Well, it has been some time since my last post. Since then, we have been on a roller coaster ride so to speak. Well maybe a few/several/many (eight) different rides; like when you go to six flags, they are all lined up and have their own loops and twirlies and ups and downs?! Yes, that has been our life and home the past several months.
Starting in May, roller coaster one:
We had to build an extra room in our home for our pending Little Blessing's arrival. We live in an association and are not permitted to change the outside structure of our home. So, we had to find the space inside our home to build a room into........Master bedroom took the fall.
Our master was a bit oversized if the real intent of a bedroom is to sleep. So, we moved everything from our bedroom into our living room and started the renovation. We had a mattress on the living room floor that we slept on. Being 5 months pregnant and growing, it was challenging, but I knew in the end would be worth it!
Baby Room walls up, needing new carpet and paint
The room was completed in July and in the meantime we decided to redo our floors. We had a month and a half until our due date and felt the floors should be done prior to our little one's arrival. We moved all of our belongings into the garage (super excited that everything we have fits into our garage!) and checked into a hotel for several days while our house received new carpet throughout the living space and bedrooms, the dining area received an engineered wood. Previously, we had a cream colored carpet throughout, including the dining area, and we chose a multi-colored carpet that is made of corn fibers so the VOC is as low as wool (without the price tag!).
Dining and Living Rooms after new flooring
Roller coaster number three:
Moving back into our home five weeks before our due date, we decided to tackle the redo of our bathroom. This included new paint, new flooring (from vinyl to a granite composite tile), and change the vanity. In order to save money, we decided to sand and stain the vanity from a light oak to a nice black. We bought the rustoleum counter top transformation kit for a white counter top........well, that didn't turn out so well (user errors, I'm sure). In light of time (a week and a half from due date), we decided to purchase a new counter top. This proved to be a much better option in the end. This project was completed days before we delivered our little one (and I am still decorating it).
No pictures for this yet as we are still decorating it.
Roller coaster number four:
We were fortunate enough to have many friends give, or lend, us the items necessary to care for our pending arrival. We also hit a lot of yard sales over the summer to find necessary items and clothing. This was such a blessing and helped us out tremendously!!! Due to receiving an amazing hodgepodge of items, we decided to paint all furniture items white in order to match. While my husband was hard at work doing that, I "mod podged" paper onto shelving and the back of a bookcase to better fit the colors I wanted to showcase in the baby room. (we are still working on painting the bookcase) We had the crib, rocking chair, and changing table ready for the baby's arrival.
I will post more pictures, once we have the bookcase done, of the entire room. In the meantime, the below picture is the changing table (a quasi picture of it before is in the top photo of the bedroom).
We also painted the diaper pail (beside on left) orange.
Orange is my primary accent color for the room.
I quit my job! Yup, to be a stay at home mommy. After 10 years working with this company, we decided it was best for our family if I "stayed home". It was an interesting day. My last day was the day after my birthday. I took my birthday off (had it scheduled in January, before I knew what day I'd be quitting) and when I came to work on my last day, my desk was decorated in a "Happy Birthday/Congratulations for Baby/Happy Retirement" theme. It was sweet! (and since then, my husband has received a new position in the company - so two major "job" changes for us in a month and a half!)
And because I love Rainbows....
Roller coaster number six:
The last several Dr appts I had, they were having a difficult time finding the baby's heartbeat. In the sonograms the baby was always sleeping and the Dr would jolt my stomach to have him move or have me get up or roll around. This would also cause the heartbeat to go up. My last appt before the due date, the Dr had an extra hard time finding the heartbeat, even rolling around and poking didn't deliver a strong heartbeat. The Dr measured the fluid in the placenta and determined that it was too low and said we would need to induce.
This was crushing to me. I so desperately wanted to 'go into labor'. I wanted to be sitting somewhere and randomly have contractions start, or my water break. After our experience with William, I really wanted to have a normal delivery and at the end hear "healthy baby boy".
My husband, on the other hand, who is a planner, was ecstatic to have a schedule!
The night before we induced.
Roller Coasters number seven and eight are the delivery story and directly afterwards...they are their own long stories so I will share them on a future post. I'm sure this one has been long enough!
I will not keep you guessing though....Our baby boy was born, and is HEALTHY!!!
And through all of these Roller Coaster Rides, Jesus has been holding my hand and keeping me pretty even keeled and leaning on Him... even being 5+ months pregnant and riding rides that are ranging from the kiddie coaster to the topsy turvy! Praise Jesus!
