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...