Room Reveal.

If you remember, once we got pregnant, we definitely knew we wanted to remodel our bedroom. We started shortly before Christmas with our closet, and finished that up in January. Then we started on our bedroom. I swore I did a on post with our progress, but I just went through all my posts and I guess I didn't. So I'll review the whole thing.

First thing we had to do was get the wallpaper off. This was a process in and of itself! It was like a thin aluminum foil, and then had the wallpaper underneath it. Mr. Skinny spent a few days while he was off taking the foil part down. Once that was down we used a wallpaper cutter to put holes in the paper. Then we mixed water and vinegar in a spray bottle (50/50), and sprayed the holey paper. After letting that set, then we scraped the paper down. It was a pain for me to get down and move all around to get the paper off, but I knew I had to help how I could.

Then came the spackling. I helped with this part, too. I didn't sand, just spackled what I could reach on my days off. No ladders for this pregnant lady.

Next came the paint. We painted 3 of the 4 walls a mint green, and although I don't love the color, I picked it because it came matched with the 2 other colors we picked - the closet green and the main wall green. I would have picked a little more green of a green, but because there were 3 different greens, I wasn't going to risk having colors that didn't match. Since Mr. Skinny is partially color blind, it looks white to him, and frankly it does to me, too, unless it's right up against the white we painted the trim and the ceiling.

Main wall green.

After the walls were done being painted, we took the baseboard out to clean it and paint that the dark green too, to try and balance the dark green since the other walls were so light.

Finally came the trim. Mr. Skinny painted the doors, base moulding and then window trim white. And he did a quick coat on the ceiling.

I really love our room now. Since we picked everything out and did all the work - okay, Mr. Skinny did most of it - it feels more like our space. We rearranged everything a little bit, but I really like the layout now, and think it'll work for us once baby joins us. With our financial situation, we might be here for a while, so I'm glad we live in a room that works for us and that we like.

Crib and changing table

My "nursing" corner

Other corner of the room. Looking for somewhere to put the cedar chest.

Entrance to our room - that's the base for the swing. Looking at putting
the cedar chest against this wall maybe.

So there ya have it! Our completed room. Once we have baby, I'm sure things will change and toys will take over our room, but for right now, it works for us!

What do you think?

Twenty-Four Weeks.

Dear Little One,

Twenty-four weeks done, and about sixteen more to go! You're moving around more than ever, and I think I finally felt you getting hiccups! I couldn't tell for sure, but I think that's what they were. I can tell when you're moving and when you're sleeping. You're definitely more active at night while we're laying in bed and watching TV. The belly is getting bigger everyday, that's for sure! I put on a tank top that I ran in last summer, and it kept riding up and showing the underside of the bump. I think that's the last time I try to squeeze into a non-maternity shirt! 

My weight gain is around +16-17 pounds. I'm getting really bad at figuring it out each week. I weigh myself most mornings, just to keep myself on track, so it's hard to find an average of each week. I'm still on track for an overall gain of 25-35 pounds, although I think I'm going to be more like 35-40 pounds. I know I can loose the weight and get myself in a better shape than I ever was before. I know how to eat healthy and get myself healthy. I am so grateful for you, I'm doing what I can to keep you healthy, and keep your momma healthy, too! 

For the first time, when I went to Wegman's on Saturday, I was determined to park in a Stork parking spot. I've been putting parking here off for so long, just because I didn't feel big enough to take up a closer parking spot. But I was thinking about it, and I reached my sixth month, I don't have a ton more time to take advantage of these spots, so I was determined to park in the first one I saw. But then, none were open, so I had to park in the back anyways. Oh well, I could use the exercise, and you can, too! 

Speaking of exercise, I only walked once last week. I'm really going to try to walk today, but I think my exercise of the day might be scrubbing wallpaper glue off the walls of our room. That totally counts as exercise, right? Eating has still been going good, and I'm doing a little better with the sweets ordeal that I mentioned last week. I don't need dessert every day. I have been craving cake though, so I might have to indulge in that next weekend or so...

You're the length of an ear of corn now (so big!) and weigh about 1 1/4 pounds. It's crazy to think how much more weight you have to gain, but you're already about half the length that you'll be. I wonder what you'll look like, if you'll have curly hair like Daddy and me, and if you'll have blue eyes and dimples. Whose nose you'll have and whose lips. I can't even imagine what you'll look like, half Daddy and half me. It's mind blowing! 

I still feel absolutely fantastic, other than the occasional grunts to get up out of bed, or pick something up, but that's what happens when my belly gets so big. I know it's only going to get bigger, and I can't wait to be amazed at what my body can do. I've been thinking a lot about labor, and how I'd like you to come into the world. I'll write a whole other post on it, and I know that a lot of it is out of our control, but I'm not scared at all about labor, or delivering you. I trust that God knows what He's doing, and He's in control. I trust that my body knows what to do. Daddy and I are reading a lot about it, and talking about how much Daddy's going to be involved. I hope everything goes smoothly, but I will do anything to have a healthy baby at the end of the day! 

I get a little annoyed at the websites that tell me all the symptoms I could and should have, I'm growing a human, it's not going to be comfortable! I have had a blessed pregnancy so far, not a lot of sickness or cramps. But, I'm a really positive person, and I could have a terrible pregnancy, but I think feeling you move would make me forget all about it. I'm not swollen yet, although I think I waddle a little bit, it's a cute side-effect of pregnancy so far. My mind might change in the next three months, but I think I have a laid back enough attitude that it won't bother me. This is something I've wanted to do my entire life, and I will appreciate every "bad" thing that comes along with the good of growing a tiny human. 

And the last exciting thing this week, we got your crib! It's all assembled and it it's permanent, we think, spot! It was pretty easy to put together, only took Daddy and I about an hour, and I even got to help! This was a gift from your Great-Grandma Crane and we are so thankful that we got it! 

Keep growing and moving, and baking! It's nice to know you could survive if you decided to come now, but please stay put for quite a long time!

Love, 

Mommy

Tell me:

Would/did you feel comfortable parking in the stork parking spot at stores? 

What was your least favorite part of pregnancy? Most favorite? Or what would you look forward to the most?

Closet Overhaul.

Once we knew the baby was coming, Mr. Skinny and I wanted to try to utilize all the space we have in our little apartment-room. Project number 1 was the closet. It was just not used smartly. It worked for our clothes, but I knew there would be no way we could fit baby clothes in there. We didn't have anymore room. Finally, last Friday, Mr. Skinny finished it! I wish I took more beginning pictures, but I only have one. I didn't think about taking pictures until we were about halfway through. 

Best and only picture I have of pre-remodel. 

We had to take all our clothes out of the closet
(obviously). Our room was
a mess! We had clothes, and other supplies, everywhere!

Color we picked for the closet. The whole room is going to be green,
the accent wall in our room is going to be darker, and the other walls
will be lighter, almost white. 

Corner cabinets were up! 

Yay! We have clothes racks and get our clothes
out of our room!

Shoe rack! All my shoes fit in here and it's awesome!

Drawers! The rest of the shelves are going to be
for baby.

Section for my dresses and coats.

Other side, I'm going to share the bottom with baby,
too. 

Do you like it?

Anything we're missing?

Do you have a walk-in closet or a not walk-in closet? (what are they actually called??)

Bullet Updates.

I'm so far behind in blogging. I actually had a bunch of posts planned for this week, but instead I think I'll just do some updates instead. Eventually I'll have to write my week 18 letter, and an update on Christmas, and I wanted to do an end of the year post, but for now, bullets will have to do.

- Christmas was awesome. Lots of family, fun and food! Got some good presents, including a magic bullet and pearl earrings, necklace and bracelet from Mr. Skinny. New camcorder from my parents and a Dumbo Blu-Ray from my in-laws.

- Mr. Skinny's mom's side of the family does Christmas Eve every year when everyone comes in and there's gotta be more than 50 people there. Each year I get nervous someone isn't going to know who I am because I still think of myself as a newbie, but this was my 8th Christmas Eve with them. There was no problem and everyone was talking to me and congratulating me, asking how I felt. I felt accepted.

- I am so thankful that I have such wonderful in-laws who have fully accepted me as a daughter, niece, sister, granddaughter and cousin.

- The baby has finally moved! I felt him/her move last Thursday night. I didn't pay attention to it at first, then s/he did it again and I realized that I should be paying attention to this! It was super exciting! Mr. Skinny was SO excited! So were our families when we told them! I've felt the baby move every day since there. It's just a little flick and kind of feels like a muscle spasm, but I prayed I'd feel him/her move before Christmas and s/he just made the cutoff on December 22!

- Our doctor's appointment last week went well. The doctor was a little more pushy than the nurser practitioner we saw last time about the flu shot, but I know that I have the final say and I saw no. So there.  It was a very short appointment. The nurse was a lot nicer than the doctor, so I'm praying that I don't have this doctor when I have the baby. There are 17 doctors in this group at my hospital, so I'm hoping to find at least half that I like.

- Our ultrasound is tomorrow night! I finally convinced Mr. Skinny we didn't need to find out the sex. Although when I tell people that he says that he still wants to find out, but it's not worth the fight any more to find out. So ha! I won :)

- I'm sick. I'm sure I picked something up from someone over Christmas. Oh well, tis the season, right? It started with a sore throat on Monday, but now it's kind of in my sinuses/back of my throat mess. I'm just praying I don't have to go to the doctor because I switched my primary doctor so I could go to the hospital I wanted to for my pre-natal care/labor & delivery and my new doctor is about an hour away, in a different county. I keep telling myself it's just a cold.

- We're going to see my cousin in Southern PA for New Years. When we were younger, we would always go down there for New Years and my uncle would make a bunch of appetizers and we'd watch the ball drop, but up until last year, my cousin and I were in different stages of our lives, and we just didn't get together. Now we're finally in the same stage, just about, she has two boys and I have one on the way (in case you forgot - ha!) so we'll get together with them.

- Mr. Skinny and I - mostly Mr. Skinny - are redoing our closet. It's a walk in closet, turned mini kitchen and back into a closet now. So there's lot of sanding, spackling, and there will be some painting next week. Our room is a disaster because the clothes that were in our closet are everywhere in our room now, but there's not much we can do except work as much as we can on it so that it gets done. I need to take some pictures and I'll show you. And don't worry, my only job so far has been holding the spackling dish thing for Mr. Skinny. No sanding and no painting for this pregnant lady!


And that's where I am about now. Hopefully I'll get back to regular blogging next week sometime, maybe Wednesday if Mr. Skinny is off on Monday.

Tell me: How was your holiday?