I forgot how, when you are nesting, it feels like you are getting nothing done.
And, actually, that’s only because nothing is finished. But that does not mean things are not getting done. I mean, I AM gathering the feathers, but it sure does NOT look like a nest around here.
Over here at Fieldstone Hill, we are undergoing The Massive Room Shuffling of 2013:
Our basement playroom is becoming the school room {click over for before/inspiration pics}. Our current school room is becoming a nursery. My “office” {the quiet desk I go to when I have a sitter} is moving from the school room into our Master bedroom. And 8 different locations of books, games, and LOTS of homeschool crap-ola is going to be moved into the finished basement library shelving.
It wouldn’t be a pregnancy around here without major upheaval. I am sure you can all relate…. because nesting does this to all of us, {whether we are pregnant or not…. but you must admit, pregnancy nesting is a borderline certifiable condition}.
When pregnant with my firstborn: we bought a stone farmhouse with stars in our eyes, which then proceeded to explode at every corner {read: septic fully backed up into cellar. Water stopped working. Radiators would have geysers of muddy water every time they ran. Water dripped from our light fixtures. All potties, the microwave, and the fridge needed to be immediately replaced.} Yes, this is Fieldstone Hill I am talking about.
When pregnant with my second: we underwent a massive renovation and 2 story addition. Our only family room/livingroom did not have WALLS 3 weeks before the baby was born – not to even mention the rest of what needed to be finished.
And now #3.
I guess I bring it on myself.
And so I have made a list. Of course I have. And I am sharing it with you
1. As a form of therapy, and
2. So you can get excited about the project updates to come! {maybe rub some of that excitement off on me? And my hubby?? Pretty please.}
The living room: finish a few projects we already started. Curtains – altered and hang. Stuff some pillows with foam and/or down. Hot-glue a rug together {don’t worry, I will post!}.
The dining room: buy faux leather {getting lots of samples right now} and have our dining room chairs redone. They currently have huge holes all over them from the kids accidentally busting through the old rattan weave.
The upstairs bathroom: the tub needs to be peeled and refinished. Holes everywhere.
The library/ school room: needs to be finished. Built-ins. Flooring. Lighting. Horizontal boarded wall. Painting. THEN comes Decorating. AAAAHHH! {insert subtext: this part is not under my control. Hence the maternal panic}. Next week, the built-ins will begin! I have a few lights to order and pick out… and I need to pick out carpeting.
The nursery: Needs to be emptied of all the school stuff. Minor construction plan: doors added to open closet. Moulding added to walls. Curtain rods inside window wells removed and holes repaired. Then we can paint and start filling this beauty with decor treasures. I CAN NOT WAIT to share with you what I have been planning…. and buying.
The boys’ room: needs a grand overhaul to clean out closets and make room for some of the toys that need to be out of baby-reach. On the hunt for two wicker baskets to keep at the ends of their beds {toy storage too}. And, I really do need to get my act in gear and get you some good pics of this room.
My office escape: My desk is getting a makeover with some glossy paint and glam knobs. Then I am moving it into the Master and making a mini office for my few moments of work.
Phew. I feel better now. Thanks for the therapy session.
Sometimes it helps to write it all down. And I know my husband is thankful I am not reading it off to him, yet AGAIN. Because it feels like we are getting nothing done!! {so much for therapy}
Are you reading this, honey??
Talk me down off the ledge, people.
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Oh Darlene … I can SO relate! We also have an older home that we have been working on since we moved here almost 14 years ago. We just went through the “room switching” 3 years ago when we adopted Ellie, and then again last year before Hope was born. It is SO exciting but also so mentally and physically exhausting. We did some major room switches and I am still in the process of making our living spaces work the best for our familiy. I loved your post about prime real estate, and making sure the spaces that you have to store things are being used for the most frequently used items. I have been cleaning out cabinets and shuffling things around for a year now! I feel like it is quite possibly a never-ending process, because as your kids hit different stages, their needs change. I am looking forward to hearing about your progress and cheering you on!
You are not alone my friend!!
Pregnancy brings on the nesting phenomenon, but for me, it’s also the 4 birthday parties I plan for my “babies” each year!!! Baking is my art, so I always bend toward over achieving on their cakes and way too many other baked goods…that’s step one of the nesting instinct kicking in…
But, that’s not good enough…I not only have to clean the house, but I feel the inexplicable urge to clean and re organize areas of the house NO ONE will ever see…the junk drawers get cleaned and purged; the linen closets get re folded and lined neatly, or the extra fridge in our garage gets emptied and totally cleaned out…whatever it is, it keeps me up until all hours of the night for a week…and no on ever see’s it!
Yet, you can’t stop it…so I go with it…and we all get 4 days off from homeschool 😉
Looking so forward to seeing all your projects in their completion 😉
“Yet, you can’t stop it…so I go with it”
Truer words were never spoken, my friend!!!!
I can totally relate. I seem to have the same history with pregnancies. Some of the projects are things that just must happen because a new child is coming, others are things I come up with myself becuase I think they must happen. For instance, before my second was born, I was convinced I had to finish a full sized quilt for my oldest who would now move to a big-girl bed. I had 2 weeks before the due date to start and finish it. Totally did. I might make another now for my son before this next one arrives, not to mention all the decorating plans…
Can’t wait to see the progress you make on your list! It will all get done, don’t worry!
So exciting!
“others are things I come up with myself becuase I think they must happen.”
gee. I have not been doing that AT ALL! cough. cough.
I prescribe something chocolatey, a chick-flick (I’ve now watched 4 seasons of Say Yes to the Dress- it’s pretty clean and leaves me feeling happy), and one of these: http://emilyaclark.blogspot.com/2013/05/how-to-eat-elephant.html
Hugs!!
LOVE the link from Emily the wise!! Thanks for a great prescription, Tara!
Hang in there! Shortly after my second was born we replaced the kitchen in our 1930 Dutch colonial and it turned out the subfloor needed to be replaced too. So I had a baby and a toddler and a dog with no floor in my kitchen (you could look right down through the beams into the basement)! We spent a fortune on baby gates. : ) There were other projects and repairs too, so it was chaotic, but I still have the most wonderful memories of that time, snuggling, reading, and just loving on them. As long as you have a bed you can get to for cuddles and a stoller for walks (to escape the house projects), everything will be fine if it doesn’t all get done. : )
A bed for cuddles = survival. So true!
That’s more than I accomplish in a year! No wonder your house is gorgeous and mine still looks circa 1995.
haha! ME TOO! More than I accomplish in 5 years! I can attest to that, because the last time I got anything done in our house was the last time I was pregnant! I kind of get possessed… and feel like I need to do everything I have been ignoring! But to be honest, I am thankful for it. Kind of like the way you are thankful to clean before guests come – because otherwise it would never get done!
Darlene, I read this and got tired myself. You are crazy to take it all on while pregnant but I do know what there is nothing a mom on a mission cannot accomplish!!! Just breathe and dont forget to put up your feet and take lots of breaks!!! Oh, and also PRAY!!! God will give you peace and strength to get through!!!!
Blessings,
Kayla
Thank you for that VERY important reminder. We need to pray through our home struggles and nest building!
Oh, Darlene, I can so relate! The projects are never ending with an old house. I had our first 3 children in our first house – a 700 sf 1899 Victorian with 2 9×10 bedrooms…that we were remodeling. Total DIY kitchen gut and remodel started in April before a June due date with my 3rd (WHY do we do things like that to ourselves??) I couldn’t nest! I was too busy cleaning up the plaster dust messes, cooking breakfast on the deck, and taking a 3 and 1 year old out to dinner every night (not to mention entertaining them outside the house every day for 8 weeks). And then picture me in labor, vacuuming the soooo close-to-finished kitchen floor just so her friend staying with the other kids could get to the bathroom (yes, attached to the kitchen – lovely) without having to traipse through sawdust! And my husband who had to have a caulk gun pried from his hands so he could take me to the hospital to birth the only early baby out of our 4.
In the end, the kitchen got finished a week or 2 later and we survived with a story to tell. That baby is going to be 15 this month. He’s the only permanent thing to come out of that kitchen remodel 🙂 Try to fit treasuring this pregnancy onto your list of to-dos 🙂 In the end you’ll have a beautiful baby girl and it really won’t have mattered if all the rest on your list got done. (((HUGS)))
I laughed through every ounce of this comment!! Oh, the insanity!!!! Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this!
There is something about working while under the gun with a timeline that makes us get into task mode and get so much done! I did that when I was pregnant with my son. I also do it every time we plan a party or big family gathering or have someone coming to stay with us – it’s right before that happens that we plan some major project and are hustling to get it done. Thank goodness for visitors, otherwise we might not get much done at all! 🙂
YES to the visitors thing! It needs to be babies or visitors or NOTHING gets done :))
oh, except for living!!!
Oh Darlene, I don’t know if Cindy ever told you, when she went to the hospital with Brad I was at home doing dishes in the front bathroom sink!!! We had decided to get new cabinets and appliances in the kitchen! It is a nesting thing I’m sure. We both do our best work with a deadline. Now that we are past child bearing and into child rearing, vistors push our timelines more than anything else! So, when are you planning your stay? Ha ha.
G
be right over!! you like waking up in the middle of the night with infants, right?
I would have had a whole baseball team but there were not two willing participants!!!! I’m happy with three!
Hello there! This post couldn’t be written much better!
Looking at this article reminds me of my previous roommate!
He constantly kept preaching about this. I’ll forward this information to him.
Pretty sure he’s going to have a good read. Thank you for sharing!
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