She's Crafty

I have been feeling less than crafty lately so this here has been my motto to fill the void...



I do have so many craft and sewing projects on my 'to do' list but those things have been put way down to the bottom of my list. I would love to be able to do them before Maggie arrives or before we move but it's just impossible. My days have been filled with packing and doing whatever I can possibly do to help make the new house livable. And it's getting there. The tile in the master bathroom shower has been started and we absolutely LOVE it! It is turning out so beautiful I can hardly stand it. Josh is at the house right now working away at staining the floors so for the next four days I have been banned from the house due to the fumes. I am so anxious to see it however. I may just have to sneak over there during the day sometime and peak in the windows. Choosing our stain color was so incredibly hard. I had no idea it would turn out to be such a big ordeal. We decided to go with a floor finishing product called waterlox which we add wood stain to the first coat of waterlox that's applied. Getting the right ratio was more than difficult. We really had our hearts set on a medium walnut color and when we added the walnut stain to the waterlox product it diluted it so much and made it a very, very light brown color. We could only go up to a 4:1 ratio with it so even at the maximum amount of stain added it was way too light. So Benjamin Moore who we purchased all the other paint for the house from came to the rescue. They mixed us up a special concoction to hopefully give us the desired look we are hoping for. Josh said after they started staining the floors they thought it may be a bit too dark so they changed the ratio a bit. It's killing me not to know what it looks like. I've just decided that it will be beautiful no matter how light or dark the shade is and I am just more than ready for them to be done so we can move on. Literally.
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We have slowly begun to move boxes over to the new house. We decided to leave Gracie's room unfinished for now since we are on a major time crunch and we really need that room for storage until we get everything unpacked and settled. Then we will do her wood floors and complete her bathroom. So her room has become our storage unit. For now she can sleep on Colton's bottom bunk or even sleep in Maggie's room since she won't be using it for quite some time.
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On another note, the big birth kit arrived today. Just another sign that Maggie's birth is impending. The kids and I had a little birth education as they were asking what each and every item is used for. We have asked Gracie if she'd like the honors of cutting her little sisters cord and she lit right up but first wanted to make sure it wouldn't hurt her even just a bit. Colton cut his brothers cord and I feel that this made him at his young age feel really special and connected to his brothers birth. The kids have all decided that they want to be present for the birth as they were for Fletcher's so hopefully I'll be able to maintain my peace and calmness like I have in the past to keep it an environment that won't be too overwhelming for them. I think the distractions of everything else going on has kept me from getting nervous about the pain that is ready to hit me at any time now. But I'm also just so excited to meet this little girl that I keep saying to myself "Bring it on! Just please let us move first if that's not too much to ask."
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My midwife Lori came over last night to the new house to make sure she knew how to get there and we talked a little bit about our desired birth plan. I just love the fact that we make the calls and it is completely up to us how we desire our birth to be. Next week she will be sending me home with a birth pool just in case the bathroom I plan on being done for the birth (with the big tub) is not completed. I'm hoping that doesn't happen but it feels so good knowing we have a back up plan and that most likely my desired water birth will happen regardless. To me, lying down in bed while giving birth is the most excruciating feeling ever and although I know there are other positions to give birth in, I just love that the calmness that the water brings not to mention the ease of cleanup. It makes birth nearly mess free. Okay, enough of that! I know the thought of all that is not for the weak of heart.
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I can't wait to sneak over to the house and take a few updated pictures of the progress to post. It still is going to be way more uncompleted than we would like but hey, we aren't complaining that we sold our house. We are so super grateful! Our church gets together for a prayer meeting Sunday nights and the Sunday before we received our offer they specifically prayed that we would sell our house to ease some financial strains and not to mention the major strain of the house showings that I was feeling. Another testimony to us that God is SO good!

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