Week 35: Nesting and Renovations

Justin has the idea that since he will have 6 weeks off when the baby comes, that he will be able to completely renovate the guest bathroom and our master bathroom. I keep telling him that it is unrealistic to think that he's going to have that much spare time with a newborn and lots of visitors. Plus, I refuse to have a newborn in a construction zone. He has been wanting to redo the baths for some time now, so I have been looking at images of what I would want and watching HGTV for years.

If you were to guess the age of our home by looking only at our bathrooms, you would guess the 1980s or early 1990s. Forest green laminate counters, huge mirror, carpet (yuck!), and honey oak cabinets. The house was actually built in 2002 and the builder or first home owner made these horrible design decisions. We've looked at lots of the neighbors' homes and we have never seen anyone else with the green counters. So, needless to say, I really want a beautiful bathroom.

If you have never been on or heard of pintrest.com, it is an addicting website that has millions of photos with links to external websites containing everything from recipes, home decor, DIY projects, fashion, and much more. The concept of the website is that if you find something you like you can "pin" it to your own virtual pin board. Anyways, I've been browsing it a lot lately to find inspiration for home decorating ideas.

We have looked at vanities from Home Depot, Lowes, and IKEA, but they are all so expensive. The other day, while Justin played video games and I sat next to him browsing pintrest.com, I stumbled upon a link to a woman's blog who had the same builder grade honey oak cabinets we do and she stained them a dark espresso color. I've considered this before, but the idea of sanding the vanity down to bare wood seems daunting. This woman found a gel stain that just goes on the cabinets after a very brief (1-2 minutes) sanding. So, I showed Justin and he got so excited and we ordered the exact stain she recommended and last night we began the process in our bath. We figure if it goes horribly wrong we can easily replace one vanity rather than the two (or the kitchen which we plan to do next if this works out). Pictures to come!!

This is the blog photo of the before and after. Lets hope ours looks the same!

I have found a few more DIY remodeling ideas that we plan to tackle also. Apparently nesting for us is home renovation rather than cleaning. We are both so excited to get these projects done before baby time. He feels handy and I am happy that we won't live in a construction zone.

I love my husband because....

I love my husband because he is willing to help and hold back mockery.

I have the most amazing pair of boots and I wanted to wear them the other day. I got my feet into them, but could not for the life of me zip them up. So, like the good husband he is, Justin helps squeeze my legs into the boots and zip them up. It took about twenty minutes, ripped holes in a pair of my leggings, and had me alternating between laughter and tears. After successfully zipping them up, he says I better wear them all day after all that effort. So, I run errands for twenty minutes, come home and immediately take them off. Justin yells from upstairs, "Are you taking your boots off!?" I yell back, "Yeah, I wore the wrong socks." He just glares at me.

Week 34: Heartburn, Aches, and My Belly Button

For the past few weeks I have had bad heartburn before bed every night. No matter what I eat, whether it is healthy or greasy, I have to pop some Tums before I lay down. Every time I move, it flares up. I have never had heartburn before this pregnancy and I actually had to google the feeling I was getting because I wasn't sure what it was. It's not fun and I hope I don't have to deal with it after this. An old wives tale says that heartburn means your baby will have a lot of hair. As much fun as having a baby girl with tons of hair to play with right from the get go sounds, there are some nights where I would gladly have a bald baby in exchange for no heartburn.

For months my back has been sore and I've just become accustomed to it and have managed some ways to alleviate the pain. Since I can't take any pain medication, I have to lay down in specific positions or stand up to ease the pain.

Everyone who looks at my belly thinks my belly button has popped out, but it hasn't! I made the mistake of piercing my belly button when I was in high school. Although I took it out 5 years ago, the scar is still a bit visible. Since my tummy has stretched out, the scar tissue from the piercing pokes out a bit making it look like my innie belly button is now an outtie. I was never worried about that being an issue later. I was more worried about my tattoos stretching and luckily, none of those have.

On a brighter note, Justin and I went to Babies 'R Us to pick up a few more of the many, many essentials we need. I promised Justin we could go to Costco after so he can get some free samples. Luckily, when I bribe him, it is pretty easy. This trip, we walked out with a car seat, diaper pail, some diapers and pail refills. I made sure to go in with a 20% off coupon to ease the pain. We still need a lot of things so I need to keep my eye out for more coupons.

Week 33: End of a Chapter

As of today, after over 6 years of service, Sergeant Justin Pearson is officially out of the Marine Corps. We are both overjoyed that we have finally closed this chapter of our lives. While it was the most important one because it brought us together, it also brought so much heartache when it took him to Iraq for the first year of our marriage. I know how much he used to enjoy it, but the past year has been no fun for him. Luckily, he will have a whole new job starting soon - fatherhood. Less pay, but more rewarding.

We both look forward to having the freedom that we did not have before. He would be called away one weekend a month, which was not good for his job, and two weeks during the summer, which was really hard for me being home alone. We could never move to another city or take an international vacation without the military's approval. Now, we can explore our options and not feel so tied down.

Even though it is pouring rain today, it is celebration time!

Justin getting promoted

Marine Corps Ball 2009

Payback is a Bitch

Justin has worked for a utility company off and on for five years and I always hated how he dressed. Being in construction meant that he wore dirty work boots, spray painted jeans, and tee shirts (often worn inside out to hide labels). I was embarrassed by his appearance and called him homeless or a hobo. This is why I love his military job and sheriff job - very nice, presentable uniform.

Anyways, the other day we were just leaving the house to go to the Starbucks drive thru and therefore, not getting out of the car. So, I got into the car in sweatpants and a sweatshirt and my loving husband (who managed to put on jeans and a shirt) looks at me, smiles, and says, "Who's homeless now!" I just sat there in shock for a second while he laughed at his own cleverness. I couldn't help but start laughing too. I guess I deserved it since I was wearing a sports bra instead of a real bra and I couldn't remember if I had brushed my hair yet that day. He said he's been waiting five years to use that on me and he finally found his window of opportunity. I'm flattered, in an odd way, that I went five years without ever looking "homeless" to him, but he chose to say it to me while I'm 33 weeks pregnant and feeling icky. I don't think he will ever say it to me again, for fear of getting slapped, but payback sure was a bitch.

Week 32: Cold Weather, Happy Couple

This week, the weather in Colorado has been so great. By great, I mean cold. I have been so hot these past couple months and running the air conditioner nonstop. Justin has been a great sport about keeping me cool (partially because he knows that I get super cranky when I'm hot). Trying to sleep has been difficult because I am so warm. Justin has been opening windows and placing box fans to get our bedroom as cool as possible so I can sleep, even if it means he is freezing. I had begun to think that it was impossible for me to get a chilly feeling.

Today, the weather has been a fantastic 46 degrees so our house has been at 63 degrees all day. I slept with my blanket covering me and I'm actually wearing sweat pants. I own two pairs of pajama shorts (both are very old and have gigantic holes in them that make Justin laugh) that I have been constantly washing to keep cool. The cat is buried under blankets or cuddling on our laps to keep warm. Justin is in long sleeves, wrapped in a blanket, and drinking cup after cup of tea to keep himself warm. They are both being so great about adjusting to my needed temperature. I think Justin is excited to see a dramatic decrease in our utility bills because he knows the AC is off and I have no plans to turn on the heat.

While I am so incredibly relived to see this weeks forecast, I do not think I am ready for the snow yet. I need a dose of fall before we head into winter. Weather related fear: blizzard when I go into labor and getting to the hospital takes forever because of the snow storm. Please snow, can you just hold off blizzards until December when I will have no plans to leave my house for a month. 

Week 31: Colorado Baby Shower

On Sunday, September 30th, three of my girlfriends, Lauren, Lisa, and Sarah, threw me a baby shower! It was so beautiful and they all put so much time and effort into it. I felt so special. The theme matched with our nursery so it was a Paris themed tea party. I got lots of sweet gifts for the baby and one special one for me: the Titanic DVD, which is my favorite movie and our Tivo broke the other day erasing it from its memory.

The beautiful invitation my friend Chandra designed for the shower!

Sarah wrote a beautiful post in her blog that has some of the 180 photos she took throughout the shower. She wrote it better than I could so CLICK HERE!