Two Down; I'm in the home stretch!

Wow, I noticed a couple of my pregnancy apps (Of course I have multiple) started saying things like final count down and third trimester, and I really don't know what to say. I am 27 weeks, and while there is some debate as to when the third trimester officially starts (no clue why) I am calling it. I am here, in the third with just 3 months left in this pregnancy. Less than 90 days until I am a full 40 weeks and 60 days until maternity leave. Holy Cow.

I promise, I don't FEEL that big. Hehehehe

I am still not entirely convinced I am pregnant despite my very large bump! I still bump it into things and am shocked when strangers notice I'm pregnant. I also can't believe in 3 months or less we will be wholly responsible for a tiny human being. I can say, I am starting to feel the pressure of the major life change coming our way. I feel very obligated to read everything baby/mom related like somehow that could prepare me. From what I hear from other Moms any sort of preparation doesn't actually do anything. I'm told Hope will have her own ideas about how life should go and I don't doubt that for a second. She already micro-manages my sleep/eat/bathroom schedule.

I have many wonderful people curious about the status of the placenta previa, unfortunately I don't have an update just yet. I go in next week for the ultrasound to see if it has moved and my Dr promised me she would email me as soon as she gets the results. So, I will do another update in the first week of November and hopefully it will be a good one! The only update I have on Hope at this point is that my bump is measuring 29-30 weeks, so if you have seen me and thought (harmlessly of course) goodness that bump is getting big! Well then, you are right! Big ol' bump, big ol' baby. Also, I passed my 3 hour glucose test, meaning I don't have gestational diabetes. YAY!

I did have some unexpected but very light bleeding. I way over did everything from Thursday to Sunday and by Sunday night my body said NO MORE. Luckily, it stopped very quickly without medical intervention and by Wednesday my Dr gave me the OK to resume my work plus walking routine. It was still scary and sucky and it was a big reminder that I am actually pregnant and I absolutely cannot maintain my old pace. Probably because my old pace was equivalent to a jack rabbit on crack.

On to more exciting things, we've received a few baby gifts already and every time they make me cry with overwhelming excitement. I came home from work yesterday to see a big gift on my porch. My Mom and Stepdad bought us the stroller we registered for and had it shipped out a little early (since they live far away). I definitely cried and then waited very impatiently for Andy to come home and perform the major Daddy milestone duty of putting it together. Hilarity ensued and soon we had an amazing stroller and infant car seat/carrier set up. I cried a little more and Andy drove the stroller around the house making race car sounds. Then we both marveled at the tininess of the little infant seat belt and tried to imagine Hope snuggled safely in her pram. She may have already outgrown it...

Andy's Note: Real men RTFM

With 2 hatchbacks and 2 very tall adults the car seat situation is interesting...Andy is convinced car seats don't fit in any car. I'm convinced we will need to get a larger vehicle. We'll see what ends up happening.

More Door Days

Before

When we refinished all our doors, we didn't do the one between the living room and garage because we didn't want it removed for an extended period.

We finally got around to it.  I documented the process a little better this time.

Before, scratch marks and all

First coat of stripper soaking in

The first, most satisfying scrape

After scraping off the first coat of stripper

After the second coat of stripper, which was rubbed in with steel wool then scraped off

Eventually, the stripper even destroyed the "chemical resistant" gloves.  Burning flesh is not fun.

Half sanded

Stained

Smoothed with ultra-fine steel wool

Oiled.  It isn't really that shiny.

Keep in mind all the above steps have to be done on both sides of the door.  Ugh.

While all that was happening, I was also worked on the hardware. Since it worked so well on the other doors, I just painted everything flat black.

Lots of screws.

Once everything was ready, it was time to hang the door again.  I started by sticking a couple toothpicks in all the holes.  That helps prevent them from stripping.

Getting the heavy, fire rated door back in place was a challenge, but we got it.

It was finally time for hardware.

And here's the finished product.  We think it's a big improvement.  Next up are the front doors, which are going to be more annoying because they aren't big flat slabs like all the others, and they can't really be off for long at all.

After

Cagey Caddy

We got a shower caddy for the guest bath, but it restricted the angle you could aim the head, basically forcing you to get blasted in the face.  A clever reroute of the hose fixed the issue.  The caddy is aluminum and has a lifetime corrosion warranty, so let's hope it doesn't rust like most do.

Cracked Clip (We Live in the Future)

As you know, we got a changing table on Craigslist, but it had one small problem.  One of the plastic clips that hold the drawers to the slides was broken, making operation of that drawer very problematic.
After searching online and in stores for a replacement clip and having no luck, it was starting to look like the only option was to get new slides for that drawer, but then we had an epiphany--why not 3D print a replacement part?
This was only an option because I am a dorky engineer and a good friend of ours recently bought a 3D printer.
The first step was to create a 3D model of the part, which I did in short order.

I sent the file to our friend and he loaded it into the machine.

After that, it's "set it and forget it."

Here's the finished product next to the original

I modeled the part without the holes for simplicity and drilled them myself afterward.

The original clip was mounted with countersunk screws, which slightly cracked the plastic around the mounting holes, so I switched to stainless button head screws.

Old screws above, new screws below.

The new part attached to the drawer easily enough.

It was time for the ultimate test--would it work?
Chrissy captured all the action in photos.

Heave

Easy...

Fiddle

Force it

This may work

And it worked!  Perfectly!  Like it says in the title, we live in the future.  Who would have thought, even five years ago, it would be practical to repair a dresser by making a part basically out of thin air?

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As you recall, we got a changing table/dresser for Hope's room and I managed to cram it into a company car.  That wasn't the only thing we used the car for in one weekend.
We also bought a bench and a bunch of groceries.

Then we bolted on a set of roof racks, which we inherited from a friend and his departed Audi A3 (yes, the same racks fit a last generation A3 as well as the 6th and 7th generation Golf), and transported our old bed frame to Chrissy's sister's.

I think we got our money's worth.

Craigslist Changing Table

While on a business trip to the test track, I did some browsing on Craigslist and came upon a changing table/dresser that looked like it had potential.  I sent Chrissy a link and she gave me the green light to go check it out.  It was on my way home from the track, so I went by on Friday night.  It was still wrapped from a recent move so I took it as-is.
The seller was a small Indian woman, so I had to load it pretty much by myself.  Not an easy task.  Luckily, I had a work car, so I wasn't to worried about scratching it or anything.  My initial measurements told me it would be a questionable fit, but it just made it, after I moved my seat forward.
Once we got it home, we pulled it most of the way out of the car, unwrapped it, and removed the drawers to make it a little lighter.  Thankfully it was light enough for Chrissy to help me bring it in.

Chrissy enjoyed oiling the entire cabinet and cleaning some marker off the top.

We also got new knobs that better match the rest of the decor.

Finally, we relocated it under the window where we think it will live long-term.  You can also see the rug we got for the room.  Underneath it are some of the Harbor Freight mats that were in the fitness room previously.

There is one more thing we're doing to this dresser that is so cool it will get a separate post soon.  Stay tuned.