Thirtyeight20: The Old Blog House

Taking shape

2012-03-05T05:55:00.000-08:00

The husband resumed work on the wall oven cabinet on Saturday. He felt bad about working on it a) because it took time away from playing with Johnnie, and b) she cries at the sound of power tools. Poor kid was born in the wrong house.

Regardless, he's doing a bang-up job and I'm excited because baking is the one culinary activity I can add to this marriage. We're still working on a design for the doors for the top and bottom sections to add some much-needed concealed storage.

So yeah, progress. If you don't find this exciting enough, you could always head over to my other blog and read my riveting essay on bras.

New blog, up and running!

2012-02-27T06:06:00.001-08:00

I mentioned here that I wanted to create a new blog for writing about things other than the house renovation. It has been made so.

If you are so inclined, please add cabin-fervor.blogspot.com to your readers and follow along on this latest greatest adventure. (It's still a work in progress, but what in my life isn't?)

If you are not into reading about my thoughts on semiotics and high chairs and not wearing deodorant, never fear. I will still be updating this blog with renovation news as it happens. (S was in London the past week, so nothing happened on the home front as Johnnie's hands aren't big enough to grasp a hammer yet.)

That is all for now. Thanks for reading!

Like a glove

2012-02-18T09:27:00.001-08:00

This is clearly a "during" shot, but we were thrilled to find that the oven fits nicely into its designated nook.

I've created a monster

2012-02-13T11:54:00.001-08:00

For three years, it seems all we've heard from friends and family is "How's the house coming?" It is infuriating mainly because they all know about this blog, which I created so my ears did not have to suffer those four words any more than necessary. My quest for fame and fortune aside, keeping people updated is the whole point of Thirtyeight20. Sadly, any given stranger is more likely to read the blog than the majority of my family members. (With a couple loyal and duly noted exceptions. Mom and dad. Jen. Airlia.) Truly, the vast majority of my readers are completely anonymous, which is both cool and creepy. Or maybe I know more of you than I'm aware of?

Anyway, I've gotten so tired of talking about the house that I have told more than one loved one so far that we finished the house a few months back, had a big party, and invited everyone we love best. (Sometimes my sense of humor does not play well with others.)

At any rate, this blog started as a commentary about our house and the things that happening to its walls and pipes and paint colors... In my general excitement to write about things of all sorts though, lately I think it's gotten too cluttered, or too watered down by other things. Baby things, mostly, but also all the other things I want to write about but hold back because I don't feel this is the right venue. It just feels... out of hand.

Here's what happened: S and I were talking the other day about how Maryland is our least favorite place we've lived since we got married, and we thought about why, and about how we can change that. Finishing the house was of course the biggest thing on the list of solutions, and separating ourselves from our house was another. Any time we take a Saturday to just relax (which has been often lately) we feel the guilt in the back of our minds... another workday wasted. When we go somewhere, "How's the house coming?" is the second question we hear. (The first, equally annoying, is "Is the baby sleeping through the night yet?") We don't feel that we've ever settled in, despite being closer to family, and made a niche for ourselves. Most of our closer friends live at least 45 minutes away in the city, and since we've both lived city lives for the past 10 years it's been harder than we expected to adjust to small town life and the different "culture" of the suburbs. Feeling so deeply interconnected with this house is really dragging us (mostly me) down.

Thus, having our house be the focus of the blog has started to feel upside down. I feel kind of guilty when I don't have house updates to post, and that is obviously dumb. Pressuring myself to work on the house, then pressuring myself to write about it with a certain measure of frequency, was just too much pressure that I don't need. This house has become a monster that needs to be put in its place.

So I made a decision. I'm going to start a new blog.

Never fear: Thirtyeight20 will still be here to document our renovation, and I will update it as often as we have renovation news to share. I didn't want to ditch it altogether because it really has been great fun, and I've made lots of great friends through this adventure--and some of you are so kindly invested in this project that I'm not about to shut it down on you! But not everyone is interested in my ramblings on topics other than the renovation, so simply changing the focus of Thirtyeight20 didn't seem to be the right answer.

My new blog, however, will be about whatever I want it to be about. I will link to renovation updates so you don't have to swap back and forth, but there will be that separation I've been craving. Perhaps it's more of a symbolic separation, but that's okay. I need to live my life outside of the house, so to speak, and allow myself the freedom to write about other things. While two blogs may seem like twice the pressure of one, it feels liberating and energizing to me. I feel like I'd painted myself into a corner, and now I'm free to move about.

It may be a few weeks before I'm up and running, but I'll be sure to let you know when the newest chapter begins. Until then, thanks for reading, random strangers! (And the select family members listed above.) Thanks for all your support!

Confessions

2012-02-03T09:16:00.000-08:00

1. I've stopped wearing deodorant. Now you've gone too far, you may say. But our "roughing it" lifestyle and fear of unnecessary chemicals aside, it's just too itchy. I've tried a million kinds, including the natural and fragrance free varieties (and with and without antiperspirant) but something about the concept just doesn't agree with my delicate armpit skin. I'll be perfectly honest: I'm a sweater. I sweat when I'm hot, when I'm cold, when I'm nervous, when I'm active and when I'm at rest, when it's Thursday, when I'm sleeping. Nixing deodorant was not a decision I took lightly. As it turns out, a combo of baby powder (not ideal but better than deodorant) and baking soda are working decently well for me. No one has complained yet, and I've asked my loved ones and coworkers to be completely honest about my odor situation, should one arise. I feel weird and subversive and I'm not totally smell-free, but it's really only perceptible if your nose is in the immediate vicinity of my armpit. But... three cheers for happy underarms!

2. We're coasting on house projects right now. I've done a couple things in Johnnie's room that I'll share eventually, but the focus has been on other things. Since we have a stove and room to work, we've been enjoying home cooked meals like crazy and choosing family time over renovation work. S did a little work on the wall oven structure, but it's far from being done. And that is okay. The down-time together has been so nice, and so needed. And the food has been so good! S is an awesome cook. We're eating things like quinoa, brussels sprouts, barley and spinach regularly instead of greasy takeout, so this work hiatus is making us healthier too.

3. I hit a rough patch in baby rearing this week. Now that Johnnie is 5 months old, almost 18 lbs. and very strong, it's long past the time to wean her off of nighttime swaddling. (Swaddling has been a necessity for her; even swaddled, she still wakes to eat at least once most nights.) We started swaddle-weaning last Friday night, and let's just say it was a problem. They say you should wean by swaddling just one arm for a few nights, then wrapping just the torso but not the arms so they still feel snuggled. I tried this for a couple nights, but Johnnie's problem doesn't seem to be the feeling of security that a swaddle gives her, but that it prevents her arms from flapping all over. The thing is, my little chickadee flaps her arms like a wild endurance tambourinist all day long. It's her go-to move when she's excited, and she spends 90% of the time totally jazzed up about life. Leaving her unswaddled is like giving free reign to a hummingbird. On Monday night we only got about 2 hours of sleep. The past few days have been a huge challenge to my confidence as a mom, and clear thinking is not my strong suit when I haven't gotten sleep.

The thing is, we knew she'd sleep better if we put her on her belly. The prospect was terrifying for me, considering everything one hears about the SIDS risks of belly sleeping. But I talked to a lot of friends, and they all eased my mind about it (a little). The risk drops dramatically right about the age she is now, and she already does nap on her belly, so I decided to try it last night... but only after shedding a few tears over the difficulty of the decision and talking about it to everyone who would listen. Amazingly, most experienced moms agreed I should do it.

So last night we said a prayer, put her on her belly and tried the dreaded "cry it out" method, which I was also very hesitant about. She cried for 36 minutes, with me going in to pat her and sing to her every few minutes. Amazingly, she'd stop and smile during the singing but would start crying again as soon as I'd stop, which kind of made me laugh and realize that there was she was okay -- just a bit angry and confused about the change. After she finally gave in (which happened while I was patting her for the third time) she slept for 8.5 hours straight, only waking to let out a single little squawk and change positions 2 or 3 times before immediately falling back to sleep. That's a record night of sleep for her.

Now, I was a basket case. I kept looking at the AngelCare monitor handset to see that the little digital pendulum was still swinging, indicating that she was breathing. S's phone beeped and vibrated once when he received an email, and I snapped awake and rushed into her room thinking it was the monitor letting out the warning beep that it hadn't detected movement. But she was fine. She opened one eye, rolled it at me for being such a worrier, then went back to sleep.

When she woke up and let out her hungry cry at 5am, she was smiling and as happy as a clam when I went to get her. This leads me to believe that 36 minutes of crying didn't harm her as much as I feared, and it gave me hope that this is going to be okay and that I just need to trust God and my instincts as a parent. Tonight we'll try again, and hopefully -- if she has another good run, Lord willing -- I'll be able to relax and sleep a little more myself, and then a little more the night after that. This is definitely a test of faith and fortitude, but becoming a parent has shown me that I'm tougher than I thought.

Free Music!

2012-01-26T06:22:00.000-08:00

Do you guys use NoiseTrade? You can legally download free music in exchange for giving the artist your email address and zip code. Though not mandatory, you are also encouraged to give them a tip (of any amount you choose) for sharing their music -- and they end up getting way more money this way than if you bought the songs from iTunes.

Love it.

One of my favorites, Madi Diaz, has a three-song sampler on NoiseTrade right now that I highly recommend you download! She's kind of folky and poppy, with a hint of twang now and then. (And she grew up in Lancaster PA, so she gets extra love points for that!) "Let's Go," which is on this sampler, has been a favorite the past few months.

I discovered Madi about 5 years ago I guess, during the short stint we lived in Boston and I listened to WERS (the indie station out of Emerson College) during my commute. She was still a student at Berklee College of Music and playing small shows with Matt Pond PA. Good stuff.

Incidentally, when I feel like discovering new music, I stream WERS to this day. Isn't the internet grand? WERS is how I originally discovered probably the majority of the artists I listen to.

Anyway, William Fitzsimmons, the Civil Wars and Rosie Thomas all have free music available on NoiseTrade right now as well. More great things than my ears can handle!

What are you listening to these days?

NOTE: I haven't been paid or perked by NoiseTrade, WERS or any of the artists mentioned.

Lazy Sunday afternoon

2012-01-22T18:05:00.000-08:00

Ah, these two. The only way I'd love this sight more is if they made some room for me.

This weekend we rearranged the entire upstairs. It was supposed to just be a quick swap of a few baby things (moving the pack 'n play out of Johnnie's room to bring in the crib) but it ended up being a big to-do involving dismantling the crib in the guest room and reassembling it in Johnnie's room, after switching everything else around to accommodate it. The guest bedroom door has still not been rehung, since we had to take it off the hinges. Babies... always more work than you anticipate!

No wonder they needed a nap this afternoon.

Right Quick

2012-01-06T06:05:00.000-08:00

Some things that are happening and/or have happened of late...

...in bullet format because I'm completely frazzled:

We have only had running water sporadically for the past 5 days. Flowing full force, however, is my desire to cry about it.
During one of the attempts to fix the water problem, S and my father-in-law installed a water filtration system. No more brown water! Totally drinkable and awesome! (If only it would come out of the faucet and into my cup when I turn on the tap...)
Fridge and baking table have been moved out of the living room and into the kitchen. Finally! The living room seems so much more inviting. Go figure. Pictures to come!
Our normally easygoing baby has been CRAZY the past 5 days. There has been unprecedented random squawking, night waking, drooling, and clinginess going on. Little teeth moving around under the gums + 2 shots at the doctor's office = misery for the whole family. She does have cute little purple and yellow band-aids on her chubby thighs though, which are adorably sad.
We got the go-ahead from the inspector to finish the dining room and entry, plus to insulate the master suite. Thank God! I couldn't care less about the dining room right now... but in order to be able to fully use the kitchen on a daily basis, the dang heat has to stop escaping out of the second floor! (So, while we have some things set up for cooking, that side of the house is still basically barricaded off to keep the heat in the finished areas. Until we insulate, that is.)
After we insulate and use up the materials we have for finishing the dining room and entry, no more major purchases for awhile. Whew. I won't even buy a candy bar from an adorable little leaguer raising money for uniforms outside the grocery store. (Okay, I might... but only one.)
I can't wait to read this. Aside from my trusty breastfeeding manual and the Very Hungry Caterpillar, I haven't read any books since our little screaming eaglet was born. I think this will be my first one. I was a dutiful English major who studied Derrida, Jane Austen and George Eliot and fell in love at cafés on College Hill! Also, I love Jeffrey Eugenides. This is a recipe for pleasurable reading, I do say.

OK. That's all I can muster for now. Happy Friday, one and all!

Kitchen -- the "Before" photos

2011-12-19T08:23:00.000-08:00

Not everyone who reads this blog has been fortunate (ahem) to have started from the beginning, so as the kitchen is unfolding, I wanted to pull out some photos from the archives to show you how things got started.

This is what the kitchen looked like when we bought the house. It was divided into two rooms. The log wall along the left side (which is now home to the sink) can give you a sense of the layout compared to what it looks like now.

That beam contraption in the center of this photo is literally holding up the extremely bowed floor above. (And only gravity was holding those timbers in place -- there wasn't a single lag holding anything together.)

The second photo shows the former entrance-slash-kitchen sink area. Yep, this was the first impression you got when entering the house.

And in this final photo, you can see how the fireplace used to be covered with plaster. (It's hiding behind that area with the 3 cabinets going across the top.) We had to have it rebuilt as the bricks were dried out and crumbling.

I can't believe people lived here. And I don't know what possessed us to buy this place... I guess it was a combination of the exposed log walls and the ridiculously low foreclosure price. After a total gut (down to the dirt beneath the floorboards) and a long three years, we're not done yet but we've come a long, long way.

Kitchen Update

2011-12-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah! There's some stuff happening and I like what I see.

Now, things are definitely in a state of flux; the placement of all the tables is just temporary and the rangetop is just sitting on top of an old IKEA dining table for now. But do I care? No I do not. Because the stove is officially open for business! Let's boil something!

Next steps include:

Cutting down and installing the steel backsplash (which we got for free!) behind the stove
Hooking up the pot filler faucet
Finding a temporary solution for the wall oven (until we build it in to the left of the stove)
Finishing the chinking between the logs.

Oh yeah, and finally moving the fridge and baking table out of the living room!

And clearly there's a lot to do in this corner... and up the stairs. We're not there yet, but we're well on our way.

My favorite things are the planked walls, the big window and the ceiling beams. Actually, I think I'm going to love most everything about it once it's done someday. For now, I'm just thrilled to be this far along and to have a STOVE THAT ACTUALLY WORKS! Until it was hooked up yesterday, we'd been stoveless for 3 years, 3 months and 13 days.

Post script: In case you are wondering, yes there's a distinct line running down the middle of the floor. Half of the floor had been covered by plastic and barrier paper for protection, and the other half had just been covered by the paper. The plastic held some moisture underneath it which darkened the concrete, so when all the protective layers were removed, that half was darker than the other. Over time, it should even out. But clearly we were distressed when we first made the discovery!

So, what do you think? Are you starting to see the vision come together?

DIY Sweater Pouf

2011-12-14T08:22:00.000-08:00

I did something from my To Do list! It was not a disaster and it only took about an hour. (Well, a month plus an hour.) I'll chalk it up as a success. Before I tell the story, here's the final product:

For a grand total of maybe $7, I'll take it. It makes for a nice footstool in front of the rocking chair in Johnnie's room.

Here was the plan: Go to Goodwill. Browse around for a couple discarded plum or, preferably, coral-hued sweaters (so I could make more than one if the first was a bust). Preferably in size XXXXXL so it would be big. Look for stripes or designs that are too ugly to wear, since that might actually work perfectly. (Our Goodwill here is a haven for the most generally unwearable clothes -- piece of cake.) Bring it home, wash it, cut it, stuff it, sew it and see what happens.

Here's what actually happened: I went to Goodwill. Johnnie took one whiff of the funky stale coffin smell and started crying as soon as we got inside. I whisked her back to the sweater section. She sneezed. I grabbed the first sweater that was remotely somewhat related to the color family that I was looking for. (It's neither purple nor orange... I guess you'd call it cranberry aka "good enough.") I dashed to the register and paid my $3, apologizing about my fussy baby to the girl behind the counter, who couldn't have been older than 17 or over 100 lbs. but said that her three-year-old always fusses when they shop. My mind was blown and my heart felt heavy. We had to get out of there.

Then I went home, and the sweater sat around for like two weeks until I located a needle, some heavy quilting thread and a pile of clothes bound for the donation bin. (And since I only had time to grab one sweater, I needed time to build up courage because I figured this was an all-or-nothing scenario since Goodwill + Johnnie = incompatible.) Finally I got my act together, put the baby down for a nap and got to work.

There might be better ways to do this, but in case you're interested my assembly process went like this:

1. Prepare the sweater. I chopped off the sweater's sleeves and cut straight across the top, lopping off the neck and shoulder seams so that it was sort of a big cylinder.

2. Sew the top of the sweater closed to form the bottom of the pouf. I just started gathering the cut edges toward the middle, as evenly as possible, and just sewing them together. (This would be the bottom, so I wasn't terribly worried that it was 100% perfect.)

3. Stuff your pouf. I used 2 old pairs of jeans (since they're heavier) on the very bottom. (Size 1, which I will almost certainly never fit into again.) Then I used a regular old IKEA down throw pillow insert that I had lying around. Then I rolled up some some t-shirts and tucked them around the edges to make sure the pouf would stay round and be firmer around the edges. You could probably do a more careful job than I did at making sure there are no lumps. Then I firmly tucked a fluffy fleece baby blanket down around the whole pile to sort of "unite" everything and keep it from shifting too much.

4. Close your pouf. I closed it by sewing opposite sides of the opening together, very evenly. The bottom of the sweater had a nice finished hem, so that's how that little detail at the top was achieved. Then I let it sit around untouched for another two weeks (procrastination is the key to success) before I finally bought a button from Amazon because it nicely completed my Super Saver Shipping order.

5. Make and attach your button. I used a 2.5" half ball cover button and two circles cut from the sweater's sleeve (to make a double layer of fabric so you couldn't see the metal button through the sweater's holes) to make mine. I must warn you though, sweaters are too thick for the button to work properly. (I improvised in the most hillbilly fashion. It involved the broken-off prong of a plastic fork...) You could just as easily use the lid from a jar or anything else that's round, sturdy and the proper size to cover the ugliness of where everything meets in the center. Sew the button to the top.

Voila! Pouf!

That's pretty much it. Obviously we all knew this project was not going to be all that special or technical, and I made it up as I went along. I do wish the center would indent more, but I have yet to come up with a good solution for that since the pouf is about 12 inches high, so it would be hard to thread anything down through the center of all the stuffing. If you have ideas, let me know. (But let's face it, for $7 and maybe an hour of work tops it does the job for Johnnie's room, so I'm not about to disassemble it and try again.)

Also it's funny how your perceptions and preferences can change when you have a baby... I wasn't going to go all girly in Johnnie's room. Now look at these colors! All that sugar and spice hurts my eyes, but I can't stop myself.

What do you think? Should I quit my day job and just make poufs all day? Anyone else making anything out of their tiny old jeans? Can you believe I have a daughter named Johnnie whose belongings are all pink?

Checking in

2011-12-12T06:44:00.000-08:00

I wasn't able to take photos this weekend, but here are some updates:

The kitchen is about 90% painted. I love it. (There is still some cutting in to do, and some trim.) Hopefully S will have some time this week to finish it up, but it's a busy time of year at his job so let's not pressure him too much.
I found a 5' steel prep table for our center island on craigslist for a pretty good deal, so S went and picked it up on Saturday. Ideally he'd like a longer one -- 6 or 7 feet -- since we have the space, but we can always sell this one if we find a bargain on the one he really wants.
We had to take down and return our range hood to have it replaced (doesn't it just figure?), as there was an issue with the electrical panel. However, the folks at Proline were super helpful and shipped a replacement almost immediately. Can't beat good customer service.
In addition to two big pendant lights over the center island, we have electricity all set up for a single pendant over the baking table (in front of the big front window.) Here are the two final contenders, the first very industrial and the other very rustic:

They're both about the same price, so I'm torn... The two lights that will hang over the workstation in the center of the room look a lot like this white one with the cage:

Source

Which light do you like better for our kitchen -- the industrial one from Barn Light Electric, or the rustic one from Junkyardlighting's etsy shop?

Progress

2011-12-05T05:59:00.000-08:00

The walls are primed! The range hood is up! (Well, almost... obviously this is an in-progress shot.)

And what's that? A faux ceiling beam made from original joists? Why, yes, it is! That S is a genius.

The priming bit of a painting project is always alarming to me, as the grayish-white color just zaps the life out of everything. I'm looking forward to seeing it covered with real paint. I'm actually sad that I probably won't be helping with that. Not only do I feel bad that S is working solo these days, I also kind of enjoy painting and the dramatic change you get to see in a few short hours. (Please don't ask me to help you paint though, unless we're like really close friends and I owe you money or something.)

Maybe the kitchen will be done enough in time to bake some Christmas cookies? Or at least make some Christmas mac and cheese? (I've had a craving for some old fashioned, gooey, horribly unhealthy Velveeta Shells 'n Cheese for eons, but have had no way to boil water for over three years now.)

Baby's First Christmas Gift

2011-12-01T17:55:00.000-08:00

There's a little baby in our house who goes ape crazy for The Very Hungry Caterpillar. More specifically, for the colorful butterfly that the caterpillar becomes at the end of the book. (Sorry, I guess I should've given you a little spoiler alert before I gave away the ending.)

I thought it was just coincidence the first couple times she stared intently at that page. Then a few weeks later, when she got a little more control of her appendages, she started lunging toward it and scratching at the page with her little babynails every time we read it. (See above.) Turns out our girl is just completely batty for that butterfly.

So for Christmas I'm buying her this 11x14 matted print from the Eric Carle Museum.

I am excited to hang it in her room somewhere she can see it. And stare at it like it holds the deepest secrets of the universe.

Side note: I'm so glad she seems to like books!

Milestones

2011-11-22T06:24:00.000-08:00

Johnnie is on fire lately. We're just a couple days shy of her 3 month birthday, and just this week she's really started grabbing her toys (and my hair) with conviction, had her first big girl submerged bath and slept through the night (10pm to 5am) not once but twice. In a row.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Several people told me 12 weeks was the magic number, and that is ringing true for us so far. Our little chickadee is growing up fast. And after two good nights of sleep, I'm starting to feel, and maybe even look, a little closer to my normal self.

This morning, as S was getting her dressed, he was making grunting noises at her and she was grunting right back at him with her honeysweet little voice. It was the cutest. Then we had a small wardrobe skiffle when he said she couldn't wear her Puma tracksuit with her hedgehog shoes because a puma would most certainly eat a hedgehog, spines and all, and therefore the outfit didn't match.

This is getting fun!

Another milestone happening at 3820: S is planning to paint the kitchen today if all goes well. All I can say about that right now is !!!!!!!!!!!!!

*
Note on safety: I don't let her sleep on her stomach at night or at all, unless I'm right next to her literally watching her breathe. She takes great naps on her belly and has demonstrated that she can move her head from side to side as she pleases, but I don't condone or recommend belly sleeping this young unless 100% supervised.

Red Door (Part II)

2011-11-18T15:21:00.000-08:00

I put two more coats of Crabby Apple on the front door (um, last month?) It looks much richer, much crabbier. Every time I pull in the driveway I smile at its appliciousness. I also installed the door handleset and deadbolt all by myself. It required drilling precise holes and meticulously chiseling out the notches for the strikeplates. Oh, and deciphering instructions whose diagrams were very, very tiny. Yes, for the record, I am awesome.

Veronica, if you are reading this, it was harder than the time I assembled your desk chair in lieu of your dad hiring a professional contractor.

Now, I recognize that this picture has a bad case of the terribles, but I do what I can. I can't help that it was very cold, and I hadn't eaten for hours and hours, and we had no food in the house, and I snapped it through the car window on my phone on my way to 7-11 to get a snack after S got home from work and relieved me from baby duty. I just can't help that my life is too glamorous for proper photography.

Clearly there are still some immediate issues to fix with this front door situation. Two in particular -- first, we need a light over the front door. (We'll probably put up another one of these $20 galvanized bad boys, like we have at the back door, and call it a day.) Second, we need to finish the chinking along the door frame. Those two things will really help.

Eventually we're going to build a roof and railings and such, but that's a project for another year. We're also going to get a kickplate for the bottom of the door since she's a bit of a heavy beast. They aren't expensive so maybe that will happen sooner rather than later. At this point I'd probably choose a nice hot shower, complete with leg shaving, over browsing the web for the right one. So you never know, do you?

Good morning!

2011-11-14T05:54:00.000-08:00

A big smile for your Monday!

Room with a View.

2011-11-13T12:25:00.000-08:00

We may not be going at breakneck speed on this renovation, but at least the kitchen window is looking good. It actually looks exactly how I hoped and imagined -- a rarity!

Sorry for the short posts... These days it's gotta be either shorties or none at all.

Scraping and stripping

2011-11-07T06:00:00.000-08:00

A fun task has begun: stripping the paint off the old kitchen stairs. There are so many layers! It goes from tan on top to cream, green, blue, burnt orange and finally a deep gray. There is also some wallpaper on some of the risers. I scraped off the loose chips already (after several tests for lead paint, which were all negative) and the next step is a chemical stripper.

At some point, someone had dropped several big dollops of plaster onto the stairs and painted right over them. I think we're the most considerate owners this house ever had -- and we practically ripped the whole thing down to start over.

To Do List

2011-11-03T07:42:00.001-07:00

Some items on my current To Do List are pure drudgery (file a huge mountain of mail (barf)), and others are really not so bad (hunt for a bargain on a range hood).

The remaining handful of things are just pure joy. That's because I've learned over the past couple years that if I don't add some selfishly fun things to my list every now and then, I'll never get around to doing the things I really love like reading a book, making a mobile for the baby, etc.

Whenever I tackle one of these "me" things, I tend to immerse myself in it completely. I'll read a book for 3 days straight, but slowly, relishing every word, until the final page is turned. S thinks I'm crazy, but chances are--whatever the project is--I'll never finish it unless I do it all at once. I think that's going to be especially challenging now that I have a needy little shadow, but I'm hoping when she gets bigger she'll enjoy some of these things too.

Here are some fun projects on my current To Do List. Who knows when I will get to all of them, but they're written down -- in ink -- so they've now become Requirements.

What are the fun things on your To Do List?

Sources, clockwise from top left:

Back to the grind

2011-11-02T13:49:00.000-07:00

With a few colleagues on April 5, observing the TOMS Shoes "Day Without Shoes."
I'm the 3rd one from the left, and was about 4 months pregnant! And cold. Very cold.

I wish I could live two lives -- one where I work full time and go to conferences and travel around Africa, and one where I stay at home and play with Johnnie and cook things that I grow in my (would-be) garden. I guess it's possible in theory to have it all, but in the past two weeks since returning to work I've discovered that, right now at least, all that's possible for me to have is small bits and pieces of it all.

My boss could not be more accommodating. I've started back just 3 days a week -- even in the midst of the hardcore fundraising season -- to help us get adjusted to this new routine. There is a quiet room set aside for me at work so I can pump twice a day so I can continue breastfeeding. I work close enough to my mother-in-law's house than I can feed Johnnie myself on my lunch break.

I'm busier, yet possibly more productive, than I've ever been. There is no time for procrastination in my life right now. I get up at 5:45am to feed Johnnie, then S whisks her off to his mother's house while I enjoy a few quiet minutes to shower and run out the door. My work day looks like this:

8:00am - Arrive at work
9:45am - Pump (30min)
12:00pm - Run over to my mother-in-law's to feed Johnnie (45min)
2:45pm - Pump (30min)
5:00pm - Leave work to pick up Johnnie

This schedule leaves little uninterrupted time for actual work during the day. I worry that my coworkers will judge me for taking so many breaks. (I'm sure formula feeding would be dramatically more convenient, but I firmly believe in the benefits of breastfeeding whenever possible.) Since it is the critical holiday fundraising season, this is the absolute busiest time of year and I have to pull my weight and then some. The day flies by.

When I get home, I feed Johnnie again and try to find something decent for dinner because I likely didn't have time to eat much throughout the day. I am still limited to what we can cook in a toaster oven, though I'm trying to get my act together enough to use the crock pot more often. My head hurts. In the evenings I wash bottles and pump parts, iron my clothes for the next day, feed Johnnie some more and throw some easy-to-eat snacks in my bag. Then I feed her again, trying to tank her up before bed so she'll sleep longer. We try to be in bed by 9:30 since Johnnie will wake us up at least once for about an hour around 2am so she can eat again. The past few nights she has woken up hungry twice, and I'm worried that we're regressing.

Rallying the troops at a work event in October. (Johnnie is in the stroller at left.)

It's not as hard to say goodbye to her in the mornings as I expected, which is good news since I've never been a morning person. The hard parts are lunchtime, when she smells me the moment I walk in the room and cries because she's hungry -- and as soon as she's done eating I have to hand her over and rush back to work. And it's hard when I pick her up in the evening, when she seems to have gotten even bigger since the morning and had a whole day of fun and activity that I wasn't a part of.

S and I try to find time to spend together, but usually one of us falls asleep or has to catch up on an email or switch the laundry when we have a free moment. Weekends are precious, though we have to use them to work on the house when the weather or other circumstances permit. I wonder if I'll ever find time to go for a run or, for that matter, lose the extra 11 pounds I'm still carrying.

If it sounds like I'm complaining, I guess I am. Fortunately, most days there's no time to dwell on it. But behind and beyond these words, written at the height of exhaustion, I am thankful to be employed, especially at a company I love, when the unemployment rate is so high. I am thankful that Johnnie spends her days with someone who loves her so much, and that I'm able to continue breastfeeding. I'm thankful--beyond thankful--for my incredibly understanding, patient and supportive husband. I am thankful for the sweet baby who is healthy and full of smiles for me every morning when we sing, "This is the day that the Lord has made."

There are many more positives than negatives in our life right now, and I'm sure things get easier with time, though I can't think far enough into the future to imagine it. I'm tired, and I miss S. But in the midst of it all, I am blessed.

This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!

It's amazing how much better the day goes when I start out singing that.

Lee L. Woodard Rocking Chair

2011-10-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

I've been spending a lot of time on craigslist the past few weeks, digging around for good deals on a few specific things we need (and let's face it, a few things I want) on my iPhone while nursing Johnnie. When I spotted this funky old rocking chair for $50, I knew it had to come home with us.

The base is a combination of iron, brass and wood, and the seat is vinyl and kind of feels like a soft old football you'd find tucked away in your high school gym's storage closet. I had no real idea whether it had value or a major manufacturer, but I knew the style was totally us. I justified it further by recalling that S had previously lamented the lack of a place for him to rock the baby, since the wicker rocker in Johnnie's room--which my my mom rocked me in as a baby--is rather delicate. Most importantly this thing is very comfortable.

Meant to be, I say.

The first thing I did when S brought it home--besides jump up and down--was to flip it over and check for a manufacturer, which turned out to be Lee L. Woodard, Inc. I learned that the company was known most for its wrought iron furniture and manufactured these chairs in the mid-20th century. (FYI Woodard still makes wrought iron furniture, though the Woodard family sold it off years ago.) This chair actually has a handwritten date on the tag, but the numbering doesn't make sense so I'm assuming they used an internal dating system or something. Or maybe I'm just sleep deprived?

Google revealed that a chair like this in exceptional condition could list for over $1,200. One in good to very good condition runs from about $125 to $600. Ours is extremely sturdy and has all its original parts in tact, but it has very worn upholstery and some small dings in the metal base, so the $50 price tag is bargain but probably not a total steal. When I looked though, I could really only find a handful for sale on the internet--which is the most exciting thing to me. That there aren't many out there in circulation makes it more of a fun find.

The roughed up upholstery does give it tons of the character I love, but I haven't ruled out the possibility of saving up my pennies and having it reupholstered (in leather) someday (years) down the road for even better comfort. I spotted this reupholstered version in a nursery on dreambookdesign.com that looked so cozy. The owners of the nursery run a vintage furniture store in Phoenix called Modern Manor, and they apparently bought their chair from another dealer for $50 and had it recovered in leather.

I still like the weathered old football look though, so maybe I'll leave it. Who knows. We have a lot of other things to do first anyway, so I don't even know why I brought it up. I have several years to waffle over the decision then second guess myself at the last minute... like I do.

So that's my most recent craigslist victory. Thank you, craigslist iPhone app with your pictures displayed right on the main page!

How about you guys? Scrounge up any cool treasures lately?

28

2011-10-26T05:42:00.000-07:00

I guess I am officially in my late twenties. This doesn't bother me at all. I never had any idea what my life would look like at this point, but I've never been ~~sleepier~~ happier.

...Despite the fact that on Monday I happened upon a bona fide hawk flying about in my laundry room (thanks to the lack of soffit that will hopefully be replaced this weekend), and when I got up this morning there was evidence of a mouse invasion all over the living room.

If we're going to have a hawk in the house, I hope he will at least help himself to our rodents.

Thus is the cycle of life, after all.

Final countdown

2011-10-18T11:26:00.001-07:00

I go back to work tomorrow. Today I just can't bring myself to put this baby down. In fact I'm posting this from my phone since I can't fit both her and the computer on my lap at the same time.

I love her.

2011-10-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

7 weeks old and learning how to use her face for smiling, smirking or whatever this expression is.

She kills me.

I go back to work on Wednesday, and that is really killing me. Eight weeks is just not long enough for maternity leave. I've never been apart from her for more than an hour or two. I'm nervous about the logistics of life, about pumping at work and about having enough gas in the tank for my job, my baby, my husband and my house -- the classic lament of a working mother, I suppose. My main comfort about these things is that I tend to be more productive when I have more on my plate, so maybe it will be easier than I think.

But that won't change the fact that I'm going to miss this girl like crazy during the day.

I love my job because it has meaning; the nonprofit I work for focuses on helping the poor, the sick and the marginalized all over the world. I decided to go back to work not only to have the income, but also (and mainly) because the work my organization does is bigger than I or my family. Through my job I get to show my daughter that we don't live to serve only ourselves, and that we should use our talents to love and serve others. It would be almost impossible for me to continue working if I didn't believe this wholeheartedly, or if I had a job that I felt wasn't helping people in a real way. I hope she will not resent me for this decision, but instead will develop a sense of love and compassion for those less fortunate than we are.

As far as I'm concerned, we're the three most fortunate people on the planet.

Red Door

2011-10-11T02:18:00.000-07:00

I think I'm in love...

The door desperately needed some TLC to better protect it from the elements, especially with another winter just around the corner, so we hopped to it over the weekend. It was a team effort -- my dad stained the side lights, S primed the door and I painted it. (I actually squeezed in a renovation-related project thanks to a great nap by Ms. Johnniegirl!) It needs another coat or two of paint, which will deepen the color just a little bit since we did not use tinted primer, but I was too excited to wait until it was completely finished to share it with you.

It's the same "Crabby Apple" red color from Sherwin Williams that the board and batten siding will be painted. We considered other colors for the door, including black (the runner-up), but we thought introducing another color would just be too much considering how many other things we have going on with the exterior. (The door itself was not in good enough shape to stain which would've been my first choice. However -- I'm LOVING this red, in case you didn't catch that earlier.)

And yes, in case you weren't around for the big decision-making process last year, the siding really is going to be painted that rich red color too. A bold choice, absolutely, but I think it was the correct and natural one. Keep in mind that we will be adding a porch at some point, so the door itself will not stand out quite as much but will still tie the log side into the board and batten side with the unifying red color. Make sense?

Also, did you notice that rugged framing around the door? S made it from original timbers from the house. I think that is really the icing on this red velvet delight.

Yep, totally butt-crazy in love with it from every angle. I could kiss it.

And I can just see a pretty green wreath hung on it this winter. Yes. Yes. If something can get me excited about winter, we've really nailed it.

I love when ideas like this turn out as we hoped -- it's very motivating to keep going, and it's encouraging that maybe all these ideas we've been stacking up for over 3 years will come together in the end after all.

At any rate, I think we're doing pretty well considering this is where we started:

What do you think?

Vitamin D

2011-10-10T12:41:00.000-07:00

I think it has rained for about 90% of Johnnie's life, so the past few days we've made it a point to go outside and soak up some sun while it lasts. It's been unseasonably warm for October, and we're not complaining.

Every baby needs a little sunshine on her toes.

I think all this rain and sunshine is making her grow though. My little baby has grown 2.5 inches since she was born 6 weeks ago. Someone make her stop! This is all going too fast. Summer's over, and Johnnie will be too big for her newborn clothes in just a matter of days.

Wood plank wall

2011-10-10T06:14:00.000-07:00

Lookie what my awesome husband got done on Saturday afternoon! He complained for about 3 seconds that the project was a little more time consuming than expected, but then I reminded him that all we have to do after the boards are up is to paint them! There's no series of mudding, taping and sanding involved as there would be with sheetrock. After just a couple hours, we have a wall that is almost completely done. That's the kind of progress we like!

I'm really pleased with our decision to use wood planking on the walls, because I think drywall would look weird and cheap next to the exposed log. As with our siding, we got the wood from an Amish mill near my hometown in Pennsylvania. It was a pricier decision of course (though buying from the Amish guy is much more affordable than Lowe's), but we wanted to do this right.

After a couple coats of primer, we plan to paint it an off-white a few shades lighter than the chinking between the logs. I want to see the walls primed first before we make any final decisions, but we might even go with the same subtle, creamy shade as our living room walls. (We decided that pure white, my original plan since the beginning, would be too stark.) I think we'll stain the windowsill to match the logs so it will break up that white wall a bit. We'll see.

Though these are vertical instead of horizontal, here's an example of off-white planks that I found on Pinterest, which helped to confirm that it might be a good alternative to pure white:

Source: themarionhousebook.com via Emily on Pinterest

In the meantime we have one wall down and two more to go before we're ready for paint. Then we install appliances! Wheeee!

Anyone have any suggestions for what our first meal in our new kitchen should be? I'm thinking osso buco -- one of S's specialties.

My beautiful laundrette

2011-10-05T12:40:00.000-07:00

What you are witnessing here is the first load of laundry that we've done at home in over 3 years! Incidentally it is also the first time since we got married that we've ever done laundry using our very own personal washer and dryer. No more shared apartment laundry rooms, no more rolls of quarters or laundromats or schlepping our baskets to mom and dad's every Sunday.

In other words, you are witnessing laundry history!

The first load was all Johnnie's stuff -- she's very messy, so she got first dibs since we can neither live (sleep) without her magic swaddle blanket (aka the Halo SleepSack) nor allow her to wear it when it's covered in spit-up.

Clearly the room is not finished. We just needed to get the bones in place and get the machines hooked up so we could keep up with the laundry now that we have an extra family member dirtying things all the time. This little laundry corner will actually be enclosed in its own closet eventually. The wood paneling -- which we'll paint white -- will extend to all the walls and ceiling. It will be sweet!

I also plan to put up some shelving and possibly even a countertop on top of the machines for a better surface for folding clothes. As with the rest of the house, these details will come later since we have a lot of other important basics to focus on. At this point, I'm just thrilled to finally have these babies out of the living room (where they sat for 9 months) and functioning. I don't mind that I have to step over a stack of hardwood flooring and paint cans to get to it.

Clean underwear for everyone tonight!

*

On an unrelated note: The title of this post is also a rather weird movie I had to watch in the Modern Culture and Media class I took my first semester of college. The class was a major waste of time overall (and I got a B! *frown*), though it was the first time I dipped my toes into Barthes, Derrida and all of those fun and fascinating theorists. Anyway, about this movie. Wearing stripey circus-tent-esque pants, our quirky professor used it to talk about voyeurism in film, and as a process of watching films. Seems like an appropriate subject to consider about blogging and reading blogs too, no?

A baby story

2011-10-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

I promised many of you that I'd give a full and detailed recap of our childbirth experience -- and here I am, six weeks later, finally getting around to writing it out. (In my defense, Johnniegirl has been keeping me pretty busy!) If you're not into this type of thing, sorry! Please just skip this post and check back later this week for a house update or two.

It was a crazy week leading up to Johnnie's arrival -- thanks to pneumonia S had a fever of 103 for over 5 days straight, and it finally broke about 24 hours before I went into labor. We had an earthquake the day before, and Hurricane Irene was headed toward us. It was fitting that our little girl should make a bold entrance into the world, and on her actual due date (according to the sonogram) no less. So without further ado, here's how it went down...

*

My first contraction woke me around 3:30am on August 24th. I’d been sleeping lightly, as my hips hurt at night throughout my pregnancy and my stomach was a little unsettled from the superhot buffalo wings I’d eaten for dinner, trying to induce labor. (Do I credit the wings for helping to start my contractions? I don’t really know, but I can’t say that I wouldn’t try it again the next time around!)

I woke S and told him I thought “it” might be happening. We both lay there in eager anticipation, waiting to see if what I had felt was in fact an actual contraction and whether I would feel it again. Twelve minutes later I felt the second one. We started getting excited. Five minutes after that I felt another. Then another came 3 minutes later. There was no pattern or consistency whatsoever so far, or so we thought.

I decided to take a shower (part of my as-natural-as-possible hypnobirthing plan) while S sat on the bathroom floor, timing every contraction to see if they’d develop into a regular pattern.

Another contraction came 3 minutes after that. And another just 3 minutes after that. And then another.

“Are you sure these are really contractions?” S asked me, surprised that they were so close together and becoming regular already. Our doctor, the nurse who taught our childbirth class and all the books we read said the beginning stages of labor could take hours and hours. I had packed magazines, DVDs and a pair of comfy slippers in my hospital bag to keep us occupied and relaxed throughout centimeters 1 to 8.

But I was definitely sure these were contractions, and they were already getting more and more intense. A few more came at 3 minute intervals. We were supposed to call the doctor when the contractions were 5 minutes apart, but it seemed we'd apparently skipped right over that part.

So around 4:30am, as I was getting out of the shower and starting to feel slightly alarmed, S called my doctor’s emergency cell number and explained the situation. He told us to head straight to the hospital, and to consider hurrying. The excitement was mounting. I had barely gotten my clothes on before I felt an intense, unmistakable downward pressure. Our baby girl was COMING, and soon!

“Okay, so, we really need to go NOW!” I shouted, kneeling on my hands and knees (the most comfortable position I could find) in the hallway. I'd been told countless timse that childbirth was nothing like the movies, but I felt like everything I was feeling and saying was coming straight from Father of the Bride II. I mean, we'd just had an earthquake, my husband was recovering from pneumonia and now I was barely going to make it to the hospital in time? It felt surreal as I fought the urge to push.

We made our way to the car in stages—from the top of the stairs to the couch, then from the couch to the driveway, and then finally into the car—as I had to stop and breathe through the mounting pressure of contractions that were suddenly almost on top of each other. We barely pulled out of the driveway when I started shaking all over. I remembered from our childbirth class that this was a sign of transitioning, but despite the pain/pressure/shaking I was hesitant to believe we were that far along already. I’d only been in labor for an hour and a half at most! Nevertheless, I told S that I thought it would be okay if he broke the speed limit a little. This baby was on a mission. He got that determined look in his eye that I know and trust so well.

We arrived at the hospital 15 minutes later. I made it through the first of the two sliding doors at the entrance to the birthing center, and that was all I could do – I could not go any further. (So much for walking the halls in my slippers!) A huge contraction hit, the biggest one yet, and I braced myself against the wall and stayed there. A nurse rushed toward us with a wheelchair and took me directly to a delivery room, skipping the normal triage and check-in process since I was clearly in full-blown labor. My doctor hadn’t arrived yet, so it was the on-call physician who confirmed that I was in fact 8 cm dilated and moving fast. Despite the growing intensity and pressure I was feeling, I was amazed -- if this was childbirth, I totally had this!

One of the principles of hypnobirthing is that childbirth doesn’t have to be painful and violent if you do the right breathing and visualizing, which you practice beforehand. Let it be noted that I read the book thoroughly and practiced for months. Maybe it’s because I didn’t have the benefit of attending actual hypnobirthing classes (they aren’t offered in our area), but all I can say is that the method worked for me for those first 8 easy centimeters; the rest of the experience was a whole other story. As soon as I put on the gown and got settled in the delivery room, the screaming started.

It suddenly felt like I was giving birth to my own pelvis, or pooping a football, or maybe both at once. My birth plan was to have as natural a labor as possible -- no drugs or interventions unless absolutely medically necessary -- but to be perfectly honest I may have given into the epidural at that point if there had been time. As it was though, the nurses barely had time to get the fetal monitor and my IV hooked up. I kept apologizing for being so loud, but the medical staff seemed okay with it – they were all amazed that it was going so quickly, especially since this was my first baby, and telling me that I was lucky. The doctor even said she didn’t blame me for the screaming because my contractions were so intense that each one was doing the work of four. That made me feel better (at least emotionally).

In less than 45 minutes I was dilated to the full 10 centimeters. Though the transitional phase didn’t take long in actual minutes, it felt like the clock was aligned to some other world's orbit. I’m not even sure who was in the room during that time. All I remember is my husband’s voice telling me over and over that our little girl would be with us soon, praying to God for strength and a nurse (whose name and face I wouldn’t recognize if my life depended on it) holding my right hand and helping me breathe. The rest is just periods of out-of-body screaming with short phases of trance-like rest and breathing in between. Though the supposed gentleness of hypnobirthing eluded me, I did manage to maintain those periods of recovery between contractions -- thanks hypnobirthing!

And then my water broke. (Warning: This part is not for the squeamish.) When I say my water “broke,” I mean it shot out like a hot cannonball and exploded on the doctor’s lap in one shot. Everyone in the room gasped and burst out laughing. S shouted, “WOW! That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen!” I felt that I maybe should be embarrassed, but I just felt instant relief from the intense pressure.

My actual doctor finally arrived just as it was time to push—the part of childbirth I had been most nervous about for all the years I'd known where babies come from. Hypnobirthing says you shouldn’t actually “push” but instead “breathe the baby down” with a special breathing technique that I practiced beforehand. This technique did not work in reality. However, pushing turned out to actually feel really satisfying, as I’d been feeling the urge almost since we arrived at the hospital.

Her head was visible after the first push, and I ended up pushing for 10 minutes total before the doctor laid her on my chest at 6:24am -- less than 3 hours after I felt that first contraction! Yes, I realize how incredibly fortunate I am! Though my experience may have been a little more intense or concentrated than some women's, I cannot imagine how exhausting and difficult it would be to labor and push for hours on end as some women do. Though it did not go completely as planned, I really would not change how our delivery happened.

(Side note -- and possible oversharing moment -- I credit the ease and quickness of pushing to the fact that my doctor administered a local anesthetic down there in advance, in case there would be any tearing. The tearing was almost negligible, thankfully, but the anesthetic prevented me from feeling the “sting” of the crowning so I was able to push without fear or hesitation. Thank you, modern medicine! But I don't know if this is standard procedure or not.)

Anyway, my determined little missile was here, and she was the most beautiful baby I’d ever seen. S and I were both crying as much as she was. She didn’t look bruised, swollen or coneheaded since her descent down the birth canal was so quick, and she was so healthy and thriving that the nurses wanted to give her a perfect 10 Apgar score. Even her angry and confused crying face was irresistibly cute. Example (taken during her first bath):

It sounds so cliche, but that moment was like a dream. It turned out to be true for me, what they say about how you home in on this new little squirming life and forget the pain immediately. I didn't feel like a million bucks, and the post-birth stuff wasn't exactly pleasant, but I didn't care either. We had done it! She was determined, I was tough, S was supportive, and we were finally all together and healthy. That's all that mattered. I no longer cared that I had embarrassed myself and frightened all the other patients in the ward with my banshee screams. It was the most amazing moment of my life, and despite the sleep deprivation and constant work of taking care of a newborn, the novelty of her presence still hasn't worn off yet.

After the doctor finished up and was leaving the room, he said, "You had the perfect pregnancy and birth. Same time next year?" HA HA HA, said my uterus. Then he added, "Just so you know, subsequent births usually go faster, so next time we will have to induce you a little early so you don't end up giving birth on the side of the road."

I guess that would be a completely different adventure. I guess we'll see someday. (Maybe.)

Kitchen Update: Sink!

2011-09-30T10:27:00.000-07:00

Something productive happened this week! The kitchen sink, which we bought for $279 at a salvage store in Baltimore, is officially installed (and functioning)! I am in love with this thing, and even little Johnnie is excited to take a bath in it. It's going to look even sexier once we give it a good cleaning.

We got the sweet curvy faucet/dishwasher's wand from the WEBstaurantStore. We also splurged a little and bought lever-operated waste valves for the drains. Instead of sticking your hand down in hot or dirty water to release the drain, you simply turn one of the black handles (see photo below) under the basins. Who doesn't want to escape the dreadful experience of touching all the soggy bits of food at the bottom of the sink?

My whole life, my least favorite chore in the entire world has been washing dishes -- you can confirm this with my parents if you like -- so this whole sink/faucet/drain setup should make washing dishes a little less miserable for me and possibly even make me feel a little fancy. (We do plan to have a dishwasher - meaning an appliance, not a person! -- eventually, but probably not right away.)

I know having a 7-foot industrial sink in their home is not everyone's taste, but clearly we have the space for it. This kitchen is really, luxuriously big! And I think the logs, wood plank walls and brick fireplace will add warmth to balance it all out.

There is still a lot to do, but it's not that much compared to where we started. S and his dad have been chipping away at a few other projects this week as well, so I have more updates to share soon. Yay!

A quirky quilt

2011-09-28T12:33:00.000-07:00

My good friend Carrie in Miami has an 18 month old son -- my adorable godson Gavin -- and she recently sent me a huge box of toys and baby miscellanea for Johnnie that Gavin has outgrown. When I called to thank her for the treasure trove of stuff, the very first thing she said was, "Did you look at the quilt?"

I had looked at it -- it was made from an array of blue fabric scraps and was a charming little thing. I was actually surprised she sent it to me, as I assumed a handmade item would have more sentimental value to her.

I said yes, I had looked at it, and I couldn't believe she sent me a quilt that was homemade especially for her son. "You obviously didn't flip it over..." she said. I hadn't, I admitted. She waited while I dug it out of the box and unfolded it to look at the reverse side...........

Oh. My. Gosh. There are no words, right? Though Carrie was touched that a friend's mom had taken the time to make a quilt for Gavin, she was a little too shy to ask what the heck the woman was thinking. Carrie's husband wasn't overly excited about letting his son lie on it, so she sent it to me -- though she wasn't sure we'd feel comfortable letting our daughter lie on it either. It's just universally inappropriate.

Though the nursery still really needs some decorating help, the quilt does not usually hang over the back of the rocking chair. It sits on a shelf in the cabinet, waiting for my next unsuspecting close friend or family member to give birth. Hehehe...

Ramblings

2011-09-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

I haven't been spending much time online lately, and you know what? I haven't really missed it much. Maybe there's a lesson there! But I miss you guys and I do want to keep you updated, so here are some little fun facts about what's happening around here.

- Contrary to the photo, Johnnie hates her adorable Jenny Lind bassinet. She'll only sleep for a few minutes in it, I think because it swings -- and even with the pin in place to prevent the swinging, it still jiggles a little bit which is probably not very relaxing. Good thing it was a totally free hand-me-down, because it would be so disappointing to spend a lot of money on a nice piece of baby furniture only to have to replace it with an ugly and surprisingly expensive Pack-n-Play (which we did). We also got this as a gift and she likes it pretty well. Not to heap even more "helpful" advice on all you pregnant ladies, but that's something to think about when preparing the nursery!

- We're going through the baby acne stage. I feel so bad that my crazy hormones are wreaking havoc on her beautiful skin, but apparently there's little you can do to prevent it. In trying to provide some relief for her, a silver lining was that we discovered California Baby Calendula Cream -- which does seem to be working very well, smells amazing (like just-brewed herbal tea) and is completely natural. I've started using it on my face too!

- Nothing very exciting or blog-worthy is happening at the house. We kind of took a project hiatus for the past 4 weeks. S has vowed to start going crazy on the kitchen again next week, but I don't blame him for just wanting to hang out with the baby in his free time. We need a kitchen though, so the show must go on.

- I've been collecting ideas. I spend about 8 hours a day feeding this sweet bottomless pit of a baby, so I have a lot of time to think. Most of my thoughts are the pure nonsense of a sleep-deprived lunatic, but some are passable. Our house is pretty much undecorated, since we've chosen to spend the bulk of our time, effort and money so far on getting the house functional/habitable. Understandably so. Sitting around staring at the empty walls for hours on end though has inspired some ideas that I hope to someday have some time to implement so we can make it a little homier around here. (Step 1 is to move the fridge out of the living room into the kitchen -- brilliant, no?)

Okay that's it for now. My brain power is expended, and this baby needs to be fed. Again. Already! Let's see what's waiting for me on the DVR...

Fundamentals

2011-09-08T08:11:00.000-07:00

In honor of International Literacy Day, here are my two favorite readers enjoying a bedtime story!

It's been SO rainy and floody here this week, so we've been stuck inside (which has been rather nice). In between feedings and changings, we've been spending a lot of time curled up on the couch. We can't make kitchen progress until the framing inspector comes back to check our updates anyway, so for now we're all about enjoying family time and letting everything else fade into the background as much as possible.

Johnnie seems to love being read to already, but she gets overcome with suspense over whether Mr. Knox will be able to say the silly tongue twisters!☺

Driveway progress

2011-09-06T08:31:00.000-07:00

It's not a functioning kitchen, but I'll take it. The driveway apron was poured late last week. Here are S and his dad smoothing it out.

For some reason the state made us make it enormous. All of the other driveways on our road are narrow little lanes, but we had to create this wide, grand entrance. It took 9 yards of concrete, which is a lot. But whatever. It's done, approved and ready for use. We plan to plant some trees and stuff around it eventually to make it a bit less in-your-face.

We need some more stone to finish the driveway project, but even now -- despite the muddy spots -- I love being able to drive right up to the front of the house. Even though we still primarily use the back door, it's still a much shorter walk than our old driveway which will soon be bulldozed and forgotten.

So this should get some award for the most boring post ever, but I typed it with one hand while holding Johnnie with the other. Priorities!

A smile for your weekend

2011-09-02T11:18:00.000-07:00

This is the mischievous grin of a dimpled baby who refuses to sleep in her bassinet (or any other baby-holding apparatus) at night. Good thing she's got the cutes, because it makes her parents' exhaustion much easier to handle.

HOUSE UPDATE: The framing inspector came and looked at the kitchen yesterday, and it did not go very well. He didn't seem to factor in that we're doing a renovation on a wonky old house, not a new build. We're in the process of working it out. Wish us luck.

This may sound cliche, but I can't believe it's Labor Day weekend already. We're going to keep it low-key, try to catch up on some rest and enjoy our sweet little chickadee while she's still small. This year is flying by, and I know her baby days will fly by too.

Enjoy your last weekend of summer!

Lately

2011-09-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

House projects have been set aside temporarily. The past week we've been spending all our time doing this:

Family and people from church have been dropping off more food than we could ever eat, so we haven't lamented our lack of kitchen just yet. Work will resume soon enough. For now, there are newborn kisses to be stolen.

Pneumonia, an Earthquake, Childbirth and a Hurricane

2011-08-29T10:12:00.000-07:00

What a week we had -- one of the most amazing and memorable weeks of my entire life! I am blessed beyond measure and overcome with gratitude to be tucked in safely at home with my two loves.

We welcomed our sweet baby girl Johnnie Keturah into the world at 6:24am on Wednesday, August 24. I'll share our delivery adventure in a little more detail later, but she was in my arms just under 3 hours after I had my first contraction. We almost didn't make it to the hospital in time! I guess the earthquake stirred her into action and broke S's fever just in time for him to join us in the delivery room.

At birth she was 6lb 15oz and 19 & 3/4 inches long. She has a dimple on each cheek when she smiles -- which just kill me -- and lots of dark hair. So far her favorite pastimes include sleeping on her dad's chest, making sweet squeaking noises and snuffling for snacks. Her favorite person is her mama (mostly for the snacks!) but her best friend is her daddy, who is excellent at kisses and giving baths and changing diapers.

Life is good! We're all doing well and are thanking God for our health and safety. But lest you think Miss Johnniecakes is all sugar and snuggles, I leave you with this:

She also has some feist in her. Love it. S got me a new camera as a baby gift, so rest assured there will be more photos of her coming your way as I continue experimenting with it. (The first image in this post was taken with the new camera.) Okay I'm off to feed her and stare at those beautiful dimples!

Natural Designs Studio

2011-08-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

My Aunt Sally (who did our wedding flowers and arrangements five years ago) recently re-launched the website for her business, Natural Designs, and I couldn't resist sharing it with you because I think some of you naturalists out there might really enjoy it. I've been told it's a work in progress, but I really like where it's going.

One of my dad's six multi-talented sisters, Aunt Sally is essentially the much-less-fussy Martha Stewart of the Amish community -- or maybe Martha if she were less of a brand and more of a "real" person. Her site is all about incorporating nature into your lifestyle through decorating and design, cooking, gathering, etc.

Her website has how-tos, recipes, tips and so many pretty photos of her work and of the Amish valley where she lives, just a few miles from where I grew up. I've clicked all through the site several times in the past week just enjoying the rustic beauty of it and the nostalgia for home.

"Rustic" (if that's the right word) is sort of a trend in decorating and especially floral design right now, but this is much more authentic and effortless than that. There's no gimmick behind it. The vast majority of her materials are grown and gathered in her own backyard -- no need to harp on about sustainability or buying organic or local, because that's just part of it.

In this way, Natural Designs is more reflective of a way of life than a particular style -- which is refreshing to me. I'm reading fewer and fewer blogs these days, because it seems so many bloggers are trying to be the next big thing and create a niche for themselves that doesn't seem to suit who they really are. I don't want to discourage people from pursuing their dreams and trying new things, because that's part of the great fun of having your very own blog, but it doesn't take long to separate the authenic from the inauthentic. And authenticity is so much more engaging, even if you're not quite sure why.

I don't know if I'm just looking at the site and the photos through the lens of a biased family member, but I think she has something special going on here. This is all so pretty, right? Side note: at Aunt Sally's suggestion we used a lot of corn leaves in our wedding, and to me they look like a natural version of grosgrain ribbon. (And -- bonus! --if you or a neighbor grow any corn, they're totally free. Love that.) More great ideas at http://www.naturaldesignsstudio.com/.

Oh, and I was not paid to write any of this -- though my aunt did knit us the most beautiful baby blanket you ever did see! (If this baby ever decides to arrive, I'm sure it will show up in a photo or two.)

Baby quilt and matching sweetness

2011-08-21T16:14:00.000-07:00

My mother-in-law finished the baby's quilt a few days ago, and I just love how it turned out! My initial color scheme was dark plum and coral, but JoAnn Fabrics didn't have much to choose from in plum when we went to buy fabrics. We picked a bunch of different shades of purple instead, and it turned out so happy-looking it just makes me smile.

It's extremely girly, but not in a typical baby-girl kind of way. It's fun and eclectic, which was what I was hoping for. I've always loved quilts, and it makes me want to make some myself.

My sister-in-law Jen wanted to make some pieces for the baby that matched, so she found the multi-colored floral fabric at her local JoAnn and made two sweet things that she gave me over the weekend. The first is a little tag blanket with lots of different soft ribbons for the chickadee to play with.

The second piece is a smaller blanket, with a handy ribbon loop for hanging, sized for a car seat or stroller. Both items she made are backed with organic, undyed flannel. (If you read my previous rant about the difficulty in finding undyed bedding, you'd know how happy this made me!)

Pretty much everything else in the baby's room is white, wood or otherwise neutral, so these pieces bring some crazy vibrant color to the room. I still need to hang some pictures, the curtain rod, the curtain and the mobile, but these details aren't all that urgent. I'll share the pictures once I get around to it.

I'm just a couple days away from my due date, and I'm feeling ready except that S is still very sick. He very rarely gets sick -- and never for this long, or to the point of missing any work -- so this has been a particularly tough week for him. (And for me too, because I have to keep my distance during a time when all this suspense is intensifying my need for hugs.) Though I'm ready for the baby to be here, I definitely don't want to go into labor until S is better. So I've been taking it as easy as possible, while I desperately want to be doing things. Like climbing up on stools to hang curtain rods in the baby's room.

In due time...

Poor S!

2011-08-19T06:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a slow week for house progress... We're waiting for one very pokey framing inspector to finally show up after a week of blowing us off, and I have one very sick husband at home who could barely get out of bed to take out the trash this morning. (And heaven knows I can barely get myself out of the house at this point.)

When I left this morning, he had a 103.2 fever was wearing his bright red union suit (complete with butt flap) that he usually wears only in the winter. And he was still shivering in our non-air-conditioned house. In August.

Feel better S! This is no way to spend your birthday, our anniversary or the last days before the baby comes!

5 Years

2011-08-17T06:12:00.000-07:00

This week we're celebrating our 5th anniversary. When I think about the jobs we've had, places we've lived and friends we've made in the past 5 years it feels so much longer! But thinking back to the day we tied the knot in my parents' barn, it seems like it couldn't possibly have been 5 years ago already. (I mean, am I not still perky and 22?)

Now, 5 years later, that dimpled groom and I are eagerly waiting for this little baby we made to get her tiny hiney moving so she can join the party any day now. (Yes, still pregnant over here!) Marriage isn't always easy--and I'm sure parenting will have many challenges too--but I got me a great husband and I'm so excited for our daughter, that lucky little lady who gets to have him as her dad.

Lots to celebrate, always!

Windows Update

2011-08-12T07:45:00.000-07:00

S and John (our carpenter friend) got the top windows put in above the kitchen last weekend. I don't have a lot to say about this right now... but for posterity's sake, here's a picture. There's still so much to do to the exterior before it all comes together, but this is another step closer.

The room above the kitchen, which is kind of a multipurpose master closet and laundry room, now has lots of light coming in, which pleases me thoroughly. I love natural light and would live in an all-glass house if we didn't have any neighbors.

In other news, I am still pregnant -- which is good news right now! Hopefully we can eke out another week before she comes. A functioning laundry room (the #1 thing I want to have done beforehand) is within very close view! Here's hoping for a productive weekend.

Have a good one you guys!

Big Day: Inspections

2011-08-09T06:12:00.000-07:00

Today is a pretty big behind-the-scenes day at 3820. We're having the final plumbing, electric and framing inspections done in the kitchen and laundry room. We're not necessarily expecting full approvals on everything, as that's a pretty unusual feat, but we're hoping to pass with flying colors so we can keep moving forward!

(Side note: I am drinking water [and peeing] like crazy because, allegedly, being super hydrated can keep labor from coming... We're SO close to having those few essential kitchen/laundry conveniences hooked up that I really want to hold off a little longer!)

The electrical company is also coming today to take down the overhead power line and connect our buried line to the house. Provided that we pass the electrical inspection, we should have electricity in the kitchen today! Sadly none of the outlets or light fixtures are hooked up yet, but probably by the weekend.

I will check back with an update when S lets me know the results of the inspections.

UPDATE: The plumbing inspection passed! However the electrical inspector never showed up (how rude!), and you can't get a framing inspection without approvals on both plumbing and electrical... so that one didn't happen either. Hopefully Thursday.

A Dresser, Redressed

2011-08-08T08:40:00.000-07:00

I finished my little craigslist dresser project over the weekend! It's already being put to good use by officially storing the baby's little clothes.

S did the dirty work by stripping and sanding it, taking off two really thick layers of old paint (cream on top and dark green underneath) and the original stain. He also replaced the bottoms of the two large drawers, as they were a bit warped. The top was much nicer than the rest of the dresser, which was rather banged up, so I decided to focus the most care on getting the top stain-ready and then I just puttied, primed and painted the rest. (Don't worry -- I wore a mask and gloves and used low-VOC products when possible!) The black iron drawer pulls are from Lowe's.

I'm pretty thrilled with how it turned out. Not bad for $50 (plus the cost of new drawer pulls). High five to S for the teamwork on this one. For reference, here is the original photo from craigslist. I was too lazy/busy/preoccupied to take one myself...

Let me add that I'm SO glad to have this done! The past couple days I've felt like I could go into labor at any moment (as of Thursday I was 1cm dilated and 70% effaced), and I really wanted to get this project finished beforehand because a) we really needed the storage, and b) I wasn't sure when I'd have time to finish it once the baby arrives. S has been trying to rein me in and keep me from over-exerting myself and bringing on labor too soon -- we need more time for the kitchen and laundry rooms! -- so taking frequent and lengthy breaks didn't help my progress very much.

Finishing it on time was a nice little victory -- the fact that I love the end result is the icing on the cake!

Concrete Evidence

2011-08-05T10:00:00.000-07:00

Our new kitchen floor is so shiny that it's quite hard to photograph. It's like a sleek and beautiful skating rink -- well, one with muddy footprints already tracked all over it. (Seriously -- who did that? I thought things were supposed to be getting more civilized around here. This is why we can't have nice things!)

Anyway, footprints notwithstanding, I am THRILLED. This was a major, major development at 3820. We have been anticipating this floor for, well, years... and it looks amazing. The variegated shades of gray are just what I hoped for. Unfortunately they don't show up well in these photos, but you can trust me on it. Or just come over and see for yourself! (Just give me enough notice to scrub the floor before you arrive. And bring your rollerskates!)

I think the floor makes it feel like a totally different room. Actually, I think the difference is that it now feels more like a room.

FYI the log wall still needs to be stained and chinked. The faux barn door S recently built (above) is actually covering the hole of the original cabin's original front door. (The house was reconfigured MANY times in the past 125-150 years.) The faux door will be stained to match the logs. We considered using log veneers to make it look as though that doorway were never there, but we don't have any veneers left and this is a piece of the house's history. We can always come back and close it off very easily if we change our minds someday.

The final electrical and plumbing inspections are scheduled for Tuesday. If we get the approvals, we can insulate and close up the walls and ceiling! Then it will really look (and function!) like a room. I can't wait to get all the appliances and lights and everything all hooked up. We probably won't completely "finish" the kitchen in the next few weeks, but it will at least have the basics up and running.

YES. YES YES YES. Big smiles all around!

A bit of heartbreak

2011-08-04T17:59:00.000-07:00

Before I show you the awesomeness that is our new kitchen floor, I have a somewhat sad renovation story to share. Remember, about a month ago, when I said the kitchen fireplace was my favorite part of the house, and that I couldn't wait to see it all cleaned up and repointed?

Famous last words. The brick man who built our front porch took one look at it and shook his head. He said the bricks were so dried out and the structure so poorly designed that it was only a matter of time before it would collapse. COLLAPSE! The wood mantel, which was built into the structure (and which I thought gave it great character), was a huge weak spot. My fireplace would have to be partially dismantled and rebuilt. Sadness.

So he came two Saturdays ago to rebuild it. All parties were aware of my feelings about the fireplace, so I expected that it would just be rebuilt in the original style. However, I wasn't there when he made all his recommendations... so when I saw the finished product I was NOT at ALL expecting to see this:

I cried. For like 45 minutes at least. (In my defense, I am pregnant.) I mean, it's a nice fireplace and all--I could see that. But it had no character, and it looked nothing at all like what was there before. And, because it had been my favorite feature of the house, I felt completely defeated about this whole renovation project and felt really resentful about the 3 years we've spent working on it--without a kitchen and many of the other normal things that most Americans have.

It was not my best moment as a renovator or a person. (Can I blame hormones?)

It took me a couple hours to come around to the fact that this house is only that -- a house. It's such an inconsequential thing! No one was hurt, nothing collapsed. In fact, we'd escaped a potentially dangerous future situation. I mean seriously -- a collapse would've been really, really bad. So I started feeling like a jerk for being so upset, and I decided to suck it up and move on.

And though I harbored some ill will against the brick man for a day or two for ruining my favorite part of the house, I learned later that the original fireplace design was truly not a good idea to try to duplicate because of its structural flaws. So, though it was drastically different from what we had, this was the best we could do with what we had to work with as a base structure. My beloved fireplace was unsafe, so we got a better solution (that I'm sure I will actually grow to like at some point).

So that's that. In the stages of grief, I've reached acceptance.

Pouring!

2011-08-03T06:02:00.000-07:00

I woke up at 6:30 this morning to some serious hammering, shouting and a weird combination of smells (cigarette smoke, gasoline and something else potentially dangerous). An engine roared. Men were swearing. This is what I saw out the 2nd floor window as I wandered/waddled sleepily into the hallway:

That, friends, is the very topmost part of a cement truck! Our gruff team of concrete dudes (seriously, I thought they were fighting when I heard all the shouting, but just that's their normal banter) got an early jump on things, and we're getting our super awesome burned kitchen floor poured today!

There is giddiness in my soul right now. Pics to come!

Oh yes we did

2011-08-02T11:39:00.000-07:00

Even though the comments about putting a metal roof on the kitchen bump-out generally were not very flattering or positive (even the ones that were in favor of it!), we did it anyway. Because it's our house, and no one can stop us! (Well, except God and the permit office.)

Because only a small handful of you comment, I really have no idea what the vast majority are thinking and what compels you to visit our little disaster every day. So generally I just throw posts out there and see what happens, because this is just a blog about an inconsequential house renovation. I'm not trying to make money, attract a certain number of readers, display my (imaginary) expertise or teach anyone anything. I'm just journaling what we're up to, and I think it's so fun that so many people have shown interest.

That said, I'm extremely grateful for everyone who reads along and especially for the loyal cheerleaders and friends I've made along the way, but on occasion I do wonder if I'd be better off if I didn't have this blog. I don't really care what strangers think when they drive by the house, and the same is generally true for the blog. However, I have caught myself a couple times wondering what the collective "you" would think if I made decision X vs. decision Y, and that felt extremely lame and immature -- not to mention limiting. In fact, I almost didn't post this update because I know some of you would quietly shake your heads in disapproval of our decision about the roof... which was a big, flashing warning light to me that this blog was enabling me to be stupid and shallow. Yuck!

Then I remembered that the reason I started this blog was to keep our families and friends updated on our progress since we're all a bit scattered, and I would hate to cut off that connection. I sometimes have thoughts of blogging about other things, random things -- more important things -- and just posting house updates along the way. More and more I think I'm leaning that direction. I guess we'll see.

The bottom line is that I appreciate you, and I appreciate your comments (both positive and negative, truly!) and I think blogging is fun. But I will never make a renovation decision or undertake a DIY project or scrounge up content just for the sake of having something to put on the blog. That's when the fun ends for me -- and heaven knows this house can be enough of a killjoy that I don't need self-induced blog angst to go with it. This blog is either going to be a fun outlet for me, or it's getting deleted!

So, with this renewed perspective, the blog lives another day!

And also we have a shiny metal roof to keep the rain from rotting our new kitchen. Victory!

Weekend Update

2011-08-01T12:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday! So this is what it looks like to be a couple days shy of "full term." While in theory I could deliver at any time, I could also very well keep growing for another 4 weeks. That could get pretty interesting in the general abdominal area. I'm not sure where my lungs would go as they're already pretty well balled up in the corner of my ribcage. I have very few articles of clothing that fit now, which is liberating in a way -- fewer options to waffle over each morning.

I wanted to completely finish the dresser project over the weekend, but that was wishful thinking... Among the many other things he got accomplished this weekend, S (what a guy!) did get it all stripped and sanded for me, so now it's my turn to don my mask/gloves/full body armor and get to work in the evenings. I'm looking forward to it, and I'm itching to have it crossed off the list.

What did I do instead of dresser rehab, you ask?

No Maryland summer is complete without an afternoon spent sitting around, picking crabs. It's a very messy and barbaric undertaking, but once you get that first taste of sweet backfin it's just so hard to stop! So when S's grandmother called and said she had a couple bushels of fresh ones, I dropped the hazmat suit and the paint can and picked up a plastic bib and mallet instead.

The weekend wasn't a total loss though, productivity-wise: the plumbing and radiant flooring tubing are finished in the kitchen! Everything is all set for our final concrete floor pour, which is supposed to happen sometime this week. Like I said, at least S got everything checked off his To Do list this weekend.

(In my defense, I did quite helpfully mow the lawn on the riding mower, which I'm sure raised some eyebrows among the neighbors, like much of what we do. But don't worry, my doctor said it's fine!)

How was your weekend?

Weekend Project

2011-07-29T07:40:00.000-07:00

My plan for the weekend is rehabbing this craigslist dresser. This is the actual crappy craigslist photo, as all of them seem to be. In real life, half the handles were missing. (I was going to replace them anyway.) I'm pretty excited to see the finished product, and that craigslist finally came through for me after numerous letdowns.

Hopefully I'll have the finished product to show you sometime next week! Time is ticking and we need a place to put away the baby's obscene amount of clothes. Seriously -- the amount of clothes she has so far will probably overflow this dresser, and I've personally only bought her one dress (at a thrift store at that!) Our family and friends have been amazingly sweet and generous.

My doctor is still anticipating a late August arrival, so we have a few more weekends left to get things done and enjoy our time as "just the two of us." Unreal! So we'll be soaking it up. Hope you all have a great weekend too!

Porch

2011-07-28T06:06:00.000-07:00

It still needs a roof and some railings (and a few other things) in order to be "finished," but the new brick porch is officially built and looking good! Most importantly, it's functional. I'm so happy that we won't have to lug our baby and all her gear through the yard, around the house and in the back door this winter. And if the driveway project gets done in time (there's a chance) we might even be able to bring her home from the hospital through the front door like a first class citizen!

Poor baby has no idea what she's in for... although she might have an inkling, because every time S puts his head up to my stomach she kicks him in the face. ☺

The top surface is concrete with exposed aggregate (a.k.a. pea stone embedded in the concrete). It's a bit dirty here but looks really nice overall. The other option would have been just plain concrete, which didn't seem to fit with the grand scheme.

The porch is not exactly what I had planned, but I'm happy to report that I like it a lot anyway. I really love when that happens, because things generally do not work out as I plan!

In further curb appeal news, S spent some time trimming out the front door since these photos were taken, and it's looking great. More on that later.

And in kitchen news, we passed our electrical inspection this week! (A happy surprise -- there were soooo many wires and circuits that we were certain something would be flagged!) S and his dad are finishing up the plumbing for the kitchen and laundry rooms, which will have to go through inspection in the next few days as well. The concrete man came last night to consult on the final kitchen floor pour, and we are on track to have our kitchen floor poured and finished by next Saturday. Then we start closing in walls, painting and hauling in appliances!

You didn't know we were capable of making such real progress, did you?

Mobilize

2011-07-25T06:09:00.000-07:00

I've been encouraged to take it a bit easy during the heat wave, so I took that opportunity to make something fun for a certain baby. Here's a preview:

I'll let you know when it's eventually hung. (Not sure when that will be.) It was rather time consuming and tedious with all the cutting and stringing, but it cost less than $5!

Metal Roof Sample

2011-07-20T07:04:00.000-07:00

S's dad knows some guy (who knows some guy?) who does specialty roofing projects. We wanted to put a metal roof on the whole house two years ago when the whole thing needed to be replaced, but we ended up going with architectural shingles instead because the quote for metal was almost double what we paid for the house itself. Ha!

Now we're wondering if it would look kind of cool to use metal on just the kitchen bump-out and front porch roofs. So this roofing guy, who had some left over from a commercial job, stopped by to hang a sample to see what we think.

These smaller roofs are sort of "accent" pieces of the house, which is why we're thinking it could work. Also the gutters/spouting we're installing would very likely match the tone of the metal roof, so that would tie it in further... and the garage has a metal roof as well.

What do you think? Do you think it would clash too much with the black architectural roof to have metal on the bump-out and front porch? Or would it add to the house's rustic charm?

Note: We haven't gotten the quote back on how much this would cost, so that is a factor too no matter how good or bad it looks!

Wide, white wood paneling

2011-07-13T06:17:00.000-07:00

I've been looking at pictures of wide wood paneling on Pinterest, and I am getting excited for what the kitchen walls will eventually look like.

Source: desiretoinspire.net via Emily on Pinterest

Source: decorpad.com via Lauren on Pinterest

Source: countryliving.com via Emily on Pinterest

We do plan to paint it white, which feels clean and bright. I especially love the contrast of the white paneling and stained wood beams in the last image, as we'll have some of that going on in the kitchen too.

White wood paneling seems to be a trend right now, but that doesn't particularly concern me. Our house is kind of unique, so I think it is exempt from certain kinds of judgments about what's popular. At a certain point you just have to go with what works, trendy or not.

Sneak Peek: Kitchen Walls

2011-07-11T13:58:00.000-07:00

We had to put up a small portion of actual wall in our kitchen so that the new electrical panel could be installed. We still have some electrical work to do so we aren't ready to close off the other walls, but here's a preview of what's to come:

This is the same wood we're using for the siding. We were going to rip the boards on the tablesaw and go with narrower planks, but honestly the wider board is easier and faster to install and amounts to less waste -- all good things at this point. The wider planks look a little more substantial and rustic too, which I think will play nicely off all of the steel and industrial items that will be filling this space.

Getting there.

(Sorry my posts aren't very creative or witty lately. I'm running ragged but am still excited to share things with you.)

Curb appeal progress.

2011-07-10T17:32:00.000-07:00

Notice anything different and/or fantastic about these pictures?

The board and batten siding started going up over the weekend on the bottom half of the kitchen. We had to get the siding at least started on the bottom half so our new electrical box can be installed. We are still waiting for the top floor windows to arrive, so we won't be able to finish putting up the siding until those are installed.

Also, the new brick front porch has also been in progress over the past week or so! I'll write a separate post once it's finished, which should be really soon. The brick itself is so beautiful -- it matches the chimneys.

The porch is a bit narrower than I originally wanted (due to budget constraints), but now that it's up I actually think it's going to look great once it's all finished.

The roof is not a priority at this point, but here's the newest rough Sketchup of the plan.The roof will break up the lines a bit and give the entrance some extra dimension. And yes, there will be railings -- we just haven't gotten that far yet.

We are getting closer! The summer is flying by though. Only 4-7 weeks left of this crazy pace before the baby arrives! We're so excited and exhausted already. ☺

Wired

2011-07-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

This is a first: electrical wires in the kitchen! I took this photo early on Monday when the wiring process had just begun. By the end of the day, these two little wires had spawned quite an impressive network of tentacles all through the ceiling and walls. All of the electric for this side of the house (including the master suite, laundry room, dining room, entry and half bath) is coming through the kitchen so it is quite a job. Hopefully it will be finished this weekend.

With all of the recent progress and updates to be excited about, I continue to love this fireplace the most. It really is my favorite thing about the house. I can't wait until I can come into the kitchen at night and enjoy it by the glow of our own electric lights.

Clean and Purge

2011-07-05T05:54:00.000-07:00

I did something on Saturday that I've been dreading for a long time. A LONG TIME. I sifted through dozens of boxes, still mostly packed from our move three years ago, deciding what to keep and toss. The bulk of our currently unused belongings (dishes, board games, sewing supplies, Christmas decorations) were just thrown into the master suite because we had nowhere else to store things while the rest of the house was under construction. Then we started adding tools and building materials that we weren't using onto the pile too for lack of another place to put them. It got to be quite a disaster in there as more and more things were added over time.

This above photo of the master bedroom shows only half of the mess, I'm embarrassed to say. There were more boxes piled in the master bath (located to the right of this photo) as well. This cleaning project was long overdue anyway, but now that we're working on that side of the house it was imperative that we have room to actually work instead of tripping over things.

We sold an entire pickup truck full of leftover hardwood flooring on Craigslist over the weekend, and clearing that out helped greatly. And after much sorting and sifting and sweeping on Saturday, the same room now looks like this:

The floor is visible! I still have some organizing and donating to do among what's left, but at least we know everything in the handful of remaining boxes is worth something to someone.

I was so exhausted from the day's efforts that I took an epic 3 hour nap the next afternoon and S forbade me from doing anything resembling work for almost the entire remainder of the weekend. But it felt good to get rid of some worthless things that we were hanging onto for no reason (how many scented candles does one family need when burning them makes us sneeze?), as well as to finally find some of the super useful things that we've been missing.

Interestingly, the "other" side of the house is starting to feel like it's actually part of our home now even though nothing is finished over there yet. I like that feeling. It's about time!

Bumped

2011-07-01T03:52:00.000-07:00

Yeah, bump-out -- looking good! It's officially done and crossed off the list. (I took these pictures at 8:30pm last night -- I was just too excited with the progress to wait until the light was better, hence the romantic dusky mood lighting in these photos.)

It only took S and the carpenter a day and a half to do this project, but I think it made a HUGE difference in the overall look of the house. The kitchen section was a little too narrow to be aesthetically pleasing, and I think the bumpout gives it a better proportion in comparison to the log section. Don't you think?

Before anyone rains on my parade by pointing out that the kitchen window is not centered, I want to point out that it is centered in reference to the actual kitchen space. (Remember, the bump-out is for looks only and doesn't add any square footage to the kitchen itself.) The two windows that are going to be installed on the second floor will be centered in the space directly above the kitchen window, adding the much-needed balance and symmetry between the top to bottom floors. I think it's going to look really good.

And -- side note -- look at that grass growing in the front yard! It's patchy in some places, but overall we're thrilled with it.

Also, in case you didn't notice in the photos above, the slightly scary porch hole was filled with concrete yesterday -- meaning the porch will be constructed really soon. We really won't know what to do with ourselves when we have a porch. We may drive right past the house, not recognizing it as ours.

And now, for a little comparison, here is what the house looked like just a few weeks ago:

And here's what it looked like in 2008 -- odd, overgrown and maybe even a little creepy...

Things had to get a LOT worse before they got better, but I really think we're on the upswing now. We still have a long way to go, especially with landscaping, but it feels good to be rounding this curve and going in the right direction again.

What an exciting time for our decrepit old house. Lots of productive things going on after a long lull in activity. We hope to have a lot more to report after the long weekend. Wish us luck -- we're just 8 weeks out from my due date!

Happy 4th of July, friends! How will you be celebrating?

Why I'll never sleep soundly again

2011-06-30T03:21:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night, S and I had a really nice dinner with friends. There was good food, good conversation and all around good times. We've been really busy lately with house projects, work and baby preparation, so it was wonderful to have a truly relaxing evening free of care. Little did we know what awaited us back home...

As I was brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed, feeling quite happy, I heard S calling me from the living room.

"Emma! You need to see this!" So I quickly rinsed, put on my glasses and rushed downstairs to find him standing there, looking repulsed and holding a shoe in each hand. He was leaning over (but not too closely) the largest spider I'd ever seen outside the zoo. Its thorax seemed to fill the room. It was a standoff -- man vs. beast.

"I think it might be pregnant," S said. Indeed, it definitely looked overly round and lethargic -- which I could easily relate to now since entering my 8th month of pregnancy. But I hoped he was wrong.

We debated for a minute about what to do. Vacuum it up? Trap it and let it go? Bug spray? Squish it and hope for the best? We didn't want any more of its terrifying kind hanging around the house, so options one and two were insufficient. Bug spray seemed a little toxic for a home with a baby on the way. So we decided, though we're both squeamish around spiders, that squishing it seemed to be the best option.

"I'm going to need backup in case I miss and it starts to run away!" S said, getting ready to throw one of his shoes at the beast. So I also grabbed two more shoes, cringing and closing one eye as he took aim. His throw missed by so little that the shoe landed on its side just an inch from the spider, who surprisingly barely moved. Again, the fear that it was pregnant washed over us, but neither of us wanted to get close enough for a more thorough examination.

"Maybe you should just tip the shoe over on top of it and squish it gently so it doesn't splat everywhere," I suggested. It seemed cowardly but reasonable--a typical "me" approach--so we got a length of PVC pipe that we had lying around, and S carefully tipped over the shoe...

Then the nightmare really got started. BABY SPIDERS by the MILLION started emerging from underneath the shoe in every direction. Waves of them. Hoards of them! It was a veritable plague of miniature spiders that just kept coming and coming. Apparently the big spider was not pregnant but was actually carrying her babies on her back -- explaining her sluggishness and her enormous hairy-looking hindquarters. S and I looked at each other in terror for one hot second before we both went native and started smashing them with both shoe-bearing hands, all the while screaming and gagging.

We had to get them ALL so that there'd be no chance that any of them would grow up and repeat this dreadful cycle, so we flailed and squashed and gagged for what felt like an eternity. And then, when the shameful massacre was over, we had to clean up all the carcasses, which was almost just as awful as the killing part. The whole ordeal was barbaric and traumatizing. I thought I was going to go into premature labor. S had to take a shower. We inspected every inch of our bedroom that night, making sure that nothing was lurking anywhere, and even though we found nothing we both still had trouble falling asleep.

Even now, days later, I still have that creepy-crawly feeling on my skin as I sit on the couch and type this. I'm really trying to forget that it happened. In fact, let's never talk about it again.

PS - Pardon the Google image... I did not have my wits about me enough to fish out my camera to record the actual events. But this is a picture of a wolf spider with babies on its back -- pretty much exactly what we had.

Holes

2011-06-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

Anyone ever seen that movie? Personally, I think it's Shia LaBeouf's finest work. Anyway, a lot of digging has taken place at the house recently, resulting in a lot of holes and ditches everywhere -- but that's actually a good thing. It means progress!

We've decided to bury our electrical lines along the side of the house. The electric company came today and approved the plan. Inspections are nerve wracking but always feel good when you get the thumbs up to keep moving forward! Unfortunately, our poor neighbor is likely not too thrilled about the mess this ditch is making in both our yards, but hopefully it'll be cleaned up soon and we can all move on.

Though not quite as impressive as the ditch in its length, this grave-like hole is a bit more extreme in that it is deeper and has rebar sticking out of it. After it's filled with concrete, this will be the foundation for the front porch. Oh what a happy day that will be, when we have a porch! I will be thrilled if we don't have to lug the baby and all her accessories all the way around the house and up the treacherous back stairs (our normal route) on a daily basis. I will also be thrilled when this spiky rebar is covered up -- it makes me nervous.

So this post is not very glamorous, but it's all part of the process. If I stuck to exciting "before and after" posts, I'd never have anything to post! But you have to admit, things are getting ever-so-slightly more exciting around here lately, right?

Bump it out

2011-06-26T17:58:00.000-07:00

When we tore out the old kitchen nearly 3 years ago -- not that it was functional or anything -- we discovered that only half the room had any foundation under it. The front half of the room was built (circa 1900) directly on the dirt, which meant we had to pour a new foundation in order to create the necessary support to hold up that entire section of the house. No wonder we had a saggy roof and warped floorboards before!

To make a long, 3-year story short, a byproduct of this key foundational work was a 12" concrete ledge just jutting out of the house, looking awkward -- necessary for the foundation, but odd and ugly. The solution: a bump-out. (Is that the technical term? I do not know.) This bump-out is purely an aesthetic choice, as the inner wall is load bearing. In other words, we will not actually gain any additional space in the kitchen with this little addition, but we will gain some extra curb appeal. Heaven knows we need that! We do have a carpenter working with us on this project, since we're in a rush and it would take us 10 times as long to do it ourselves. Case in point: he and S working together got all of this done so far in a single day.

Important to note: the front kitchen window will be moved from the inner wall to the outer wall, creating a nice deep sill where I plan to grow some herbs and plants to green up the kitchen. Right now the window is just in place to keep out wildlife out. We can't move the window or put the sheathing on the outside of the bump-out until the electrical box is moved -- hopefully this week -- and that will really change the look of things. Can't wait.

I've updated the Sketchup to reflect the current plan. Hopefully this will help you see the vision a little clearer.

One of the neighbors just stopped by and said it's "actually starting to look like a real house now." Now that is high praise. Progress is bliss! We still need a porch but that's also in progress and coming soon, Lord willing. (Please!)

We got some other stuff done this weekend too, amazingly enough. It was quite the productive two days, thanks to my hardworking hubby who is slaving away trying to get things done before the baby arrives. Love him.

How was your weekend? Fun? Productive? Little of both?

Waiting.

2011-06-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

We're ready for ya, little baby!

Well not really, but we sure are excited. Her little stuffed monster arrived yesterday from etsy seller althea1326. It's the softest, cutest darn thing you ever did see.

With just over 2 months to go until my due date, I am officially freaking out. There is so much to do at the house and at work before she arrives. I know that not all of it will get done. It's hard to admit, but it's the truth.

It's time to resort to my favorite college survival technique: selective slacking. One cannot possibly read 500 pages every night or finish renovating half a house in 2 months or successfully cross off everything on one's "To Do" list at work without exploding. So it's time to identify what absolutely must get done and what can wait, breathe deeply and try not to worry about the rest.

It's easier said than done, of course. Sometimes I think we must be crazy to take on so much, but then I realize that's the perfectionist in me talking. No situation will ever be perfect, but I can enjoy it and make the most of it just the same. I don't want to spend the last few weeks of my pregnancy freaking out. A.) It's supposed to be a happy, exciting time, and B.) Excessive worrying can cause early labor, and we really don't want that.

That said, I really hope we have nice weather tomorrow and the carpenters can come to work on the kitchen framing. That part is so close to being finished, and we really need to keep moving forward. I guess we'll just wait and see what happens, and then we'll go with the flow.

Just my style.

2011-06-21T06:33:00.000-07:00

So far I have mostly used my Pinterest account to save and organize ideas for the nursery. I really haven't (yet!) gotten as addicted to the whole Pinterest phenomenon as some people are, so yesterday I noticed that I had only two little rooms on my "Favorite Spaces" pinboard.

Yet those two rooms were so similar that I couldn't help but learn something about myself.

This first room I've had in my inspiration file for about 3 years now, and I've posted it on here before. Oh, how I wish I had an enclosed patio or little garden porch with windows all over the place! I would want it to look just like this. I also wish I knew the name of that perfect shade of grey-blue-green on the trim.

Image via sandboxstudio

The second room on the pinboard I saw on Design*Sponge just last week. It's a little more modern and more pensive than the one above, but do you notice the distinct similarities?

Room by Jessica Helgerson

White wood panelling, natural wood, rustic accents and a hint of turquoise. And giant glass demijohns everywhere! One for every surface! (I think I am actually one of the few people with a "shelter" blog that doesn't have a huge demijohn sitting somewhere in my house -- looks like I have something new to look for on craigslist if I'm going to fit in!)

Sometimes I think my taste is a bit scattered and that I need to hone it a little... but it looks like it might be a bit more developed than I realized! As our house develops I am interested to see how this look materializes.

What about you guys? Are you on Pinterest? Do you have a distinct look that you keep coming back to? Do you have a giant glass demijohn?

Baby's First Cyclops

2011-06-20T03:01:00.000-07:00

I wanted to get our baby girl a soft little friend to squeeze, but a teddy bear seemed a bit cliche. S and I found this little monster on etsy and couldn't help ourselves. It should be arriving this week. (The toy, not the baby, we hope!) We can't wait to teach her that monsters say rawr! but are not to be feared.

Happy belated Father's Day to all the dads out there. I was lucky to get to have breakfast with mine yesterday! Love you, dad!

Giveaway Winner and Special Discount!

2011-06-17T05:34:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Marie, commenter #1, whose name was selected by random.org as the winner of the photo print giveaway from Paripassu. (Marie, email me at thirtyeight20 [at] gmail.com and I'll put you in touch with Georgia!)

But wait everyone -- THERE'S MORE! Georgia is offering all my readers 10% off any item from her just-updated shop with this coupon code: PARIPASSUSPRING11.

I love-love-love this new photo she just added:

So head over to her etsy shop and check out her new photos! Thanks to everyone who entered, and extra thanks to dear Georgia for her generosity!

Losing Battles

2011-06-15T17:51:00.000-07:00

You can't win 'em all. In the spirit of keeping it real, I like to cover both the victories and defeats of our life at 3820 on this blog. So today I just wanted to share some of the small battles I've been losing lately...

1. Me vs. stink bugs. If you don't live in a stink bug-infested area, count yourself lucky. (That's one lurking in the bottom left of the picture above -- staring at our family photos in mocking.) Admittedly they aren't quite as pestilent as they were earlier this spring, but they're still very gross. They smell when you kill them and are attracted to their own scent... if one creeps into your laundry basket and you wash him, all your clothes will have to be washed again because of the permeating smell (and the brown staining)... they fly ungracefully in awkward circles and divebomb you at any given opportunity (including/especially when you're sleeping)... and they are destroying crops in our area like crazy. And also they happen to love congregating en masse all over our house. We are constantly sucking up their big, creepy armored bodies in the vacuum. Yuck.

2. Me vs. pollen. Though I never really suffered from seasonal allergies as a kid, I am definitely allergic to grass pollen now, no doubt about it. Mowing the grass (on the riding mower) is one of the few major contributions to the household upkeep that I'm still able to make in my delicate state, and I actually find it to be relaxing and therapeutic. That is, until I start sneezing and my eyes start burning and my throat starts hurting. I am a disaster! My doctor has advised against taking any allergy medications right now, so I've become close friends with saline nasal spray and a family pack of Kleenex. My coworkers have even stopped saying "bless you" when I sneeze, because that's just too many blessings for one person.

3. Me vs. craigslist. I have had 3 perfect dressers slip through my fingers in the past two weeks. I am like a hungry dresser predator, pouncing on these postings the instant I see them, but they keep getting away! One woman even said hers was mine for the taking (for just $25!) and that I should call her to arrange pickup... but she didn't answer the 3 times we called that day. The next day I finally got ahold of her, and she said she didn't get the calls because her phone was on vibrate and she sold it to someone else in the meantime. Gah! So close! I guess I might need to pursue a Plan B, because of my next losing battle...

4. Me vs. time. My due date is just 10 weeks away! We are so excited to meet our little girl face to face and to nibble on her tiny toes, but I am starting to get antsy about everything there is to do before that day comes. Frankly, it's not the actual nursery/parenting preparation that is keeping me up at night -- it's kitchen and work projects that are weighing heavily on my mind! I have three BIG projects that need to be buttoned up at work before I go on maternity leave, each with a million details that my pregnant brain is having a hard time corralling. The recent progress on the kitchen has been very encouraging, but there's still so much left to do and at this stage we are reliant upon other people's schedules to move forward.

I hope I'm not ruining anyone's day with my complaining about such petty little things, but after getting all giddy and excited over grass growing earlier this week I figured I needed to balance things out a bit!

So how are you guys doing? Are you dealing with stink bugs? Scoring (or losing) any great treasures on craigslist? Tell me about your little battles!

PS - There's one more day to enter the photo print giveaway from Paripassu!!! Get your hurry on!

Priming

2011-06-14T05:50:00.000-07:00

Another in-progress project happening at 3820: priming the front and back of the wood siding for the kitchen section. (That would be that whole dingy gray section that really looks like it could use some new siding.) FYI S is handling all this by himself, because it is some smelly stuff. This wood will be turned into board and batten, just like what you see on the back of the house.

In just a few weeks, after some additional structural work and new window installation, we will be ready to have this siding put up. The whole house, aside from the exposed log, will then be painted a rich barn red. (We're using Sherwin Williams Crabby Apple. Great name, right?)

I am beyond excited about the siding -- once it's up, the house will finally start making sense and looking unified. (I say that a lot, don't I?) Even if we don't get around to painting it right away (though I really hope we do!), it will still have a big impact. We've gone through many stages of wonk, and the siding will be proof to the neighborhood that we're finally coming out of it.

We've actually been pretty fortunate that our neighbors haven't complained too much over the past 2.5 years through all of this. I don't think all neighborhoods would be quite this understanding. They do ask questions and some are even occasionally quite helpful, though we can tell most of them think we're nuts.

I've had some readers who have left comments suggesting that they think we're nuts too, but they don't tend to stick around very long. Thanks to all of you who have been loyal and cheered us on throughout this process! Crazy people need friends too.

PS - I have a sweet photo print giveaway happening on the blog all this week! Sign up now!

Sprouting!

2011-06-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

We saw our first sprouts of grass in our front yard on Friday afternoon, just shy of two weeks after planting the seed. It was incredibly hot here last week, so we were afraid the seeds would scorch and not come up at all. We were diligent about watering though, especially on the hottest 100+ degree days, and it paid off!

Watching grass grow may be generally believed to be one of life's most tedious activities, but I have to admit we were pretty excited to see those first shoots coming up! We may have even stood there for a good 15 minutes admiring it.

So it looks like we are 2-for-2 with Pennington Smart Seed (and Pennington Lawn Starter Fertilizer), so now we will definitely plan to use it for other parts of the yard that still need seeding. I love it when things work out on the first try, as planned!

PS - If you haven't yet, don't forget to sign up for the photo print giveaway from Paripassu! You have until Friday morning!

Giveaway! Photo print from Paripassu

2011-06-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry! This giveaway is now closed for entry.

Some people are just born to be creative, and my good friend Georgia is one of them. In college, when I was swiping cookies from the dining hall to save for late night snacks, Georgia was baking banana bread (from scratch of course) in the dorm kitchen. She was the only person I knew who had a sewing machine in her dorm room--and who made her own gorgeous dress for the annual gala. Her creative juices just couldn't be stopped!

Now all grown up and living in Shanghai, Georgia is still constantly creating -- and now she's moved into photography and recently opened an Etsy shop called Paripassu. And she has kindly offered to give away 1 photo print to a lucky random reader of this little blog!!!

I love homegrown, handmade art -- it's so much more interesting and meaningful and artful than any mass produced piece you can buy at any retailer.

Anyway, there are lots more photos where this came from, and the winner will get to choose their favorite shot. (I will hook you up with Georgia, and she will show you her collection and entertain you with embarrassing stories about me while you make your decision.)

So without further ado, leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a beautiful photo print from Paripassu. And just for fun, tell me about your favorite art, craft or other outlet that gets your creative juices flowing!

Oh, and you can get an extra entry if you share this giveaway on your blog. (Just leave an extra comment letting me know.)

I will select a winner using random.org and announce next Friday, June 17--so be sure to come back to see if you've won!

UPDATE: International entries are welcomed!

Note: Though there are many benefits to being friends with Georgia, I was not paid or perked in any way to host this giveaway.

Grow baby grow!

2011-06-07T17:14:00.000-07:00

With 11 weeks to go, turning to the side is no longer the best way for me to squeeze through tight spaces. These days I face things head-on.

I have been feeling the nesting instinct a little stronger lately, so we bought a crib on Sunday afternoon. (We didn't buy the mattress yet though, so we're still fairly useless as parents.) We'll pull the rest of the major things together over the coming weeks.

I am trying to be very calm and easygoing about everything we need to finish by the time the baby arrives. Here's what I see as the absolute necessities:

Buy the baby basics (crib/bedding, car seat, diapers, etc.) Take care of smaller details as needed.
Have electric and heating/cooling ducts installed in kitchen/laundry rooms
Get the washer and dryer installed and functioning

I had started making the list much longer -- including pouring the final concrete kitchen floor, installing the kitchen sink, etc. -- but I really think we can live without the kitchen for a little while longer if we must. The goal is to have it functioning (though probably not 100% finished) by the baby's arrival, but I'm not going to freak out if it's not.

I don't even care if the laundry room is insulated or has real walls at this point -- just please, Lord, let me have a washing machine!

10 years ago

2011-06-07T06:17:00.000-07:00

I graduated from high school 10 years ago this week! For a moment the other day I wondered where the time went, but in the past 10 years I graduated from college, got married, lived in 5 different states, bought a wreck of a house and am getting ready to have a baby... I feel that's plenty of significant events for 10 years, though it seemed to go by so quickly. Anyway I thought you might like to see what my bedroom looked like back then.

Yes, that is a "10 Things I Hate About You" poster... and a million other things. (You could have a really fun game of "I Spy" with this photo.) This whole arrangement kind of makes my head hurt now, but it still makes me happy to look at and remember the significance behind certain items. Amazingly, I remember what most of these items are, though there are a few things that I can't quite pinpoint.

The best part is, to this day I still like neutral furniture and walls, collages and bright colors -- just maybe not to this extent. Thanks to Jen from the Block who inspired me to dig out this photo!

What were you guys doing 10 years ago? Whose picture was on your high school bedroom wall?

Kitchen Ceiling

2011-06-06T06:11:00.000-07:00

Our favorite carpenters came to work on the kitchen over the weekend and made some exciting (to us) progress. (While we try to do as much of the dirty renovation work as we can ourselves, we trust structural work to experts.) Though it doesn't look like much yet, they've already gotten so much done over the course of just 3 weekends and we're rolling along. You can see above how they've sistered new supports next to the original studs in the walls for added strength. The entire house is finally, officially stable and safe from collapse -- what more could a homeowner ask for?

This weekend they installed the new ceiling joists/beams and the subfloor for the upstairs master closet/laundry room, located directly above the kitchen. So we officially have a ceiling in our kitchen and a floor for the master closet! How novel for us!

The stairs in the back corner (shown in the two pictures above) are original to the room, but we had to do some impromptu reconfiguring and compromising when they were reinstalled on Saturday -- and obviously they're still not completely in yet. (For new readers, both the kitchen floor and ceiling had to be totally replaced due to an inadequate foundation and 100+ years of settling and warping, hence why the stairs had to change.) We plan to build an enclosed pantry underneath them, though my original plan now has to be scrapped and redone due to the last-minute reconfiguration. It's a good thing I'm a go-with-the-flow kind of person, because nothing ever really goes according to plan.

Here's the front corner of the room. The white PVC pipe coming out of the center of the floor will be a floor drain. Click here to see a basic floor plan for the kitchen so you can see where we're planning to put things. Now that all of the proportions are set, it's time to revisit that floor plan and make some final decisions about the electricity, ductwork and details like the design for the wall oven cabinet. (Dad, let's talk!)

I know it's still looking rough in there, and these late-evening pictures don't help, but I like to share things as they happen and this is so exciting for us. Last night we ventured up to the second floor and started envisioning our washer and dryer (which are still sitting in boxes in the living room) all set up, and talking about how we'll configure our closet that is far too awesomely big for people like us who don't really have a lot of clothes. The possibility of having our own functioning kitchen and laundry room this summer is almost unfathomable at this point! I forget what it's like to have these conveniences.

S and I also got a ton of yard work done over the weekend, and I gathered a box full of clothes and books to donate in my endless quest to declutter. We ended the weekend feeling very good about everything that was accomplished. We have less than12 more weeks until our little chickadee is scheduled to arrive, so I hope we can keep up this pace until then!

Happy Monday, everyone! What did you accomplish this weekend?

Thirtyeight20 on re-nest

2011-06-03T10:05:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the anonymous commenter who let me know that our little renovation project was mentioned today on re-nest, the "green homes" blog by Apartment Therapy. We are listed as one of the "10 Whole House Renovations You Can Follow Along."

If you're a new visitor via re-nest, welcome! Feel free to poke around and get acquainted, and let me know if you have any questions. Things are getting pretty exciting now that we're finally on the path to having a real kitchen after nearly 3 years of toaster oven meals, so I hope you'll stick around to see how it turns out! (I know I'm curious!)

It's always nice to be noticed for all of the blood, sweat and tears we're spilling over here. Newlywoodwards -- with whom I enjoy commiserating on the regular -- is on the list too, so be sure you head over and check out their progress. (They work much faster than we do!)

Thanks for the love, re-nest!

PS - I'll hopefully have some new kitchen progress to show next week. We've got a lot of hopes for a productive weekend! (Which for me will mostly involve pointing and bossing everyone else around since I'm on the injured list. ☺)

The Measure: Beautiful clothes, and a very small world

2011-06-01T18:05:00.000-07:00

Theseus D-ring clasp dress. Photos by Stephanie Edreich Piscitelli, Bellini Portraits.

This is a little off topic, but while poking around the web for little girl clothes I stumbled across this amazing Etsy shop called The Measure. I loved that the clothes were feminine (there are ruffles!) but that they also used upcycled materials like used men's dress shirts and classic, sometimes utilitarian fabrics. The clothes are whimsical and feminine, but they are also simple and have a hint of the rustic and tomboyish -- totally my style! (And hopefully my little girl's too.)

As a kid I hated the bubble sleeves on my dresses and the giant bows my mom put in my hair -- but here I am, admiring ruffled petticoats (probably my favorite item in the shop) and picturing them on my own daughter. Maybe just for special occasions...

White petticoat with off-white ruffles. Photos by Allison Cottrill Photography.

After swooning over everything in this shop, something magical happened when I started digging a little deeper. I discovered that I shared a suite with the shop owner Kiki Fluhr for a semester in college!!! (We lived in Hegeman Hall, if you're a fellow Brunonian.) Can you believe that? What an incredibly small world! I had seen some of her other adorable creations under a different Etsy shop, but I hadn't known about this newer, more sophisticated line she recently launched. I love that her constant knitting back in college ended up turning into such a neat business.

Philostrate Upcycled Sundress. Photos by Stephanie Edreich Piscitelli, Bellini Portraits.

I may have to send her some of S's discarded dress shirts and have a sundress or two made out of them. Seriously adorable.

Although this post is not renovation related, it does teach two important lessons: First, this world is much smaller than you think. Second, a ruffled petticoat makes every outfit infinitely more adorable.

Wanted: Old Dresser

2011-06-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

I've been scouring Craigslist for a dresser for the baby's room (though she doesn't really have any clothes yet) that I can use for storage and as a changing table while she's small. I saw this room on Ohdeedoh the other day and really loved the painted dresser (with that sleepy cat resting on it!)

This is exactly the kind of piece I'm looking for, but so far I haven't had any luck in finding it. The main criteria are that it a) has nice lines and is not clunky or heavy, and b) is beat up enough to require painting instead of refinishing. I don't want to ruin a nice piece of furniture by painting it and screwing hooks into the side. Basically I like the idea of a beat-up painted piece because I remember not being very contientious about my furniture as a little kid...

According to the dresser's rehabber -- L. of L to the Third -- it was just sitting in a friend's basement and had scars all over it from being used as a sawing board. So it was free! (What luck!) Here are the before and after views, from L.'s blog:

So far I haven't seen anything on Craigslist that is in the kind of condition that would warrant patching and painting like this instead of sanding and refinishing. Most of what I see are heavy oak or maple pieces that are extremely clunky and imposing. But I'm not giving up! At least not for a few more weeks, when the need for a place to put things becomes a little more urgent.

If anyone happens to see anything like this in your travels, please let me know! In the meantime, I should probably stop thinking about getting stuff ready for the baby and actually start doing it, huh?

Gravel

2011-05-31T13:19:00.000-07:00

Two loads of stones were delivered this morning to start filling in the new driveway, which is also a critical part of our erosion plan. We're still working on the circular shape and the arm extending down to the garage, but we're getting there.

For newer readers, I should explain that the original driveway approached the house from the side/rear and cut a deep rut straight across the front yard down into the garage -- not the most effective way to create curb appeal (or access the house's entrance). Over the course of two years, tons (literally) of dirt have been moved around, the deep rut was filled in and a new driveway began to take shape.

It doesn't look like much right now and it's not the most exciting thing to blog about, but we feel it's a definite improvement and a sign of progress. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Home improvement is not always (or often) exciting and glamorous!

But crossing off the dirty, boring jobs means you're one step closer to getting to the fun stuff. And that feels good.

Grow baby grow!

2011-05-30T19:24:00.000-07:00

We had a pretty productive weekend around here. One of the biggest accomplishments was planting grass in the front yard! (Well, about two-thirds of the front yard... but let's not split hairs.) In addition to making the front yard look a million times better, planting grass is a requirement by the permit office because our property feeds into a tiny stream that feeds into the Chesapeake Bay. This is serious business, and implementing an erosion plan is critical.

We are using Pennington Smart Seed (along with Pennington Lawn Starter Fertilizer) and hoping for some good, fast-growing results. It's been scorching hot, so we're being diligent about watering until it starts taking off. Our first attempt at planting grass a year and a half ago in our side yard went amazingly well, so we're hoping for repeat results this time around.

As you can see below, we are almost finished carving out the new circular driveway. (There is still some finessing to do in some places, but it's progress.) We actually don't plan to have a whole front yard full of grass as a long-term solution -- in fact, we'd love to do some serious planting and landscaping in the next year or two so that there will be less mowing, more variety of plant life and more curb appeal. But like I said, we are required to implement an erosion plan ASAP, and grass is a much more affordable solution than other plants/trees at this point.

What else was productive about our weekend? Well, sadly the carpenters did not come to work on the kitchen due to the holiday, but we did drive up to Pennsylvania on Saturday to pick up the wood for the board and batten siding for the kitchen section. (We buy it from an Amish guy who mills and kiln dries it for us at a really good price.)

I am so excited that in just a few weeks, when the kitchen framing is done, we will be ready for siding! Between that and grass, the front view of the house will really start looking like something. And once we paint the siding Crabby Apple Red (maybe this summer, maybe not), look out!

I've really got an itch to get things done around the house, and the more we get done the more I feel motivated to keep going. I wish I had another day off to knock some things off the list! How about you? What did you do over the holiday weekend?

Curb Appeal (?)

2011-05-26T19:11:00.000-07:00

We have some big decisions to make ASAP about the front of the house. It was difficult to finalize some aspects of the plan before we got to this point for a variety of reasons that I will not go into for the sake of everyone's sanity. (Suffice it to say, occasionally I still wonder if this house was a huge mistake.)

But here we are -- mulling over some of the biggest things that will affect the curb appeal. Screw this up, and we should've just left the house in its original funky state. The pressure is on.

Here's the latest contender for the plan, which I drew rather roughly with Sketchup. For the record, Sketchup was not as intuitive for me as I hoped, so please squint a little and be forgiving. We're looking at the overall picture here.

I wish we had the budget to consult an architect, but alas we're on our own. Most of my creative energy is going toward baby growing, so I don't have anything left in the tank right now to fully describe everything that's going on in this picture. But I will address any questions in the comments section, so ask away!

Check back in a few days for the final plan... until then I will taking it easy and praying that we make the right decisions. After all this, we'd rather not have a terribly awkward looking house. It'll never be totally without quirks and oddities, but neither will any of us I guess!

Nursery Planning.

2011-05-25T17:10:00.000-07:00

As a new parent-to-be, it's mandatory that you endure a lot of guilt and scare tactics from outside sources -- often in the name of marketing. (And it seems like the guilt trips only get compound once you become an actual parent.) Everyone likes to tell horror stories, and everyone wants to sell you something to make your baby safer, smarter and healthier. Though I've been doing lots of research, I've been trying not to get caught up in all the mad preparation and gadgetry that seem to accompany the having of a baby.

I have a theory, and we'll see if I'm right in a few months, that it doesn't have to be as dramatic/traumatic of an event as some make it out to be. I know it's going to be really hard at times, but it's also a completely natural thing. Instead of flipping our lives upside down in anticipation, I'm hoping we can do our best to be chill and relaxed and take it as it comes. Famous last words? Maybe.

As I've mentioned, this is one reason why I don't plan on buying a ton of things or completely decking out the nursery right now, before we really know what we're in for. Another is that our renovation project has every room in the house in an uproar, and things are constantly shifting around. (We still have a washer, dryer, fridge and cooking area in the living room.) That said, I do want to have a little nook tucked away in the guest room that is calm and peaceful for all of us.

Here's what I have on my idea arsenal right now for creating a sweet space without spending a lot:

Clockwise from the top left:

Large basket for stashing toys and books. We'll think about long-term storage (shelves, etc.) once we get settled in a little bit. This Round Seagrass Basket is $40 at Target.
Pale dusty pink curtains with a little ruffle. I'm hoping to make our own for much cheaper, but these are $42-$49 each at Urban Outfitters. (Honestly if I don't get around to hanging curtains at all, so be it. We already have panels to block out light.)
Small piece of art. Botanical genetics print, free from Vintage Printable. (I plan to have it printed for a few bucks at Kinko's since it's a little larger than a standard printer can handle.)
Paper mobile. This Frazier & Wing one is $75 at allmodern, but I hope to DIY a similar one with cardstock and an embroidery hoop.
Simple crib. This is the $70 Sniglar from IKEA. No bells or whistles but still safe, and I'm finding that I prefer the soothing, unfinished wood look over white. Unfortunately, the mattress will probably cost twice as much as the crib itself. S's mom is making a quilt somewhat similar to the one pictured.
Soft rug. The Erslev from IKEA is just $30 and is 100% cotton, reversible and easy to clean. (And cheap to replace if needed.) This purchase will probably wait until after the dirtiest parts of the renovation are over though -- hopefully by the time she's ready to play on the floor!
A few cute toys. I've resolved to not let too much baby clutter overtake the house. If it's not valuable or particularly lovable, we're passing it on once she's done with it. I've always loved hedgehogs, and this wood teether ($12 from littlesaplingtoys on etsy) is just irresistible.
White wicker rocker. I've looked high and low for the rocking chair of my dreams, but I can't find anything similar. My mom offered the white wicker one she used when I was a baby, and I'm thinking of jumping on that offer even though S is not a wicker fan. (The fact that it's free and does not require reupholstering might be the final selling factor in this scenario.)

So these are the cheap little decorative touches and useful things I'm looking at for her room so far, to get us started. I still haven't found a dresser for her tiny clothes, but that's on the list as well and I'm prowling Craigslist and thrift stores. Of course nothing is written in stone (since I haven't actually bought a single thing yet) so who knows where we'll end up by the time she arrives. But since this is decor-related, I thought some of you might enjoy the peek into my thoughts.

Now I'm going to go take a nap, because I haven't been able to sleep all week despite being exhausted. I guess it's preparation for the fun to come!

Welcoming Committee

2011-05-23T14:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the neighbor's sheep hopped the fence to welcome us home from vacation. We don't mind at all -- we don't have any nice gardens or landscaping for them to destroy quite yet.

I actually have been feeling a little bummed that I didn't make the effort to plant a vegetable garden this year, despite the dangers of it having it be eaten by semi-wild animals. We have tons of space, and I am wasting it. But between the renovation and the pregnancy and my work schedule, I (very realistically) didn't think I could manage it this year since I'm a beginner.

Then yesterday our neighbor Tracy (not the sheep owning neighbor, but one with a big garden and chickens that lay lovely eggs) asked if we'd thought about homegrown organic baby food. She's been doing some research, and she is thinking of starting up a little baby food business. She didn't name any prices yet or go into any specifics, but I am very intrigued. They are such a nice family, and if I can't grow my own produce quite yet I'd much rather support Tracy than Gerber's -- while getting a better, fresher product.

I guess we'll see if she decides to embark on this endeavor -- and if she doesn't, maybe she'll help me plant my own garden next year. After buying a quart of fresh local strawberries (and devouring most of them) yesterday, I am all jazzed up again about locally grown produce. It just tastes so much better, making us much more likely to eat it. I even really liked the chicken and rice soup that S made last night, heavily spiked with brussels sprouts (!) from the local market. I would gladly eat the proper number of servings of vegetables every day if they all tasted that exceptionally delicious -- in other words, the way they are supposed to!

Spring Break

2011-05-22T14:16:00.000-07:00

For those of you who haven't abandoned this blog yet due to my negligence, I'm back! Thanks to all who expressed concern -- all is well with us. We were just relaxing in Aruba for the past week, enjoying our last vacation before the baby arrives this summer. I had planned to check in during the trip to say hello, but I ended up completely unplugging from my phone and computer. I missed you all, but it was wonderful.

Unfortunately my camera is temporarily out of commission -- the battery no longer recharges -- so these two photos from S's iphone are pretty much all I have from the trip. (Above: early morning coffee on the balcony overlooking the ocean.)

Above is our favorite spot on the island -- the natural pool. The ocean waves break over a rock wall, leaving a deep, enclosed pool full of beautiful tropical fish. When the sun is fully shining, the water in the pool is clear Caribbean blue. While we were there, two local guys pulled a smallish squid from the pool and were planning to take it home for dinner.

You can only get there via horse or Jeep, and it's quite a rough and circuitous offroading experience. It was an arduous trek in my delicate state, but I squatted on the seat and used my legs for shock absorption -- and we survived just fine! I went only once (I didn't want to press my luck a second time) but S and the guys went back another day. If we could have, S and I would've spent the majority of the vacation here, or exploring the offroading trails and the undeveloped side of the island. But sitting by the pool, swimming in the ocean and devouring books was a pretty fantastic time too!

Admittedly though, it's nice to be home. Updates on the house coming soon. I hope you all had a great week -- did I miss anything?

Overflowing

2011-05-10T07:04:00.000-07:00

With all of the heavy spring rainstorms (and even a couple tornadoes), spring has been rather tumultuous here. Fortunately we were spared the worst of it; but still, the past two weeks we've been dealing with swollen streams, fallen trees, power outages and flooded streets. The permit office also tried to tell us our driveway project is taking too long -- but how can we finish it when the ground is a swamp and the rain keeps pouring down?

The past couple days have been gorgeous though -- the kind of spring days I wish would last all year. (But unfortunately we usually get only a handful of them.) As the water recedes and the road to the nearest outpost becomes passable again, my belly continues to grow and overflow.

Being pregnant hasn't been nearly as difficult as I expected, but finding clothes that fit is a challenge. To this point I've been wearing my regular pants, unbuttoned with a belly band holding them up, but soon maternity pants will be my only option. Shopping for maternity clothes has been a bit demoralizing for me; I can't find anything that fits right, that is supportive enough, that doesn't gape at the armholes or pull at the buttons. Maternity clothes are supposed to be designed for all of this crazy growing stuff, but apparently my proportions are just all wrong. I really hope I can find a swimsuit in time for our upcoming trip to the beach. The maternity tankinis my sweet friend lent me are already too small!

Spring just cannot contain all that's going on right now.

Baby Quilt Fabrics

2011-05-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

Remember this quilt I loved from etsy?

Just as I was getting up the nerve to splurge for it (I'm a bit of a cheapskate), S's mom asked what I was going to do for the nursery bedding -- and she volunteered to make a quilt if I wanted one! (I had debated about asking her or another talented family member, but decided it was a lot to ask.) I'm so excited that she volunteered -- how extra special will this quilt, made with love by her grandmother, be for our little chickadee?

So this week we went to the craft store to pick out the fabrics. (Pardon the awful cellphone picture -- my camera battery died after taking so many pictures of our niece over the weekend!)

I know you can't see the details or exact colors well, but we went with a similar purple/coral/dusty pink color scheme as the etsy quilt, and we found a somewhat crazy mix of 8 modern, floral and traditional prints that, together, gave it that sort of coordinated yet wild and bohemian look I liked. The large floral pattern on the left was really the find that brought it all together. (You'll see!)

I can't wait to see the finished product. I'm even more excited about this quilt than the prospect of the etsy version. I just hope the baby likes it as much as I do, and eventually grows to appreciate that it was handmade just for her.

Does anyone have any special heirlooms or handmade-with-love items from their childhood?

Just when you think you're progressing...

2011-05-02T07:02:00.000-07:00

This morning I got up and did my usual daily routine -- brushed my teeth, got undressed, turned on the shower. Then things took an interesting turn. As soon as I opened the shower curtain to step inside, the water suddenly shut off. My brow rumpled as I held my hand under the still faucet just like the countless movie characters who have experienced this same phenomenon in the name of comedy. (Fortunately, unlike them, I wasn't covered in soap yet.) Perplexed, I turned on the sink to see if it worked. It didn't.

I had seen my father-in-law's truck outside earlier, so I knew he had been there gathering his tools from the weekend. So I called him, hoping he had been messing around with the plumbing. He hadn't. His best guess was that the carpenter accidentally damaged the electric line to the well pump when he was framing up the kitchen over the weekend, so that when the supply in the tank ran out, the pump couldn't turn back on to give us more water. It's funny -- we just a ton of rain and flooding, yet we have no water once again.

Two steps forward, one step back. S's dad thinks he'll be able to fix it today though, so hopefully we'll be back in business soon. (And fortunately they live close, so I showered at their house this morning.)

The moral of this story, and perhaps of this entire blog: Don't take on a major renovation if you don't like continual inconvenience!

I am pretty used to this stuff by now, so I don't get too worked up about these things anymore. All you can do is laugh. I just hope I am this nonchalant once the baby arrives. If my daughter is anything like her sweet, easygoing (and adorable) cousin, I think I won't be able to help smiling through the frustration.

This precious baby loved her Uncle S, and the feeling was mutual. (That's a huge smile on the right -- not a scream.) Makes me even more excited to meet our little girl in a couple months! Hopefully by then the house will be mostly (and consistently) functional and will not fall in on her little head.

Look, Ma...

2011-05-01T15:59:00.000-07:00

No stilts!

While S and I were in Texas over the weekend (meeting our sweet 7-week-old niece for the first time), our carpenter Rick came and started working on the kitchen framing. When we got back, we were amazed to discover that he had replaced the entire front kitchen wall!

The embarrassing stilts are gone, we finally have only one front door instead of two, and our front kitchen window is in! (Note: There will also be windows in the top floor, but they haven't been installed yet.)

Here's what it looked like just a few days ago:

What a difference! Though the yard is now littered with debris, things are looking better overall--even on this chilly, rainy day. Every bit of progress feels good right now, even if we're not the ones making it.

Since I just got home from a too-short, exhausting trip (which just this morning included extremely long/slow lines that made me miss breakfast, enduring the rather humiliating full-body security pat-down, then sprinting through DFW while 6 months pregnant to just barely make my flight...) I'm going to go relax and recover. But rest assured I'll be over here smiling, because sweet baby niece + house progress = awesome weekend.

I might be getting a new painting

2011-04-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

Confession: I kind of forgot I had a blog. Thankfully there are people in my life to point these things out to me. (Thanks Veronica!) And fortunately something fun happened today that I can share!

This morning my favorite painter (and dear friend) Hope Hardesty posted a photo of one of her old paintings on Facebook with the caption, "Anybody want this weird painting I made of a barn 4 years ago???"

I do, I do! And luckily I was the first commenter: "If no one else claims it, I'll take it! I love your arts! And barns."

S, who must have been typing his comment at the exact same time, was actually the runner-up commenter just mere seconds later: "I like it. If Emily hasn't claimed it yet, I'll throw my hat in the ring."

Yes, we're in synch like that sometimes... it's probably why we're still married after all these house renovating adventures. But Hope said it's coming our way, so we're hoping it makes it! (If one of her family members or an exceptionally cute boy expresses interest in the meantime though, I will gladly concede.) If you recall, Hope painted another piece that we already have in our house. If I have my way, this wouldn't be the last one we get either. I love original art, especially when it's made by friends and family members.

In other news, Rick (the carpenter) is coming tomorrow and Sunday to start framing up the kitchen. I can't wait to see how much he gets finished! If I remember (don't worry, I'll remember) I will keep you posted!

Concrete Evidence

2011-04-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

Thursday was sunny and gorgeous--the perfect day for concrete!

Yep, it finally happened! The birdies were singing just for us. I snapped these photos on my lunch break on Thursday, just a few minutes after the concrete truck left. Obviously I could only get limited angles, because it was still wet and I couldn't walk on it!

As you can see from the Before/After picture above, the foundation is finally tied into the structure itself--finally making this side of the house more structurally sound. (Part of this section was not originally built on any foundation--genius.)

This may not look very exciting to you, but we're so thrilled to have crossed this off the list. (Note: the white pipe in the middle of the floor will be a floor drain. The white square along the right hand wall is the drain for the sink.)

And even more excitement went down this weekend too: our carpenter Rick came on Saturday and gave us the rundown of lumber and supplies we need to buy. He will get started building the front wall, installing the 2nd floor joists and reinforcing the other walls in two weeks. We try to do as much of the work ourselves for this renovation, but we trust the structural stuff to experts who can do it much better and faster than we can.

I am pretty thankful that this finally happened, despite the delays. We've gotten an intense amount of rain this spring, and Thursday was the only day the concrete truck could come in basically the past two weeks. He almost didn't make it out of the yard, as these lovely tracks show:

And Saturday we had a crazy storm complete with power outages and tornadoes touching down around the neighborhood. So, though we're like a year behind schedule, I'm happy that things are moving forward despite the speed bumps along the way. Hopefully the updates will get more exciting and more frequent really soon!

April Showers bring...

2011-04-13T17:07:00.000-07:00

1. Disappointment (because no concrete was poured this week--yet anyway.)

2. Shame (because this is what the front of our house and yard currently look like. It's pretty much a daily embarrassment. There is so much work to do I laugh just thinking of it.)

3. Shock and awe (because this is what my belly looks like at 21 weeks. I cannot even fathom what it's going to look like after 19 more weeks!)

So that sums up this week so far. Though yesterday was disappointing because the rain precluded the concrete pour, today was actually worse. Today--after 2 months of feeling good--I had queasiness and exhaustion like I was in my first trimester again. And still it poured rain instead of concrete.

But the sun'll come out tomorrow... or so that inept weatherman says. If he's wrong, he's going to have one angry (and simultaneously hungry and nauseated) pregnant lady to answer to!

Doing the anti-rain dance.

2011-04-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

The cement truck is scheduled to come tomorrow. Please pray for clear skies so we can finally pour our kitchen floor!

When we made the appointment last week there wasn't a cloud in the forecast. Now we're looking at a 70% chance of rain and the potential for a stuck truck and a postponement. I split the blame 50/50 between the completely inept local meteorologists and our mudhole of a yard. So, though it's making everything lovely and green, I'm anti-rain this week.

In other news, our carpenter (finally) called us back and said he can only work weekends. With the crummy economy, he had to take work under a larger firm because he wasn't getting enough work through his personal business. But, the good news is that he still wants to work for us -- and that is a huge relief. We love him and his work, despite the fact that he shows a lot of crack 100% of the time. He's gotten us this far with all the structural work we've had to do, and we'd love for him to help us get the rest of the way.

Wanted: Penguin Threads

2011-04-07T06:13:00.000-07:00

Penguin Classics are really outdoing themselves these days. I'm still trying to grow my collection of the Clothbound Classics, which make me so happy both on the shelf and when I'm reading them.

Now I see they are coming out with a new set of covers by illustrator Jilliam Tamaki. She actually designed and then embroidered the covers of The Secret Garden, Black Beauty and Emma. All of which I'm sure my daughter desperately wants for Christmas. (Don't you think?)

The release date is October 2011. According to Jillian's blog, "They will NOT be individual embroidered objects. I’m not really sure how that would be possible without making the final product exorbitantly expensive. They will, however, be beautifully produced, printed with a sculptural-embossing technique that will emphasize the stitches. They will be tactile objects."

Such a cool idea! I'm curious to see how much they'll cost. (The clothbound classics are very reasonable at about $10-$14 each at Amazon.) You can read more about the project and see the Emma cover as well as photos of the production process on Jillian's blog.

Quick Updates

2011-04-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

This week is shaping up better than last week for the most part, thankfully, but our lives seem to only get busier. So, my apologies that I'm lapsing back into my lax blog-keeping ways!

But, because I like you, here are a few quick updates to whet your appetite:

1. Our new couch arrived last Thursday! It is perfection. With the back cushions on, it's great for sitting and lounging and reading; with the back cushions off, it's like a cushy bed with ample snuggling room for the whole family. Any time we're not sitting on it, we wish we were.

2. It's been raining like crazy. So we haven't poured any concrete in the kitchen yet. (I know. I know.) The concrete truck has to pull into our front yard, which is just dirt/mud right now. If it keeps raining the way it has been, the truck will get stuck and it will be a disaster. Here's hoping these April showers give us a break this week!

3. I have a beautiful giveaway coming up! Get your entering fingers ready. Something pretty is coming your way.

4. I think I've settled on nursery colors. I'm not planning to do much crazy nursery decorating, but I'm thinking of having Etsy seller southerncharmquilts make this quilt for me, baby sized. (Or maybe I could buy the fabric and have my aunt make it. We'll see.) Whatever I end up doing, I just love these deep purple, coral-y orange and pale rosy pink colors and how these fabrics aren't overly modern (or babyish):

As you may have guessed, these colors can only mean one thing. That's right, friends -- we're having a GIRL! And we love her to pieces already. Like I said, we're not planning to go crazy putting a fancy nursery together quite yet. (We kinda want to meet her first and see what we really need.) And I know this is not exactly dye free, but I do have my heart set on getting her a pretty quilt. And this one is so pretty, right?

So those are the updates for now. Happy Wednesday, one and all!

Now Playing

2011-04-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

This week was a trying one. This song has been right there with me, keeping me grounded. Maybe soon (when the weather and the mood are right) I'll trade the pensive winter songs in for brighter, more upbeat music. Until then:

Come down, come down, sweet reverence

Unto my simple house and ring... and ring...

Beautiful, right?

Swept Away

2011-03-31T05:11:00.000-07:00

S and I managed to kill at least two brand new upright vacuum cleaners in first 3 or so years of marriage. (And this is from normal, everyday use and doing the recommended maintenance -- not vacuuming up construction debris or anything.) So we have gone for like a whole year, maybe two now, without a "real" vacuum. We've been using a DeWalt shop vac for bigger jobs and a little Swiffer vac for ordinary dust bunnies.

So, sick of cheap compromises and disappointments, S recently went on a major vacuum hunt. He scoured the web, read all sorts of reviews and even tested them out at stores. He was looking for something akin to the old Electrolux canister vacs that both my parents and his grandma still swear by after 30 years of use. (Seriously, they still have those late 70s/early 80s steel tanker models that if you dropped them out the window, you'd be more concerned about the sidewalk than the vacuum.)

The main criteria were: canister style (not upright), super suction power, good warranty and repair, made for hard flooring surfaces rather than carpet, friendly to allergy-prone people like us, lightweight for hauling up and down stairs, and in an affordable price range. I gotta give S a lot of credit for all his research. After tons of shopping around, he finally found the one. (Thank you Ester!)

Though we've only had it for a couple days, I'm quite fond of our newest housekeeping helper -- the Miele Olympus. I decided to test it out earlier this week on our dirty front rug and ended up vacuuming the entire living room and up the stairs as well.

I will have to come back and revisit this in a few months once we've broken it in, but here's what I think so far--

The Pros:

Extremely lightweight (about 13 lbs.) and surprisingly small. It feels like pushing a toy.
Available without the expensive electric carpet attachment, making it way more affordable and suited to our needs (since we have no carpet).
Super duper suctiony. On the highest of the 6 settings (meant for carpet), it actually suctions itself to the floor. (The lowest setting is conveniently meant for vacuuming curtains without sucking them up! Though I haven't tried that yet.)
Whisper quiet. On the normal hardwood setting, it's the quietest vacuum I've ever used.
Easy to move. The swiveling wheels are so smooth, you barely know you're dragging it behind you.
The warranty is generous, and we have a certified service center nearby if something goes wrong.

The Cons:

Vacuum bags could get a little pricey.
The tradeoff of being lightweight is that it's made of plastic, so it doesn't have the same armored durability as those old Electrolux models we grew up using.
I wish the plastic accessory clips were a little more substantive. I don't foresee them breaking, but it's possible.
The cord could be longer, for added convenience.

So far, so good. I really think we have a winner! I promise that I am not some oppressed housewife who gets overly excited about household cleaning items. I just happen to love finding honest opinions about things I'm thinking about buying, so I like to return the favor for other people when possible.

(Note: I was not paid or perked in any way for writing this review.)

Healthy living and other lies.

2011-03-27T16:12:00.000-07:00

Cartoon found here. Original source shoeboxblog.com, by Brian

And now for a little detour into my recent adventures in creating a healthier home...

I've posted before about my attempts to phase out various chemicals from my skin care regimen and our home. I'm not particularly trying to take a moral stand for eco-friendliness or even trying to be one of those weird all-natural people. I just hate being itchy, breaking out, sneezing and dealing with mysterious rashes all the time. (Call me crazy!) I can't imagine our baby-on-the-way will enjoy itchy rashes any more than I do, so I am preparing as though our baby will inherit my sensitive skin (and S's sensitive nose). I know I cannot possibly eliminate all potentially harmful chemicals from our child's existence, but I would like to be as mindful as possible as to what I slather on or rest against our baby's skin for long periods.

Fragrance, for example, which is in nearly every bath and beauty product, is known to cause neurotoxicity, allergies and immunotoxicity according to the Environmental Working Group. We already buy fragrance-free products and detergents for ourselves, and it makes a difference. (Beware of "sensitive skin" products that say they are "unscented" but actually contain masking fragrance so that it appears to be fragrance-free. Jerks!) There are other chemicals I know very little about, though, so my tactic is to just look up any product I'm considering buying in the EWP's Cosmetics Database and choose things with the lowest hazard ratings when possible. It's easy, and so far I've been happy with the products I've chosen this way.

Linens are a whole other story. Organic cotton sounds good in theory--but if you're going to buy organic, what I don't understand is why you then have it dunked in artificial dyes to give it those adorably nauseating baby colors and prints. A lot of dyes--and companies aren't usually clear about what kind they use--contain formaldehyde and other potentially icky substances. Who cares if an item was produced without using pesticides if it's coated in other toxins? It's like buying low-fat diet foots that replace the fat with extra sugar--the classic bait and switch.

So with that in mind, I decided I'd register for undyed, organic, as-chemical-free-as-possible linens (if I could find some affordable ones), since babies spend a lot of time sleeping on them. So after striking out at Target and Amazon, I googled and found that Flannelplanet.com was offering organic, chemical-free, dye-free baby bedding for just $10 per fitted sheet--SO CHEAP compared to everything else out there, let alone these elusive dye-free sheets that I was looking for. But since the website still said they were "coming soon" I decided to email them to find out when they'd be restocked. I got back this kind email from the owner:

Hi Emily,
I have to admit that I got only tepid interest in this. I was really disappointed because I thought it was a great product. It certainly isn’t a new idea and flannelplanet is certainly not the pinnacle of marketing prowess, but relative to other products we choose to carry it was sort of a dud. Our 1 ½ year old sleeps on the prototypes each night and my wife has noted that they get softer and softer with each washing. I am bummed, but I can’t afford to hold products that only my baby and wife like. Do you have any ideas?

So I guess maybe I am one of those all-natural weirdos after all, since there aren't many people as interested in this as I am--except this one guy and his family. So my search continues. I have read that diluted bleach solutions are actually quite beneficial to eczema sufferers, so maybe bleached white cotton would be fine. But it's just the principle of the thing, you know?

My conclusion after this little foray into creating a healthier home is that, overall, healthy-sounding things like "organic" products seem to be all about marketing and status and not actual health. Bummer.

Does anyone have any advice for raising a happy, rash-free baby in a world full of chemical irritants?

Cross your fingers

2011-03-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

Quick update:

We have an inspector coming to the house this afternoon to check out the kitchen plumbing. If he gives it the okay, we're on track to pour concrete tomorrow!

Lots of wishing and hoping going on over here. I'd love for this to happen tomorrow. Love.

I will keep you posted!

UPDATE: No dice. The inspector is now coming tomorrow (Wednesday) morning, so we couldn't schedule the pour for tomorrow. S's dad is going out of town for a few days starting Thursday, and since he needs to be there for the pour it has to wait until next week. But that's okay! Things are still looking good, and the best things come to those who wait.

UPDATE 2: We got the green sticker on the plumbing! Next step: POURING CONCRETE!

Kitchen Update: Ready to Pour

2011-03-20T14:47:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to all of you who have been asking for kitchen updates. It's not pretty yet, but it's progress. Above, you can see the two floor drains that I'm so excited about. (It's awfully nice having a plumber for a father-in-law.) Our sink will go above the white square drain near that left hand wall. The PVC pipe in the middle of the room is a second drain that will allow us to mop spills and water directly down the drain for easy cleanup, restaurant-style!

Note: If you want to see the planned layout for the kitchen to get a better idea of what's what, click here. You can also see our item-by-item "rustic industrial kitchen plan" here.

And here's the opposite corner of the room. The original stairs will eventually lead to a second floor, which had to be ripped out because the floor joists were so twisted and flimsy that the floor dropped more than 6 inches from one side of the room to the other. (That will happen when you build half your house on no foundation and let 100 years of settling occur!) But once we're done, it'll be strong and sturdy.

The fireplace desperately needs a very good cleaning and to be repointed and sealed. I think it will be gorgeous, and I'm particularly excited to see how it turns out. We plan to enclose the stairs and build a pantry underneath.

The plastic and wire mesh on the floor are signs that, after much ado and waiting for cooperative weather, we are finally ready for serious concrete action. Above, S and his dad are marking how high the first concrete pour needs to be. I am not making any promises because this was supposed to be done last fall, but they are hoping to have that pour finished early this week. (Please Lord, please!) Then the fun really begins.

Our actual flooring surface will be concrete, and it will look like this. But to get there, it will take two pours. The first is primarily structural, and the second will be the actual flooring surface. In between the two pours, we have a lot of work to do:

Demo the rest of the lath/plaster (which will take about a day)
Consult with our electrician about where electric lines will run and where our box will be placed
Get our favorite carpenters in here to do the structural work for the ceiling/walls and install the new front window (these guys work fast, and all of this will change things dramatically!)
Install radiant heat so the floor will be heated

As you can see, this first pour is rather a big deal because once that's done, we'll be able to move quickly (in theory) and see noticeable progress. I have no idea how long it will take to finish this kitchen (there's obviously a lot of work to do), but I'm hoping against hope that it'll be done by August! We've already gone almost 3 years without a kitchen so it's not that a big deal to me anymore, but I'd rather not bring a newborn into a dirty, noisy construction zone!

This was a tough post to write because there's so much backstory to this room. I tried to keep it simple, but if you're new around here I'm sure it looks like a big old mess. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email to ask!

Slate Dining Room Floor.

2011-03-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

Back in December I mentioned that I liked the idea of installing slate tile all throughout the entryway and the dining room (instead of trying to transition slate in the entryway to hardwood in the dining room without it looking awkward or breaking up the flow). Well, S forgot about this idea for awhile, then brought it up again the other day -- "What do you think about putting slate all through the entryway and dining room?"

Yes! I love when things come full circle.

The photo above is what caught his attention. Slate flooring can look stark, but we like the idea because these rooms are in the original log section of the house--so it will already be heavy on the wood. Adding a wooden dining table/chairs and hardwood floors could be just too much wood. Slate really seems like it could work, offsetting the rustic log walls in just the right way.

Here are some other images that I think confirm our choice, and I plan to add more when I stumble across them:

Thinking about the other (currently unused) side of the house gets me so excited. It's really going to have the nicest rooms. The other side has the original brick chimneys and fireplaces, log walls, etc. -- all the reasons why we bought this house. I can't wait until we actually get to enjoy them.

Image sources:
1. Designer Shawn Henderson via desiretoinspire
2. Feldman Architecture Inc. via houzz
3. Les Duves hotel in Belgium via remodelista
4. Kaweah Falls designed by Frank Lloyd Wright student Frank Robert
5. Salvinia Lodge in Poland via remodelista

Renovation, Baby

2011-03-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

FYI I do not intend to let baby stuff take over this blog, since I know that's not why most of you read along. Admittedly though, not much else exciting has happened around the house lately since S and I have both been crazy workaholics. (Finishing up the kitchen plumbing groundwork is on the agenda for the weekend though!)

But -- BUT -- I found a website today that describes fetal growth in "man terms" (check it out here) -- and I really couldn't resist sharing with you that, currently, our little blessing is the size of a stud finder. That's right. Our little stud finder! Now they're speaking our language.

I hope our kid ends up being as useful as a stud finder too! My grandma had a little motto that we're planning to implement around here: "If you don't work, you don't eat." Instead of a silver spoon in its mouth, our kid will be born with a nail set.

Just kidding.

In other news, I am going to need a wheelbarrow to haul my belly around by the time August gets here.

UPDATE: I added the link to the man-friendly baby sizing website (here). I have to warn you that it's a little crude, but only a bit.

Stud finder image from Lowe's.