25 Week Pregnancy Update

I'm definitely starting to feel very "pregnant."  I thought it would be fun to write about some of my recent experiences:

• It's becoming harder for me to get off the couch, I find myself having to rock myself up. 
• Bending over to tie my shoe is laughable (that's it.. pedicures are a must from here on out... I'm not even going to embarrass myself!)
• My skin is SO dry and SO itchy!  I can't slather on enough cocoa butter or Bio Oil.  But it's such a relief when I do. 
• Whoever said your hair is supposed to grow faster/thicker when pregnant, is a liar!  Well, at least it's not that way for me.  I've been losing my hair for the past two years, and nothing has changed. 
• I'm feeling her kick more and more.  I think I even felt her roll the other day.  I especially notice it at night when my tummy is full from eating that day.  She tends to kick a little more when I'm laying down on my back (yes, I know I'm not supposed to do that...).  
• I gained a total of 15 pounds in 6 weeks (up until 19 weeks, I hadn't gained anything).  I know that's okay, but I have 15 weeks left.  If I continue on that path I will have gained 45 total during my pregnancy!  Time to slow down on the hot chocolate I suppose. 
• I'm not peeing as much as I was because I think she has ventured upward in my tummy a bit, but I'm still getting up in the middle of the night at least once.  I'm still sleeping like a champ, but notice that around 4:00 I'm wide-eyed and bushy tailed.  My poor husband has to deal with me tossing and turning for that last hour or so of sleep before work. 
• Bloody noses, still getting them.  Well I guess I've only had three total now, but I notice whenever I blow my nose it's full of blood.  I always have a tissue on me now because I'm not risking the embarrassment of a random bloody nose again.
• I have a small linea negra (the darker line that typically goes from pubic area to sternum on pregnant women), but mine is only below my belly button at this point.  Speaking of belly buttons, mine is on its way outward.  My husband thinks I'm crazy, but I know I wasn't able to see that much of it in the past!  Oh how many changes your body goes through during pregnancy...
• I have ONE pair of jeans that still fit, they are stretchy skinny jeans so I'm not sure that they count as "jeans."  They are definitely on their way out, however.  From then on it will be leggings and long sweaters, and long maxi skirts.  I can't find long maternity pants for the life of me (um.. and where are all the maternity stores?  I don't think they exist!). 

I have my 25 week appointment later today.  I'm a little nervous for some reason, as my friend who is about as tall and has a smaller tummy like me, had to get an emergency ultrasound because she wasn't growing at a normal rate.  I know everyone has a different situation, but we'll see.  It makes me feel better that I've been feeling her kicks.

At my last appointment I was given this sugary drink that I have to drink within an hour of my appointment today.  I have to consume it in 5 minutes, which isn't so bad but it has 50g of sugar.  eek.  I hope it tastes good!  They will be performing a glucose test to make sure that I haven't developed gestational diabetes. 

At 25 weeks, she is 14 inches long (from head to rump) and 1.7 pounds.  Her body parts are becoming more proportional to each other this week, and her baby fat is continuing to fill in her skin.  Hair is growing, and is developing texture and color.

Other news, we bought a crib last weekend!  It's so purrdy!!!  We went with the Sorelle Verona with a changing table to make the best use of the small bedroom.  I'm thinking pink walls... but I'm not positive right now. 

xoxo,
Sunny

23 Week Pregnancy Update

Oh boy, if time flies this fast until delivery I'm not sure what I'm going to do!  It's been three weeks since my last post!

We have been SO busy lately.  We have been working on creating some bookshelves for our TV room.  They are going to be H.U.G.E.. like.. really huge!  I'm talking 52"x88" huge.  They have been so much fun to put together though!  My husband and I really do make an awesome team, he's the woodworker and I'm the painter/stainer/detailer/decorator.  He's also got the muscles, and me, not so much.  I will make a post about it when it's finished, but here are the backboards of the shelves.  Love.  We wanted them to match the mantle, so we picked a stain by Varathane called Cognac.  They are pretty close!  This is also the color that we did the pub table top with.  The frame of the shelves will be black. 

 

In addition to these shelves, I have been shamelessly working to finish the drawer fronts of our platform bed as well.  You know that bed that we made a frame for in APRIL of this year?  Yeah... it's still not done!  That's what happens when you start a million projects at once :)  I've also been hard at work getting our spare bedroom done (paint, new outlets, new trim) before transferring everything from the baby's room into that room.  THEN I can start on the baby's room.  Whew!!!  All in just four months, can you believe I'm 5 months pregnant already?!?!?!??!

Still feeling great!  My bump seems to have like disappeared in the last couple of days.  I'm not sure if she's laying a different way or what, but I can button my pants now!  I had to buy some clothes this weekend that would allow for growth, but I'm wearing my jeans to today so I'm not sure what's going on.  I feel like I look more pregnant on the weekends, is that weird?  Maybe it's just because I eat more then...

As far as symptoms go, I've had a bloody nose a couple of times this week, along with a couple of other TMI things that I probably shouldn't talk about on here :)  Nothing alarming though.  I had my 22 week appointment last week and found out that I'd gained 7 pounds in 6 weeks.  The Doctor said that was good because I'm now at the weight she wants me to be at, but not to gain 7 pounds every month from here on out.  I agreed.  I don't want to gain 30 pounds in four months, but if it happens, I'm sure it's because my body is holding onto it for a reason.  Below is a picture of me today at work, five months pregnant. 

I'm no longer craving milk, but I'm craving hot chocolate (notice Starbucks cup in photo)!  I have to have it every day.  Well, I guess that's still a form of milk... I usually crave it around this time of year though so who knows. 

Well, that's pretty much it for the last couple of weeks.  Looking forward to Thanksgiving, I hope you all have a great one!

~Sunny

20 Week Pregnancy Update and... Gender Announcement!

I'm officially half-way in my pregnancy!  I can't believe it's gone by so quick.  Seriously only have 4.5 months left..... ahhh!!!!!  Nesting mode here I come!

So our long awaited anatomy scan appointment was yesterday.  It was a lonnnnnng appointment, and a long day at that.  We got there at about 2:00 (talk about a dragging day at work!), and didn't leave until about 3:30 or so.  The ultrasound tech took a TON of pictures, measuring everything from our baby's hands and fingers, to the four chambers of the heart.  I am happy to say that they said everything looks healthy! 

Since our plan was to not find out at the appointment, but rather later at dinner, we asked the Doctor to place the gender inside of an envelope.  From there, we decided to drive to our favorite Work-n-Wear store for one of our famous construction shirts.  There is a story behind the shirt that I will blog about soon :) 

So, it was a little awkward, but right as we walked in we told the cashier our plan.  We told her that we were going to pick out two shirts; one blue and one pink.  We then gave her the envelope and told her that since we didn't want to know until dinner, we would hand her the shirts and she would then put either the blue or pink shirt in a box based on the gender determined in the envelope and we would blindly pay for our purchase.  She and about every other girl in the store let out a big "AWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH." 

We then drove back to town and had dinner at a restaurant near our house.  Mind you, this is like 3 hours after being handed the envelope that had our baby's gender in it.  PAINFUL I tell you.  I just wanted to know!  We get to the restaurant, decide to then wait until we order our food, and THEN open the box... So... it's a...

GIRL!  :) :) Also, below are some of the photos from the ultrasound.  She is definitely going to have some long legs like her mama!  For most of our appointment she was actually in the shape of a V with her legs up by her head.  I guess we should get her enrolled in infant gymnastics...

Symptom updates... the only weird symptom lately I have had was waking up to a bloody nose this morning.  Other than that, all is well!  Crossing my fingers for a painless 20 more weeks :). 

~Sunny

19 Week Pregnancy Update

What a great couple of weeks it's been!  I have been feeling great, which apparently is the reason for not posting last week :)  I've also been really busy at work, which makes my weekends even longer as I'm not able to get much done during the work week. 

I've also been busy working on remodeling our bathroom.  Just some cheap updates, nothing crazy.  I wasn't a fan of the pine cabinets so I decided to use the same dark gel stain I used on the dresser I recently refinished and paint the walls.  I'm not really that happy with how the cabinets turned out as I didn't sand them down enough before applying the gel stain.  In some areas the stain wouldn't adhere to the surface (in oily areas, near handles).  In person they look a bit streaky, which is why I ended up doing less coats than I had originally wanted.  My saving grace is that they do fit in with the rest of my "distressed" projects.  I really need to work on having some patience when I work on things like that... my problem is I just get so excited for the end result that I sometimes don't spend enough time prepping my projects.  Maybe that will be my New Years Resolution :)  Hmm..

Before:

After:

I am however in LOVE with the handles.  I got them at Home Depot and am just obsessed.

Anyway- back to being prego.  I think I'm finally in the honeymoon of my second trimester.  I'm back at the gym and have tons of energy- it feels great.  The only side effects I've noticed as of late are having to go pee... A LOT.  I think I counted a total of 9 times yesterday- no joke.  I have also been waking up in the middle of the night to go, which I thought would be annoying but it's not that bad since I'm not having any problems sleeping. 

I was starting to feel bad for my husband for a while since I was literally a couch potato for like 10 weeks straight.  I'm usually a clean-a-holic and love to cook but I had definitely put that on hold.  It's strange how every pregnancy is so different.. some say they've never felt better, others are in and out of the hospital they're so sick.  I guess I just got put in the middle and I'm okay with that!

Oh- And for those of you that don't think I'm showing at all, here's a lil' proof that I am!   Either that or I'm getting a milk gut (drinking SO much milk).  At 19 weeks, the baby is the size of an heirloom tomato and is 8.5 oz and 6 inches from head to rump.

~Sunny

17 Week Pregnancy Update

What a week!  I decided to better track my progress, I'm going to start writing everything down.  By writing, I mean typing of course :)

Monday: Felt great until about 2:00pm. Started developing a headache.  Took Tylenol with no help.

Tuesday: Could not go to work.  Migraine hit hard, threw up a few times.  Laid in bed all day. Was able to eat Cheerios.

Wednesday: Still unable to go to work. Migraine and throwing up. Called on-call Doctor at hospital OB Clinic to ask what I should do.  Was told to take 2 ibuprofen and drink caffeine.  After this not helping at all, they were able to squeeze me in for an evaluation.  At appointment they prescribed me Compazine and Vicodin for the migraines.  They said if it gets so bad I can't stand it, to go to the ER next time.

Thursday: Felt better but not 100%. Back to work thankfully!!!

Friday: Felt good. Got a little headache at noon but it went away with lots of water and Tylenol.  Went to dinner with some friends and felt great!

Saturday: Woke up with a headache but it went away after eating breakfast and taking Tylenol.  Got a lot done- painted our bathroom!  Tommy started redoing our front porch and he got a lot done too. My dad stopped by with a load of firewood to split.

 

Sunday: Woke up feeling great. Went to Costco.  About 2:00pm, started developing a migraine.  Took Compazine and am currently waiting for it to work!

Still no baby bump, weight gain, or feeling baby movement- hopefully soon though!  Skin has cleared up. Started using bio oil this week mixed in with my lotion.  We have an appointment on Wednesday so we are excited for that.  Oh!  We also scheduled the anatomy scan for November 5, which means we find out the gender then!

On a different note, as we left our house to meet some friends for dinner, Tommy's foot went through the steps of our porch.  Just as we thought we were going to have a relaxing weekend!  LOL!

Yeah, they were pretty hideous anyway, so I think it was a blessing in disguise :) 

As he started tearing the steps apart, he noticed the entire porch was rotted out.  Well, can't say I am not happy about it, because the porch looks SOOO much better now!  I'm lucky to have such a handy guy around!

~Sunny

I'm Pregnant!!!

Yay!  Not only am I a wifey, I'm going to be a MOMMY!  Today's the day I made my pregnancy announcement and it FEELS SO GOOD!  That was the HARDEST secret to keep from the world, but I did tell close friends and family. 

I would have loved to have made a post about every week up until now, but I was SOOOOO sick that I feel it would have just been about migraines.  And you would get sick of hearing about that :)  Hopefully from here on out I can do an update each week and there will be something new and interesting that I can blog about. 

So, here is my 1-16 week update. 

I found out I was pregnant at 5 weeks.  I took 4 pregnancy tests that day, each with a VERY faint positive line, so I didn't know if that meant I was pregnant or not.  With each test the line did get a bit darker, but it still was pretty faint.  Apparently it's not possible to get a false positive, either that or it's very rare.  I guess I just couldn't believe it!  I text Tommy the morning I found out saying I had something really important to tell him later.  We were both working so I'm sure he was anxious that day, as I made him wait 8 hours to find out the news.  I drove to the gym after work and had him meet me at my car in the parking lot.  I handed him the tests and he was pretty shocked.  Let's just say our workout  at the gym that day included a lot of looking at eachother in the mirror in disbelief.  But of course excitement :)  I worked out extra hard thinking I was never going to be able to work out again.  LOL, I guess you never know, right?   

Since that day I have only been to the gym TWICE.  I have been SOOOOOOOO sick.  I've battled with migraines for 6 years, and since about 8 weeks on I've had a headache everyday.  Some of them turn into migraines, but nonetheless, having any sort of headache suuuuuucks.  The only kind of painkiller I can take is Tylenol, and for those of you that have experienced a migraine, Tylenol doesn't do a thing.  There were three days where I didn't get out of bed at all.  Tommy was out of town and I had only told our parents, so it's not like I could call anyone to complain to.  LOL.  I think out of those three days I only got up to get a glass of milk and use the bathroom.  Periodically since I've had a few bad ones that keep me from going to work.  It's no fun using my vacation days to sit at home and puke in a toilet 

The only other weird side effects have been slight vision impairment, but it's only happened twice.  One day at about 10 weeks or so I lost my peripheral vision in my right eye, and another day recently I couldn't focus on the words that were on TV.  I got really dizzy and had to lay down.  

I can't say it's been awful, but it hasn't been pleasant, those 1-16 weeks :)  I'm really hoping and praying that now that I'm well into my second trimester the migraines will subside a bit and let me enjoy some of this! 

So far, no baby bump.  Just some bloating towards night time, and then I wake up and it's gone.  I'm still floating around 137-139 pounds, which is what I weighed at the beginning.  The Dr. recommended at our last appointment that I gain 9 pounds by our next appointment (October 16), but I don't think that's going to happen.  I think I'm just one of those freaks that can eat anything and it disappears into thin air.  Sometimes I wish that I could gain just a little bit, at least in my tummy area.  I want to LOOK pregnant, especially for what it's put me through up to this point!   It's really ironic if you think about it, you feel your worst at the beginning when you're NOT showing, and you feel your best when you are. 

No other major updates at this point.  I really just wanted to post SOMETHING about my news.  :) 

~Sunny

Refurbished Bar Height Chairs

Wow, what an amazing, cheap transformation.  Reupholstering chairs is SO simple.  These are the chairs that came along with the pub table that I recently refinished as well. 

Step 1: Remove the seats from the chair base.  I used my husbands electric drill to remove the screws since they were really in there. 

Step 2: Step 2 really depends on if you want to replace the foam in the seat or not.  I decided that I wanted to, since we bought these on Craigslist and didn't really know who had been sitting on them.. the thought sort of grossed me out. 

So if you decide to redo the foam, start ripping the seats off with scissors, pliers, whatever you need really.  You just need that wooden base that EVERYTHING is stapled to :)  Don't worry about removing all of the staples, just get as much as you can off of the wood.

The picture below was taken about midway through ripping the fabric and foam off of the seats.  What a chore!  This is probably the hardest part of the whole project.

 

Step 3: Take the new foam out (I bought 2 big squares of 2 inch thick upholstery foam from JoAnn Fabrics), and place the wood base on top of it, upside down so the pretty side of the wood is face up.  Use a Sharpie to mark a line on the foam about a quarter of an inch wider than the wood base.  Use a seraded kitchen knife to cut on the line, to form the seat of your chair. 

 

 Step 4: Now take the backing or netting and secure it around the foam/wood base with a staple gun.  Make sure it is snug tight!

Step 5: Now, do the same thing with the fabric you picked out.  (Sorry, forgot to take a pic!  I had an audience so I kept forgetting to take photos!)

Step 6: Screw your new reupholstered chair seat back on to the chair frame.  Simple as that! 

 

~Sunny

White Glazed Dresser

So I'm totally in LOVE with how this turned out.  I can officially say my black obsession has been replaced by COLORS.  If you consider white a color.  I do anyway.  That's something to be proud of, if you've ever seen my house :)  My mom calls me a vampire.  That's always good, right?

The dresser was really beautiful to begin with, but just not my cup of tea.  I decided to go with white, initially to resell it but of course.. I found the perfect place for it to reside. 

Step 1: Sand and prepare the surface, including masking off areas that you don't want painted

Step 2: Start sprayin'!  I used spray paint with a primer, so no need to prime. 

Step 3: After about 5 cans of paint, I decided to add a black glaze all over the dresser.  Mostly because I like the "imperfect," somewhat distressed look. 

Step 4: Add knobs to the drawers!  The drawer pulls that were on the original dresser were hideous, so I found some cheap wood knobs at a local hardware store that I sprayed black. 

 

~Sunny

My Next Victim...

WOW.. It's been WAY too long since my last project.  I had the itch so off to Craigslist hunting I went.  I'm picking this gem up tonight for $50...

My thought right now is to spray it white, white handles, and then black glaze the edges/cracks. 

Can hardly contain myself! Hey.. some people are addicted to drugs.. I'm addicted to furniture. 

~Sunny

Teal French Country Dresser

Some of you probably recognize this dresser from a previous DIY.  For those of you that don't know, I am extremely impatient at times.  At our old house, I had a bottle of incense sticks with the smelly liquid you get at stores like Pier 1, sitting on top of this dresser.  My cat had accidentally knocked it over and spilled it all over the top of the dresser, which left major damage as it ate through the paint.  So, I picked it up, as well as the glass that had been sitting on the dresser.  It left a ring around the bottom of the glass.  I then moved the glass (not thinking) onto the banister in the hallway.  Again, another ring of damage on the banister.  Not so smart on my end!  So, here we are.  Refinishing it, again.  :)  I had been craving using a brighter paint color, and since teal seems to be "in," I decided to give it a shot.  This one I WILL be selling!  I originally bought this one for $125 on Craigslist (it was my first ever purchase).  I just posted on Craigslist for $325. 

Supplies
Valspar Teal Spray Paint (I used four cans)
Orbital Sander with a high-grit sand paper
Behr Premium Plus Faux Glaze
Black Paint (just get a small sample of black from Home Depot/Lowes)
Minwax Finishing Paste
Paper Towels (not pictured)
Plastic Cup and Plastic Spoon (not pictured)
Flathead Screwdriver (not pictured)

Step 1: Remove hardware with a screwdriver.  Since mine were already powdercoated white, I didn't need to finish them with anything. 

 

Step 2: Lightly sand the surface with a fine grit sandpaper.  Spray paint tends to stick better to a surface that is roughed up a bit.  I had to be careful since the top of the dresser is laminate and not wood.  Remove all dust from surface. 

Step 3: Start sprayin'!  I used four cans total.  I waited about 30 minutes in between coats since the Valspar spray paint is very light (I likely won't use this kind again.. it's too "misty").  I only sprayed the surface of the dresser (meaning, not the inside or sides of the drawers, the inside or back of the dresser).  Before I did my last coat, I VERY lightly sanded some of the residue from the spray paint with a very fine grit sandpaper.  Spray paint tends to build up a bit and leaves the surface kind of rough. 

 



Step 4: Once the paint dries, you will want to mix 1 part black paint with 3 parts glaze.  I mixed these with a plastic spoon in a red Solo cup.  This part is messy, but that's part of the fun and will help you attain that "imperfect" look.  Since the dresser already had quite a few of these imperfections, I thought adding a dark glaze would look great!  Wipe the mixer on one or two drawers at a time.  Wipe it off after 2 minutes with a wet paper towel.  You may need to do this a few times to get the look you want. 

Step 5: After your glaze has dried (wait a few hours), apply a couple of coats of wax to the surface of the dresser. 

Step 6: Put the hardware back on, and wa-lah! 

~Sunny

French Country Hutch Makeover

I've had this piece for a while now, but thought it would be another good one to show-off :)  I bought this hutch on Craigslist for $50.  I use it as craft storage, although it sits right next to our dining room table so I might find a different use for it (once I can find something else to store my crafts in!).  

Supplies:
Orbital sander
150-220 grit sand paper
Black spray paint, gloss finish
Tools for distressing!  (I used a hard blade putty knife)
Screwdriver
Tack cloth

Step 1: Remove all drawers, doors, and hardware (you will need a screwdriver for this). 

Step 2: Start prepping the surface.  I used my orbital sander with 220 grit sandpaper.  I did quite a bit of sanding on this piece, as I wanted the end result to look really smooth with no grain showing through. 

Step 3: Use the tack cloth to remove the sawdust.

Step 4: Start sprayin'!  I used 4 cans of spray paint since I sprayed the entire inside as well. 

Step 5: I decided not to protect this piece, which I may end up regretting.  I may use a wax here shortly to give it some sort of protection.  Depending on the look you want to achieve or how your piece is going to be used, you may want to put a coat or two of poly on. 

Step 6: Alright, the next step is the fun part.  DISTRESSING!  I used a hard blade putty knife to rough up the edges. 

Step 7: Okay, so I'm a bit spoiled and have a powder coater in the family.  I had Tommy's Dad powdercoat the hardware white (including the hinges since they are exposed).  I think it looks pretty neat! 

 

~Sunny

Wine Cork Coasters

I started collecting wine corks a few years ago, and when my jar filled up I thought it would be fun to do something creative with them.  I found the idea to make these coasters on Pinterest, and they are SUPER easy and fun!  These would make an excellent gift for a wine-o.  Just sayin'... :)

Supplies You Will Need:

• Wine corks (8 per coaster)
• Scissors
• Craft glue (you will want to buy glue that dries clear)
• Decorative ribbon (for the border- I used a thick, red, velvetty ribbon)
• A heavy book 

Step 1: Make sure the corks you use are all about the same height/width.  Start by gluing pairs of two together, length-wise.  Since I made two coasters, I used 16 corks and glued 8 pairs of two.

Step 2: Once these are dry, glue the end of one of the pairs and stick them to the side of another pair.  Repeat this until your coaster is complete.  Easy, huh?

 

Step 3: Take your ribbon and measure how long you will need in order to place a border around the coasters.  Cut, and glue to the side of your coasters.

Step 4: Since the glue may not be completely dry, they will be kind of flimsy until they do.  Set a book or something flat and heavy on top of them until they are dry.  I did this overnight and they were good to go in the morning!

~Sunny

Repurposed Pub Table

Whew!  What a weekend.  I have been working on several projects, but this one I'm really excited about! 

I decided to purchase this pub table and chair set on Craigslist for $50.  The table had a laminate top liquid nailed to the original surface, so what you see in the photo below is the residue from the wood glue.

 

The first thing I did was chip off as much of the glue as I could.  I used a hammer and a hard blade putty knife. 

Next, I used an orbital sander to sand the surface of the table.  Since my plan was to put a new table top over the original surface, I wanted to be sure to get it as flat as possible so the new top would adhere well. 

While the sander was out, I decided to sand and prep the chairs for spray paint, using 220-grit sand paper.  But first, I removed the cushions from the chairs. 

 

Next, I measured the table top.  It measured 22 x 42.  Knowing these measurements, I went to Home Depot and purchased three 10 foot 1"x4" common boards (which are really .75"x3"- learned this the hard way- but I won't go there!).  I had them cut these into seven 44" pieces.  My goal was to have the boards hang off the original surface about an inch on all sides.  While at HD, I also purchased Wood Glue.  You will need this in order to adhere the boards to your table top. 

When I got home, I decided to spray the base of the table and chairs a glossy black before gluing the boards to the table top. 

Next, I glued the boards down.  I also screwed the boards to the table underneath, in order to make sure they were secure. 

 

Now, it was time to stain.  I first used Minwax Sedona Red.  I decided to layer colors, so the next color I used was Walnut.

In order to seal the stain and make the surface durable, I applied 3 coats of polyurethane.

 

 

I will post pictures of the chairs once I reupholster them!