Nursery & Baby Stuff Progress

As of about a week and a half ago, I had a good size to-do list.

Since then, I've been able to cross a few big things off of it, which is a big relief!

This is what the list looks like now.

--Finish the crib skirt
--Set up the glider when it gets here in a few days
--Install carseat
--Order more cloth diapers
--Make freezer meals
--Pack hospital bag
--Remember that no matter what's done or not done, we're having a little one of our own who neither knows nor cares about what his nursery looks likes
--Read up more on feeding schedules and other stuff like that, aka Babywise

--Clean and organize all the baby clothes

--Print these alphabet letters to hang

--Hang the alphabet letters

--Print and frame some old artwork from literature like Winnie the Pooh & Narnia, etc
--Make & hang a mobile

I printed the alphabet letters (obviously...), and then just used these small clothespins to clip them on to blue and white twine that I grabbed from Hobby Lobby earlier today.

But I can't decide which wall to hang them on!  If I hang them above his crib, is that a bad idea because eventually he'd probably be able to reach and grab them?

Should I hang them on the opposite wall, above the dresser, just to be safe?  

I'm giving myself until tomorrow to decide.

I also still need a fun mobile idea.  If I do put the alphabet above the dresser, then maybe a large mobile would be a good piece of art directly above either the crib or the changing table.

A quick note on other things I did this past week-ish...

1. Freezer Meals
After pinterest-ing freezer to crockpot meals, I made a list of 8-10 meals to make, wrote up a detailed grocery list, took a friend to Costco and LOADED up on food.  It's a good thing she came too, because I could not have lifted all those heavy boxes into the car!  Also she knew where everything was, which was a huge time saver.  Sidenote...THANK YOU, bro, for the free membership! Best gift ever.

My pantry is now very well stocked with non-perishables, and I also have 12 meals in my freezer!  Some are doubles, but who cares?  That's 12 meals I only have to thaw and throw in the crockpot.  Win win win.  Most of the recipes I actually used came from the blog Six Sisters' Stuff, in their freezer meal section.  I haven't eaten any yet, but they look tasty!  And easy.  Easy was a big deciding factor for me.  I'm 36 weeks, can you blame me?!

2. Set up the glider
That was super easy.  I did it all by myself while Tim was out of town and it is nice and comfy, and ready for action!

3. Clean the car and install the carseat
Technically, I did zero part of this. :) Tim vacuumed out my car and installed the seat, which is a huge load off my mind.  It really shouldn't have been bugging me so much that it wasn't done yet (and it's my fault the car was dirty anyway), but I am so grateful to him for doing this!!  Ever heard of the 5 love languages?  Acts of service is a big one for me.

4. Clean and organize/put away all the baby clothes
I did 5-ish loads of baby clothes.  You might think that's no big deal.  But large loads of baby clothes are deceiving! Because every outfit is so tiny, it feels like there are 50 onesies in every load.  Also, they're difficult to organize and fold.  I tried to organize by size and type, but who knows how accurate it is.  And I'm sure it won't stay that way for long anyway.

5. I finished reading Babywise.

6. The Hospital Bag
No, I haven't packed it yet, but I did make up a list of what I need to bring, and bought a few things I didn't already have.  That's half the battle, right?

Over the next few days, I need to:
 --Actually pack my bag for the hospital
--Hang the alphabet letters (by tomorrow)
--Print and frame some old artwork from literature like Winnie the Pooh & Narnia, etc
--Make & hang a mobile
--Order more cloth diapers
--Order the stroller

So as you can see, the only time-sensitive thing there is the hospital bag.  Decor can wait if it has to, and I won't start using cloth diapers until he's out of his 8-diapers-a-day-phase as a newborn, so that's also not super pressing.

Alright, so that wasn't exactly a quick note.  But that's what I've been up to!

Happy almost-4th-of-July! :) 

Crib Skirt

So I made the crib skirt!  It didn't take very long at all, once I stopped being OCD about measuring and  went ahead and hemmed it.

I used upholstery tacks leftover from redoing this coffee table to pin up the crib skirt pieces into the cardboard that is under the mattress.  When we set up the crib, the instructions said putting the cardboard under the mattress would lengthen the life of the mattress because it was protection from the iron springs. Or whatever is under there.

So it's now serving a double purpose to hold up the crib skirt, which made it nice and easy for me.

With the crib skirt done and the mattress pad and sheet on, I'm declaring the crib done!  Huzzah.

Oh and there are a few little lovey blankets ready and waiting for the little babe. :)

The Nursery...5 Weeks and Counting

I know, I know, I only have 5-ish weeks until the little babe gets here, and the nursery's not all put together.  I have a chronic condition where when things need to get done, and it's on the verge of stressing me out, I do everything BUT those things.  Like cleaning my room when I needed to be studying in college.  But somehow everything always got done in time.  Usually I hit a crisis mode and do everything I need to do in record time.   I'm about to hit that point of crisis.  :)

I arranged all the clothes I have by size, and I need to return some smaller onesies for bigger ones since I have plenty of small ones, but I'm waiting for tomorrow--when I hit the jackpot of all jackpots and pick up all the old clothes from a friend's little boy.  Once I go through all those, I'll have a better idea of what (if anything) I need.

Just look at those clothes!  Totes adorbes.

And a piggy bank!  I guess it's really a giraffe bank...

Here's my latest project.  Originally I bought this fabric to make a crib bumper--cars outside, chevron inside--but I decided against making or getting a bumper at all because of the whole "safety hazard" thing they supposedly present.  See this article.  I am not too worried about the safety hazard they are talking about, considering bumpers have been used for decades without problems, but I don't like the idea of my kid trying to use it to climb out of his crib.  I also don't like the idea of going to the trouble of making a bumper if that's what's going to happen to it a little ways down the road.

Thus the decision to turn it into a crib skirt.  There are tons of tutorials on Pinterest about how to make a crib skirt--either by sewing or no-sew, usually with velcro.  There's also always Young House Love's tutorial, which seems very easy.  The car fabric I bought wasn't as wide as the front of my crib, so I had to cut it in half and am using the chevron fabric in the middle as an accent.  I'm pretty sure I'm using the car fabric on the side of the crib as well.

Not nursery related but baby related--this is the cute card his little stork dropped off for Father's Day!  So thoughtful of him. :)

Regardless of the state of the nursery when I do deliver, at least we have the essentials!  Diapers, wipes, clothes, and most necessary of all, a carseat!  ...to be installed sometime soon.

So things to be done:

--Finish the crib skirt
--Set up the glider when it gets here in a few days
--Install carseat
--Order more cloth diapers
--Make freezer meals
--Pack hospital bag
--Remember that no matter what's done or not done, we're having a little one of our own who neither knows nor cares about what his nursery looks likes
--Read up more on feeding schedules and other stuff like that, aka Babywise

Also, ideally I will have also done these other nursery things:

--Print these alphabet letters to hang
--Print and frame some old artwork from literature like Winnie the Pooh & Narnia, etc
--Make & hang a mobile

Hopefully he's not coming early!  That's pretty unlikely though.  Apparently everyone in my family delivers a week late.  Right now, that's a good thing, based on my list! But I can't wait to meet him and see his cute little face!

Eliminating Sugar

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Chicken and Homemade Italian Dressing

Two nights ago, I can't remember why, but I started researching the Paleo diet.  It's pretty intense.  We have a few friends who did the Whole30 and lost a lot of weight while gaining lots of energy, and loved it.  Though I am not looking to lose any weight until our baby's born (only 8+/- weeks left!), I definitely want more energy as this part of the third trimester is beginning to drag.  I sleep a lot at night and sometimes nap, and still don't have bouncing energy.

A lot of what I realized through researching Paleo is that many people use it to find out which foods are giving them problems, such as dairy or grains.  I am 99% sure that I have no problem with dairy or grains, but I know I have a sugar problem.  The problem with that is that both dairy and grains turn to sugar when digested, not to mention sugar is in almost everything and is highly addictive.  The body's reactions to sugar is very similar to those of addictive drugs.  No, it won't do what meth does, but it releases similar endorphins that street drugs do and produces a dependency that is incredibly hard to kick.  Check out this slideshow about sugar addiction.

(image from http://naturalrunningcenter.com/2013/01/03/runners-sugar-addiction-white-stuff-running-wearing-out-probably-dr-phil-maffetone/)

The USDA recommends an American woman consume no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar a day, and no more than 9 for a man.  There's 11 teaspoons in a Coke, so that means less than half a Coke assuming you're eating zero sugar anywhere else (which is impossible unless you make all your own food).  Some of the sneakiest sources of sugar come from salad dressings, ketchup, any sauce, soup, marinade, crackers, bread (yes, even the whole wheat store kind), and peanut butter.  In fact, the average American consumes 150 pounds of sugar a year, which converts to a pound of sugar every few days. That's crazy!

(image from http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/hghr/online/sugar-dilemma/) 

I've known for ages that I have a problem without a certain amount of sugar in my diet.  I don't even drink Cokes or eat obvious sugary junk food (most of the time) but being pregnant has increased my sugar cravings and I've noticed lately more and more that I just want carbs.  A biscuit with apple butter, a cookie (or several), pancakes, bread, whatever.  None of these are long-energy and therefore burn up really fast, making me hungry again pretty quickly even though they're high calorie.  Lose-lose for me, except for the quick release of endorphins right after eating them.    

So yesterday I decided to start on a semi-Paleo eating plan.  I'm doing semi because if it's too strict I'll probably go crazy, and that's not worth it while pregnant.  I've read several articles about women who switched entirely when they were pregnant, but I'm giving myself the leniency to eat some cheese or drink some milk if I need it.  I'm going to do my best, but making such a huge switch right now is a little scary, I'll be honest.  I'll be eating lots of fruit to try to curb the sugar cravings, and if I make it through successfully, my taste buds should be retrained to not want anything sweeter than fruit.

I loaded up on meat, nuts, and produce yesterday at Earth Fare, and so far so good.  I'm only on Day 2, but earlier today right before lunch I felt sick to my stomach and lightheaded.  It could be because I needed more food earlier, but I was also just craving a biscuit.  I always will reach for the baked potato before the steak, so switching to a high protein low carb diet is going to be difficult for me.  Nevertheless, I'm going to do my best.  There's no time like the present, right?

The Cabinet Project, aka Longest Post Ever

Okay, so I've been in cabinet recovery mode ever since we hung the doors back up, and I have very little energy to do any more projects for a while! 

Before I show you lots of pictures of this lovely process, I want to remind you that this is not a tutorial.  The best DIY tutorial I found is here at Young House Love, with a specific post on sanding, priming, and deglossing.  That's what I followed, after I went through the whole thinking-through-painting-the-cabinets-thing.  

The steps they recommend are:

1. Putty

2. Sand

3. Degloss

4. Prime

5. Paint

6. Wait

7. Install Hardware & Hang

 The cabinets before I got started:

In the basement, the doors are all numbered, removed, cleaned, dried, and puttied.  Sanding is ready to begin!

My work table throughout this whole process.  You can see more doors lined up on the floor back there.

I chose to leave everything in the cabinet frames until they were sanded.  I wanted to keep a little of my sanity and not have everything strewn all over the place.  This is post-putty--there were tons of little holes in the frames.

Bad lighting, I know, but still--you can see how much putty was necessary.

This is what it looked like after deglossing the first time, with Rustoleum's kit, which was not much help.

This is after coarse sanding with 60 grit, which made a HUGE difference.  It's not orange and shiny anymore!

It was actually fascinating to watch the sander take off the top layer of whatever was on the doors.  It looked like a bad skin disease being reversed.

If you sand anything, be careful where you do it.  It's nice and dusty.  My sander filled up with orange dust and needed to be emptied after every door or two.

Hurray--all the doors are sanded!

I went back and fine sanded everything with 180 grit paper, which made the wood feel super smooth, especially after cleaning and deglossing again.

Time for the frames, which means removing everything---oh joy!

At this point I was losing steam and discouraged and plain ole tired.  Tim was encouraging and sanded the whole upper frame, which I was really not looking forward to because leaning forward on a ladder isn't comfortable, pregnant or not.  By the time this was happening, it had been almost a week since I started.

You have to be careful to get in every little crook and cranny.  It's tedious work. And you should cover everything you don't want dust on.

While he was doing that, I primed the fronts of the doors.  Here's one coat.

The primer dried in about an hour while the paint took at least 24 hours, so I primed them twice on each side before painting to get better coverage.  This really helped cover the wood grain.  The top row of doors here has one coat, and the bottom has two.

This one is half primed and half "twice primed".

Also, the primer smells really bad.  It's goopy and thick but it got the job done.  The paint on the other hand, was low-VOC and thin, and gave great coverage.  It was an Alkatex--water based with oil based properties minus the smell.  It was also self-leveling, so it looked patchy while it dried but turned out great when it was all done.  Here's more about the primer and paint I used, both of which I'm really happy with.

The foam roller with the primer made little hole-structure marks on the doors, but that's okay.  It was barely noticeable when the paint went on, and it's definitely a better option than brushing the whole thing!  In fact, once both paint coats were on and dried, there were zero marks of rolling.

The primer looks pretty dull, but it's supposed to.  It's just there to give the paint something to cling to, and to even out the wood grain.

This is one coat of paint.  It's much shinier, as a semi-gloss, but once it dried it was less so.

While that dried in the basement, I covered the upper frames after they had been primed, and set to work sanding, cleaning, and priming the lower frames.  With the frames empty, it was the perfect time to thoroughly clean out the insides.  Especially after sanding, it's pretty necessary.

Look how dirty the floor is!  We have a house fan in the attic, so while sanding, I opened the attic door and a kitchen window and the fan sucked all the air inside the house out through the attic.  If I hadn't had that (and most houses made post-1950's don't), the sanding dust would have settled everywhere and the whole kitchen would have needed a much more thorough scrub down.

With a round sander, it's hard to get the edges of anything square.  You could go the extra mile and either use a small sharp edged sander or hand sand it, but I was pretty burned out and just did the best I could without doing those steps.

After sanding and cleaning those, I did a final coat of paint on the doors.  The actual painting time is very short, probably only an hour or so for 19 doors (one sided of course), but the drying time is really long.  The can said it dried in 24 hours at 77 degrees and 50% humidity.  Well, it was probably 55 degrees in the basement, if not lower, and it had been monsooning for days and days.  To us, that means that a small leak of water runs from one side of our basement to the other.  The doors were fine because they were elevated on 2x4s, but it just added to the humidity.   We were gone for a weekend which helped them dry for three days, but when we were here it was just frustrating that I couldn't work on the next step.

By the time I put on the last coat of paint, it had been three weeks.  It would have been shorter but I didn't do one step across the board for everything.  Basically, I didn't sand everything all at once, didn't prime it all at once, etc.  I did that on purpose mainly because of the paint drying time and energy.

When all the doors were (finally!) dry, we drilled the hinges on the doors which in itself was an ordeal because hinges these days are made for thicker doors. We had to re-drill a few holes in the frames because the doors stuck out a bit from the frame, and scooting it over was the only way to get it to fully cover spaces behind it.  It's hard to explain.

Putting the knobs on was easy once I got new screws for them, again because our doors are thinner than the average standard cabinet door these days.  They were just a few cents each at Ace though, so no big deal.  But it was just one more thing, ya know?  Especially when we just wanted to BE DONE already.

I also had purposefully left the drawers til the very end, so after the doors were back on, I started from the top with them.  Sanded, cleaned, primed, and painted a first coat on them all in one day, which of course took me ages with the doors.

There were only five drawers though and they're obviously small.  But since I was still using my kitchen throughout all of this, I wanted my stuff in them until the very end.  We also knicked up two of the doors while trying to install them, and so I had to go back to the putty phase with those spots, and resand, reprime, repaint, and rewait for them to dry.  Be SUPER careful when hanging your doors, and make sure that they're totally dry and that you don't drill any holes wrong.  Those were our problems anyway.

So after all of that good fun work, we finally had something to show for it.  Right now, this is what the kitchen looks like.

Hurray!  A white kitchen!  It looks much brighter in person, but it's difficult to take pictures of it because it's a long kitchen and because of the window's natural lighting.

So TECHNICALLY it's not all done, since I had to special order drawer pulls from Lowe's because they're 3 1/2" inches instead of the standard 3" or 3 3/4" now available (one more thing I learned the hard way--if I had done that on day 1, I would have had them ages ago), but it is still a really big deal to be this darn close!!

One more knob to install (because of course I drilled it wrong and had to reputty it and deal with all of that again), drawer pulls to install, and I need to put all that stuff on the counter on the open shelves (after I screw them in) that are on the left of the stove, and then.  THEN I will be truly truly done!  

So this is what it looked like right after we bought it, all nice and dark with weird angled pulls, albeit usable.

Here it is after lots of changes, but pre-cabinet makeover.

And here it is today!

Woohoo!  It makes such a difference.  And thank goodness it is done.  99.99% done anyway.  I'm counting that as done.  :)