House in Progress Diary

Baby Archive

Where's Jeannie?

Thanks so much for all of the kind e-mails asking, "Where are you? Are you okay?" And I just want to assure everyone that I AM fine. I hope to return to blogging soon. SO many things in progress here...which means that it is probably time to let all housebloggers know that...

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Nursery? OK!

OK, so now that the cat's out of the bag, we've added a new progress tracker to our home page--the nursery. :-) We'd designed the second bedroom upstairs to be pretty flexible, so instead of an office it's going to be the little tyke's room for a while.

Certainly we aren't the only ones who work on fixing up a nursery in preparation for the big event...but we're guessing we're one of the few who can say we've already been working on the room for a year!

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A Quick Fix Detour on the Road to Renovation

Someone over at Blogging Baby recently confirmed that we're not the only ones who are worried about having young kids around during construction. The difference is that we don't currently have the budget or time to pull off the full gut kitchen renovation that she's doing.

And so, instead, we offer up the latest twist in our bungalow renovation oddessy.......Kitchen Makeover, Trading Spaces style!

That's right, in the spirit of the seminal quick fix DIY show we're doing a superficial facelift of our kitchen to clean up the grime before the baby arrives.

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Giving Thanks

This Thanksgiving has been a special one for us for a couple of reasons.  First off, it's the first one we've spent with a good portion of my side of the family in over five years.  We had dinner over at my parents house, where we were joined by my dad's parents and his oldest sister's family.

After dinner there was another special treat that J and I weren't expecting...

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So, How's the Nursery Coming Along?

OK, Thanksgiving has officially come and gone--the holiday onslaught begins.  And in our household, that means another thing...the baby is coming!  Only two months to go, in fact.  Hard to believe.  Equally hard to believe that we're ready for all this.

Especially when you notice that the nursery just off of our master bedroom still looks like this...

If you don't want to read anything about baby rooms, baby toys, baby cribs or babies in general you'll want to skip this post and probably scale back your reading of this blog in general over the next month or so.  We've got lots of work to do...

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A Bedroom Only a Mother (in Law) Could Love

In a little over a month, Jeanne's mom will arrive to stay with us through the weeks just before and just after the baby is born.  I say in all ernestness: this is a very good thing.  In spite of the eight hour baby class we attended at the hospital yesterday, we don't have a clue as to what we're doing.

I'm clarifying up front that we really do want her here because the rest of this post might make you think otherwise.  Why?  Well, with the current state of things in the house we only have one place she can stay: the bedroom with the crazy wall!

The bad news is it gets worse...

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Announcing Grace Margaret Elise

At 3:40 yesterday morning, Grace Margaret Elise was born 11 days earlier than expected.  She weighted 6 lbs. and 10 ounces, and has a surprisingly full head of dark hair.  She's perfect.

Both mom and daughter are doing well.  Here are a few of the first pictures to introduce her to everyone... :-)

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You Know You Live in a Fixer-Upper With a Baby When...

...your tablesaw spends more time holding dirty clothes than cutting wood.

Jeanne keeps reminding me I shouldn't have put it under the laundry chute...  ;-) 

Actually, the saw got a little attention this weekend and we even made it to the hardware store...twice! 

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First Love

Not house-related at all.  But we were hanging out on the bed this morning with Grace when, all of a sudden, she fell in love for the first time.  It was very touching.  We recorded the whole affair on film.

Hey...who is THIS guy?
 

Your face...it is so smooth, so two-dimensional, so...so...maniacal... 

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Reno Baby

I really should be napping right now.  Grace is sleeping soundly.  We were both up at all hours of the night last night as she is going through a growth spurt--or something--and wakes up every 1-2 hours to chatter and talk in her crib.

Why can't I sleep?  Because of the noise.  How is this kid able to sleep through this noise? 

(By the way, if you are going to click on any of the following links?  Turn up your speakers if you are alone.  Turn them down if you're at work.)

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The Lead Paint Dilemma

I was reminded that I hadn't followed through on my promise to explain why we went with white trim in the back hallway, two back bedrooms and kitchen from an earlier post.

It seems like an odd choice, doesn't it, after all of the hard work we put into salvaging and stripping the trim upstairs and in the sunroom?  Well, right after Grace was born, we decided to make those rooms serviceable and I became very anxious about chemicals and toxins and dust.  I conducted an asbestos test on the tile that was removed (it came back negative).  And then, I conducted more thorough lead tests on the paint in those rooms.  Turns out that one of the (many) layers of paint on that trim and old plaster contained lead.  i shouldn't have been surprised...most old houses contain lead paint of some sort.

I was paralyzed.  I might be able to blame some of it on overprotective mom hormones, but, honestly?  I probably would have reacted the same way sans hormones.  What to do?  We didn't want to take the trim off (thus creating more dust) or take any walls down (ditto).  So, I did what I always do when I panic.

I headed for the internet.

Enter, Fiberlock Products.

.

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Your Baby Proofing Experiences and Advice?

Yes, Grace is almost at that stage where she will be able to unleash her energy upon the world in a much more mobile way.  People ask, "Is she crawling yet?"  And I tell them that I keep pushing her little butt down when she tries to scoot around.  (My sister, the wise mother, advised this.)  However, she will probaby thwart us soon by discovering her legs and then I will be running after her for the rest of my life.

I know that I'm going to regret teaching her how to open and shut my dresser drawer.  But it was raining, she has a runny nose, and we were bored.  I believe the phrase "we were bored" was the precursor to most of what got ME into trouble during MY childhood.

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What We Do When We Aren't Working...

...on the house.

It's late, I'm tired, I'll post our house stuff again starting Monday.  In the meantime, this is how we are entertaining ourselves lately.

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Her Favorite

You can spend all the money that you want, research each selection for hours and hours, wrap the gifts as nice as can be, but the favorite is still going to be the same as it ever was.

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Saturday Mornings

Sometimes, when Mommy isn't feeling well Daddy is in charge of breakfast on early Saturday mornings.

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A Mom is a Mom is a Mom

Dear Diary--

My mom and dad came for the weekend to celebrate Grace's first birthday.  They arrived at the house at 3:40 pm.

This was my mom at 3:41 pm.

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The Weekend

Tomorrow, it will be back to house-related stuff.  Today, I owe my mom this entry in order to beg forgiveness for yesterday's "smart-alec entry" (her words, not mine).  I will win her back by posting pictures of her grandchildren.  The photos from Grace's birthday party this past weekend when we celebrated at my in-laws' lovely home down the block instead of attempting a celebration crammed into the bedroom/office turned dining room at casa disaster.  

"What?  A party?  For ME???"

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Grace has a shout out for someone

I'm posting this on behalf of Grace who has a shout out for new baby, Nora Audrey Bradeen  (newly-minted daughter of our friends, Chris and Lisa). 

Grace says, "Hey Nora!  Wasssssssupppp?????"  < click on the link for Her Grace-ness

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The Kitchen is Done!!!

Grace's kitchen, that is.   For her second birthday, we gave our future indentured servant a kitchen of her own so that she could start her training pronto.  What will she get next year? A miniature woodshop and oil change garage.  After that, she begins to be responsible for the real thing.

Aaron in his role of "Greatest Dad Ever" spent a few hours assembling the kitchen the night before.

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E P! E P!

e p! r ce ixe my computer eybo r . be b c oon.

Translation: Help! Grace "fixed" my computer keyboard. Be back soon. < This was written on a borrowed laptop.

I'm starting to get the shakes from withdrawal. My sight is getting blurry. I need my fix.

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Renovation with Toddler

Thursday, April 3, 2008

4:30 am: Stumble out of bed at in-law's house to go to crying toddler, tripping over the suitcases that we have been living out of since March 12th. Excellent time to experiment with toddler-friendly swear words interjections.

4:40 am: Toddler grumbles back to sleep after diaper change and soothing.

4:42 am: Unable to sleep, get up and balance checkbook. Realize that you fell asleep in your clothes instead of pajamas. Wonder if this is would be considered slovenly or efficient in the morning? Decide to put a positive spin on it...efficient!

5:30 am: Go back to bed and try to sleep.

6:10 am: Toddler awakens. Therefore, so does mama.

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One Step Ahead

She was quiet. Too quiet. So I went looking for her. And I found her reading on the guest room bed.

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The Cuteness is Killing Me.

Grace's friend, Lucy, has a new baby sister. And her poppa just posted this video of Lucy, well, you just have to see it for yourself. And my heart melted and my ovaries throbbed and STOPPPP! The CUTENESS!!!!!!!

Maternal Instinct < Click here.

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