Ch-Ch-Changes!

Well, I mentioned it earlier but the project craziness continues on at the Rasmusson household. After we had the upper half story painted, we moved on up there so we could have the two main floor bedrooms painted. When we first moved into our house, I was color-happy and insisted we paint the main floor bedrooms bright, vibrant colors...yeah, that had to change....

Main floor bedroom #1: Before

Main floor bedroom #1: After (plus new bedding!)

Main floor bedroom #2: Before (WOW, that's bright!)

Main floor bedroom #2: After (plus some new-to-us baby gear!)

Things are certainly changing around here. Walls, ceilings, doors and trim painted. New smoke detectors and outlets...things are shapin' up or shippin' out (to Goodwill)!

More pictures to come as Baby Ras' room comes together.

I start up my last semester of grad school this week (Wahoo!)...now it's a race to the finish line between graduation and baby. Which will get here first?

Take care,

K+P+Baby (25 weeks now!)

Sticha Mamas

So, you probably recognize these ladies...don't you? I've written about them before here.

My cousins Gina & Sarah and I have a history of doing things together. We sing karaoke, dance and dine together. In 2010, we all got married. NOW, in 2012, we're all having our first babies together AND in the same order we got married! First Gina, then me, then Sarah.

Sticha Chicas: Sarah, Kendra & Gina

It's crazy to think that in the coming weeks, we'll all have babies! So exciting! Although obviously unplanned, its been really fun to go through these special moments in life together!

Babies all around,

K+P + Baby (almost 25 weeks now!)

Movin' on up...

If you know me, you know I love projects! Or at least when they're done. Pregnancy has taken me from being a regular old project-lover to a crazy, extreme project-lover (with crazy emotions!) Paul doesn't love this.

Having a little old house, we've learned to cherish the oddities and characteristics that come with it. One of those oddities was our upper half story. It started out being our bedroom...until summer and winter came and the temperature up there was either too hot or way too cold. We ended up moving our bedroom down to one of the main floor bedrooms for this reason. Well, once Baby Ras showed up as a big plus sign on pregnancy test, I got all hopped up on the idea of getting that upper halfstory ready and useable...for us, or guests or whatever.

In September, we had it completely reinsulated which was a great investment. The temperature upstairs seems more regulated now AND our CenterPoint energy rating went from 43 out of 100 to 15 out of 100. Plus, our monthly energy bill went down and they'll even give us a credit for doing the work. Win-Win-Win!

So, now the room FEELS nice...but it was still an eye-sore. Well, it WAS until about a week ago when we had it completely repainted. We were a little timid about the idea of painting over the "quaint" wood paneling but after some counseling from the local Sherwin Williams salesman...we went for it. Two coats of primer and two coats of paint made a HUGE change, though we can't take any credit for it. We hired a friend to do all the painting and he did such a great job. Anyway...what follow are the before/after photos of the room. Don't judge the befores too harshly...the room has served basically as storage for the last year so there's some clutter and an overall lack of style....but, not anymore!

Fresh paint, new drawer handles....way more modern!
Different bedding, opened up window....way brighter!

Cleaned off bookshelves, removed some furniture...feels way bigger!

We are so happy with how the room turned out. We still have a couple things to finish up, but otherwise we're in good shape! We've moved back upstairs as our main level bedrooms are next on the list to be painted this week. More pictures/updates to come on that!

Stay tuned,

K+P+Baby (now 22 weeks 3 days along!)

Happy New Year...

...from all 3 of us!

Baby Ras at 18 weeks 6 days!

Here's to an EXCITING 2012,

K+P+Baby

It's a...

...thumbsucker!

Paul & I decided not to find out the gender of our baby, but we did learn that we have a little thumbsucker on our hands! It was amazing to see our baby jump, flip and search for his/her thumb during our ultrasound!

Here's Baby Ras at 17 week 5 days...



More to come...
K+P+Baby

Funnies by Benny...

So, I'd be lying if I said that I'm not growing tired of blogging. I think its just a phase but lately its been more stressful than fun to think of blog posts. I think this is primarily because I'm 99% more tired than I've ever been in my life.

BUT, I think I'll get my bloggin' groove back once I get some of my old energy back...maybe I should say IF I get it back. (I hope I do!)

Anyway, tonight I realized that we just have to start writing down some of the funny things my 3 year old nephew Ben says. He's ridiculously goofy/smart/funny/thoughtful...and the stuff he comes up with stick with us and make us giggle for days.

1. "Muff-cakes" = cupcakes
2. "Saint Louis Prague" = where Uncle Paul & Auntie live
3. "Jesus hurt my feelings." = reason #876 why he couldn't fall asleep one night
4. "I don't like FOX 9 Morning News on for me. Please turn the TV to channel 2." = what he said to his mom one day while she watched the news
5. "That's John Jacob's bed." = when asked who sleeps in the other bed in his room. (John Jacob is his imaginary friend. Sound familiar? Yes, you know him. John Jacob Jingleheimer-Schmidt)
6. "Haha. I'm Spiderman...because I'm Santa." = makes no sense...but still funny.
7. "Auntie Paul" = how he collectively referred to Paul & I.
8. "Henry-Greta" = what he renamed my parents' chicken, whose real name is "Henrietta". Ben has a friend named Henry and a second cousin named Greta, so "Henry-Greta" just made more sense to him!
9. "I work in Minneapolis. It's one of the Twin Cities." = whenever he wears a collared shirt, he says it's his "work shirt" and that he's going to work...in Minneapolis.
10. "Who's gonna play the guitar?" = whenever a song comes on that he likes, he makes sure that every instrument is covered...even if its the tambourine, harmonica, clarinet or any other instrument NOT played in the song.

He's cute and goofy - we love our Benny! Hope you got a couple good chuckles today too!
K+P+B (baby!)

We're having a baby!

Yes! It's true...and we're so stinkin' excited. We checked 5 times, just to be sure! :)

Does this amazingly good news excuse us from being gone from our blog for so long? I sure hope so!

I have to confess that I've been avoiding you. All I want to talk about is our baby and I had to keep it a secret...so I avoided you. But now...now, you're really going to get it.

Get ready for baby updates galore.

Consider yourself warned!
Ma & Pa Ras :)