Kitchen Progress Pics

This is where I'm at with the kitchen. Progress has kind of stalled. We are waiting for our electrician / my coworker to come back over (it's been 2 weeks since his last visit ... That's about average) and hook up our other pendants, add a hanging light over our table area and do under cabinet lighting and hook up a few more outlets.  I plan on tiling the backsplash, but painted it for now so it doesn't look quite so unfinished.  We also have a new window and trim to install, but right now, the kitchen is 75% done ... And it has only taken 3 months!! 

I'll post more pics once the rest of the lights, etc are hung.  It has just been sloooow going. 

Cluttered

It seems I average about a blog post a month, huh?  That certainly wasn't my goal ... sigh.  Sometimes I feel overwhelmed and just can't figure out time management in my downtime ... which is nap time on the weekends and after 8 pm on the weekdays.  I am NOT motivated in the evenings, lets put it that way.

In the mornings, while I'm getting ready for the day, I think of all the things I could do that day that would be productive ... like organize x,y or z at home (I have LOTS of areas I want to tackle).  Or I think of things that are good for me to do ... like exercise.  

I usually don't accomplish much other than work, come home and hang out with the hubs and play with Luke - all of these I love to do (ok ... maybe I don't love work).  Today, I got a wild hair and decided to tackle the computer room / spare bedroom / former pantry and kitchen / don't-know-where-to-put-it-and-this-room-is-already-lookin'-crappy-so-why-not-add-it-to-the-pile-room.  

I took the pictures below AFTER I had already hauled out a floor to ceiling storage rack that sat right below the fan and held our food/dishes/odds and ends since mid-August.  So it looked much more cramped, if you can imagine.  The computer was in there, and I hated to get online and blog or do bills.  Not a good atmosphere at all.  

I spent about 2-3 hours taking all the stuff out that didn't make sense to have in there and spread it out in the living room/kitchen and put back what I needed.  I am figuring out where to store things and how best to organize things, which sometimes takes time ... but after moving and not using a few things for about 11 months, I know what I need and what I don't need.  

I hate clutter.  Growing up, my parents house was always cluttered - there were piles of papers sitting on the kitchen counters, as my mom would (still does) write things down she hears on the radio, watches on tv, etc to "remember".  But she ends up with a bunch of stuff that she never goes through.  I understand she has to write it down to remember it (I'm that way too), but there has got to be a time limit of how long to hold onto things.   

There were piles of laundry that remained consistently on our floor from maybe age 8-16.  We simply rooted through the dirty laundry piles to find our uniforms or something that wasn't too dirty to re-wear instead of waiting for it to be washed.  My mom had to personally scrub every piece of clothing ON every stain with Lava soap.  We didn't just throw the clothes in the Washer.  

Needless to say, I have a ton more examples of how clutter drives me nuts, but the bottom line is ... it drives me absolutely insane after living in disarray for 11 months!  As I type this post, I am sitting in the clean office/guest bedroom where I am thoroughly enjoying the clean space  -- and I have a few cats who are enjoying it too, all curled up on the bed.  

BEFORE - Look at all that crap piled everywhere!  Now imagine a a floor to ceiling storage rack that sat right below the fan whose length came out to the cardboard boxes on the right and that would be the complete picture.

BEFORE - We had a pile of stuff just inside the doorway on my cedar chest - and look how little stuff is in the rack in the closet!  Gah!  

AFTER - I apologize for the shimmery texture on the walls - that is the globe of the (new) ceiling fan causing it.  It makes the walls shimmery, which is kinda cool instead of it being just boring white paint.  My brother found the ceiling fan for $30 and it is a much more updated style, along with the fact that it doesn't rock when you turn it on, so a definite upgrade.  Hoping to sell the old fan on a local buy-sell-trade site, so maybe a $0 upgrade out of pocket!  (fingers crossed)

AFTER - Desk is cleaned off, pictures hung above on a horseshoe picture frame my youngest sister made for us for Christmas.  As you can see, the closet is stocked now - more things out of the actual room!

AFTER - Two of my four kitties enjoying the spacious new room!

(Pirate on the left (my girl cat) and Biker on the right (my boy cat).  

Hardware & Lighting

The most daunting choices (for me) is Cabinet Hardware & Lighting.  It makes a statement.  I have a hard time sometimes helping others select what they want (well, it is a little easier when it isn't yourself).  But ... after much deliberation, I have narrowed it down to three choices that I like the best.  

Here are the my THREE choices.  

CHOICE #1 (far left), CHOICE #2 (middle), CHOICE #3 (far right)

Despite the finishes shown, I will do them all in a Satin/Brushed Nickel finish (silver, non-chrome).  I am looking for mainly a style choice.  I have decided I like the hardware standing out from the dark Cabinets, therefore I chose the Satin/Brushed Nickel.

Choice #3 (left) .... Choice #2 (right)

Choice #1 (shown in silver on left & grey on right)

CHOICE #1:

CHOICE #2:

CHOICE #3:

*****  *****  *****  *****  *****

***** NOW FOR LIGHTING *****

*****  *****  *****  *****  *****

CHOICE 1:  

This is DH's favorite and is starting to grow on me.  The hardware style I would pick is in the bottom left hand corner of the picture.  Please ignore the poor photoshop job ... but you get the idea.  :-)  The table with light above will go in front of the louvered bi-fold doors in this area (centered between the four recessed can lights in the ceiling will be the light above the table.  Lots of door/window openings in this area!!)

CHOICE 2:

I like the style of hardware (bottom left corner), but I think this may be too fancy?  It has to go by all those doors/windows in the picture above ... would I be crazy for putting fancy in that area?

CHOICE 3:

Similar to choice 2, but a little different.  You can see a trend.  :-)

CHOICE 4:

I wasn't even going to post this, but decided I wanted to document the process.  I think the pendants are a little dark & blend in ... as well as maybe won't go so well with the Stainless Cabinet Pulls.  

*****  *****  *****  *****  *****

That's it ... you now know I'm CRAZY and OBSESSED about these little things.  My poor DH ... I overanalyze and talk things to death!!  :-)  What do you think?  What would YOU do?

Finding the Truth

I was recently texted by my youngest sister, J (10 years younger), about how expensive IF treatment was.

I texted her what I remembered we spent during our years of treatment.

She texted back that she was just wondering volunteered that she has been seeing a specialist in a nearby town.  I asked J what tests had been run so far.  She tells me that this doctor is doing bloodwork & ultrasounds to figure out why she "can't carry that long" and also that the doctor (in the town where we all live) didn't believe that J has been pregnant.  That's why she was going out of town.

I recommend the Fertility Care Support Group who is pretty local & can help with charting (using NaPro and the Creighton Model) to diagnose and treat IF of all kinds.

She then tells me that, "Listen, I can get pregnant.  I just can't stay pregnant that long.  I can't carry to full term."

I repeat the benefits of NaPro & give her anonymous stories of other gals who have needed drugs/special IV's and treatment to stay pregnant.  I tell her there are success stories and I believe in NaPro, even though it didn't work for me.

She replies back that, "There are women out there that don't show they are pregnant on blood & HPT's.  I always test negative, that's why she tried to get a doctor to give her an ultrasound before she lost this last one.  I'm trying to check my progesterone with this doctor and see."

Inwardly, I'm thinking that this has got to be crazy ... who doesn't test positive with bloodwork?  I understand HPT's being negative, but I thought bloodwork would be conclusive.

I reply to her that she needs to have them test her HCG levels if she thinks she is pregnant.  Also, if she is worried about progesterone to have them prescribe shots (she's gotten pills) so they have enough dosage in them to do something.

She tells me, "I had progesterone pills, but they screwed up my body and just helped me slowly kill the baby.  I lost him so I'm not pregnant anymore.  DH's mom had the same thing being pregnant with my DH, that it would never show on tests, so we went to where her doc was that did the ultrasound, but he wouldn't take new patients, so that's why I'm going out of town, where a doctor will see me."

I realized that my texts with her to give her more information regarding NaPro, actually ovulating, confirming a pregnancy and actually diagnosing whether she had any ovulation, luteal phase or other problem, are going to be futile and fall on deaf ears, so I just say, "If you have any other questions, let me know."

The End.

---

Is it bad that I'm not sure whether to believe her or not?  She's called me before saying that she's miscarried (with about the same vague info) a few times, but all her HPT's were negative.  I'm not sure if she' gotten any bloodwork done before.  She just says she "feels" pregnant (I've SO been there myself), but she "just knows" she's miscarrying/miscarried.

I have talked to my mom about it (and so has J).  Mom thinks that J isn't miscarrying and wasn't pregnant (my mom has had 2 miscarriages, so she knows what happens).  The local doctor thinks that J hasn't been pregnant and it's all in her head (I can't fully support a non-NaPro doc's diagnosis ... we all know they don't know what they're talking about most of the time with IF).

I don't want to be unsupportive if this is true - if J was pregnant and has a problem carrying babies to term - I want to be there for her, because I know IF is a hard cross - and miscarriage is just as hard / harder.  I just think that there would be some way to confirm she was actually pregnant.

Thoughts?

Saying Words

I don't think I have anything to worry about yet, but I wanted to get some feedback to ease my mind.  When we were down to see Luke's birth mom, Becca, she mentioned that the doctor was concerned about her older son, E, not talking and communicating the way a 3-year old should.  He doesn't say too much in words, but uses the phrases that Luke does when "talking", sounding like gibberish baby talk.  They were going to test to see if he was autistic.  Seeing E the little bit that I do, I don't think he has any severe problems.  He listens to directions and communicates non-verbally or points / grunts to what he wants.  He whines or gets mad like any normal boy too.  :-)  Becca mentioned the doctors are concerned because he is still non-verbal.

What concerns me is that Luke hasn't started saying any words either.  None.  He used to say "mammmmm" when he was upset and wanted me and and "da-da-da-da-da" when he was talking about anything else.  Now he walks around saying gibberish that sounds like "tickle, tickole, tickole, tickole" (sometimes really fast, like he's having a conversation or telling us something).  He understands us when we tell him "no" (ok, about as much as he wants to sometimes) and tell him to "get your blankie" or "Luke, do you want a bath?"  He KNOWS what's going on (and runs to the bathroom for a bath).  I just worry that he ISN'T saying any words other than gibberish, knowing that there might be a potential family history there.

I know sometimes that kids don't talk until they're ready, and I still believe that. The blessing (and worry) of reading things on FB and other blog posts about other children, is that I sometimes compare the things they do vs. the things Luke can do (and worry about his lack of skills).  One little boy about Luke's age can draw with markers (say what!?!  Luke would eat those!).  Others are talking in phrases and saying things. Still others are potty training.  Stuff like that.  I don't want Luke to grow up too soon, but I don't want him to fall behind either, with a problem that I could (and should) catch early.

I know each child is different and develops at a different rate, but what is and isn't normal for talking for an almost 21 month old?

Pics, Consecration and Paint Colors

Hey all!  There's not a lot of big things happening here, but here are a few "newsies" and some cute Luke photos:

He LOVES to crawl in cubes and then stand up and turn around inside them, then leap out!

Luke went over to Grandpa & Grandma's house and climbed right up on the desk by himself.

Being silly in front of the camera!  Mommy stuck out her tongue.  Luke thought that was too funny, so he stuck out his too!  We love our iPhone and Luke loves to take "selfies"!

- I signed up for and completed my Consecration to Mary on December 8th by reading "33 Days to Morning Glory", which has 33 small readings and reflections for the day.  I (surprisingly) didn't miss many days ... about 3-4 total, which I made up doing double the readings on the following day.  There are so many great points in that book and I highly recommend reading it and consecrating yourself to Mary!  I remember thinking that only the "very Catholic people" would consecrate themselves, but then I realized that I am praying a daily Memorare for my family & friends, asking Mary's intercession for them and their intentions ... so how much "harder" is it to have her even more in my life?  It's not.  :-)  I try each day to act better and remember to ask her to intercede in my life.  Some days are better than others, but I do try.

- At Mass last Sunday, (the Immaculate Conception and the Day of Consecration), our little Lukie was quite the irritable inconsolable child with his tantrum during Mass.  We sat in the back pew, but after about 10 minutes, had to move to the cry room.  It was full, so we didn't get a pew, but rather sat in a few chairs in the back.  Without a pew to constrain Luke, he ran all over, including up to the front to be by a large Catholic family.  He jumped on the kneelers.  He ran over to pound on the window.  He kept making one of the boys get up to get out of his way to get to a window.  Then, he started coughing all over the kids, so we hopped up to get him.  I was mortified.  We couldn't pick him up and hold him, as he would scream bloody murder.  We needed a "naughty cry room", as he was the only one acting up.      He was screaming and flailing and rolling all over, so we left.  Yep.  We left Mass about mid-way through.  (Very terrible, I know.)  We get home, and the little stinker is running all over, forgetting about how naughty he was during Mass.  I was soooo irritated.  We cannot figure how to corral his energy and attitude, as today at Mass, DH took him into the cry room during the readings and I could hear him screaming through the entire homily.  They need thicker glass.

- At work, the other designer and I received a bonus for all the good work we are doing / have done at our job this last year.  That's pretty good, considering it is a rare occurrence to get anything more than $100, says the manager.  We were the only 2 out of 8 people to get one.  I am pretty excited, as hopefully my skills are showing well at work.  I am the computer whiz (my DH laughs and laughs at that, as I am clearly not at home) and the labeler / organizer at work.  It drives me nuts to have things messy and out of order.  I always get asked if I am working on anything, as I guess my desk is too clean to actually be doing any work.  I am very thankful to God, as money has been tight over the last year since the move.  Our income has been cut in half (almost), but it has been worth it, in my eyes.  We keep tithing and praying and God hasn't let us down yet.  He always provides.


- We drove down to see Josh's brother & family, as well as Luke's birth mom, Becca, over the Thanksgiving holiday.  We had a very nice time visiting everyone.  Luke had fun playing with his cousin (2 months older) during the time we were there.  They are going to be trouble the older they get, I think.  Becca and her family shared news that she had married her boyfriend (who was there during Luke's birth), so we were very excited for her!  I think they have a very good relationship and know he loves her son Eli (Luke's older brother).  Luke had fun jumping on the couches, playing with Eli, playing with Becca and wearing himself out!  He found Eli's cup of Koolaid and promptly drank it all up, one sip at a time (put down cup ... pick up cup ... sip ... put down cup ... pick up cup ... sip ... repeat)!  It was so cute!  We got a huge kick out of it!

Visiting DH's Grandma in the nursing home over Thanksgiving.  She has fallen several times & broken both her hips in the last year.  She has started to forget things, but always has a bright smile for her "little Lukie".  She brags about his hair and his smile to all who will listen.  She adopted DH's mom & DH's aunt about 60 years ago and been an inspiration to me.

Smiling for the camera on Thanksgiving.  Posing with us is Luke's cousin J (2 months older) and my MIL (DH's mom)

My little cheesy guy Luke with his cousin J.  They had fun sitting together and racing in the chair for a good 30 minutes!  They had the cutest laughs & squeals!

That is DH pushing the kiddos across the basement at BIL's house.  They loved it!!

- In Kitchen Remodel news, we have gotten the recessed can lights installed in the ceiling, some other electrical moved/installed, and the sheetrock up on the wall.  It's only taken 2 weeks.  (sigh)  It is a very slow process.  We waited all last week for sheetrock, then finally the guy comes Friday afternoon and hangs it.  It still has to be mudded and textured, then the ceiling painted before any Cabinets can be hung.  Hopefully by the end of the week we will have some Cabinets on the wall.  I'm not holding my breath.  We have flooring install scheduled for the last week of December, so I hope that Cabinets will be installed before then.  The week of Christmas is kind of burned through, as it is the middle of the week, so my guess is that anything that has to happen has to happen this week.  We will be living without Countertops until mid-January, I estimate, as there is Christmas + the countertop guy is taking a week off the first part of January.  Plus, he has other jobs to do.  At least get me my Cabinets and some Appliances.  I can make do without a sink ... I just need to stop piling crap on top of other crap.  That would make my day! 

After removing the old ceiling fan in the Kitchen, the single light in the dining room & adding (6) recessed can lights, it suddenly was brighter!  There will be three pendants above the island (blue boxes in the ceiling), a light over the dining table & a light over the sink.  Plus, you don't see the hideous old walls now that sheetrock is up!  It looks like we made progress.  :-)

Now ... who wants to pick a paint color with me?!??  I'm leaning towards these colors.  Do you like Blue-Grey or Brown walls?  I'm sure I'll post pics to have you vote here soon.  :-D

- Luke and I continue to pray for you all and your particular intentions every day at bedtime.  I know God hears my prayers, but I hope he will hear the prayers of Luke more (even though Luke doesn't get the whole process and bounces away or cries while I'm praying).  We pray especially for those of you who have empty arms this year and those of you waiting to find a spouse.  I can't forget those feelings myself.

The Kitchen Remodel Begins!

Last weekend (Saturday), we decided to tear out the Kitchen.  I figured that we'd better get started, since there always seems to be a bump (or two) in the road.  And there certainly have been!

DH spent Saturday morning re-arranging the furniture to corral Luke for the next few months, while I dropped Luke off at Grandma & Grandpa's house for a full day of playtime & walks while we tore stuff out.

Here is a shot of one of the last "before" pics - before we removed any built-in item from the Kitchen.  It is fun to look back and see how things used to look, hence the bazillion pictures. :)

Another shot of the Kitchen in all its glory!  (Plus a cat, who was interested in hanging out, but soon ran once the sledgehammers & crowbars came out.)

This is DH after removing the wall cabinets.  We found out that there must have been existing cabinets (the ones we tore out), but the wall wasn't there - they added it later.  It was some CRAZY construction on the Cabinets, let me tell ya!

If you ever tear out a countertop with a seating overhang, this is the only way to loosen the top.  It has worked twice now!  :)  (P.S.  you need a hunky guy with amazing leg strength, too.)

We tore out the corner base Cabinets and started seeing more of the beautiful handcrafted Cabinetry.  (belchhh!)  It sure feels more open!!

Proof that the wall was built AFTER the Cabinets were installed.  Retro doors!  Wow!  I wonder why they covered this up?  

After tackling the right side of the Kitchen, we skip the sink base and move to the left side.  We move the appliances (or start to) and realize the refrigerator has a water line for the ice maker (which we did not use).  We disconnect the water line, wondering if it is hooked up ... and sure enough, it is!  We shoot water into a trash can & shut off water to the whole house while we go to the hardware store & DH finds a cap for the line.  Thank goodness he is so handy!!

We removed all the Cabinets that we plan to (for now).  We are leaving the sink for as long as we can.  The sink cabinet is built as one big cavity with the corner cabinet, so for now, it all stays.  

The mess outside after Day 1 Demolition.  We didn't get a dumpster, so this will sit for awhile until we find a vehicle to take it to the dump.   #GhettoFabulous!

On Wednesday of this week, we break into the soffits that were framed in above the Cabinets and also tear out the stud wall that separated the Kitchen from the Living Room.  We took a break for a few days, as we found a few things that looked like structural issues & made the Kitchen Designer in me want to tear my hair out!  The stupid "half-wall with decorative posts between the Refrigerator & Stove actually concealed the vertical post you can see in the picture (it is wood at the bottom & sheetrock covered above), which we believed was sitting below a ceiling beam, making it structural.  Also the end of the framed wall was sitting below that same ceiling beam, making us think that was structural too.  After calling in a contractor, we thankfully discovered both were not issues!  I was trying to think how to modify the Kitchen ... the post wasn't an issue ... but the framed wall was!

Some of the beautiful wallpaper we found when we knocked out the soffits above.  There were three different kinds of wallpaper, some of which my dad said dated the house to the 40's & 50's.  It was really kind of neat to find that there!

My little brother found a picture of our house being moved (it was in our local paper back in November 1996).  We knew it had been moved & a new foundation was installed (which makes our basement that much more open & less creepy!), but it is SO cool to see the history behind it!  This is showing the back of our house.  The back door from the Kitchen (same door!) with the criss-cross glass pattern, the window to our dining area, and the open hole is the back door down to the basement stairs.  It looks a little rougher then than it does now, but we are sure thankful for its journey!

Well, now that the fun stuff happened to transform the Kitchen, we're doing some glorified camping.  The plastic to the right of the picture contains the old Kitchen, Dining area, Laundry closet & Bathroom.  We have segregated ourselves in the Living Room for the near future.

DH and Luke (who looks thrilled!) showing off our Kitchenette area.  We have a toaster oven, microwave, paper towel holder, plastic plates, plastic bowls & plastic silverware to tide us over until the new stuff can be installed.  We are actually thankful we have so much space to be in during this remodel.  Our last house remodel in Kansas left us segregated in the Master Bedroom only, as we had the Living Room, Kitchen & Dining Room torn up for 2 months.  Good thing it was just us two at the time ... it was crazy tight quarters!  

A smiley little boy today!  We have him barricaded off with the chair you see in the bottom right of the picture.  So far (thank God!), he has not tried to climb through the chair legs & sprint off into the debris that is the Kitchen!

Currently, we are waiting on getting a plumber and electrician in to do their stuff.  They are both supposed to come next week (which is a short week, due to Thanksgiving).  Hopefully we can make some progress, as they have to be done first before we can do the sheetrock, then paint, then Cabinets, Countertops, Flooring, Appliances & Backsplash Tile.  We have a LOOOOONG way to go!