Kitchen remodel - complete

It took a bit over a month, but it's finally done. Please see after pictures. Cabinets are knotty alder, floors were just refinished and stained, countertops are Caesarstone, and the backsplash is glass and travertine tiles. I kinda love it. The only thing that I want to do to finish it off are some colorful pillows for the benches. Yaay!!!

A tailgating virgin no longer

I've been to a few football games in my time, usually at the beginning of the season in sweltering Arizona heat. Sounds fun right? When I'd walk to games with my parents, I would always kind of eye the tailgaters with a little bit of envy. It seemed like a good time to hang out, grill, much more fun than the game itself. But I somehow made it through 4 years (alright 4 1/2 shhh) of college without tailgating. I was pushed into a group of people by a drunk friend picking a fight with a bunch of Marines, but no tailgate parties.

Today was my first. It was pretty fun, although the 20-30 mph winds and clingy little girl hanging on my inseam weren't pleasant. The game was great, the stadium walls blocked the gusty winds and just allowed a breeze to come through.  A bag of popcorn brought Maggie and another little girl together and I got to sit and take it all in. Air Force football is different for sure, I missed the Arizona band and the people didn't seem nearly drunk enough. Nobody screamed You Suck at my little girl (that happened to my niece and I at a U of A vs. ASU game). It was... nice. Next week is TCU, which should ramp things up a notch in the drunk and disorderly category.

And next time I know not to bring muffins to a tailgate party. But I mean, seriously, who tailgates and eats brats at 10 AM? Oh crap, that WAS me.

Nothing to do, nowhere to go

I am loving this weekend. Since we've moved to Colorado, we've either been moving in, entertaining (I use that word loosely) guests, or going somewhere. And finally we have a weekend with nothing to do. Actually I'm lying. We did go to the Nature and Science Museum in Denver, but it was just the three of us and it was free. So it didn't really feel like a chore, a mandatory exploration, just something to do on a lazy weekend. I love these weekends, they don't happen very often. I'm even contemplating doing a Halloween craft, picking my laziness up and going to Joann this afternoon. Just the fact that I have time to peruse Halloween crafts is my kind of awesome. I don't know though, a nap or reading a book sounds kind of right too.

It looks like a kitchen again!

Progress, finally...I was starting to feel like I would never have a kitchen back. Cabinets were installed today, there's still some additional things that need to be done, including putting in the kitchen table, which will be built into the nook in the back in the first picture below. The electrician is coming on Monday to hook up lights, the fridge, and the oven. So even though I thought I'd get to make cookies this weekend, I'll have to wait. But it's nice to have a light at the end of the tunnel. Now it's time to think about what to purge, maybe the half-million plastic cold cuts tubs we have, although Maggie and I made a sweet rocket ship out of them this afternoon.

Here it is: Progress

Floors, floors, floors

The floors are for the most part done now. Good thing because the stench was killing me. It was so bad I ended up taking Mags and sleeping in the basement. Yuck. Ben was not affected, but the smell was so bad it gave me a headache. Not good. Anywho, they're done now and look pretty good I think. The effect was like a face lift for the kitchen. It looks 10 years younger now. The pics don't really do the after justice, but they look a lot better in real life. Before they were light pine and after they are a walnut color.

For your viewing pleasure, the before, during, and after:

Before:

During:

After:

Travels in Colorado

You know when fans chant OVER-RATED at college basketball games, when a top-rated team is getting crushed by an underdog? (Think last year's Duke v. Arizona tourney game.) That's what kept running through my mind when we went to Vail this past weekend. Beautiful? You bet. I'm sure there's good skiing too. And if getting dressed in your finest workout gear and having your hair in a full blowout is your thing, you'd love it. Me, not so much. I don't think I've ever been under and over dressed at the same time. It's an interesting feeling. 

They did have a gondola that went up to the top of the mountain, we rode it 3 times because Maggie thought it was a rollercoaster. We didn't have to drive anywhere, also a plus. And lucky for us it was hot, because I forgot regular running shoes for me and a jacket for Mags. I'm not sure how I forgot that, but luckily we didn't even need it. It just wasn't a good fit, and I don't know how else to explain it. 

We did drive back through Breckenridge, which was WAY more our style. We will be back to see you soon Breck. 

Please enjoy the eye candy of both Vail and Breckenridge:

Vail

Breckenridge

Demolition done

Ben and friends were kind enough to demo the kitchen, saving us over a thousand dollars. Love that we repurposed almost everything too. Here are some pics of the destruction:

Electrician came out after the demo last week and left us without power to our little garage, and the contractor came in and replaced some 2 x 4s and whatever else it is that they do. This week the electrician is back to finish up, and we're supposed to have the floors refinished. Early next week we should have base cabinets and hopefully upper cabinets as well.

Kitchen remodel - the beginning

When we bought this house, it wasn't because of the kitchen. I didn't particularly like it, but it was ok. After we got moved in, I realized something. The kitchen was not made to handle little kids. The island is small and little hands reach over the top and touch hot burners. It's hard to play defense on all four sides while still trying to cook. Plus, it's just in the way and not functional, no prep space, etc. I'm also not a fan of using floor tiles as countertop material, especially when installed with no longer light-colored grout. It just always looks dirty to me. Wah wah wah, right? Yes, it's true. Nothing, with the exception of a couple of cabinets, is falling apart. I just don't like it. So, we're remodeling. Enough justification, just down to business. Here is our kitchen before. Ben and friends are going to demo today. One friend is taking most of the cabinets for a new basement, and Habitat for Humanity is taking the oven and microwave combo. Dishwasher and fridge stay with us, so the only appliance we're throwing away is the cooktop, which doesn't work very well anyway.

So here it is....The before pictures:

This is the view from the entry way of the kitchen. You can see the island, aka death trap, in the middle, just being in the way.

This is the view from the weird office space in the back of the kitchen. When all done, this will be bench seating and table. The round table goes to the basement and the light fixture gets sold at the community garage sale.

That went well

Ah, the dentist. I actually used to love the dentist. I looked forward to it, mostly because I didn't really have any trouble with my teeth. I got a sticker and a toy, along with a new toothbrush.

Maggie's experience wasn't quite so golden. She fell and hit her tooth on the ground at daycare and her tooth turned gray. Awesome. I should be glad it didn't fall out. Scratch that, I am glad it didn't fall out, but it's also kind of funny looking. Maybe I could turn my frown upside-down and turn it into a Halloween costume idea? Hmm...probably looking at a gray toothed princess this year.

As for the actual dental appointment itself, it's always nice to hear about how wrong you are. A glorious moment in which you find out "they" changed all the rules when you weren't paying attention. What do you mean I was supposed to take her to the dentist after she got her first tooth? Sorry what? No goldfish crackers? Leading cause of cavities huh? Pinning her to the ground and shoving a toothbrush in her mouth won't traumatize her? I guess you really do learn something new every day. Funny enough, if it wasn't for Maggie falling and hitting her face, I wouldn't have taken her until she was three.

Oh yeah, and she didn't have any cavities either. But that's really not the point is it?

Pikes Peak, Colorado

Now that we're settled in and don't have anyone visiting, we decided to finally give Pikes Peak a go. It's beautiful and I'd rather show pictures than write about it. It's beautiful and supposedly the inspiration for America the Beautiful, that should tell anyone all they need to know.

 Driving up is fairly intense, I think next time I'm going to take the cog railway. Maybe when I'm in better shape, I'll hike up. Ah, a girl can dream.

Long time no write

I started thinking about how I used to post on my pregnancy and about how I haven't posted since then. Not like I haven't had things going on, but my kid does some cute stuff and I should probably try to capture some of it.

Maggie is 20 1/2 months old now. She's adorable and charismatic, and I love her to pieces. Anyone who reads this is going to be familiar with her, but I wouldn't mind doing a play-by-play of the all of the months of her life so far, mostly so I have a record for myself.

So, until I'm caught up, I'll choose a picture from each month and try to remember what happened, especially if there were any memorable milestones.

I made it...Third Trimester, it's official

DISCLAIMER: This blog is meant to be sarcastic and not angry. I feel like I should mention that so no one thinks I'm being pissy.

Today marks the official beginning to the end of pregnancy for me. I reached the third trimester today, at least according to some of the baby book experts. According to my calculations, 40 weeks divided by 3 is approximately 13 apiece, with one extra week. Therefore, I'm doing it. I am making the leap. Besides, it's harder to sleep, my ankles get puffy by midday, and it's hard to tie my shoes. Isn't that really what the third trimester is all about? Other symptoms include extreme absent mindedness, baby kicks to organs I've never felt before, and hip pains that wake me up in the dead of night. The peeing hasn't ever stopped, at least 2 trips in the nighttime.

I feel a little slighted with this pregnancy. I mean, no huge boobs, no beautiful glowy skin or nails, I mean what's up with that? Although, no morning sickness, no puffy face or skin conditions. I think I'm the annoying preggo who sports a basketball under her shirt. The nurse yesterday told me that I was too cute. She did that after she weighed me, so that's probably not terrible. So, I'll take the small boobs, after all, at least I don't have to wear two sports bras (sorry to the person who told me she did, I feel for you).

And, miraculously, no belly touchers yet. I have yet to smack some little old lady because she felt my belly.

Have I mentioned yet that I'm absent minded? It sort of relates to my rambling plot.

Moving in

So I think we're as moved in as we can be. We moved in to a bigger house than we're used to so there's lots of empty space at the moment. Not much else to report other than I updated my belly shot today so you can scroll down to that post to check it out. You could say that I've definitely popped.

Moving update--in progress

I don't really have a way to update pictures at this point but if anyone wants an update on the move progress, here it is. We moved out of the house on Wednesday July 23. We sold the house officially on the 25th of July. Hung out on base, which is always entertaining, over the weekend. Tuesday July 29 we let a fat redneck named Chad put our car on a truck to ship to Las Vegas. One of the first things he said was, if I drive through a hailstorm and the car gets beat up, it's not my fault. Always nice to hear.

Ben had his last flight yesterday with his squadron. I've never been to this deal before but they hose him down while he's getting off the plane. I've never seen Ben run that fast, it was highly entertaining. If the battery hadn't died, that video would be up on YouTube.

As for me, I am attempting to work the rest of the week until Thursday afternoon, when we leave for Las Vegas. Trying to do anything unrelated to the military on a military installation is a lesson in futility. The wireless internet went out shortly after we arrived on base, due to "large downloads" from some unknown party. Can anyone say internet porn?? Then I went to the library, which does have a fast connection, but the added pitfall of lots of kids. I have listened to several meltdowns by several kids. When you tell people that you work remotely, they think Mary Kay. I heart the AF.

Also, is it bad when your boss tells you that you sound tired on a conference call?? I've heard that I need a nap several times this week. I miss being able to be at work where people think it's funny when I'm bitchy. So it goes. I'll update if anything else truly interesting happens along the way.

That's it for me, Bitchy McBitcherson. More info to come...

House hunting in the Vegas

First day highlights: We got to see how the other have live. We saw the Summerlin area on the first day. Summerlin has all of the good stuff that you could hope for, shopping, restaurants, parks, all that yuppie goodness. Except that it's truly impossible to buy a house there unless you have serious money. I know what people say about the market, but take out short sales and other sketchy real estate practices, and you're left with...not much. We saw a good house in a very good location, but it backed to a busy street. We went into a house that smelled very strongly like cat pee, a spa that had green slime growing in it, and a pool with all of the doors punched in with an air hockey table as an added bonus. All in all, we were not very optimistic about finding anything where we wouldn't have to spend $20K right off the bat to make it liveable.

Second day: Centennial Hills and North Las Vegas. Right now this area borders on the middle of nowhere but it is much closer to the base for Ben and has the stuff I'd need on a daily basis so as to not go crazy. We saw quite a few good houses, one ridiculous house that apparently had already sold when we looked at it, and our backup house in Club Aliante. We also saw one house that I fell in love with because of the backyard pool and upgraded inside. This was the house I was going to fight for...except as we were leaving Ben looked up and said, Did you see those high tension power lines? Oh crap. It's never a good sign when the realtor says, You know, there's no solid data either way that power lines like that cause cancer. I think I might have to jump off of a bridge if I gave poor lil' Tupac cancer before she was out of the womb.

Little did we know that after the house hunt was over that the fun would begin. Later that afternoon on the Fourth of July, we found out that a pretty decent house had just come up for sale in Club Aliante, our preferred neighborhood in the area. So we got excited. Then, at 7:45 in the morning of the 5th, we found out that the house we originally put in an offer on had popped back up. This one is still a short sale, which equals sketchy, but the people who outbid us originally backed out literally a day before they were supposed to close. Which means that we, the lowly backup offer, now have a shot. This house is nice, upgraded stuff, good insulation, and the small backyard (They are all small fyi) overlooks the golf course. The golf course gives way to views of the mountains, so that's a plus.

So this should be the week we find out if we have a house somewhere in Las Vegas. So when you visit and people tell you they're giving away houses in Las Vegas there are so many, please, for me, punch them in the face. 90% of houses are short sales. Less than 10% of short sales work out FYI.

If you'd like to see pictures of this adventure, please visit our Flickr site at
http://flickr.com/photos/63633934@N00/sets/72157606009876156/

It's a ....(spoiler alert)

So we are having a baby girl. No surprise to people who have heard the rumors about pilots making girls left and right. I don't know what the radar does to them. We are very happy and included the ultrasound pictures below. We are well aware that they are hard to read and the one with the baby facing front looks like we have created some kind of demon spawn. But, what do you want? She's not done yet.

Click on the picture to see a bigger version. It's the only way you'll see anything good.

This is the money shot, and oh yes, that's her mooning us. Also, a little creepy that we have a picture of an arrow pointing at our baby's whoo hoo (I'm practicing to make up words for giggly body parts).



This is the demon-like picture. If you look really closely, in one of them you can see a creepy ghostly grin. And I also know I shouldn't talk about my baby that way.

News soon to come

I haven't yet been able to tell everyone that I wanted to tell in my immediate family so the big news will have to wait. What is this big news? Ben and I changed our minds about finding out the sex of the baby. We decided this morning, the day of the big ultrasound, that we wanted to know after all. This is mostly just a teaser post and soon you'll know what we're expecting.

But I will say that the ultrasound was really fun, and the next post will have a couple of pics, although the baby looks demonic in a one of them. You'll see when you see the pictures. We also got a DVD which I have not seen yet, and will try to post a part of on the blog. In case you're curious, if you're not, you aren't forced to look at it. Chances are, I wouldn't really want to see your baby ultrasound video either, so don't feel bad.

Pregnant belly shots-view at your own risk

So I am going to try and start documenting the belly progress. I started at 15 weeks, mostly because I never thought about taking a "Before" shot and I don't appear to have any to show. So hopefully I will remember to document the progress of Baby Heslin.

15 Weeks


17 Weeks



19 almost 20 weeks



26 1/2 weeks

Trip to Sunnyvale CA

I should start by saying that I like my job. We get to do some cool stuff and the work isn't terrible either. I flew out to Sunnyvale the first week of June to meet my new group, who seem to be pretty great. The last day I was there we did an off-site team building thing. I didn't have to tie rope or build a bridge, but we did go to a place called the Mystery Spot.



Something about weird gravitational forces that cause people and buildings to lean towards the center of this spot. I dunno if it's fake or not but it did make me dizzy and sort of sick to my stomach. After that we went to a restaurant on the beach in Santa Cruz. That was probably the highlight of my trip.

Baby pictures

I've been a bit neglectful on the baby front, mostly because there's not much to report. I had a doctor's appointment yesterday where I "had" to have a sonogram because my uterus is tipped so far that they couldn't find a heartbeat using a handheld doppler. I was fine with that since it meant I got another picture. No one said anything about weight so I am assuming I'm doing ok with it. I'm allowed to play volleyball for the time being.

I don't know if all baby docs are like this guy, but he didn't even sit down, just walked around the ultrasound room and didn't say much. I got the feeling I was making him late for a golf game or something. A little annoying though, I was in a compromising position in the ultrasound room, you know, the kind with the sheet over my "lady bits", and he proceeded to walk right over and stand in front of me. What the eff doc!!! It reminded me of that episode of Friends, as all things seem to do, when Rachel kept telling Ross to stay at her head and not travel downward.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures, I posted both of the ones that I have.

The first one is the baby a month ago, at around 10 weeks.



This one is from yesterday, almost 14 weeks.