Congrats Emily!

The second of my three celebrations on September 29th was Emily's baby shower! Laura and I have been planning via text, email and the phone for the last month or so. More Laura than me! The nursery is going to have an animal/jungle theme so we continued that for the baby shower as well.

We lucked out and had a beautiful Minnesota fall day. Sunny and in the 80s which was perfect since we were outside in Laura's backyard.

We had hot chocoloate and yummy fall foods. Laura (and Nate!) did a great job planning and preparing all the food. I can't believe it's been over 12 years since we all met. I love these girls!

Emily is due November 30th, plenty of time for her little guy to enjoy the rest of football season. He got a lot of football gear to wear!

She got a ton of other great gifts too. Her MIL sewed her a beautiful diaper bag and her mom is sewing her cloth diapers. She's got a lucky little guy and only a month to go until she meets him! I won't be able to meet him until the spring or summer probably, but some of our maternity leave might overlap so I know we'll have lots of time to Skype!

I can't wait to meet him, Emily!

Installing a Pendant Light

When we bought our house there was only a flourescent light and one can light in the kitchen. The area over the peninsula was always kind of dark. Glenn HATED the flourescent light so much so that he would work in the dark before he would turn in on. I never understood it, must be all the time he spent on a windowless boat. Who knows?

We've been trying to get on some of the DIY projects around the house since we know we have a massive Time Suck coming our way in January (I say that in the most loving way). So I ordered a pendant light online from ShadesofLight.com (love their stuff!).

Step one was running wire to the pendant. We have an access panel in our closet upstairs for the air handler. Glenn dressed in his coveralls and shimmied his way back there. I think those 33 lost pounds (go Glenn!) were super helpful on this particular Sunday. We were able to run power from the overhead flourescent light and then had to run another line of wire down to the switch.

We switched out the single switch for a double switch, but ran in to a few problems running the wire down the wall to the switch plate.

We ended up cutting a hole in the ceiling in the basement stairwell and running the wire down the wall and then in to the back of the wall behind the switch. Not the best option, but with lath and plaster walls, I didn't want to just start cutting holes. They will never look the same since the plaster is textured.

Once the wire was run, we cut a hole in the ceiling for the new pendant light junction box and pulled the wires through. We wired up the new light and thought we were on the home stretch! 

 We wired up the switch and light, flipped the breaker and flipped the switches! One switch: no light. The other switch: both lights at 50%....hmm...

Glenn sat here for quite some time.  

Then he had a beer. And sat some more. We made a few phone calls to my dad and brothers.

Then a figurative light came on!

Incorrect:

Several more incorrect tries followed.

Correct:

Yeah, I don't know the difference either. Something about the switch being after the power or the order of the switch, light and power source. I forget already, but I love my new light!

Craigslist Fail / Bed for Sale

Remember when I posted about my various projects in the works? Well I finished one! I bought this bed on Craigslist, but wasn't a fan of the wood color. I wanted to put it in the guest room and add a bright color. I bought some enamel Benjamin Moore paint in a fun red color and painted 5 (FIVE!) coats of paint on the bed. I love how it turned out.

Then I moved it upstairs (from the basement) to set up the guest bed.

"Hmm...that looks kinda narrow now that it's in the room."

Measuring ensues.

Swearing follows.

So the lady I bought it from told me it was a Queen size bed frame. It is a full size. Fail. Six inches of fail. Queen size beds are 60", full size are 54".

Sooo...anyone want to buy a bed frame?

Happy Birthday Hayes!

I made a very short trip home a few weekends ago and managed to hit up 3 celebrations in one day! First was little Hayes' 1st birthday party. Last time I saw Hayes, he was only about a month old.

Such a cute family!

I miss my girlfriends back home so much! I'm glad I'll get to see several of them next week for my baby shower. Happy Birthday Hayes!

Dirty Thirty

Hard to believe I'm in a new age bracket now. Glenn surprised me with a dinner with 10 of our closest Norfolk friends on Sunday night! It was wonderful! It's going to be a great year I think, even if I am getting old. ;)

Peanut Fest

Glenn's mom is originally from the next town over so when he was a kid, he came to visit often. An annual stop was the Suffolk Peanut Festival.

We decided to make a visit last weekend to eat some peanuts, tour some Winnebagos and check out the peanut butter carving contest. It was a beautiful day to relax and enjoy all the rednecks. Well, and be one too! If only I wasn't pregnant, we could have gone on the monster truck ride!

Pintspiration #3

I think this is more like the 300th idea that I've found on Pinterest, but they aren't all a success. Which means, they don't get documented.

I found this idea forever ago, bought the faux leaves at Michaels in August and then never got around to it. The hubby reminded me that my favorite season was quickly passing me by and I needed to get on it. I don't think it hurt that the leaves were hanging on the closet door that contains his motorcycle helmet, thus being in his way and encouraging his encouraging behavior.

I printed out the letter in a poster format in Word in Bookman Old Style bold font. The Mr traced it on plywood and cut it out with a jig saw. I painted the backside and edges with leftover red paint and hot glued the leaves on the front. The whole project only costed about $5 for the faux leaves the rest was leftovers from other projects. I even had the ribbon in my ribbon stash.

I love how it turned out! Happy Fall! The best time of the year!

Bellyography

At everyone's request- more belly pics. Weeks 19-23! He's growing bigger in there, that's for sure! I am loving all the kicks and jabs. He seems to be most awake shortly after I get to work around 8-10 am and when I am laying in bed at night around 9 pm.

Glenn's current squadron- VAW-120- it has a 20 in it at least!

Kicking

Baby boy Smith has been kicking like crazy and last night, Glenn got to feel it for the first time too! I just wanted to document this quick so I remembered the date. Random Smith family fact, Glenn also told me he loved me for the first time on the second of the month, but that was December 2nd, 2004.

We were laying in bed last night and he was kicking the same spot on my side so I told Glenn to cram his hand between my belly and the mattress. I think he was surprised he could feel it cause I got a "woah" and a smile. :)

Glenn is a constant tapper / mover / figiter and I think his son is going to be pretty similar!

To work or not to work?

Now that I am visibly pregnant (busted out the maternity pants today for the first time! Side note, dang, these things are comfy. Might want to wear them after January) people always seem to ask the same few questions.

1. When are you due?
2. What are you having?
3. Are you going back to work?

Well, our son is due on January 22, 2013 and yes, I plan on going back to work. I PLAN on it. As in, right now, I think I will, but come January/February/March, I may have changed my mind. Glenn and I are very lucky that the Navy is a steady and dependable income that we can live off of. We can pay all our bills with his income, just perhaps, a few less home improvement projects and flights back home.

I like work though. I like making a little extra money and keeping busy. Although, I'm pretty sure a baby will keep me busy enough as well.

We've checked out a few daycare centers in the area. Some we liked, some we didn't. We are on a waiting list for one near the house, but the waiting list is 9-18 months (!). There is a second that I think we like even more that is just down the street from my office. I like the idea of being able to stop by during lunch to feed the baby or being just 2 minutes away if something were to happen. It's not as convenient for Glenn's job, but with him being gone every few months, it makes more sense to be near my office.

I've thought about working less than 40 hours per week as well and I think my office will let me work from home when necessary or a day or two a week.

Or maybe I'll just stay home with my little babe and hang out with several of my Navy spouse friends who are also stay at home moms. That sounds appealing at times too!

Here is a picture we got at our 20 week ultrasound last month. I'm not sure when our next ultrasound will be or if we'll even have another one at the dr's office, but he's looking less gummy bear like and a little more baby like!