Week 14

So now that our big news is officially out of the bag (what's more official than facebook?), I thought it would be fun to keep everyone up to date on the progress of the little peanut. I've seen a couple of blogs do this and I think it sounds like a really fun way to not only connect everyone with my progress, but also to be able to look back on the whole pregnancy. So here goes!

Pregnancy Highlights for the Week

How Far Along: 14 weeks

Fruit/Veggie: A Lemon (about 3.5 inches long and weighs 1.5 ounces)

Baby changes: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little one's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

Best Moment this week: Clint's sister, Megan, and her husband, Clay, came home from being in Belgium for two years this weekend! We had a great night Friday getting to spend time with them and the rest of the Pasche and Sandoz family. Clint and I are so lucky that we have such great families and it's really fun to spend time with them, especially during an exciting time like this.

It's also been a huge relief for me that everyone in our life knows about my pregnancy (work, church) and I don't have to worry quite as much about how my new waistline looks in my clothes :)

Gender: We won't know for another 6 weeks, but Clint and I are both feeling boy.

Movement: Not yet, but I am very excited about this.

Food Cravings: None really, haven't had any significant ones the whole time. I'm really thirsty and have been wanting tart drinks like lemonade. I eat a lot more bread and carbs than usual, and cereal every morning for breakfast first thing after my shower.

What I Miss: I'm good so far, I guess knowing my clothes will fit.

Sleep: Still good, and still needing lots of it!

What I am looking forward to: Really showing, this in between stage is kind of awkward, and I'm running out of clothes to wear!

Symptoms: I really can't complain, I have had a really easy pregnancy so far. I'm starting to get more headaches, almost like caffeine headaches, but I pretty much stopped drinking coffee entirely at around 6 weeks, so I don't think that's why they have started recently.

Stage 10: APPLIANCES

So after a really exciting couple of weeks, we finally get our new and shiny toys. I think this kitchen is a little too fancy for us now :)

GE Installers

New stove - really excited because the bottom drawer is a second oven.

Pretty new fridge!

We also had all of the undercounter lights and puck lights installed in the china cabinet...adds a lot to be able to see everything better.

So everything is pretty much done now, there are still some tweaking and finishing things here and there, like glass in the cabinet doors that need it and some drawer adjustments. We have moved in and are slowly going through all of the boxes and wondering where half this stuff came from! So now you will all just have to come see it in real life :)

Stage 9: TILE BACKSPLASH

So while many of the decision making areas throughout this remodel process were difficult for me (and don't laugh family, not ALL decisions are difficult for me, just most), the tile had to be in some ways the hardest. I think my insecurity with this decision is similar to the way I feel about how to coordinate a man's tie...I can do plain shirts and ties, or patterned shirts and plain ties just fine, but when you start throwing in a patterned shirt and a patterned tie, you are on your own. I stare at the news anchors on TV and wonder, "Does that really go together?" But surely it does, because aren't there people there that are paid to pick out their clothing?!

Anyway, I digress, but this was my problem. I had picked out cabinets and granite, and wasn't sure what to do with the backsplash so that it coordinated, but wasn't too matchy matchy and didn't clash. I read in a magazine somewhere that staying in similar tones to the cabinets makes a small/narrow space feel larger, and after looking at samples I was drawn to the more "natural" tumbled look, so we finally made a decision.

I met the tiler to let him into the house to install, and realized that I was very nervous about if we had made the right selection or not. Everything looked so good so far, what if we were taking that one step to far and messing it all up? So I left the house to head back to work and just hoped that when I returned I wasn't disappointed.

And here is what I found when I came back later to check in on the progress:

I think we did a pretty good job picking out tile, don't you?! Maybe I should go out and pick up some patterned shirts and ties for Clint now! :)

Stage 8: GRANITE

So the granite was brought in on a truck...

Cut and sanded to fit perfectly...

And installed!

The pantry


The bar top


Counter tops

Island from the den side

Top of the island view

And now, for one of my new favorite things...our farmhouse sink! :)

Finished Cabinets

Here is the finished product...

The pantry and the space for the refrigerator.

This is where the wall used to be, now an island between the two rooms.

Cabinet in part of the breakfast room, the other side is bar height.

Cabinet built into the laundry room.

New window seat bench - this was our gift to ourselves :)


Here is the detailed view of the glaze on the cabinets.

And this is the butler's pantry/china cabinet...it is stained walnut rather than painted wood.


And now, the Granite is on it's way!

Stage 7: CABINETS

My parents rented a beach house last week and weekend, so we took a few days off and headed down there. The really fun thing is that while we were gone, our cabinets were installed! Clint and I drove in from Galveston and basically went straight to the house to see how it all looked...and wow, what a difference cabinets make!

I will take more pictures later, but this is about all I could snap because the painters were there painting and it smelled absolutely terrible. My eyes were constantly watering and I think I could feel the brain cells dying...I honestly have no idea how those guys can stand it all day long.

They made a little sample for me on the side of one of the cabinets so that I could decide on the glaze color and how much I wanted. Here's the sneak peek:

Stand by for the finished product!

Stage 6: PAINT

Sorry it's been such a long time since an update, but we had a little break in the work being done while the cabinets were being made. Before I get ahead of myself though, last week the sheetrock was finally completed, and we were able to get the house painted the next day. As I mentioned, our initial plan was not to paint all of the rooms of the house, but now that it's done, a little part of me is glad it happened that way because it sure does make the house feel all clean and new.

The painting only took about two days - the first day they painted and textured all of the ceilings, and the second day they painted all of the walls. Clint and I met over there at lunch time on the second day to see how things were looking.

A little bit of edging done on the Master bedroom wall.

Living Room paint...in progress.

Clint likes the color :)

Then, I came back that evening after work to find a whole new house!

Master Bedroom - from brown to gray

Kitchen - sage

Den - yellow (the same color that we had in our old house)

Some of the colors don't show up as well in the pictures, so you will have to just believe me when I say it all looks great!

I'll have a cabinet update ASAP, promise!