The Nursery has Begun!

After the last post, just an update. Since we got our room all moved, we started moving baby furniture in. The dresser is in, the changing pad is on, and the drawers are full of clothes! Tomorrow the crib will be put up, the bedding will be washed and put in, and a little dresser will move in to store blankets and hold the lamp. 

I'll post pictures when it's all done! 

Bedroom: Finished!

I got a surprising, wonderful call today. The Lowes carpet installer was on his way! Our bedroom was in limbo, waiting only for the carpet. Chance leaves Wednesday so I just knew the carpet installer was going to come Wednesday or later. I was so pleased to get that call, to say the least! 

We waited all day, but finally around 4 he showed up. The carpet was finished by 5. As soon as those guys were out we started moving our furniture in. It was a ton of work, but everything is out of our old bedroom and we're starting to move baby stuff in. 

If you saw my post last week about the doors, this is the final product of the room. It is 100% finished, trim, paint, everything. It's actually the only room in our house that is 100%. I'm thrilled. 

We decided to go with this light turquoise. Chance was so tired of neutrals, our living room, kitchen and old bedroom (now baby's room) are all a different shade of beige. It's just light enough to be a semi-neutral and not overwhelmingly dark. It turned out great. 

Ceiling fan (only one in the house)

Carpet is finished.

Chance added trim over the slider.

Furniture is IN! 

I'm not sure just how design appropriate it is to have the white trim and accents with the dark furniture and dark fan, but it's what we have so it's going to have to work. :) I can't believe we didn't move our room sooner, there is so much more space. We can actually walk around the bed, who would have thought. And, there's also room for the Rock n Play. 

Ready for baby! 

Whooping Cough

We've all seen the commercials, the horrible cough coming from a tiny baby, telling us that Pertussis is dangerous and most commonly passed to new babies by parents, siblings, and other family members. 

When pregnant with Archer I'm not even sure I knew anything about Pertussis (or if I did the exhaustion of having a newborn has wiped it clean). In recent years I've seen more and more advertisements about it. 

But what concerns me the most are the recent cases of newborns and infants being taken to the hospital with it. Just a few weeks ago a baby from a nearby town passed away after struggling with pertussis for weeks before that. He wasn't old enough to have the vaccine. Then just two weeks ago a friend from high school's son was admitted to Children's Hospital with it. His oxygen levels were low because he couldn't breathe due to coughing. That really scared me. I cannot imagine having sit in a hospital and watch my baby fight just to breathe. 

Another friend posted last night that another baby has it. That was the final straw for me. I posted on facebook that everyone planning to visit needed to get the pertussis booster. I still need Chance to talk to his parents about it, but the word is getting out. 

If you're coming to see my baby, you're going to need to bring your shot record. ;) Ok, I'm kidding about that, but please get the shot.

Whining.

I think the third trimester, especially this last half of it, is my least favorite time of pregnancy. I feel so ready to have a baby, and yet so completely un-ready to physically have a baby in my home. I was thinking earlier, I have 6 weeks left. That is so close, yet still SO far away. On top of that, baby doesn't have a room, the furniture hasn't been built, I still have so much to wash. AAAH. 

What I hate most is not having the energy to do anything, but having an overwhelming urge to do everything. My whole house needs to be cleaned. I have a ton of my own laundry to do and I'm still getting ready for school for the kid. 

I've been working on washing baby clothes and I have them all folded, but I have no where to put them. Baby has a dresser, but it's in the shop. I don't want cat hair or random bugs all over them so I guess they'll just sit in a laundry basket in my living room. 

I just wish the carpet guy would hurry up and then I would be able to relax.

Soapbox: Gay Marriage

Just a quick thought. All of these lawmakers who are so gung ho about gay marriage being legal, why aren't any of them legislating against divorce? Why aren't they trying to make it more difficult or impossible to get a divorce? Or better yet, let's make cheating illegal. Wouldn't that uphold the sanctity of marriage more? 

Archer's 4th Birthday Plans

I've had a few people ask, so I'm making a list of things Archer might enjoy for his birthday. 

Fall/Winter clothes (size 5 pants, slim if possible; 4T shirts)

New superhero or any boy dress up stuff

Coloring and preschool activity books

Crayons/markers/supplies

Art pads

Play-doh

Paper Jamz guitar

Big dinosaur figurines 

A boy "La La Loopsie" doll

Age appropriate Wii games

Fisher-Price Imaginext Batman action figures

Fisher-Price Imaginext Eagle Talon Castle action figures

Books (Mercer Mayer "Little Critter," Berenstain Bears)

Board games (Hi ho Cherrio, Chutes and Ladders, Jenga, Trouble etc; We have candyland already)

His room is decorated with sports stuff. He isn't really a fan of toys with lots of pieces or parts and I would prefer not to have toys with super small parts just in case baby brother finds them. He enjoys legos some but gets frustrated with them easily if he can't build with them. 

House Project: Faux Barn Doors

To make room for baby we are remodeling our old garage/storage space into our bedroom. Baby will move into our current room and we'll be moving across the house into the garage. 

Of all the rooms in our house, this one has been the most work, and I'm sad we don't have before pictures because you just wouldn't believe me if I told you. It started out with no walls, just the exterior siding and backing showing through. The floor was dirt and the entire room was piled full of junk. I'm sure when it was first stored there, it wasn't junk, but 40 years later, it was. 

Since we moved in, Chance has built the floor level with the house, added walls and insulation and we turned part of it into the laundry room. It's a little disjointed because we planned to use the space as laundry, pantry, storage; but we need a bedroom so now you go through the laundry to get to the bedroom. It works. 

When we decided to put a wall up in the space, Chance put a cased opening (I have no idea what that means, he just tells me) that was really wide and had a bit of an arch to it. As a result, a typical door wouldn't work. While browsing on pinterest I found this pin for sliding barn doors and it's exactly what I wanted. We tossed the idea around, but when it came time to actually get it done...well, we had an issue. Lowe's didn't carry the hardware for the track. They thought there was a place in town that did, but they didn't know the name. A quick online search showed prices of $300+. Neither of us was paying that much for a door. 

Instead, Chance decided he could use a typical closet sliding door kit, but build it so that it would hang on the inside of the room. I was unsure of what it would it look like, but said it would be good enough because what else could we do? 

He installed them today and I'm so impressed. I love they way they turned out, especially since it was improvised and guesswork and most definitely cheaper than buying the kit. It doesn't work quite the same way, we can only do one door at a time, but I still love the look. 

Looking into the bedroom from the laundry. 

I wanted them painted white to match the trim, but I actually love the natural wood look so we're leaving them. I am so impressed with how they turned out. My husband did good. 

Linked at: 

A Bowl Full of Lemons

Mom on Timeout

Creative Princess

Classy Clutter

Funky Junk Interiors

I Heart Nap Time

Snips and Spice

Just Us Four

Pregnancy Update: Week 33

With Archer I wrote a ton of blog posts about my pregnancy, how I felt what was happening, etc. I feel a little guilty that I haven't done that this time, but I guess it's different since it all seems normal? 

Today I am 33 weeks. Baby is around 5lbs. I've gained around 18 lbs, it fluctuates a little so around. 

He moves constantly. One part of my tummy or another frequently has something poking out or rippling. Very active. I don't really remember big brother being this forceful with his kicks, but I'm sure he probably was. 

Overall, I'm just ready for September and ready for him to get here! 

Weekend done!

This weekend was a whirlwind of activities. Friday Chance took my car and traded it it for a shiny new truck. My car had lots of issues and was edging closer to 150,000 miles every day (a 100 mile round trip daily commute was a killer). I miss being a car person already. I could speed through curves and park anywhere, but I will definitely enjoy the safety and security of something new (if not the payment).

Saturday was baby shower day. We had a great shower with family and close friends, getting lots of necessities and diapers. My sister cooked out and we made the guys come. It was a nice outdoor evening.

Today was a friend's daughter's birthday so we went to her bowling alley party. It was definitely fun and Archer enjoyed it until he was too exhausted to, causing us to go home early.

I got to spend some time with my best friend, which is also great. It was a wonderful weekend.

However, I imagine I'll be parked on the couch recovering tomorrow. I will feel a little guilty that while Chance is working away on our bedroom remodel I'll be lounging, but only a little. Growing a baby is hard work. :)

Three weeks

No, not until baby comes, but until I send my other baby to school. Can you believe it? I can't.

I am so unprepared for this. Yes, we have mountains of school clothes, new shoes, and even a jump start on school supplies. I just am not prepared to send my little guy to school just yet.

Don't get me wrong, we drive each other crazy. I'm ready for some quiet time to get the house cleaned and prepare for baby #2. He's ready for social interaction and he is so ready to learn anything and everything. But school? Six hours away everyday? I'm freaked out.

Yes, he was in daycare while I worked full time but this is different. There will be no snuggling on the couch like st daycare. The hours aren't as flexible, I can't just pop in at noon and pick him up if I'm free. And it's permanent.

Maybe that's the issue? It's so permanent. This is the beginning of 12 maybe 13 more years of this. And then college. Oh, let's not even go there just yet.

I'll tell you why this is such a shock. Last year there was mention that the law had changed in Oklahoma requiring students entering pre-k to be four by June 1st. It was attached to a law about reading standards. The law about reading standards passed so I assumed the other part had too. Another teacher friend also believed this. I thought I had another year. Then in May I found out it had been removed from the reading law and my boy was going to school in August. Oh my.

I'll get over it. This will pass. But I'm still a little shocked that nearly 4 years have passed and my sweet boy is in school. If you've done this before, you know what I mean. If you haven't, you will someday. It's no fun.

It's Summer!

Hmm, it's been a while. :) Life is hectic and crazy here. In May I finished my last day at my job and have been staying home with my little critter every day. It's exhausting and glorious and fun. I know some day I will look back on these days and be so glad I got to spend extra time with him, although sometimes I think we both get a little tired of each other.

Some days it is TOO hot outside for us to spend more than a few minutes at a time during the day, but we definitely try. A few weeks ago (July 4th actually) I caught this moment on camera and I was really pleased with it. I just wanted a candid smiling shot and the wind blew just right for the flag to show up behind him. 

I wanted to enter it in Shutterfly's giveaway for Americana, but I missed the deadline! Oh well. That just means I'll have to snap a few more since it's a month long contest. This weeks entry needs to be about "The Great Outdoors." You can enter your own photo here. 

For this week, I'm entering this photo taken at my uncle's cabin. Back in May we had a small family get together, well small in some ways. There were several family members there, but small in comparison to those who couldn't make it. My uncle has a cabin in the Wichita Mountains (Southern Oklahoma) and this is literally the view from his front door. It's so beautiful there. 

I did enter my photo into Shutterfly's Long Live Summer sweepstakes and I received 100 free 4x6 prints for doing so. As always, love shutterfly and their great promotions. 

Hopefully this post will boost my posting. I forget and get sidetracked, but this is my vow to start posting here more. :) Until next time.