Home Projects

I'm going to take a break from nausea and bland food to share what is really keeping us busy. The same week we found out we were expecting, yes that is the week before Christmas, we were laying ceramic tile in our master bath. When we purchased this house in May 2006, we loved how big the master bath was, but size and the whirlpool tub were about the only things we liked. Our bathroom came complete with carpet, and the 2 main walls were completely covered in large mirrors. When I say large, 6'x4' and the other wall 7'x4' give or take an inch or two. Now this might not be so bad, except we have a wonderful standing shower in the middle of the room, with 3 sides as clear glass. Ahh, the joys of seeing yourself naked from every angle EVERY MORNING! Anyway, I had had enough. So we removed the mirrors, which was quite dangerous, and I'm glad my parents weren't here to witness that waiting trip to the hospital! We also ripped up the carpet in the bathroom and connecting walk-in closet, as well as removed these solid marble-composit flooring pieces which lined the tub, toilet, and shower. I'm convinced a blind man must have designed this bathroom. Anyway, after a fresh coat of paint, new framed mirrors, new faucets, new ceramic tile, and a whole lot of patience, we are almost finished with this project. We still need to install the quarter-round molding. Our new shower enclosure (the glass and frame) will be installed next week. The only thing lacking is the new tub faucet installation and shower lever/head installation.

You would think this would keep us busy enough, but Chris has decided after seeing Matt and April's new tv mounted above their fireplace, he needs to go ahead and get our wiring done and hang his flat panel in the living room. Currently we have about an 800 lb. piece of furniture holding our tv. I pity the boys when they move this monstrosity of furniture. So we have the electrician coming next week to run all the wiring. Oh, and we finally entered 2008 with Direct-TV, HTDV/DVR and whatever else that thing can do. I'm voting it should be able to clean the house! I am excited about the ability of the DVR, but right now, our living room has so much coax hanging out, it looks like we are back in college, steeling our neighbor's cable.

Oh yeah, there's more. I'm going next week to pick out hardwood floors so we can get rid of this carpet. This was supposed to wait until later in the year, but I don't see my 8 month self trying to pull up carpet tack strips. So, with the benefit of Uncle Sam's tax return to come soon, we will be rid of all the carpet downstairs. I'm also holding out hopes this will help my reoccurring allergy/sinus issue. I'm currently getting weekly allergy shots to combat this horrible Memphis environment!

That's enough projects for us now. I'll try and get pictures posted soon with before and after of these improvements.

Pass the Tums...

I remember watching some cheesy video in 5th grade; Mrs. McCoy's classroom is where us girls gathered to watch this "rite of passage" video. They explained the changes our bodies were about to go through during puberty. There was never a sequel explaining the changes our bodies would take during pregnancy. Allow me to write my own cliff notes.

Indigestion...oh my!
So, we found out December 14, we were expecting. No less than 2 days later did the full power of "pregnancy indigestion" set in. Everything I ate, or even looked at got no further down my body than the top of my rib cage. Painful, that's all I can say. This was a lovely experience I pushed through during the full Christmas holiday season. Please be aware that there is an unlimited amount of food on display everywhere I turned around. I experienced my first holiday season where I actually LOST weight. I digested my fair share of TUMS to achieve such status.

Morning sickness....
I managed to get through Christmas without having to pull out the "fat jeans" when I returned, but nothing prepared me for my first day back in the office that Wednesday morning. Luckily I was still at home when dinner re-visited me at 7 am. I was a trooper, and went on into work, saltine crackers in hand. This morning routine I've come to expect at least 3 days a week. The rest of the week, I'm just plain nautious until 10 am. Mmmmmm, saltine crackers. I'm pretty sure I'll follow in the footsteps of my mom and never touch another saltine cracker after pregnancy.

Fatigue...
This was the first sign of pregnancy. I was exhausted even before we found out we were expecting, but never imagined I would become such a useless member of our household. I'm the busy body in our house. Chris complains that I always have to be picking up, or cleaning, or doing laundry, or something, but believe me this has all taken a full 180. I will lay on the couch all day, and not even feel guilty about it. Luckily my wonderful husband has stepped up to the plate and has taken on many of the daily chores. But be forewarned, if you walk into my house unexpectidely, and it's dirty...I don't care. I never knew sleeping at night would be so hard, and so uncomfortable. Therefore I'm forced to make up for it during the day, which means I could care less about cleaning my house on a daily basis.

Speaking of uncomfortable...
No one told me my chest would grow exponentially overnight. I've always been a "busty" girl, but oh my. It hurts...a lot. I've already outgrown said undergarments, and I'm in fear as to how much more this will progress in the coming months.

Right now, I'm looking forward to that magical morning I wake up and the nausia is gone. Until then, I'll be on the couch, in my comfy pj's, saltine crackers in hand.

Jumping on the Baby Bandwagon!

So we found out the week before Christmas we are expecting! We are both very excited, although my excitement is short lived and replaced by nausea, lack of sleep, and any other "morning sickness" symptom that comes to mind. Our expected due date is August 12, so it will be a hot summer to say the least. Maris gave me the book, Belly Laughs by Jenny McCarthy, which I completely related to and highly recommend. I'm sure I'll be updating this blog with all the new things I discover with being pregnant. So far, I'm amazed at how much has changed with me in this short time.

Behind Already....

So Thanksgiving came and went with an Egg Bowl victory and enough turkey and dressing to feed an army. December was a little more eventful as we completed the biggest part of our bathroom remodel by removing the carpet and laying the ceramic tile. Pictures to come later. The week of Christmas we covered the entire state of Mississippi down one side and back up the other. We spent the first few days until Christmas morning in the Columbus area visiting Chris's side of the family. Christmas morning we drove from Columbus to Biloxi to my aunt and uncle's house, which has finally gotten repaired from the Katrina damage. That evening we returned to Hattiesburg for Christmas with my parents at their house. The next evening, we found out about the sudden death of Alyson's dad, Melvin Rhodes, in Starkville, so Chris and I returned to Memphis on Thursday, for me to turn back around again and leave Friday morning to make the visitation and funeral. Chris stayed behind to hold the house down for our company in town for the Liberty Bowl. I returned in time to meet the crew and we all barely made it into the stadium before kickoff. I think New Years Eve, I was asleep by 10 pm from all the travel.

That's the quick and dirty of our crazy lives the last couple of months. I promise to do a better job of updating this in 2008.