Sorry, but report cards have to come first.

I swear I will return, just no quite yet. Report cards are due on Tuesday and I have taken a no internet (okay, limited internet) vow until they are finished. I made great strides toward completing them, but am not there yet. Once I have, though, you can look forward to: a picture of my ever growing belly, new carpet stair treads, and a super cute baby shower idea. Sadly, don't expect any updates on the nursery, because I still haven't painted the last coat of white on the gd trim. These days the main occupier of my time is sleep or resting. Who knew growing a fetus was so damn exhausting?

3rd Time's a Charm

At least, I hope...

I started painting the trim Saturday afternoon. I was a bit very cocky and didn't tape anything off. I kept reading in diy blogs about all these ladies who don't tape... that is unless, their husband's are the one's painting. But, for them, no tape. So, I figure, hey, if they don't need tape then I don't need tape.

I was wrong.

I figured that out pretty quickly, before and real damage was done. So, the painting was put on hold until I taped off all the trim. I used frog tape and am pretty happy with it. I think it is a bit better than regular painters tape, but I'm pretty unexperienced when it comes to painting rooms, so don't take my word for it.

I got the first coat or paint down around the time Bill got home (he spent the day in Seattle with a friend).
Here is how is looked after one coat.

Obviously, better than what it looked like with just the primer, but still far from being an even coat. A second coat was most definitely in order.

Today, I painted the second coat on the trim.

I think the white trim really makes the gray pop.Unfortunately, two coats was still not enough. The trim was painted such a dark brown before, the white just doesn't cover it all the way. I'm sure if I had done a more thorough job with the primer it would have, but I didn't. So... coat number 3 is in order. Before that happens though, I will have to sand off some drips. 

I put on the paint a too thick in the beginning because I was trying to cover the brown completely in two coats. Which was a mistake. So, yeah, trying to get cut corners just gave me more work to do in the end. I also removed the tape off of one wall before I realized it was going to need a third coat. So there is some more work I have to re-do.

I did realize that this was the very first time I have ever painted trim. It was definitely a learning experience. Next time I paint trim I will be that much wiser and more experienced. Growing up I never painted, my parents house was completely white and I never touched a paint brush there. I didn't paint a room until we bought our house. The nursery was only the 3rd room I've painted, and it was the first ceiling and the first trim. This room is our first real foray into home improvement and we are surely going to learn quite a bit.

Hopefully, I'll finish the 3rd coat of paint this week. I would like to think it will get done tomorrow, but I highly doubt it. I will have a few hours at home before Bill gets home from work... However, I think I will be pretty wiped out from Valentine's day at work with the kids. Being pregnant, I am pretty wiped out after a normal day at work, add in the excitement of Valentine's and I just don't know if I will have the energy to paint... I might just be more than happy to lay on the couch and watch TV on netflix.

One day this week I'll get it done though. I will. And this 3rd coat of paint will do the trick. It better.

Flooring Surprises

Bill pulled up the carpet in the nursery this week... which led to a couple of surprises.

1. It is not sub-flooring, but our regular wooden floors. Albeit, in horrendous condition- as seen in the doorway from the nursery to the hall.

And 2. WTF is that? It is covering the floor in the closet and creeps out into the main room as well. There are some random small patches of it in other areas of the room.

So now that the carpet is taken care of (he even removed all the tack strips this morning!), it is my turn to take care of the trim. My goal is to do it today- or, at least, start it today. First, I am in need of some lunch (left over palak paneer and butter chicken from India Mahal- yum!) and a nap. But, you know, after that I will totally start painting the trim.

After I finish the trim, Bill is going to take a sander to the floor and see what can be done. Hopefully, that will take care or mystery material and random thick paint splotches. Then we will be able to stain and refinish. This room is our first major overhaul in the house, but you have to start somewhere. This whole thing is definitely a learning process... Here's hoping the end result is decent!

In other baby preparation news, we are going to convert our current cat feeding unit/bathroom junk storage into a changing table. Here it is before:

 
It will need to be painted and the mesh cabinet door replaced with something, you know, opaque. Also, I will switch out the handles and drawer pulls. After that it should make a decent changing table. I had been entertaining hopes of finding a cheap-o dresser on craigslist and refinishing it like the youngsters did, but, alas, that plans seems to be in vain. I've been checking craigslist like crazy, but the dressers never seem to be right- either too expensive or have too many issues. Oh well. This little storage unit should work just fine as a changing table. We have some spare dressers that need some work (they are tall units though, so don't work as changing tables), but they will get the job done for clothes and all that baby stuff. I'm not in love with the dresser I plan on using, but it is free... which is very nice. Hopefully, some fun paint will help endear it to my heart.

Also, I'm doing laundry. Nothing exciting there, I usually take care of that on the weekend. However, I somehow ran a load without adding laundry detergent. Oops. I'm afraid the legendary 'pregnancy brain' is starting to happen.

Okay, time for lunch. And to get caught up on Glee. And take a nap.

Oh, right. And paint trim.

Tortoise Pace

The important part is that he won the race, right? These slow plodding steps we are making just means we are going to be love it that much more in the end, right? Right??


This weekend we installed the light fixture in Judah's room, as well as, one in our upstairs bathroom.
This is the new light in the nursery:

And, here is our new bathroom light:

We put some CFLs we had laying around into the light fixture, and as you can see they were not a matching set. The light they give off is very different. The left one produces a warm light, while the right one is cool. That will need to be fixed... I just need to do a more thorough search of the laundry room closet to see if I can find a mate to one that is in there.

I finally touched up some minor paint spots in the nursery. Nothing big, just little bits where wall paint got on the ceiling of vice versa. It was a super minor job, yet it still took me 2 weeks to actually do. But that's okay, because slow and steady wins the race. Right?


I also put switch-plate covers back on. I bought one new one, because the light switch plate was dark brown and that just would not do. So I bought a cheap-o white one. Which looks lovely. It kinda makes me want to replace all the covers in the room, even though they are already white because they have paint spatters on them from the previous owners (who obviously did not remove them when they painted, they just tried to paint around them).

Here is a sneak peak at the floor under the carpet.

Isn't it pretty? Haha. But the real question, could we just sand it down and paint or stain it and have that be good enough? I'm hoping the answer to that question is yes. Maybe next weekend we will actually get around to ripping it out for good. Maybe.

In other news, and maybe as an explanation (excuse) as to why so little has gotten done is I got a cold. I was a bit freaked out at first, what with being pregnant and all. All I knew is I was getting sick, but wasn't sure if it was a cold or the flu. The flu (specifically a fever) is very bad while pregnant. A cold is a pain in the ass, but not such a big deal. I felt all achy, my throat hurt, my head hurt, and I was super congested. I made sure to take my temperature periodically, but luckily there was no fever. Phew. So, I've just kinda been taking it easy and drinking LOTS of fluids.

I've also been perusing the interwebs for baby stuff. And, dear god, crib bedding is either A. ugly, B. super expensive, or C. both. I think picking out the bedding has been the most frustrating thing to register for. I don't want to get something I don't love, but I also don't want to spend (or have anyone else spend) $400 on a crib set. Seriously, that is ridiculous. I tried Etsy, which definitely has cute options but is expensive. Of course, I would feel better paying the artisan $400 than a giant store, but that doesn't solve the I-don't-have-that-kind-of-cash problem. I think I am either going to have to settle with a crib set that I don't love (but do like/can tolerate) or crack out the sewing machine and make something myself.

Here are the current contenders in the I can afford/kind of like category:

 

 

All are available from Target.com.

Pillow takeover.

I admit. I am a full a stomach sleeper. Which does not bode well when you have gained a solid 10 lbs (and counting) in the stomach. And, you know, all the books and docs say to sleep on your side so the baby gets the most oxygen and food. Whatevs. I cannot help it. I flip to my stomach while I'm asleep. I fall asleep on one side, but wake up on my stomach. Except these days, I'm waking up like every 30 minutes. Which blows. And, sleeping on my stomach is no longer comfortable. Which also blows. Big time. But sleeping on my side isn't so comfortable either. My joints are all out of whack and my arm constantly falls asleep to the point where it is faaar past pins and needles to straight up I can't move this thing on it's own accord. Totally dead body arm. Which blows.

So, yesterday I took the plunge and bought two mondo body pillows to build myself a fortress of sleep. I think it was successful as I slept way better last night than I have in quite a while. The drawback to the pillows taking over my bed is this:

The big guy (not the little girl). There is no officially no room for Ralph on the bed. We have a king sized bed, which is perf for Bill, me, and Ralph (as long as he doesn't hog blankets and stays in the middle).  Ralph is a good bed sleeper. He (usually) sticks the dead center and either makes himself an upside down spoon or a (relatively) little Ralph ball. But, with two body pillows (which, you know, are the size of bodies) there is no room for my cuddly pup. He has to stick it out on the floor. Which gives me a case of the sads. But sleeping gives me a case of the, umm, not sads? Happies, perhaps? Anyway, it is just the way it has to be, but I'm gonna miss my big guy cuddle monster on the bed.

Monkeyshines for Judah!

First off, my many apologies because I am posting this from my itouch. And while the itouch is good for a great number of things, writing paragraphs (or any extended typing) is not one of them. So rest assured, my numerous errors today are not based on my incompetence, but my low tolerance level for writing using only my pointer finger on a touch screen. Anyway...

It's Chinese New Year! In Tacoma something very special goes along with the new year: monkeyshines. We have searched previous years, but never were able to find any. I was really hoping this would be the year since Judah will be born in the year of the rabbit. Lucky for me, Bill gets up super early to walk the doggos before work. The last couple days he has been wearing his headlamp just in case the monkeyshines made an appearance... And today they did! Which, you know, makes sense and all since Chinese New Year didn't start until last night. Still, you never know if the monkershiners are going to get sneaky and put them out a bit early.

-Argh, I can't upload a photo from the itouch to the blog! This will be remedied later when I have my laptop at home (instead of at work where it sits now.). Sigh, blogger really needs to get with it and get an app...- Oh, yeah, there is the ancient laptop/desktop hybrid at home. It is a beast, but at least I can put up pictures!

Anyway, Bill found our pretty little orb in a planter outside the Conservatory at Wright Park. Bill thought that was pretty perfect, since we got married at the conservatory 3 years ago next month. It will be a perfect addition to Judah's room. Now I just have to figure out some way to safely and securely display it. Well, that and get Judah's room to the point where we can display anything, let alone super cool hand made guerrilla art!

We are that much closer to becoming true Tacomans. We have our BeautifulAngle posters up and, now, our very first monkeyshines. Oh, right, and we got married in one of the city's oldest parks... And we have a 106 year old home, designed by a prominent local architect... We work for 2 of the 3 largest employers in the city (school district and port)... Hmm, I'm not sure what else we need to be real Tacomans other than an accumulation of years at this point...

Here is the little cheat sheet I made for identifying the rabbit. It is a bit hard to see it in photos, since the orb is multicolored, but the rabbit is in clear glass.