Slow-Goin'

Well, it's taking what feels like months and months (yet only weeks and weeks) but last night we finally finished putting up the doors to the newly painted, upper right side of the kitchen.  It's really looking so good and that looking good part is the sole motivation right now for me to sit on my pregnant bum and start sanding down the entire lower half of the room...today.     

I know I've unloaded our plans about the void above the stove in the past but just because it was probably months ago, here they are again.  First, here's what used to be:

Here's what is now, after Anthony took out the vent hood (craigslisting shortly), removed the cabinet doors, took out the bottom shelf of the cabinet, and of course after I painted every part that will show once it's donzo:

Our cabinets, put in in the 80's, were actually built in place so there wasn't a whole cabinet to just unscrew and remove.  The sides of the cabinet that was were also the sides of the two cabinets on either side and the shelf was made from a sturdy piece of wood that was wedged in and rested on two routed out ledges.  Our lives would probably be a little less crazy if all we had to do was take out an old cabinet and rebuild it to the new dimensions but cest la vie.  Because of this whole scenario, here's what we're doing instead of simply putting in a new cabinet (thanks to pixlr.com and my mean photo-altering skillz):

What you will see is a new shelf installed that will support the new above-the-range microwave (currently sitting on the floor in the twin's future nursery), and then an open space above where I plan to store cookbooks and some decor and maybe even add a little touch light for ambiance...because who doesn't want a little mood lighting above their stove, right?...

So anyway, that's the plan Stan.  As I sit here, all comfy and cozy on the couch, my dearest is working on the shelf and I feel the urge to help so up I go.  I hope to have an entire, newly painted kitchen to show you next week...but don't hold your breath.  Pregnancy has turned me from the hare I used to be to zee turtle.  However, I WILL have progress to show at least!  Stay tuned!

.           .           .

P.S.  I had my first dream about birthing the twins last night.  I was in my current state of progression - 21 weeks - and they were born via a form of c-section called a reversal (of course I totally made that up while dreaming...which is actually pretty impressive), I felt incredibly normal and pain-free after, and, the kicker, they were the size of five month olds, dressed in pink, and with as much dark brown, curly hair as their daddy has...am I crazy in wishing maybe this could be real?  :) 

Twins: 20 Weeks

Before we get to the 'ole run of the mill belly pic, I thought I'd share the big news first:

Yep, we found out this morning we've been blessed with two baby girls!  (Major kudos to the four lone voters who guessed right!  You were the minority!)  This is actually a doctored-up ultrasound picture from a couple of months ago...I knew I didn't have the patience to come home and doctor up the new ones before I spilled the 'beans' today (via text message to friends and fam) so yesterday I made three different pictures showing the three different possible scenarios.  :)  Girl power ya'll!  You'd think that seeing the twins on the ultrasound screen would further pound in the reality of the incredible situation we've got going on here, but I continue to be amazed, shocked, and fighting with unbelief at the beauty that's unfolding inside of me!  So surreal! 

Here's how we're looking on the belly front:

(One of these weeks I'll learn how to work the timer on my camera and move away from reflections to actual poses.)

Our little girlies were a little camera shy this morning so we didn't get the greatest snapshots of their cuteness but here's a couple of ultrasound pictures anyway:

Even though 'twin b' looks a little crazy...ok, a lot crazy...be assured that she's developing perfectly even though her preferred position gave us no good angle to get a good shot:

Catch 'ya this weekend!

Nothing But the Kitchen Sink

That's right, nothing is completely done but the kitchen sink.  But, it's still looking pretty good even with all of the surrounding, unfinished work due to it's new, light-me-up friend:

We still have to add some quarter round molding to the upper corners of the cabinets (see the gaps?) but it's so much better, right?  Especially seeing how far we've come:

As for the pendant itself, it cost us $33 - $15 for the medium-base pendant kit (Home Depot sells a candelabra base, which I wasn't a fan of), $15 for the glass cover, both from Lowe's, and a few bucks for a round electrical box that houses the wires above.  Anthony saved us a good chunk of change by installing it himself.  All it took was removing the old florescent fixture, filling in and then sanding smooth a few screw holes used to hold it up, and hooking up the new pendant using the existing wires and new electrical box - all while the power was off of course.  That whole process was the easy part.  :)  The tough part came in choosing which glass cover we wanted.  In fact, I skipped in and out of both Home Depot and Lowe's and came home with a total of seven covers.

    Originally, I thought for sure we'd love the taupe, crackled one on the far left but once it was up and the switch was on, the light it emitted was too orangey-brown and we wanted light and bright.  The second choice was the seeded glass dome, second in from the left.  We actually let this one hang for a few days and loved the look but ultimately decided we didn't like the fact that it clearly showed the bulbs housing.  So after nixing all the rest, one-by-one, we fell in love with this one:

It looks magnificent lit up...which unfortunately the point and shoot isn't good at capturing.  Initially, I was worried there would be too much white around but with the valance in the background and the window behind, it's just perfect.  :)

And that's all there is to write about the kitchen.  As I type, all of the doors belonging to the opposite side of upper cabinets are in the midst of being primed and painted, set to be back up and swinging next week.  However, as I promised in the twins 19 week post, I do have a couple of little thrifty fun projects to share.

A few weeks ago, as I was browsing one of my fave local haunts - Goodwill - for some maternity sewing projects (of which I still haven't done one), I ran into this woven basket/tray:

By the looks of it, someone may have had some chill partays complete with some chips and dip in this little ditty but me, I saw it as a low-profile basket to house onions, potatoes, and bread (and anything else that gets stored on top of our fridge) in style.  First though, the inner circle had to go.  Lucky for me, it wasn't woven into the basket but merely wired on in three places (I made sure before buying it for $2).  So, out came the needle-nose pliers and off came the circle.

Now it's filled and living on it's new perch:

It adds a little more texture to the kitchen, as small as it is, which is needed with all the white that will be.  I also like how thin it is, allowing me to be able to open the cabinet doors above the fridge have I ever a need even though the glass vases up there would still need to be moved...which brings me to my second little project - those vases.

I was handed-down these preserved veggie vases right after we were married and since then, even though they're supposed to be made to look fresh forever, the veggies at the top of both were looking a little icky. 

The other one had green and red peppers in it and actually looked worse.  I emptied that one a year ago and it's just taken me this long to get to the other.  :)  So, to empty I simply plugged my nose (precautionary, especially while pregnant), turned on the water and waste disposal in the sink, and poured away.  The carrots gave me a little bit of a hard time and I had to dig some of them out with a skewer, but after a few minutes I was left with this:

And this is where I say "to be continued".  I'm not sure what the future holds for these guys but a few ideas I've got are a) filling them with coffee beans (spray painted first?), sand, or something else small enough to fill them, b) dumping paint in the inside to color them from the inside out, or c) turning them into lamps.  Once I know, you'll know and see.  Should be fun!  First priority though is getting the rest of the kitchen donzo and then yanking out the sewing machine to create some increasingly needed maternity wear.  :) 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Half-Steam Ahead

While I'm gnawing down my second lunch in preparation to head to the great outdoors and sand some more cabinet doors, I thought I'd share "progress".

Current state of the kitchen:

Current state of the workshop living room:

Unfortunately for me, I'm running on half-steam most days...not that I don't have all my motivation back after it's first trimester disappearance...but I'm trying to be a good mom and relax a little here and there instead of always going like I'm used to.  Sometimes I feel like part of my brain is a yappy, hyper little dog bound by a the leash carrying, "slow down" other side of my brain...make sense?  Most likely not.  :)

Anyway, we were so blessed to have our first baby shower this weekend and boy, (no pun intended) are the twins racking up goods.  Their stuff is taking over an entire corner of their future bedroom right now, not to mention the hall closet where their double stroller has it's home.  So crazy!  Each gift (usually in the form of a double) hits me hard with the joyous reality that we really have two children that will make their entrance into the world in four short months!  Glory to God...and Lord, help me! 

That's all the jibber jabber I've got time for today folks.  Sander, here I come!

Twins: 19 Weeks

Well, at 19 weeks the eight limbs floating around inside of me are kicking and punching away to the delight of our hands, always eager to feel their presence.  The twins were especially active on the last leg of our flight to New York this weekend for our little sister's wedding...me hoping that it wasn't a sign of times to come...you know, babies wildly hyper on a plane = embarassed, stressed-out parents and not-too-happy plane neighbors.  :)

All is well with everything but a few continually stretching muscles here and there!  Just trying to push to the end of the kitchen remodel!  Sorry for zip for a post last weekend - like I said above, we were in New York and time before we jetted off got away from me and writing a post.  Look for an update tomorrow!  :)