Portsmouth

Recently I took a trip to Portsmouth, NH, with my mom to meet up with my brother, Joe, and his girlfriend, Susan. Just an FYI for those who may not be aware, I have a husband named Joe as well as a brother. Yes, it gets confusing sometimes, and yes, I frequently say not my brother, but my husband or vice versa.

Unlike the Montana trip, Portsmouth was not something I had dreamed about since childhood. As I got older, visiting New England became something I wanted to do for sure, but it wasn't something that consumed me like Montana. I have to say this was such an amazing trip. It is a tie between the Montana trip and this one as to which is the best vacation I have taken. Not only did I get to experience the quaint town of Portsmouth, but I also got to go to Maine! Maine has been on my list of places I have wanted to go since I was young :).

As with most of my vacations, this was a trip that had almost no plans to it. I really prefer to vacation like that. I like to get up and decide what's gonna happen rather than make plans eons in advance. While this was a trip that had very minimal planning, it was a busy one indeed. I went to an authentic lobster dinner in Maine, saw amazing lighthouses, viewed some pretty awesome whales, visited some great beaches, and got to watch some spectacular fireworks from the comfort of our backyard.

My mom and I took the train from Baltimore to Boston. I seriously love traveling by train. I enjoy seeing countryside, the rocking, and the leg room isn't so bad. After a 7 hour train ride, moms and I arrived in Boston and met up with Joe and Susan. From there it was about an hour drive to Portsmouth. We stayed at Susan's mom's house. She lives in this great old home she has renovated and really made beautiful. It was a mill house at one time and backs up to a mill pond. The view is truly beautiful. As soon as we arrived in Portsmouth, I was in love. It really is the quintessential New England town. There are homes that date back to the mid 1700s. The fact that they are still standing is amazing to me, and all I want to do is sell Small House Love and head north. I love old homes! I know they require a lot of love and care, but I say the older the better :-).

Our lovely accommodations 

Portsmouth or bust! 

One of the coolest things we did was go whale watching. I have always wanted to go whale watching. We went with the Granite State Whale Watching tours, and it was a terrific tour. We started our tour bright and early. It was a beautiful sunny day, with calm seas, and a full boat. On our tour, we saw 8 minke whales and one giant finback whale. The finback is the second largest animal on the planet! They can reach up to 80ft and consume one million calories a day! Minkes are a smaller whale coming in at a sensible 20-30 ft. Unfortunately, I only got about 1 or 2 pics, but I have the memories, and sometimes you just gotta live in the moment.

We also took a visit to Nubble Lighthouse in Maine. I did get lots of pics there :). Nubble Lighthouse is set on this beautiful cliff overlooking the ocean, as all lighthouses need to, and it is spectacular. Like Portsmouth, Nubble is the quintessential lighthouse.

The only thing missing from this trip was the hubs. We forgot that Joe can work from anywhere, so he got left behind :(.

Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure :)

Cheers!

Tides out

Lighthouse every where you turn!

Poor little lobsters....

Can you guess my plate??? Lasagna anyone??

Classic New England

Cheesing it up at Nubble Lighthouse

Moms, Joe, and me :)

Lovely Portsmouth street :)

The front view of our accommodations :) 

Downtown Portsmouth

Downtown Portsmouth

Downtown Portsmouth

Market Square

Susan! Our tour guide

Susan grew up in this house!

An attempt at normalcy

Poe hard at work.

"A return to normalcy"-Warren G. Harding used these words to win the 1920 election after WWI. I think it was a great idea because people are always wrecked after war. The economy is always a mess, and all people want is their definition of normal back. It's what I've been going after since we found out about the loss of Baby V. So, as an attempt to return to normalcy, I updated our bedroom.

I posted about redoing the bedroom in this post, New Project, in September of 2011!! Since that post, I have done pretty much nothing to the bedroom. I got a few odds and ends over the past year and a half, but that was it. Pretty sad, huh? I think I have complained about the bedroom since we moved in. I hated the color! Absolutely hated it! I am almost positive it is the reason I woke up grumpy 95% of the time. The ceiling was an ugly yellow, smoke stained mess, and those air vents left a lot to be desired. As you can read, in the original post, my ideas for the bedroom were floating night stands, no head board, and some artsy fartsy thing above the bed. The only thing that stayed the same was the gray paint :).

I got our bed 1 year and 3 days ago. I wrote about it in this lovely little post, Like a Virgin. I was not a huge fan of beds with headboards, until I bought one. Once the bed was assembled, my original ideas for the bedroom changed a bit. I no longer wanted the floating shelves. We gave them a try, but they were really more of a pain than anything else. Also, they didn't really flow with the bed. When we moved in to Small House Love, I had sent my dresser to Goodwill. I thought it was too bulky, and I was just kind of tired of a dresser. Well, when we got pregnant I realized I had to stop taking over the whole house with my things. I used the closet in the extra bedroom as overflow. Clearly this would have to change with a little one on the way. I knew that Joe's parents had access to an abundance of antique furniture in storage in PA. So off to PA I went to acquire an awesomely antique dresser. A beautiful dresser was found and off to the races it was.

My new view for the bedroom was: new paint and to update the dresser. We got new nightstands at IKEA when we got the chairs for the living room. I was not sure about them at first, I thought they might be too short, but I am really enjoying them now.

As I said, I stuck with gray for the walls. I know, I know, it's super trendy right now, but seriously it has to be the best neutral color out there. Everything goes with gray! Joe and I made our trek to Wal*Mart to get supplies. I went with Glidden's Pebble Gray for the walls. I know lots of folks out there are die-hards for Behr and Sherwin Willams, but I've done a lot of painting over the past 2 years and have really found no reason to spend so much. At the end of the day, paint is paint and it all covers the same for me :).  For the dresser I chose Blue Ocean Breeze by Krylon. I'll get into that process in a bit :). Here are a few pics of the bedroom with its new paint job.

Before

Before

After- aren't those nightstands great! 

 

Before

After

I feel like the new paint and furniture really opens up the room. It feels more relaxing and inviting than it did a few days ago. I actually wake up happy in my bedroom instead of blah. Oh! I forgot to show the view that I was waking up to every day for the past two years. Every morning I had to wake up and see these ugly air vents and that damn spot! I don't know if you notice it, but it's there in the lower right-hand corner. Apparently the previous owners were freaks and had smoke detectors in EVERY ROOM of the house! Sometimes there were TWO! When we moved in they were taken down and the outline was left behind. It was very annoying for me personally. Really just a huge eyesore. Also, those air vents were just terrible and made me feel gross. They were just dirty and dingy. To update the air vents, I just added a few coats of white spray paint :). Easy peasy.

The eyesore

Before

After- Much cleaner and no eyesore :)

Onto the dresser. I had not originally intended to spray paint the dresser or use such a bright, bold color. I was always going to paint it, but I was thinking more along the lines of an antique white with a pretty paper Modge Podged on top. Well that all changed with one simple trip to Wal*Mart for a new blind. Joe, aka Hulk, had accidentally broken the other one :). While browsing through, I thought I'd pick up some paint samples, when I stumbled upon the spray paint section. I had read a lot about spray painting wood so I thought what the heck, I'll give it a try. It's cheaper, easier, and quicker. I found a lovely blue, which actually went great with our bed set. There is this sweet little strip of bright blue that runs the length. I have to say I am very pleased with the outcome. Spray painting furniture is actually pretty easy. All ya do is sand, paint, sand, paint, sand, and paint. The last two sanding and painting can be adjusted as needed depending on how many coats ya need. I did this all by hand sanding, but it would have been a lot easier with an electric sander, but we don't own an electric sander so I was left using my own elbow grease. The sanding was not actually that challenging, but an electric sander would have made the job even quicker and a bit more uniform. There are a couple of spots that I just kind of gave up on. Either way you choose, it is still a very simple project. Oh yeah, just make sure you invest in a mask. Safety first, folks :).

I bought one can of primer and 5 cans of the color. Instead of investing in new hardware I updated the old. First, it is beautiful hardware, and second it is beautiful hardware. I mean why reinvent the wheel, right? I chose brushed nickel spray paint, also from Krylon, for the hardware and I was set to go. I personally like Krylon better than Rust-Oleum. I like the spray nozzle on Krylon better. It has a wider path. Another word of advice on spray painting furniture, make sure it is not 100 degrees outside or the paint won't lay right. I got lucky and it was actually pretty pleasant out. 

The wonderful thing about wood is that it is easily updated. Thanks to modern advances, if I get tired of the paint I can remove it and start fresh :).

Here are some pics of the dresser before and after :)

Before- A seriously beautiful piece the way it was. Excuse the white mark- That is some wood putty to fill in a dent :)

Hardware- before. Gorgeous, right??

coming along

Seriously, why would I want to replace this?

Supplies

After

The final product :)

   

A little pop of fun inside the drawers :)

**I don't know if you noticed, but I also spray painted the light next to the dresser using the brushed nickle spray paint. It used to be black.

Sleepless Night...

It's been two days since we found out about the loss of Baby V. Two days of soul searching with one very long day spent in the hospital.

I will start with the hospital stay because it is the easier of the two topics for me to discuss. I find much comfort in science and medicine. It's something that usually has an explanation or a cause. Something I crave out of life. 

Our procedure was schedule for 9:30am, so, as asked, we arrived at 7:30am for prep. Things started out very smooth and were running close to on time. Something not usual for the medical profession. We met with our doctor prior to the procedure and decided to have a Chromosomal Analysis performed. Then we met with the anesthesiologist and he walked us through that aspect of the surgery. Joey and I said our goodbyes shortly after, and away we went. 

This is where our story gets a little exciting, for lack of a better term. I was not informed, until much later, that I had lost a liter of blood during the operation. When I came out of surgery my blood pressure was very low, 60/something, I was too out of it to actually read the monitor, I just heard the nurses commenting. It slowly, very slowly started to rise. It finally got to 95/45 and stayed that way for a while, so I was prepped to move to the second stage of recovery. Now, when I say my blood pressure slowly rose, I was scheduled to be in recovery for only an hour or so, and the procedure was only supposed to be about 20 min. Well the blood loss set the surgery back, and then my low blood pressure set the recovery time back. Poor Joey had to sit in the waiting room with limited news. Joe said the doctor told him I was out of surgery and everything was fine at 10:45am and I'd be in recovery two in about an hour. My blood pressure did not reach 95/45 until around 1:30pm I would guess. They started moving me to recovery two around 2 o'clock. I started feeling extremely nauseous and dizzy, and then I passed out. It was maybe for a sec or two, I came back to consciousness hearing the nurses busying themselves around me saying my blood pressure dropped to 40/something, again really out of it. They kept me back there until around 3 o'clock, and then finally sent my amazing husband back. Poor Joey was sitting in the waiting room from 10:45am until 3:00pm only hearing that the surgery went fine. He said he finally asked around 2:30pm if there was any news. The nurses politely gave him the spiel that if something was wrong he'd be informed.  I on the other hand was back in recovery snoozing off and on thinking things were running on schedule. I pieced the time frame when Joe came back to see me. We were finally released around 5:00pm tonight. We should have been on our way home around lunch time. It was a very long and exhausting day to say the least.

These past two days have been emotional for Joe and myself. I will say that I think both of us were preparing for this loss, but did not really expect it to occur. I say we were preparing because of the news of the increased risk of the Trisomy 18/13. We knew it was a possibility, but were holding on to hope that it would turn out to be a false reading, as many are. Taking the advice of our Genetics Counselor and doctors, we worked hard at trying to continue on as if the pregnancy was normal because we didn't know other wise. Joe and I spent the next two and half weeks discussing the possibilities and working hard to continue on as if all was normal. It was somewhat easy to do because my body was continuing on as if it was a normal pregnancy. I think that's the hardest thing for me to wrap my head around. I was gaining weight, especially in my belly. I was looking more pregnant as the weeks moved on. That gave me some hope. It's funny how the body can react to certain situations. I did not have any cramping and very very light spotting, more off than on, which the doctors kept telling me was normal and nothing to worry about. I don't blame them at all for saying this. As I've read, and even talked with a few mothers, spotting and bleeding during a pregnancy can be normal for some women. 

Up until we found out, about the loss, everything seemed to be moving along OK with the baby. At the First Trimester Screening we were told the baby was measuring two weeks smaller than expected. At first I was very concerned about this, but I talked to the doctor and she said it could be a sign of the Trisomy 18/13 or it could be a miscalculation. She said it happens very frequently at these screenings, and many women leave measuring 1-2 weeks ahead or behind. I tried to focus on the second part of what she said, hoping that it was just a miscalculation. We talked with a Genetics Counselor after a more thorough blood panel, that was sent out, came back inconclusive. Again, we were told the best thing for the baby was to continue on as if all was well. After the blood work came back inconclusive, Joe and I decided to have an Amnio done. We needed to know, so we could start making some decisions. To run a second round of blood work would take another 4 weeks total. Two weeks until the next draw and then two weeks for results. We decided that waiting was not for us, so an Amnio was scheduled. Looking back at the signs, it seems that this outcome was inevitable. The small measurement, the lack of DNA found in the blood work, and the light spotting.

As I was coming home from work, on Monday, to head to our appointment, I knew something was not right. For the first time in the pregnancy I was having some cramping. It was very light almost non-exsitent, but it was there none the less. I got home and found that I was spotting more heavily. My stomach dropped, and I knew that the outcome of this appointment was not going to be a happy one. Our doctor tried to find a heartbeat using the Doppler and was unsuccessful. I looked at Joe and knew right away we had lost the baby. She preformed an ultrasound, and it was confirmed. There was our little love not moving and no heartbeat to be seen or heard. It was heart breaking seeing our baby on the screen no longer moving and kicking. We had been to several appointments and got to witness that amazingness, and now there was our baby, no more. I know I went into shock right away. I didn't cry, I didn't scream, I didn't even think. I just listened as our doctor walked us through our next steps. 

The hardest part for me is not just losing the baby, but also losing the pregnancy. We had so many events coming up this year that I would've been pregnant at. Milestones in the pregnancy, and that is to be no more. When I came fully out of anesthesia the first thought that went through my head was "Our pregnancy is truly over". I know that it had been over, but now it was, and is, truly over. I was no longer carrying a little baby. That is still something I am grappling with tonight as I lie awake. For 16 weeks, I had a little life inside of me. Growing and bonding with, and now that no longer exists. 

Joe has been truly amazing through this whole event. From the moment I told him we were pregnant, to when we found out about the Trisomy 18/13, he has been supportive, and loving, and taking everything as it comes. Even though this has been a very devastating time, we have really grown together in all of this darkness.

We have received an outpouring of support and couldn't be more grateful. I have heard from friends and family who have also lost their first child, or one of their children, and it is comforting to know we are not the only ones who have gone through this. I did know ahead of time that we are not the only ones, but there's comfort in knowing those close to us understand this loss too. I want to say thank you to all of you who have reached out and respected our asking you to message us privately. 

I know that Joe and I will get through this, and I know in time the loss will get easier to accept. For now, I think we are taking it day by day and seeing where this road leads. Moving forward will be hard, and I'm not sure when we will be ready to go on this journey again, but I know we will, and I know that it will be just as amazing as the first time. Even though it was short lived. 

Best 

Loss

It is with a very heavy heart that I write this post. Earlier this afternoon, Joe and I found out that we lost the baby.

About 3 weeks ago, Joe and I had a 1st Trimester screening. We got some blood results informing us that there was a 1:5 chance that the baby could have Trisomy 18/13. Trisomy 18/13 is a very rare gene defect that causes the 18th or the 13th gene to triplicate. It causes very serious birth defects. About half of babies with this defect are stillborn and around a majority don't make it past the 1st month. Joe and I were very devastated to find out this news, but were keeping hope that the odds were in our favor. Unfortunately the odds were not in our favor and Baby V did not make it. Our doctor informed us today she could not detect a heartbeat. She felt strongly that it was because of the Trisomy 18/13.

We want to thank you all for your support during this time, and ask that you send any message privately.

Spring Sucks

Apologies for the shaded dark pics, but you get the idea :)

I already know that I am in the minority, but that doesn't change the fact that I seriously hate spring. With that said, I will list a few reasons why I think it sucks, and show you the beautification Joe and I did this morning.

Spring sucks because:
1. I get nose bleeds- never get them in the winter
2. I sneeze constantly and my nose is always running- spring super sucks this year since I'm preggers and my sinuses are super open so basically I'm just a bloody snot bucket right now.
3. Insects! It's unnatural to have more than 4 limbs and 2 eyes. Also, having your skeleton on the outside! WTF!
4. Sun and heat- most people love this, but I hate sweating, and the blinding rays.
Lastly: Birds! How about you stop waking me at 5 a.m. and find a mate already!!!

OK enough with my rant, onto the beautification. When we moved into our tiny abode there was a very lame  azalea hanging on for dear life and weeds that made up the front flower bed. It was very sad and I didn't care at all. That is until this spring happened. I started taking a look around at the neighbors and we looked like that unkempt house that everyone avoids, so I thought it was time to do something about that. I weeded and prepped old-school style. No tiller here, just pure sweat and muscles. I edged out the bed and made Joe take me on a 9 p.m. trip for flowers last night :). I'm gonna call it a non-food pregnancy craving. I just had to get flowers last night. I spent the better part of this morning transplanting our purchase while Joey attended to the yard.  I pretty much refuse to cut the grass or weed whack. I'm not even gonna come up with some lame defense, I hate doing it so I don't. I do clean the bathroom, however, so I think that's a fair trade. Joe did help with the mulching since I can't lift anything more than 5 lbs. That is starting to really become a pain in the A for sure.

The big issue we have with our front is a very large maple tree that shades our house magnificently. Hey, low electric bill! I had to do some research on what plants do best in almost full shade. I started getting a little discouraged because most plants that do well are just greenery - not many flowering plants. That's not fun at all! After visiting my local nursery, I found we could have some color after all. I settled on a bleeding heart, which I have always loved, so I was really stoked about that, impatiens, this super cute polka dot plant, and periwinkle. Unfortunately, the impatiens and the polka dot plants are annuals so we'll have to plant again next year, but my bleeding heart and periwinkle will last and last.

Even though I think spring sucks, I do have to say, I'm very happy with the results and hope these little baby plants thrive. I'm not so good at caring for flowering plants...... Here's hoping!


Cheers!

How we started. Lame little azalea......

Bland, bland, bland....

Nice finished bed- we'll be adding rocks as we find them :)

Tiny bleeding heart.

Cute little polka dot plan

Always stylish impatiens

Periwinkle, blooms coming soon

A closer look :)


P.S. I want to make clear, that my intention for the beautification is not to actually have people want to come over, but just like how it looks from the outside. Joe and I are terrible neighbors and would like to keep it that way :)