Lately...

With only about 7 weeks left of this pregnancy, it's hard not to start feeling like a whale every time I look in the mirror or get on that dreaded scale in the doctor's office. I'm not going to lie... I've put on a lot of weight over the past 7 months. In the beginning I was really good at keeping a healthy and balanced diet, but as the months rolled by and the sweet cravings kicked in (not to mention a trip to South Africa where I left behind any last hope of a waistline) I am now close to the finish line of the "recommended weight gain" for an entire pregnancy. (eek!) 

Although I am not a fan of the added area space I seem to be taking up in the world, I wouldn't give up being pregnant with our precious little Llambok for anything in the world and knowing that soon she will be with us is worth waddling like a duck, gasping for air every time I climb stairs and relating so intensely to those people on TLC's "My 600lb life".

I'm one lucky whale!    

32 weeks!

How far along? 32 weeks, 4 days

Maternity clothes? Still in maternity jeans, leggings and regular shirts/sweaters

Stretch marks? None! My cousin said that I would probably have them by now if I was going to get them. (Knock on wood!)

Sleep: My lack of sleep is mostly my fault these days because I like to stay up until Mike gets home from work (around 12am) and hang out for a bit. I then have to wake up 5 hours later. NO FUN!

 Best moment this week: Mike and I went shopping for baby girl's "coming home" outfit. Soooo cute!

Miss Anything? Wine!

Movement: She is moving so much!

Food cravings: No cravings per say, but I'm eating A LOT! I have a cake in the oven as we speak. haha!

Anything making you queasy or sick: I threw up a couple of times this week (TMI?)

Have you started to show yet: Ummm YEH!

Gender: ITS A GIRL!!!!!

Labour Signs: Still feeling the braxton hicks every now and again.

Belly Button in or out? Still in, I'm not sure if its gonna "pop" or not.

Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Very happy!

Looking forward to: Finishing the nursery. We are almost there, but have a few finishing touches to do.

Scenes from the weekend

Introducing...

That sweet little face belongs to our brand new fur-son, Yogi-bear!
Since we got our first ferret, Gumby, in April last year we have been debating whether or not to get him a friend and when we spotted this little guy a couple of days ago, we just couldn't go home without him.

Aren't these two just so adorable?

31 weeks!

How far along? 31 weeks, 5 days

Maternity clothes? Surprizingly enough I'm still fitting into most of my old shirts.

Stretch marks? None :)

Sleep: Don't even go there! Its really hard to feel comfortable these days.

 Best moment this week: Had our check up yesterday and baby girl is HEAD DOWN and getting ready for her big debut! :)

Miss Anything? Being able to shave my legs.

Movement: I feel like there is some crazy party going on in there!

Food cravings: Does eating almost an entire pan of brownies count as a craving? Probably.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nausea has gone away (YAY!) but rib pain, pelvis pain and carpel tunnel in my wrists have take over.

Have you started to show yet: Understatement.

Gender: ITS A GIRL!!!!!

Labour Signs: Noticing the braxton hicks more and more, still irregular and not painful.

Belly Button in or out? Still in, but more and more shallow every week.

Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy and feeling really thankful that I've had such a great pregnancy so far.

Looking forward to: The weekend, so that I can catch up on my sleep! Zzzz!

Not just any kitchen wall...

As promised, I'm going to show you how the kitchen turned out after our whole 
apartment makeover marathon.

(Hallway makeover ~here~ and Living Room progress ~here~)

When it came down to it, there was actually not too much we could do in the kitchen. Its a huge space (for NY living) but most of it is made up of cabinetry which we unfortunately could not change or paint (boo!) since we're only renting.

So today I'm going to share with you how we spruced up these horrendous lime green walls.

before

The people who lived in the apartment before us said that they decided to get a little crazy one night and paint the walls lime green! 

It was hard not to look at them like "WHAT THE HECK were you thinking?" 

All I knew was that they had to go! So go they did!

With the leftover white paint we had from the Hallway, we covered up that green and then I did something really cool with the wall that is next to our fridge... CHALKBOARD PAINT!

after

I absolutely love our chalkboard wall! Its a great place for notes, checklists and of course a weekly due date countdown.

The clock is another IKEA gem and works perfectly against the black wall. 

We picked up some chalkboard markers (they are so much easier and less messy then real chalk) and are having so much fun scribbling on the wall. 

A Very Valentine Morning

This is how we spent Valentine's morning. 

Bed. Heart-Shaped Pancakes. Coffee. Smoothie. Kisses

Perfection!

Love is...

Love is...

...waking up next to you every morning (even if you sleep at a 45 degree angle and take up the whole bed).

...when I cook the bacon and you cook the eggs because you're way better at sunny-side-up then I am.

...our little notes we leave each other on the fridge everyday.

...when you hang shelves/drill holes/build furniture at all hours of the day and night, just because I can't wait.

...being outside in nature. Just the 2 of us.

...our fur-son!

...never giving up on each other no matter how hard things get.

...our phone calls everyday when I'm at work, and our texts when you're on break.

...watching silly YouTube videos before bed and laughing our heads off.

...the little girl in my belly. It's our best DIY yet!

30 weeks!

Can't believe I've only got 10 weeks to go!!!!

How far along? 30 weeks, 3 days

Maternity clothes?Although the belly is getting HUGE I'm still fitting into regular shirts and maternity jeans/leggins.

Stretch marks? None, baby is packing on the pounds now (1/2 lb every week) so we'll see... EEEK!

Sleep: Sleeping can be painful. It takes a lot of effort to switch from left to right side and if I stay on one side for too long my pelvic bones get sooooo sore.

 Best moment this week: Setting up the crib :) and building the mobile (a DIY come soon).

Miss Anything? Being able to move around easily, walk without a waddle... my list could go on.

Movement: Very active in there!

Food cravings: Not really

Anything making you queasy or sick: Had a couple of dizzy spells and a little bit of queasyness, but nothing I can't handle.

Have you started to show yet: Starting to feel HUGE!

Gender: ITS A GIRL!!!!!

Labour Signs: Braxton Hicks

Belly Button in or out? Its so weird how shallow its become, still not sure if its gonna "pop!"

Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: Feeling great!

Looking forward to: Is it too soon to say that I'm looking forward to not being pregnant? haha!

DIY - Photo "canvas"

When I started looking around for one of those "print your own" picture canvas' that you can order online or make at a photo printing store I was kind of shocked at some of the prices. For the size that I wanted, everywhere was charging more then $100 and there is no way that would fly with our teeny tiny budget!

I started looking at printing options and discovered that you can ask for something called a "Engineer's Print" (extra big) at office stores such as Office Max or Office Depot. Unfortunately there were no office stores too conveniently close to my apartment (as far as I know) and the "Engineer's print" only comes in black and white and I really wanted to print in sepia.

I chose my photo (this is a picture I took of Mike walking my dogs at the beach on our recent trip to South Africa) and edited it in photoshop to make it sepia and started looking around on the web for a poster printing website. After reading great reviews, I ordered my 30"x40" poster print from www.posterbrain.com for $26 (and only $4.99 for shipping).

A week or so later my poster arrived and it turned out great! The printing was great quality, I was very impressed.

I unrolled it and weighted it down on the edges to straighten it out since it had been super cramped in that tube for it's long journey.

I then headed out to get supplies. First, foam board to mount the picture on. Yes, foam board! as in that stuff you use to insulate houses. You can pick up a HUGE board at Home Depot for about $11. That thing was so huge in fact that I actually had to cut it in half to be able to fit it into the car (you will end up using less then half anyways).

I also picked up some spray adhesive and acrylic paint from "Michaels".

After the poster had flattened out a bit i turned it over and sprayed a coat of the adhesive onto the back. (TIP: Do NOT spray directly on the foam board, it will eat away at the polystyrene)

Flip it over (you might need to get someone to help you if its a big poster) and press onto the foam board. You will have quite a bit of excess foam.

Next you need to cut off the excess board. The best way to do this is with a hot knife. I heated up a knife in the flame of my gas stove and carefully cut the foam around the picture. It melted like butter and was super easy to do.

I then painted the white edges with my dark brown acrylic paint.

After the paint dries it's time to hang your picture.
I got super fancy and used some floral wire and duct tape. ha ha!

Here is the final product!

Sorry about the glare on this one...

And there you have it! A photo "canvas" for about 1/4 of the price you would have ended up paying to get it done professionally.

Living Room progress

Living in New York, (and being a budget-conscious, newly married couple) a living room can sometimes be a luxury. In our last apartment, our living room doubled as our bedroom which left us with hardly any furniture when we moved into the bigger space. But because we hardly had anything, that left me with a "blank canvas" which was fun to work with.

The walls were painted beige, (not a fan!) but since we were already doing a whole lot of painting in every other room of the apartment we decided to cut some costs by just working with it!
I'm pretty happy that we did.

Before:

First things first, we had to buy some sofas.
Originally I wanted this super cool, corner sofa from Ikea, but after taking some measurements we realised it was too big to fit into our space. So on Black Friday last year, we headed to Bob's discount furniture and picked up a brown leather sofa and love seat combo for only $699!

After:

See that photo canvas hanging over the sofa? That was a little DIY project of mine which I'll be sharing with you tomorrow.

The turquoise side table in the corner is from Target and is just begging for a lamp or a pot plant.

The coffee table was something we used in our old apartment but originally from Target too.

Here are some more before and afters. (I blurred out the kitchen since I'll be revealing that mini-makeover with you next week)

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

We picked up the rug at Ikea (it was on sale for $35, can you believe it?) We needed something to break up the floor space and it ties in the beige walls and dark brown sofas perfectly.

I had loved this bookcase from Ikea for a while and we finally picked it up on our latest trip along with some mix and match woven baskets. 

I found this hand-carved wooden Africa plaque at the Durban Market on our recent trip to South Africa.

These 2 colourful cushions are probably my favourite feature of the whole room! They are from Mr Price Home in South Africa and after my mom saw them in the store and sent me a picture I just HAD to have them!

I'm so happy with the way that the it has turned out so far. The other side of the room needs a little work (and a huge flat screen TV in my husband's opinion...haha!) but for now we are loving having this space to relax in.

A Hallway Update

Last month I shared with you the transformation we did to our entrance hallway as a start to our pre-baby apartment makeover.

We refreshed the brown walls with some crisp white paint and created a gallery wall using black picture frames, a mirror and some pieces of artwork. 

I was a little premature in sharing the pics because there was clearing a couple of things missing. 

I am now pleased to say that we are done (for now) and I can share the final result.

I picked up a table from Home Goods and added another potted palm from Home Depot to create some balance.

 I wanted to add some shoe storage so I picked up these woven baskets (also from Home Goods) which fit perfectly underneath the table.

When we placed the table against the wall, we noticed that it was a little low and almost took it back to try and find a higher table. Instead, I just added candlesticks to give some height. I also added my "peace" sculpture which is balancing on some square shelves that used to hang in our old bedroom.

More home makeover posts coming very soon!

Crib Building

29 Weeks

 

How far along? 29 week, 3 days

Maternity clothes? I think I should buy some new shirts, but tank tops and sweaters are working just fine in this unusually warm winter weather.

Stretch marks? None :)

Sleep: Have had a few rough nights!

Best moment this week: Glucose and all the other tests came back looking good!

Miss Anything? Drinking beer on Super Bowl Sunday.

Movement: Yes all the time!

Food cravings: Nothing exciting!

Anything making you queasy or sick: Baby girl has wedged up into the right side of my rib cage and its the most painful thing. Any tips from other Mommys out there? 

Have you started to show yet: yes, people have been telling me that I don't look 7 months pregnant. Trust me! I FEEL like I am.

Gender: ITS A GIRL!!!!!

Labour Signs: Think I started feeling the braxton hicks for the first time! Woohoo!

Belly Button in or out? Becoming more shallow.

Wedding rings on or off? On
Happy or Moody most of the time: All good in the hood!

Looking forward to: Getting more things done in the nursery and hopefully sharing it all with you soonish!

Who will you support this Super Bowl Sunday?

~image~

There is no getting away from it... The Super bowl is this Sunday!!!
It's a tense time in my house since I support the Patriots and my husband supports his beloved Giants. I've debated with myself wether to just give in and support the Giants since I'm clearly outnumbered around these parts, but I can't go back on my Pats since they were the first team I cheered on when I first came to the States and lived in Maine back in 2005 (the year the Patriots won the Super bowl).

Have a great weekend!

Are you watching the big game this weekend?
Who do you support?

Groundhogs don't know everything

~image~

This morning Punxsutawney Phil left his burrow in Pennsylvania, saw his shadow and predicted 6 more weeks of Winter while the other 5 lesser known groundhogs scattered around the country (including NYC's Staten Island Chuck) announced that Spring was right around the corner. 

Can groundhogs even claim to understand the weather this year? Can anybody?

We've had the craziest season so far with temperatures reaching up into the 60's here in New York and only 2 days of snow this whole year! I can't remember the last time I had to defrost my windshield before my early morning commute and our snow shovel is gathering dust. 

I guess Mother Nature knew I was knocked up and had packed away my snowboard and said to herself "Why bother?"

DIY Dresser Dress Up

Moving into our new (storage lacking) apartment with hardly any furniture to our name meant that we would have to either spend an extra $500+ on some new dressers or we could suck it up and use the hideous blue/grey plasticy looking specimens that were left behind by the guy before us.

This is what we had to work with...

As you can see, they are very plain and covered with a shiny laminate (eww!), they were quite the eye-sore and obviously in need of some TLC.

I originally asked the previous tenant to get rid of them, but when I had discovered that he had left them behind (probably since they weigh a ton each!) I decided to give them a new life with a lick of paint and some hardware.

I decided to use the bigger one in our bedroom and try my hardest to match it to the dresser that we already had in there (originally from target).
First I drilled holes in the drawers where the knobs were going to be installed. I then painted 2 coats of glossy black (which would stick to the laminate surface). I installed the silver knobs once the paint had dried and voila! like new.

Look how well it matches the other dresser in our room (please excuse all the clutter on top!)

The smaller dresser was headed to the nursery but before it could end up there I gave it the same makeover, but with white paint (I used very thick trim/door paint) and some clear acrylic knobs this time.

The holes in the drawers were easier to drill on this one since it involved a lot less measuring to find the right spot because I was only adding 1 knob per drawer instead of 2.



After only 1 coat of paint, I added the hardware.

And again, we have a brand new looking dresser.