While the first trimester of pregnancy seemed characterized by the slow process of accepting weakness and inability to do much except go to work and come home and rest, the end of my second trimester has come with a great boost of energy and a dose of "home-ing" instinct. So I have tried to take advantage of this season, realizing that before too long my pregnancy waddle will become prohibitive of too many home improvement projects!
Several second trimester changes have occurred to the kitchen...a wipeable kitchen sink mat (hopefully will help with all those future spills), white slat blinds in both kitchen windows to match the cupboards, and of course a picture of the Ayrshire cows from back home (so that Eliana can experience a piece of Bentley Farm) and extra silicone sealant (hard to see!) on the edge of the counter to ensure full weathering of spills.
The dining room is gaining some privacy (matching pecan slat blinds) and some vibrancy (thanks to the great table cloth Mom found for my Christmas stocking). Not seen in the picture is a Dutch bulletin board (recently installed) that hosts all of the fun Christmas pictures of family and friends that we received over the holidays.
The living room also gained a double curtain rod with an outer layer of privacy curtains and tie-backs. Adam is pretty happy about the fact that I was able to install some wall doorstops to prevent against any damage done to the walls by little hands that like to swing doors!
Some pretty simple updates to our bedroom were made too! A little lace around the windows was added and a little extra window sealant was applied as some of our windows were showing small signs of settling. On the right wall (not seen), a big picture of the alfalfa fields from Bentley Farm (taken the day of our wedding) was added.
And, alas, my mothering instincts have started to make a little nest for our baby. It is simple and no competition for the nurseries in the baby magazines that I read, but it is quite a bit more "us" and practical too because the crib is portable (on wheels) and will allow us to still have a guest bedroom as needed. I especially love all of the recycled/reused/gifted items that we have been blessed with: my parents bought us the same crib that they used for all eight of us made by the excellent craftsmen at the Bruderhof; the quilt on the wall was made for me as a baby and the blanket on the crib was from my infancy; one of the blankets in the crib was made for Adam when he was a baby by his grandmother; the glider was passed on from a friend; and my mom helped me pick-up the dresser from Craig's List for $30 when she visited in October (which will double as holding ground for a contoured changing table).
