As Pippo and I were on our way to the store the other morning, my mom and I were on the phone, discussing her oxbow lakes post and all your great comments.
We were laughing over the futility of it all, when I drove past the house in our neighborhood that has three pretty horses in their little field, and Pippo called out,
“Look, Mama! Cows!”
See? It's never too early to feel like there are gaping holes in your child's education! At least I know I'm in good company.
(For the record, he does actually know the difference between cows and horses, though he's seen more sea lions than either in real life. Isn't that bizarre?!?)
So, here's our new house!
We've been working on settling in, which means we're going through stages of unpacking boxes, moving furniture around, transferring piles of stuff from one place to another, finally establishing some sort of order, and then undoing it all by unpacking more boxes and starting the process over again.
Our living room after the movers did their thing. Which was, apparently, to put all the sofas and chairs back-to-back in the middle of the room and surround them with boxes. |
We've also been painting. One of our requirements in a house was that it not have too much work needing to be done, since we'll just be here for a few years, and between babies and jobs figured there's only so much we'll be able to do in that time. And the house is in good shape. But we have some painting to do.
Most pressingly, the two smaller bedrooms were green and blue when we got here. Make that GREEN and BLUE.
I hope those little peeks of color look as shocking on your screen as they do on mine, because that's how they looked in real life. We're talking about walls that are practically glowing.
The green one was earmarked for Pippo, so we did that one first, getting started on it as soon as we closed on the house, before the movers came. Unfortunately, after only half a day of helping to prep and prime in a wimpy sort of pregnant girl way, I realized that I wasn't going to be as much help in the painting department as I hoped.
(Does anyone have any tips for relieving pregnancy-related sciatica? I had a bit with Pippo towards the end, but this time around it's hit me from the start. Turns out that unpacking- and especially painting-related movement really aggravates it. I have trouble walking by the end of the day when I take it easy; when I do too much, I'm crippled before dinnertime. While I'm sure the rest is good for me, I admit it's a little frustrating to look around and see so much to do and be able to do so little of it. But I'd rather have a baby than a freshly painted house. And, thanks to my hardworking husband, I might just end up with both!)
Luckily, though, my husband is much stronger than I am, and we had Pippo moved into his new (less) green room (green at his insistence, actually, which saved me some hemming and hawing) by the end of the weekend.
It's by no means done (the other half of the room is not nearly as presentable looking as this one), but at least now he has his own, relatively settled space while we make messes in the rest of the house.
Hmm, this doesn't look particularly blue here. We will revisit this room at another time. |
Next he tackled the guest room, which went from BLUE to a sweet, subtle blue. But I didn't even have a chance to take an after photo before we dismantled the kitchen and piled most of its contents into there.
As for the kitchen, this is probably the biggest project we want to tackle in this house. Here's what it looked like when we moved in:
I unpacked all the kitchen boxes, found spots for everything, got it all settled, and then we decided that we did in fact want to go ahead and paint the cabinets right away. The way we figure it, if we pull the kitchen apart six months or a year from now, it will be a huge disruption to our lives. If we do it now, we sacrifice very little in the way of order, not having established any yet!
(This project was already on our list; it was just a question of when we were going to tackle it. The cabinets weren't in great shape, but the granite counters and tile backsplash, while not necessarily exactly what I would have chosen myself, are much newer and higher quality. I think a little paint and some hardware will go a long way in here).
So we carefully took everything out again, popping our most useful dishes and supplies on bookshelves in the breakfast nook and stashing everything else in the freshly painted guest room. Off came the doors, and the day before he went back to work, the Lt got the frames sanded while Pippo and I ran some errands.
Probably should've covered the cooktop, too. Luckily it wipes down easily. |
The aftermath. |
This created an enormous amount of dust — more than we anticipated, and we anticipated a lot. The kitchen is very open to the rest of the living areas, and despite our best efforts with plastic sheeting, it made quite a mess of the whole house.
Oh well. Do you know that feeling when you're unpacking boxes, and you think to yourself, “I really should clean/organize this thoroughly now, before I put it away”? But then you don't actually have the energy to do more than unpack the box and put the things away, and tell yourself you'll deal with it later?
Turns out nothing inspires you to actually do it like a thin layer of dust over everything.
Pippo and I have counted four bird nests in our yard so far. |
Since then, we've gone through a few more rounds of cleaning and unpacking, with the cabinets still a work in progress in the background (we're in the priming stage now). I'll keep you posted on how that goes.
And that's where we are, two weeks after move-in day. Little by little, we'll get there!
Amy says
I love your new house, especially all the windows. Do you have a picture of the large windows from the inside? I'm imagining a sun-drenched living room. Can't wait to see how your kitchen turns out. I undertook to paint our kitchen cabinets a few years ago. The temporary chaos was so worth it! It really made a huge difference for me and I'm so glad I did it.
Anne says
the kitchen is going to look soo good! makes me want to do my cupboards…
Pippo's room is adorable and the guest room is looking like a very calm oasis. You know, underneath the other stuff. 🙂
Carrie says
I'll tell you what eliminated my sciatica last pregnancy. It was a deceptively simple knee stretch. Sit in a chair and put one ankle on the opposite knee, and push down slightly on the knee to stretch the hip. Here is a better description: http://www.fitpregnancy.com/featured-galleries/ge…
If I didn't do this stretch I would wake up repeatedly in the night with terrible hip pain. If I did it, no pain! I also recommend you read EVERYthing on this site: http://www.alignedandwell.com/katysays
I wrote more about Katy and how she helped me here: http://naturalmomstalkradio.com/blog/natural-moms…
Lenetta says
I also did some stretches from Katy at Aligned and Well with my second pregnancy and it was leaps and bounds more comfortable than my first! Chiropractic care was also helpful for me.
Guest says
I can second Carrie's suggestion to stretch things out by the method she's described. Knowing how to do this one simple exercise/stretch has relieved so much discomfort, or downright pain, from pregnancy, sitting too long in one position (like long drives), etc. It really works! :o)
Best of everything as you become settled in your new house….and may it soon feel like home.
Brenda
Katie says
For the sciatica, do some yoga or some gentle stretching (without thinking of breathing in any kind of funky, pagan way!). Get that baby up and out of your pelvis to shift positions! You can also visit a chiropractor, and this comes from a no-nonsense girl who once drove 18 hours in a weekend while 32 weeks pregnant and can swear to their effectiveness. Chiropractors can help to shift things in your pelvis in a magical way (though I'm not sure it helps with allergies or whatever claims they sometimes make).
Beth F says
That green reminds me of the color of the dining room of house we rented a few years ago. It was like eating in front of green screen every day!
For sciatica, try getting on your hands and knees, moving your hips around, that has worked for me! Sometimes, even though she is super small,
Beth F says
(sorry hit enter before I was done) even though she is super small still, the baby could be pushing on the the nerve and causing pain! 🙂
Karen says
I had terrible sciatica with my first pregnancy and just suffered through. When it reared its ugly head during my second pregnancy, I slightly changed my diet. I cut out all non-fruit sugar and decreased the grain and dairy consumption while increasing vegetables. This totally did the trick. I think that it decreased inflammation. I also gained less weight, a total of 35 pounds that second pregnancy.
I have been taking a Christian yoga class (holyyoga.net) and I agree that it would probably help to do those stretches, too. The downward dog stretch, if you hang your head down properly, really engages your kegels while stretching out the back of your legs. I think the hip one above would be great, too. You can also lay on your back and let gravity work on your legs in that same position! Good luck–I know how discouraging it can be!
Margo says
oh, your house is so nice! I can't imagine the frustration of sciatica on top of moving on top of baby. I'll pray for you 🙂 You sound cheerful, but in your shoes, I would not be cheerful.
The softer colors are nice, but I have to admit we painted our kids' room an eye-popping shade of chartreuse. It's much calmer once all the things are in the room, you know.
Becky says
I had trouble with what I thought was sciatica but was actually caused by pubic symphysis disfunction. Basically my hips, etc, are a little too enthusiastic in their response to the relaxin hormone and I actually managed to dislocate my hip during my 1st pregnancy when I didn't know better. The solution to the problem is to generally strengthen your core muscles. The key exercise for me was basically laying on my back with my knees up and my feet down. Press your knees together while doing a kegel and pulling your belly button in. Hold for count of 8 and repeat 10 times. I saw a physical therapist. They tend to focus somewhat more on helping you eliminate the problem long term but a chiropractor can also be quite effective. My PT swore by the exercises in this book and they did work pretty well. It says post-partum but when you look through the book you will find there are some for during pregnancy as well. http://www.amazon.com/Bounce-Back-Into-Shape-Afte…
Laura says
Get to physical therapy or a good chiropractor ASAP!!!!!!!! Sciatica pain is common, but just because something is common does not mean it is normal. Pain is the indicator that something is really not right. Sciatica pain can often be cause by misalignment and getting everything back into place will not only relieve the pain, but will make for a much easier and less damaging birth. Do not wait on this, your baby is getting bigger and your little guy is not going to be any less active.
carrien says
The Girl was so excited when she saw these pictures and I told her that it was your new house. “I love that house! That's an awesome house! I want to live there.”
I believe that means she approves of your purchase. 🙂
It does look like it will be a lovely house for you. I like the trim color on the exterior myself.
Rachel says
I hate sciatica. I had it really bad with my last pregnancy and totally knocked it out in just a couple of days with one simple exercise I did several times a day. Put your hands on your kitchen counter for support, slightly bend your knees, and lift your leg straight out to the side as high as you comfortably can as many times as you comfortably can. I think I probably managed 15-20 reps on each side every time I did it. I did this several times per day and by the 3rd or 4th day the pain was gone. I did it randomly after that just to make sure it stayed gone.
Love the house by the way 🙂
Kate says
Your new place is pretty! I have been painting our cupboards for 3 weeks…it was a much bigger job than I let myself think it would be. I finished yesterday and just have to buy some tiny foam pads so the doors don't slam.
As for your sciatica never ever sit cross legged on the floor for hours playing Legos and expect your little guy to help you up, and also trying to get up on your own in front of other grown people is a lesson in humility. But I'm sure you know all this! Your house will be put together and your baby will arrive and it will be great!
msagala1 says
Those hardwood floors are absolutely beautiful! Isn't moving with a little one the craziest??? I haven't had to move while pregnant yet, thankfully…so major props to you for surviving it! (My daughter is close to Pippo's age…I can't believe how big he's getting!)
I was never officially diagnosed with pregnancy sciatica but in retrospect (and based on your description) I think that might have been what I had with my first. A number of things has made me more comfortable this second pregnancy. I think if you can go to chiropractor that's the way to go (I didn't and I wish I had!!) but also resting in difference positions (sometimes laying and somethings sitting and sometimes just propped up on some pillows) combined with occasional gentle exercise (i.e. walking at a toddler's pace!) does help. What has made the biggest difference for me this time is a pregnancy support band – helps relieve a lot of stress on your body!!! Poor thing…not a fun thing to have at all, but I can only imagine how much worse it must be with a toddler running around. I hope you can find some relief…you're a trooper!
Woman of the House says
It's a beautiful house and you've made a lot of progress so far! We moved almost two years ago, and there are still boxes to be unpacked . . .
priest's wife says
beautiful house!
may I suggest…I know little ones won't really be alone much in the front….but if I were you I would put a grate of sorts over the water feature…the next door grandma has a small small pond and she keeps kiddos out of it (well, from drowning) with a grate made of black metal- it looks fine
Valerie says
The same thought came to my head…we had a waterfall/pond when my oldest were toddlers/baby.
We filled ours with smooth river rocks, looks pretty, and uses less water.
Beautiful home! I love the brick! When we moved into our current home, it had a very BLUE room like yours and a PURPLE room…happy painting!
Nancy says
Great house …love the brick which equals little outside painting!
Anne-Marie says
I love the big windows and the high ceilings and the shape of your cabinets, and I bet paint will vastly improve the effect of the clashing hard surfaces in the kitchen. You have accomplished an impressive amount already, and I'd say that even if you weren't pregnant!
Barbara says
Beautiful home, and I love your paint choices.
Take it easy, don't overdo…but I'm sure your mom has already told you that!
PS Maybe your ob/gyn could recommend a physical therapist for some appropriate exercises to keep the pain at bay.
Pippajo says
I meant to chime in with congratulations and commiserations before, but I don't think I actually did! So, CONGRATULATIONS and I HEAR YA! We moved 7 weeks ago and, boy, do I understand the pain of shifting piles of stuff from one room to another, or just from one spot in a room to another spot in the same room. But it is getting better and your house will, too.
Also, had to laugh because those green and blue rooms look very much like the colors we CHOSE to paint Redheaded Snippet's room and the upstairs bath! I told Redheaded Snippet she could choose any color she wanted except black and she went with screaming aqua (not sure if she just did it to call my bluff). And I was the one who chose what Calvin calls, “Wake Up Green!” in the bath. But, just goes to show beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder!
Can't wait to see the finished kitchen cabinets! I'm still trying to decide about painting ours. But the idea of all that dust just wilts my enthusiasm…
Gently Led says
Hi Rosie — got on to comment how pregnancy yoga eliminated my sciatica . . . I see it's been said a few times already (it feels great, too!)
and both my children called horses “cows” for the longest time! It passes (whew!).
Your new home is lovely!
Betsy M says
Rosie, your house is beautiful. The colors you picked for the bedrooms are lovely – I really like the green in particular. Can I ask what color it is?
Regarding the sciatica pain, I would second the lady above who mentioned diet. It may be coincidence but my first two pregnancies I had terrible sciatic pain but now that I am gf, I have had none the last two pregnancies. If nothing else works it may be worth a shot. One other idea, just this morning I ordered a maternity undergarment to help support my growing bump. I noticed in the reviews that one lady said that it has really helped her sciatic pain. I have no first hand experience with this, I just am getting it as my stomach muscles are not what they were four kids ago. 🙂
http://www.target.com/p/bellybra-womens-maternity…
Hope you get feeling better.
daniela says
Congratulations Rosie!! Your new home is absolutely beautiful and I LOVE the color choices that you're making. The light colors you're choosing are so fresh and open. I moved during both my pregnancies (at 5 months with #1 and at 8 months with #2) and it is exhausting. Good to hear that your husband took over with so much of the painting. Try to take it easy as best you can. Enjoy!
jamie says
House looks wonderful!
For Sciatica, the chiropractor worked miracles for me. I may have contemplated asking him to marry me… I was (and still am!) already married though. 😉
Shauna says
Hi Rosie! I had terrible sciatica pain in my 4th pregnancy.
For my 5th pregnancy I decided I was not going to go through this again so I found one of my mom's old Bradley books and he recommends pelvic rocking. If you don't know what pelvic rocking is you can watch a youtube video. It looks funny and soon Pippo will join you if you decide to do it which will be quite amusing. I did 50 in the morning and 50 at night and I had no sciatica pain in my 5th pregnancy. I hope you get relief soon!
Congratulations on your beautiful house, I can't wait to see your finished kitchen! 🙂
Mary says
an absolutely beautiful home Rosie! I can't wait to see what you do with the kitchen. we ill be doing the same around here this summer. I am so excited to look at something new with fresh color for a change.
boy and water…a classic combo. Pippo looks like he is lovely Oklahoma so far. Happy unpacking!
Sheryl says
Chiropractor! Can't be said often enough! Try to find a woman Chiro-really understands. No offense to all the excellent male Chiros out there.
Love your house and the new paint colors! Always love all the pictures! My advice-import Bridget, Will and any other siblings on both sides for summer help. Even a week or two of those quite obviously loving, helpful, and talented sibs could make your life even more lovely!
I agree with Priests Wife-need to cover that water feature. Also, keep an eye out for red wasp nests, copper head snakes and rattle snakes in those stacked rocks around the water feature. Not to be a downer or alarmist, still enjoy it, just safe to be aware, even in town. The snakes and wasps gravitate to the water and coolness of the rocks in the summer and the warmth of the rocks in the cold months.
Blessings to All
Anastasia says
Your house is lovely, congratulations! Thank goodness for such wonderful hard-working husbands. I see you've already gotten all the advice on pregnancy related sciatica, but I'm going to chime in anyway: be proactive. I had it so bad during my second pregnancy I could barely walk the last two months, and while both chiropractic and acupuncture really helped, they did not take it away. I'm now at the end of my third pregnancy, and I have been doing prenatal yoga since about 20 weeks. It's made a huge difference, I can't even tell you. Even just doing a few cat-cow (hee hee) stretches throughout the day helps. Of course you need to try not to overdo it too 🙂 I have always been a little careful of yoga, but the class I took doesn't seem to be too yogi and it truly has helped. Wishing you the best!
Melanie says
My 3 yo calls cows “camels”….
The stretch described above works wonderfully, but it was impossible when my big ole belly got in the way. Foot on my knee? Indeed? lol…anyway, I would sit sideways on the edge of the bed (I hope I can describe this well) with the leg nearest the bed folded up on the mattress, other leg on the floor, kinda straddling the mattress. Then lean way down, pressing your tummy into the hole under your bent knee (see, more belly room this way) and it stretches out that whole lower back, hip area. Sometimes I would get a pillow and put it on top of my folded knee and kind of lie down on it, and it would be so divine to have pressure off that nerve that I wished I could sleep that way…
Lisa G. says
That's a very nice looking house – I hope you'll have many blessed days in it.
_Jessica says
What a beautiful home! Good luck with the rest of your unpacking and painting. My husband is going to paint my kitchen cabinets this weekend, and I just can't wait!
Military hospitals are offering chiropractic care in their hospitals now, so you might see if that's available where you are. My chiropractor did wonders for me when I was pregnant with my first – my husband was so impressed that he ended up looking into going to chiropractic college. Now he wants to specialize in pregnancy and family care when he graduates.
Erica Aljets says
Hi Rosie! I hope you can get some relief for your back soon! I had really bad sciatica with my second pregnancy too and I found this yoga video on Amazon.com that I could just stream onto my computer/roku/tv any time I wanted to. I think it was around $10.00? It's called Prenatal yoga with Mimi Solaire. Warning…she's a little hippy/monotone/silly-without-meaning-to-be in the video and the ending cracks me up, but the stretches were A-mazing! It helped so much. I think my back pain was gone by the third of fourth time doing it, and I felt relief after the first time. You can kind of pick and choose what you want to do in the video (the sun salute part was hard to do near the end of pregnancy so I just relaxed during that time).
Your house looks amazing so far! Good luck with getting things organized!
Serena says
I concur with the others on the stretching. I found the downward facing dog yoga position to be very helpful. Whenever I started to feel the pain creeping I would find a discrete place and assume the position.
Best of luck on settling in!!
KBK says
Go to a chiropractor for your sciatic symptoms. You may get relief from excercises or yoga but you won't solve the root of the problem. Pain in your butt and leg is almost always nerve irritation and can helped with chiropractic adjstments.
cirelo says
Seems like sciatica is a pretty common complaint! I will join the mighty chorus of chiropractic with stretches. I will also mention though that with my third pregnancy I found a new gentle form of muscle strengthening and posture exercises which were particularly helpful called the “egoscue method” http://www.egoscue.com/
It truly helped me have a much more comfortable pregnancy than I could imagine and also a way easy labor which I credit to the core exercises!
Melanie says
I went to a naturopath that did wonders for my sciatica. It took a few visits but it was worth it to be without the pain.
Liz says
Stretching is definitely helpful (check out spinningbabies.com) , but i also found relief from sciatica with a very soft foam mattress.
Celeste says
Yes, I will second (third? fourth? fifth? :)) the recommendation to see a chiropractor. I have six children and have battled sciatica ever since pregnancy #2. I tried all kinds of stretches, exercise, changes in positions, etc.–nothing worked. Until this last pregnancy, when I finally broke down and went to a chiropractor at week 28. I *so* wish I had gone sooner! I wasn't having constant pain–just jolts here and there that would make me unable to walk. My instances of sciatica were drastically decreased, and I was actually able to continue my workouts (I'm a runner) all the way until my due date! I went weekly, and then during the last week (I always go overdue, so I had already hit my due date at that point!), I did have to go twice because it started acting up before my next appointment hit. Anyway, long story short: highly recommend a chiropractor! Good luck and God bless!
Lisa says
Hi Rosie,
I had sciatica pain that stopped me in my tracks while pregnant with my second daughter. I found a “Bowen” therapist and after 2 visits I had no more pain. It is a gentle massage-like technique, I have just started going again for knee pain.
http://www.bowtech.com/WebsiteProj/Pages/About/We…
Hope it helps!
Jeanine says
I had terrible sciatica and debilitating hip pain with three of my four pregnancies, so much so that I went on disability in the fifth month of my first pregnancy. I starting exercising using T Tapp before my last pregnancy and continued through most of it. I was amazed to have little pain at all! I highly recommend it.
RubberChickenGirl says
Wow, not one person mentioned not lifting stuff. Easier than joining a yoga class and cheaper than a regular chiro visit. I forgot to say that I also either had my husband carry in heavy groceries OR used the stroller to bring them in. If yours is related to lifting, I can see why you are afflicted at the moment. You carry Pippo a lot in the pics AND you just moved….lifting furniture and boxes would explain it.
Hope you figger it out!
RCG
Heidi says
I'm with all the others on chiropractors; I would add, however, to find one who is certified in the Webster Technique – they're more in tune with the ins and outs of pregnant bodies. Go to ” target=”_blank”>http://www.icpa4kids.org – you'll find chiros who specialize in this stuff. You might end up in Altus or Weatherford or OKC, but I think it would be worth the drive, at least once, to learn some stretches that could help at home. I loved my chiro when I was pregnant, both with my first and with the twins second time around, and I think her adjustments made things easier.
Also, you're totally in my old stomping grounds – I grew up in southwest OK, and have many fond memories of scrambling over granite boulders and making lots of noise to scare away rattlesnakes. 🙂 I'd highly recommend Quartz Mountain State Park for a getaway, and if you need relatives, I'm sure my aunts/uncles/cousins in Hobart would adopt you. 🙂 If we ever get that out that way again, I'll let you know – I've been reading the blog for a few years and would love to meet a Lawler in person! 🙂