Week 27 Bumpdate: Hello Third Trimester!

I feel like this bump has really made its appearance in the last week or two.

It's the strangest thing to look in the mirror and not see my normal figure.

How far along? 27 weeks. 13 weeks left.. Whaaaat! 

Total weight gain: +6. bleh.

Maternity clothes: I have learned the joy that only those in maternity jeans know. They are sent straight from heaven I tell you. I found two pairs of jeans and two shirts at Ross last weekend which have been life savers.The dress pictured above is a 6 dollar maternity find from the DI. It's not my favorite, but next to none of my dresses fit anymore so I had to find something. 

Stretch marks: Not any yet.

Sleep: I'm still sleeping well without any extra pillows or anything which I am so grateful for. Sometimes I wake up with achy hips, but for the most part it isn't a problem.

Best moment this week: Taylor whispering to the baby. "Hey Hudson, this is your daddy speaking."

Miss anything? Getting up and picking things up has gotten more difficult so I do miss when doing those things was easier. 

Movement: I have an anterior placenta (simply meaning it's on top) so I feel like I miss out on feeling a lot of his movements, but the ones I do feel have definitely gotten stronger. I absolutely love sitting in class and feeling him kick and squirm around. 

Food cravings: Sugar. Ice cream and candy. Smarties. Yummmm.

Anything making you sick or queasy: The smell of this canned Chinese food thing that we had for dinner last night. Yuck.

Gender: A baby boy.

Labor signs: None.

Symptoms: Back pain, leg cramps while sleeping, and peeing more often. I can not have to pee for the whole hour that I sit in a class, but the second I stand up it hits me.

Belly button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? On.

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy for the most part.

Looking forward to: Fall, boots, corn mazes, and pumpkin everything. I LOVE fall.

Things are going pretty well overall. I'm still feeling good, but tired at times. Whether that is due to the third trimester starting or having to get up so early for class I'm not sure. It is definitely a challenge being pregnant and going to school at the same time, but I know it isn't as hard as going to school with a child. The semester ends a week before I'm due so we're really hoping that I don't have to experience the with a child part this semester.

Hudson's nursery is coming along great. We got the picture ledge hung up this past weekend with a few prints, and I feel like it really added a lot to the room. Once it is finished I will gladly share pictures of the whole room. We still need so much for this boy which kind of overwhelms me at times. I know that we will get what we need in time, but I just want to be prepared already. I was able to get 140 pieces of clothes ranging from newborn to 18 months from a lady for 65 dollars. There are still some gaps that we will need to fill in, but it has given us a great starting point to know what we need more of.

Randoms {3}

First meal in our new house.

We go to Home Depot weekly nowadays and buy house things.

My how our lives have changed. 

Maverick tested out our baby's things at his first sleepover here. 

He loved them so hopefully our child will too.

I'm still getting used to the stove..

This guy likes to hang out in our front yard. He's huge.

We've learned that there is actually three of them.

A brown one, a black one, and this white one.

They're kind of like the neighborhood's rabbits.

School starts on Monday and I am SO sad about it.

I have been soaking up every free moment that I have.

Once the semester ends, Hudson comes so my free time is over forever.

I'm also terrified for this semester because I know it will be a hard one.

And what if the baby comes before the semester ends!? 

Don't even want to think about how complicated that will make things.

Taylor had to play plumber last week because our drain got clogged.

It was the first time being a homeowner has really sucked.

It sucked even more when we payed the plumber bill..

I turned a flat twin sheet into a crib skirt. Go me!

Anything to save a few dollars.

The way our front door looked with the new mustard colored fall wreath I made was the last straw.

Goodbye ugly brown. Hello navy blue!

And the inside is now white. 

I absolutely love the change.

And now I'm off to enjoy what could be my last weekend as a free woman ever.

Ever people.

After this weekend, I will be busy with school work and then a baby.
A baby!

I've got big plans like a date with my husband and as much relaxing as possible.

Enjoy your weekend!

A DIY Kitchen Makeover

I have had a few people ask me if we painted our cupboards, and the answer is no we did not. We stained the using a gel stain. We knew that painting them would not look as nice so I researched tons and thought that gel stain was the best option for us.

We used General Finishes Java Gel Stain (A quart was plenty for our kitchen). We bought it off of Amazon because it isn't sold in any stores around us. You will also need gloves, socks or foam brushes, tape, sand paper, a drill, and a clear stain polyurethane top coat (don't do glossy or it will be too shiny).

Begin by taking off your cabinet doors (it just makes life easier not to do it with them hanging) and lightly sand over everything. You're just sanding enough to rough it up but not enough to take off or do much to the old finish. Then you wash off your cabinets and tape off everything. And tape it off well.We had to repaint a door frame because my taping job wasn't as good as we thought it was.

Now comes the scary part. Putting on the first stroke of stain is terrifying, but you have to have faith for the rest of the project.

After 1 coat of stain.

Apply a thin coat of the stain going with the grain of the wood and then let it dry for at least 12 hours. The longer drying time the better. I think we waited 24 hours because of our schedules. It will look like crap and you will wonder what the heck you're doing, but it gets better. 

Still streaky after 2 coats of stain. 

Once it is dry, and you can tell by feeling it when it is, apply a second coat. If you apply it too early your second coat will seem to take off some of the first coat and you will end up extremely frustrated.  Let your second coat dry at least 24 hours, but once again the longer the better. 

Your third coat will make you feel a lot better. Our third coat covered mostly everything, but being that we wanted a very uniform look we did a fourth coat as well that was mainly touch ups. 

Once again wait at least 24 hours before applying the finish, but you're better off waiting at least 48 hours to give the stain time to really set. The finish is a lot runnier, and it will take all of the stain off if isn't completely dry so be patient. We did two coats of stain in most places and three coats in the places that would have more wear and tear. Like by the sink for example. 

We used a 'fast drying' finish and we were able to hang our cupboard doors up, and had a kitchen again the next day.

While it looks black in pictures it is actually a deep brown in person.

TIPS:

- Expect to be without a kitchen for at least a week.

- Be patient.

- It takes at least three coats to get the dark rich color so don't freak out too much after the first two coats.

- Stain will come off of things when its still wet with a magic eraser. It's a lot harder to get off once it is dry.

- Use cooking oil to get stain off your hands. It's an oil based stain so soap and water won't do much.

- We live in a drier climate so if you live where it is more humid you might need to let each coat dry longer. 

- I preferred the sock for most of the project while my husband liked using the foam brush better. Use whatever works best for you.

Costs breakdown:

Stain $25ish

Polyurethane $12

Foam brushes $4

Tape $1
Knobs $45
Sand paper $3

TOTAL: $90

That's a brand new kitchen for 90 dollars! And if you're old knobs will work with your new cabinets or if you want to spray paint your old knobs then it could cost you half that much.

24 Week Bumpdate & a Name

How far along? 24 weeks. Baby is as long as an ear of corn.

Total weight gain: +2. Putting the weight back on (and more) that I lost has been so hard. 

Maternity clothes: Being that I'm on break from school I pretty much switch from one pair of yoga pants to another so I haven't bought anything except for a shirt. I did put on a pair of jeans the other day that I haven't worn since school got out and was surprised at how differently they fit me now. The jegging capris pictured above have been my saving grace this summer. 

Stretch marks: Not yet.

Sleep: I wake up multiple times a night, but usually I can re position and fall back asleep fairly fast.

I promise that the name is hung straight.

Best moment this week: Deciding on a name for our baby boy. Hudson Lloyd :) Middle name to come. The more I say it and think about it, the more perfect it is for him. For a little while I didn't think we were ever going to agree on a name, but I love that we can start calling him by name now instead of baby or the baby.

Miss anything? Being able to move around without hitting my belly off of things when I normally wouldn't. 

Movement: Lots and lots. I first felt him move around 20 weeks when we were on vacation, and Taylor was able to feel him move for the first time on our last day of vacation. Feeling him move and kick will never get old. He has gotten really good at kicking my bladder. 

Food cravings: Not really craving them, but I have been loving Turkey Hill ice cream and chicken nuggets and french fries. 

Anything making you sick or queasy: Not really. Thank goodness.

Gender: A boy!

Labor signs: None yet.

Symptoms: Lower back pain.  

Belly button in or out? In.

Wedding rings on or off? On. My wedding rings have gotten looser since I got pregnant and are still plenty big. 

Happy or moody most of the time: Mostly happy.

Looking forward to: Decorating for the upcoming holidays. I'm so excited to decorate this house for the first time and have our first holidays in it. 

A House Tour: The Living Spaces

We have put so much work into this house in the past month that we have owned it.

It isn't finished yet, but here is some of the progress that we have made. 

I'm extremely proud of the work the we have done.

Before & afters

The living/dining room:

I can't wait to add pictures of our babe to the collage.

We will eventually get a table, but for now excuse our ugly air conditioner..

I'm still not sure if I'm in love with the set up of this..

The bottles change out depending on the season.

I guess that means it's time to change them again.

The kitchen: 

This table will house seasonal/holiday decorations on it.

The white picture frame actually belongs in the baby's room.