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Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
He may not cry,but he can yell.
So little Clayne doesn't cry very often at all. (I just typed this one-handed whilst knocking on wood).
HOWEVER, he has been congested the past few days so he is waking up about once an hour at night. But when he wakes up, he doesn't cry. He yells. I don't know how else to describe it, other than it just sounds like he is hollering at me to come wipe his nose and give him back his binky.
If I manage to be in somewhat of a conscious state tonight, I will record it to show you.
HOWEVER, he has been congested the past few days so he is waking up about once an hour at night. But when he wakes up, he doesn't cry. He yells. I don't know how else to describe it, other than it just sounds like he is hollering at me to come wipe his nose and give him back his binky.
If I manage to be in somewhat of a conscious state tonight, I will record it to show you.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Elea climbing wall
Elea is only defying gravity vertically, not horizontally AND vertically. Promise.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
I really do have a son. Really.
Here is Clayne, "in pictures."
2 days old.
My Mom came to save the day once again-- this time for 3 weeks. :) My Dad came into town for Clayne's blessing the first weekend in February. Why no blessing pictures you ask? Let's just say that his blessing day was a little chaotic and a little less than ideal and I was not in my right mind yet 3 weeks post baby. Or something like that. If we have another baby someday, I'm going to wait until they are walking to have them blessed, maybe by then my hormones will be back to "normal."
Newborn photos-- 3 and a half weeks, almost 4. (The photographer is Staci D Photography, she was awesome and even though she'd moved up North, she made time for us on her anniversary weekend trip down South! If you live in Utah or Salt Lake County, CALL HER.)
Okay, so these photos took forever and a day to upload and now it is time for sleep. More pictures to come. :)
2 days old.
My Mom came to save the day once again-- this time for 3 weeks. :) My Dad came into town for Clayne's blessing the first weekend in February. Why no blessing pictures you ask? Let's just say that his blessing day was a little chaotic and a little less than ideal and I was not in my right mind yet 3 weeks post baby. Or something like that. If we have another baby someday, I'm going to wait until they are walking to have them blessed, maybe by then my hormones will be back to "normal."
Okay, so these photos took forever and a day to upload and now it is time for sleep. More pictures to come. :)
Monday, March 7, 2011
Our Little Elea Drew
So with Clayne's arrival, Elea is now a BIG SISTER. She has handled the transition very well. Jeff has spent a lot of time making sure she doesn't feel ousted. But I don't want to write about her in relation to Clayne on this post... I am just going to make some notes about her as she is now-- 2 1/2 years old.
Elea has zero interest in potty training. She LOVES chocolate milk. Despite our best efforts, she has stuck to her, "I can't want that," when it comes to any vegetable besides potatoes and all fruits. Unless you count fruit snacks. Dora the Explorer reigns supreme. We have 30+ episodes saved on the DVR with Team Umizoomi and Bubble Guppies coming in close 2nd with 10 & 11 episodes respectively. (I could lie and say that she only watches the "less than 2" hours of television daily recommended by the powers that be, but I won't).
Elea has been her own little person since before she was born. I love that about her. She loves to laugh but she is not about to fake a laugh for the sake of the person trying to entertain. She doesn't just smile at people to make them smile back. It was kind of awkward when she was younger because adults would try to get her to interact with them, and if she wasn't in the mood she would just stare back at them-- while I stood there watching as their faces slowly fell. Now, however, she LOVES saying hi to anyone and everyone. And not just once. If we see a person in the grocery aisle she will say hi to them over and over and over until they are out of sight-- it's a new version of supermarket sweep for me because I am more the the head-down-try-not-to-make-eye-contact type and after the 5th "hello" I feel obligated to interact with said shopper.
Elea has zero interest in potty training. She LOVES chocolate milk. Despite our best efforts, she has stuck to her, "I can't want that," when it comes to any vegetable besides potatoes and all fruits. Unless you count fruit snacks. Dora the Explorer reigns supreme. We have 30+ episodes saved on the DVR with Team Umizoomi and Bubble Guppies coming in close 2nd with 10 & 11 episodes respectively. (I could lie and say that she only watches the "less than 2" hours of television daily recommended by the powers that be, but I won't).
Elea has been her own little person since before she was born. I love that about her. She loves to laugh but she is not about to fake a laugh for the sake of the person trying to entertain. She doesn't just smile at people to make them smile back. It was kind of awkward when she was younger because adults would try to get her to interact with them, and if she wasn't in the mood she would just stare back at them-- while I stood there watching as their faces slowly fell. Now, however, she LOVES saying hi to anyone and everyone. And not just once. If we see a person in the grocery aisle she will say hi to them over and over and over until they are out of sight-- it's a new version of supermarket sweep for me because I am more the the head-down-try-not-to-make-eye-contact type and after the 5th "hello" I feel obligated to interact with said shopper.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Clayne's Birth
Disclaimer: I'm not editting this or censoring for those who may be worried about "too much information," so just be warned! :)
I went to my Doctor appt. on Tuesday, the 11th, and he said that I was 50% effaced and dilated to a 2. So I had him strip my membranes, just in case. Then nothing happened, which wasn't a huge surprise considering I was only 37 and a half weeks. Then on Friday I went back in to have him strip my membranes again because Jeff realized that he had Monday off of school so it would be a great weekend to have a baby. At that visit I was a 2 and a half and 75% thinned out. So I left there pretty hopeful, but again, I was only 38 weeks so it was a long shot. I went walking that afternoon with MarJean (my mom-in-law) and was having contractions every 10 minutes, but the minute we stopped walking, they stopped.
That night I got up around midnight and realized that the mucous plug had come out. So that made me really hopeful because with Elea, that didn't happen until I'd been having contractions for 5+ hours. So I had a few contractions, but forced myself just to fall asleep, thinking that when I woke up in the morning, I would start moving around and they would probably start up again.
Yeah... not so much. When I got up that morning, I called my mom to let her know, just in case, because if I went into labor, she was going to need to find a flight sometime over the weekend. And I called my sister because that's just what I do. She gets pregnancy updates more than she probably wants. :) Since it was a 3 day weekend anyway and there being a possibility of me going into labor, her & derek and the girls came out to St. George for the weekend.
So anyway, Saturday goes by with a trip to costco so that I could walk, and a walk around the neighborhood, both accomplishing nothing except putting me in a really bad mood. Sunday morning came and still nothing, so I decided I would quit thinking about it because it was just making me ornery. But at the same time, the clock was ticking and Angie was going to be leaving the next afternoon. That night, Shanna, my sister in law, brought some essential oils over for me to try. I don't know the exact blend, but if you rub them on your feet and the acupressure points that are supposed to induce labor, they help get things going. So Jeff rubbed my right foot with the oils and I started feeling some contractions almost immediately. But once again, when he stopped, they stopped.
Later that night, before we went to bed, he tried again, rubbing my right foot with the oils and I started having contractions. Then I rubbed my own left foot, and nothing happened. So I tried rubbing my right foot some more and the contractions kept coming, every 10 minutes. When I went to the bathroom before getting in bed I saw that I had bled some more, so I knew the contractions were actually doing something.
I ended up staying up all night with contractions every 10 minutes or so (while Jeff slept). Around 3 a.m. or so, I got up to take a bath because I was feeling stir crazy laying in bed. I was reading a book and realized that after getting in the tub, I didn't have a contraction for 20 minutes. So I hurried and got out and they immediately started up again. I got back in bed until around 4:30 or so, I think, and then decided to take a shower and do my hair, etc., to see if getting up and moving would speed things up a bit.
And it did.
By the time I had showered and blow-dried my hair, they were coming every 5 minutes or so. That's when I realized that my house was not ready for my mom to come and me to be gone. So I threw in some laundry, called my parents, and then went to wake up Jeff. He called his parents so that his mom could come stay with Elea. Once they got there, Jeff gave me a blessing and we headed to the hospital. The contractions were about every 3 minutes at that point. I think we got to the hospital around 6:15 a.m., but I'm not positive. I got a hold of Angie and we decided to have her just come to the hospital right away, because we didn't know how far along I was, etc.
At the hospital, they put me in the room and strapped on the monitors and told me I needed to lay in the bed with the monitors for 20 minutes. Can I please say that I really dislike the 20 minutes (which turned into more like 30) that I am stuck in the stupid bed. My contractions were feeling stronger at this point but being stuck in the bed made it harder for me to relax and escape mentally during each contraction. If that makes sense. So finally the nurse checked me and I was at a 4. Sometime around 7:15 ish, they let me get up and walk and said they needed to talk to my doctor and "see some progress" before they could officially admit me. So once I got up and walked around, Angie started timing the contractions and they were coming every couple of minutes at this point. This pregnancy, I hadn't spent the time "practicing" the relaxation techniques from the hypnobirthing book like I did with Elea. I didn't listen to any of the visualization CDs or anything either, I was just going into it hoping that it was like riding a bike, once you knew how, you knew how. So with each contraction, I would just stop and put my hands against the wall and rock back and forth. I felt the contractions 100% in the front of my hip bones this time, every time. I don't know how long we wandered the halls of labor & delivery, but Doctor Chalmers told them to admit me.
He came in around 8, I think, and I was at a 6, and Clayne was at a 0 station, so he broke my water. At that point I started using my ipod and listening to Enya. I alternated between standing, using Jeff as support or sitting on the bed, with the bottom of the bed dropped down like a giant chair. They started hitting, hard and close together. There was a few times that I was close to crying- I was having a difficult time staying on top of them. Finally, I stopped turning off the music between contractions because by the time I took out the earbud and hit pause, a new one was coming. They brought in a birthing ball, I attempted to sit on it and immediately had to stand up because it didn't feel right. I felt pressure for the first time, but just for the split second I was on the ball.
Okay, so like I said, at this point I was listening to my music and had pretty much gone to never-never land in my head so I'm fuzzy on the details. But, around 8:45 (according to Angie's blog) after sitting back on the bed, the nurse checked me and I was a 7.5. But not feeling pressure. Then 25 minutes later she checked me again and I was at an 8+ so she went to get Dr. Chalmers. All of a sudden, I started feeling a ton of pressure. I shifted over onto my left side because sitting up, I felt like I was going to crush Clayne's head.
All of a sudden I felt the urge to push and had felt so much pressure that even though I was trying not to, my body was pushing anyway. So I started to panic because with Elea, I felt a ton of pressure and the urge to push for an hour before I was dilated fully, and was able to push. So, hearing that I was 8+ and my body pushing, I was afraid it was going to hurt Clayne, or something else not good. I had taken off the ipod and Jeff was telling me not to push, but my body was pushing, and it felt like I was pooing all over the bed. I asked Jeff if I was, he said no. Angie had run out to get the nurse because she could tell things had progressed WAY fast so another contraction comes, my body is still pushing even though I'm trying not to, then I hear the nurse say, "I only have one glove on!" and the next contraction Clayne was born.
Oh, did I mention that only 3 minutes had gone by since she'd measured me at an 8+?
I didn't realize that when I felt like I was pooing- it was actually little Clayne coming out and after that 2nd contraction, as Angie and the nurse ran back in, his head was already out! So yeah, my doctor was there to deliver the afterbirth and put 1 stitch in. Lol. I'm so grateful Angie was there to get the nurse because Jeff was in a complete panic and pretty much frozen by my bedside. If they hadn't gotten back in the room, right when they did, Clayne would have landed on the lowered bottom portion of the bed!
If we end up having child #3, I think I'm going to prepare myself to deliver the baby myself, just in case!
So there it is. Clayne Jeffrey Oliverson was born at 9:17 a.m on January 17, 2011. He weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. He has a head-full of dark hair like his older sister and hair all over his body, just like his Daddy!
I went to my Doctor appt. on Tuesday, the 11th, and he said that I was 50% effaced and dilated to a 2. So I had him strip my membranes, just in case. Then nothing happened, which wasn't a huge surprise considering I was only 37 and a half weeks. Then on Friday I went back in to have him strip my membranes again because Jeff realized that he had Monday off of school so it would be a great weekend to have a baby. At that visit I was a 2 and a half and 75% thinned out. So I left there pretty hopeful, but again, I was only 38 weeks so it was a long shot. I went walking that afternoon with MarJean (my mom-in-law) and was having contractions every 10 minutes, but the minute we stopped walking, they stopped.
That night I got up around midnight and realized that the mucous plug had come out. So that made me really hopeful because with Elea, that didn't happen until I'd been having contractions for 5+ hours. So I had a few contractions, but forced myself just to fall asleep, thinking that when I woke up in the morning, I would start moving around and they would probably start up again.
Yeah... not so much. When I got up that morning, I called my mom to let her know, just in case, because if I went into labor, she was going to need to find a flight sometime over the weekend. And I called my sister because that's just what I do. She gets pregnancy updates more than she probably wants. :) Since it was a 3 day weekend anyway and there being a possibility of me going into labor, her & derek and the girls came out to St. George for the weekend.
So anyway, Saturday goes by with a trip to costco so that I could walk, and a walk around the neighborhood, both accomplishing nothing except putting me in a really bad mood. Sunday morning came and still nothing, so I decided I would quit thinking about it because it was just making me ornery. But at the same time, the clock was ticking and Angie was going to be leaving the next afternoon. That night, Shanna, my sister in law, brought some essential oils over for me to try. I don't know the exact blend, but if you rub them on your feet and the acupressure points that are supposed to induce labor, they help get things going. So Jeff rubbed my right foot with the oils and I started feeling some contractions almost immediately. But once again, when he stopped, they stopped.
Later that night, before we went to bed, he tried again, rubbing my right foot with the oils and I started having contractions. Then I rubbed my own left foot, and nothing happened. So I tried rubbing my right foot some more and the contractions kept coming, every 10 minutes. When I went to the bathroom before getting in bed I saw that I had bled some more, so I knew the contractions were actually doing something.
I ended up staying up all night with contractions every 10 minutes or so (while Jeff slept). Around 3 a.m. or so, I got up to take a bath because I was feeling stir crazy laying in bed. I was reading a book and realized that after getting in the tub, I didn't have a contraction for 20 minutes. So I hurried and got out and they immediately started up again. I got back in bed until around 4:30 or so, I think, and then decided to take a shower and do my hair, etc., to see if getting up and moving would speed things up a bit.
And it did.
By the time I had showered and blow-dried my hair, they were coming every 5 minutes or so. That's when I realized that my house was not ready for my mom to come and me to be gone. So I threw in some laundry, called my parents, and then went to wake up Jeff. He called his parents so that his mom could come stay with Elea. Once they got there, Jeff gave me a blessing and we headed to the hospital. The contractions were about every 3 minutes at that point. I think we got to the hospital around 6:15 a.m., but I'm not positive. I got a hold of Angie and we decided to have her just come to the hospital right away, because we didn't know how far along I was, etc.
At the hospital, they put me in the room and strapped on the monitors and told me I needed to lay in the bed with the monitors for 20 minutes. Can I please say that I really dislike the 20 minutes (which turned into more like 30) that I am stuck in the stupid bed. My contractions were feeling stronger at this point but being stuck in the bed made it harder for me to relax and escape mentally during each contraction. If that makes sense. So finally the nurse checked me and I was at a 4. Sometime around 7:15 ish, they let me get up and walk and said they needed to talk to my doctor and "see some progress" before they could officially admit me. So once I got up and walked around, Angie started timing the contractions and they were coming every couple of minutes at this point. This pregnancy, I hadn't spent the time "practicing" the relaxation techniques from the hypnobirthing book like I did with Elea. I didn't listen to any of the visualization CDs or anything either, I was just going into it hoping that it was like riding a bike, once you knew how, you knew how. So with each contraction, I would just stop and put my hands against the wall and rock back and forth. I felt the contractions 100% in the front of my hip bones this time, every time. I don't know how long we wandered the halls of labor & delivery, but Doctor Chalmers told them to admit me.
Okay, so like I said, at this point I was listening to my music and had pretty much gone to never-never land in my head so I'm fuzzy on the details. But, around 8:45 (according to Angie's blog) after sitting back on the bed, the nurse checked me and I was a 7.5. But not feeling pressure. Then 25 minutes later she checked me again and I was at an 8+ so she went to get Dr. Chalmers. All of a sudden, I started feeling a ton of pressure. I shifted over onto my left side because sitting up, I felt like I was going to crush Clayne's head.
All of a sudden I felt the urge to push and had felt so much pressure that even though I was trying not to, my body was pushing anyway. So I started to panic because with Elea, I felt a ton of pressure and the urge to push for an hour before I was dilated fully, and was able to push. So, hearing that I was 8+ and my body pushing, I was afraid it was going to hurt Clayne, or something else not good. I had taken off the ipod and Jeff was telling me not to push, but my body was pushing, and it felt like I was pooing all over the bed. I asked Jeff if I was, he said no. Angie had run out to get the nurse because she could tell things had progressed WAY fast so another contraction comes, my body is still pushing even though I'm trying not to, then I hear the nurse say, "I only have one glove on!" and the next contraction Clayne was born.
Oh, did I mention that only 3 minutes had gone by since she'd measured me at an 8+?
I didn't realize that when I felt like I was pooing- it was actually little Clayne coming out and after that 2nd contraction, as Angie and the nurse ran back in, his head was already out! So yeah, my doctor was there to deliver the afterbirth and put 1 stitch in. Lol. I'm so grateful Angie was there to get the nurse because Jeff was in a complete panic and pretty much frozen by my bedside. If they hadn't gotten back in the room, right when they did, Clayne would have landed on the lowered bottom portion of the bed!
If we end up having child #3, I think I'm going to prepare myself to deliver the baby myself, just in case!
So there it is. Clayne Jeffrey Oliverson was born at 9:17 a.m on January 17, 2011. He weighed 7 lbs. 2 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. He has a head-full of dark hair like his older sister and hair all over his body, just like his Daddy!
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| My 2 favorite pictures of Jeff are this one and the one taken right after Elea was born. He can't help but smile huge, I love it. :) |
Sunday, January 9, 2011
. . . Counting down the days. . .
This weekend Jeff cleaned the house and I waddled around pretending to be useful. I did finally get all of Clayne's 0-3 months clothes and blankets, etc. washed. Finally. I have been putting it off, just in case he comes out a girl- but really, 2 obvious ultrasounds should be enough reassurance, and now that it's done, I'm glad I finally did it.
Now we are just trying to mentally prepare Elea from the changes that are about to happen. I don't know that that is even possible, but she did see a "Birth Story" episode and keeps asking me to watch the "baby born" on TV... so maybe she gets it. A little. But that is probably extreme wishful thinking on my part. Anyone have any suggestions/tips on how to help the oldest child through the transition of no longer being center of the universe in the family? AND any tips on how to make them not feel left out/behind in the meantime?
I go in for my 37 1/2 weeks appt. on Tuesday. Crossing my fingers I've progressed from the 1 cm dilated & 50% thinned from last week's appt. so that he'll strip my membranes. I'm not too huge and uncomfortable at this point, but I'm starting to get anxious to have Clayne HERE and move forward as a family of 4. If that makes any sense. I should probably just be grateful for the good nights sleep I am currently getting and quit worrying about when I will go into labor... but that's not really my way. :)
Speaking of which, I am going to go to bed, since I just realized that it is later than I thought. But my "goal" is to post more between now and Clayne's birth because I just re-read some posts from before Elea's birth and right after, and I am so grateful that I have them to look back on! Shame on me for slacking for the past year and a half!!
Now we are just trying to mentally prepare Elea from the changes that are about to happen. I don't know that that is even possible, but she did see a "Birth Story" episode and keeps asking me to watch the "baby born" on TV... so maybe she gets it. A little. But that is probably extreme wishful thinking on my part. Anyone have any suggestions/tips on how to help the oldest child through the transition of no longer being center of the universe in the family? AND any tips on how to make them not feel left out/behind in the meantime?
I go in for my 37 1/2 weeks appt. on Tuesday. Crossing my fingers I've progressed from the 1 cm dilated & 50% thinned from last week's appt. so that he'll strip my membranes. I'm not too huge and uncomfortable at this point, but I'm starting to get anxious to have Clayne HERE and move forward as a family of 4. If that makes any sense. I should probably just be grateful for the good nights sleep I am currently getting and quit worrying about when I will go into labor... but that's not really my way. :)
Speaking of which, I am going to go to bed, since I just realized that it is later than I thought. But my "goal" is to post more between now and Clayne's birth because I just re-read some posts from before Elea's birth and right after, and I am so grateful that I have them to look back on! Shame on me for slacking for the past year and a half!!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
We spent last night and today in our own house for the 1st time since we've been married. Took us 6 years, but we finally pulled it off!
I woke up at 6:15 this morning excited for Christmas. Elea had no idea that this morning was any different than any other morning when she crawled into bed with us at 7 am. She just made her usual "Curious George" & "chocit milk" requests. So when Jeff came back upstairs he started bringing up Merry Christmas, presents, Santa, etc. I still don't think she had any clue until she was downstairs looking at the toys Santa had brought her.
Growing up, my family always ate waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for Christmas morning breakfast. Jeff humored me this year, and I don't think he was super psyched about the idea until he was actually eating them, so now it's been instituted as OUR family Christmas morning breakfast tradition. YAY!
The other funny one was playing Christmas music while opening presents. When we were first married and at my family's house every other year, it "made him feel awkward." So last night when I was setting up the playlist, hoping that I would be able to pull off playing music this morning, he came in and said he thought it was a good idea. Now that we have Elea, it doesn't make him feel awkward anymore. :) Which makes me happy, because the first Christmas I spent with his family instead of my own when we were engaged, the lack of Christmas music during present opening is eventually what got to me and I ended up crying it out later that afternoon!
Jeff & I agreed not to get each other anything this year and for once, we finally stuck to it. :) Elea got Jeff a picture frame with family pictures in it for his office at work and she got me a "Rachel Ray, 365 different meals" cookbook. I am actually really excited about the cookbook, believe it or not. A girl can only cook tuna casserole so many times.
MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you all are having or had a great day!
I woke up at 6:15 this morning excited for Christmas. Elea had no idea that this morning was any different than any other morning when she crawled into bed with us at 7 am. She just made her usual "Curious George" & "chocit milk" requests. So when Jeff came back upstairs he started bringing up Merry Christmas, presents, Santa, etc. I still don't think she had any clue until she was downstairs looking at the toys Santa had brought her.
Growing up, my family always ate waffles with strawberries and whipped cream for Christmas morning breakfast. Jeff humored me this year, and I don't think he was super psyched about the idea until he was actually eating them, so now it's been instituted as OUR family Christmas morning breakfast tradition. YAY!
The other funny one was playing Christmas music while opening presents. When we were first married and at my family's house every other year, it "made him feel awkward." So last night when I was setting up the playlist, hoping that I would be able to pull off playing music this morning, he came in and said he thought it was a good idea. Now that we have Elea, it doesn't make him feel awkward anymore. :) Which makes me happy, because the first Christmas I spent with his family instead of my own when we were engaged, the lack of Christmas music during present opening is eventually what got to me and I ended up crying it out later that afternoon!
Jeff & I agreed not to get each other anything this year and for once, we finally stuck to it. :) Elea got Jeff a picture frame with family pictures in it for his office at work and she got me a "Rachel Ray, 365 different meals" cookbook. I am actually really excited about the cookbook, believe it or not. A girl can only cook tuna casserole so many times.
MERRY CHRISTMAS! I hope you all are having or had a great day!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
KITCHEN BEFORE & AFTER PICTURES!
So it took me a month. And after failing miserably at painting/recoating the laminate countertops, we ended up finding an awesome counter top guy in town who was able to give us a great deal since he had some remnant pieces we liked. Oh and he threw in a free sink. And then when the old faucet was removed we saw that it was all corroded so we decided christmas, and anniversary, and birthdays, for us this year was the kitchen, including a new faucet.
I thought before doing this project that someday I would want to expand the kitchen, etc. After painting and sanding and sealing every inch of wood in the kitchen... I've changed my mind. It is plenty big. For at least the next 15 years. I used Caromal Colours, I really liked the whole process, and the outcome, but I can't say if it is easier or harder than the standard sand, paint, glaze, seal process because I had never done anything like this in my life! lol. Luckily, my mother in law helped me with the whole toning/wiping off process on the cabinets doors. I did the sides of the cabinets and the crown molding and my OCD-ness kicked in hardcore and I spent WAY more time than was necessary on them. Needless to say, I would still be painting if it wasn't for her.
So here are the before pictures:
AND AFTER:
So there you go... Now that I've finally posted these pictures I can start catching up on everything else that's happened in the past month & a half. But not today. :)
I thought before doing this project that someday I would want to expand the kitchen, etc. After painting and sanding and sealing every inch of wood in the kitchen... I've changed my mind. It is plenty big. For at least the next 15 years. I used Caromal Colours, I really liked the whole process, and the outcome, but I can't say if it is easier or harder than the standard sand, paint, glaze, seal process because I had never done anything like this in my life! lol. Luckily, my mother in law helped me with the whole toning/wiping off process on the cabinets doors. I did the sides of the cabinets and the crown molding and my OCD-ness kicked in hardcore and I spent WAY more time than was necessary on them. Needless to say, I would still be painting if it wasn't for her.
So here are the before pictures:
AND AFTER:
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| I'm not the only one that is excited the project is complete! |
Thursday, October 28, 2010
We've moved!
I can't believe it has almost been a month since my last post!
After replacing the carpet, we moved our stuff into the new house last weekend and started sleeping here 2 nights ago. I ATTEMPTED to refinish the hunter green laminate countertop. They look okay, but I am in the process of bidding out just getting them replaced at this point. So we'll see. Now I'm in the process of refinishing/painting the kitchen cabinets. . . They were a light oak circa 1998 complete with gold and porcelain handles. I will post pictures when we get the whole thing done. It's definitely making me feel like the kitchen is a lot bigger than I originally thought!
Jeff has been called as the Young Men's Secretary and sports coach in the ward. They read in our membership records and sustained him in the same meeting. Must be some kind of record. Football season is officially OVER and I would say that I have my husband back except he volunteered to help out with the little league 8th grade team and there is church YM flag football as well, but I can only complain about the 8th grade team since the other is technically a church calling. But it is really nice to have him home before 5 everyday, even if it's just for a few minutes. :)
Elea is as funny as ever. Angie saved my life last week and kept her in Page with her, Monday- Friday so that I was able to pack my house and get cleaning done in the new house since it hadn't been lived in for a year. I would never have been able to get it all done with Elea here- she definitely saved me. And of course Elea went to sleep for naps and bed time like a saint for Angie. And ate all sorts of food. Not so much for mom and dad now that she is back home... but that's just life I guess. I was very glad to get my little sunshine back though.
Elea is getting her adenoids out on the 3rd of Nov. I am nervous for her to go under anesthesia, but it is only a 15 minute procedure so that's good. I am excited for her to be able to breathe better after it's all finished. Hopefully her constant runny nose will be a thing of the past. . . we'll see.
Things are going good with the pregnancy. I will be 27 weeks tomorrow- it's crazy how fast time is going by, it hasn't felt like 27 weeks. Clayne already feels like a different little person from Elea, even in the womb. I may be completely off, but he seems like a pretty mellow little guy so far. Elea would kick at anything that put any sort of pressure on my belly until it was gone-- he's had to deal with her jabbing and jumping on him already-- without fighting back, so we'll see what he's like in a few months. I'm nervous about being a mom of 2, but knowing that my mom is coming to help me for awhile to get a hang of things makes me a lot less anxious!
Well, there is a quick update-- going to go check upstairs to see if elea is asleep or just being mischievously quiet.
After replacing the carpet, we moved our stuff into the new house last weekend and started sleeping here 2 nights ago. I ATTEMPTED to refinish the hunter green laminate countertop. They look okay, but I am in the process of bidding out just getting them replaced at this point. So we'll see. Now I'm in the process of refinishing/painting the kitchen cabinets. . . They were a light oak circa 1998 complete with gold and porcelain handles. I will post pictures when we get the whole thing done. It's definitely making me feel like the kitchen is a lot bigger than I originally thought!
Jeff has been called as the Young Men's Secretary and sports coach in the ward. They read in our membership records and sustained him in the same meeting. Must be some kind of record. Football season is officially OVER and I would say that I have my husband back except he volunteered to help out with the little league 8th grade team and there is church YM flag football as well, but I can only complain about the 8th grade team since the other is technically a church calling. But it is really nice to have him home before 5 everyday, even if it's just for a few minutes. :)
Elea is as funny as ever. Angie saved my life last week and kept her in Page with her, Monday- Friday so that I was able to pack my house and get cleaning done in the new house since it hadn't been lived in for a year. I would never have been able to get it all done with Elea here- she definitely saved me. And of course Elea went to sleep for naps and bed time like a saint for Angie. And ate all sorts of food. Not so much for mom and dad now that she is back home... but that's just life I guess. I was very glad to get my little sunshine back though.
Elea is getting her adenoids out on the 3rd of Nov. I am nervous for her to go under anesthesia, but it is only a 15 minute procedure so that's good. I am excited for her to be able to breathe better after it's all finished. Hopefully her constant runny nose will be a thing of the past. . . we'll see.
Things are going good with the pregnancy. I will be 27 weeks tomorrow- it's crazy how fast time is going by, it hasn't felt like 27 weeks. Clayne already feels like a different little person from Elea, even in the womb. I may be completely off, but he seems like a pretty mellow little guy so far. Elea would kick at anything that put any sort of pressure on my belly until it was gone-- he's had to deal with her jabbing and jumping on him already-- without fighting back, so we'll see what he's like in a few months. I'm nervous about being a mom of 2, but knowing that my mom is coming to help me for awhile to get a hang of things makes me a lot less anxious!
Well, there is a quick update-- going to go check upstairs to see if elea is asleep or just being mischievously quiet.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
We're moving! Again!
A few weeks ago, Jeff's dad told us about a house in their neighborhood that was for sale. My immediate reaction was to wonder why he was telling me about the house when I have that foreclosure on my credit report and so we can't qualify for a loan for at least 4 years.
But, we decided to check it out anyway, just for fun, and really liked it. So we talked with the seller's and they are willing to do a seller financing/ lease option type deal with us! Last week was pretty stressful because we ordered an appraisal and it came in $25,000 LESS than the price we had agreed upon. I figured it all out and it would still have saved us money to go with their asking price and at least have a portion of our monthly payment be going toward OUR mortgage, instead of renting for the next 4 years, paying our landlord's mortgage. But, no matter how much we loved the house, we couldn't justify starting out upside down in it.
So we talked with the seller's and we were firm on our price, and they were firm on theirs and it seemed like we were at a stalemate. I started looking at other properties around town with seller financing or lease options available and had made an appointment to see a few with a realtor. The next morning the seller's called us and had decided over the weekend it was worth it to them to meet us at our price!!! Yippee!!
We're pretty psyched. We still have a few of the little details to work out, but otherwise we're planning on being in the new place on the 1st of November! Nothing like moving twice in one pregnancy. But with any luck this will be the last place we move for a long, long, time.
Other than the insomnia that has come with this whole house deal, things have been pretty good around here... There are only 3 games left in the football season and I will have my husband back, and Elea is as entertaining as ever.
But, we decided to check it out anyway, just for fun, and really liked it. So we talked with the seller's and they are willing to do a seller financing/ lease option type deal with us! Last week was pretty stressful because we ordered an appraisal and it came in $25,000 LESS than the price we had agreed upon. I figured it all out and it would still have saved us money to go with their asking price and at least have a portion of our monthly payment be going toward OUR mortgage, instead of renting for the next 4 years, paying our landlord's mortgage. But, no matter how much we loved the house, we couldn't justify starting out upside down in it.
So we talked with the seller's and we were firm on our price, and they were firm on theirs and it seemed like we were at a stalemate. I started looking at other properties around town with seller financing or lease options available and had made an appointment to see a few with a realtor. The next morning the seller's called us and had decided over the weekend it was worth it to them to meet us at our price!!! Yippee!!
We're pretty psyched. We still have a few of the little details to work out, but otherwise we're planning on being in the new place on the 1st of November! Nothing like moving twice in one pregnancy. But with any luck this will be the last place we move for a long, long, time.
Other than the insomnia that has come with this whole house deal, things have been pretty good around here... There are only 3 games left in the football season and I will have my husband back, and Elea is as entertaining as ever.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Family Pictures of FOUR!
Since Elea was born we have not had a "professional" family picture taken so even though we couldn't schedule Staci D until the 2nd week of September, I thought it was worth it. I figured I'd just chance it and hopefully not LOOK the 20 weeks pregnant that I actually was going to be.
Well . . . here are the some of my favorites that she has posted on her blog & I'm really glad we finally did the family picture thing.
p.s. Need to throw a quick shout-out to Angie for suggesting Elea's low pigtails. :) I would have tried to curl her hair or something crazy and she wouldn't have looked like herself at all.
Well . . . here are the some of my favorites that she has posted on her blog & I'm really glad we finally did the family picture thing.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Dancin' girl
It's a BOY!
Okay, okay, I know this is a little late coming . . . and I hope that the delay in posting about the ultrasound does not give the impression that it has ANYTHING to do with a lack of excitement about having A BOY! Really, it has a lot more to do with me having been too lazy to scan the images so that I can post them.
Jeff had to work on the day of the ultrasound so he was not able to come. I have been feeling like it is a boy since pretty early on in the pregnancy. Partly because it has been EASY-GOING so far with very little morning sickness & fatigue. Anyway, so as Bobbi, our ultrasound tech, was searching around for possible boy-parts, she stopped and it was pretty obvious, even to me. After getting a couple good looks she made the "official" call that it was a boy and I would be lying if I said that I didn't raise my arms up in a "V" for victory and proclaim that I had been right. It's hard to explain, but as I've struggled trying to get and stay pregnant, there have been many days, weeks, and months that I have lost faith and trust in my own body. Even though I know that millions of women go through it and many of my close friends have and are struggling with the same thing, there definitely is a sense of being betrayed by my own body. So, for me to FEEL something about my body and this pregnancy and have it BE RIGHT was a pretty great moment. Silly? Probably. She also took a quick look at his heart, etc. and said that from what she could see, everything looked good. We go in next week for the full-on-check-everything-out ultrasound, and hopefully Jeff will have someone to cover his class this time.
Before we knew whether it was a boy or a girl, Jeff has been pretty sure that he only wants 2 kids. If this one was a girl, I had said "yes" to just having 2, but if it was a boy, I told him that I couldn't agree to that because I want Elea to have a sister. My sister has been my lifeline on many a dark day before I was married and on many an I'm-about-to-lose-my-mind day since becoming a Mommy, so I don't know that I can send my little girl out into the world without a sister (even if I am the most fabulous, coolest, amazing wonder of a mom out there). So up until we found it was a boy, Jeff had his mind set that it was a girl.
After the ultrasound, I bought some blue "it's a boy" balloons and took them to his office at work. I was hoping to just take them to him in the gym, but his class was meeting with the counselors that day. His mom came with me and last minute we decided to hide behind a file cabinet so that we could watch his reaction in the big mirror without him knowing we were there. When he saw the balloons he starting laughing and said, "No way," and just kept laughing, shaking his head. He looked really excited and totally surprised. I was glad to be able to see his reaction without him knowing I was there, otherwise I would be wondering if his reaction was genuine, or put on for my benefit. We talked for just a few minutes before leaving and he just kept laughing. Later that night he exclaimed, "I'm going to have a son!" it was pretty fun to watch it sink in for him.
We're naming him Clayne Jeffrey, CJ for short. Here are the ultrasounds- 16 weeks 4 days. Some of them are a little thrashed because at least once a day Elea wants to "look at baby" and then carries the strip of ultrasound pictures around with her for awhile.
I'm hoping that his buddha/meditation pose means that he is going to be calm & serene . . . and/or very patient. The dark diamond shape on the top of his head is his soft spot, pretty cool huh?
Jeff had to work on the day of the ultrasound so he was not able to come. I have been feeling like it is a boy since pretty early on in the pregnancy. Partly because it has been EASY-GOING so far with very little morning sickness & fatigue. Anyway, so as Bobbi, our ultrasound tech, was searching around for possible boy-parts, she stopped and it was pretty obvious, even to me. After getting a couple good looks she made the "official" call that it was a boy and I would be lying if I said that I didn't raise my arms up in a "V" for victory and proclaim that I had been right. It's hard to explain, but as I've struggled trying to get and stay pregnant, there have been many days, weeks, and months that I have lost faith and trust in my own body. Even though I know that millions of women go through it and many of my close friends have and are struggling with the same thing, there definitely is a sense of being betrayed by my own body. So, for me to FEEL something about my body and this pregnancy and have it BE RIGHT was a pretty great moment. Silly? Probably. She also took a quick look at his heart, etc. and said that from what she could see, everything looked good. We go in next week for the full-on-check-everything-out ultrasound, and hopefully Jeff will have someone to cover his class this time.
Before we knew whether it was a boy or a girl, Jeff has been pretty sure that he only wants 2 kids. If this one was a girl, I had said "yes" to just having 2, but if it was a boy, I told him that I couldn't agree to that because I want Elea to have a sister. My sister has been my lifeline on many a dark day before I was married and on many an I'm-about-to-lose-my-mind day since becoming a Mommy, so I don't know that I can send my little girl out into the world without a sister (even if I am the most fabulous, coolest, amazing wonder of a mom out there). So up until we found it was a boy, Jeff had his mind set that it was a girl.
After the ultrasound, I bought some blue "it's a boy" balloons and took them to his office at work. I was hoping to just take them to him in the gym, but his class was meeting with the counselors that day. His mom came with me and last minute we decided to hide behind a file cabinet so that we could watch his reaction in the big mirror without him knowing we were there. When he saw the balloons he starting laughing and said, "No way," and just kept laughing, shaking his head. He looked really excited and totally surprised. I was glad to be able to see his reaction without him knowing I was there, otherwise I would be wondering if his reaction was genuine, or put on for my benefit. We talked for just a few minutes before leaving and he just kept laughing. Later that night he exclaimed, "I'm going to have a son!" it was pretty fun to watch it sink in for him.
We're naming him Clayne Jeffrey, CJ for short. Here are the ultrasounds- 16 weeks 4 days. Some of them are a little thrashed because at least once a day Elea wants to "look at baby" and then carries the strip of ultrasound pictures around with her for awhile.
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Monday, August 9, 2010
1st day of Jeff's career job!
Today was Jeff's first day at Snow Canyon Middle School as a P.E. & Weights teacher. Growing up, my mom always took our picture on the first day of school and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to snap one of Jeff on his way out the door this morning! I am so grateful that he (finally!) has a teaching job and our life can get some normalcy in it. He's also assistant coaching the Freshman football team and so far I'm LOVING the schedule compared to Cedar High's Varsity team. On the calendar so far there are only 7 games, and they are on Thursday afternoons. AND there are no Sunday night meetings. So it is pretty fabulous that Elea and I will have him to sit by at the games on Friday nights and Sunday evenings won't drag. YAY!
On a completely different note, I signed Elea up for her first ever dance class today. I think I am doing it more for my entertainment than for her to develop any talent at this point. ha.
I'm revisiting the idea of potty training. I am pretty clueless on how to do it & don't know if I am up for the messes. However, I don't know that I will EVER be ready for the messes so I should probably put some big girl panties on us both and just do it. Alternatively, I'm also considering just dropping her off at Angie's house for a few days so that Angie can potty train her and Lexi at the same time and call it good.
Since my last post, we made a trip up to Roosevelt and then down to Page, my parent's came to visit, and we went up north to Preston, ID for a family reunion. I will post about all of these adventures and more, with pictures, sometime this week.
On a completely different note, I signed Elea up for her first ever dance class today. I think I am doing it more for my entertainment than for her to develop any talent at this point. ha.
I'm revisiting the idea of potty training. I am pretty clueless on how to do it & don't know if I am up for the messes. However, I don't know that I will EVER be ready for the messes so I should probably put some big girl panties on us both and just do it. Alternatively, I'm also considering just dropping her off at Angie's house for a few days so that Angie can potty train her and Lexi at the same time and call it good.
Since my last post, we made a trip up to Roosevelt and then down to Page, my parent's came to visit, and we went up north to Preston, ID for a family reunion. I will post about all of these adventures and more, with pictures, sometime this week.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Baby O. #2!
He/she is due January 28th. I made the announcement on Facebook last week, but am a little late getting it recorded on here. As of today, I am 14 weeks along, so through the first trimester and breathing a little easier now. After miscarrying in February, we kept this pregnancy under wraps longer- just in case.
So far I have been very lucky. I was nauseous off & on and definitely had my days of wanting to do nothing but lay on the couch all day- but that's about it. Nothing too crazy.
I'm feeling like it's a boy. Jeff hasn't said one way or the other, but I thnk he's assuming it is a girl. Elea said to me out of nowhere the other day, "I want a sister." Regardless, the ultrasound is scheduled for August 17th to find out one way or the other.
I've had, I think, 4 ultrasounds, maybe more. Dr. Chalmers is fabulous and knows that I am/was worried, so he let me come in whenever I wanted for a quick ultrasound, just to make sure everything was still going as it should. There wasn't much to see with the first ultrasounds, but here are a couple of pictures from the last one-- he/she actually looks like a legit baby now!
So far I have been very lucky. I was nauseous off & on and definitely had my days of wanting to do nothing but lay on the couch all day- but that's about it. Nothing too crazy.
I'm feeling like it's a boy. Jeff hasn't said one way or the other, but I thnk he's assuming it is a girl. Elea said to me out of nowhere the other day, "I want a sister." Regardless, the ultrasound is scheduled for August 17th to find out one way or the other.
I've had, I think, 4 ultrasounds, maybe more. Dr. Chalmers is fabulous and knows that I am/was worried, so he let me come in whenever I wanted for a quick ultrasound, just to make sure everything was still going as it should. There wasn't much to see with the first ultrasounds, but here are a couple of pictures from the last one-- he/she actually looks like a legit baby now!
12 weeks & 4 days
Monday, July 19, 2010
Elea's 2nd Birthday
We didn't go crazy this year for her birthday-- Just had family over for pizza & cookies and ice cream. Elea doesn't like cake so I made her a giant chocolate chip cookie instead. One of her favorite foods is pizza, so I figured I should take advantage of that before she gets old enough to request birthday meals that can't be bought in a drive-thru window.
It was really nice to be living in a place big enough to have 8 adults and 12 kids without having to walk all over one another. The kids got in a water fight in the backyard towards the end of the night, which was pretty fun to watch-- and even more fun to send the kids out to the cars sopping wet through the side gate! (sorry Jen & Shanna!)
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