Making room for Baby M

It's funny how well people know us, either from real life, this blog, or a combination of the two. When we announced on Facebook that we were pregnant, one of my friends commented that this must mean some more home renovations. Boy did she call it.

The plans for making room for Peanut included the following:
-removing the hideous wet bar in the basement
-capping all the completely unnecessary plumbing that was included with said wet bar
-scraping all the "popcorn" texture that was on the wall in this area (yes you read that correctly)
-repairing the walls, then priming, and finally painting the walls
-finding a suitable floor covering for the bare cement floor that the space the office would occupy
-finally move all the office furniture that is in the office on the 2nd floor down to the basement

There were days that this list would stress me out to no end. It just seemed like so much to do in our limited amount of free time (ie weekends). So we did what anyone in our situation would do. We asked for help. Mainly for the things that we just didn't have the knowledge to do which was the plumbing, and for the things that I just couldn't physically help with, which was the demolition.

We started the project in October with the demolition of the wet bar. To remind you all of the tackiness that was the bar here is a picture:

It's not the best picture, but the only one I have on this computer. It was the mid 1970's at it's best. We never used it. The only one in the house that regularly used this space is in the picture lounging around. So I asked my friend Pam if she could help us with demolition. She used to work for her uncle's construction company before becoming at SAHM, so she gladly came over and showed that bar who was boss.

 Here was what was left after she was finished:

She took out all of the bar that was not tied up with the plumbing. For that we had someone else come in to help. This is just a part of the garbage that we had to haul to the dump.

Then my friend Heather's husband Dave came in to fix one of the light switches that was not working in the basement, and cap all the plumbing for us. He also took out what was left with the bar. Once he was done this is what we were left with:

The mess on the wall is what happens when stupid old owners decide to glue plastic backing for glass shelving on the walls. In short you end up peeling part of the drywall off the wall. Major pain-in-the-ass!

And this is how the space just kind of sat pretty much until December when I decided that if we were going to finish the space the week after Christmas I really should get my butt in gear and scrape off that stupid popcorn texture, and repair the walls. Now for anyone who has read how to remove this texture which is typically on ceilings and not walls, you are suppose to spray with water, let sit for a few minutes then scrape off. Hahahahahahahaha. They make it sound so easy. What they don't tell you is that this does not work some of the time, ie. our basement. In short we were left with a freaking mess. A freaking mess that I spent hours trying to smooth out afterwards. It would have been easier to just have someone come in and re-drywall the space, but honestly, we were on a shoe string reno budget and that just was not going to happen.

So after hours of filling, drying, sanding, filling, drying, sanding, the walls were finally ready to prime and paint. This was a breeze compared to the prep work required. To go with our shoe string budget we opted for Rona's low VOC recycled paint. At about $15/gallon, we honestly couldn't go wrong. Friends of ours had used it and had been happy with their results, so we decided to go for it. They don't have a huge selection of colours, but in the end we're happy with the finished product. So here is the area right after paint:

For the floor we measured and thank goodness the area rug that was currently in our guestroom was just a touch too big, so we rolled the excess carpet along the wall where the desk would go, and voila! We have flooring. The best part is that is was neutral as well, so it all kind of ended up going together really well. We still need to go through the crap that is on those shelves so I can use them for scrap booking materials, but for now, it's okay.

Then came the fun, er, hard part, hauling all the contents from our office which is on the second floor all the way down to the basement. Thankfully Andre is amazing, and quite the trooper and did most of the grunt work. Aside from walking the really light stuff down stairs I really didn't do too much aside from walking up and down stairs.

We still don't have everything down from the office, and are going to need some help to haul the really heavy fire-proof filing cabinet down to the basement, but for now you can see that we have a functioning office at least:

So now at least the hard part is done. Now we can tackle the nursery!

The big update!

Everytime I logged on to Google Reader, or even just went on Facebook for that matter, the thought would run through my head about how it had been a long time since I had blogged. Then I would immediately become distracted, or the thought would just disappear from my head all together (gotta love placenta brain) and then I would go on my merry way again. Then I actually checked when my last entry was yesterday. Wow, it's been a looooong time.

There's been a lot going on, but at the same time not very much to warrant an exciting blog entry you know? Andre and I have been busy with work, and preparing for the holidays, and for little Peanut. The belly continues to get bigger, as does Peanut. She is moving more and more, and is currently having a love affair with my right side. My right ribcage to be exact. Her little head is there as I type. I continue to check my blood sugar multiple times a day, as well as injecting myself with Insulin daily right before bedtime. I'm being monitored very closely, and both Peanut and I are very healthy. As a nice little bonus with the reduced carb diet I have lost around 12-15 pounds. I'm too lazy to actually figure out the exact number. Don't be worried though, I continue to meet with my dietitian (and midwife, and OB, and diabetic nurse, and Endocrinologist...) and along with eating a balanced diet, both Peanut and I are both very healthy.

Preparation for Peanut was pretty much on hold over the month of December. With work, and Christmas shopping, and all that jazz, we were both just too overwhelmed to add one more thing to the mix. This week since both of us were on vacation things have shifted into high gear and preparations have once again begun. Among the necessary minor renovations to free up the smallest spare room to make room for a nursery, we finally purchased the crib, crib mattress, and car seat. Thanks to some very generous family, friends, and clients of mine Peanut also has quite the collection of new and gently used clothes. She will be quite the stylin' little girl! I've also started to purchase a little stash of cloth diapers to try out as well, but I will save this for another post!

As a reward for all of you faithful readers that will read this entry, I will finish off this post with our latest ultrasound picture of Peanut from December 20th at 28wks, and a belly picture of me from December 24th at 28wks.