The Big Reveal

At the end of September, Chris and I painted the walls in the baby's room, which led to a discussion about replacing the carpet in the baby's room, which led to a discussion about replacing the carpet in the entire house, which led to a discussion about replacing the kitchen flooring, which led to a discussion about replacing the kitchen cabinets, which led to this:

That's my kitchen about two weeks into a remodel project that involved:

1. Removing a wall between the kitchen and dining room;
2. Removing a load bearing wall between the dining room and living room and replacing it with a support beam inside the attic; 
3. Closing in a door that provided access to the kitchen from the carport; 
4. Adding a door that provides access to the kitchen from the laundry room and carport; 
5. Moving the dryer vent and electrical to make room for a new door in the laundry room;
6. Replacing wood paneling in the dining room with sheetrock; 
7. Adding a gas line in the kitchen to connect a gas cooktop;
8. Moving electrical and water lines to a new location for the refrigerator;
9. Replacing the cabinets, countertops, backsplash, sink, faucet, vent hood, cooktop, and microwave in the kitchen;
10. Installing a stackable washing machine and dryer in the laundry room; 
11. Replacing all flooring in the kitchen, dining room, living room, hallway, and hall closet; 
12. Wiring and installing recessed lights in the kitchen and dining room; and
13. Installing a new light fixture in the dining room.

While this list represents a thorough outline of major work done on the Sias house, it does not include the hiccups that are bound to accumulate during a remodel project.  The more serious "hiccups" started with the general contractor's failure to obtain the required permit and escalated into a battle with incompetent painters and several random holes in our new sheet rock in search of a mysterious gas leak.    

Also, note that the extensive list of work above does not include replacing the carpet in the baby's room, the impetus for our major remodel project.  After expending large amounts of energy and money on the rest of the house, Chris and I drew the line at replacing the carpet in the baby's room.  Because the baby's room was the only empty room in the house throughout our project, it became a staging and storage area for work taking place in the rest of the house.  As a result, the baby's room went through various stages that rendered any ideas of replacing the carpet utterly unthinkable:

The last bit of major work was completed on December 18, although minor touch-ups continued through December 22.  By December 24, I had almost everything back in place and had even managed to hang a few Christmas decorations.  On December 25, Chris was the recipient of a generous Christmas gift, a new TV.  By December 26, my living room was filled with dust and there were new holes in the wall to make room for wall mounts, plugs, switches, and hidden electrical wires.  Three days later, on December 30, all work was finally complete.

Are you dying to see pictures of the newly remodeled Sias house?  You are in luck because I have plenty of them.  Before I post pictures of the finished project, however, pictures of my house pre-construction are mandatory.

Looking into the kitchen from the far end of
the dining room.

The kitchen with the old door from the carport located
to the left of the stove.

Looking into the dining room from the kitchen.
Note the walls separating the two rooms, as well as
the wall on the right side of the dining room separating
the dining room and living rom.

Looking into the dining room from the kitchen.

The living room.

I could post several in-between pictures showing various stages of exposed framing and wires, half-finished cabinetry, and the like.  No one really enjoys the in-between stages, however, including the homeowners living through it.  Those weeks are weeks I would like to completely erase from my memory.  So, I'll just skip straight to the big reveal!!!!

The finished kitchen! 

No walls between the kitchen and dining room!

Looking at the dining room from the back of
the kitchen.  This flooring continues into
the living room and hall as well.

The new door leading from the laundry room
into the kitchen.  I love the little hidden cabinet
by the door!

My new light fixture and the recessed lights.
I love it!

No more walls between the kitchen, living room, and
dining room.

The living room feels soooo much bigger! 

I love that the new light fixture is visible from all three rooms!

Now that the house is back in order, I can finally focus on finishing the baby's room.  Only five more weeks, give or take an unknown amount of time, until baby Sias enters the world.

Doug's New Bed

I previously wrote about Doug's murphy bed.  He still has a murphy bed.  He also has a new bed.  My mom helped me sew some curtains the weekend after Christmas.  I learned a lot about sewing and finally felt confident to attempt my own sewing project, albeit on a much smaller scale.  I think Doug's new bed turned out awesome, and he seems to like it as well.

My boys sleeping on New Year's Eve.

Pregnancy Progress - Week 35

If my due date is accurate and I carry baby Sias for 40 weeks, I have five weeks until D-day.  Here's what's been going on in Kim's pregnant world.

Pregnancy changed around week 30.  It was around this time that casual coworkers and even a few strangers began asking questions about my due date and the baby's gender.  I finally looked round enough in the right places for people to be certain that I am pregnant.

At 20 weeks

At 23 weeks

At 30 weeks

At 31 weeks

At 34 weeks

It was also around 30 weeks that I realized sooner, rather than later, I will meet baby Sias.  This caused two reactions.  First, I felt a sudden urge to "get things in order," which mostly caused anxiety given the state of chaos at home due to a major renovation project.  Second, the thought of losing the constant connection between my baby and I made me sad.  Part of me did not, and still does not, want baby Sias to come out.  I want baby Sias to stay inside me, constantly connected to me, a part of me.  I like feeling baby Sias move inside me.  I like knowing that baby Sias is warm and cozy.  I like that baby Sias is all mine, only mine.  When I finally admitted my feelings to Chris, he lovingly called it a mother's bond.  I like Chris's label better than my labels of over-protectiveness, anxiety, and selfishness.

At week 32, Chris and I saw baby Sias inside my womb in 3-D.  I never planned on paying the extra money for a 3-D sonogram because honestly, 3-D photos of babies in the womb are simultaneously real enough and distorted enough to look pretty darn creepy.  My doctor, however, does a sonogram at each visit and is able to switch easily to 3-D mode.  While I still maintain that 3-D photos have a serious creepy factor to them, watching my baby move in 3-D was entirely different.  Chris and I watched baby Sias open and close his/her tiny mouth, stick out his/her little tongue, and scrunch his/her little face.  Seeing baby Sias move in 3-D, and seeing Chris' excitement as a result, made me excited about meeting baby Sias in a few weeks, even if part of me is still a little sad that I will lose the constant connection I've come to love.

As with most pregnancies, the last few weeks of my pregnancy have been marked by increased physical discomfort, difficulty sleeping, and random emotional instability (i.e. crying).  This week I had dream that I forgot to breast feed my baby for a several days, as if my body and a newborn baby would silently and painlessly allow me to go days without breast feeding my baby.  Instead of focusing on these things, however, I am focused on enjoying the exciting side of a first pregnancy.  It's fun watching my stomach move uncontrollably, planning for the unexpected, and being the recipient of endless attention and special treatment.  This is the part of pregnancy I want to remember, and the part of pregnancy I know I will miss in just a few short weeks.

Baby Shower

At the beginning of my third trimester, I traveled to Fort Worth for a baby shower hosted by my sisters-in-law.  It was a beautiful shower, and I was so honored to have so many of my close friends and relatives in attendance.  My paternal grandma, who lives in Seattle, surprised me by coming as well, which was definitely the highlight of the day.  I love my grandma, and I love surprises.

My grandma and Mimi

My beautiful mom, a grandma-to-be

Silly games.

Allt the lovely ladies

The gracious hosts - my sisters-in-law

My sister-in-law has a beautiful house

High school pals

Lovely, lovely, lovely

I love this picture of Mimi and Riley, my cousin's daughter.

The grandmas and grandma-to-be

Heather wanted to take her first picture with the baby

Tia Esperanza about to determine the baby's gender

My cousins.

I came back to the Valley full of gratitude and appreciation for the women in my life, and a carload of goodies.