Week 31 & Plenty of Excitement!

This week has been full of excitement!

I returned to work from my week "vacation" and found out that the agent who was backing me up worked her BUTT off while I was gone!  During the seven days I was out, she got two houses under contract for me, started negotiations on an offer for a third set of buyers and also took care of the inspections for a fourth set of my buyers.  With that kind of productivity, maybe I should take more time off?!

The painters continued the work on our house.  They originally estimated the project to take 7-8 business days.  Let's just say that they've been here for 9 days and there is STILL a lot of painting to be done!  However, their attention to detail is impeccable and when it's all said and done, the wait will be worth it.  In fact, we've already noticed the neighbors down the street trying to sneak a peak!

We're also starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with the garage remodel.  All three sides have been re-framed and new siding hung, so now we just need to get a new garage door ordered and we can finish up the front!  Last step will be insulating the interior and painting it to match the house!

With the front still unfinished, it looks a little crazy--BUT, the siding is a huge improvement from what used to be there...

While I'm thinking of our house projects--the one thing I wanted to achieve after putting on a new roof and getting a fresh coat of paint was to get rid of this HIDEOUS vent.  It's literally two metal vents screwed into a piece of plywood, that was then screwed into the opening for the original dormer window.  Whoever thought this was a bright idea was an idiot!

With some additional roof ventilation, our roofer gave us the blessing to make the switch!  With that, Justin crawled into our attic to remove the hideous vent and install the original dormer window! And of course, I had him do it on a day when the heat index was hovering around 100 degrees...

Even though I told him he won Husband-of-the-Year, Mr. Grouchy Pants wasn't too thrilled about over-heating after already spending all day out in the hot sun...but hey, the window is back in place AND his wife is beyond happy.  Once the dormer is repainted and the window re-glazed, I'm pretty sure he'll have a big smile on his face!

But to be honest, he's already BEAMING.  And it has nothing to do with the house!

For months, Justin has been studying for his International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist test...he'd wake up about 4am, study until it was time for work, come home and spend the rest of the evening studying.  He truly did nothing but work and study!  The test was on August 16th and they said it would take 4-6 weeks to receive the results...

Well, a packet arrived in Thursday's mail and the results were inside--he passed!  Not too surprising, considering he could tell you everything you'd ever want to know about trees--and then some!  But now, he isn't just a "tree expert"--he can tell you about all sorts of woody plants!  

And of course, if you live anywhere in Kansas, you know that Friday was the start of K-State's football season!  The new West Stadium addition was complete, the Bill Snyder statue was ready to be revealed, Purple Power Play ran for two nights--the town was abuzz with excitement!

I started Friday morning by making Justin help with a "festive" photo shoot.  I was pregnant during the Spring Game, but was fighting some major allergies that day (soooo can't wait to be able to get my allergy shots again!) so I missed the game.  Friday marked baby's "first time" in football purple!  And plus, we needed a week 31 pic!

The morning started out at the KMAN radio studio...as Campaign Chair for our United Way 2013 Campaign, I was interviewed alongside our Board President for our back Kick-Off Event that was planned for the following morning.  By the time we left, traffic had already picked up and because my office is within walking distance of the stadium, all I could think about was how I wanted to leave work at the end of the day and NOT get hit!

Well, I think I jinxed myself.  As I drove from the KMAN studio to my office, I totally got rear-ended at a stoplight by an out-of-town K-State fan!  The other driver was freaking out about missing the dedication ceremony for the new stadium...the hormonal side of me wanted to smack some sense into her!  I don't like to throw pity parties, but seriously!  There I am--nearly 8-months pregnant, standing around in the heat while we wait for the police to arrive and file a report, missing appointments with clients (and missing more work so the doctor could check me out that afternoon) and she's worried about being late to a $#%*@^# dedication ceremony?!  

Fortunately, my regular doctor was able to see me later in the day and after consulting with my OB-GYN, they both felt that baby was doing fine.  And I was fine.  But my concern--and Justin's, too--was that we wanted to make sure the impact didn't cause any problems.  And thank the Good Lord, it didn't!  But if anything, talk about a reality check--this baby hasn't even been born yet, and I was already about to go into Mama Bear mode!  

At this rate, we're looking forward to a less exciting Labor Day weekend.  Part of the weekend will be spent working, but we'll also be able to squeeze in some time for family and fun.  Oh, and hopefully, some rest!  I am becoming a HUGE fan of sitting on my butt for a few minutes :-)  I still haven't had a chance to make friends with our couch and TV, but I'm sure that in about 8 weeks, I'll have plenty of time to hang out around the house!

Week 30 & Life In a Construction Zone

Is it okay to admit that I want to run away from my house and hide?!

Around the first of August, my broker convinced me to take a week off from work.  It had been one helluva year for real estate--I hadn't taken any time off in the past 14 months and as luck had it, as soon as I found out I was pregnant, the market REALLY heated up.  And that was back in late February!  Since then, a "normal" week has been 70-80 hours and I've had one or two "slow" weeks that had me averaging about 40-50 hours.  And I managed to take off two entire days (Memorial Weekend) since February.  With a baby soon on the way, my broker knew that 1) I had to be just plain exhausted and 2) I would never have another chance to relax and have a little down time.  With that, I recruited another agent to work my transactions while I took a week off...and the countdown to having an entire week off began!

FINALLY, my week of down time was here!  And then the phone calls came in.

After a 3-month wait, our painters could start on the house this week.

Our windows (that had been back-ordered for nearly a month) were ready to be installed.

Justin's buddies had extra time to work on our garage.

And to top it off, the roofers figured out a way to make my dreams come true (and not in a dirty way, but more on that later!).

Holy crap.  Are you freakin' kidding me?!

Knowing that we needed to get the jobs done while the contractors were available, and before a baby has to live through the mess, we said COME ON OVER!

With that, the painters showed up Tuesday morning as I was getting ready to leave with my mom and niece for a Girls' Day Out.  I knew it would be a mess and was more than happy to leave town and do some shopping!  Mom's first stop of the day, ironically enough, was at a liquor store...as much as I wanted to have a drink, I have to admit my niece was SUPER excited to be surrounded by bottles of booze!

Another ornery smile for the camera!  Some day she'll realize you DON'T want to give yourself a double-chin for pictures ;-)

Once we did all the damage we could do in Topeka, it was time to head home and check on the day's progress.  The painters spent an ENTIRE day prepping the north-side of our house...what a reminder of WHY we're paying them to do the work!

Lots of scraping, sanding and caulking!

Remnants of the home's 90-year history...and all the chalky residue from years of moisture penetration is now gone!

I feel like our yard looks like a flea market.  This is what it looks like (both side yards are full of crap, too!) when they're packed up and gone for the day!

After evaluating their progress, it was time to pack up the inside of our house to make room for the window installation.  Everything, in all the rooms, got pushed to the middle...it was quite fun waking up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and having your bed in a totally different spot!  And no side table to grab onto so you don't have to roll off the edge just to get out of bed....ooooops!  Should have thought that one through :-)

Wednesday morning rolled around and the window contractor was ready to start work at 7:15 am!

Replacing the windows was a hard decision for me--not so much for Justin, as he was always eager to do it.  I'm the first one to judge people for ripping out original windows and replacing them with vinyl.  Just drives me nuts--a GOOD storm window will do so much good and they're less expensive!  After purchasing our house, I convinced Justin we should just invest in those "good" storm windows that I've always been a fan of.  But we ran into a problem--we could NOT get the existing storm windows off the house...

So, we lived with the windows as they were for a few more years.  But the problems started to compound.  I couldn't open the windows on my own--most of the time, Justin struggled to open them, too.  For a few summers, we lost power for extended periods of time (meaning, multiple days) and our house became an inferno.  Numerous panes were cracked.  The weights were broken.  All the windows needed re-glazed.  I called my window buddy in because if anyone can save old windows, he can do it.  Unfortunately, the repair expense was going to be about the same as doing a total replacement.  And because I've referred so much business to him, he gave us an amazing discount so we said, DO IT.  The hormonal me kinda wanted to cry because I felt like I was betraying everything I had ever preached, but also knowing that we'd only be in our house a few more years, the Realtor in me accepted that new windows would help with re-sale.

Once they started in, I remembered why we decided to pay someone else to do the job...when it came time to remove the storm windows, it was a HUGE pain!  Took a good 20-30 minutes per storm!  Turns out, the storm windows were not only screwed into the frame, but also caulked over AND painted over.  They never before had so much difficulty taking off storms!

Once the storms came off, this is how the windows looked!

Then, the replacements started to go in.  And I started to smile :-)  For once, we could truly see out our windows!

Replacement window on the far left, original windows on the right

While the windows were being installed, the painters were still hard at work.  They had 6 people prepping the backside and south side of the house, while their carpenter tore into our porch columns.

Ohhh, our poor porch columns...the base trim had been separated when we bought the house and it appeared to have been that way for a LONG time.  The painters were going to pull off the trim and re-install it...

But once they removed the trim, they realized the columns weren't sitting on ANYTHING but the trim pieces.  And this supported our porch roof for 90 years?!  Needless to say, they had to jack up the porch roof, cut new (solid) base pieces and trim for all the columns in hopes that we will continue to have a roof over our head--literally!

On the upside, so much has already been accomplished!  The windows are all in and looking AMAZING!  So, so glad we made the leap.  Oh, and just last night, we already noticed how much sound they block!  Just can't wait to see what our utility bills start to average for the coming year :-)

The painters continue to labor away.  Today, they're prepping the front of the house--TONS of sanding and filling in gaps.  I truly pity the person who gets the task of caulking our beadboard porch ceiling...because most every single inch of that ceiling needs caulked!   At last count, there's at least 5 more days of prep and painting to be done, so it will be fun to watch it all unfold.

And fortunately, progress is being made with our garage...we just might have it done before the baby arrives!

In just a few afternoons, it went from this:

To this... 

To this.

The north and west walls have been framed and plywood hung.  This evening, the guys will hang plywood on the south side, then move on to the east side and figure out something with the garage door.  Until we figure out what we'll do about refacing the door, the guys can start hanging the wood siding and we'll be nearly done!  

In the meantime, baby girl will just continue to acclimate to lots of noise!

This week marked week 30 and because I never remember to have Justin take a picture when he's around, I resorted to taking some "selfies."  I feel so dumb photographing myself (okay, I even feel dumb trying to smile for Justin!) but I know that down the road, we'll be glad we were able to (somewhat) frequently document the baby's growth!

Until the shape changes, I'm going to call my bump my "camel humps."  Seriously--I thought that by week 30, your belly was supposed to be nice and round?!  But nope, mine just sticks out like there's a torpedo in there!

Definitely gaining enough extra mass in the front that, one of these days, I may just tip over!

As much as this construction mess and noise is wearing on me (and killing the "point" of my vacation), Justin keeps reminding me that it's good "practice" for the chaos that will ensue once baby girl is here.  And he's certainly right in that life will be more chaotic than we ever imagined...I'm just glad that the construction mess is temporary and she'll have a beautifully painted house to come home to and a nursery that's not leaking cold air or lots of street noise!

Hello, Third Trimester!

The title says it all.

The third trimester is here!

Where HAS the time gone?! I felt this way around week 21, but here we are 7 weeks later and that seems like just yesterday.  Literally!  And to think that we're just about 12 weeks away from our Halloween due date!  Eeeeek!

Considering how quickly time is flying by, I'm just glad we got a head start on a lot of the big things!

We enrolled in a bunch of childbirth/breastfeeding/baby CPR/daddy boot camp classes at our local hospital--they start in a few weeks and last through most of September.  Justin and I seriously need all the help we can get when it comes to this baby thing!  Though we know how to stare at a baby and go "ohhhhh, they're so cute!", we have no idea how to actually CARE for a newborn so you know we'll be all eyes and ears!

On a similar note, Justin's insurance has an "incentive" program that we're also enrolled in...if we attend  every-other doctor appointment and call them when the baby's born, we get a $250 gift card!  Yup, no joke!  It doesn't even require that we attend the classes!  Seriously, they have to bribe people to show up to just HALF of their prenatal appointments?!  Oh, that's right...I did work in social services and I do know that for various reasons, some people don't take proper care of themselves and their baby...beyond sad.  And beyond sad that insurance companies are now bribing people just to show up to only half of their appointments!

The nursery continues to come together.  Several posts ago, I shared my "inspiration" for the nursery...really, it's just a hodgepodge of stuff that has a similar color scheme.  VERY eclectic, to say the least!

And fortunately, we assembled the crib and changing some time ago.  At the time, I remember it felt SO premature, but now that squatting for very long is quite uncomfortable, I'm glad we did it when I still had the energy to move and boss Justin around :-)  It was also the motivation I needed to change the wall color from K-State purple to a shade of turquoise!

However, if you were to walk into the nursery at any given moment, it would NOT look like the above picture!  It's a total disaster zone!  We've hung the curtains (but they still need the creases ironed out!), hung up some wall art, found a lamp base for the lamp shade that inspired this whole thing and found a mirror that needs to be hung yet.  We've just been waiting for the final two pieces to be dealt with--the hutch and rocking chair.

The hutch is ready to be picked up this weekend---eeek!  I'm super excited to see it!  I found it on Craigslist (go figure!) and it dates back to the 1950s.  I never knew WHAT kind of wood the hutch was made out of, but according to the guy we hired to refinish it, it's solid oak that was given a "pickle" finish to make it more blonde.  The goal is to remove the pickling and return it to it's natural color (with maybe a bit of the white still deep down in the grain)--I have an idea of what the finished product will look like but I'll have to wait until I get off work on Saturday to see how it turned out!  Like I told Justin, who knows--if it refinishes as well as I think it might, my crazy, cheap Craigslist find might end up turning into an heirloom piece of furniture for our little family!

The "pickled" hutch--holding all our junk and just waiting to be refinished!

And here's proof of the nursery's current state!  On any given day, it's cluttered with stuff that still needs dealt with--and Mitzi.  Mitzi just LOVES the nasty rocker and fortunately for her, both she and I can fit in it together....but I'm not sure how well that's going to work once the baby arrives!

Just waiting for Mitzi's newest favorite chair to be reupholstered, as well!

Once the rocker is reupholstered and decor hung on the walls, I think the nursery will be finished!  At that point, we can sit back and watch my belly continue to grow!

When I hit week 26, I realized I hadn't taken a new picture so we waited until a play date with my niece so that she could be included in the "documentation."

Miss Marcella is now 20-months old and boy, is her personality coming alive!  If you ask her parents, they will tell you the she and I share the same personality...kinda scary, especially considering how stubborn they say she can be!  lol...oh well, at least they know what I'm like and they can start to prepare themselves for a hard-headed daughter!

Anyhow, for the pictures, I tried to get Marcella to point to where the baby is...and well, it didn't start out so well!  She first pointed at her knee and when we said, "No!  The baby's not in your knee!" she then started to cheese the most ornery smile and well, never stopped being ornery!  We tried everything we could to get her to flash one of her sweet smiles for us...

And finally, the orneriness wore off!  She started pointing at my belly and then put her hand on it!  Fortunately, Justin was able to capture one of her more serious moments.  In years to come, it will be a great picture to look back at and I just hope that I remember to put it in the baby book!

And now, here we are at week 28 and the start of the third trimester!!

This time around, Justin was out of town at a train-the-trainer workshop for Asplundh ...so, if I wanted a picture, it was a cheesy self-portrait or nothing!

Quite obviously, I'm finally starting to grow and show!  People are still surprised to hear how far along I am--one of the gals at my office asked the other day if I was at 4 months and before I could answer, the other one said, "No--she's five months along."  No.  And No!   :-)  lol...the one downfall to carrying this baby high and tight is the lack of special "privileges"(cutting lines, being TOLD to back off, etc)  from complete strangers, but that will probably come with a bit more growth!  Per our bathroom scale, I've gained about a total of 15 pounds...it doesn't really seem like it until I go to get out of bed and holy cow, I move like a beached whale!  I love, love, love our Tempurpedic but they're not the best for  helping a pregnant woman "boost" herself out of bed!

Well, folks--I think that's all for now!  Until next time...

Wek 25 & Exhaustion

I'm pretty sure I've hit the proverbial brick wall!

Work has been crazy busy--which is good and I'm most grateful for all the business...but after living off of nothing but adrenaline for the past several weeks, I'm starting to wear down.  I keep telling myself to hang in there.  And that before I know it, the 70 hour work weeks will be traded for days home with a baby.  Granted, that still won't be easy and the good Lord only knows that I'll be beyond exhausted--but at least the exhaustion will be for a different reason :-)

In addition to the long work weeks, I'm really starting to notice the heat.  Several Sundays ago, I had my first experience with overheating...and it was at 10:00 in the morning...at church!  I wasn't sure what I was going to do because after church, I was meeting with a builder in 100+ weather at a house that had just been framed...oh Lord, help me!  Fortunately, I made it through that meeting but it still took me about a good 5 hours of sitting in the air conditioning before my body felt like it was a "normal" temperature again.  And then it was time to go meet another builder out in the heat!  I'm quickly learning to appreciate the days where the high is "only" in the lower 90s and to keep tons of cold water on hand!!!

I guess the one good thing about being pregnant and exhausted is that it really makes you enforce boundaries and limitations.  Last year at this time, I was just going, going, going and I never forced myself to stop.  But if everything goes as planned (fingers crossed!!!), I'm headed into the office tomorrow for a few hours and then I'm turning off my phone and setting my email to "vacation" status...it will only last through the rest of the day, but to have a good solid couple of hours off will be HEAVEN!!!

Ahhh---the dark eye circles.  So very reminiscent of the first trimester!

Can't really hide the belly anymore!

Baby-wise, we had our 6-month check up with the doctor last week.  I'm up a total of 10 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight...woo-who!  Justin actually lost 5 pounds, so now we're even-steven with our weight gains.  Doc says my belly is measuring "perfectly"and from what could be felt while pushing on my stomach, baby girl's hanging out sideways!  And like always, she was moving and grooving during the appointment.

On a related note, Justin's felt her kicks several times now.  At first, he thought it was me making my belly move but I don't have that kind of control over my abs anymore ;-)  And just the other night, I had my phone on my stomach while laying in bed and all of a sudden, I felt a kick and saw my phone move at the same time--I thought my mind was playing tricks on me, but nope!  I will say there have been a few times that the kicks have HURT and now that I know she can make objects outside of my belly move, I guess it's time to accept that her movement will only become more and more visible!

And on a totally UNrelated note, check out our first bits of produce from our garden!  It seemed like the  veggies would never grow nor ripen, but they did!  Based on all the blossoms and buds on the veggie plants, something tells me we will have peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers out the wazoo!

The middle cuke is over 1' long!!!

Week 23.5--Back Pain & Weight Gain

Well, well, well...I think some pregnancy symptoms are full-blown around our house!

One of the questions I get all the time is "How have you been feeling?"  Nowadays, it's not such a loaded question, but my typical response is, "Pretty good--but I've been having some crazy back pain." And then I'm met with some odd looks...

But--I thought pregnant women were supposed to have back pain?!  I have tried to explain to people that the pain is almost like a pinching pain, in between the lower half of my shoulder blades.  When I sit for more than 15 minutes, it's just out of control.  Standing isn't near as bad and walking actually makes it feel MUCH better.  Again, when I explain all of this, the looks remain odd!

So, I did what I naturally do when I have an ailment--I go online.  For once, my research did NOT say that I was dying from some rare, awful disease...but rather, that my upper back pain is most likely due to being top heavy.  When I read that, I couldn't help but chuckle!  NEVER in my life have I been top heavy--but thanks to this little girl, my upper body is out of control.  I always laugh and say that if I ever face-plant while walking, you'll know why...lol.  In fact, the change in my upper body was one of the "symptoms" that first made me wonder if "something wasn't up." When we announced my pregnancy, one of my friends warned me that it would happen because she's built just like me and that's where she gained all of her weight.  And sure enough, I'm pretty sure she was right!  And just to think...I have yet to develop the more-typical lower back pain!  But if anything, I'm sure to keep Victoria's Secret and Tylenol in business for a few more months!

Speaking of weight gain, true story...

At my 3-month appointment, I hadn't gained any weight.

At my 4-month appointment, I had gained two pounds.

At my 5-month appointment, I was up a total of 5 pounds.

And Justin was up a total of 15 pounds.

Amazingly enough, you can't tell that he's even gained a single pound.

And Mitzi...oh, sweet Mitzi.  She was up a total of 1.6 pounds.  Not a big deal--unless, you only weigh 8 pounds to begin with!

I'm still not sure what my most recent "numbers" are--we have our 6-month appointment later this week and as always, I bet I make a trip to the scale!  Life is so bizarre--when you're NOT pregnant, you hate getting on the scale for fear of a weight gain.  And then when you ARE pregnant, you hate getting on the scale for fear that your weight gain isn't what it should be.  For once, can a scale ever be female-friendly?!

For those curious about the bump progress, here you go!  Just a few days shy of 24 weeks..

My dress may be too big, but when it's 100-degrees out, I don't mind wearing a loose cotton bag :-)

Hopefully, my next post will have some "after" pictures of our bathroom "renovation."  If all goes as planned, new flooring, wall treatment and hardware is scheduled to installed this week!  It certainly won't be a dramatic change, but it should help update the space and make it feel a bit less stark.  After several years of saying "we need to get it done," it will be nice to actually HAVE it done and be able to enjoy the outcome!

Week 22 & My Idiotic Mistakes

Man, oh, man...week 22 has been ridiculous!

The one highlight has been that I've finally "popped."  We were at church on Sunday and one of our friends was SUPER excited because she could finally see that I was pregnant!  I'm still not showing a whole lot and it usually depends on my shirt of choice, but baby girl is starting to make her presence known.  Personally, I blame it on all the food we were served during last week's Leadership Academy for the Kansas Association of Realtors.  There's only 13 of us from across the state that were chosen to participate this year--and this time around, only 9 of us could be there.  And you just don't put food in front of people without them eating all of it!  Well, at least if they're pregnant!  Randomly enough, like I said, there's 13 of us in the class.  10 of us are women.  By the time we graduate the Academy in October, four of the female Realtors will have given birth during the course of our Academy.  I'm still convinced something was slipped in our water back during our first session in January...

But back to this past week...Aside from starting to pop and noticing eyes on my stomach, I feel like I've done nothing more than correct mistakes all week long.

I can see a little more bulge!

Starting to 'poke' out a bit more!

And if you catch me at just the right angle, you can definitely tell something's going on!

Idiot Mistake #1: I was out of business cards, so I finally ordered new ones.  Within a few days, they arrived at my office and upon opening the box, I realized I ordered the wrong freakin' cards!  Since it was TOTALLY my fault, I knew better than to even try negotiating a refund from the company.  So, now I patiently await the arrival of new cards while figuring out a use for the 1000 business cards that were printed on awful, awful paper.  Maybe they'll become mini to-do lists?!

Idiot Mistake #2: I managed to forget groceries for the week.  We'd made a Sam's run on Friday to stock up on lunch stuff for J-Money...then come breakfast-time on Monday morning, I realized we didn't do our usual Sunday evening grocery run.  Upside?  We have so much stuff in our freezer that we've been able to pull together some (very) random, but edible, meals!

Idiot Mistake #3: The icing on the cake came this weekend when I went to paint the baby's room.  I had picked up the paint on Friday evening, opened it Saturday morning and threw some on the wall.  Right away, something looked off...I grabbed the paint swatch out of the kitchen and sure enough, I had Sherwin Williams mix up the wrong color.  Seriously?!  And because it was ME who made the mistake and it was a tinted color, I couldn't return the paint.  Being the paint-snob that I am, it wasn't cheap stuff, either...Grrrr...Instead of pouting the day away, I put my big girl pants on, ran to the store and came back with the right color in hand, only to be greeted by...

Idiot Mistake #4:  When I came home, I let the dog out of her crate and started putting away the old paint and getting the new paint poured into the tray.  Minutes later, I realize that the dog managed to walk across up-turned paint lid (that I left on the drop cloth), tracking blue paw prints across the wood floors and new area rug!  Could things become any more ridiculous and preventable?!  I was SO ready to take off my big girls pants and finally throw myself a self-inflicted pity party...but if I did that, I'd never get the room done!  The rest of the painting continued with several more hiccups, but it was eventually done and here's a sneak peak of the final wall color!

From K-State purple to this!  It's not quite as green in person, but more of a turquoise...almost a dead-on match to our living room.  Guess I didn't think too far out of the box on this one!

On a positive note, I do feel like we're making progress with several other projects.

In a couple of weeks, the work in the bathroom will commence.  We're talking new flooring, hanging of beadboard, a new light fixture and if I ever get the stuff ordered, we'll install new decorative towel bars, etc.  Needless to say, because I can't even paint a room right now without causing major headaches, we're having one of my contractor buddies tackle the project.  Plus, it will be nice to let someone else do the work!  The hutch for the baby's room is on a waitlist to be refinished--hopefully, it will be done in the next 5 weeks or so.  And our crazy, icky rocker is also on a waitlist to be re-upholstered.  That waitlist is several months long, so I'm glad I finally got around to calling the gal before I ended up having to rock the baby to sleep in the icky thing!  It's not easy for me to live in a house with unfinished "tasks," but the upside to it all is that once baby girl gets here, everything should be done and looking NICE!

Week 21 & Planning the Nursery

Week 21.  I don't even know what to say.  Obviously, I'm over half-way through my pregnancy and I really can't seem to figure out where the time went.  Then, I stop and think about having this "condition" since February...February...and then I start to realize maybe it hasn't gone so fast!  At least, the first 14 weeks didn't go fast.  But with feeling decent the past 7 weeks, time has flown by!

For the curious, here are some updated pics...

This is my belly at week 20--the next morning, we had our sonogram and learned that we will be welcoming a daughter into this world!

She (still seems weird referring to the baby as something other than "it") weighed in at around 13 oz and appeared to have longer-than-average legs and bigger-than-normal feet.  Didn't surprise any of us in the sonogram room!

Even though I was still "hiding" the baby, my (internal) growth is right on track.  My weight is up a total of 5 lbs since getting pregnant and so far, my doctor doesn't seem concerned...my guess is that the weight will soon be here!

Speaking of which, here are my week 21 pics.  Baby's definitely been eating well enough to hit a growth spurt!  

Now for the fun part...planning the nursery!

Once we learned we're having a girl, my creative juices kicked in gear and I started finding pieces to work with.  Everyone asks, "What color are you painting the nursery?"  Well, folks, I hate to disappoint ya but it won't be pink.  Nor will it be purple.  We're painting it blue :-)  Yes, our daughter will come home to a blue bedroom!   But that's what happens when your mom is far from a traditionalist and your father listens to Jay-Z on his record player...you will never have a chance to live a "normal" life!

So, what do I have in mind?  Here's a little sneak-peak of what I've found for the nursery.  Definitely not the most typical baby decor, but what did ya expect?!  I had to laugh when J-Money asked why I bought a clock for the nursery--as he pointed out, the baby won't be able to tell time.  And while he's right, this mama can't stand to be in a room without a clock, so a time-teller automatically became a necessity!

Slowly but surely, things will start to come together.  The wall color has been determined (after going through various shades of hideousness); I picked out the color for the hutch and need to get it up to my paint lady; and now that we have the rug rolled out, I can start looking at upholstery for the rocker.  Ever since we cleared out the guest bedroom and started moving in baby furniture, Mitzi stopped showing any interest in the room.  However, once we unrolled the new rug for the room, she laid down and made herself a spot...and then, eventually jumped up into the nasty rocker for a brief nap.  Seems our household is finally starting to adjust to the thought of bringing home baby!