Painting and Patio Progress

I'm sure everyone remembers that wild day back in January when my mr. came crashing through the ceiling. Well, the hole has been patched and painted for months but as you can see, it just wasn't quite right.

In an original attempt to remedy our big problem I had brought a sample piece of ceiling into the local hardware store to have them match the color. I love to paint but painting ceilings is a horrid task, one I avoid at all costs. Therefore, I stressed over and over to the woman working that it needed to be a perfect match. (I was determined to only paint the patched area.) She acted annoyed, so I very reluctantly let up. I then went home and painted and of course, it didn't match. The color was right but the existing finish was satin and she had sold me an entire gallon of flat paint. SO FRUSTRATING. I spent months in denial, struggling to convince myself that no one would notice. Because I had made our 'situation' so public, people had a tendency to walk through my front door, point, and giggle. I could no longer deny that it was bad when my mom said she'd come down to fix it for me. 

We tackled the project together but her endurance put me to shame. 

She even did an extra room.

(She's crazy-cool that way.)

While we painted, Brian and Dad set the forms for our new patio. The weather was far from cooperative. Here they sit in the garage, taking a quick break during an especially terrific downpour.

Dad leveling the forms...

[Bro-in-law]Brian, Tess, and Kiddos came to help too.

We recently turned a panel of fence on the far side of the house into a gate so we needed to reinforce the posts while we had a truckload of concrete at our dispense.

Sidewalk forms.

Patio Forms.

The guys worked quickly leaving us with time for a quick lunch before the truck arrived.

Polish Sausages, Cheetos, and Grapes it was! I had just bought a huge container of green grapes at Costco. Take a look at this happy guy and you can guess who bought the other lunch ingredients. It wasn't our most nutritious lunch but the kids sure thought it was great. :) 

Shortly after lunch the truck arrived. Sydni and Kolt were allowed to postpone their naps in order to observe the action. This was their reaction. I love their concerned expressions and clutched hands. So cute.

And so it began...

Little Boss Lady Sydni.

Sydni was itching to "accidentally" get dirty.

One foot deep tracks through my yard. No big deal.

Removing the forms that hugged the side of the house in order to finish floating and troweling...

In order for the truck to fit in our backyard we had to cut down one apple tree (too big to transplant) and remove several panels of fence. 

Oh Tess, our Brians and their gooberish faces...so entertaining!

Setting the posts for the new gates.

Someday, hopefully sooner rather than later (because Finn is seriously missing his freedom), there will be a walk-through gate over the sidewalk as well as a big double gate into the backyard. This one will be wide enough for a truck or RV to fit through.

Scrubbing the patio furniture...

Before:

Way too many large growth trees planted too close to the fence and to one another. 

 The patio in the process of being dug.

 Brian going to town breaking up the concrete pad outside our sliding glass door.

He released a lot of aggression that day. (The facial expressions were quite something!)

After:

(There's still a lot to do.)

Lots of debris clean-up...

Although I've been plugging away on removing trees, there's more to be dug...more grass to plant too.

Windows and doors need washing and a new step needs to be built.

Dirt needs to be filled in along the concrete and grass needs to be planted.

And while my sweet peas have yet to realize that it's no longer June...

...my recently transplanted rhubarb plants are happy as can be! I can hardly wait for my first crop! This rhubarb plant has been growing strong since it belonged to my Great, Great Grandpa Oltman. (My Grandma Jane's grandpa.) He was an avid gardener and had passed a start from his plant onto my Grandpa Al and Grandma Jane, who later gave a start to my parents, who have now given me two starts. Not only delicious, but sentimental too. :)

The patio now looks like this. 

It still lacks a lot of cuteness but I have every intention of loving on it when we return from camping.

A very random collaboration.

My new sidewalk! Things are going to be so much less messy now.

We're looking forward to good times to come in our ever-improving backyard. :)

Life at 20 Weeks Pregnant

It's been busy around here!

This past Thursday my sister, Tess, and her fam came down to celebrate the fourth with us. We were a day late in our celebrating but we celebrated nonetheless. I felt slightly bad about how much 'work' ended up happening on our holiday but fun was had by all and to be honest, the progress made far outweighs any remorse felt by me. ;) [Bro-in-law]Brian and Tess left Sydni and Kolt with us to spend the night. It was Kolter's first sleepover at our house without his mama and he was such a good boy. Pretty good for only being 2 years old, I'd say. SydniSueWho has earned the title 'Mama Sydni' for a reason; she took her duties seriously and kept her little brother in line at all times. ;)

Check out Tessa's blog post to see pictures of our day's activities...

Friday morning Brian and I stayed in bed, despite being awake, in an attempt not to wake the littles until absolutely necessary. My Dad and Mom arrived at 7:00a and out from the nursery stumbled a very sleepy Sydni and Kolt. Kolt is often quiet, but a speechless Sydni is rare. Dad was left in charge of their breakfast and Brian, Mom, and I left for the Dr. for our 20 week ultrasound and a routine appt. 
It was fun to have mom along and we loved the opportunity to see what's going on inside of me. I often hold my belly and ask, 'Who are you in there?' I wonder, 'Are you a boy or a girl?' 'Do you really dance to Mumford and Sons, or do I just like the idea of you liking Mumford and Sons?' Then there's the middle-of-the-night admonishing, 'It's 2 AM, what are you doing in there?' 'This is sleep time, Kid. GO TO SLEEP!' It's too bad there's no way to sleep train babies in utero, that would be cool... 
The ultrasound didn't answer my questions [Surprise, suprise, I know.] but we loved getting to 'meet' our babe, especially since our last ultrasound showed a sort of blob. It was a cute blob, it had a strong heartbeat, and it was our little miracle, but still it was a blob. We're happy to report that our blob has grown into a recognizable person! I've decided that it's either very private like it's daddy or very stubborn like it's mommy. The little stinker refused to give us a clear face shot. I was so excited to come home with a clear profile picture for our fridge. Instead I was given a strip of photos perfectly displaying babe's spine, limbs, abdomen and many attempts at a face shot, all of which are very blurry. Brian thinks it's pretty cute but even he admits that it sort of resembles Caspar. I'm consoled only by the reminder that Caspar was a friendly ghost. Whew, thank goodness for that.

Here comes the crazy part... My ultrasound tech claims that our baby measured 16 ounces at 20 weeks. According to TheBump.com and BabyCenter.com that's 5 1/5 ounces ahead of schedule. If you ask me, the lady that is going to have to birth this baby, that's a lot. Although the tech acted like it was no big deal I immediately informed her that I have to get this baby out! She remained unconcerned. I think she's just glad it's not her problem. I called my sister on the way home. Upon hearing Babe's measurements, she laughed at me and then congratulated me for being an overachiever in the baby-growing dept. ...yikes...
Fortunate for me, like the u/s tech, my Dr. was unconcerned. She told us that ultrasound measurements vary greatly and aren't all that accurate. She shared with us that ultrasound measurements taken at the end of pregnancy usually vary within a whole pound. 

The good news is we have a healthy baby!!! 

Dressing myself is getting complicated and can be discouraging considering how many of my pre-pregnancy clothes no longer fit but my Dr. tells me that my weight gain is below average. [Sweet Relief!] I remain thrilled at this new knowledge. 

It's a beautiful day and me and Baby are off to speed walk some of the wicked hills surrounding our house. Hopefully today's amazing weather doesn't melt us right onto the pavement...

Our Bedroom (& Headboard Reveal)

Remember my Duvet Dilemma back in January? This is my follow up post.

Thanks to the help of furniture, a new pillow, candles...etc. we have finally infused some color into our bedroom. It's not complete but when I found this pillow at World Market (where else?!) I knew I was onto something. I plan to recover several more pillows to create a little color explosion in the center of our bed. Until I decide what kind of company it would most benefit from, this cute pillow is going to sit solo. I considered waiting to post pictures of our room until after all the pillows and whatever else strikes my fancy happened to be in place, but that would have meant waiting to reveal the finished headboard. And that would be silly. So here goes---->

His.

 Hers.

Armoire painted in one of my favorite paint colors ever...

Where our little buddy sleeps...and where our sweet babe will sleep come November/December.

Antique cheese graters gone greater.

I haven't yet decided what to put in this cool bin, but I did decide that I needed it, and that it's cool.

One more shot of our new headboard.

We hope you like it but even if you don't, we know we do. :)

I snapped these pictures late at night and as you can see when comparing the first two photos, the colors are far from true. Lame. If you want to see our room at its finest you'll just have to come see us. If you'd rather not see half of Brian's wardrobe on the floor (on his side of the bed) warn him prior to your arrival. Otherwise, come anytime! We do love visitors. :)