House Work

The work on our house continues. One day it will be all done and I'll be able to focus on things like "Where do I hang this vintage embroidered floral art?" or something like that, but for now it's mostly about making sure I'm quick enough to take that drywall saw out of Jacob's hand before he hurts himself.

In the past few months:

We tiled the kitchen! Goodbye subfloor covered in leveler, hello white tile! Josh and a friend laid the tile, Josh and I grouted at midnight while Jacob slept, and I sealed the grout in steps while Jacob napped. Our kitchen is now almost done, we just need a few finishing touches (like painting the door and putting up crown molding). I can't wait to share more, it's been a long and crazy road for this kitchen!



We had the original floors in the living room refinished and installed new floors in the dining room. It was just painted subfloor with rugs on it before, and now we have nice wood floors!



Josh has been working with a friend to build our bathroom downstairs. The bathroom was already in when we bought the house, but like everything else it was horrid and in disgusting condition. We gutted it completely- down to tearing out the walls and siding when we found powderpost beetles (fun!) and had to also tear up the subfloors. For a couple of months, we had to teeter on floor joists to get to the laundry room, with the exposed ground and dirt underneath. Needless to say, I am SO EXCITED that we now have a nearly complete bathroom!



This weekend Josh focused on building out this wall in our living room. This house is full of the weirdest angles, and for some reason this wall has funny angles cut into it. We will be building up a solid wall instead of the stair pickets so we have more wall space. Since the front door opens right into our living room, we need all the wall space we can have to hang coat hooks and other stuff on. There is also a tiny triangular landing on the top of the stairs, and it's such a waste of space. We will be squaring it off and turning it into a little office for Josh. We will also then be able to install stair treads and finish installing floors on the landing.



Phew! This house remodeling business has been fun, hard, frustrating, and exciting. We are really looking forward to having a finished and decorated home to live in, but this experience will be one we will never forget! You can see all the craziness of gutting and remodeling a house (while living in it) right here!

Oh, and on the topic of house stuff: have you ever dismantled your dishwasher and cleaned it completely out? Do it if you like clean dishes and being grossed out.

(you can see all the craziness of gutting and remodeling a house while living in it right here!)

thanks, broken laptop

(dress: vintage, via clothing swap; necklace, coach purse, shoes: vintage, thrifted)
Did you have a good first week of the year? Mine was so productive, and I have a busted laptop to thank for that! Mine was getting fixed for several days, and Josh's MacBook has some keys that don't work, so I just didn't really spend much time on line. It was great timing on my laptop's part, as I'm trying to work on my goals every day. Even though it sucks having to take my laptop in to get fixed, I like how shiny and clean it is when I get it back! I should care about the hard drive being replaced, but really, a smudge-free screen makes me happy, too.



The cutest husband!

week 34

My, oh my, I'm in my 34th week already! Can you believe it!? Time has really flown by, and each week seems to fly by and drag on at the same time. I'm eager to reach the 36 week mark, which means the baby wouldn't be considered premature anymore, and birthing from that point on would have less complications for him.
I've been experiencing a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions in the past week. I'm getting about 2-3 an hour, which is not abnormal, but each one takes me by surprise. At least it's giving me lots of practice to learn to relax my body during contractions! Sleeping has become quite a challenge, and I wake up to the most painful kicks! My midwife told me today that a pain I'm experiencing on the top of my uterus is bruising that the baby has been causing! It's both painful and extremely cute at the same time. How could I be mad at this little guy for hurting me when he's running out of room in there? :)


Life in the past couple of weeks has been so busy! I've been collecting and preparing things for the shop nearly every day so I have a lot on hand when the little one gets here, my mom had surgery last week, and we are busting our butts working on the house. As much as we are eager to meet the baby, we are not quite ready yet. I'm hoping to start washing all of his little clothes and start putting everything in it's place in the next two weeks. I think that'll make all of this sink in a little bit more.

(we have so many squirrels in our yard all the time! Do you see the one in this picture and on the fence in the second one? They're so cute!)

Dear Baby Boy:
Goodness, you're almost here! I can't express how your dad and I are to meet you! You've changed our lives so much already, I can't imagine how it'll be when you're finally here. Lately, we've been thinking a lot about the day we will get to meet you. I just know that the first time we look at your little face, we'll fall so in love with you. Everything we do right now is with you in mind: from the house work, to the meals I cook. Your dad has even become a much safer driver, it's so cute.
You're quite the little active guy in the middle of the night! Even though you wake me up with a swift kick, I love that you have developed your own sleeping patterns. I can tell around what time it is based on if you're awake or not, and I think you're just the cutest little clock there is! You just stay in there for at least a few more weeks, fatten up a bit while we work hard, and then we can meet. Deal?
Love you so much,
Momma

Week 15

I kind of keep forgetting that I'm pregnant. I know that sounds silly, but I will go go go all day long, and get confused when I start to get tired quicker than before, or when my legs and feet start to hurt. I've also began to sweat a lot more, and my heartbeat goes crazy when I go up one flight of stairs. As I told Rachel when I arrived at her third story apartment, "I feel like a fat kid." I keep having to remind myself that my body is making a tiny little person right now, which takes up a lot of energy. Josh has told me to stop apologizing when I can't get everything done that I wanted to do, and to get enough rest! Just when I start to forget, though, I look down at my growing midsection and remember.

For this week's baby post, we ventured off to a Wildlife Refuge that's about one mile from our house. It's our first time visiting it, and I wonder if I'll go back. You see, it looks so nice and peaceful, but looks can be deceiving.
Here I am picking wildflowers, loving nature...



...when a SNAKE starts slithering around, being a jerk! Josh didn't believe me at first, but I saw it's scary, green-striped body with my own eyes! I had to re-enact the snake's motion just so Josh would believe me.



Being the gentleman that he is, Josh picked some Queen Anne's Lace for me (roots, dirt, and all).




I swear I heard snakes in the trees by this bridge, but Josh tells me I'm making stuff up.


(dress: from Starr; shoes, necklace, and purse: vintage, thrifted)
I love this dress so much! It's from the 1940's,from Starr's shop, Action is the Fruit. I'm definitely testing the strength of the seams around the belly, but I just couldn't wait till next year to wear it! You should check out her shop, because it's full of gorgeous vintage, all beautifully photographed by Starr herself!
I think these next pictures sum up me and Josh perfectly: I like to wear pretty vintage flowery dresses and pick flowers and berries...




...and Josh is thrilled when he finds gross boy things, like a dried up dead snake. He enjoys putting things in his mouth to look silly, making his own "nature's bluetooth", and torturing his wife.



We don't know if Baby is a boy or a girl yet, but I bet you that if we have a little boy, Josh and him will be teaming up to pull pranks on me! I have no doubt that will happen (but it's kind of cute to think about).


Dear Baby:
You have a couple of new nicknames this week, and I'll explain why. You've started to grow really fine, white hair all over your body. It's there to keep your skin protected and to keep you warm, but it makes your daddy and I giggle to think about. I've started to call you my Little Polar Bear, and your daddy likes to call you Fuzzy Little Man-Peach (but we don't know if you're a boy or girl yet!). I hope you don't mind your nicknames, it's out of love, I promise! Also, I apologize for not eating enough food the last few weeks. It's hard to remember to eat so often, but I promise I'll get better at it, and I'll be feeding you lots of yummy snacks so you won't go hungry! You're about 4 inches long now, and even though you're still so tiny, you've grown so so much since we found out about you! Keep up the good work, little one.
We love you so much,
Mommy and Daddy