This is Thirty Something

Hold my beer, I got this.

Halloween with the bean!

Being the type of parent that who doesn’t have an obsession with kiddos and all things screaming and sticky, I really wasn’t interested in getting a Halloween Costume for Clark. 
For the last month I have been asked by everyone what my infant child is going to be for Halloween. 
The first time I was asked this question, I was a little caught off guard because dressing him up really hadn’t even crossed my mind.
 I mean, he can’t even sit up on his own! 
Why would I spend money on something for him to lay around in and then throw up on?
 That didn’t seem like a sound financial investment to me. 
Then it was pointed out that it is really just all for photos sake because babies are so cute and blah blah blah.  
I shrugged my shoulders and replied to the question with ” Well, okay, I will probably just get a pumpkin and shove him inside and take a picture, I guess.”
 Sounds good enough to me.
 Then I thought of the the photos people post on FB of their babies dressed up in “sweet” little costumes and I thought, “Well, wouldn’t it be funny if I dressed up Clark in something really gory and serious instead?
 No one ever does that.
 I could make him  a zombie baby and paint his face. 
This got me in the spirit.
  “Yes, I will dress him as the anti-cute Halloween baby and it will be awesome. Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?! I am a genius”  
Flash forward to discussing these plans with a friend. ( A friend without kids btw) and she says “ I bet no one has done it because you probably aren’t suppose to paint your baby’s face with make up and fake blood” 
Well, someone just HAD to rain on my parade….
So, I started looking for something fabulous for him to wear instead.
Costumes considered
Link

Mr. T

 Food

Yoda

McFly

R2D2
I think its fairly obvi that Steve chose all but one,
the ketchup packet. 
Clearly that was my pick. 
I love hot dogs.

Today is National Cat Day!

 I am  not going to go all Sarah McLaughlin on you.
I just want to send out a virtual high five to all you mommers and poppers that choose adoption over purchasing from Mills and Stores. 
So many kitty critters need homes, so open you door and let one or nine in. 
They are good foot warmers and are basically natural repurposers. (Which is huge these days)  
They can make a bed , toy and scratch post out of almost any item and you can use their hair for crafts!
October 29th is National Cat Day!
Dedicated to:

MORRISON
STINKY (HOSEHEAD)

FRANKENSTEIN ( FRANKY)

TOOTHLESS WONDER (GRANDMA/ TW)

BENTLEY ( NEIGHBORHOOD CUTIE)

A new office

Since moving into our house we had been using one of the rooms as a temporary catch all.
Since the upstairs wasn’t finished, we didn’t have a permanent place to put everything that we wanted in our bedroom. So for the last year it lived in this room.
 Which awkwardly also doubled as a closet.
Now that the upstairs is done and the master finished, we were able to move all our stuff around and free up this space and make it into a much needed office. 
Here is the room when we first moved in. 
I had my vanity and dresser on one side, a bookcase on the other and all of Steve’s clothes in the closet on the opposite wall.
 Which really should be the hall closet for all our coats and things. 


We were thankful the house had room for all our stuff, but as far as being functional, this definitely wasn’t. 
It drove me nuts not having things where I wanted them to ultimately be.
It was all so temporary that I didn’t even unpack a lot of things, because I knew this wasn’t going to be their final home!
In the mean time, Steve set up his computer in the basement on one of the work benches.
Which he said he didn’t mind, but seriously, this looks so uncomfortable!
Enter The Man Cave

                                          
He wasn’t even using a real chair, just an old file cabinet with a blanket on top for padding!

Here is the new office space.
I think it looks a little more comfortable.
I found this desk on craigslist.
It was exactly what I was looking for. 
I knew I wanted something with a two person work station so that Steve and I could both have our own areas and computers. 
I didn’t want a hutch on it and it needed to be black.
It doesn’t have any drawers, which I wish it did, but it has shelves on both ends which are better than nothing.

 I just needed to figure out a good place for my Printer/scanner that is easy to get to but not sitting out on top of the desk. 
It takes up too much room.
The desk also matches the black bookshelf we have on the other side of the room.
As for the filing cabinet we found in the basement
 (Remember this is the house that keeps on giving) I gave it a fresh look. 
Taking it from a dirty almond shade, to crisp white and then adding black damask detail! 
I am really happy with how it turned out.
Like how I made this picture look all fancy n’ stuff?!
I also removed two of the wood square dividers
 ( And I use the word WOOD lightly, this is from Ikea after all )
 on my bookcase to change up the look.
 It also allowed me a large enough space for my printer!
Yay!! 

The opened squares

Our work area for two

My black and white wall

Some of my own art for color
Bentley photobomb

Into the Mystic

The drawing I was working on when my water broke.
Finished it just in the nick of time!

When I planned to do this piece I just thought it was pretty, but it really ended up ironically fitting.
Now it is hanging in the living room but someday it will be Clark’s to keep.

Obladi Oblada life goes on brah! La la how the life goes on!

I decided it was necessary to get out of the house and enjoy the week of summer weather Seattle was having.
An entire week of weather over 75!
 Amazing… and sad at the same time.
My parental unit took Steve, Clark and me out to dinner down at a local beach and then we set up lawn chairs to enjoy a free outdoor concert!
The band playing was a Beatles cover band called 
They are really good, however they were giving away copies of their cd’s and I was wondering why you would listen to an album by a cover band.
Wouldn’t you just buy the real album??
Maybe that’s why they were giving them away I guess…
Lady Madonna children at your feet

We saw a great sunset out over Lake Washington
Grandma and Grandpa with Clark
And there was a pretty good turn out for the show too
I have been listening to The Beatles for as long as I can remember.
Some of my first cassettes were Beatles & Beach Boys albums.
When I began taking piano lessons, my favorite book to play out of was the Beatles song book. 
Probably  because I actually recognized most of the songs I was playing.
Last night though, it became apparent that for the last 20 some years I have been singing a lot of the wrong lyrics to these songs
Ooops.
 After realizing that, and being corrected by Mom, some of the songs made a bit more sense!
Who woulda thought?!
Here are a few examples of phrases gone wrong:
What I thought: Paper boy Rider
What they really are: Paperback Writer
What I thought: Lovely Rita, Rita Mae
What they really are: Lovely Rita Meter maid
What I thought: I held her hand in Hawaii
What they really are: I held her hand in mine
Also,” A Hard Day’ s Night” is actually kinda dirty.
Shame. Shame.

A Pea in the Pod

So, taking care of an infant is a lot of work. 
Shocking, right?!
 I really thought in between feeding and changing I would have some time to myself during the napping.
 I was wrong.
 At least for now. 
So I will do my best to keep the blog a float, but I have a feeling my posts are going to be much fewer for the rest of the summer!
 My water broke at about 11:30pm
 I was in my hospital room at 12:30am
I delivered at 5:20am
 I am glad it went fast, but it definitely wasn’t what I had expected.
I suppose I should start from the beginning.
I tried to write the short of it, but it ended up being really long.
So, here is the long of it.
Our Birth Story
It’s Thursday night, Steve and I had just gotten home from
dinner and trivia at the local Pub with my family.
 I was working on a drawing
that I wanted to get done for a while. ( Post on that later)
While I am cleaning up, I realize  Bentley had peed all over the basement floor .
 I got some paper towels and bent
down to clean it up when I heard a pop.
 I assumed it was my hip….and you know what they say about assuming…
 It makes an ass out of you and me, or it means you are about to give birth.
 I stood
back up and like a child in the kiddy pool,the flood gates released. 
Naturally, I’m thinking I peed my pants ( because that happens so often?!) 
In retrospect it really made more sense that it was my water breaking, but at the time that didn’t seem as likely. 
 I
head upstairs to where Steve is and tell  him what happened.
 I figured I had
a weak bladder from pregnancy or something.
 As I am standing there though, I can feel
more water running down my leg, and I have absolutely no control over it.
Steve pointed out that it was probably my water
and not pee. 
Which made me feel better about myself, but I wasn’t sure if I believed him
because I always imagined it as more of a gush, like you see in the movies. 
We
call the Dr. and she tells us to head into the hospital and they will check
me out.
 When we get to the hospital they don’t bother checking me to see how
far along I am. 
Since it’s my first baby they assured me I wouldn’t likely
be having it for another 12 hours or so. 
(Oh how wrong they could be.)
They confirm my water had broke and
admit me.
.  We don’t bother calling everyone yet, since it’s late at night and the baby won’t be here till the next day some time anyway.

About an hour later I am finally out of Triage and in my
room when contractions start,but I don’t realize that is what they are.
 I just think I am anxious and uncomfortable.
(Apparently I have a  much higher tolerance for pain than I previously thought)
Our nurse encourages us to call my friend Anna who is also our Doula and tell her to come to the hospital.
I try sitting on my Yoga Ball, it doesn’t help much.
So I get in the jetted
tub in my room hoping the water will give me some relief.
  My contractions
continue and are happening pretty frequently, but no one seems to be
alarmed. 
At this point I am thinking, “Wow, this REALLY hurts and it’s only been a few hours. What are the next 10 hours going to be like?!”
So I tell the nurse I want to start my Epidural.
In order to do that though, I have to make my way back to the bed.
By now I can’t really have a whole
conversation with anyone to explain what is going on in my body!
 The contractions are taking my breath away and I feel like passing out.
Steve is coaching me through the contractions as I attempt to get up out of the tub, dry
off and make my way back to the bed. 
Moving those 12 feet took me about 15-20
min because I have to keep stopping for contractions. 
Still, no one is
alarmed… so Steve and I assume this is the normal course of labor and are glad I am about
to get drugs!
Anna shows up and takes over coaching me.
I get into the bed and the next contraction makes me scream
out loud and curl up into a ball.
 The nurse is all ” Whoa, what
was that!? That sounded like more than a contraction!” 
I’m all ” It
hurts! It hurts! Something is happening!!!!”
So, she checks me and Surprise, I am 9 cm and she can see
Clark’s head!
(Insert WTF moment right here.)
Now it is too late for me to get an epidural. 
The nurse
says, if I can hold off pushing ( which is pretty much impossible, because my
body seems to have a mind of its own right now) they can get me the epidural but I need to finish my IV and then it
will take about 20 min for it all to kick in. 
OR 
I can just start pushing
and “get it over with.”
I am  in as close to what I can describe as
“shock.” 
  Not only am I
dealing with contractions that I never planned on dealing with, now I am trying to mentally process what is about to happen and also trying to make a
sane decision.
 I remember just laying there in absolute confusion looking at
Steve and then at the nurse and then at Steve 
in a panic, not knowing what to do or say. 
Steve and Anna kept
telling me “ You can do this, just push, get him out, you will feel
better.”  
I wanted to believe them but I
felt so confused.
 I had a really hard time deciding what I needed to do.
 I
decided to push.
I really felt like I didn’t have another option.
 Clark was coming and there was no way I could lay there and take more
contractions like the ones I was having and wait for my epidural.
 I was so frustrated
though, because this wasn’t my original plan. 
This wasn’t how I had imagined it
going in my head.
 They told me we would have hours before I delivered. 
We
brought a movie to watch, I packed snacks, my mom was supposed to be there!! 
Now, I am minutes away from having a baby? Naturally? Right now?!
Pushing started, it was the worst pain I have ever felt and
I thought I was going to die. 
 I remember thinking, “ I wish they could just knock me out
so I don’t have to do this and wake me up when it’s over”
 I do not consider
myself a strong person, mentally or physically.
I have a low pain tolerance. 
( Although I have tattoos
and piercings somehow)
I am not competitive. 
( I am totes okay with throwing in the towel)
I can be insecure.
(I doubt myself a lot)
And lastly,
I am kinda lazy when I want to be
(I don’t like to do it if it’s really hard)
All of those traits definitely don’t scream, “ I ‘m ready to
push out this baby!”
   ( Also, I want my
Mom!!)
After about 10-15 minutes
Clark is born at 5:20 am Friday
morning. 
Exactly one week early.
Steve helped deliver him and cut the cord. 
Clark didn’t
scream or cry, he just made a few noises and looked around. 
After they took him
over to the table to get wiped off, he rolled himself over and put his hand on
the side of the changing table and pushed himself up and lifted his head.
 As if
he wanted to look around the room and see what was going on. 
Everyone was
amazed by his strength!
I felt so relieved to be done with the hardest thing I have ever done.
Then the Dr. tells me, “ Oh yeah, it’s not over yet, you need
to deliver the placenta” 
Which took probably another 20 minutes and was also
pretty painful. 
No one tells you about that part.
They had to message my stomach and tug on the cord because it
didn’t just detach on it’s own like it normally does I guess.
Sorry if that’s all TMI.
You asked for it.

The happy grandmas

My new home

The upstairs is SO close to being done, I can taste it.
Ok, not really taste…it does still smell like new carpet though.
Here are the most recent pics of our progress. 
Once everything is 100% done, I will do a post with before and after pics for more drama. 🙂
The stairs with new bead board on the walls
and the railing waiting to be hung

                                                         View from the top of the stairs

Heading into the space

See that creepy little hole that goes into the attic? 
Yeah, I have to sleep next to that.
We finally got a door on there.
Steve built it from scratch and used a vintage latch we found in the basement so it looks original to the house.
Now I feel less like a troll is going to pop out of there.

My getting ready corner

The dressers in the wall!
( Awaiting their trim on the bottoms)

Heading into the nursery 

Looking back
My temporary closet until we build some storage 
And last but not least, the bedroom.
Pretty good for a few months elbow grease I think!

No more teachers, no more books

Chalkboards are a thing of the past. 
But, they make good art work.
I got this huge board at a garage sale for $1.00.
I brought it home, cleaned it up and made it my own.
Inspiration:

This is what it looked like when I brought it home
Steve attaching a hanger to the back

The finished Product

I think it goes pretty well in the kitchen.
 I considered spraying it with a clear coat to preserve it, but decided it would be more fun to change it every couple months.
So when this gets smeared by some drunk husband or little kid who is off their leash, I will update it with something new!

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