New room and lighting

New chandelier
This is looking from that back bedroom. You used to see the landing; now it's a hallway. Eventually Jason and I will stain those cabinets on the left and change the hardware. But not right now. We also got new carpet upstairs.

This is the new bedroom. It actually looks a lot smaller in the pic than it turned out to be. Again, there's a window and desk area that can't be seen here and the white thing in the foreground is his crib which he will be out of in the next few months. The open door is to his bathroom.

New Stairs

View From the Front Door. I couldn't really get a good picture.

View from the living room

Does my belly make me look fat? :)

So here I am... in all my pregnant glory. 6 mos... 24 weeks

WOW! Don't adjust your computers. I really am that big already! Yikes!! Damn you, Ramen noodles! :)

I pierced my belly button when I was 21. Seemed like a good idea at the time. You can't really tell in the picture, but that teeny tiny hole is now the size of a coin slot.

What's really funny: When I took the profile pic, I found myself trying to suck in. Ha! I'm such a girl.

Mmmmm....

So I went to Tom Thumb today. And I know they say never go to a grocery store hungry, but I'm pregnant. I would never be able to go to the store if I had to wait until I wasn't hungry.

I passed by the Ramen noodles, and I swear, they called out to me. "Buy me, buy me," they said. Over and over until I had no choice but to put them in my cart. I was kind of embarrassed at the checkout counter when I put a few cups of Ramen noodles on the belt.

But when I went home and ate the 58 cent Ramen goodness, I was so glad I swallowed my pride. I haven't had them since freshman year at A&M, and in a weird way, it brought back memories. There's just something about 'em. They're cheap and they're good.

(Of course I'm 6 mos pregnant so take that for what's it worth when it comes to analyzing my food cravings.)

The only down side to the noodles came after I ate them and looked at the side of the cup. 12 grams of fat!!! Can you believe that? It's noodles and water with bits of corn and carrots. ??

Go figure!

When It Rains, It Pours... And Leaks Into My House

OK, I consider myself a fairly patient person. I can roll with the punches to a certain extent. But anyone who knows me well knows that I have been a little depressed... a little "off"... for the last 6 weeks or so. I've been trying to pinpoint why I've been so nuts.

I knew the remodel would be stressful. But then, to add insult to injury, about 10 days ago, we discovered a mildew smell in our master closet and guest bedroom/office. Long story short, our carpets had become saturated when a steady rain had apparently leaked into our home. Blackmon Mooring came out, emptied our closet and office, ripped up our carpet and placed between 4 and 6 fans and 2 dehumidifiers in our rooms.

A few days ago, it hit me... I know why I'm going crazy... I looked around and this is what I saw...

One side of my bedroom with Jack's crib and part of our master closet scattered around. If you don't know this about me, you should know that I don't enjoy sharing a room with kids. It's just a thing with me. Never been one for the "family bed" idea. Everybody needs a little space. So that alone was challenging. But all the stuff around the crib just about sent me over the edge. I don't know if you can see it, but there's a guitar against the wall. Who knew Jason played??

This is the other side of my bedroom. Clearly clothes hampers, a trunk (don't know why that's in our closet... I think it may have ski clothes in it or something.) You really find a lot of junk when you start emptying out closets.


This is what Jason piled on our bed as he emptied the guest bedroom. This stuff was shifted just enough so that I could climb in and sleep.

Our living room full of office furniture

Our dining room, adjacent to our messy living room, that has all of our upstairs furniture.

Here's what I've discovered about myself: I can't live like this. I can't live in this mess with 2 toddlers and the sawing and the banging and the sawdust that seems to settle on every piece of furniture I own. It took 2 meltdowns and a panic attack at 2 a.m. for me to realize that I'm not as laid back as I pretend to be. :) (BTW, I'm kidding...I'm very aware I'm not a laid back person.)

But there's a light at the end of the tunnel... I can see it. Tomorrow... Lord-willing... fingers crossed... this will all be over and my remodel 2009 will be complete. Hooray! :)

Remodel Before

Goodbye yucky chandelier.

This is the playroom/landing which will become Jack's bedroom. The open door is to a bathroom that will be his. Sarah and her little sister will share the other bathroom upstairs. Trade-off: His new room will be pretty small.


Another view of what will become Jack's bedroom. On the right hand side of this picture is a little desk area and a window that will also be part of his room.


Not only is this railing ugly. Let me just say, 3 spindles (is that what they're called?) were simply glued in by someone. Twice they've broken off in my daughter's hand as she's trying to walk downstairs.

Big Shoes to Fill

For some reason, the most fun thing in the world is to run to Daddy as soon as he walks thru the door, follow him back to his closet, and try on his shoes or his belt as he changes clothes.

Best Friends

Holding Nothing Back...

Today we found out we're having a girl and that she's officially due July 25th, possibly July 26th. Slight problem.... Sarah's birthday is July 26th and it seems awfully unfair to share that day with someone else. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Having 2 kids born in July, I can't tell you how many people are already asking me if I'm going to hold them back and not start them in kindergarten right after they turn 5. The growing trend, at least in Plano, is to hold your child back if their birthday falls between April and August. The rationale is that a boy would have a better chance of being a star athlete if he is the oldest in his class. And somehow parents (I believe mistakenly) believe that their daughters will have an easier time in middle school and high school if they're not the youngest in their class.

I'm sorry... WHAT?? No, I'm not holding my daughter back simply because of where her birthday falls in the calendar year. I gotta say.. Some of these parents have legitimate reasons; others are WAY overthinking this thing. (P.S. middle school sucks no matter how old you are when you're going thru those years).

So here's a shout out to all my friends who were some of the youngest in their class (like ME). :) If your birthday falls anytime in April or later and yet you graduated when you were "supposed to" and you're a relatively normal, functioning adult, then congrats!! Apparently, according to trendy thinking, we beat the odds!