Pregnancy Reflections

I know you're shocked-this isn't a post about the house. Quite frankly I need a mental and emotional break from the entire thing. So the next big thing on my plate is well of course being pregnant.

Most know this is my last pregnancy. I know I have had a ton of people say I'll change my mind later. However I am SURE I am done. I know I will probably get baby hungry and miss having a small baby but I can only feasibly handle 4 kids :) So with that, I have been pondering on the fact that this is my last pregnancy and all the things that go a long with that and wanted to record some thoughts about pregnancy in general just for fun to reflect on later.

I have been very blessed being pregnant. I have never had any serious problems being pregnant. Same with my deliveries- I've been very lucky to never have any issues and I hope to keep that streak going with this last one. That being said, I am one of the 'unusual' in that I don't enjoy pregnancy. I don't like being pregnant and all that goes with it. Its just not something I can say I look forward to.

For the most part I never notice myself that I am pregnant until my 6 month or so. Then my body really starts to scream 'I'm Pregnant'!! I always show extremely early. In fact, here I am in my 27th week and getting flooded with comments that 'Wow you look like you could go any day'. Then I pleasantly have to explain I still have 3 months. I just 'love' that part about pregnancy :)

I hate being out of breathe. It makes me feel so out of shape. I get up and walk around my house and clean for about an hour and I feel like I just ran a marathon. Sleep is so hard at this stage of pregnancy. I can NEVER get comfortable. I am either too hot, or my body just can't get into the right position to be happy.

Ever since being pregnant with Ridge, I have had issues with my back when I'm pregnant. I feel so dumb cause I get to a point where I look like the typical waddling pregnant girl when I get up. My hips and back go out when I sit down and the first couple steps I take upon getting up really hurt and I look really funny until they sink back into place.

Bending down is so fun. I forget and forget and forget that I have a huge belly and will try to do a drop pick-up and I am quickly reminded of this thing attached to me. Curtis loves to watch me put on my shoes or sweep up with the dust pan or even put on my pants trying to balance. Along with that I will forget that I have a huge belly when I am close to anything. I cannot tell you how many times I have bumped into someone with my belly or into a wall because I have forgotten I have a huge belly to take into account.

You know that 'glow' you're supposed to get when you're pregnant. I don't think I ever get that 'glow'. Like I said, I don't like pregnancy and the way I look pregnant. I have always envied those cute little girls with their cute little bellies (you know who you are). It cracks me up when I am talking to a fellow pregnant momma and they mention how they feel like a whale. I have to laugh inside because I am usually twice their belly size. Most girls grow out of their shirts in their last month. I am struggling now. I have no shirts at all. So getting dressed and feeling cute pregnant is quite a feat. It drives Curtis crazy how I will change my clothes a couple times on Sundays getting ready. I wish we could get a pardon to wear pjs to church when you get to this point :).

But besides all those things, I am going to miss a few things with pregnancy. The biggest thing I will is the little movements you get to feel. Definitely a special bond that I treasure. Sure it hurts at times and does keep me up at night but this is a sensation I will miss in years to come. Pregnancy is a wonderful thing that has given me 3 absolutely wonderful kids and I am excited to see how this last child comes and what it brings to our little family.

So only 3 more months and then this final pregnancy will be over. Mixed emotions but overrall I am excited about the next chapter in my life as well as the next chapter in our family's as we all grow old and move through the next stages of life together.

Tile is done!!

We are almost there!! Yesterday the tile was officially finished.

Here's the master bath with the walk-in shower.

Inside our shower.

This is the master bath sinks that I didn't take a picture of earlier

This is the powder bath. Yes that is paint chips all the way around from the tape.

This is downstairs in the kids bath-

So now we are left with a really really really dirty house that I have the joy of cleaning :) But hopefully it won't be too bad. We're close. We'll see how close though this weekend.

Countertops and tile!!

This past week, Curtis and I made the oh so fun trip to the valley to get our granite. This was an interesting process for sure. We didn't have a lot of choices at all and so what we got wouldn't be my first pick-but its ok. Curtis and Chace worked on getting them in today. They got the outer counters of the kitchen in and our master in. The island will be another feat for another day. Its HUGE and will take over 6 guys to get it in. We also did a darker brown for the island.

Tile has also been going in this week. What a mess. Its depressing to see all the mess it creates, but I have to keep telling myself, we're on the tail end of it all and soon this construction will all be done.

Tile should be completely done on Monday and then we are on the home stretch.

All 3 kids loved playing for hours outside and getting head to toe filthy. Brecklynn loved this old go cart since it was her size and she could get in it herself.

Here's the guys getting the granite cut. What a process. Sad to think this was a nice day and it was in the low 50's. :)

Painting and Cabinets are in and done!!

This week was so long and we are still recovering but we are pretty much all done with painting of the ENTIRE house and cabinets got put in yesterday.

I had no clue all that was involved in getting a house painted. Painting comes after prep and that is NOT fun. I've never caulked before and man I don't know how those that do it for a living do it. My fingers were literally bleeding everywhere. Luckily we paint and that all gets covered up. Our good friend Chace is a painter and he helped us spray the ceilings, spray our closets, and paint everything. We owe him so much.

So crazy to think we are getting so close.

This is our kitchen just before all the cabinets are in. It is showing our paint colors. The tan is throughout the house. The burgandy is only in those two walls as an accent. I was nervous about the color at first but after the cabinets got put in, I LOVE it.

This is our Master. We got the wrong color once and had to re-paint the blue wall but it was worth it. Curtis chose the dark brown. Its a very dark chocolate brown. I actually like it a lot. It matches our new bedspread.

Heres the master bath. Its BLUE. A little too blue. Its the same color as in the bedroom but its on all the walls and it is really bright, but it will get better I think. I am stenciling a lot to help break it up.

Here's the beginning of the stenciling. I only got two flowers done but will do more and in a cream color.

Brecklynn has been super clingy this week and just off her game. I am just figuring its from all the commotion of us doing the painting. We'll see. She loved watching the cabinet guy put it all together. Cracking us up.

Here's the cabinets done. I LOVE THEM. My favorite is the island.

Here's from the entry side. Notice all the dust in the air.

Tomorrow is the beginning of flooring. Should be a week or so until flooring is done and then its just all the finishing touches. Curtis has to get the siding done on the house but he started this yesterday so hopefully it will be done soon. We're getting there!!

Brecklynn is in Nursery!!

This is a week late. Brecklynn started nursery last Sunday. She has been so ready to go (what 18 month kid isn't). She just went right in and enjoyed every bit of it. I can't believe she is so old.

Had to get a group shot. Yes its bright but hey they're all looking :)

Crafting my rear off!!

This week, Cambree and Ridge are with their Grandma and Grandpa Meikle at Disneyland. They are in heaven. To be quite honest, I am missing them greatly and so sad I am not there with them experiencing all that comes with them there. But we were planning on painting this week but that got pushed back. So I had an open week with only Brecklynn and decided to get some stuff done.

With Brecklynn being the only one here, she is getting spoiled rotten. She gets more attention than she ever has. Its been interesting to watch her patterns change. She usually wakes up 3 times a night and gets up at 6 for the day. Ironically, with out her brother and sister here, she hasn't woken up at all at night and sleeps in till 8:00. I thought this whole time, that she was just not sleep trained. No it has everything to do with sharing a room. So it will be so nice to get them in seperate rooms.

This is from Sunday- she was cracking us up. She wanted her hair done and just loved making all kinds of faces. I love this little girl so much :)

These are just a few of the things I have been doing lately. This sign was actually changed last minute. It was supposed to hold our ironing board, but then we realized our ironing board is different than the average and can't be hung without defeating the whole purpose of the board. So it got changed to this :

I am always having problems with Curtis' pants and him forgetting (or me forgetting) to check his pockets before they go in, so this is a little reminder and a nice place to put things I do find.

This is just a cute idea. It is a place to put all those 'lost' single socks.

Not sure how much I like this sign yet, but we'll see when it gets in his room. It didn't quite come out how I pictured. But oh well.

This is for Ridge's room. Its a height measuring board. I love it.

We've had this dresser for awhile thanks to our mother-in-law. Ridge had broken off the face of one of the drawers and we almost called it a loss and was looking for other dressers. But funding just doesn't allow us to go and get a new dresser. So I decided to fix it up. So for the cost of 2 cans of spray paint, I re-did the dresser. It was a weird tanish-yellowish color (sorry I didn't take a before pic). The knobs were a bronze color. So I just painted the knobs the metallic color, painted the dresser a white satin and then stenciled butterflies on it. I am satisfied. Its not the best but it works and I am happy with it.

This is hard to see but its a set of 9 mirrors. This is all from the dollar store. I am happy about it. Its for my entry I am thinking. A cheap way to get a mirror. I just painted the canvases black and took frames and just used the glass and put the mirrors on them. I can't wait to see it up.

There's a couple more projects I haven't quite finished yet but I am close. I feel like there is still so much to do.

We are hoping to start painting the house this Friday so we'll see. Its getting close :)

Finally another house update!

I've really been slacking on getting a house update on here. Frankly I just have been so busy with everything that I completely forgot to. So here ya go...

This is the house at frame-officially :) This view is looking into the kitchen from the living room.

This is the view from our master bedroom to the master bath

There's a phase of the foam insulation not here because of my dumb internet. So I'll have to do it a bit later.

This was last weekend. Curtis and all the brothers and his dad minus Lan, spent the entire day roofing the first half of the roof. Looks good. This project has been put off and put off for so long because of the weather. Been very frustrating and stressful, but its half done.

While that was going on, I took pics of the inside since drywall had gone up. It has totally transformed the entire house. Its now taking shape. Things are looking way better :)

So here's the living room

This is in the kitchen. The arch on the right goes to the front door and the arch on the left goes to the pantry.

View from the living room looking toward the front door.

This is looking down the basement stairwell. Its so tall.

Here's more pics of them out on the roof.

This was today. They are taping currently. We are going to be stuck at this phase for another week or so and then we really get going with paint, flooring and cabinets. We're getting there.

This is our master

Our master looking toward the back wall

Master looking into our master bath

Living room

Living room at a different angle

Dining room and kitchen from the living room

View from the front door.

My preschool room!!

So its getting there!!