Emrie's Room Makeover

This really is the FINAL project I will do before the baby is born...and this time I mean it:)

Emrie's room doesn't get much sunlight because it has this big, beautiful tree right outside of her window.  It makes for a fun treehouse feel, especially with the window seat, but with the dark walls, yellow ceiling, heavy blinds and cream trim, it felt very cavernous.  So we painted the ceiling, hung a new fan with brighter lights, painted the trim and walls and took down the blinds.  Painting the closet and changing out the light in there made a HUGE difference too, just to have a clean, fresh feel through the whole room.

I was happy to keep all of her old bedding, but Phil felt that she needed a fresh start and she had been asking for a desk in her room, so we decided to kind of gave her a more 'grown up' feel.  I picked navy with fuchsia accents because I feel like these can easily transition with her as she gets older, but still look youthful (I mean, come on, she is only four). 

You would not believe the way her face lit up when she got her big girl desk, and I have to say, I am loving all the little notes she has been writing me lately (they are mostly drawings of our family with all of our names on them since those are pretty much the only words she knows how to spell).

BEFORE:

 

 

AFTER: 

 

 

 

Walls: Sherwin Williams Duration Matte in Grey Clouds SW7658
Ceiling: Glidden Bright White Flat
Trim: BEHR Semi-gloss in Polar Bear White
Ceiling Fan: Home Depot
Duvet: Pottery Barn Teen
Bed Skirt: Target
Sheets: Target (and I monogramed them)
Nightstand: Target
Lamp: Target
Desk: Target
Chair: Home Goods
Pillows: Target and Pottery Barn Teen
Curtains: Target

Aven's Room Makeover

After the powder room was finished, I said NO more projects until after the baby was born.  But, my very sweet husband changed my mind, and for good reason.  We had noticed that the girls did NOT like going to their rooms here.  It wasn't just that they would try to avoid their rooms, but they would actually complain about their rooms.  Emrie especially made comments about not liking her room, or the color of her walls, and she often asked when we could go back to her old room.

This was really hard for Phil and I to hear because both of the girls used to LOVE their rooms in Indiana.  They would play in their rooms happily and often times Emrie would ask if she could go to her room where I would find her reading or coloring.  We wanted the girls to feel at home here and Phil especially wanted them to have their own special space before the baby was born.

I can't really say that I blame them for not liking their rooms.  They were pretty dingy and not very welcoming.  So we spent a couple of weekends painting everything from the ceilings to the trim to the closets.  Then we replaced the ceiling fans and removed the old blinds.

Aven had been asking for pink everything in her room, so I gave in and let her have pink bedding.  And PINK bedding did she get!  I have to say, while I am not a huge fan of pink, to see the pure joy on her face when we 'revealed' the room to her was priceless.  She has been thanking us for her bedroom for almost a week now and it makes all the hours spent in there totally worth it!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Monogramming her sheets was a fun little detail that made the room a little more personalized

Walls: Sherwin Williams Duration Matte in Grey Clouds SW7658

Ceiling: Glidden Bright White Flat

Trim: BEHR Semi-gloss in Polar Bear White

Ceiling fan: Home Depot

Curtains: Target and I added the pink ribbon around the edge

Sheets: Target

Bedding: Target

Bed, nightstands and dresser: Pier 1

Powder Room Makeover

Alright, Fort Wayne friends will appreciate this bathroom because I am sure you will feel like you have seen it before....AT DEBRAND'S (it is a chocolate shop and their interior is ALL brown and gold).

This was our powder room/guest bathroom right off the kitchen and while it seems to be the most simplistic makeover, it has proved to be the biggest challenge so far.

We didn't have the budget to hire someone to re-do the bathroom, but Phil and I have done bathrooms before so I figured we could handle it ourselves. 

Let's just say, I feel like I could be a plumber from all I learned after this project.  Not one single thing was an easy task, especially locating the main water shut off valve (we don't have one in the house, it was covered by drywall in the basement).  From unstained floors, to warped walls, to light fixtures hung at customized heights which means specialty mirrors, to unusually sized pipes requiring specialty extenders, to oil based paint, if there was a challenge, we had it.

Long story short, I worked on this bathroom for a week and a half and felt very proud of myself for finishing it 100% on my own literally hours before hosting Phil's company party, but I would never want to do it again!!!

It seems so simple now, but I appreciate this room probably more than all the others and it gave me a new found respect for handymen.

BEFORE:

Ugh, Every fixture was bright gold and when I took out the sink, the unstained floors showed around the outside of the new sink, so I had to sand and stain the floor.

AFTER:

Walls: Sherwin-Williams Duration Matte in Fawn Brindle 
Ceiling: Glidden Bright White Flat
Trim: BEHR Semi-gloss in Polar Bear White
Sink, Mirror, Light Fixture: All Home Depot
Shelf: Lowe's
Basket and decor items: Home Goods

BabyVG3 Bump-Date

It has been a while since I wrote anything about Baby Girl #3, so I thought I would give an update, or a bump-date, if you will.

All pregnancies are different, but my first two were pretty text book.  There hasn't been anything REALLY difficult this time around, but we have had a few bumps in the road for sure.

Back at the 20 week ultrasound the baby's kidneys were dilated and they found a 'band' on the placenta.  They didn't give me much detail and didn't seem too concerned, but sent me to a Maternal Fetal Medicine and Genetics Specialist just to get a second opinion.

The second ultrasound showed that the baby's kidneys are fine and the band on the placenta was more like very mysterious scar-tissue that they couldn't really label, but ruled out that it was of any concern.  They later confided in me that they were concerned that the band could have been Amniotic Bands which are very scary so don't Google them (they are like spider webs that the baby can get caught in and suffer limb amputation or worse, swallow them which causes suffocation).

They did note that the baby's size would need to be monitored, in case the band impeded the baby's growth, so I knew I would need a couple more ultrasounds throughout the pregnancy just to check size.

We moved a few days after the Fetal Medicine appointment and I started my check up's here in Georgia.

My first appointment in Georgia was at 25 weeks and yes, almost all of my appointments look like this; the girls with their leap pads trying to entertain themselves through the LONG waits.

I was still feeling pretty good and running up to 28 weeks, but then the pesky sciatic nerve pain started up and Braxton Hicks started to get pretty strong, so I backed off to just walking and thankfully I got some relief.  I also had to back off on the home projects in order to slow the Braxton Hicks contractions as well.

Then came another little curve ball, I failed my one hour glucose test, so I had to go back for the three hour test.  Thankfully I passed my three hour test and it was enough of a wake up call for me that I needed to make some dietary changes anyway (I'll be honest, I had been in survival mode with the move and watching what I ate was not at the top of my list, but I have made a very conscious effort to improve my diet).

At 31 weeks I was given a routine ultrasound just to make sure she was growing well and to confirm once again that her kidneys are okay (and they are).  Of course she was measuring just fine, in fact she was measuring a week ahead, so we did a happy dance for the small victories!

BUT, unfortunately, I just had my 35 week check up and another ultrasound, again to measure baby's size, and while she is just right on track size wise, guess what, SHE IS TRANSVERSE (she isn't fully breech, but rather sideways). That explained a lot of my discomfort.  Her head is literally shoving out just under my ribs while her feet are kicking out on the other side and her butt is pushing WAY out right in front, just behind my belly button and it makes it very difficult for me to find a comfortable position either sitting, standing or laying down.

This means that we need to get her to rotate head down in the next four weeks, or a c-section will be arranged.

There is still plenty of time for her to turn, but I have been reading up on the 'tricks' to help her move and have started by walking in the pool, stretching and literally shoving her head down when she pokes it out on my side (the doctor said I might be able to manually rotate her).  My next step is the pre-natal chiropractor starting tomorrow and I am praying she can help!

I will be going in for another ultrasound in a little over a week to determine her position, and if she still hasn't moved, then the doctor will try an external version, which is where I am given medication to relax the uterus so the doctor can manually push and press the baby to rotate.  I am hoping we don't have to get to that point, but will gladly try it to avoid a c-section if possible.

My prayer right now is that we deliver a healthy full term baby and that I can be completely at peace with whatever delivery scenario plays out.

In the meantime, the nursery is almost complete and I AM READY FOR HER TO GET HERE!!!

Van Gelder Georgia Adventure ~ Third Month

As I wrote in the post about our second month here, the transition and move has been harder emotionally for me than expected, but each week it does get a little better, and thankfully the third month here was better than the first two.

The month started off with hosting a company party at our house (which forced me to get a couple more house projects done) and we hosted the fight here too!

 

The house is starting to feel much more like home and we have established a bit of a routine with the gym and grocery shopping and regular trips to the library.

Strawberry season is super early around here, and there aren't any farms especially close to us, but we trekked out pick strawberries and I have to say, they were hands down the best strawberries I've ever had.  The bonus was that they stayed sweet, ripe and firm for a good two weeks which doesn't usually happen.  Next year, look out, because I plan to do some serious stocking up.

We experienced our very first camping trip as a family.  You can read up on that here: Camping Crazy

Full on camping may not be completely our style, but we did enjoy finding new places to hike around our area, especially this waterfall trail.

Visiting a petting/nature ranch zoo with friends was a highlight this month as well.

 

 

THE POOL OPENED, NEED I SAY MORE!

Plus the farmer's market, free gelato during kids days and a visit from Indiana friends also.

 

There were nights like this one, when we had a neighborhood pool party and the world felt right. We met a couple of new families and spent time getting to know a family we had already met and I got excited for those glimpses of normalcy.  I am still a long way from feeling settled here, but I am super grateful for nights like this one, that give me hope that soon this will feel like home!