The bassinet is newly painted. Our organic cloth diapers have arrived. A carseat is sitting in the attic. Joshua cleared out two dresser drawers, and a collection of miniature pastel outfits have now taken over. In the basement, a Chariot awaits assembly. In a wicker chest, we have receiving blankets, glass feeding bottles, and a pump.
The house is clean. The refrigerator contains no expired items. The pantry is swept. The floors are mopped; the bathrooms are scrubbed. The vacuum has done it's best with pet hair (which is to say that there is still a fine layer - everywhere).
I woke up this morning with fewer tasks on my to-do list than I have had since January. I could paint the sun room door "Orange Peel." I could try and resolve our terrible resin-apoxy experiment (a kitchen counter top that acts as an enormous piece of adhesive: it collects dirt, hair, and the bottoms of appliances. I literally cannot remove the glass bowls that have adhered to the resin. Yesterday, when I tried to remove the spice rack, it became our first casualty.). I could clean out the oven, but the cleaners are toxic and I'd rather not.
I sat down to read. I half dozed off again. Thibodeaux curled up next to my belly and Oscar rested his chin on my feet. The sun came in and lit up the room. I stared at my dresser - newly organized and ready for the new season.
I'm trying. Really, really, really hard to be patient.
Last night, I made macaroni smothered in onions with brussel sprouts on the side. It was another Deborah Madison recipe, and the Pietari's joined us. Both Joshua and I were absolutely weary, having spent our second day with noses to the grindstone. While I scrubbed and purged, Joshua poured nearly a thousand pounds of concrete. In the evening, Stacy and I walked to the market to stock up on green things. By the time dinner was served, I felt absolutely depleted.
As I lay down, Henriette starts tumbling about. She knocks into my spine and sends sympathetic pains shooting down my hip. Her foot works on my rib. Her fingers poke the interior of my pelvis. I'm feeling a little beaten up. I tell Joshua that I'm having a "I'm-tired-of-being-pregnant" moment.
It's really not that bad. It's not bad at all, really. Sometimes, when I'm walking or sitting or cooking, I look down at my belly and think - hey! I almost forgot you were there! And it's not that I wish to forget. I'm constantly in awe of this body that can make another body, and feeling that little body swimming ranks up there with other things supernatural and magical.
When I was a little girl, I would look forward to my birthday party or summer family reunions or sleepovers with breathless anticipation. I would daydream about these events for weeks in advance. I was so excited. I couldn't wait, but I had to.
This is a new kind of anticipation. A new test of patience. It could be at any moment - an hour, tomorrow, one week, two...
Above, a view of our green-green bathroom. Below, the photos I've been promising for ages: our new home.
Our "Japanese Garden" green master bathroom. Small but completely unexpected and totally functional :)
View of my dresser-top collection. Yes, I own a lot of jewelry. Yes, I am a girl.
Another view of the bedroom. Napping cat and wagon up above the headboard. To the left, our beautiful craigslist art nouveau armoire. On the right, my enormous mound of pillows for the pregnant belly :)
The light's not very good in this picture, but here's our bedroom. Found the four-post bed on craigslist for a steal. Mission-style lamp was a gift from our wedding. Night stands and dressers from Joshua's grandparents. Walls are "Lions Mane" with stenciled peonies. Some loved art on the walls.
Love my bubble-gum pink bathroom. Claw-foot tub, sink, and unseen built-in mirror are originals. One of my repurposed windows on the wall, and a fun find from Goodwill gracing the tub.
Another view of our dining room. There are the French doors (Joshua's tour de force :0). Some favorite art work on the walls (including Christina's World and some fabric prints from Kathmandu). Still love the light fixture - another Habitat for Humanity Restore find.
Here's the view from our couch. To the left, our dining room in all of its French-doored glory, and to the right, a glimpse of our bubble-gum pink bathroom. A couple of favorites here: a shadow box with blue china plates and a bakelite vintage clock above.
In the corner: an impossibly ancient side-table that I found, water-warped and wonky at the thrift store and then painted the same "Celery Bunch" green that we painted the kitchen cabinets, my very, very lovely rose and bee lamp with a vintage Habitat for Humanity Restore lampshade, a Louis IV mirror from New Orleans and one of my encaustics up above, and an assortment of odd and loved things at the base of the lamp (including a vertebrae, St. Theresa, and another blue encaustic).
Another view of the breakfast bar.
I love this corner of our living room. At first, when we purchased the furniture on the cheap from American Furniture Warehouse, I was completely over-under whelmed by the amount of beige. The rug was no help at all, but it was 45 dollars, so the price tage won out. Fast forward through a bit of paint, a bit of sewing, and some of my favorite thrift-store finds, and the beige is less noticeable. A few favorites: I sewed a lime-green ottoman skirt and tangerine curtains and blankets from our travels (on the left, from Cuzco and on the right, from Kathmandu).
This is the site of the adhesive kitchen counter top (which I wrote about here). Up above, shelves with heavy-duty fasteners hold thift-store purchased jars and containers full of baking goods, grains, and beans, as well as cookbooks and on the highest shelf, our "pretty things" (including Joshua's kombucha baby). To the right, a collection of red-framed items, and up above the refrigerator, a storage space for large kitchen appliances hidden by one of my curtains.
I spend a lot of time here :) A couple favored features: a tea kettle for brewing Raspberry Leaf Tea (come on, baby), an oven for baking spring-fresh asparagus, broccoli, and brussel sprouts, a thrift store Colorado landscape (with the perfect colors), and an Echter's spider plant.
I don't think I can pick a favorite room in our house (ok, I'm lying. The sunroom.), but this space wins for function. The countertops are a glittery, eco-friendly silestone, the dishwasher is a valued family member, the yellow enamel sink is the original, and I refuse to part with it. The breakfast bar above is Joshua's brilliant idea and so is the fact that you can see into the next room - there used to be a wall there. Love the apothecary pulls and the "Celery Bunch" cabinets. The cabinets below are the unpainted ones from the Depot, and the ones above are the sanded and painted originals.
Another view of our would-be wall. As you can see, our last project for the upstairs is a tile backsplash. Love how the knives match the curtains :)
View of the kitchen from the living room. Found the barstools for the breakfast bar on craigslist. They are lovely carved oak and they swivel. To the right, my Finland window (from a repurposed window), and up above, a few more shelves for a philodendron and the music box.
