me & the babe & getting ready
hypersteve is in California right now, lounging by the pool and napping probably, gathering his energy for the non-stop onslaught that is San Diego Comicon. In the meantime I've made myself a giant list of things to do that are all about getting our house ready for the new babe. I'm in full on nesting mode. So far today I've finished up all the shelving in the kitchen. It was a bit of a disaster, mainly because the brackets I bought were far flimsier than I imagined and the anchors were just not strong enough for our lousy walls. They were already up once, came down rather dramatically, and had to be rehung. By the way - when nearly full bottle of sweet ginger wine shatters on the kitchen floor, it will take at least 8 passes with the mop before all the stickiness is gone.
It took a stupidly long time to get them just right -at least for me. I have gut renovated whole houses, yet these stupid shelves took nearly three hours, between the replastering, touch up paint, me moving super slowly, and a necessary food break. Being pregnant is really starting to slow me down. Getting up and down the ladder was a slow process, I don't feel as strong as I once was, I get out of breath rather quickly now that the chid is big enough to impinge on my lung capacity, and I'm back to needing to eat small meals every two hours to keep the heartburn in check. Even so, I'm still not completely done. I need to find a stud (in a plaster & lath wall no less) for one final L bracket above the shelf to keep it extra secure. In addition I need to install door handles on the new cabinet doors, add one piece of trim, and shorten the new table by about 4-6" Of course that will mean more sanding and some touch up paint.
Aside from that, I'm going to take advantage of our long, long, long, tall hallway and install a shelf to run the entire 35' just above the door frames. All our books will live there, freeing crucial wall space. Hopefully it will go a little easier than the kitchen shelf. The walls are still lathe & plaster, but the shelves will be resting on top of the doorframes so they will have extra support and I don't have to spend time trying to make everything perfectly level - the frames will take care of that for me. I also have far better brackets and better anchors since not all the supports will make it into a stud.
Once the books are up and away, I can move all the bookshelves from our bedroom & the guestroom into storage, freeing up much needed space. I'll move our bed into the guestroom, and will prep our room into the new shared kid sleep room. While some people think having Rocketboy share a room with a baby is crazy, he's been begging for it - mostly becuase lately he's been feeling lonely and a little frightened at night; but he's a heavy sleeper, and the babe will mostly sleep with me and hypersteve at first so I don't forsee it being too problematic. Besides I really like the idea of being able to decorate the bedroom in cozy, sleepy colors. Rocketboy's current bedroom will become a playroom, complete with couch (the foldout from the guestroom) and perhaps the TV, freeing even more space in our living room.
While I can't imagine getting all of this done in the next week, at the very least I can get the books taken care of and the paint colors picked out. That is as long as the weather, the babe, and Rocketboy cooperate. And why might the baby not cooperate? Because it is getting this big:
I've never posted a single belly picture and while I'm still a little too overwhelmed to go through my Scotland photos or to arrange an actual photo shoot, I will post this grainy iPhone image. Enjoy!
It took a stupidly long time to get them just right -at least for me. I have gut renovated whole houses, yet these stupid shelves took nearly three hours, between the replastering, touch up paint, me moving super slowly, and a necessary food break. Being pregnant is really starting to slow me down. Getting up and down the ladder was a slow process, I don't feel as strong as I once was, I get out of breath rather quickly now that the chid is big enough to impinge on my lung capacity, and I'm back to needing to eat small meals every two hours to keep the heartburn in check. Even so, I'm still not completely done. I need to find a stud (in a plaster & lath wall no less) for one final L bracket above the shelf to keep it extra secure. In addition I need to install door handles on the new cabinet doors, add one piece of trim, and shorten the new table by about 4-6" Of course that will mean more sanding and some touch up paint.
Aside from that, I'm going to take advantage of our long, long, long, tall hallway and install a shelf to run the entire 35' just above the door frames. All our books will live there, freeing crucial wall space. Hopefully it will go a little easier than the kitchen shelf. The walls are still lathe & plaster, but the shelves will be resting on top of the doorframes so they will have extra support and I don't have to spend time trying to make everything perfectly level - the frames will take care of that for me. I also have far better brackets and better anchors since not all the supports will make it into a stud.
Once the books are up and away, I can move all the bookshelves from our bedroom & the guestroom into storage, freeing up much needed space. I'll move our bed into the guestroom, and will prep our room into the new shared kid sleep room. While some people think having Rocketboy share a room with a baby is crazy, he's been begging for it - mostly becuase lately he's been feeling lonely and a little frightened at night; but he's a heavy sleeper, and the babe will mostly sleep with me and hypersteve at first so I don't forsee it being too problematic. Besides I really like the idea of being able to decorate the bedroom in cozy, sleepy colors. Rocketboy's current bedroom will become a playroom, complete with couch (the foldout from the guestroom) and perhaps the TV, freeing even more space in our living room.
While I can't imagine getting all of this done in the next week, at the very least I can get the books taken care of and the paint colors picked out. That is as long as the weather, the babe, and Rocketboy cooperate. And why might the baby not cooperate? Because it is getting this big:
I've never posted a single belly picture and while I'm still a little too overwhelmed to go through my Scotland photos or to arrange an actual photo shoot, I will post this grainy iPhone image. Enjoy!