101 Things: 83. Renovate the kitchen

This is a big one to cross off the list. When we purchased this house, it was on the condition that we remodel the kitchen ASAP. It wasn’t the ugliest kitchen in the world, but it might have been one of the most non-efficient ones I’ve ever been in. You could just tell that this kitchen was for heating up frozen pizzas, not for COOKING. You know what I mean? I usually love to cook, bake, preserve, the whole she-bang. However, I lost my mojo when we moved into the house because of this kitchen. It was such a pain to do anything. No good work area, crappy stove and cook top, and the worst that there was no flow. The island was more in the way than a work hub. Terrible, I tell ya. Here’s a couple of photos of how it was before:

So, we planned on getting the kitchen done this winter. Then came the exciting new we were pregnant again. Should we go ahead with our plans or wait? Would it get done in time? Shawn and I decided to go for it and get it done no matter what. Our thinking: Would we rather do this now or after the baby arrived? I did NOT want to deal with construction and an infant at the same time, nor did I want to have this turn into a “someday” project where I would have to suffer on with this inoperable kitchen. Full steam ahead!

We found an amazing contractor with Collamore Built. Justin and his team were amazing. I can’t say enough of how great a job they did or how pleasant the process was. I already know that we’ll be working with them in the future for some other renovation projects. (Master bathroom and the basement are already on the list.) Here are some more “after” photos so you can see all the details.

Dream Year 2012

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I’ve been given a clean bill of health by my OB/GYN and my primary care provider, so I’m now determined to start an exercise regimen and get my body into shape. After going through so many trials and tribulations the past couple of years, I am more determined than ever to get in shape. This is not so much about weight loss (well it is a little) but about feeling strong and in control of my body again. I’m calling this Dream Year 2012 inspired by Skip.

My plan is to incorporate exercise into my daily routine. I’m going to get back into yoga again, taking the baby on walks when it’s weather-permitting, and doing some sort of workout tape while he naps. I need to find something that’s about 30 minutes – I don’t think I can spare more time than that. I’m hoping to find something on Netflix, since I don’t want to invest in a DVD until I know I’ll like it. Do any of you have A suggestion on which work for you?

Birth Announcement

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It took a few weeks, but here is Joseph’s official birth announcement. Pretty stinkin’ cute, right? I actually took this photo of him with my iPhone. Amazing quality for a phone, huh? I love that thing. It is great when I want to snap a picture of him and send it to my mom or the rest of the family. Plus, I always have it on hand and is fully charged, quite unlike my camera.

We ordered the announcements through Tinyprints online. I have to say, they did an amazing job. I am really happy with the quality of the print and the site was super easy to use and had great templates to choose from. You can even upload your address book and they will mail them directly for you. This was such a time saver! They also have invitations, thank you cards, etc. available. I know that I’ll be using them again for Christmas cards, party invitations, and the like. I highly recommend you check them out.

Joseph: One Month

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Guess who turned one month old on Friday? I can’t believe how fast that went by.

This past month, I was born, gained about 2lbs, and have started to become more alert and love to “talk” to my toy puppy, Spot. I am a good eater and sleeper, waking up only once or twice a night. I love to take baths and snuggle with mommy and daddy. I can’t wait to see what the second month will bring.

Outfitted: New Momma Uniform

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I’m happy to say that I’m complete out of all of my maternity clothes. Woot! I actually am out of most of my pre-pregnancy clothes as well. I need to get some new things and I am craving some good fitting khakis, more striped shirts (you can never have enough, right?) and some comfy new Tretorns for the season. Notice my new accessory, the Bugaboo Cameleon? Hands down the best stroller ever. Now I just have to get the hubby to babysit so I can go clothes shopping.

Back in the swing

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Just wanted to post that I’m back in the swing of things on working on the Crafty 365 Challenge. Yes, even with the little guy taking up most of my day (and night) I am still finding time to work on some projects. I’m mostly catching this time when he is napping, so it’s maybe an hour or so tops, but at least its something! I’m dividing my time working on two projects right now, one sewing and one knitting. I can’t really say too much more about them yet because they are both gifts, but I promise to post more once I am done and they’ve been received.

Joseph’s Quilt

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I started working on this quilt soon after we found out that we were having a boy. I had been saving Shawn’s old shirts to use for a sewing project and I thought that this was the perfect one to use them for. I had eight shirts that I broke down into 6.5” squares of fabric. I then used those along with some white Kona cotton to make half-square triangles (HSTs) There are a lot of good tutorials out there for HSTs, like here and here. They are a great basic block that you can make a ton of different designs from. After making a TON of HSTs, I pieced the quilt top together. I sandwiched the quilt using Warm & Natural batting and some plain white flannel (both from Joann’s) and made the binding with some gray Kona Cotton from my fabric stash. I quilted it by outlining the squares as well as following the diagonals. I also embroidered a tag to go on the back with Joseph’s birth date, height and weight.

I can’t even tell you how happy I am with how this quilt turned out. It was the most labor-intensive quilt I’ve made to this point and I was truly a work of love. I hope that Joseph will enjoy it for years to come.

To see more photos, go to the full post.

101 things: 6. Make another quilt

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This is the quilt that I have been working on for what seems like forever and it is finally done. I had an idea about making a special quilt for Joseph as soon as I found out we were having a boy. I had been saving Shawn’s old shirts to cut up for fabric and I decided that this would be the perfect project to use them. They were all in the color palette of the nursery and I thought that it would be extra special to have a quilt made for our son “made with Daddy’s shirts by Mommy’s hands.” I’ll post more of the details about the process of making the quilt and more pictures here.

Bottles v. Boobs

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I touched on this a little bit when I posted about Joseph’s birth, but I felt that I wanted to say a little bit more. I went into this thinking that I would breastfeed. I mean with these boobs, I thought that I would be the blue ribbon milker at the county fair. Unfortunately, things turned out differently.

The breastfeeding thing was hard. I was really wanting to do it and was pretty upset at first that it wasn’t happening. He latched on great at the hospital, but when I was home and got sick, my milk wouldn’t come out. I mean it was definitely in, I was swollen beyond belief. I was pumping with every feeding trying to get it to come out and nothing. My body was not letting me give up any fluids. I have to admit that I was really hard on myself about this, I was upset and felt that there was something wrong with me that I couldn’t do this for my child.

Well, it ended up that there actually WAS something wrong with me. I went to the hospital and was treated for the postpartum preeclampsia. This led to my milk drying up along with all the other fluids leaving my body. After some discussion with my doctors and with Shawn, I decided then that I did all I could to try to breastfeed, but I wasn’t willing to go on more medication to try to get my milk back. I just went through hell trying to get my body to regulate and get back to “normal” and I didn’t want to have a relapse or any other health issues so I could take care of my baby. He seemed to be happy and healthy on the formula and that is what mattered most to me.

Now, I must admit that I haven’t had too many bad comments from anyone yet, but I feel a lot of guilt about bottle feeding and also the need to explain WHY I’m not doing it. It’s a messed up thing. Society pushes the “breast is best” idea pretty hard and I understand the merits of breastfeeding, but for those who cannot -for whatever reason- do so, there is a great stigma there. I have some friends who were bullied by other moms about their choice and I truly feel for them. It is an emotional time and you are already wracked with guilt and anxiety over doing the right thing. It’s horrible to think that others would play on those feelings to make you doubt yourself and what you are doing for your child.

I am not saying either way which is better, I am only sharing what happened in my situation and how I am dealing with it. Bottom line: Joseph is thriving and that is all that matters to us.