Repositioned and Ready

Posts and beams are being installed soon...I wanna watch :-) killian's room camera has been repositioned for the show, hehe

Demo!!!!

Progress is apparent here at the kitchen project. Met with the contractor this evening and for the most part all is good, no huge unexpected surprises, thank goodness!!! No work tomorrow while the 3 new footings cure and then back at it Friday, wahooo!!! Kids and I are hanging in the basement and Sequoia is grateful we are home (she was in great hands but nice to have her family home). More pictures to follow as milestones are reached. 

So relieve we had a good report from the contractor. Now my excitement has returned, never know what demo will uncover...been around enough construction in my day.

Demo DAY!!!!

Today is the day!  We walked out of the house this morning to go to work and school, then to Lake Tahoe for vacation for a week knowing the kitchen "should" be gone by the time we come home.  Sequoia has free range of Ooma's room (our guest room) and the majority of the backyard; a dog sitter will come check on her twice a day for food/water/loving and walks. I have one of the nanny cams turned on and pointed toward the kitchen so we can check in now and then on the progress (so far nothing has happened, whomp whomp).

Kyle and I took down the glass front uppers this weekend and reinstalled them in his man cave outside....boy was that a beast and I am SSSSOOOOO glad we did that before I started my 8 week fitness challenge because I don't think I could lift a pillow now.  They will be a great addition to the bar area and allow him to keep pint glasses and such out there ready and not less dusty.

This morning before leaving we all took some swings at the old kitchen.  I had my way with the tile and wood bullnose and Killian went to town on a couple walls.  Boy was he in little boy heaven, HA!  As I mentioned before I sure wish Kyle and I had the time and energy to do the work ourselves, think of the money we could save?!?!  But seriously, it would be so rewarding being able to say we remodeled out kitchen by ourselves!  Oh well, this way it will get done faster and probably turn out a lot better in the end.  

I can't wait to see what we come home to!!!  

Here Goes Nothing and By Nothing I mean Kitchen Remodel!

So life has become too stagnant...we've got this 2 kiddo thing down pat, can do it in our sleep, why not undertake a kitchen remodel, right?!?!  What the heck am I saying....life will never be stagnant with our two boys BUT we are about to start a kitchen remodel.  Boy oh boy am I excited!!!  I can't wait.  We are knocking down walls, moving appliances, redoing flooring, installing an island, building a pantry and getting new appliances.  Contractor comes to meet with us about final move out and start date this Thursday.  We head to Tahoe next Wednesday night and come back to a demolished kitchen, WAHOO!!!!

Here is my inspiration board on pinterest ( https://www.pinterest.com/sirgens/kitchen-refresh/ ).  I'm drawn to the greys and whites so I can change things up with accessories vs. replacing major items again in the future. So many things on our wish list and so little space in the kitchen but being able to customize it to what we want is thrilling!

I'm going to try to post updates on here so we can look back at the progress. Supposed to take about 3 months start to finish, we shall see!  Needless to say, I am stoked that we are actually taking the plunge and doing this while the boys are still young and opening up the first floor.  So much more functional and mama friendly :-)

Lots of crockpot and BBQ meals in our future this summer.  Hopefully we can bum a few dinners off friends and explore new restaurants to pass the kitchenless stage. 

Now for the before pictures:

And a couple very preliminary mock-ups of the new kitchen, still in the refinement stage :-)

Gosh Darn NAME and last day of work (39 weeks)

Today is  my last day of work before new baby arrives.  Boy did that sneak up on me but not all at once.  I feel like work is in a good spot for me to make my departure, a temp has been brought in, my supervisor is up to speed, projects have been approved, should be good to go until January.  My team here has been super supportive and are excited to hear when baby arrives (and gender)!

My mom arrived last night and Killian could NOT be happier, he loves and adores her so much.  My dad comes this weekend and then we are in an extra good place to have this baby.  My mind is one level calmer now that my mom is here, no more stressing about taking care of Killian in the middle of the night should something get started early.

Names....oh baby we will name you BUT boy oh boy are we struggling with a boy's name.  The girl name has been really obvious for a long time now but I'm just not getting warm and fuzzies with Kyle's top contender and he said he could be convinced with my top name but it wasn't his fav.  What are we to do :-/  I do not want to have to "rush" to decide and try to find that perfect name after baby is here, I want to focus on baby and not worry about having a name.  This is why i wanted to start early and get it done but I'm half a pair and my other half didn't feel it was a rush but here we are and no solid name to speak of.  I try not to be a nag but come on we need a name!!!!

Ugh, I'm so frustrated.  Ready to meet baby and the damn name is not important enough to distract from work.  No one can tell I'm frustrated, right??!?!  Ok enough of that.  Pictures to help change my mood.

Me and my preggo buddies at work

One of Killian's absolute favorite things, popping the packing material from Amazon, his face CRACKS me up!

guessing the car colors on the porch with Aundee and Cambria, so fun!!!!

Well That Makes Me Feel Better - 38 weeks

I could not be happier with this blog right now...I woke up this morning in a very odd mood and feeling quite down on myself.  Then I reread my blog from this stage of my pregnancy with Killian...

http://irgenssandiego.blogspot.com/2015/04/last-push.html

I am so beyond excited for the arrival of this new baby, I can't wait to find out blue or pink, name our newest addition and snuggle into bonding with baby BUT when I think of our lives now and how much fun we have with Killian it causes me a twinge of pain/guilt.  He is the coolest kid I know and we just have so freakin' much fun together.  He is everything I could have hoped for in a child and then some that it scares me to start over with this unknown.  Thank GOD I wrote the blog about how I was feeling last time and that my head is not too clouded with emotions to realize that our fun is going to grow and our new normal will just be that much better once this new baby arrives.  When I think of my own life I can't imagine my existence without my younger sister and how boring all of our family outings would have been without my sidekick and buddy along with me.  Some of my best memories include the shenanigans we got into as a team.

SO...I'm allowing myself, once again, to mourn the change in our normal, to feel sad for leaving one chapter to start another, to realize that things will be hard and challenging and probably just down right shitty at times.  And then I remind myself of all the amazing things I'm about to witness and feel and gain and fall in love with.  The tears I cry today, both outright and inward, are a mixture of bitter and sweet.  Goodbye to one era and HELLO to the next chapter.

Couple pictures to help uplift this post :-)

38 Weeks Strong

Well I'm just going to come out and say it, this baby has definitely dropped!  Not that it matters too much with a planned c-section at all but boy oh boy is it a HUGE relief on my rib cage.  This baby has NOT.LET.UP. on my right ribs cage since it was able to move around and stretch and kick.  I've had the weird sensation of constant irritation that leads to pain.  For those ladies out there, it has been like when your hair hurts from being up too long and there isn't anything you can do about it unless you shower only I haven't had that option with the baby.  Needless to say, it has been wearing on me and I could not be happier that it has gone away, Killian started this maneuver later in the pregnancy but never let up.

Now that I've put that out there, the dropped baby/rib relief has lead to the most awful emergency pee sensations I've experience AND my performance when I do pee leaves me really really disappointed :-/  Not only is baby using my bladder as a punching bag but when I stand up it feels like I'm not going to make it to the bathroom fast enough.  Such a weird trade off.

My sister and her little family are in Oregon this weekend for a wedding down in the Salem area, so if baby decides (s)he is ready to make an appearance at least one of my tow ladies of choice will be close by.  They take off and head home on Monday evening which we will see if she gets to go home as Monday is the full moon!!!  I'm not hedging my bets but L&D (and my mother in law) swear that is has an affect.  Otherwise my mom will head this direction next Thursday evening, baby is schedule to make the entrance that following Monday and then the rest is history!  I can not believe it is hear already and how excited I am about it.  CRAZY.

Here is my 37 week picture, we will take 38 this weekend and then hopefully be able to squeeze out a 39 before baby arrives :-)  Also won't forget to do a leaving for the hospital picture bright and early on the 14th

Can't sign off of the blog post without some Killian pictures too