Gutted Kitchen & 2 Weeks to Baby

Kitchen demolition has been a great way to help pass the time these last couple weeks before delivering our baby girl. My mom and mother-in-law are completely nervous about how I’m going to cook and wash dishes with a newborn, but Jason and I aren’t too concerned. Rather elated, actually. Call us naive — but if you could only see the nastiness that is beneath these cabinets and in the exposed sub-flooring, I believe that any mom-to-be would completely agree with me that it has GOT . TO . GO .  

My choice is to either bring a newborn home to a vacant (semi-clean) kitchen with limited appliances, or to a rotted out hole of nastiness with cockroaches and mice and mold and rot that we’ve been living with for the last 2 years of home ownership. Now … don’t you agree that we made the right decision?  

It may look like a mess — but to us, it is like heaven and we already feel better about how much cleaner it is. I think I’ve read in some books that pregnant women get psycho crazy about cleanliness just before they deliver. Hmmm … I’d say this qualifies. 

Kitchen Renovation

Day 1 – December 30, 2009 

Wow – I can’t believe that it’s been 4 months since I last posted on this thing. I guess we’ve been a little busy between the pregnancy, work, and the holidays. Nevermind the fact that I’m going to be giving birth in about 3 weeks — we figured that there’s no time like the present to completely demolish the kitchen. You know us — we love Home Depot and are always dreaming of ways to improve our little “fixer-upper”. And the kitchen has been calling our name since the day we first moved in. A little about the kitchen in it’s current state:  

1.  Oven – circa 1940 something doesn’t work. Never has. Only broils. You have no idea how many things we have burned in there. 

2.  Stovetop – also circa 1940 something and only 2 burners work. Missing one knob.

3.  Cabinetry – flooded once upon a time, rotted out base cabinets. Can’t even put my pots & pans in there.

4.  A hole in the wall (just discovered) under the stove that you can feel cold air coming through. I can only imagine the little bugs or critters that have also found their way in.  

5.  Linoleum tile (nasty) that’s peeling up. Not to mention the fact that it’s mauve. I think that was popular in the early 90′s. 

6.  Dishwasher – broken when we bought the house. Got a used one for $40 — but it can’t be bolted in. So it tips over every time you try to open both racks at the same time.

7.  Galley-Style kitchen that you can’t have the dishwasher open and walk by the fridge at the same time.

See photos of the original kitchen here.  

But, like any man who gets new tools for Christmas, Jason could hardly wait to test them out. I, capitalizing on the opportunity, turned him loose on the first set of cabinets that have been empty for 2 years. This is going to be a LONG project for us. We’re estimating 1-2 years, as time and money will afford. But we’re committed to it and think it will greatly increase the re-sell value of our home. Wish us luck!  

 

Belly Pics : week by week

Ugh. For those of you who have been begging for belly pics (and you know who you are)  — here you go. Although I’m terribly self-conscious about posting this,  and I would never be able to bring myself to put these on Facebook, here’s a peek into what this baby is starting to do to my body. I’m convinced that this is the part where mom’s truly begin to die to themselves. It’s not easy to let go of our vanity.

I never had a six-pack to begin with — but here goes all hope of ever having one. It’s ok baby — you’ll be worth it 10,000 times over!

36 WEEKS

33 WEEKS

29 WEEKS

27 WEEKS

26 WEEKS

25 WEEKS (below)

24 WEEKS (below)

23 WEEKS (below)

22 WEEKS (below)

21 WEEKS (below)

20 WEEKS (below)

19 WEEKS (below)

18 WEEKS (below)

17 WEEKS (below)

16 WEEKS (below)

15 WEEKS (below)

Nursery Update

JANUARY – ready for baby!  

The nursery is finally completely and ready for our little girl, Lawson Grace. My mom made all of the crib bedding and the padding for the rocking chair. This is my favorite room of the house now and feels so calm and peaceful. I can hardly wait to bring our sweet baby home and take care of her here.  Just a few more weeks to go!  

AUGUST

Jason customized this buffet table today by creating a frame to hold the changing pad. Thanks, Craig’s List for this great find!

Popsicle break!

This last weekend, Jason and I started working on some of the furniture that we’ve found either on Craig’s List or at consignment shops for the nursery. I have to brag on my mom who found this glider at a consignment store in Little Rock for a steal!! It’s just going to take a little elbow grease and TLC to get it back to prime shape. Jason started this weekend by sanding and priming the rocker. We’ll pick out the final paint color next week when my mom comes to visit!

The dogs were curious as to what we were up to and kept a watchful eye. We’ve recently converted them to 100% outdoor dogs and Cole’s lost nearly 15 lbs!  (Those pounds were long overdue to come off, by the way. She had gotten SO fat since Jason came into our lives 3 years ago!)  I swear, she looks 5 years younger.

JULY

A couple weekends ago, we went home to Little Rock to see my family and came home with the crib as a gift from my mom!  The very next weekend,  Jason’s parents came in town to see us and Jason and his dad were able to put the crib together. It was really sentimental to have both families involved in giving our baby a place to rest. It has been so surreal to walk into that room ever since and realize that in only 5 short months, we’re going to have a tiny little person to put into it. A baby to rock to sleep and lay down into this bed. I still don’t think that it’s actually sunk in that we’re going to be real parents. Crazy.

Thank you, again to mom, Larry and Karla for sharing in our joy!

Some of you have asked how we’re going to decorate the nursery, what colors we’re using, etc. And we’re going to be a bit non-traditional.

Here’s the “look” I’m going for:  (all white / off white). We still have a ways to go. But my mom’s coming in town soon to help me pick out paint colors and fabrics!

It’s a GIRL !!!!!

We were SO EXCITED to learn today that baby Fletcher is a GIRL!!! Her 19.5 week sonogram went very well, and everything appears to be healthy and growing right on schedule. Of course, we’re biased – but we think that she’s pretty perfect! I’m already in love with her.

And no, we’re not sharing the name. Keeping it a secret until her birthday!

PROFILE

SPINE

FACE

CLEARLY A GIRL!

Thank you, Aunt Nenna!

Today, “Daddy Fletcher” got a package from Aunt “Nenna” (Glenna)!  After weeks of watching package after package come to the house addressed to Erin, it was torturous to watch them sit on the table all day while Erin was at work. Finally, a package arrived that was addressed to “Daddy Fletcher” and he was given the green light to “Go ahead – OPEN! You don’t have to wait for Mama to get home!” Thanks, Aunt Nenna – you made this daddy’s day!

Baby Fletcher (due January 25)

Jason and I are so excited to announce that we’re expecting!
Today’s the first time that we got to see the baby via sonogram, and we were even able to hear its little heartbeat! (not so little, though. That heart is crankin’ at 163 beats per minute!) 

 

More photos to come soon!  See the video of how Erin told her best friends from college here.

New York City, NY

Well, we’re back from our trip to NYC and still playing catch-up on our rest. Although it was a very short trip (2.5 days), we played hard! We totally did the ‘tourist thing’ and hit up some signature NY spots like Central Park, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Little Italy, The Village, Yankee Stadium, and more! Our feet still hurt 7 days later. But here are a few shots of our favorite moments.

APPLE STORE

CENTRAL PARK

TIMES SQUARE

EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

HOTEL “STAY” – SWANK BAR

ROCKEFELLER CENTER

ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL

STATUE OF LIBERTY

FINANCIAL DISTRICT – WALL STREET, NY STOCK EXCHANGE

LITTLE ITALY (would have had more pics, but it was pouring down rain)

SUBWAY

YANKEE STADIUM

WORLD TRADE CENTER  / GROUND ZERO

LOWER MANHATTAN / GOVERNOR’S ISLAND FERRY

CITI FIELD (NY METS)

M&M Moment

I took this photo when on Times Square this last weekend. Who knew that M&M’s could have “flub” pictures just like the rest of us?! Jason and I cracked up when we saw that he “blinked” when I took his picture. So, naturally, we had a retake.

Maybe he was enjoying that Corona a bit too much? Your call.

This was just too fun of a picture to not have a proper name. So vote for your favorite title, or submit your own!

New York, New York

If it looks like 6.00 am, it’s because it is. The Fletchers are New York City bound! Starbucks Venti Chai Latte in hand.