The Livinig Room... Before, During, and After

As I said in my last post (like 2 months ago) we purchased a house in February and have been working hard to remodel it. The house was originally built in 1970 and let's just say, not much has changed from the original decorating. The house has been owned by one family since 1970 so it was in tip top shape, but really needed a lot of work and we decided it was a great idea to take on with a newborn on the way. Yeah you can call us crazy, cause we do! Luckily I have been blessed with a wonderful FIL who is a great handyman and has been doing most of the work for us.

So let me take you on a tour of where we have been and what has become of our living room.

Here is the living room in all of it's original glory. The carpet was a great yellow and all of the walls were white painted wood paneling.

The shelves and cabinents were built in and let's just say they were extremely well built! It took about 2 hours to get those down and the cabinents finally just had to be destroyed and taken out piece by piece.

And here is the fire place and the one window in the room plus another great picture of the carpet!
And construction has begun! The boys decided to pull down all of the old paneling and put up sheetrock to update the room. As you can see the paneling is down (it took quite a bit of time... they built things really well in 1970) and the carpet is up. There of course was linoleum under the carpet which just added to more demo!

And more demo! This is right before you can actually begin to see a change in the room!

The drywall went up with a little bit of work and as you can see all of the linoleum (that was classic 1970) has been pulled up. This was the first point in the project where I really felt that we were making progress. Unfortunately due to the pregnancy I was not able to do much to help which made it hard on me cause I would have loved to be able to assist, but I made one heck of a construction foreman!

And now as you can see they even put some paint on the walls! We went with a very light gray/beige to keep the room neutral and plus we could have never agreed on a color for the room. A green would have pulled too much green out of our sofa's and I would have hated that, a dark color would have made the room look small because of only having one window, and so on and so forth, so gray/beige it was!

I did let Keith have one accent wall which I have to admit looks really great! It really helps the fire place to stand out and adds a little color to that side of the room. I have to give it to the man, he is a way better decorator than me!

And here we are with a few more current pictures. You can't tell in this picture, but we have changed the color of the fire place from a yellow offwhite to the same color of the wall. The mantel is still being painted and once it is done we will be placing lots of pictures up there. We have new 20x20 tile on the floor (which is the one thing my FIL has not done in the house) and the boys added crown molding throughout.

Sorry the pictures are so dark, my camera was dead so they were taken with my Iphone. There is now furniture in the room and you can see the great crown molding. We still haven't gotten pictures on the walls as I have a few that are still being framed at Hobby Lobby. It will all come together soon enough!

And one last picture. I will put a few more up when there is a 100% completed project. We are still going to change out the back door by the fire place with a full glass one (hopefully within the next week or 2) to add more light into the room. We will also of course be adding things to the wall and a large rocker in the corner for those long nights with baby!

Baby Update

I went to the doctor this morning and have been released from my bedrest prison. I have to take it easy through the weekend but am allowed to get up more and even run a few errands. I will go back to work on Monday and though I must still be careful I am glad to be getting out of the house!

The doctor has scheduled on ultrasound for next Friday to check my fluid levels and the baby's growth and if all checks out with that I get to go back on my normal visit schedule and will be released for normal activity. Hopefully this means that the threat of preterm labor has passed, but I am still going to do my best to be very careful and to prevent Ella Kate from coming any earlier than needed.

Mom let me go and do a little walking through Hobby Lobby today since I had some pictures that needed to be framed. I even got to sit and eat lunch at Olive Garden instead of reclined with a TV tray (that made things so much better for digestion let me just tell you!). I have a few errands to run this weekend but I plan on still doing a lot of resting to prepare for next week. It is going to be pretty hard going from watching TV all day to sitting at a desk but I don't think I will ever be so glad to get up at 5:30 and go into an office!!!

Hopefully next week I will have some new pictures of the little miss to post... Until then

So what's been up??

I know I promised that I would start posting more frequently, but that didn't happen because the hard drive on our laptop crashed and things have just been crazy busy! Our computer will be ready within the next week so I hope to start being better. I really want to start posting more especially as the baby is arriving to document the rest of our stroll through preparation for baby, remodeling the new house, and our new life as parents. Plus I know the grandparents will love to have somewhere they can see the little one.

So let's start with baby...

We found out on April 23, 2010 the following about baby Underwood...

So yes, it is going to be all pink and pretty around this house! We had a feeling from day one that it would be a girl, but I know Keith was holding out that it could possibly be a boy. But no, girl all the way! We have decided to name her Ella Kate Underwood and are very ready for her arrival. Ok not really ready, but are anticipating!

Here are a few pictures from our 21 week ultrasound. Unfortunately she did not cooperate much so these were the best pictures that we could get.

Lots of leg! As ecpected with me and as her mother, the girl has some legs which has made it very difficult to predict an accurate due date. And let's just say those legs are strong! I have been feeling the little one since around week 17 which is a little early for first pregnancy but with legs like that the doctor is not surprised!

And here are her feet! Both Keith and I have very long and lean feet so it's not surprising the clearest picture shewould give us was of her big old toddler size foot! As my mom said I was all fingers and toes and it looks like little Ella Kate is taking right after her momma!

So those pictures were from 5 weeks ago, so what has been going on with the pregnancy since then? Well at 25 weeks, I was admitted to Labor and Delivery for an unexpected bleed and spent 2 days in the hospital on IV and monitors. The doctor's have concern for premature labor and have also been watching me for placental abruption. I have received a round of steriod shots in case of premature labor but it looks like Ella Kate has no thoughts of coming out early. She spent those two days in the hospital trying to move away from monitors and kicking and punching as normal. There has been no contractions and no dialation which is blessing! I was placed on bedrest upon leaving the hospital and have been laid up for the past 8 days. We have made it to 26 weeks and 1 day and are just taking it one day at a time and doing our best to make sure she stays in there and we don't have any further scares. I go back to the doctor on June 3rd and we will see what the next orders are from the doctor. I am hoping to go back to work at least half days starting next week, but I will be a good patient and do as he says! Mom has been here waiting on me hand and foot and I have been doing a bit of nesting through her which has been nice. I think I have gotten more things organized from the couch than since we moved in 3 months ago!

So what has been up with the house...

Well we have new floors, some new walls, new paint, and yet so much work to still do before Ella Kate's arrival that I don't even want to think about it. Keith and his dad have been hard at work and are doing their best to get as much done as possible each time his dad visits and I know it will all get done eventually! Our entry and hall are almost complete (just need 1 more coat of paint and decor) and the living room just needs the new door and a few finishing touches of molding and or course decor. Our bedroom is all done but we have plans to add some built ins to our closet to make the most of the space. Keith is currently putting all other projects on hold though to finish the little miss's room to make sure all is ready in case of early arrival.

Well that is where we stand as of today... I am sure there is so much more in our future and I will try to keep it updated!

Also prayers please for my friend Carrie... you can visit her blog here and read about her story. She is definitely an inspiration and a beautiful writer and I am blessed to know her!

So What Has Been Going On???

Way to much to post in one post! So let us just start with a few pictures...
Yup that is Baby Underwood at 11 weeks! We will be proud to welcome him or her around September 4th! We can not wait for our little one's arrival.

In order to prepare for the little one, we have also bought a house! We are very busy renovating and preparing for our big move within the next two weeks, and I will have a few posts coming on all of the updates that we have beeen doing to the house.

Until then, I must stop as I have Habitat for Humanity coming to pick up all the old materials from the house. No reason to throw out great wood and carpet!

Recommendations

Thanks to all of the cold weather we have been having and all the traveling I have been doing, I have had quite a bit of time to do lots of reading! I have been stuck on reading books that have been turned into movies so here are a few of my favorites:

This book was wonderful, and I have to say, the book was 5000 times better than the movie! Great read and you will love it if you love reading books about families and their bonds. Also a tear jerker at the end!

Now I haven't seen the movie for this one yet, but I did just request it from NetFlix so it should be on it's way soon, but I will definitely recommend the book. Great book if you love food and recipes, which we all know I do! I loved reading about Julie's escapades in the kitchen, and many times I feel just as frustrated as she does when trying to get meals ready.

I am still reading this one, but the movie was just beyond wonderful and the book has not disappointed yet! Not only will it appeal to the men and their sports sides, but it is such a great story of family, faith, and relationships.

So have you been reading anything good lately?

The Nephew is Officially One!

The week before Christmas was Austin's first birthday, so off we went to Fayetteville for not only the birthday party, but also to celebrate Christmas with my family.

It was wonderful seeing the little guy (my family too) and let me just say he loves his Aunt Tracy, and no I am not just saying that, you really can ask anyone. He gives me more kisses that anyone, including his mom and dad! I am sure it is just the brown hair, too many blondes around I catch him off guard and he must just be intrigued by me!

My Brother and SIL threw him an Elmo party as that kid just loves Elmo. He just lights up when he sees or even just hears him. The party was at Whole Hog Cafe in Fayetteville and the food was just great! Here are a few pics from the party
This is Austin's smash cake, though there just was not any smashing going on with him! He was not interested in the cake at all. Must not be related to me!

Here is my family before the party. This is the picture that went out for my mom's Christmas cards. I think this is the only family picture we have since my wedding and definitely since Austin came along.

Here is the little monster while opening presents. Though you can't see her, my SIL is the one actually opening the presents. He just was not into it until they were out of the paper and you could see them.

Here is Austin and my brother reading the birthday card that I got him. It was Elmo signing happy birthday to him and he was just amazed. I think I kept his attention the longest of anyone!

And last but not least, here he is trying to figure out what the cake was that they had put in front of him! Now I have to give the kid at least a little break, he had just woken up from a nap and we pretty much forced him to play with the cake so he was not very happy with us!

After the party on Saturday, we did Christmas with my family. Unfortunately I did not remember to take any pictures while we were opening presents so nothing fun to show from the evening!

Happy New Year!

I hope this post finds all healthy, happy, and enjoying the beginning of 2010!

I have so much to post about, but just not enough hours in the day. I am going to try and do better and post more, so be looking for new posts coming from me soon!

Until then Geaux Tigers... they are playing in the Capital One Bowl today against Penn State... keep your fingers crossed for a big win!