So let's catch up a bit, shall we? I mean since the school year ended, I haven't been writing on here at all, but instead been enjoying my time off with family and ignoring reality as best I can. I mean, do I really have to go back to work?
Yeah, yeah, I know I do, but it's nice to not think about it for a while. However, now I need to get back into the groove with things, including planning for a new grade that I will be teaching. Woohoo! Let's bring on new challenges at work and a baby all in one school year. I've always been an overachiever, so I guess this was probably inevitable in some way. For example, the summer Brett and I got married, I took three classes, worked a job, got our first dog, and planned our wedding. People called me crazy, but I had a wonderful wedding, aced all of those classes, and made it through. This year will be tough, but somehow I'll muddle through.
In my effort to ignore the passing summer and work-related activities, I've been nesting. I've read that many women don't really nest until the end of the third trimester, but whatever this feeling is, whether it is true "nesting" or not, I feel this compulsion to set up things for the baby and ready the house. Things needed fixing, walls needed painting, and so much more.
Last month, Brett and I repainted our entire kitchen. It took a whole weekend, and by the end of it, I was exhausted. However, I knew it would never get done if we painted until after the baby arrived, and I hated (and I mean HATED) those mustard and brown walls. Who paints a dark kitchen with dark cabinets those colors? So now, our kitchen looks bigger and brighter with off white and a really light yellow, and I love it. It goes with the table I refinished a couple summers ago and some of my other homemade furnishings.
The kitchen was just the beginning though.
I told Brett that I refused to paint the nursery until one, we knew what the sex was, and two, it was after twenty weeks in my pregnancy because until then, I wasn't confident that this baby was real and coming. My anxiety still tells me that so much can go wrong from here on out, especially in the third trimester, but I do feel more sure that someday I will meet our baby boy.
Today, it is officially twenty-three weeks, so over the weekend, we painted the nursery. This room is right next to our bedroom and was formerly our office. In May, we shuffled furniture around and got rid of our big desk to empty that room, making the guest room now the guest room/office. The walls were once tan and brown but now are a light shade of green, making the room look light and happy. I also painted a changing table I found at a garage sale months ago and organized the current furniture I have, including a large wooden chest, a bookshelf full of books, a rocking chair, and some other small things I have collected such as a dinosaur lamp and wall hangings.
After painting Saturday (once again a full day job) and setting up furniture yesterday, I just sat in there and looked around. I pictured our little one playing and spending time there. It feels like a kid's room, which was my goal. Already, my son has a full library, foam mats that have the whole alphabet on display, and a wall hanging that shows the entire solar system. Can you sense a theme? Education! However, as I looked around, I also remembered my room as a kid and how it was much different. Up until the age of four, I shared a room with my older sister, Krista. Once I was big enough not to need a crib, we shared bunk beds. I remember often being scared on the bottom bunk as blankets made strange shadows on the pink and wallpapered walls.
Once we moved out into the country outside of the small town of Logansport, Indiana, I had a room to myself. Seventies orange shag carpet and textured white walls...it was not a pretty room, but it was all mine, and that's what mattered. The room was 8' by 11', and even to a child, it felt small. I couldn't fit many toys in my room, and it took a lot of work to make the room feel organized.
The bedrooms, beside the master bedroom, are quite small in our current house, and I wonder how we will fit toys, clothes, and everything a growing kid needs into it. Our house isn't big - 1300 sq ft on the top floor with an additional 500 sq ft in the basement. We will just have to face that there will be things we will not buy our child because of space. I know children want everything; I certainly did, but how much does a child really need? Most of my toys were hand-me-downs from my older siblings, and I thought they were wonderful; my favorite toy was the kitchen set with the fake food and pots and pans. I know right now I don't need to worry. Babies just need us, and I know we will give our child more than he needs.
6 months pregnant. Only three months to go!
Yeah, yeah, I know I do, but it's nice to not think about it for a while. However, now I need to get back into the groove with things, including planning for a new grade that I will be teaching. Woohoo! Let's bring on new challenges at work and a baby all in one school year. I've always been an overachiever, so I guess this was probably inevitable in some way. For example, the summer Brett and I got married, I took three classes, worked a job, got our first dog, and planned our wedding. People called me crazy, but I had a wonderful wedding, aced all of those classes, and made it through. This year will be tough, but somehow I'll muddle through.
In my effort to ignore the passing summer and work-related activities, I've been nesting. I've read that many women don't really nest until the end of the third trimester, but whatever this feeling is, whether it is true "nesting" or not, I feel this compulsion to set up things for the baby and ready the house. Things needed fixing, walls needed painting, and so much more.
Last month, Brett and I repainted our entire kitchen. It took a whole weekend, and by the end of it, I was exhausted. However, I knew it would never get done if we painted until after the baby arrived, and I hated (and I mean HATED) those mustard and brown walls. Who paints a dark kitchen with dark cabinets those colors? So now, our kitchen looks bigger and brighter with off white and a really light yellow, and I love it. It goes with the table I refinished a couple summers ago and some of my other homemade furnishings.
The kitchen was just the beginning though.
I told Brett that I refused to paint the nursery until one, we knew what the sex was, and two, it was after twenty weeks in my pregnancy because until then, I wasn't confident that this baby was real and coming. My anxiety still tells me that so much can go wrong from here on out, especially in the third trimester, but I do feel more sure that someday I will meet our baby boy.
Today, it is officially twenty-three weeks, so over the weekend, we painted the nursery. This room is right next to our bedroom and was formerly our office. In May, we shuffled furniture around and got rid of our big desk to empty that room, making the guest room now the guest room/office. The walls were once tan and brown but now are a light shade of green, making the room look light and happy. I also painted a changing table I found at a garage sale months ago and organized the current furniture I have, including a large wooden chest, a bookshelf full of books, a rocking chair, and some other small things I have collected such as a dinosaur lamp and wall hangings.
After painting Saturday (once again a full day job) and setting up furniture yesterday, I just sat in there and looked around. I pictured our little one playing and spending time there. It feels like a kid's room, which was my goal. Already, my son has a full library, foam mats that have the whole alphabet on display, and a wall hanging that shows the entire solar system. Can you sense a theme? Education! However, as I looked around, I also remembered my room as a kid and how it was much different. Up until the age of four, I shared a room with my older sister, Krista. Once I was big enough not to need a crib, we shared bunk beds. I remember often being scared on the bottom bunk as blankets made strange shadows on the pink and wallpapered walls.
Once we moved out into the country outside of the small town of Logansport, Indiana, I had a room to myself. Seventies orange shag carpet and textured white walls...it was not a pretty room, but it was all mine, and that's what mattered. The room was 8' by 11', and even to a child, it felt small. I couldn't fit many toys in my room, and it took a lot of work to make the room feel organized.
The bedrooms, beside the master bedroom, are quite small in our current house, and I wonder how we will fit toys, clothes, and everything a growing kid needs into it. Our house isn't big - 1300 sq ft on the top floor with an additional 500 sq ft in the basement. We will just have to face that there will be things we will not buy our child because of space. I know children want everything; I certainly did, but how much does a child really need? Most of my toys were hand-me-downs from my older siblings, and I thought they were wonderful; my favorite toy was the kitchen set with the fake food and pots and pans. I know right now I don't need to worry. Babies just need us, and I know we will give our child more than he needs.
6 months pregnant. Only three months to go!
I love this blog. Keep writing...
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