Ryan's Nursery!

I thought I would finally take - and post! - pictures of Ryan's nursery. I bought the bedding back in February (I was barely pregnant!) at Target on a whim because I liked that it was gender neutral.

The pictures above the crib came from Target, the letters Rebecca painted for us, the blanket on the wall Olympia made for us from scraps that our family and friends sent in at one of the showers, the french memo board I made and I painted the poem above the bookshelf (it's a Shel Silverstein) and we used Wall Pops for the red stripe and the dots.

I am really happy with how it came out overall. It think it is cute and something he can grow into.

It's working!!!

Bed rest is working! It’s working!

I went to the doctor on Friday for a nonstress test and another ultrasound to check fluid levels. Everything is looking great. Bed rest appears to be working because I had lost SEVEN POUNDS since Tuesday (best diet ever!) in water weight and my blood pressure was within normal range. Ryan passed the nonstress test with flying colors and looked very cute on the ultrasound. He was practicing his cute breathing and we even saw him in 3D! The tech switched on the 3D for a few pictures and it was very neat.

So, I go back to the doctor on Tuesday for ANOTHER ultrasound (number eight in this pregnancy so far) and we meet with the doctor to discuss options. I’m hoping for another week of bed rest, but we will see what he says.

Today is a full day of college football (Go Clemson!) and Jeff is doing house stuff (closing the pool, painting some closet doors) over the weekend. I’m glad to have him home for three days – it helps the time go faster when he is around!

This Old House

We are still finishing up renovations on our house. We have pretty much changed every single thing in this house, with the exception of one bathroom and the kitchen cabinets (we just painted them). But, the floors are new, we moved walls and added walls and painted every single wall. We have been finishing up projects for the past few weeks, and just this past weekend were able to start on the last major things we have to complete: the master bathroom and the upstairs guest bathroom.

Both bathrooms were in really bad condition when we bought the house. We thought we would be able to salvage the guest bath, but we were wrong. The wall between the two bathrooms was covered in mold because the shower port sprayed water INTO the wall instead of INTO the tub (you would think this would have been fixed, but no.). So, we tore out both bathrooms, and a closet to give the master bath more room and add a separate tub and shower and a separate toilet room. We did sacrifice some closet room, but we both feel like it was worth it.

So, this weekend Jeff put up the crown molding in both bathrooms, sanded the walls down, we painted the walls (light brownish-cream in the master and pale yellow in the guest bath) and he grouted the tile in the master. He ran out of time on grouting the guest bath, as we had friends over to grill out and swim last night, but he says he will knock that out tonight. It's exciting to see it all come together. We still have so much work to do (well, Jeff does) in both bathrooms, including installing the toilet, shower, sinks, bathtubs... but it is extremely exciting to see our last major project take shape.

And, I'm not going to lie... I'm really excited about having a toilet upstairs for the four or five trips I make to the bathroom in the middle of the night now!

47 gallons – ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!

Lola is tired of the renovations too.

The finish line is near.

We are ending the last few weeks of house renovations (at least on the inside… the outside is a different story). We have some painting to do, two bathrooms to complete (sanding the sheetrock and installing some of the fixtures) and of course the hardwood floors have to be installed and sanded and finished (we are contracting out the sanding and finishing!). We have not painted any doors or cabinet doors yet, but are waiting for a warm weekend so we can take them outside and knock it out. Same with the baseboards. But the major renovations – the carpet and floor removal, the walls we tore down, the countertop installation (recycled glass in concrete), the complete kitchen overhaul and the sheer amount of paint we have bought (we are at 47 gallons and counting!) is coming to a close. We can see the finish line.

Our original move-in date was April 6th. I think we are going to make that date. Both Jeff and I are in a wedding on April 4th, and as nice as it would be to be able to move on April 5th, I’m not seeing Jeff being in ANY kind of state to do that after a night of partying at our good friends’ wedding. But that’s my spring break, and in a weird turn of events, Jeff has it off too (love his company! They follow the school calendar AND give him vacation time!) and so we would like to have that week to get organized after we move in.

But, we are almost there. We started this process on December 23rd. The end is in sight. It’s almost overwhelming that we have made it this far, but it is so very exciting.

Big Plans!

On Tuesday of this week I told my principal I was going to use one of my furlough days on Friday. I had BIG! PLANS! to get lots of stuff done… I even made up a list! I was planning on getting up early, going to visit daycares for next year, then coming home and working! All day! I was going to paint cabinets, trim and even a room! All by myself!

Well, that changed.

So far, I went to the daycares this morning (not early). Then, I went to Babies R Us to look at cribs, then I came home and met the hardwood guy so he could measure our floors, then I went and got my eyebrows waxed, went to Office Depot to fax something, then to PetSmart for treats for the dog (who was with me), then to Panera for lunch. Then, I came home and played online, then took a little nap and finally decided to paint the bathroom cabinets (I’ve been avoiding this since we bought this house!). That is it! And I’ve sent approximately 10584359583049 text messages to people to waste time.

Then I ate some grapes and decided it was important to check facebook and email to make sure nothing MAJOR has happened (nothing has. Darn.)

I’m thinking it was a productive day.