Transformation of the Basement to the Office

You've seen the nursery ... and here is where we put all that cluttery office stuff ... in our brand new basement office. Glenn worked so so hard for a solid 2 months on this. He originally thought he would get it done "oh, in about two full weekends" ... ha. It required a lot more detail work than he was anticipating. Needless to say he was glad to finish this project. The nursery was a sinch. I was so ready for him to get to the nursery so I could start decorating and putting things away and organizing everything to get ready for the arrival of Baby Boy O. Here you go -- I think it looks amazing. I'll spare you all the "in between/ work in progress" photos -- but here are the Before and After.

The handy man himself! Hard at work.

Before picture

Before Picture

Before picture

Final results

Final results

Final results

Wallah! Final results!

Photos! Nursery and the ever growing Baby O belly ;-)

I can't believe how fast time has flown by bc I didn't realize it has been over a month since I last posted. The last belly pics I posted were at 29 1/2 weeks -- well, here are some more -- you can see Baby O is having a bit of a growth spurt. And I've also posted some of our basement and nursery transformations.

Here is the old office -- which is what soon you'll see becomes Baby O's nursery after a ton of hard work from Glenn

We've taken everything out and put in to our NEW downstairs basement office - and here is the interim work in progress

Ta Da .. all decorated and ready for Baby O to come home ... his bed is made and ready ... the theme is dogs/puppies. We love it

A lot more spacious and open than the cluttery office, huh?

The following pics are a bit backwards -- most recent belly pics first -- but you can still see the growth of Baby O

Wowza!! Here I am on 4/21/09-- at 34 weeks - just about 5 1/2 weeks to go

I am really starting to feel pregnant as you can tell -- this past week I have reallllly felt pregnant -- but overall still feeling great. I have been sooo lucky. This is same 4/21 (at 34 weeks)

My how fast 3 weeks has gone -- and how I've grown so fast in that 3 weeks -- this is on 3/28/09 at 31 weeks ... Mom was here this weekend for my baby shower so Glenn and I actually got to take a photo together (our first family photo ;-)) ...

Backwards -- AGAIN

this blogging thing confuses me -- my photos were supposed to come AFTER the story but you get it backwards ... so make sure to scroll down after all the photos bc the story for all the pics is below that ;-)

PHOTOS!! Preparations, Belly and 4D Ultrasound

Here is my very favorite photo -- Baby "O" was smiling -- hopefully this means he's going to be a happy baby. We had just said his name out loud and we think he liked it ;-)

He was feeling just like his mommy was -- tired and yawning!

He kept putting his hands up by his face like this. So cute. He was a fidgety little guy. But these 4D ultrasounds were just amazing.

Here's my cute and handsome handy man ... he just built a little shelf on the window down in the soon to be basement office

He was finally letting me take pictures of him working -- I told him we needed to have proof to show Baby O how hard he had to work to get ready for him ... he was putting trim up around the window

This is when he was NOT wanting me to take pictures. He had been working in the basement ALLLL day and he came upstairs and was about to put the stroller together .. this was all I got "fired" off before I was told to "stop"

Belly pics -- Feb 22 -- 26 weeks!

Yep, there's definitely a baby in there -- 26 weeks

March 18 -- 29 1/2 weeks -- oh shut up! Glenn was feeling left out on the belly pics --I think he's LOSING weight and trimming up as I balloon. He definitely is not gaining any sympathy weight.

March 18 - 29 1/2 weeks -- Belly pic #2 -- he gets no more pics after this -- you'll see why below.

March 19 - 29 1/2 weeks -- just tonight -- this is me -- this is one of the times when I didn't realize just how big my belly is getting until I saw these pics

We were about to go out to dinner with some friends -- and Glenn took these of me -- then we took his belly pics -- can I say I didn't really feel like eating much at dinner after seeing my belly against HIS belly - ha ha... but I am honestly really enjoying pregnancy so far. Aside from starting to have some hip pain and stiffness I've been feeling great.

29 1/2 weeks ... Busy, Busy, Busy Preparing ....

Here we are now just 10 1/2 weeks away from Baby "O" joining us. We can't wait. However, we are using every last day to get things ready. Glenn has been holed up in our basement almost every night after work and on the weekends -- the job was a little more intensive than his originally "oh, I can get it done in a couple weekends" plan: Framing out the walls, getting drywall put up, cleaning up the mess that the drywall installation created (not fun), painting, putting up trimwork, building shelves, painting, covering holes, putting up doors, more painting.. he has been working really hard. Hopefully in a couple more weeks he'll have it completed -- then he just has to move upstairs to start the nursery (but all we have to do is paint the room) and I'll get to decorate.

I've met with 2 pediatricians and really like both of them -- we just have to decide which one we want to pick. We THINK we have a day care lined up -- one with an opening at end of August/early September (bc my plan is to take 12 weeks of maternity leave). We've registered. I've been "nesting" -- as Glenn is insisting that is what I'm doing. However, I am just really doing some spring cleaning -- not sure it's nesting.

We've had a pretty crazy few weeks here with being a little halted by "unexpected" expenses and your every day life challenges that happen -- for us they seem to have happened all in one week. Bud ruptured his ACL in his hind leg and it got too bad to put off his surgery -- so in that same week of his surgery, we had to replace our heating/air conditioner unit, Glenn had a small wreck and smashed in the hood/headlight of his truck so we had to have that replaced, the heater went out in our rental house and the day Glenn went to pick up his truck from the body shop his old roommate Todd called and said the freezer/refrigerator went out (also in the rental house) so we had to buy a new fridge... yes, that was all in one week. All the while Glenn is trying to get our basement office finished -- I really did feel bad for him. But we just trudged forward and luckily planned far enough for ahead for all of it -- I guess good training for all the little "unexpected" expenses that come up with a child ;-) .. so we feel we're getting pretty good practice on that part of it.

For my birthday Glenn bought me a 4D Ultrasound package which we finally did yesterday at 29 1/2 weeks along ... we were amazed at the detail in the pics. We got to see him smile (when we told the technician what his name was). We think Baby O likes his name ;-) .. he yawned.. I just sat there totally in awe looking at the screen.

And to my belly --- it is definitely growing. I don't think I look all that different until Glenn takes the picture of me and then I see the photo -- yes, I'm definitely widening out and have the ever growing belly -- ha ha. (see pics below of the belly).... Baby O is really moving around a lot and we can see my tummy do little jumps every once in a while.

I think that's about all the updates I have for now -- we'll keep you posted!

Busy Weekend! (26 weeks)

Glenn and I enjoyed a busy weekend. Well, enjoyed in the fact that we are moving along in our preparations for Baby "O". The basement (soon to be office) is coming along nicely -- all the drywall is up and we're just waiting to finish that up and Glenn will get the trimwork done and the doors put up this weekend and then he'll paint and put the carpet down and we'll be able to move out of our office upstairs and get to work on decorating the nursery.

We went Saturday to register at Target and Babys R Us -- I thought after doing some good prep work with my Mom the weekend before it wouldn't take us long at all but we left the house at 2:30 and we got home and almost 8 pm. Oh my gosh, we got there and it just all converged on us and I was trying to remember what we had (socks, onesies in a couple different sizes, side snap shirts, booties, bottles, pacifiers... figuring out which diapers we wanted) ... soooo, needless to say it took us a little while. We went to Target first and we were both exhausted by the time we left there and still had to face Babys R US... we got in to the truck and both just sat there with our heads back and eyes closed before he even started the truck. I was never so tired in all of my life by the time we got home. Sunday morning I woke up and cooked us a nice breakfast and sat on the couch and went through the checklist and the registries to make sure we had the things we needed and I saw some things on there that I certainly don't remember registering for (Glenn was in charge of the scanner). There were "My Daddy Rocks" bibs, "I Love My Daddy" bibs, a Univ of Tennessee baby cap and an 18 month Tennessee tshirt (he wasn't paying attn that he had to look at the sizes) and Boudreux Butt wash. (he thought that was just funny to see on the registry). Anyway, no worries the butt wash will come off the registry and the 18 month tshirt ;-). I had to look through it bc towards the end we were both so exhausted I felt like we were just scanning random things and not really thinking it out. Come to find out I think we got what we were needing. Ha.

Well, we are getting really excited. Glenn is able to really feel Baby "O" kicking around now. And of course, I can too. He's a pretty active little guy. I got back to the doctor on Wednesday 25th where they'll take all of the bloodwork to test for gestational diabetes, etc. We scheduled a 4D Ultrasound for March 17 too.

I guess that is about all we have to report for now -- I have a 26 week belly photo that Glenn took last night. I'll get it posted tonight.

Love,
Dixie, Glenn and Baby "O"

Belly Photos - Finally!

Oct. 5, 2008 - 6 weeks (we've known only for one week that we're expecting!)

November 4, 2008 -- 10 weeks (still not really showing and still able to wear my clothes comfortably)

December 16, 2008 - 16 weeks -- 4 months! -- still wearing my clothes but getting a little snug ;-) using the ole rubber band trick and/or wearing Glenn's jeans.

Dec 16, 2008 - 16 weeks -- 4 months and starting to get a little pooch ...

Dec 29, 2008 - 18 weeks -- One more week until we find out if Baby O is a girl or a boy ... last minute opp to take a photo (hence I made sure my head was cut off - ha)

Dec 29, 2008 -- 18 weeks (ok, darn, now you see it was a last minute opp - right before going to bed!)

January 24, 2009 - 22 weeks -- I am definitely not wearing my own jeans anymore. Still wearing my own shirts, etc. But you can see a much rounder belly!

January 24, 2009 -- 22 weeks (pic #2) -- starting to tell I'm a little preggers -- but some ppl not quite sure if it's pregnancy or just that my rear is really growing (which it is! a little faster than my belly... but it's been fun seeing the confusion on some ppl's face if they haven't seen me in several months).. lol

I'll post more later ... as we're now at 22 weeks but Glenn has to take some more pics.

Love,

Dixie, Glenn and Baby "O"