Friday, March 29, 2013

Another Room Down...

Room by room, the house is coming together... and to complete the dining room, I needed some shelves. I saw these on my friend Haley's blog... and I knew I needed the hubby to replicate them for me. Thank you dear friend for inspiring me to hang shelves in my dining room, since my huge hutch doesn't fit on that wall. I'm fairly certain my mind was blank until I saw your dear post...

So to work we went yesterday afternoon... finished them, and hung them so that I could decorate them, and say that the dining room is complete. It's official, one more room is finished... so far on the list, the kitchen, and now the dining room. I promised you photos... and so I shall deliver on my promise...







I think, other than a runner for the table, that the dining room is complete. The colors I'm going for throughout the living, dining and kitchen rooms, is sort of like sea glass.... a mixture of greens/blues/teals. It's a very open space (you'll see in future pictures), and although there are two huge windows, they face southward.... so not as much light... so I wanted to keep it light and airy.

Some details about the room...

Paint color: Sherwin Williams- Wool Skein
Shelf color: Sherwin Williams- Dover White (same color as the trim/doors throughout the house).

On the shelf...

Most items are thrifted items from around the world... seriously. I'm not joking. I think some of my favorite pieces, are the light blue glass milk jug that I picked up in the Netherlands.  The light teal wine decanter on the top shelf on the right is from Germany... some call them "bubble jugs". That beautiful "D" print, is from Lindsay's amazing shop... go check it out, she does not disappoint. She has some amazing giveaways going on right now, to celebrate her birthday! Happy Birthday (soon) Lindsay!!!

If you have any questions about anything going on in this room... don't hesitate to comment and ask, I'll try and reply on the blog (usually I do personal replies) so that all might be able to see... hope you enjoyed the view, as much as I enjoyed putting it all together.
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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Project Time

Not even all the boxes are unpacked, nor is the house organized and in order... and we started/finished our first house project. I suppose this house project is to help create "order" and to  initiate further organization in the house... and I'm happy to say, it did just that. I had the hubby create some shelves for me for my dining room area, and for another area in the house that'll be deemed the "frame wall"... not only did he create beautiful shelves for me, but I got to watch him use power tools... so studly. I then sanded and painted (don't worry, this preggo wore her mask and didn't breathe any nasty chemicals in)... he hung them... and I decorated them (reveal on tomorrow's blog post)....

There's nothing I love more, than having some "family" time spent outside in the beautiful weather... Even Charlotte enjoyed the process.. she played with all the scraps and built her own little creations. We worked and spent time together until the sunset... my kind of day.








Stay tuned for tomorrow's reveal of the dining room shelves... they're beautiful, and you won't want to miss it. 
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Monday, March 25, 2013

Round Two...

I've had much success (thus far) with my green thumb, that I figured... why not... lets try seeding/planting some more... but this time, instead of veggies, I decided to pick up some of my most favorite and loved perennials. Purchasing flowers can get super expensive, and because we have a HUGE yard to beautify, there comes a time, when you have to think about what's cost effective. Since we're still shaping our backyard, I have plenty of time to grow some flowers on my own... and that's what I started today. Perennials come back year after year, and eventually you can even split some of them, and transplant them to different sections... so that's what I went with. These are just to start off... there will be plenty of more "wild flower" planting going on around Charlotte's play house, as well as strawberry boxes for her to take care of. I'm pretty sure she'll ending up picking to eat on her own, and I'll never see one strawberry... but it'll still be fun.



And because my hubby has indulged all of my seeding... I let him have his crazy expensive "oriental maple" tree in the front... it started budding, and I'm sure it'll look beautiful as the years pass by. 

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Wednesday, March 20, 2013

23 Weeks { bump }

2 weeks have passed, and I haven't updated y'all on the bump... woops. You can definitely blame it on getting ready to move into our home, and then moving into our home. It's kept us super busy, and not a day passes where I've been able to just relax and put up my feet (except during my 5-10 minute breaks that I take throughout the day). Not to mention, it's tough to remember just document this bump and it's progression! Progress... it certainly has. Things are starting to get a little uncomfortable. Last night was definitely a night where I just couldn't find the "right" spot in order to have a cozy night's sleep... my hips just didn't want to relax. I know it'll get worse... I'm just being prepared for all those nightly feedings that'll happen when this little one comes along.

Since the last update, I had little one's anatomy ultrasound scan... and all is looking well. This little babe is such a cutie already, and the gender was totally verified. The reveal will come soon... I'm just waiting for the right moment to share (sorry people, the creative side of me wants to have fun with it, and at the same time, there's something special about knowing, without everyone else knowing). You will know soon, though... promise... pinky promise. The main news to report from this ultrasound, is that my placenta is pretty low, but they said it's common. Looks like it needs to be up high in order for me to deliver "naturally" (which is my desire). They said that usually by the next ultrasound, we should see a change on it's position. So pray dear friends, for a higher placenta (wow, I never thought I'd ask for this prayer request... like... ever!)







Cravings: I still want fruit as often as possible... and veggies with dip. Nectarines are high on the list... occasionally my body wants chocolate... and I cave, and give it a chocolate bar. It's not all the time, so I don't feel too guilty about it. 

Turn Offs: I haven't tried eating Indian... perhaps I should try again sometime soon. I might just be okay with it. Nothing really seems to standout as something I don't want to eat... not like how it was the first trimester, where everything would pretty much fall under this category.

Daddy's thoughts on the pregnancy thus far: He wishes that my belly area was more like a "window" where you could peek in and see what that little one was doing... and He's SUPER happy that I have an internal furnace, because it makes driving in the car much more bearable temperature wise. 

Charlotte's thoughts on the pregnancy thus far: She definitely is excited now by what baby "is" (gender-wise) and doesn't wish for the other anymore... 
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Sunday, March 17, 2013

Going Green

While everyone was celebrating St. Patrick's Day, and wearing green, drinking beer and eating their corned beef and cabbage.... I was celebrating my own kind of green... I am no Irish... but what I can say, is that I might just have a "green thumb" after all. Seedlings have sprouted... just a few more days/weeks for some of them, and they'll planted in our garden boxes. So far... so green.





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Saturday, March 16, 2013

Squatting

It has been a doozy of a ride trying to "close" on our house and move in... and as of now, we're still waiting on the "closing" aspect of it. Hopefully, by next week, we'll be official owners. Right now we're "squatting" (if you want to call it something)... but thanks to the owner of the building team, we were able to move in, and live in the house until our close date (because it was our mortgage company's fault). They ordered the appraisal too late... as in the day after our original closing date. Needless to say, if we had to wait to move until we closed, we would have had to have 1. rearranged all of our shipments that were being delivered to the house 2. pay rent on a temporary apartment for the whole month, when it would only have been needed a few days 3. moved all by myself into the house, because the hubby starts his training next week. So thankful for understanding people (thank you owner of 4Corners)... and that brings us to Friday... the day of crazy mayhem. The night before all of our shipments arrived, I'm fairly certain I only had 2 hours of sleep. Everything that could have happened... happened ( leg cramps, baby kicking, cat meowing, little girl peeing the bed)... but I was on 100% adrenaline that morning, because I knew we had tons to get done. It started early... and definitely felt like the longest day I've had in awhile.








Not only did all of our household goods come from Korea, but we also received a shipment that we've had in storage for nearly 7.5 years... We'll definitely be putting a ton of stuff on Craigslist soon... and other selling mediums. We also had our new couch delivered, as well as appliances... man, it's going to be a lot of work unpacking all these boxes, but I promise to give you a full tour as soon as everything is in it's place.
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Saturday, March 09, 2013

Seedling "markers" DIY

One of the things we've really been looking forward to, about being homeowners, and in one place for awhile... is gardening. Sure, we could have planted small container gardens on the porch while were in Korea, but it rains SOOO much during the summer, thanks to monsoon season, I'm afraid we would have had a decent amount of "failure"... and failure, doesn't help a newbie feel like they actually could potentially have a green thumb. We plan on planting 4 large boxes in our backyard, packed full of veggies that we tend to eat often... Hoping for a little harvest to get us through the end of summer, and to wet our taste-buds for gardening. Instead of purchasing all "mature" plants from garden centers, I decided to try my hand at "seeding"... to get us started. 

We picked up some of our favorites (more than what's pictured above), as well as a "pellet" tray... they're super easy to use... 

Now, because there are typically 72 pellets per tray... and more than likely you're not going to seed 72 of each packet of vegetable... (that'd get pricey), and you'd have a WHOLE lot of crop, I created some "markers" to help divide up the trays... that way you don't get confused by which plant is which. 

Seriously... there are SO many uses for those little Starbucks "plugs"... I opted to use these, because I had them on hand, and because a toothpick would start to warp from all the water/moisture that it sits in. I used some fun decorative tape, and created a little "flag"... and wrote the name of the vegetable on each flag. For the tomatoes, I had to get specific, because I had more than 3 different kinds. 

Place them in the appropriate spots in the tray, where you switch seeds, and you have yourself an organized tray... should make planting that much easier... should, is the key word... I'll keep you posted on how they progress, and if this girl (points to self) actually has a green thumb or not. 















FYI: Another fun use of Starbucks "plugs" are to use them in "sword fights" with your little one... just keep your eyes at a safe distance... lucky Charlotte has shields, aka glasses, to help aid her.
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Wednesday, March 06, 2013

21 Weeks { bump }

Not too much has changed in the last week... except my growing (day by day) belly... I look back at photos of myself in the first trimester, and feel like that was so long ago, and think, "ugh, I have SO far to go still..."  But I'm a week past the halfway point, and hopefully this second half will fly by. I'll have lots of nesting to get started on, as soon as we're in the house, and the ideas just keep coming to me. I really ought to start writing everything down, because just as quickly as the ideas come.... they depart. Seriously, I feel like my brain is completely fried. I ask my hubby the same question about 4x before I actually comprehend that he answered the first time I asked. It doesn't help that I'm surrounded by a pre-schooler all day long... who seems to fry my brain as well.

Speaking of the pre-schooler, Charlotte has been nothing but excited about this little one. EVERY morning she runs into the room and after saying "good morning" to mommy and daddy... she usually snuggles my belly and gives morning kisses to her little friend (yes, she knows the gender of the baby and says it out loud when she's kissing my belly). Today was actually the first day, that she felt the little one kick... and she giggled. It was cute. She wasn't patient enough to feel the little one kick again, but she felt it once.
















Speaking of kicking... this little one kicks... and kicks hard. Sometimes it really surprises me. Everyone said that I'd just feel "flutters"... and that I did, at first, but now this little one jabs and pokes and kicks like something fierce... it's already feisty. I used to only feel the kicking when I laid down, but the last 2 days, I've been able to feel rolls/kicks as I'm up and about moving around. But often times he/she keeps me up at night... yes I can't sleep through those kicks yet... I'm sure at some point I'll hit the point of exhaustion when I will.


Cravings: Nectarines... nectarines... and more nectarines... I usually have at least 2 a day... I know, it's kind of sad... but at the same time, it could be worse, right? I am back to drinking a little coffee in the morning, and it's been fantastic, especially at adding some extra energy for those days that I just can't get up and go.

Turn Offs: Indian and coconut milk... otherwise I'm golden. 

Daddy's thoughts on the pregnancy thus far: "Seriously, the parking lots have like 30 handicap parking spots, and nothing for expectant or new moms?" 

Charlotte's thoughts on the pregnancy thus far: "I'm going to tickle the baby..." as she tickles my belly with her little fingernails... 
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