D.O.N.E.

That's it!

I am DONE with everything in the house! WOOHOOOOOO!

Painting: DONE
Carpeting: DONE
Countertops: DONE! (will post pic later!)
Sink installed: DONE
Boxes unpacked: DONE
Pictures hung: almost DONE!

We have been working like dogs around here and we can finally say we are settled in.  The very last box had a few pictures in it to be hung and I am taking care of those this afternoon during nap time, hopefully. 

There are still a few minor things that need to be done, but for the most part, we are very settled and very moved in.  No more big projects for a while-- phew! 

Oh, did I mention the water damage I did?  Our very first night in the house, I was bathing Cal and I sat on the bathtub.  I leaned over to wash him and there was a loose bolt on the toilet.  Water started leaking out, unbeknownst to me.  Eddie came in a while later and saw some water on the floor.  He tightened the loose bolt and we cleaned up the water and thought everything was done....wrong.  I was in the kitchen the next morning and we had about 6 HUGE water stains on our ceiling from where it had leaked down through the beams.  UGH!  My freshly painted house was tarnished! (cue the drama queen).  It ended up not being as big of a deal, but we do have to get the ceilings painted... just waiting on the painter to return my call... it seems it is taking him a while to get back to me.....grrrr.... I am more mad at myself for screwing it up!

Other than that and a few other small things, we are very settled.  And it feels great.  Really really really great.  I packed Andy's hospital bag yesterday, just so it's ready, just in case (although he isn't going to come early!!!), and I made a list of things to throw into my bag. 

I will continue to do housing posts, but they are going to be interspersed with posts about BABIES!!!

Before I end this post, I have to list my 10 MOST favorite things about this house:

1. all of the SPACE we have!
2. the garage (again, space!)
3. the neighbors-- so so so sweet! the ones directly next door have brought over brownies, roses from their garden, and fresh strawberries they picked that morning....seriously.
4. having a laundry room upstairs-- I do NOT miss hauling laundry up and down stairs
5. the attic- I could do an entire post on how large the attic is. It is really quite amazing
6. my closet.  it has become my happy place.
7. the yard! Cal and Hank LOVE to run and run and run!
8. having a vacuum cleaner upstairs and one down.  I was given another vacuum cleaner for mother's day (thanks, momma!) and it makes the world of a difference having one on each floor!  I actually vacuum everyday!  I do the upstairs one day and the down the next so I am able to stay on top of the vacuuming-- it's amazing the difference it makes with the dog hair! (yes, I realize this last one makes me sound so so old and so so like a lazy woman, but think of how much more you would run the vacuum if you didn't have to lug it UP and DOWN the stairs every time!  It's just so easy now!)
9. the screened in porch.  Cal plays out there the majority of the time we are home. All of his big push toys are out there and he is so content to play and just be outside
10. really, I love it all.  I never thought I would be THIS happy in a new house.  But I really really really am.  With the new paint and carpet, it feels like a new house-- like a brand new, never been lived in before house.  And I really could not be happier. Yes, moving is a total biotch, and moving when 9 months pregnant is anything but convenient, and having a toddler there "helping" is certainly challenging, but let me tell you: ALL of that, was so so so so so worth it for this house.....

The Bonus Room

The new house has an amazing "bonus room" and it really is a BONUS room.  When we first looked at the house, before even coming inside, we thought we would make this a play room for Cal and then we would finish the attic for a man room for Eddie.  I just wanted a place for Eddie to have where he could sprawl out and watch TV....and it wouldn't be right on my pretty new furniture downstairs!! hehe! He also wanted a spot like that, and this works perfectly!  We hung some of his sporting "stuff" on the wall (a framed picture from the Master's, a collage of sporting event press passes that he's been to, etc etc...).  They are important things that we want to display, but it's tricky finding the right place to display them.  This works perfectly!

This room is HUGE-- it is seriously a TON of space.  Cal LOVES this room and loves running back and forth from the master (opposite end of the hallway) into here. 

An added BONUS to the bonus room is the study that is right off of the side!  We really did not want to use up bedroom space for our desk/computer/stuff, and we originally thought we were going to use the downstairs living room as a study/play space for Cal...then we came into the BONUS room!  There is a nice sized room off of the bonus that works perfectly for this!  Technically, it isn't a "room" because there are no closets in here, and I think it would be kinda small for bedroom furniture, but it works perfectly for use as an office!  That way, I can be in here working away while Eddie is watching TV in the connecting room, or vice versa, but we are still spending time together...sorta! :)

Anyway, we are loving all of this SPACE that we have to spread out.  Cal has some toys upstairs and some down (a TON are on the back deck!) and he just loves to play in both areas-- happy as can be to be upstairs or down!  As I wrote below, we would like to someday get a train table or something for the back corner for the boys... someday!

Here are the pics!

These are two pictures that I took before carpeting and paint, the day we closed:

 The one above is standing in the doorway to the study, looking out into the playroom (window treatments came down immediately). 

The one below is looking into the study.

Here is a video that was taken "before" the paint, but after the carpeting:

And here are the AFTER shots:

Looking into the study (this is only half of the room, behind me there is a little side table and lamp...see it in the reflection of the picture?)

 Looking into the playroom:

 The other corner-- we are hoping to one day put a train table there for the boys! The study door is the opening you see:

I hung some more pictures in here last night and didn't want to get out my camera (i.e. my PHONE) to update these... just suffice it to say that there are pics on the walls now!

Soooo....there's the BONUS room!

Cal Boy Lately

With all of the excitement of the new house and new baby, I can't forget to write about my sweet little guy... he is just cracking me up lately.

We brought out a bunch of baby paraphernalia (swings, seats, etc...) to expose Cal to them a bit before there is a baby sleeping away in one and he wants to discover it.  The first day, I was in the kitchen and I could hear Cal kind of crying/laughing in the dining room (where the swing was) and there was a loud banging noise.  Well, he climbed on up in the swing and could not get out.  Every time he leaned forward, the swing would gain momentum and swing him back even faster.  He was rocking like crazy!  Being the awesome mom that I am...I filmed it.  I am not going to put it on here for fear of child services taking my child away, but just trust me that it was hilarious.  He couldn't stop laughing/crying and as soon as I got him out, he was bent over at the waist with his hands covering his mouth laughing-- priceless!

There is one seat that I have put in our bedroom for Andy that is smaller (and stationary!) and Cal has discovered how much fun that is:

And later that same morning, I got another funny picture of Cal.  He has always been obsessed with Hank, and Hank normally just takes it and sighs.  Lately, Cal has been getting rougher-- not meaner, he is still loving on Hank, but he is kissing him while wrapping his arms around his neck and squeezing as hard as he can!  And Hank seems to be getting sick of it.  Hank tries to escape, but Cal always seems to find him!  Hank tried to hide in the bathroom, and Cal found him...and the plunger...

Cal continued to chase Hank around the house while dragging the plunger behind him for the next hour.  It was HILARIOUS. 

Cal also realllly likes to grab Hank's collar and pull him to wherever he wants him to be.  Poor poor dog... really....poor dog. 

And, next up in the new Cal stuff-- he has discovered a love of ketchup!  I never knew he liked it, but I put some on his plate to eat with his chicken and next thing I knew, he was doing this:

Licked his plate.  Clean.  There is a video of this one too-- it is borderline gross though because you can hear him lapping at his plate.  Yumm, right?!?!

And I will end this post with a video.  Cal has been super vocal lately and we've been working on the Williamson family names.  Eddie's family doesn't get to see Cal often and they feel it is very important that I work with him on knowing their names/faces.  I filmed my efforts last night (side note: Eddie's little sister, Tricia, is Shosh, Eddie's middle sister, Carrie, is CB, and Eddie's mom is Grammy, but Cal will only call her Mimi, for some reason.  He said Poppy about a million times, but I didn't have the camera rolling for that...ugh). 

That's about it for now. 

I had a check up yesterday-- my LAST one -- very hard to believe.  Everything is looking good- same as last time with no more dilation or effacement, so that's a good thing (I am all about waiting until I get MY doctor and MY nurse!). 

We don't know yet if we will go for a 3rd baby (we need to survive 2 first!!!), but I am starting to get very emotional thinking that this might be the last time I feel a baby inside of me... it's a weird feeling... I like being pregnant (this time-- last time, not so much!), and I love feeling him kick around in there.  Hmmmm......

this time, one week from now, I will be holding my new baby!

9 days

Continuing on with the countdown... 9 days left until Andy makes his arrival!

Here is a pic of me today-- not sure if you can see my belly button. It has offically POPPED! Which is funny, because Cal was a HUGE kid and it never popped with him! Maybe this guy is bigger than we thought!!!

again, pardon the confused looking face.  Apparently, I can't take a picture of myself without being confused...

We have SUCH a busy week this week to get ready for the upcoming chaos:

Our new countertops are being installed on Wednesday, the plumber to hook up the sink is coming on Thursday, I have a check up on Tuesday, we have a celebratory dinner on Wednesday to honor my brother, who got into the MBA program at UNC, we have a club dinner on Thursday night, and I have a hair appointment on Friday (gotta get my 'herrr' done so it be lookin' good in the pics).  Somewhere in there, I am going to squeeze in a pedicure (gotta have my toes lookin' good sticking out from under the blanket in the hospital! ha). 

It will be a busy and productive week...and I just can not believe that this little guy will be gracing us with his presence in no time!

I haven't been ready (I mean, I am anxious to meet him, but I haven't been how I was last time where I was just sooooooooooo ready by this point), but last night sleeping was really tough.  If I sleep on one side for too long, it's like he shifts all of his body to that side and nuzzle in, so when I get up to pee or roll over, my stomach is all oddly shaped to one side-- it's really a bizarre-- and it is painful to get him to re-shift back over to the center. 

Hopefully, we can get another ultrasound at the appointment this week to see his positioning.  For those of you who go to my practice (Steph!), I am seeing the reallllllllly slow doctor there, so who knows how long I'll be waiting.  My regular doctor was booked solid all week :( ugh.  Oh well... this will be my LAST appointment for this pregnancy!  How IN SANE is that?!?!?!

I love you

If this doesn't melt your heart, not sure what will (unless it's your own kid saying it to you):

GOLF!

Cal is obsessed with golf. Much like his father, he is constantly swinging a golf club (which, in Cal's case, is anything long and stick like).  When Eddie called me last week and asked if I thought Cal would like to go to the club to "play" a few holes with him, I jumped all over it!  Some time ALONE for momma, and a little guy that would return home exhausted??  Sign me up!

They had to rush to get out there after work, but I ran out and snapped a quick picture of my boys before they left:

They were so cute together-- both had their hats perched on their heads and were so excited to get out and go!

Eddie sent me this video while they were out there-- I think it is SO stinkin' cute.  Cal's got a pretty decent swing, don't you think?  For a kid who isn't even two yet... he's got potential! haha

We aren't ready to sign him up for the PGA tour just yet- haha- but I do love that Eddie is able to take him out there to play and have a great time.  It's wonderful when your husband's love for something can be shared with your children (for multiple reasons!).

37 weeks! (and a day or two)

It feels like I am far enough along with my pregnancy that if I don't update often, people might wonder if I have gone into labor....maybe not and I am living in lala land. Either way, for those of you wondering....I am still pregnant!

I am feeling fine still, but today I've been feeling a little...off.  Not sure if it's because my mom left today to go to the beach for the weekend with her best buds for a MUCH needed/deserved girls' trip or if it's because Eddie was in Charlotte for the day.  I think my mind was just playing tricks on me. 

Anyway, Eddie is on his way home now, and my mom will be home on Sunday.  I don't think I have anything to worry about between now and then!  I jokingly told my mom that I would shoot her a pic from the delivery room once the baby was born and she did NOT think that was funny!  She wants to be alerted ASAP so she can hop in the car and fly home-- she's a good momma!  And, truth be told, I would rather sit with my legs crossed then have her NOT there...and I REALLY don't want her to miss her girls' weekend, so this baby will just have to wait!

No pictures to post today.  I did find my good video camera so I can take video of the entire house and upload it-- that will be easier than the iPhone camera (from which ALL of my pictures are coming lately). 

Cal Boy just woke up after a wonderful, much needed nap so I am going to run.  Just wanted to let you know that baby Andy is still COOKING away!

xo,

The Boys' Bathroom

I did a little sneak peek of the boys' bathroom in a previous post with my big ol' belly in it, so here is the rest of it!

Again, the color is a little LOUD but really, if you can't be loud in a bathroom for little boys, where can you?  I wanted to have fun in there and I think it's adorable.  It's also Cal's favorite room of the house.  He runs in there screaming: TRUCK! CAR! TRUCK! So I know we hit a home run with this one!

 Boys' Bathroom: BEFORE

 Boys' Bathroom: AFTER

 

Loud green!  Gotta love it!

 Towels my mom made (told you she's better than Martha!)

 Pictures of cars and trucks

 Fun hand towels and wash clothes with "Cal" and "Andy" on the trucks-- look closely!

 And, the cutest part of this room is the night light!  It's hard to see in this picture, but it is sooooo cute!  And when you turn off the lights, the light of the night light shines right through the red of the truck-- it's really adorable!

 Another shot of the pictures hanging next to the towels:

 
And there's the bathroom!  Are you getting sick of my posts about the house yet?  It's okay if you are...it won't hurt my feelings!!!

The downstairs play space

We have a wonderful "bonus room" upstairs, but I knew I wanted to have a room downstairs for some of Cal's toys so he would have things to play with when I am in the kitchen cooking (or, let's be honest, eating), or just doing things downstairs.

The previous owners had this room as their formal living room.  I thought we were going to use this space as an office/play area, but we were able to use a room upstairs for the office, so it became the play space...and I LOVE it!  I am realllllly happy with how this room turned out.

Play space: BEFORE

 (gauzy window treatments-- again, gone immediately)

 I do love the windows in this room-- looks out to the front of the house

Play Space: AFTER!!!

 

 We are going to hang HUGE pictures of the boys in red or blue frames on the wall opposite of where I am standing.

 

The bookshelf that has bins of fun stuff: cars/trucks, balls, toys, etc, etc....it was night time when I took these pictures (with my phone), so it's hard to see the shelves.  I will take another picture in the daylight so you can see them all put together with cute things on them!

In between the two windows, we put a little table and chairs for the boys.  Cal loves to sit there now with a snack or a book and he realllllly likes to climb on top of of the table and scream TAH-DAH!  Mom is not so much a fan of that....

Another look at the bookshelf-- I think we are going to get another lamp for on top of the white table:

Standing on the opposite wall, looking out-- a bin filled with bigger toys and a mirror low down because he loves to look at himself and make faces- hehe

And the other side, a bin of puzzles and a small little bin for his shoes and boots.  You know this kid loves that bin!  He loves his shoes!

Hope you've enjoyed the downstairs play space!  I will post more when we hang more things.  I am trying to stay on top of blogging through it all.  Isn't it fun to see before and after?  They are subtle changes, but I think it's still fun to see. 

It's coming together!!!

An unexpected check up and a funny

I wrote in my last post that I was looking forward to my doctor's appointment on Wednesday of this week.  Well, to avoid total TMI, I will just say that this past weekend, I thought maybe my water had broken or that I was having a slow leak.  It was mainly on Saturday, and wasn't bad on Sunday, but was heavy again today, so I called the office and talked to the OB nurse.  She wanted me to come in right away with my hospital bag packed.  Ummm.....!

Well, I went straight there, and didn't pack a bag for the hospital.  I had a feeling it was nothing, but I really wanted just a little peace of mind.  Cal and I walked into the office and saw Stephanie and her daughter Reagan!  I was SO excited to see them there! Reagan is SUCH a good little girl and she had a whole bag of goodies to keep her entertained while in the waiting room.  Being the mess of a mom that I was this morning, I didn't have a thing for Cal.  Luckily, I called my mom on my way to the appointment and she came and got him from the office before I went back. 

My normal doctor wasn't seeing OB today, he was just doing GYN so I had to wait for the doctor who was doing OB-- who happened to be running an HOUR AND A HALF behind schedule today.  Seriously.  I was prepared for the long wait.  I saw my doctor's nurse and said hi to her and she asked what I was doing there.  I gave her the short of it and she walked away while I went back into the waiting room.  Not even 4 minutes later, she was back and calling my name!  She asked my doctor if he would see me and he was happy to!  See?  This is why I love him!

They had to do the strepB test thing anyway so he checked "my fluid" and it was not my water leaking after all (no, I didn't wet my pants either....).  While he was down there he checked to see if there was any progress:

You ready for this?  I am almost 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced!  WOAH! I have a feeling he will be here before the 18th...I'd be willing to bet on it, actually!

I'll keep y'all posted.

Also, about a week before I was going to POP with Cal, I did a post called "Things I have learned while pregnant" or something like that.  I am including that in this post because I am sure many of you can relate to these....again, these were written before I had Cal, so they are different than some of the ones I would write this time around....

Things I have learned about pregnancy:

1. Whoever said it was 9 months is stupid. 40 weeks = 10 months.

2. It is SO hard to shave your legs.

3. You will soon forget what your bikini line looks like...opps.

4. The exhaustion in first trimester returns in the end.

5. The emotions....oh. my. GOSH! out of control.

6. I want to poke out the eyes of anyone who says, "I only gained 18 pounds when I was pregnant..." Literally.

7. Your stomach gets so big in the end, that there's not room to eat a full meal.

8. Getting in and out of a car without grunting is a challenge.

9. EVERYONE wants to share their birthing stories with you. Whether you want to hear them or not.

10. Everyone has advice for a pregnant woman. Some of the advice I have heard (unsolicited):

a. Toughen up your nipples now (I swear, I have heard this from someone... to whom I am NOT related!)

b. Start freezing some food now, you will need it later

c. Don't eat chocolate; it's bad for the baby

d. Put oils on your belly to prevent stretch marks

e. Stretch out your legs now to stay flexible for delivery

(I swear, these are some of the tips I have gotten! These are only SOME of them! hahaha)

11. I will never, NEVER, ask a pregnant woman how much weight she has gained.

12. Swelling can happen at any time....even if you have never swelled in your whole life!

And, if I were to add a few to the list, after this pregnancy, I would say:

13. People will not hesitate to tell you they think you are going to have your hands full.
14. After a woman asked me if I was having number 2 was an "accident" or if I planned on having the kids so close, I will never ask that one (not that I would!)
15. And finally: NO!  I am SO SO SO NOT disappointed that this baby is not a girl!  I can't believe how many people ask me that!!!!  I am just so thankful for a healthy baby!  SERIOUSLY!

Also, I have to include a little picture too.  When I was at the doctor, Cal had lunch over at Grandma's house.  He loves some PB&J and being the little boy that he is, he was trying to tuck some of the sandwich into his pants....?  Maybe to save some for later??  Anyway, he was such a mess that my mom just put him in the sink to get clean.  I walked into the kitchen to find this:

Boys will be boys!!!