Biggest Project Ever: Kitchen Makeover!

Well, we FINALLY did it. 

We painted our kitchen cabinets white!

This is the biggest project we've tackled yet and now I kind of feel like we can do anything. 

And let me just say I think I deserve some kind of an award for doing this all while 7 months pregnant.  I mean, how ridiculous is that?!  I probably have a screw loose or something.

Kyle also deserves an award for putting up with a crazy wife during this project.  I may or may not have become a bossy control freak maniac during some of the process.  {sorry, babe}  And he also made dinner each of the 4 nights our kitchen was torn apart.  And did all the dirty work (like scrubbing out the under sink cabinet that had suffered major leakage and molded and the previous owners covered it up). 

So just in case you are also 7 months pregnant (or not) and would like to transform your cabinets from 1998 oak and faux-oak to white and fabulous, here's the process we used:

1.  Clean and clean and clean and clean.... After we Kyle emptied the contents of our cabinets, we scrubbed and scrubbed every inch of the cabinetry with hot soapy water (and a toothbrush for the especially bad places).  And then removed the doors and drawers.

2.  Sand and sand some more.  We used a sander for the doors and drawers and sanded all of the cabinet bases by hand.  After a good roughing up, we wiped everything down with a damp cloth.

3.  Prime.  We used Zinsser primer because I use it on everything and so far I have loved every minute of it.  This stuff sticks to anything.   I primed the cabinet bases while Kyle primed the doors and drawers in the garage. 

It was about this point that I began cursing myself for wanting to paint the inside of all the cabinets. 
(We made sure we had plenty of ventilation inside: lots of open windows and fans)

4.  Finish coat.  The primer didn't take long to dry, so we were able to move to the finish coat pretty fast.  We applied 2 coats of high gloss Behr awesomeness in Bleached Linen.  I'm really happy we went with the high gloss.  Our kitchen is small and doesn't allow for a lot of natural light, so the added gloss helps to brighten things up.  On top of that, the finish already feels very durable and will hopefully withstand a few years of regular wear and tear.

Again, I did the cabinet bases.

And Kyle did the drawers and doors!

5.  Hardware.  We hadn't really discussed adding knobs to the cabinet doors and drawers until 7 PM Saturday night and we were almost finished with the all the painting.  So we ran to IKEA, dressed in our finest of painting clothes and grabbed some black knobs.  And then things got tricky.  We quickly learned that the screw heads were not strong enough for the power drill and pretty much melted in no time.  Without going into too much detail, let me just say that we broke a drawer in the process.  So we opted for no knobs on the drawers.  And are now one drawer short...

6.  Done!  Kyle hung the doors Sunday night and Monday I re-loaded all the cabinets and drawers (minus one) and cleaned every inch of the kitchen until it shone. 

I love it SO much I can't stop staring.  It's seriously like having a brand new kitchen.

I have plans to add a beadboard backsplash, remove the blinds and add a little cafe curtain for the window. 

A side-by-side of the before and after.
(For some reason we took the after without the lights on so it's a little dark.  Whatever)

I'M IN LOVE!

9 Weeks and Counting

31 week bump

Everyone seems to be upset about the less than ideal weather over here during the holiday weekend.  But as for me?  I didn't mind so much.  I feel that I should enjoy cooler temperatures while they are still here because I am having a baby sometime at the end of July and the fewer hotter-than-hell days I need to endure, the better. 

Holy crap, we're having a baby.

The closer we get to July, the more excited Kyle becomes and the more anxious and nervous I get. 

But... there is no going back now!

People often ask me if we have everything all ready for the baby and I never quite know how to respond.  We have a cradle.

We have a crib.

We have some clothes.

We have a really cute reversible diaper bag.

I (will hopefully) have a portable food supply.

Uh...

I guess we'll need to get some diapers?

And pacifiers?

I feel so totally unprepared.

And clueless.

BIG Weekend

For months we have been planning to tackle a BIG project Memorial weekend.

That weekend and this weekend are one and the same.

!

That means we have A LOT of work coming in the next few days.

I am tired already just thinking about it.

And I hope I can be helpful so Kyle doesn't have to do it all himself.

But I have been wanting to do this for the last 13 months.

13 months is a long time to wish for something.

That is like 1.44 pregnancies.

Ugh.

Pregnancy.

I won't get started on baby stuff again because I realize that's about all I talk about anymore.

And I can't quite think about this weekend just yet because as excited as I am.... I'm also afraid I will not be able to keep up.

{heaven help me}

So instead I will think fondly of how I am going to be rescued by a new dishwasher in the very near future (before the long weekend even!).  We have been hand washing dishes for something like 40 days now and that is 40 days and 40 nights I'd like to not do again if I can help it.

The end.

Milestones and Merit Badges

from this etsy shop

I have reached a milestone in my pregnancy: I ate from a bowl perched on my baby belly!  I feel like I deserve a merit badge for this or something? 

I don't know much about scouting, but I think my idea of pregnancy merit badges would catch on fast in the pregnant community.  You know, something to make you feel like those minor milestones were great achievements during your 40 weeks of waiting.  And then you could wear your sash of pregnancy badges for for others to admire.  I mean clearly, the baby is the real badge of honor here, but until that day, we have to accept the small victories in pregnancy.  Like eating from a bowl perched on your belly. 

Some badges would obviously be more enjoyable to get than others. 

For example: Husband Feels The Baby Kick For the First Time is far more enjoyable to achieve than Feeling Baby Kick Your Lady Parts From The Inside. 

Along the same lines: Developing a Visible Baby Bump is much, much cuter than Developing Visible Stretch Marks.

And just for fun, a few of the other badges I am claiming unto myself:

A Stranger Touches Your Belly for the First Time

Can No Longer Tie Your Own Shoes

Cannot Sit with Legs Together

Feet are too Swollen: Moving to Full-Time Flip Flops

Baby Belly Rests On Thighs When Sitting

Develop the Ability to Drool While Sleeping

Moving Up to a Bigger Bra!

Moving Up to a Bigger Bra! Again!

No Longer Safe to Wear Wedding Ring (see also: swelling)

Get Gestational Diabetes (this one is truly an honor)

Crave Pickles, Pickles, and More Pickles

Baby Gets the Hiccups

I mean how's that for looking on the bright side?

Progress!

We got our new bookshelves painted and on the nursery wall!  I have to say, I really love them.  And whoever thought of using Ikea spice racks as book storage is genius.  (I wish I could say it was me)  We will probably add another set at the bottom, but I have to regain mobility again.  Apparently it only takes minimal effort these days to render my body completely useless. 

I also sewed up a quick crib skirt, I am *this close* to finishing up the baby quilt and I am halfway done with a less sucky ruffled lampshade for my beloved milk glass lamp.  I'd show you now, but I think it's so much better to see them finished, don't you agree?

I'm now 30 weeks pregnant and working on the nursery helps to dissolve the anxieties I have about giving birth in two months.  I will be spending a lot of time in here...

Fail

I have been diagnosed a failure.

A failure of glucose.

Technically it's my pancreas or something that is the failure in this situation, but when I inquired of my test results and the response was "You failed" I took it personally.  I mean how the heck is that supposed to make me feel, anyway?  I started bawling, is what happened.

 

And then I got really angry.

I don't really know why I reacted this way; gestational diabetes is not the end of the world.  It's nothing I could have prevented.  And it's treatable.  I can manage it just fine and after the baby gets here, I can go back to loving on carbs all I want!  I know it will be okay but I was devastated anyway.  (Pregnancy hormones much?)  My initial reaction was feeling like I had done something terrible to my child.  Or that I could have done something to prevent this.  I'm ashamed and frustrated and I don't really want to talk about it.  But here I am, talking about it. 

I think doctors need to rephrase how they give test results because there was something in the phrase "You failed" that triggered a maternal downward spiral of depression and anger. 

Allow me to illustrate my stream of consciousness:

I failed my glucose test. 

I have gestational diabetes. 

I am no longer invincible. 

Anything can go wrong. 

Oh my gosh the baby hasn't moved in 30 minutes. 

Is something wrong?

Did I have too many carbs?

Have I put her at risk?
Am I going into labor?

I've already failed at motherhood!

My child hates me!

I'm a failure!

Failure!

Failure!

{Insert tears}

...

Now I do not share this story for sympathy or to receive a plethora of it-will-be-okay's.  I share this story so I can laugh at my own overdramatization of the situation and also to vent my frustration.  And maybe whine every now and then for the next two months. (What else is new, right?)

So feel free to respond with some "That sucks!" or "I'm a failure too!" 
But I don't want sympathy.
I do not want good cheer.
I do not want "hope for the future." 
I want you to be angry with me. 
I want you to pout with me.

And then hide all the pasta and cookies for the next 10.5 weeks. 

Deal?

{i love you guys}

Kyle's Place: 4th Grade Football... or Not

Sometimes I wonder what my daughter will look like. I hope she mostly looks like my beautiful wife because I don't think I would be a very good looking woman. But will she have a small head like me?

This is how small my head is:


When I was in the 4th grade I wanted to play football. All my friends were signing up and I wanted to be on the Seahawks with them. I signed up and was excited to play. The first day of practice, all the teams came together for a meeting to get their football equipment. I gathered all my equipment up and went to get a helmet. The guy in charge of the equipment gave me the smallest helmet they had. It was too big. They said they would order me a helmet, but I could practice lightly (non helmet type drills) until it came in. I secured my position as Wide Reciever and Cornerback. I was pumped!

The day finally came to put on my new shiny helmet.

But it was still too big.

The equipment guy said that's the smallest helmet they could get and I would not be able to play football that year. My small pinhead wouldn't allow me to play football! But I didn't really feel bad about that because at least it wasn't my football skills that kept me from playing. My friend Jesse was the Quarterback of the Seahawks and he threw a lot of passes to me in his backyard after practice. It was cool because with his awesome quarterback skills and my good looks, we got a lot of ladies in the 4th grade.

So if my daughter has a small head maybe this story will help.
Plus I doubt she will want to play on the 4th grade football team.

-Kyle

Of Romance

I recently started a second job that I can do from home and keep doing with flexible hours after the baby comes.  Hooray!  Seriously, I have been wanting this SOOO much. 

However, right now I also still have a regular full-time job which, in case you have forgotten, requires a 45 minute bus riding *blissful* commute twice a day.  The picture that I'm painting here for you is that right now my Monday through Friday is hectic. 

And did I mention our dishwasher broke?  A month ago?

And that I think my wrists are allergic to my laptop?  (Seriously)

And I'm excessively whiny these days? 

And I ran out of lotion!?!?!

Right.  Like I said: hectic.

So imagine my tearful surprise when I came home to find this:

I know. It's only lotion.

(Cetaphil moisturizing cream to be exact.  I live by this stuff)

And probably only a crazed pregnant woman would be fanatical about lotion.

(I mean STRETCH MARKS, people!!)

 

But you see, I had only casually mentioned in the morning that I was nearly completely out of my must-have-every-single-day-sometimes-twice-a-day-lotion and when I got home, Kyle had left this lovely note with a new jar of it on my laptop.  I never asked him to buy it but he actually listened to me mention that I needed it and was thoughtful enough to make my dream come true. Something so small and so seemingly ridiculous totally made my day.

He also bought paper plates.

And folded all our laundry.

I. Am. In. Love.

Is it just me or does your idea of romance change a bit when you get married?

And then again when you're pregnant and whiny?

So Fun.

I'm having some of those emotionally hormonal days of the pregnancy variety.

The kind where you get mad at your husband because he has itchy eyes.

The kind when you cry and cry and cry because... well, because for no reason at all really.

The kind of days where you think an egg-shaped Easter marshmallow could quite possibly solve all of life's problems.

Or a 3.5 hour midday sleep fest feels more like a catnap.

The days where you forget you can't do everything like you used to and wonder why it is that it's suddenly so difficult to bend over.

Or tie your shoes.

Or roll over in bed.

Or go one whole hour without having to pee.

And do I really need a new bra again already?!?

And what happened to all my dignity anyway?

It's so fun to be pregnant some days.

Kyle's Place: Do you wanna get rocked?

Def Leppard is the greatest band of all time! They freaking rock! I have seen them 6 times in concert. When I die and walk into heaven, I am certain that the members of Def Leppard will be angels and singing “Let's Get Rocked” to all those who enter the pearly gates of heaven.

One time I went on a date with this girl who insisted I name my car. She had a name for her car, her plant and her tree outside her bedroom window. (Yeah, she was a little weird). So she made me name my car for the night. When she told me this I agreed only because she wouldn’t shut her yapper about it. Besides, we weren’t going on a second date anyway because she was weird so it wouldn’t hurt to name my car for one night.

I chose to name it Rick. Why did I choose Rick? Because I had to name him after someone cool. Rick Allen is the one armed drummer for Def Leppard. That’s right, one arm! How is that even possible? It is possible and he is the bees knees. He contributes to their greatness. They will be here in Salt Lake City performing a concert in August. I will be there, my wife (who will have had the baby by then) will be there and I am sure angels will be there. They are that good.

Oh just some stuff

We got our very first cloth diapers!

If you remember back to this post (that caused quite the stir on this little ole' blog here) we have been considering cloth for quite some time. 

We snagged these three pairs used and in great condition for $5 a piece.

I have no idea how they will fit Baby P, especially because these happen to be petites.  But, I figured for $15, it was worth a shot.  There are a couple other brands I want to try as well.

 

Now Kyle keeps telling me we should have bought more!  I have never seen him so excited about a diaper before.  It's very sweet, I tell you.  However, I can assure you that his excitement comes only from the prospect of saving money on diapers.

We are all about the cheap over here.

In other news, I officially sold the $5 bookshelf!  For $15!  How is that for a profit margin?  I have no regrets and I believe it went to a good home.

Shady Business

Maybe you've been noticing, but sometimes my great ideas don't always go as planned.

link

Awhile back I saw this ruffled lampshade made from coffee filters and decided it would be the perfect, inexpensive way to revamp the awful shade in the nursery.

I spent 4 days hot gluing 600 coffee filters to the lampshade.  Even Kyle got in on the coffee filter action.  (He is such a good assistant)

And then I got this far and reaized how ridiculously massive the shade had become.  It was already pretty big to begin with, but the coffee filter ruffles added a good 4-5 inches to the diameter of the shade and when I plopped it on the slender lamp base, it looked ridiculous. 

See?  Ridiculous.  Better yet, it didn't even fit in the corner for which it was intended to reside.  So I stopped gluing and contemplated the shade's fate.  And what to do of the naked lamp base?  I had pretty much resigned to forking over $15 for a new shade when I happened upon a like-new condition one at a yard sale for $1.50.  It's a plain, gathered shade, but it's petite and matches the lamp's scale much better, in my opinion. 

The lamp actually fits in its corner now!
I think the lamp is still a little too boring for my taste so I'm contemplating a pom pom fringe and painting the lamp base.  Is it a sin to paint brass?  'Cause I'm pretty sure this thing is brass.  And I'm pretty sure I'm gonna paint it. 
Mom, close your eyes!  (She's a purist)

But now what to do with the behemoth of a half-ruffled lamp shade?

Kyle just laughs and rolls his eyes at my clever suggestions:

1.  Cover the ceiling fan lights with a new ruffled dome shade!

2.  Add a bottom to it and turn it into a storage bin!

3.  A Halloween hat?

4.  Cat toy?

Okay, it's probably just going in the trash.

I never liked that stupid shade in the first place.

I'm kind of striking out on my DIY projects this week.

First the bookshelf and now the lamp?

Pray for me.  I still have a lot of projects to screw up finish.

p.s. do you love the old green arm chair?  it was Kyle's grandma's :)

Something Even Better

I'm a little sad about it, but we've decided to get rid of the $5 bookcase.

Here is my reasoning:

1. We do not really know if it is lead based or not, but since it'd be going in the nursery, we want to be 100% sure everything is safe for the baby.  A home lead test kit costs more than we paid for the bookshelf so it's really not worth it to us to even bother with.

2. It was only $5 so no hard feelings

3. Not having it in the nursery will make for more space in the tiny room

4. One less thing for me to paint

5. I listed it for sale on ksl's classifieds just for fun and within 10 minutes I had a buyer!  That buyer never showed up, but I now have two more vying for the bookshelf and I should have it good and sold this afternoon.  And we'll make a profit! :)

As a further update, I have confirmed that even if I was sanding a lead-infested bookshelf, the limited exposure was not significant enough to cause any harm to me or the fetus. 

(You can breathe easy now, Mom) 

Better yet, we found a book storage solution that we happen to like even better!

link

link

Ikea spice racks.

As bookshelves.

It's genius, I tell you.

I wish I could say I came up with it myself.

But I did find it on Pinterest all by myself.

That counts for something, right?

We picked up four over the weekend and I am so excited to get them on the walls!

Kyle's Place: Obsessed with Sports

I have a confession. 
As you have probably learned by reading our blog, I am obsessed with sports.
Yeah, I admit it.
I LOVE SPORTS.
Sports make me really happy.
They bring out emotion.
They bring out passion.
They bring out memories of incredible victories and depressing defeats.
They make you want to hug your buddy after an incredible victory (thanks Kevin).
They also might want you to kick a kitten after a heartbreaking defeat (thanks Kyle Brotzman. Dude make a freaking field goal! It was 26 yards away. My grandma could have made that! I can almost pee farther than 26 yards. You choked!)

But that’s what makes sports great! If women can have 10,000 different moods in a day, men can have a couple of moods related to sports.

Sports are intense.
Sometimes it comes down to the final seconds.
Sometimes you feel your blood pumping as you watch your team make the game-winning 3 pointer at the buzzer. (By the way, why do women want to tell you something interesting about girl stuff or want you to take the garbage out when these final seconds of the game are counting down?)

Sports build memories between people and can be talked about for hours, even 50 years later.

If sports had never existed in this world, then happiness would have never existed either.

Thoughtful Nonsense

definitely pre-pregnancy *sigh*



Hey did you know I'm pregnant? 

I forget sometimes so I thought I would remind you.

There's just so much to think about these days, what with royal weddings and natural disasters and assassinating terrorists on the news.

By the way, ABC was the first to tell us that Osama Bin Ladin was dead.  Only I saw it first and Kyle was in the bathroom so I shouted the news reports to him from the family room.  This is what I like to call effective marital communication.
Probably we should be marriage counselors or something.

Only the other day, pretty much out of nowhere, Kyle announces to me "But it's not like you're my soul mate or anything."

And what is a wife supposed to do with this type of spousal declaration?

I will tell you I mostly just rolled my eyes and pointed out the fact that this was a terrible thing to say, even if whatever it was that he meant by it was well-intentioned and had a good point to it.  But really the point is that the only thing I remember him saying is "You're not my soul mate." 
And thus ends the fairytale.

I think that maybe the soul mate declaration came after watching 500 Days of Summer, which was wonderfully tragic in it's own right.  It definitely sparked some conversation about our own previously failed relationships and something about choosing our own fate.  And then somehow ended in us not being soul mates?  (I'm sure Kyle will have a rebuttal for this later)

And to bring it all full circle, I did choose to be pregnant and thus it is my fate.  Only don't you think fate sounds terribly unromantic and dreadful?  Pregnancy may be odd and life altering and uncomfortable at times but I certainly don't find it to be dreadful... although perhaps a bit unromantic, what with the constant heartburn and associated belching and all.

And anyway, what was this supposed to be about?

I forget sometimes.

Does this possibly make me a bad parent?

The weather was finally nice enough for me to drag the $5 bookshelf outside for a good sanding and cleaning.  I figured it probably isn't good for a pregnant girl like me to breathe sanding dust so I covered my face with my shirt while I sanded.  (See how health conscious and responsible I am?)

Probably we should just invest in some real masks because trying to keep your shirt over your face and your ill-fitting maternity pants from falling down is made extra difficult when you're also wearing glasses and sanding with both hands.  But I am a multitasker and I don't give up. 

I was surprised (and also a little worried?) to discover that the reddish varnish on the bookshelf came off exceptionally easy.  At which point I started to wonder, "How old is this thing?" and worse yet, "Could this old varnish perhaps be lead based?" 

So I promptly wrapped up my sanding session, sprayed down the beast, and took a shower for good measure.  And then I googled lead-based varnish and my suspicions were somewhat confirmed; there seems to be a good possibility that my great yard sale find contains lead based varnish.  Now I'm nervous about our future plans to put this baby in the nursery. 

Did I get all the varnish off? 

Will a few good coats of primer and paint encapsulate whatever lead based materials may be remaining?

Will it be okay to chew on?  You know, just in case Baby P wants to teethe on a giant bookcase while perusing her kinder library.

I'm afraid to admit our possible health hazard to Internetland in fear that my mother will soon read this and then begin texting me concerned questions about why I was ever sanding in the first place and what am I thinking painting while pregnant?!?

(love you, Mom. don't worry, Kyle has already rebuked me)

Oh the pains of trying to DIY through life.

Just don't even get me started on the moldy kitchen cabinet.