Sunroom to Playroom

When we purchased our home, our only complaint really was that the bedrooms (besides the master) were a bit small, and there wasn't a playroom for when we had children. Sure enough, our daughter has taken over our living room with her toys, and since I also work from home, it was becoming a bit claustrophobic. Shortly after Christmas we decided we needed a playroom and that the completely useless sunroom would be the ideal spot.

Before we purchased our home, we first toured it in December, so of course we didn't think to try to open the windows. Neither did our home inspector apparently because not one of the 13 windows in the sunroom opened come spring.  No airflow = melting in Florida and the tiny ceiling fan did little but move the hot air around. There was an in-wall air conditioning unit, but no outlet close enough to plug it in ... NICE planning. You get the idea. It was a total gut job. And it was a bit daunting, but I am SO HAPPY with the end result! See what 7 months and a whole lot of patience looks like below.

Before

 

So then the demo began.

 

First window out.

Took it to the studs.

 

Putting lights in. There weren't any before, and we added several outlets.

 

PT Cruiser to the rescue! Fit all 10 windows. There use to be 13 windows in the sunroom, but they were all different sizes (41 in, 43 in, 39 in, etc.). We decided to remove the two small windows next to the doors and reduced the number on the remaining walls so that each window was the same size. 

We decided to install the windows ourselves due to cost. The company quoted us a price originally and assured it wouldn't change that much, but in order to get the final quote they had to come measure the window openings. However, we had to reframe everything since we were getting all the same size window instead of six different sizes. So Ben removed all the windows and reframed the walls. The company came back to measure, but the second quote was almost a grand more! Apparently the last guy didn't factor in hurricane protection! We about fell over, but we were kind of stuck because we had 10 gapping holes in our house. The final option was install them ourselves. I say us, but Ben and our wonderful neighbor did the job beautifully! They all open!!!

Cordie liked helping.

 

Buh-bye ugly stone and hello insulation!

 

Drywall is up. It was finally my turn to help. I did the taping, mudding, and sanding. There was so much to do! Best advice:  Tape, mud, sand. Repeat. Repeat again. This takes more patience than I was blessed with, but it gave us the best results.

 

We chose Benjamin Moore's Blue Danube. I was a bit unsure of the color once it was up, but you'll see how it turned out.

See why I panicked slightly?

 

The ceiling was a lot of work, but we wanted something that would make the room feel rich. So we purchased 220 ft of these interlocking wood boards. I painted them all and then we nailed them up. Lots of work, but the end result was so worth it. When we were purchasing the wood, a woman in front of us at the register exclaimed, "You have a big project ahead of you!" We laughed and said it was a small project in the grand scheme of our larger one!

 

Next up was trimming out the windows. I was most nervous about this phase of the project. It just seemed impossibly hard, but we found the most perfect pieces of trim, and a project I anticipated taking several weekends, only took two! Ben did so amazing.

 

Finally, it was time for the floor and the rest of the trim around the doors and floor. Basically we replaced EVERY surface (including siding on the outside of the house) in the room. See the finished result below! (Sorry. Longest blog ever!)

 

Final touches!

 

I just love the floor!

I think we're going to do something similar to the ceiling in our master now.

I pained the little rocking chair and the table and chairs below. They are bit brighter than I wanted, but Cordie said they are bootiful.

Love being able to display our daughter's artwork.

Kitchen complete with hooks and buckets to store her utensils in.

Repurposed the doors to make them a bit brighter and clean. Someone wants to come play!

 

Cordie approved!

 

Thanks for making it to this point. This was by far our largest project, and it still needs some curtains and a few finishing touches, but we are so happy to have a space that we can use once again.

 

 

2 Years Old

How is it possibly your birthday, little one? And yet, it feels like so much more time must have passed as you have just grown beyond measure this year. Last year you started walking, and this year you are twirling and running and jumping. You carry full conversations and have quirks all your own like how you call us "honey" since mama and daddy call each other that and singing is just the best way to pass the time. I am amazed daily at your intelligence and find my breath caught by your beauty so often. 

We're called to pray ceaselessly. I never mastered that and still haven't, but each day with you I find myself repeatedly thanking God, praying to Him for guidance on how to best raise you, and having full conversations with your guardian angel. You are definitely bringing me closer to God and heaven, and that's such a perfect gift. 

If you'd like to see some snapshots from the day, keep scrolling :) And thank you to everyone who sent cards, presents, videos, pictures, texts, whatever! It absolutely made my whole year to see how much this little person is loved. 

When she came out of her bedroom, she said, "wow!" upon seeing the decorations. We are princess obsessed right now.

Spoiled much?!

Nona and Poppy did good! She hopped right on.

How cute is that apron? Aunt Kelsey always makes her something from scratch!

The look on her face when she saw her princess dress! Priceless. She practically gasped.

This was her BIG birthday present that took 3 hours to assemble, but it was 75% off so we had to! She LOVED it. (Also, sneak peak of our new sunroom. It's 90% done, but not quite there yet! Post to come soon!)

So I was going to buy a birthday cake since the birthday girl requested a mermaid cake, but man are those things not cheap! So, sorry kid, you get mama's handiwork. 

She grew about 5 inches!

Happy Birthday, sweet girl. We love you.

Saying Yes to the Sacrament

Check out my article about "Saying Yes to the Sacrament" in my diocese's magazine the Catholic Compass. It was so obvious how the Holy Spirit moved through these couples in their marriages. They are trying to true signs of Christ's love for His Church here on Earth. Click the link to read more. May/June 2015.

 

 

Photography on the cover by my sister at Kelsey Klaus Photography!

misconTRAception

I've been following this lovely lady's journey with NFP for the last year or two. We actually Skyped shortly after Ben and I were certified through the Couple to Couple League to teach NFP, and I heard a little about this short film she wanted to create. Pretty excited she shared it with the world recently. It's written from a secular viewpoint to reach out to more women and their partners. Enjoy!

Why I Found Postpartum to be Empowering

Postpartum.

It doesn't role off the tongue. It kind of sticks there until you spit it out. Or at least that's how it felt until I learned more.

Postpartum is the time after having a baby. It's usually a prolonged time of infertility, your body's natural way of spacing children. However, the length of this "time of infertility" is entirely unknown. How fun is that?! (That was sarcasm.) The length of infertility depends on a few factors:

1) Baby feeding - If you formula feed, your cycles will probably return very quickly, but if you exclusively breastfeed (no bottles, pumping, pacifiers, or schedule) it could be over a year before you see a cycle. And there are many more options that fall in-between. Also, adding solid food to the mix speeds up the return of fertility.

 2) Baby sleep patterns - When a baby wakes up frequently at night, it sends a signal to the mom's body that it's not a good time to have another baby because this one still requires a lot of attention. However, when babies start sleeping through the night a woman's body begins to normalize and cycles may return even if they are frequently nursing during the day.

My postpartum blessing, almost 14 months old now!

 3) Genetics - Both of the above factors may be trumped though by genetics. Some women's bodies prepare for babies faster than others.

For example, I did a high version of mixed breastfeeding. What that means is we tried to get Cordie to take a bottle three times (and she HATED it EVERY time) and no pacifiers (again, not from lack of sincere coaxing on our part). She was also on a bit of a schedule since I work from home and needed it. Combine that with Cordie waking one or more times (usually more) at night consistently, and I didn't see my first cycle until she was 10.5 months old, the week after she started sleeping through the night.

I was really excited about our use of NFP when I started reading about how birth control chemicals can be passed from mother to baby through breast milk. I was not a fan of that idea at all! But I still felt like I was kind of alone in the whole process of figuring out what the heck my body was doing postpartum. It was a lot to process--new baby, changed body. So we decided to contact an instructor to help us out. I highly encourage this! And not just postpartum, but anytime you are confused about what your body is doing when it comes to charting. Find someone to ask questions of and to confide in. (I can be that person if any of you reading need that :)

Having a husband who constantly builds you up helps postpartum, too!

We actually made the postpartum time an opportunity to learn the Creighton Method. The instructor was wonderful and met with us as often as we needed. I learned so much, and while I still choose to practice the sympto-thermal method, I feel like I have even more knowledge about my body because of my Creighton instruction. My instructor helped me establish my BIP, or basic infertility pattern, so we didn't have to abstain for months or weeks on end. Too often I hear of couples who abstain for such long periods of time because of unknowns, but that doesn't have to be the case at all. Knowledge is power. Find someone who is willing to work with you so NFP doesn't become a burden.

Cousins just two months apart.

After a few weeks of charting I immediately noticed a pattern. I could actually see my body attempting to regulate, then deciding it wasn't time, trying again, and once again deciding it still wasn't a good time for another baby because the current one still needed me quite a bit. I actually found postpartum to be empowering, which is odd because I think a lot of women can hit rock bottom self-esteem-wise postpartum. But for me, seeing how my body was working to give me time to heal and properly care for my daughter was beautiful and incredible. How amazingly did God design us?!

Finally, I learned to trust myself and God a bit more. I think our society has gotten it into our heads that we can't rely on our own observations and interpretations to accurately deduce our fertility without the help of chemicals or physical barriers. We've let fertility become this mystery when in fact it's very specific and a true science. It's my body. I've lived in it for a while now, so I think I can listen to it well enough to learn what it's doing. Postpartum isn't the easiest time for any woman, practicing NFP or not, but it doesn't have to be scary, surprising, or highly sacrificial. Learn about your body, work with an instructor if you need to, and finally trust yourself and be honest.

Spreading Our Story

We were honored when asked to be interviewed for a story on NFP for our diocesan magazine. It was perfect timing for NFP Awareness week, which was July 20-26. I'm always happy to have our story shared because I feel like lots of Catholics fall into the same boat of misinformation and a bit of fear when it comes to NFP. If you have a moment (or several) take a look. It starts on page 14 of the magazine below.