Prediction Time!

 Last go around I had a prediction contest going and I want to do the same this time as well. 

Baby Girl Zank is due May 9th.  Little guy was due April 9th and instead he came on the 3rd.  So I'm thinking she's gonna come a few days early too. 

I want your guesses on
1. time of birth (little guy was just before 2 am).
2.  date of birth (no more than two weeks overdue please...that's just mean!)
3.  length (little guy was 20 1/4 inches)
4. weight (little guy was 7lbs 6oz)
5. will she have hair?  and if so what color?
6. will she surprise us all and come out a boy?  what a shocker!

You have one week to submit your guesses and the closest will win a prize.  Which might just be a blog post with a picture of a newborn.  Or a high-five.  Which ever you prefer.  Guessing will close on Saturday the 28th.  

Current House Remodel - The Kitchen

The kitchen at our house is quite tiny.  I have mentioned before that there is no dishwasher and really it's because there is simply no space.  When doing this remodel Stephen kept telling me that he was going to "Ikea-up" the house.  And boy did he.  

 Over the stove (original...gotta love the green stove/oven) he added in a rack for storing our most used kitchen utensils.  Expect the ones shown are not the ones currently hanging there...I have switched them out for the more practical ones.  So no, our meat tenderizer is not the most often used :) There's also a small basket for hanging small utensils, and the rack also holds a small spice center.  

 In this photo you can see the outlets Stephen added in.  Previously there was only one wall outlet in the kitchen, and the old cabinets that were replaced were directly on top of the outlet so you could only access one.  This is much better. 

 The above picture shows the new cabinets that we installed and also more storage solutions.  There's a shelf above the doorway to the dinning room, a cork board which holds our Christmas cards and important receipts...and then our magnet strip.  The magnet strip is one of my favorites.  It used to hold all our knives, but with little guy helping me more in the kitchen now it holds any metal object he can play with.  There's also more outlets on this side, but it's pretty hard to see them. 

 This shows the shelf better...and also shows the original cabinets that we left on the south side of the house. 

 This is the south side of the kitchen that we didn't do anything with, the kitchen sink is under that window.

 This shelf is over the door to the stairs down to the basement.  Yay for more storage!

 Moving around to the west side of the kitchen, you can see the same door, we've added in the shelf from the previous picture and a plastic bag holder, which I love.  The door on the left leads to the bathroom.

 There's the bathroom door again, you can see the nice cabinets, oh and the hood over the oven...it didn't previously have one. 

 Here are the lower cabinets, and the countertops.  Before there wasn't the counter between the fridge and the oven, and only a tiny cabinet between the oven and the wall.  Now there is TONS more counter space.  Although I could always use more.  You can also see the new flooring.  Stephen surprised me with the cabinets and the flooring.  I cried when I saw them.  I LOVE the kitchen now. 

 Again, more of the beautiful cabinets.

 The is the south wall, with the original cabinets and sink.  There's a pull out cutting board that my grandma used to use for extra counter space. 

 I don't remember what was on these hooks before, but we use them for dishtowels and my apron.  I love having multiple hooks in the kitchen. 

A better view of the original sink. 

Remodeling the House - Bathroom

Currently we are living in my grandmother's house.  She moved out somewhere between 6-8 years ago and since then the front part of the house has just been vacant.  Stephen and I decided to move in, remodel and clean it up so that my family can either rent out the front of the house like they are doing with the back of the house or they can hopefully sell it within a few years.  

When we first moved in I was extremely skeptical.  This isn't really something that my family would ever do...and I didn't even know where to start.  Luckily my husband took over and has made it incredible!  I have some before pictures, but I don't want to drag them out right now...so instead let's take a look at the bathroom and then I will show the kitchen later.  

The house only has one tiny bathroom, with only one cabinet under the sink which we replaced with a pedestal sink.  
 

This sink allows us to have much easier access to the faucet in the tub.  Also shown in the above picture is the laminate wood flooring Stephen surprised me with.  Because we took out the cabinet we had to include tons more storage space elsewhere.  You can see the metal baskets we installed above the toilet.  They also continue onto the other wall.  I love these and we will be putting some into our own house one day.

Next up we have the basket situation in the shower.  This is soo handy for holding all of little guy's toys and all of our shower gels. 

Here we have the bathroom window...which is in the shower.  Stephen smartly hung up a shower curtain rod over the window and cut up the old shower curtain to hang there.  

 Funny Story:  During the summer we left the window partially open to get a cool breeze through the house.  The main level of the house is elevated and so this window is quite high up and no one can get to it.  Plus, it's actually a window that goes to the basement stairway...so really no one can come in through it.

Well, while I would shower the curtain would be rustling in the breeze and I was always afraid that some sort of insect or living critter would crawl up the outside wall and into the shower..and thus onto me.  

Then one day as I was showering I noticed something large starting to come through the window!  The curtain was blocking it from my view but immediately I knew it was a tarantula!  Needless to say this scared the crap outta me and I started screaming.  Turns out it was only my husband.  He had no idea this was a legitimate fear of mine and he thought I would get a kick out of it.  No way!  He had to stand on his tip-toes on the stairs to the basement to even reach the window, but he certainly did.

Thankfully after I calmed down he shut the window and we haven't opened it again since.  Now I can shower in peace.  The end.

Next up we have the shelving Stephen installed above the baskets above the toilet.  So much storage!

 A better view of the baskets below the shelves.

 Here's the towel rack Stephen installed between the door to the kitchen on the right, and the door to the master bedroom on the left. 

 And then another view of the bathroom.  It has tons more space now and I love how creative Stephen was with making it more livable. 

Paper or Plastic?

Well, we made the switch.  From eating like grown, civilized adults to eating like bachelors in a bachelor pad. 

 

Yup, move over reusable dishware and hello throwaways!  

As of today I have EXACTLY three weeks until my due date.  And if Little Miss is anything like her big brother...then we are closer to two weeks.  TWO WEEKS!  AGH!  

I had bought some disposable kitchen supplies for after our little one's arrival..but we decided we needed them now. 

A.  We don't have a dishwasher.  We DO have a three year old who likes to eat ALL DAY LONG.  Then throw in a pregnant lady, and a starving husband and we go through a lot of dishes every day.  

B.  The Pregnant Lady.  That'd be me.  This go around the third trimester is being exceedingly painful.  While I still swell quite easily, I am drinking tons of water everyday to mitigate this, but it means I have to change positions all the time...so I can no longer stand in front of the sink for long periods of time doing dishes. 

C.  Did I mention how much pain I am in this time?  Heartburn and swelling I was prepared for, severe pain elsewhere?  News to me!  My pelvis is sore like I have been riding a horse.  Or like I have already given birth...which I have not. Putting on pants has become interesting.  Riding or driving in a car is no longer relaxing. 

D.  My fun trip to the hospital.  I have experienced what is called round ligament pain.  It is no walk in the park.  Basically my body is falling apart.  Or so it feels.  Luckily I haven't had any pain attacks lately and I am hoping it stays this way!  

All of the above warrants our use of paper and plastics.  I still feel a little guilty every time we throw something away, but the joy of not having to do massive amounts of dishes by hand is totally worth it.