Landsaping 101--Part 2

March 19-20, 2011 This was the weekend Jeff was looking forward to! He was able to rent a digger/loader machine (yes, I'm pretty sure that IS NOT the actual name, but as I'm typing, he is literally working on the front flowerbed sprinkler system, so I'm not asking him what it's called!)---and he loved every minute of driving it back and forth! He got SO much done with it and even though it tore up another part of our backyard that we're using to pen the dogs, it was totally worth it! We only worked on Sunday this weekend because Jeff did the Warrior Dash the day before and needed to recuperate!

Here is his photo montage of "digger" photos: we had more sand/dirt dropped off, so he moved it to fill in the base of our new patio; he used it to dig up the old patio pavers that we hated (and we used them to fill in the patio since we didn't have enough sand/dirt); he used it to haul the tamper in to tamp down the patio area. He was a HAPPY boy with his toy!

After the tamping was done, it still had to be smoothed down so the gaps could be filled in. No...Jeff is not about to take a magic carpet ride....he's rigged his own way of smoothing out the sand/dirt--with our outdoor rug and a toolbox we use to keep our swim toys in!!! (Yes, this is one of the reasons I love this man---never a dull moment at our house!!!) The last pic is the finished product--ready for pavers!!!

March 26-27, 2011

"The Laying of the Pavers" (said with a lot of trumpeting fanfare...)

This was the weekend we'd been waiting for--to SEE progress in action! Yes, even I helped! I do have limits now that are coming closer and closer together the further I get along in my pregnancy, but I still love to help Jeff in the yard. This is the only picture we have of us working, but I was actually doing the easy part (although it hurt my back terribly). Jeff was having to move the pavers to me, so he definitely had the harder job! The only bad news is that we are about 500 pavers short, so we have to get more. We knew this going in, and as of the day I'm typing we still don't have them, but we're getting there! It's all about timing!

April 2-3, 2011

Weekend of rest from landscaping. By this time, we knew we had to get something into the front beds, but didn't have a clue what, and we (Jeff) needed a break from the backyard stress. We have a family friend, TJ, who lives in Katy that happens to work at a nursery, so we asked him to come by on Sunday afternoon and help us by giving us advice/drawing up a plan to do in the front yard. If it wasn't for him, we would still be trying to decide what to do!

April 9-10, 2011

TJ dropped off a plan for our front yard and we decided to stop by his nursery to see the plants he'd decided on for us. We told him we wanted hardy, low-maintenance plants with color and he came through 100%! He even gave us a quote for him coming to take care of it all and by this point and time in our landscaping saga, we were all for it! We even got his staff discount on the plants! He is coming next weekend to give our front yard a much-needed face lift!

This was also the weekend that Jeff started working on locating sewer/electrical. We need lights in front and have no way to get electricity up there, so that is another added project. Jeff would also like a kitchen/changing area/bathroom outside by the pool, so that adds on one more project. Remember how I said that timing is everything? Well....this is why the back got put on hold for a little bit, but I know the finished product will be amazing!

April 16-17, 2011

I came home from happy hour on Friday afternoon (don't worry....mom had only H20!!) to see that the front 2 beds were prepped and ready and Jeff was laying the pavers for our front sidewalk!!! He got the pavers from a friend whose father used to manage Pat O'Briens in the French Quarter, so we now have authentic New Orleans French Quarter pavers as our front sidewalk leading from the driveway to the front door! TJ worked on the beds (we'd only done 1 and lost steam on the other, so he came up with a plan for that too), and came back on Sunday to finish--he did our work on his days off, and we were glad to help him out in any way we could! Here are the prepped front left and front right beds:

Here is our new sidewalk!!! We are more exited about this than we should be, but now people can walk from our wonderfully long driveway to our front door--without having to get in the grass....and that's a GREAT thing!

And.....Landscaping 101--Part 3 will have to be another post....

Landscaping 101---Part 1

We started our landscaping project during the last week of February and it's still in progress. We have gotten SO much done (and by WE, I really mean my delicious hunk of a yard man Jeff!) I've been meaning to get this post done for a while and just update it, but since I haven't, it's going to be one or two long posts! (Dont' ask about the spacing issue....I tried fixing it and it's just not happening!)

February 26-27, 2011

Cleaned up the yard--mainly the back due to all the leaves. This was our prep weekend.

March 5-6, 2011

Weekend 'O (Not So Much) Fun!---I have no problem dropping $100 on clothes to update my wardrobe, but tell me I have to drop a load of cash to buy pavers for a patio and I'm not a happy camper. This weekend event also coincided with my first pregnancy outburst/outbreak/freakout/etc. just due to nervousness about cost of landscaping in addition to all the costs we'll incur with the baby this year.

We had dirt delivered on Friday afternoon to help fill up the gaps the old owners left around our front pine trees. We also had sand delivered in order to start the patio in the backyard. Here's our first visit (of about 4) with Landscape Depot!

We unloaded 3 pallets of grass that weekend (2 in the front yard to cover up our "mullet-cut" trees, and one in the back to help the damage that winter, dogs, and not enough watering had done to our back).

Jeff unloaded 4 pallets of pavers/edgers all by himself. WHAT a man! He did try to rent a digger-type thing, but when we went to pick it up on Friday evening, they told him my Sequoia wasn't strong enough to tow it. Yep--they're the ones who got our weekend started off right because then half of the time Jeff was trying to find another digger/loader to rent so he wouldn't just have to "wheelbarrow it" (which is what he ended up doing).

Here is the prepped area after this weekend:

March 12-13, 2011 This was not a full work weekend because we had some other plans, but Jeff did get the front bed prepped and ready for planting, which motivated us a lot because the weekend before pretty much took it out of us! We had some extra grass from the weekend before and moved it up here to keep it alive and make it look decent until we were ready to put our sidewalk in. In between last weekend and this weekend Jeff fertilized A LOT, and with the amount of watering we did that week, the yard took on an entirely new look.

These pictures have nothing to really do with our hard work, but with God's hard work. Growing up, I never paid any attention to how fast things bloom in spring. Our old house had one tree in the back and a crepe myrtle we could never revive. However, our new yard is full of great trees and one that the old owners planted is a fig tree behind the diving board. These 2 pictures show the difference one week makes during the spring in Texas. Pic #1--taken the weekend of March 5th. Pic #2--taken the weekend of March 12th. (We're also excited about the blooming trees because it covers up the senior living apartment buildings near our house).

Landscaping 101--Part 2 will be coming soon....

Month 5

I'll probably say this EVERY month, but oh, the changes your body goes through! I've been so fortunate to be having a GREAT pregnancy. I have loved every minute of it--okay...the first month of body changes had me stressed out, but now I love them!

Week 20

This was a FUN week because we got to find out what we are having--boy or girl. Jeff wanted to know and I thought I wanted to wait, but the closer we got to it and the more we talked about it, the more I couldn't wait either! The big day came and we found out it is going to be a.........BOY!!! The 2nd pic has an arrow pointing to his little boy parts! Jeff goes "Are you sure that's not the umbilical cord???" The ultrasound tech assured us that she was correct!

We are SO excited! Jeff wanted a boy (of course...he would have also gladly accepted a girl!), and even though I didn't care, I was secretly leaning toward boy (51% boy....49% girl). I didn't even tell this to Jeff until the weekend before our ultrasound!

Baby is doing well and with the gender scan we also got the organ scan and it was amazing to see the 4 heart chambers beating. He must have been asleep at the beginning of the ultrasound, but by the end, he was awake and kicking like a mad man! He even raised his arms like "Yeah....I'm so glad you know I'm a boy now!!!"

We both like to talk to him and I'm starting to feel movement (although I've been feeling the same faint flutterings since Week 17) a little more. I can't wait until Jeff can feel it too--I want to be part of all the kicking stories I hear!

Week 21
Nothing really new here except the tummy has popped out a little more. You can't see it much in this picture because it happened literally the next day!

I'm starting to feel a little more movement, but only when I'm laying down. This is probably because I'm going 90 to nothing for the most part of the day and it's not strong enough to make me notice it during the day!

Week 22
This was an extremely stressful week at school and I don't know if I would have felt crappy about my body this week normally or if it was all the stress, but I felt like such a blob this week! I even tried to dress prego cute this week to try to counteract the feeling! This was the week that Katy ISD announced its layoffs for teachers and even though that's an entire blog entry by itself, not a single teacher in my area had a good week.

My teacher pals decided to have a happy hour at the end of this horrible week and it was so much fun getting to just sit and chat outside of school---and NOT chat about school!!! After that, I treated myself to a reflexology appointment, which was pretty decent. I'm all about massage and reflexology, but I didn't like my first pre-natal massage at 13 weeks (they don't use enough pressure), so I was hoping to find something like reflexology to help take the place of it. I had a coupon for a new location in Katy and it was pretty good. (I truly love the lady back home who does it, but she's moving in May...) However, I still did something to jerk my back out of place and for the past 2 days I've been waddling like a 9 month pregnant lady because I just can't walk standing straight up right now. Truly stinks. Normally, I would schedule a massage right away, but instead I'm doing the best I can and taking my tylenol and smelling like a 90 year old granny with my Icy Hot!

April18, 2011: Monthly doctor's appointment for me. I've gained 13 pounds so far, and the doctor says I'm right on track. Freaks me out a little because I am now equaling my heaviest weight ever--the weight that I started Weight Watchers on 4 years ago! I know it's for something different, but unless you are one of those people like me who have never had it easy losing weight, you won't understand. Anyway...I got the approval to fly when we go on our trip in early June--with a warning to call the airlines and double check! Funny baby sidenote: when the nurse tried to find his heartbeat, he kept moving from one side to the next. She'd start on one side....he'd flip to the other....she'd try that side....he'd flip back. I'm just glad our baby has a sense of humor! If I had something pushing on me, I'd move too!

Week 23
Good Friday: April 22, 2011
We both got to sleep in b/c Jeff was working from Katy and waiting on a call and I didn't have school that day. I'm so glad for this b/c this was the morning that we were both able to feel the baby kick--from the outside!! I've been feeling lots more kicks at certain times of the day and would lay as still as possible to see what else I could feel and we finally felt it! It was so amazing!! Haven't felt it since (I'm writing this a day later), but I can't wait to feel more!

Baby Update--Up to Week 20

Well, I've still been feeling great, so there are no complaints from me over here. I've "heard" that I'm a bit more moody, but that no-named person is probably wrong!!! :) I haven't had any cravings that aren't more than my typical pre-pregnancy food cravings and boy-oh-boy is my body a changin'!

I'm going to go backwards since that's easier for me--pregnancy REALLY does take your brain cells and throw them to the wind! I have always made lists, but now it includes things like "Remember to cut your nails"! So pathetic!

Here is me at 20 weeks and 3 days--I changed shirts to see if there would be a difference--NOPE! I'm only purposefully taking pictures every 4 weeks. Any other pic is just a treat!

I truly love my growing belly! I used to wonder why pregnant women touch their belly all the time and now I know---it's just such a truly amazing, weird, fascinating thing to go through and for me touching/rubbing my belly makes me feel like I'm connecting with our baby. I love the way Jeff looks at me when I'm standing in the mirror checking myself out because I can tell he's just as excited as I am about our baby. God definitely created our bodies for multiple purposes and this one amazes me most!

Mom came up to Katy and went to the Katy Parents of Multiples garage sale with me the first weekend of April. I got some great buys that I'm super-excited about. Here is the cutest of the buys: Halloween! I HATE having to shop for/think of costumes, so, with the exception of a 1 year old costume, we're set! 2011: bumblebee; 2012: no clue; 2013: pumpkin; 2014: candycorn.

Jeff and I have been hard at work landscaping both our front and back yards to prepare for summer. I have a hard time not helping because I actually like doing it--it's just harder now. Here is me at 19 weeks 2 days laying the pavers for our backyard patio underneath the trees:

I went home to Cuero for Spring Break to spend some quality time with mom and dad and had a wonderful time relaxing. Jeff had to work, so he was in Katy. The last weekend of Spring Break was the Warrior Dash up in Conroe. Jeff participated (I'll have to make a post about that later), and after he was done, he decided he needed to tell the baby what he'd done. He is going to be such a great father!

Yardwork actually started the first weekend of March. Here is my lovely self before we went out and worked--so just pardon the hair and what not.

Happy Anniversary!

Can you believe we've been married for 2 years today? I'm still surprised sometimes that Jeff even married me (I have my moments of stubbornness, stupidity, and many more!). We've had so many great times during the past 2 years and I'm just thrilled every day that Jeff is the last person I see at night and the first I see in the morning! He is truly the best thing that ever happened to me!

In the past 2 years:

• Jeff has completed his Bachelor's


• We've gotten fur baby #2--Queso


• Bought house #2


• Jeff has started his MBA AND is working full time


• I changed jobs after 9 years at my previous school


• We're getting ready for baby #1!!!

Wonder what this year will bring for us (besides the obvious addition of Baby Dickens!).

I love you Jeff! Here's to 48 (at least) more!!! (Hey--goal setting to the Golden Anniversary is important!!)

Baby's Room--Part 1

We decided not long after we found out I was pregnant that we wanted a grey baby's room. We have never discussed the possibility of a pink or blue room--that's just not us. We're pretty big into being able to reuse or re-purpose something once we have it--hence a gender neutral color. We may take a long time to get there, but that doesn't mean that we haven't written on many napkins, scraps of paper, or emails in order to get our ideas completed!

One morning that I couldn't sleep after waking up to go to the bathroom (again), I finally got up and decided to research grey nurseries. I found so many that were adorable and can't wait to create ours for our Little Dickens! Right now I've got paint samples taped to the wall. We haven't decided on light/dark yet.

The print that (mostly) everything is going to be based around is this one that I got online on sale. I love it because of the song: I used to sing it to my niece when she was a baby, and one random day Jeff sent me the lyrics while we were dating, so it does have some special meaning just for us!

I haven't found any baby bedding that I like enough to use/see all the time. I'm not a big animal person and would like to keep things fairly neutral no matter what we end up having. After my morning of research, I finally figured out what I wanted to do--buy fabric! And no...I don't sew! Which is where the next problem comes in---who can I get to do it for us??? :)

I would like to get a crib dust ruffle, window valance, and a few other non-decided ideas done in the fabric(s) that I end up getting. One idea is to frame 2 pieces of fabric to go around the "You Are My Sunshine" print and all 3 will be in white frames. Mom says to group things in odd #'s, so that's where that idea came from! Also, when I ordered the print, I didn't like anything else being sold with it, so I have my fingers crossed that this great idea will work! (By the way...no clue why this is now underlined now that I'm reading back over it!)

We plan on using one of the baby safe crib bumpers. They aren't pretty, but I figured either it will be no bumper, or this. I read too many blogs where people bought a bumper just "because it looks cute", and while I agree completely, I just can't fathom spending $$ on it if it just has to be taken out for safety purposes. I'll pick the color that goes with the bedding, but this is just what it looks like:

That's it for now. Once we get more in the works, I'll post more of my fabulous decorating abilities!

UPDATE: Sunday, April 3, 2011---Bedding is decided on!!

Totally forgot that I'd already started this post (probably sometime during spring break), but hadn't finished it. So...here are the up

dates:

1. Paint color will more than likely NOT be grey. Just doesn't work with the other things I/We have decided on.
2. "You are My Sunshine" print and breathable bumper are still the same.
3. Bedding---after finding and registering for one at Target, then a week later (AKA yesterday) finding out that neither Katy store carried it, I went on a hunt with mom to Babies 1st Furniture (which is a boutique style baby store that's AMAZING!!!) I found a crib skirt on 50% off (yeah!), and have now ordered a quilt/coverlet. The pic below shows all 3 patterns together
   
   
4. Bedding--Quilt/coverlet: the large fabric is the main one for the quilt/coverlet; the smaller print blue/brown is for the border. I like it for either sex because the border is girly enough to make it feel girly and the rest is just plain stinkin' cute!
   

Here's What the Books/Websites DON'T Tell You...

I'm not a huge researcher. I'm too lazy. I've changed only slightly during pregnancy and I say slightly because there are SO many things that you can't find information on in books or on the Internet. I've decided to compile a list throughout my pregnancy because one day when I'm done teaching, I'm going to get famous with this stuff! People will eat it up! (right????)

Cramping

• The week I found out I was pregnant, I had cramps like no other. I had only been off my birth control pills for a month (sorry if this is TMI) and figured I was about to start. However, I also did wonder if there could be a chance I was pregnant and began to research cramping with pregnancy.
• Well, the only thing I could find with this is that if you're pregnant and cramping, it is most likely a miscarriage. Great! Maybe I'm pregnant and this is it--now what? But...I didn't have any other symptoms, so I shrugged it off.
• Took my little home pregnancy test and what do you know? PREGNANT! Shocked, thrilled, scared to death! But why am I feeling cramps STILL?
• Call the doctor to get an appt, tell her that I'm cramping and her response is "Your uterus is expanding, so you might be feeling some pain due to that." That's it? That's the answer? Seems so simple now that I know it, but really...couldn't some book/website have told me that? I obviously wasn't typing in the correct words into the search engine!
• Good news: any time I feel anything...it's just the good ol' ute!

Red Dots

• TMI warning again! I read, and read, and read. And then, one day I woke up and noticed that one boob had a cluster of red dots on it. Now...I've read about seeing more blood vessels in your boobs due to the increased amounts of blood now flowing through my body to prepare for baby, but no book/website said anything about red dots.
• I even went so far as to call Jeff and ask if he happened to bite me and I just wasn't aware of it! (I know, I know....stupid! But...I just couldn't figure it out. I showed him when he got home and he acts all suave and tells me it's just the blood vessels--but I didn't believe him! So...on one of my calls to Courtney I mentioned it to her and she's like, "Yep...blood vessels." REALLY? Really?? (Notice I only believe a female who's been through this before!)
• So....for all of you out there who've never been through this....it's completely okay to see those red dots. They will eventually meld into who knows. My body is now a question for myself all over again!

Maternity Clothes

• LOVE them! I fought them and fought them and fought them and after buying my 1st pair of maternity jeans at 3 months I thought and thought and thought....what the heck was I waiting for?
• I'm mainly talking pants here b/c I have lots of shirts that are flowy, long, etc. and I was not in the need for those like I was for anything that did not button or push against my belly. Not that I'm growing that fast, but man...little Dickens DID NOT care for anything pushing against him/her! It got to a point that when I went to the bathroom, I could feel my stomach just sighing in relief because I'd unbuttoned!
• All maternity pants ARE NOT created equal! I have always had a tummy pooch and I absolutely hate the pants that sit below this area. I'm sure I'll re-think this when I'm at 9 months, but right now they just make me feel like an overweight junior high girl who's trying to fit her body into the "cool jeans" (oh wait....I think I actually WAS her years ago!!).
• The "Secret Fit Belly" actually makes me feel less fat! Depends on what top I'm wearing with it of course, but I actually feel like one of those half-way cute pregnant ladies I'm always jealous of. It's just like Stacey London and Bethenny say, "Fit and tailoring can make an outfit!" My "Secret Fit Belly" is my own version of maternity fit/tailoring!

Going to the Bathroom

• First of all, I go all the time now. This is coming from someone who goes 6 times a day: morning, conference period, lunch, after school, when get home, before bed. I'm lucky now if I get a full night's sleep without waking up to go to the bathroom!
• Smaller bladder??? Baby on bladder??? Both??? Probably so! All I know is that being a teacher teaches you to hold it. You don't always have the chance to squeeze through 300 pre-pubescent kids in the 5 minutes you have between class! Nowadays, if I wait too long, it takes me about 3 minutes to actually go to the restroom. Why you wonder? (Or maybe you just wonder why the heck I'm giving you all my personal info) It's got to be the position that baby is sitting in. I now get a "trickle, trickle, trickle" due to pregnancy instead of "whoosh". (Once again, had to confirm this with a few other mommies out there that yes, in fact, I am still normal....it just all has to do with the baby!)

This is Part 1. When more frustrating info comes up, I'll add to it. The ending frustration: most people don't want to share their "TMI" stories with you. Personally, I look on it as "helping me feel more normal" and would really appreciate it. Like I've said, there is a lot that no book/website tells you! However, I am glad to have signed up for all of the baby/body/pregnancy newsletters that now clutter my inbox. When I finally sit down to read them, they do help more than most books. I guess I'm one of those people that needs the information week by week--not in one setting.

That being said...if you have a list of advice or helpful hints of your own that you'd like to share with me, please feel free to send me an email with all of your "TMI"! I promise--I'll love it!