How is it already the end of February? I had all these grand plans to get a blog post up last week and then with another one today, but now that Chase is crawling and hates being confined to his exersaucer or my lap, the only time I have to write is during his morning nap. And really, I'd much rather take that 45-60 minutes to catch up on my sleep, as well. (In defense of my apparent laziness: Chase is still waking up 1-2 times/night, and my perpetual exhaustion isn't good for anyone in this household.) So we'll make the most out of this single post.

1) First and most important (drum roll puh-lease): We have finally finished the living room wall! F-i-n-a-l-l-y.

You may recall that it all began like this:

Not only was the paint ugly (Seriously, pink and yellow? Did an 8-year-old girl pick the colors?), it was bubbling out from the wall, so we started to peel it:

But that task was more than my fingernails could handle, so mom and dad were kind enough to strip it for us while we were in Florida (no, not at Christmas) ... last summer. When we got home, I primed half of it. So it looked like this for a while. A loooong while:

Eventually I mustered up the energy to prime (because, dear previous owners, that is what you need to do to wood paneling so that the latex doesn't peel straight off. Idiots.):

Two coats of primer and two more coats of paint later, and we've got:

Yay! We even installed the coat rack! So we don't have to keep our jackets in the same closet as the litter box!!

2) Erik installed the sink/cabinet in the upstairs bathroom! So now we're down to just one huge, unopened box in the office/guest room: the dishwasher. Because every good office needs clean dishes. Anyways, let's focus on the positive: the bathroom looks about 10 times better without the old pedestal sink. Here's before, from when we first moved in:

During the reno, we unearthed some 50s-chic turquoise tiles (just in case you weren't disgusted enough by the peach paint):

And after (Please ignore the mess reflected in the mirror. That's obviously some sort of parallel universe, not my pristine bathroom.):

3) We did a little baby-proofing! First, I installed a baby gate at the top of the stairs (no pic because it's super-boring). Second, I (again, finally) organized the bookshelves in our living room and made the kid-level shelves kid-friendly. I'm very happy with the results, and with the organization - alphabetical by subject, natch:

There's a lot more to share -mostly back-log projects that I never posted because, well, we'd get about 85% done and then decide that was good enough- but Chase is up, so they'll have to wait.

I know what you're thinking: "Another blog post, so soon?! Amy, surely nothing could have happened in the past six months." Believe it or not, nothing really has. Housework has taken a back seat to parenthood, and parenthood has effectively taken up every spare second of our lives. Ugh, why didn't anyone tell us that having a kid would be such hard work? But seriously, Chase is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to us, even though (or perhaps because) raising him keeps us from thinking about/acting on all of the home improvement projects that loom ahead.

Unfortunately, the longer we wait to finish up our renovations, the less time we'll have to enjoy them. To that end, one of my 2011 resolutions was to complete at least one house project each month. This ties in nicely with my goal to post here at least once per month as well. Finally, blogging goes well with my third big change: drinking more tea. So here I am, on January 31 (I'm nothing if not a procrastinator), sitting in front of the computer with a cup of Earl Grey to my right and a can of paint to my left. (The brushes are where they've been since I primed the walls two months ago: soaking in the guest tub.)

Since Chase will only be napping for another hour or so and I won't likely be able to finish painting and update this post with house-related pictures by then, here's a quick pictorial play-by-play of what we've been up to since last August. Enjoy!

eating...

sleeping...

(you were expecting a pooping picture, weren't you?!)

torturing our son with the bear costume...

sightseeing...

and (this one applies to Chase only:) just generally being cute.

introducing...

Chase Harrison Goddard!

8 lbs, 2 oz - 21.5 in

Though most everyone has already met him (or at least seen pictures) here's the announcement and a story, for posterity's sake:

My final appointment with the OB was scheduled for 9:30 AM on Friday, June 11 - one day before my due date, one week after I thought I'd give birth, and four days before my doctor-mandated induction date. I decided to be considerate and take a shower before my appointment - during the shower, I missed a call from the doctor's office stating that they'd have to reschedule my appointment. No reason was given, nor did they seem to think that I was coming in for anything more important than a yearly pap. I immediately called them back to tell them that rescheduling wasn't quite an option at this point, but instead got placed on hold for almost 20 minutes. At minute 13, I decided simply to drive to the office and talk to them myself. At minute 19, two blocks away from the office, they finally found the time to take my call and I explained my situation. Apparently, the doctor was dealing with some emergency at the hospital, but his PA had rights to see patients - unfortunately, she was changing a flat tire in Annapolis and the earliest they could get me in was 1:30PM. I went home to work and nap until my appointment time.

I got to the office at 1:15 and almost fainted - every single chair in the waiting room was taken, it was between 75 and 80 degrees with no air circulation, and there were kids everywhere. (I had somehow missed the memo that it was "Bring Your Family to the Gyno" day.) After about five minutes, a significant other finally realized that maybe he should let the 10-months-pregnant lady take his seat, so I sat. And sat. And sat.

At 2:00, I told the receptionist that I was leaving and needed instructions about when to arrive at the hospital for the induction the following week. She advised me against leaving, but said she'd get the info.

At 2:15, I demanded the info and eventually tried to leave without it. The receptionist stalled and assured me that I'd be the next patient seen.

At 2:30, they finally called me back to have my vitals taken. My blood pressure was 140/100 and, according to their records, up 4 lbs since my previous appointment (at a different office on a much more forgiving scale). The nurse got me settled in a room, instructed me to relax, and told me that the PA would be in to see me in just a moment.

At 2:50, the PA finally sauntered in. Sauntered. I was not relaxed. I was ready to kill someone. My blood pressure had not dropped. She sent me to the hospital. I don't think I actually cursed at her, but I'm sure my glare got the job done nicely.

Since it was a Friday evening and I didn't want to exacerbate my stress by getting caught in traffic, I called Erik just before his quitting time and said, quite angrily, "Apparently you need to come take me to the hospital."

In retrospect, I can totally understand why he flipped out and literally RAN out of the classroom, stopping only to holler at a fellow teacher that she'd need to cover his kids for the rest of the day. (Super-cute side note: His class gave him a standing ovation as he left. How straight out of the movies is that?) He was, therefore, quite understandably surprised/perplexed/shocked to find me at home, sitting on the couch, fuming and telling him to not even bother packing the baby bag - they just needed to admit me to check my vitals; we'd be home in time for dinner.

Or not.

By the time I was admitted, my BP had dropped to a more reasonable 120/80 and I asked to be released. Unfortunately, the monitors were picking up contractions every 3-4 minutes (I was only feeling them every 8-10) and even though I wasn't more than 1 cm dilated, they strongly recommended I stay, and I was transferred to Labor & Delivery at about 5PM.

The doctor (some random guy I'd never seen or heard of in my life - he was standing in for my doctor - though why an office of 9 practitioners needs such a back up is beyond me) was going to be on call all weekend, so I made it very clear that a c-section was not an option for me, and that I would like to avoid all interventions that would put me on any sort of "hospital clock" (i.e. breaking my waters and giving me 24 hours from that point). My exact words were: "I will tear this IV out of my arm and go have my baby in the parking lot before I will consent to a c-section." So he kinda got the point.

By midnight, I'd made no progress. Again, I asked to go home. Again, they strongly advised against it.

At 2AM, they administered Cervadil to help with effacement. A normal cycle is 12 hours, but by 2PM Saturday, I'd still made no additional progress, so they decided to leave it in a bit longer.

5PM rolled around, and still nothing. At this point, I was seriously cramping the hospital's style, so they pressured me into getting dosed with Pitocin. After 30 minutes, I was practically in tears and requested an epidural. My nurse recommended I wait and suggested Stadol, which I eagerly accepted. Of the entire birthing experience, that's the only decision I regret, because it put me ON MY ASS for about three hours, off an on. I'd wake up seething with each contraction, but in between them I couldn't keep track of which way was up. There might have been some video-game-themed hallucinations.

Around 10:30, the Stadol had largely worn off and I was again writhing in pain with contractions about every 90 seconds. I held out for as long as I could, and then again requested the epidural. This time the nurse acquiesced, and the anesthesiologist had me all set within 10 minutes. Immediately afterwards, I felt the strangest sensation in the world, like a water balloon forcing itself out of me, and I was terrified I was giving birth without a doctor in sight, but it was only my amniotic sac. The nurse called the doctor in and I was fully dilated and ready to go. I'm still so thankful that they didn't check me prior to administering the epidural, because if they had I probably wouldn't have been allowed to have one.

Since the epidural hadn't yet had a chance to take effect and I was now in active labor, the anesthesiologist gave me "a little something extra to tide me over" (I still have no idea what that was - I was in no mood to ask or argue) and by the time the doctor asked me to push (about five minutes later) I was so numb I couldn't tell what was going on down there. After four pushing contractions, the doctor was paged - he had another patient who was "actually giving birth" - would I mind waiting? I didn't.

The 10-15 minutes that passed while the doctor was attending to his other patient were a welcome reprieve. I could feel the pressure of Chase moving himself along, which gave me a better idea of which muscles to use when it came time to push again. The doctor got back and I pushed through one more contraction, heard him say "Oh I can see his head - it's SO BIG!," and on the second contraction Chase was born.

Holy heck, was that long enough for you? The end.

No update.

How are we doing?

We're fine.

How is the baby?

He's fine.

When is he coming?

WE WISH WE KNEW.

I started working part-time from home this week, because between traffic (2.5 hrs/day) and baby-related distractions (7.8 hrs/day), working full-time just wasn't fair to anyone, least of all my employer. My days now look something like this:

9:58 - wake up

10:00-2:00 - work and/or pace house like caged animal

2:01 - consider painting basement, nursery, or kitchen

2:02-4:00 - google "how to induce labor;" avoid painting

4:01 - consider using castor oil

4:02 - chicken out

4:03-4:30 - repeat last two steps (all while avoiding painting, 'cause I can multi-task like that)

4:30 - meet Erik at door with all the ardor of an abandoned puppy

4:31 - get secretly mad at Erik for not painting (also: avoid mentioning painting so that I don't have to do it)

4:32 - read 30 zillionth pregnancy/delivery book cover-to-cover

6:30 - walk aimlessly around [neighborhood/mall/Walmart/house]

8:00 - dinner

9:00 - wallow in disappointment of another baby-less day

10:00 - bed

REPEAT.

Can't hardly wait!

I was put on a few days of bedrest two weeks ago, and it was probably the best thing that could have happened - not only did it give me the chance to catch up on some much-needed sleep, it also gave Erik and me a much-needed wake-up call: this baby is coming soon, and we need to get our house ready for him.

First call: Empire Today to figure out, once and for all, what could be done with the basement. Much to Erik's delight (he'd been fighting with the click-lock strips for over two weeks), our fears were validated by a professional: laminate flooring simply wouldn't work on our incredibly uneven concrete subfloor. Their quote for carpet was a bit too high for us (especially since we're still licking the financial wounds incurred by 300 sq ft of final-sale laminate), so we're having Lowes out to do some measurements this week for their bargain basement (pun intended) poly-blend. With a little luck, we'll have carpet in before I go into labor.

Next stop(s): Multiple trips to Home Depot and Lowes for paint and supplies. After a few mini-meltdowns and some very hormonal tears in front of the Olympic samples we agreed on:

Living room = Behr Liquid Blue

Nursery = Behr Corn Husk Green

Dining room = Olympic Navajo White

Bathrooms = Behr Swiss Coffee [yawn - it's just white]

Basement = Olympic Country Beige [off-white. oooh, risky!]

I know what you're thinking: "Awesome, picking colors is the hardest part!" Right? Yeah, that's what I thought, too - but I've only ever painted over nice, smooth, normal walls. As best we can figure, the previous renters "fixed" water damage by taking handfulls of spackle, lobbing it at the walls food-fight-style, then painting over the whole mess with a nice thick coat of latex semi-gloss. Water would then leak behind the paint, cause huge bubbles/ripples, and the whole vicious cycle would start anew. This means we're stuck with walls that have a lot of ...umm... character. So much character, in fact, that in one part of the dining room we actually had to peel off 3 layers of latex (down to the original drywall), treat for mold, spackle, sand, spackle, sand, tape, prime, and then paint. This same method would have worked (and is likely necessary) in the living room, but I lost patience. So instead, we've purchased several large pieces from IKEA to cover the more textured walls. Out of sight, out of mind.

Here is the finished* living room. I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to be able to unpack some of those book boxes - finally, our house is feeling like a home! I'll have better pictures once we move all the crap that's in the middle of the room.

And here is the almost-complete* dining room - we're just waiting on an out-of-stock sideboard for under the right-side window. Once we get that, we'll actually be able to [gasp] unpack our wedding presents!

*Just let me pretend they're done. We're playing Amish until I get around to making the window treatments.

And last but not least, mah huge bellah - 37 weeks (5/15). This child is going to be ginormous!

On squeaky wheels (and getting grease)

This post has been on hold for two weeks while I tried to fix my camera, but it's been too long since the last update so here you go - pictures to follow:

After almost a month of complete standstill, things are finally moving at the house again. How, you may be asking, did we manage to inspire such a minor miracle? Good ol’ fashioned tattling, folks. Observe:

To whom it may concern:
As both our 203k Consultant (Jim xxxx, copied on this e-mail) and Contractor (Ionita “Marcella” Rutherford, copied on this e-mail) have been incapable of responding in writing to my husband’s and my concerns, I am now attempting to work through Bank of America, our 203k FHA Rehab loan provider, to resolve our issues with rehabilitation work done on our home since Jan 8, 2010. These issues are detailed below. If this matter does not apply to your department, please provide me with the contact information of the Bank of America employee with whom I should be communicating.
1) County permit for electrical heavy-up not applied for until months after work was complete
2) Electrical heavy-up not done to code (took three months to fix and have inspected)
3) Roofing improperly installed – roof leaked three weeks after being replaced
4) Insulation not installed in outer dining room wall (was only fixed due to water damage resulting from roof problems)
5) Bathroom fans not installed (were supposed to be installed during roofing process – was never done)
6) Substandard work throughout house (especially drywall)
7) Construction debris never removed from backyard
8) Exposed asbestos during installation of kitchen door
9) Lack of communication regarding window installation – as a result, contractor picked locks to gain entry to locked bedrooms for window installation (all without homeowner notification)
10) Contractor used key to gain entry to home 10 days after being told to cease work, setting off burglar alarm (4/20/10)
11) Appliances purchased by homeowner on 1/19/10 (within 203k allowance) have yet to be reimbursed – Consultant has not responded to e-mails regarding when to expect reimbursement
12) Overall lack of communication throughout process
[Documentation/all related e-mails are available and will be provided to the person assigned to resolving these issues.]
Due to these myriad problems, we notified Marcella (by phone, as she does not respond to e-mails) on 4/9/10 that she was to stop all work on our home. There are several items from our original scope of work that were never handled. Due to the lack of communication from both Marcella and Jim, we are sincerely worried about what draws have been made from our 203k escrow account.
We require:
1) A statement of withdrawals from the 203k account thus far
2) Reimbursement for the appliances
3) Information on how to officially STOP the rehabilitation process and return all remaining escrow funds directly to our mortgage loan balance.

We would further appreciate the opportunity to submit, formally and in writing, a detailed account of the lack of professionalism and common sense that Ionita “Marcella” Rutherford displayed in the handling of our rehabilitation so that other potential homeowners are forewarned against using her as a contractor. At the very least, we feel that Bank of America 203k FHA Rehab loan specialists should be notified of Ms. Rutherford’s inability to apply for required permits and complete work in accordance with HUD’s specifications, as these are serious legal oversights.

I greatly appreciate your time and assistance in getting this matter into the hands of the correct person. Kindly “Reply All” so that all parties are included on responses.

I copied half of Bank of America’s corporate offices, our consultant, AND Marcella dearest on the e-mail. Our consultant responded within 30 seconds (which was amazing in and of itself, considering he’d been out of touch for 3+ weeks despite our multiple attempts to contact him) and as of this week (nine-count-‘em-nine days after this was written), the following has been completed:

Steps! Real, walk-able, ankle-friendly steps!

A fan! In the bathroom! Just like we’d asked for four long months ago!

Trash! Removed from the backyard so we’re no longer scaring potential buyers away from the house next door!

Debris! Removed from our dining room! (And just when Erik and I had gotten used to the idea of using overhead kitchen shelves as a sideboard. Darn.)

…and [drum roll please]… caulking!!!! It's not quite flashing, but we had to cut our losses on this one. Goodbye leaks, hello semi-real, working roof. (I still can’t f-ing believe those unlicensed idiots left it off in the first place.)
[UPDATE: So Erik and I were in the backyard the other day and noticed... they didn't do anything to the back dormer, only the front ones. It's totally awesome, because I was really hoping that we would still have work being done on our house three weeks pre-baby. SIKE!]

Since no parties involved ever want me within arm’s length of Marcella ever again (or in Erik’s words: “I don’t want our baby to be born in jail”), my darling husband has graciously taken over the management duties and is now working with Jim directly. I cannot thank him enough, because at eight months pregnant, I’m having trouble even keeping my alphabet straight these days. (Hear that, baby? You’re eating mama’s brains! But I still love you.)

A note: Our consultant gave me a verbal wrist-rapping for mentioning Marcella’s full name on this blog. I maintain that it’s weeeeelllll within my rights as a customer and US citizen, not to mention the single most decent thing I can think to do to protect others from her wretched work ethic, lack of common sense, and irresponsible business practices. So, I will repeat: Please carefully consider all other options and read my entire blog before hiring Ionita “Marcella” Rutherford (DBA L.A.W. Construction) for your home renovation project. Many thanks to Google for spreading the word!

Happy Updates!

The Top 10 Greatest Things About Our House:

#10: Free water!

There's no visual for this one, but we just got our first water/sewage bill and there's a magical $282.63 credit on our account. Based on our usage thus far, this means we won't be paying WSSC until about 2012. Finally - a clerical error in our favor!

#9: New cabinets in our dining room!

Our overhead cabinets were removed from the right side of our kitchen to make room for the fridge. But apparently they thought we'd like to keep the shelving? Since haul-away seems to be pretty low on our contractor's to-do list (oh I really need to take a picture of the landfill in our backyard), I've been making daily trips to the MoCo dump (errr... Transfer Station) to get rid of the debris.

(Despite the lack of storage space, it is pretty cool having our refrigerator where it belongs.)

#8: New kitchen door!

Seriously, there's no latching part to the knob - it only closes using the deadbolt. It's an easy fix, and we have the new hardware, but to avoid replacing it again when the contractor is done, we don't want to re-install until the work is complete.

Super double bonus: Since Erik and I never in our wildest dreams expected the reno to take this long, we never made me a front door key - instead, I had a key to the back door. That worked out just fine until they replaced it... and I was locked out of the house for two hours while Erik picked up a friend at the airport.

#7: Sharpie everywhere!

Erik and I were expecting friends one Friday night when all of a sudden three men showed up to tear out our front steps. The original plan was to fully reconstruct them in concrete, but our darling Ms. Marcella did not show up with the needed additional cement. (Surprise!) Due to all the action, we had to greet our guests via the kitchen door. Luckily, the guy in charge of the steps project spoke my language (literally and figuratively) and wrote us this helpful note on a plank by the front door. (That sounded facetious, but I mean it: I love notes in Sharpie.)

#6: Grown-up appliances! (...droooool...)

I am so flipping materialistic. In fact, when I came home one day to find spackle splattered across the top of my beautiful babies, I got so mad that I scrawled a big mean nasty note (yes, you guessed it - in Sharpie!) on a box that I then used to house the machines. It says something like, "Don't you DARE move this box! If you move this box I will charge you $$$!!" (Because "$" seems bridge the language gap?)

#5: No more roofing tiles!

Instead of roofing tiles, we've been stuck with ...well... that. Not the biggest improvement in the world, huh? Erik's favorite part is how the first step is (uneven and) 1" off the ground, the next step is (uneven and) 3" up from that one, and then you have to leap about 8" to reach the porch. Our contractor told us three weeks ago that this wouldn't be the finished product. But, umm... I'm starting to think it is.

#4: We're totally wired!

Erik and I spent about two months without internet or phone service. (GASP! I know!) Amazingly, we survived. When it came time to install our low-speed, bare-bones connection, Erik first had to figure out how to tackle the multitude of wires in our house.

Luckily, he's a lot more patient than I am.

#3: Concrete basement = summer energy savings!

"We" finally started tearing up tile in the basement to make way for the couches (gorgeous! pictures to come...). Unfortunately, any amount of squatting/kneeling makes me a mite uncomfortable and maybe even a little mean, so Erik's had to handle the vast majority of this project. Due to all the damp, the tile glue is super-sticky and hard to remove, but we hope (read: dream) that we'll have our floating laminate installed in time for the baby.

Some down, TONS to go!

#2: New neighbors!

We knew when we moved in that there was a slight bug problem. (Big hint: finding ~50 dead bees and wasps upstairs.) So we weren't hugely surprised when the hot weather hit and we started finding more wasps inside the nursery. Turns out, we had a colony of little neighbors living in our hood's exhaust vent. The wasps were then entering our home courtesy of the gaps in our 60-yr-old windows (nope, our new ones STILL haven't been installed). Erik gassed these hives and knocked them out, but apparently it's harder than that to get rid of wasps - they've now taken up residence under our back stairs and in the dining room window frame.

#1: Knowing we're going through all this for a reason.

Yikes - 32 weeks! (Dear Universe: I apologize for wearing a dress and sandals yesterday despite having neglected my legs and toenails for such a long time. I simply couldn't reach. Love, Amy.)