Renovations- First Week

So...Austin and I moved back to Greenville from Charleston last August. His grandmother moved out of her home downtown a few months before. Since we hadn't sold our house in Charleston yet, we moved into her house- it made perfect sense!


Until we got into the house and saw that all her furniture and home furnishings from the 1940's when it was built were still there. I'm talking pink kitchen, green laminate flooring, chairs that have petrified stuffing (I seriously love the chairs, they just need to be recovered and stuffed and would be totally wonderful) wood paneled walls, plaster walls, and less than modern bathrooms. All of our furniture was just chilling in storage since we had a house full of stuff.  We made it work and it turned out being just fine. It was kind of sad when we did move out to a rental property so things could get started.


A little background on Aust's grandmother: 94 years old, VERY southern, VERY old Greenville, 4 ft. 10 in. tall and is a total spitfire. She is hilarious. I'm so impressed that she lived by herself for at least 10 years. With that being said, there really were only a few rooms that she actually "lived" in. You can only imagine what the rest of the house was like when we began living there...not to mention the pool- yikes! But after the 8 months that we lived there, we cleaned up a lot, sprayed a lot of insecticide, threw out a lot of stuff and really ended up enjoying the house, but especially the area. :-) I mean, how can you not LOVE being able to walk downtown and to Cleveland Park?


I think when we decided to buy the house and renovate/ add-on to the house we made his mom, Kathy, so excited. She has so many neat stories of living downtown and all the "Old Greenville" families and their homes. I enjoy listening to the tales of her family's maids, neighborhood friends, and how things used to be. Back to the house, I think she always wanted to redo her childhood home. She has a lot of great ideas about how it should be done, too.


We've been talking about starting this renovation since Christmas when we told everyone we were expecting so we're happy to see that it has finally started! We've gutted most of the first floor and taken down some of the huge trees to the right of the house so we can extend the driveway around the back where our garage (ahh, how I've missed having a garage!!) will be.

The front of the house- the screened-in porch will be part of the laundry room and kitchen once we're finished. :-)

The pool- can't wait to have Hannah's first birthday here! It has a springy diving board that you can't get anymore and a slide...

To the right and left of the bay window there will be additions built on. On the right side will extend the master bedroom and the left will be the new kitchen and garage underneath. The plans also have a porch connecting both sides in front of the bay window, hope the money holds out for that or I find my money tree!



3 Weeks

Here are some 3 week stats-

• Hannah, you are sleeping very well. You get around 3 hours during the night and sleeps strong during the day. During and after you eat, you are very alert-eyes are wide open looking all over. You've been very alert since the day you were born though, so that doesn't surprise me!
• You drink about 60ml to 80 ml every feed. You've started to spit up when you eat too fast...even though we have slow release nipples on our bottles. Whenever we pull the bottle out of your mouth you smack your lips. Daddy and I love listening to it.
• You are still not interested in breastfeeding, so I'm pumping my little heart out. The things you do for love!
• You have started to get "fussy" every night around 7. You refuse to nap after this feed and whine for 3 hours. Whoever says you can't spoil a newborn doesn't know this child...she already knows when she cries she can get picked up- Daddy and I are on to you. Daddy is strong, mommy gives in.
• Daddy likes to call you Hannah Monster and Hurricane Hannah. Not that you're bad or fuss a lot, just something he came up with. I call you Hannah Banana and Nana; so not original- sorry.
• You LOVE to be outside. The hotter the temperature, the better. We just might be able to take you to some September Clemson games. You and I take walks in the stroller downtown and to the park. You go right to sleep when you're in your car seat. Everyone says how cute and tiny you are when they stop us on our walks.
• You have my mouth and daddy's feet- and he's totally obsessed with them. We're still trying to figure out where you got your nose and what color eyes and hair you'll end up with.
• You double sneeze...every time.
• You're in between preemie and newborn diapers.

Hannah, daddy and I love you so much. I am so thankful to daddy for working so hard so that we can stay home together. We are so blessed to have you, our little miracle, in our life. I thank God everyday for the amazing opportunity to be your mother.

I've noticed something- I am not in any of these pictures. This has to change!!

2 Weeks Old

Hannah was 2 weeks old last Wednesday. At least I took some pictures on the right day even if I can't seem to get a post done on time! I was so sick of seeing the same preemie clothes everyday, so I went ahead and put some newborn outfits on...they were a tad wide, but she is so long and almost fits the length.

Your feet are always crossed...such a little lady.

Cute little crab on the hiney!

This picture does more justice to her tiny self. I've got to find a stuffed animal to sit her with.

During this week you got your first bath and LOVED it. Enjoyed the water just like mommy does.

Hello Hannah!

On July 20, 2011, Austin and I welcomed our first child into the world. Hannah Katelyn Watts was born at 11:41 PM and weighed 4lbs, 8 oz. She was and still is, 3 weeks later, perfect.

Here are some pictures that were taken at the hospital. Bella Baby comes by to snap some newborn pics of all babies. The pictures turned out so nicely that I HAD to buy them even though we had another photographer coming to the house when she was 6 days old... I mean there is a big difference between 1 day and 6 days!!

Daddy wanted to be the first guy to send Hannah flowers- so sweet!!

          

Hello world!

He is already the greatest daddy and she adores him.

Yikes! Mommy looks rough!

She's only been here 3 weeks and I can't even remember what life was like before her. I'm way behind on blogging (big surprise there!), but there is so much more to come!! I love you, Hannah!!

Tilting the Scales

I knew this was going to happen.

I knew this stage would come.

I am in the "frumpy, are you fat?" stage.

After many tears and finally breaking down and buying some maternity clothes (which, by the way, I LOVE stretchy, belly band pants!!!), I've decided that it's ok. I know i'm supposed to gain weight. I'm totally fine with that- I've been pounding food like a champ. But it doesn't change the fact that it is hard to watch your body begin to morph into something it has NEVER been. And for someone who was always told by the doctors, "You're too skinny; you need to eat and gain some weight"-

 I'M TRYING!!!

I'm slightly anxious about going to my next doctor's appointment. I've been told that the doctor I'm scheduled to see is a nazi about weight, especially in thin women. My best friend is a great example...She got fussed at by him when she gained 6 lbs in a month because she was already so skinny and petite. She's actually smaller than me...this makes me afraid I'll snap at the doctor and then they'll red flag me- something else I worry about. Like if they found out Aust is a lawyer.

If I just already had the little basketball sitting in front of my belly, that'd be perfect!

Too bad I just look like I've been drinking myself silly and have a gut.

Fabulous!

Bursting at the Seams

Literally and figuratively. I have been waiting to write this post. Dreaming of what I would say for a year now.

Now that it's happened, I have no words to say, but thank you, God! Our prayers have been answered and we are going to be the parents to a wonderful, little miracle.

Look at that little foot!! He had them crossed during this shoot...I've totally already decided it's a boy, by the way. :-)

I'm through the first trimester, but am still in disbelief sometimes. I haven't been sick, I haven't really gained any weight. Sometimes I wonder if it's real. But how amazing is it to see your child, moving around on that screen, scrunched up and hiccuping? OH, INCREDIBLE!

We have already been blessed beyond belief this year and it's only going to get better!

Hilarious

I swear, Austin was just having a conversation with the cat in the other room.

We have a cat, Connery, who is an extremely vocal cat. You can talk to him and he just meows back to you. Austin loves to pretend to have conversations with him. I don't know what this says about me, maybe I'm not that great of a conversationalist.

Either way, it's hilarious. Let me tell you how the conversation went... (Connery's comments are in italics. I'm inferring what Con said from Austins responses.)

Con! We missed you today. Did you watch the game?

No, you didn't leave the tv on for me!

Oh! I'm sorry, Katie must have forgotten to leave it on.

Well how did the game go?

We won, the team looked really well coached.

Who played well?

Stitt had a great game...

What about Narcisse?

Con, Narcisse sucks. He's awful, don't you ever ask about him because it's always bad.

I really like him, he reminds me of Sam Perry. I really liked Sam Perry.

Don't you ever talk to me about Narcisse again. This conversation is over.


At this point Connery comes into the room I'm in and begins meowing at me...

Austin says, "She wants a dog". Connery gives a long whimper and runs away.


Oh, the ways he entertains himself. I can only imagine how he was as a child. :-)

It's Snuck Up On Me...

My 29th birthday, that is. I totally freaked out last year about turning 28. I felt I was closer to 30 than 25 (OH how I loved being 25!) and figured I'd probably start to fall apart.

I've had it marked on my calendar, I knew it was coming, but just didn't care. Or maybe didn't have the time to care. I swear things have been so busy around here. With the snow coming and staying forever, grades being due, taking on a student teacher, the multitude of meetings, IEPS and other crap I've had to go to (there will be more to explain in the coming weeks) have just been overwhelming. I totally need another a break.

I suppose on the bright side I haven't had time to think about turning another year older, much less one year less than 30- gasp! My kids, however, haven't let me forget it. They know it's coming and it will be here tomorrow. I'm almost scared to see what will come in. They had some free time on Friday and I got about 15 handmade happy birthday notes. So sweet! They also quizzed me on my favorite candy...I can't wait to down some of it throughout my great day tomorrow.

It's funny how back in college and even a couple years ago I would celebrate my "birthday week". I would continue to have party or dinner after unnecessary dinner. I would go have drinks a few days out of the week to celebrate my extra year of living. This year, all I want is a good dinner with my best friend and to go to bed early. MY HOW LIFE HAS CHANGED.

:-) And I love it!

Back to Work

I was pretty anxious to go back to work this morning. I moaned and groaned all day yesterday to Aust, claiming my stomach hurt and I didn't feel good. It didn't work like it used to on my parents.

So I woke up about every hour on the hour last night. Once to move the cat, once to go to the bathroom, another time to move the cat (outside the room this time), another to check the clock, another to turn off Austin's watch that went off TWICE about 20 minutes before my alarm clock went off. Needless to say, I didn't get a good night sleep. I always do this, whether it's the night before a return to school from a big break, a weekend, or before a big day at work, I'm up ALL night. I can't seem to turn my brain off and am constantly making list after list of things that need to be done. I wish I had a switch that controlled my brain.

As soon as I got to work though, everything was fine. Of course I got everything done before the kiddies came striding in. They were full of smiles, hugs and tons of things to tell me. We actually started this morning off with a little sharing time because I know I'd get interrupted throughout the entire day with insignificant things if I didn't.

I always love the kids coming back after Christmas. It seems like they always seem to grow in leaps and bounds over the two weeks I don't see them. They come back more responsible, more mature, and ready to soak up every little thing I have to say. At least most of them do. 

I've realized this many times before, but it shown through to me again today- I love my job. I love being around my kids. I love getting to make an impact and be a part of their lives day in and day out. I love being a teacher and I am so lucky to have this job!

Hopefully tomorrow will be