Movin' on Out

After all that effort, we have now rented a place down South and will be renting out our beautiful baby. We are petrified to do so, but it's what we've decided to do. I am also exactly 7 months pregnant again! That seems to be the marker for when I become inspired to pack up the whole house and move. Our departure is very bittersweet. Photos of the final house sans boxes to come, I promise!

Tired of Looking at Doorknobs?

Here is little Cupcake. She is the reason why Little Lantern has been dark for almost 2 months now. This little angel has been keeping us very busy and this lady has found it hard to find a moment to blog when she could staring at those delicious cheeks. She turned eight weeks today, so I decided that enough was enough in my neglect of poor Little Lantern.






Luckily, the house project has continued -- albeit at a much slower pace. You will be glad to know that while I was in the hospital bed in labor, I made J call the flooring guy to confirm that he was in fact coming the next day to stain the floors. I was not about to allow this project to derail simply because we were in the process of experiencing the miracle of life! We needed a home for our little miracle. J didn't take me seriously the first two times that I asked him. He must have thought that I was delirious.
Luckily, the flooring guys showed and did two coats of that glorious ebony. We were a little nervous, but are really happy about how the dark color turned out. Here's a tiny glimpse of what it looks like.


After the floors were done, it was time to tackle the moldings. The lady was in dire need of some dressing up. We ended up going hog wild in the end doing high baseboards which was comprised of two separate pieces, picture frame moldings, door casings with plaster bits in the corners, plaster ceiling medallions, and mammoth crown moldings. Our incredible friend, Pat, was able to do all the carpentry for us. He saved our sorry butts yet again not only because it's done, but because it's done properly. It's really hard to tell from the pics, but here's a glimpse of what it looks like. The photo of the moldings barely does it justice. The floors were immediately covered to protect them from any work that was being done, so it looks kind of odd with the red paper.

Lucy Patiently Awaits Baby Sister

The Threesome Awaits Its Fourth

Baby Mama?

I swung by our local coffee shop and home-away-from-home today, Progressive Grounds. It was about 75 degrees and this pregnant lady wanted a milkshake. Luckily, they have the world's most delicious ice cream, Mitchell's.

The very nice guy who works weekends greeted me with a big smile. Everyone smiles and/or chuckles at me now as I walk/waddle by now as I am only one day away from my due date. As he was scooping out the thin mint chip, he said, "Is that your friend's baby?"

"What?" I replied, not understanding what he was asking.

"Is that your friend's baby?" He asked again.

There was no baby in a stroller nearby or babe in my arms for him to be asking about, so I presumed that he was asking about the baby in my belly.

"No...this is my baby."

"But didn't you just have one?"

"No. This is the same one."

"It's not your friend's baby? You don't already have a baby?"

"No, it's not my friend's baby. It's my baby."

"Oh" he said looking rather confused. "I have four."

So, I left with my milkshake completely unsure of what the man had been really asking me. I concluded that he had somehow determined that I was a surrogate who was busy getting pregnant all the time for her friends. Any other suggestions?

Huis Clos

I found this crazy amazing deal on a solid mahogany door. It's even in stock. Shocking. I tried to find an old door from salvage yards that we could refurbish, but couldn't find anything nice enough that seemed worth the effort.

Cupcake is showing only minor signs of heading towards the exit. She is apparently very content in there. Who can blame her? I say she's already showing signs of great intelligence in her recognition of how good she's got it in there. It looks like we will easily pass my due date this Sunday. For us, it just means more time to get things done. This is excellent, however, my desire and ability to run around during the day are becoming a little more challenged. Alas, the Cupcake shall work on her own frosting and sprinkles while we work on our own finishing touches for the house.

Status Report:
- Floor tiling completely done
- Hardwood floors installed, 1/2 of sanding finished
- Staining of floors will happen early next week if we can decide on the color
- Kitchen cabinets will be ready to go in next week
- Marble slabs have been selected. I finally found the right kind of Carrera at the right price in the middle of no where in a Chinese warehouse in Hayward.
- After that, we just need to hang the doors and do all the trim work (which is no small task for this Victorian lady)

Obnoxious Commentary - Don't apply the literary implications of Huis Clos to Miss Cupcake. I'm going for a more literal angle. Because I think she would perceive her current situation as rather Heavenly given her reluctance to leave rather than Hell-like. At least, I hope so. ;)

Nicaragua?

Josh and I are both very excited about having a baby girl. She's just 16 days away! The thing that scares us both to death, however, is the prospect of dealing with the pre-teen into teen years. We have both been coming to terms with this though as everyone has reminded us of all the wonderful things about having a girl.

Yesterday, I had an encounter my incredible grouch of a neighbor. We've both been saying "hello" to her almost every morning for the last 2 years and she will never even smile or nod her head in return. She almost grimaces. Anyways, yesterday she seemed to suddenly realize that I was pregnant. At almost 38 weeks, it would be rather ridiculous not to be confident in this assumption. She smiled at me and asked me about my pregnancy and whether or not it was a boy or a girl. When I told her it was a girl, she told me that she had a daughter. Yes, I realize that. She lives next door with you and I see her every morning when you two walk by. She immediately launched into how I should start worrying now about junior high and how she was considering sending her daughter to live in Nicaragua with her husband because it would be so much better on all levels -- but particularly for a pre-teen/teenage girl. So much for putting our fears to rest.

Oh, Glorious Tubbing!

I have been waiting my whole life to own a tub like this and we are finally about to order it. I can hardly wait. And the amazing thing is that we will hopefully be able to get it installed before cupcake arrives. So, the rest of the house will be unfinished, but I will have my tub which will be a great place to hang while we are waiting to go to the hospital rather than our shower downstairs. Is that too much information? She's a beauty -- 68" long and holds an alarmingly undrought-friendly amount of water. I can't wait!

Overdrive

There are no pickups at the house today. I don't like that. I've concocted a new plan of attack that will have everything finished by August 14th. That gives us the 15th to move the bed and crib upstairs. And cupcake will arrive on the 16th. Let's hope she gives us an extra week. That would be nice. 

Current update:

Studio - 

- The kitchen counters and backsplash are going in tomorrow.

- The finishing for the electrical work downstairs is done. That means the trim on the cans, the light switches, light fixtures, under counter lights etc. Much nicer. 

- Toilet has been installed. Hoorah! Shower head and trim installed.

- The plumber will come later in the week to finish the kitchen area and we will install all the appliances.

- The closet doors and bathroom door have been installed.

- The only thing we're really holding our breath on is getting this stupid beam signed off by the city. As soon as that's finished, we can seal up the bedroom and then finish the trim work back there and then paint all the trim.

Either way, we are moving back into the studio this weekend. 

Upstairs-

- The framing is done enough to get it inspected. 

- Half of the new windows are in. Gorgeous. 

- The rough plumbing upstairs is done.

- In order to get the framing inspection done we need to get a roofer out to finish some stuff up above that f'd up area in the kitchen. We can no longer see into our grumpy neighbor's house. Thank God. 

If all goes as planned, electrical will start next week. Please let it start next week. Getting sheetrocking/taping estimates right now. I am ready to rock. 

Today, I am driving out to Hayward to meet with our magical appliance guy today. He has a 3.5 year old Wolf for me with minor damage at an amazing price. Fingers are crossed that she's operational. I am optimistic. 

Now that the framing is completely done, I can order the cabinets for the upstairs kitchen and the tile for the two bathrooms since that will take about 4-6 weeks. Plan to wrap that up in the next day or two. Vavoooooom!

A San Francisco Moment

I went to Progressive Grounds yesterday which is the coffee shop around the corner from our house. It is truly our second home. On average, I go there 2-3 times a day. I mosied over to the couch in the corner with my bagel and carrot juice (thanks for the reminder, Aunt Liz!) and received a big smile from the other woman on the couch as I started to settle in. 

"I'm a mom too. I feel so incognito today since my son isn't with me." Couch Lady

"Ah, well, I'm not officially a mom yet." Me

"It's a special club that you're a part of now. You'll see." Couch Lady

"Yeah, that's what everyone told me. The mother's community is a little different than what I was expecting. The people that have been consistently reaching out to me around here are all the teenage girls. They are very sweet and always stop me and ask how far along I am." Me

"Huh. Has your midwife introduced you to the other women in your birth month yet?" Couch Lady

"Uh, no. I'm not really part of any groups. Actually, we don't have a midwife. In fact, we don't have a doula either. Very un-San Francisco of us, I know." Me

"Oh. Where are you giving birth?" Couch Lady

"CPMC. Probably the most unfriendly doula hospital in the city, but I really like them." Me

"Oh, that's nice. You should really check out the mother's groups. My mother's group is meeting next week with our midwife in consideration of having our second child." Couch Lady

"What does that mean, 'in consideration'?" Me

"I'm not sure exactly, but we just like spending time with our midwife." Couch Lady

Pregnant Lady with Power Tools - 25 weeks