a double stroller/carseat combo and an additional carseat (one to stay in my car and one for John's/grandma's car). I have a Moby wrap, a sling, a Boppy pillow, ear thermometer, some kids books and three receiving blankets.

Here's my baby loot from this week. I'm in the process of taking all the covers off everything for washing and scrubbing down all the pieces themselves. Man- taking them apart is like a jigsaw puzzle and I'm sure putting them back together will be as well!

It folds up really easy, you just slide over the red button, twist the handle and fold up! It's mostly grey with some pattern (as pictured left bottom corner)

The matching carseat. Can slip into stroller also. Has base. Whole setup- $50. Graco brand.

Swings, plays music and vibrates. For grandma. $20

Combi carseat and base to be our "second" carseat. $10

Bouncer/vibrating seat. $5

Boppy pillow w/cover $3 and 3 receiving blankets $1

So as you can see if it's a boy, we'll be set. But if it's a girl, I think all these things can work for that too. I'm making a conscious effort to get things that are as close to neutral as possible so they can be used for more than one baby. Plus, John already picked up a double stroller! Lol.

I'll update you with pics and stories again next week!

Weekend Update 05-05-12 The New House!

Hi everyone!

It's been a long and very productive week in The White House. Monday the 30th we closed on our home. Thankfully the evening of the 30th my midwife called in a script for Phenergan at my request, and it worked! Thank you Jesus! No really, there is no way I would have been able to do 1/4th of the things that needed to be done this past week.

I'd like to take a moment out to personally thank the researchers, test subjects, manufacturers, marketers, prescribers and dispensers of Phenergan. For reals. Thank ya'll. I have my life back.

So of course Monday evening also meant a trip to Lowe's. One of about 6 we've made in the last week. We got paint, light fixtures, ceiling fans...the works.

Tuesday through Friday at 2am we worked almost non-stop. And that was including help from my mom and her friend Andy. Literally every inch of the house needs painting. We've gotten about 75% of it done. I certainly flexed some muscles that are not often used. They did not like it, and they let me know! But I am so happy with the results. Our house has gone from the land of off-white and almond to the land of crisp, bright white and colors.

I can see that there are literally years worth of projects ahead of us. It's very hard for me to be patient about these things. I want it all done and perfect now. But, limitations of time, money and physical endurance will keep me waiting.

So, let me get on to the real reason you are here: pictures!

Left side, my garage

Right side, John's garage. The flagpole, antiquated monstrous TV antenna and mailbox are going, eventually. I'd also like to paint the front door a color.

Back porch

Back yard, full of sand burs. Good thing they're still green. Those suckers are getting mowed tomorrow!

Foyer/entry area. The door was almond, now white. The walls are now "Sand Trap" and "Lettuce Alone" New flooring will be laid at the end of the month.

Before- from the MLS listing. Cabinets were ecru.

Before, living room. Can you say 80's!!!

After- colors are now white, Lettuce Alone and Fudge Truffle. Ceiling fans to be replaced in a few weeks. All the common areas are going to be tile. You can't tell in the photos, but the carpet is in pretty bad shape.

Living room view from dining room.

Back  porch from MLS photos. Hate the color of the carpet. It's going!

And it's now a project area. Lol. Small dining area but we found a great fitting table. This tile will also be replaced.

Got this table and chairs for $20! All I had to do was recover the seats.

Kitchen- the white patch is where we had to repair a large hole in the wall from where a stupid small tilted TV stand was bonded to the wall. Short term plans include sanding and painting the cabinets, which have a nice thick coat of shellac. What fun that will be. Long term plans include new counter tops and appliances.

Laundry room. These built in cabinets really are nice. To the left is the washer and dryer area.

Our "new to us" front loaders from Craigslist. They have a good bit of cosmetic wear and tear, but I am still thrilled to have them!

Hallway

Guest bath before. Man, it was filthy! The patches in the wall are from where towel bars, cup holders and toothbrush holders were mounted to custom wooden plaques and then mounted to the wall. Ick!

Imagine this wooden plaque behind every fixture in the bathrooms. These light fixtures are going in a couple weeks.

Nice, clean and bright

Wooden toilet seat replaced. Flooring going in a month. Light fixture in a few weeks. Long term plans- new counter top, mirror and faucet, paint cabinets.

2nd bedroom- will be the nursery. Leaving it untouched until we know the gender. Will be getting new carpet.

Our few baby things!

Master- hard to tell in photos but the walls are a light grey called "Whispering Wind". I have a wall cling quote that says "Always Kiss Me Goodnight" that I'll be putting above the bed.

View from the bathroom

View from the hall door.

View from the bed. John's chest of drawers is now in the office. He was willing to do that to keep a king size bed :)

The baths were pretty much the same. Nasty toilets and floor. He actually had custom made rugs that covered all the vinyl in the bathrooms. And they were white! (or used to be). Those things went ASAP. But the floor has a funny smell and I can't wait for it to go!

Now it's a sunny yellow! I have a white tiered ruffles shower curtain on the way! Plans for this bath are the same as the hall bath. Except some day I'd also like to move the left recessed medicine cabinet. It's placed really awkwardly. Like between the vanity and toilet. It should have been centered over the toilet for pete's sake!!!

And tonight, floor demolition began!

So we are very glad to be in our first place. I'm happy with what it is now and excited for how it will be even better someday!

Now pray for John, because the honey-do list is very long! And for future reference, if you ever want to get us anything at all, we want Lowe's gift cards! Lol