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SURPRISE! We’re Expecting: Pregnancy Week 18
Yup, you’ve read that right. We are expecting baby #3 and I’m already 18 weeks along! If you are following along with me on Instagram, then you probably already know about our big news. However, I wanted to share some more of the details over here.
HEALTH
Physically, it has been a pretty rough road so far. I’ve been dealing with extreme morning/all day sickness which has pretty much stopped me in my tracks for the past couple of months. I’m not surprised about that though since my previous pregnancies were very similar in that way. Luckily, it seems to be easing up just a bit!
FEEEEEEELINGS
There are so many feels going around during this pregnancy. To say that I’m not nervous, would be a lie. I’m a hot mess! I had some major end of pregnancy/birth complications during my last pregnancy with my son. (Pre-eclampsia/HELLP syndrome) So, naturally, I’m somewhat concerned about the outcome with this babe as well. Plus, I’m over 35 now which puts me in the “geriatric” maternal age range and raises the risks of genetic issues. All of that, plus the normal crazy pregnancy hormones raging through my body have made me pretty emotional this time around.
NURSERY
Not only will we be adding to our family, but we will also be trying to fit another small human into our already tight and cozy home. Since this is a home decor blog, I, of course, will be sharing our nursery plans, whatever those may end up being. We have yet to figure out the logistics of all of that, but there are some ideas rolling around in my brain. (Closet nursery possibly?)
So, that’s what’s been up with me/us for the past several months! We are so excited (and still a little anxious) for what is to come. I hope you will follow along!
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We Got Chickens!
We got chickens and ducks! You read that right and I wanted to make it blog official! This place is feeling more farm like already. I’ve shared little snippets about our newest family members over on Instagram, but I wanted to share some more of the details about our fluffy little friends!
I’ve been wanting to tell you guys about our poultry news here for awhile, but honestly, we’ve been dealing with a few things that have kept me from being very blog productive. First of all, I’ve had some sort of stomach issues for awhile and I meet with the GI specialist this coming week. (Any prayers you could spare for a good outcome would certainly be welcomed!)
Second, during the process of doctoring, I also found out that I am extremely anemic, which probably has contributed to my lack of motivation and general laziness over the past couple of months. I’ve started taking iron supplements and that seems to be helping a bit.
Third, about a week and a half ago, we lost our sweet kitty Rowan to congestive heart failure. He was only 2.5, so it was pretty devasting for our family to lose him so quickly. He was such a friendly little guy and we will miss his antics and snuggles.
Anyway… back to the chicks and ducklings! Aren’t their fluffy little butts so cute?
We currently have 10 Silkies (white), 4 Plymouth Barred Rocks (black and white), and 2 Pekin Ducks. Originally, we only wanted 3 of each chicken breed, but the silkies are sold in 5’s and as a straight run (males and females) and we wanted to make sure we had several females. Plus, the hatchery sent 1 extra of each chick breed! Unfortunately, we did lose one Silkie the first night, but the rest have been growing at amazing speed since then!
They are about 6.5 weeks old now (in the awkward teenage phase) and have been so fun to watch grow and change.
The ducklings are massive (I had no idea they would grow this much in such a short time period!) Both of them are female and have the cutest sister bond ever. We named them Poppy and Paisley.
As for the chicks, each member of our family has claimed and named one of the Barred Rock cuties. Their names are Obscura, Robber, Lunch, and Sable. Our plan is to raise them and enjoy the eggs they produce, but my husband thought that Lunch was an appropriate name for one of them. He can be a bit cheeky.
Unfortunately, we have yet to name the Silkies. Since we don’t know whether they are pullets (female) or cockerels (male), naming them seems like a bit of a waste of time. Plus, we will more than likely rehome the cockerels at some point. In the meantime, I do have a list of names prepared!
My hubby has also been intently working on transforming an old shed on our property into a chicken coop. He has done so much, but there is still quite a bit to finish. Once it is all done, I will be back to share all of the details. I can’t wait for you to see it finished!!!
Stay in touch! Visit me on:
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New Laminate Wood Flooring
If you follow me over on Instagram, then you’ve probably already heard that while I was away the other weekend, my hubby installed new laminate wood flooring in our house. I was so excited to come home and see what he had done!
This post contains affiliate links. Click here to read my full disclosure.
You may be wondering why we decided to redo the floors in the entire house. Especially, since I talked about trying to save money doing “Chapter 1” upgrades here at The Country House. You may also be puzzled if you remember that we added in peel and stick flooring in our daughter’s Tween Bedroom Makeover a few months ago.
It basically comes down to a couple of reasons.
1. The light beige carpet in our main living area was getting destroyed thanks to our sweet pup, Harper, and muddy shoes. (It wasn’t in perfect condition to start with.) As of right now, we only use our front door to go in and out of the house. Since this winter’s weather has been so crazy, certain areas outside are super muddy. I can only imagine it will get muddier this spring!
We knew that we didn’t want our carpet to always look dirty and figured non-carpeted floors would be easier keep clean.
2. Initially, we planned on installing peel and stick planks only in certain rooms and leaving the cream carpets alone. Once we knew we wanted new floors for the whole house, we started to question if we loved the flooring in our daughter’s room. It is not bad by any means. However, the color is a bit darker than we really wanted in a hallway and bathroom with no natural light.
So, after some deliberation…
We decided to go with the same flooring we had installed in The City House. (TrafficMASTER Lakeshore Pecan Laminate from The Home Depot.) We really loved the look of the wide planks and the color was just the neutral we wanted. Plus, it is one of the most inexpensive options they have, which made us feel a little bit better about replacing those peel and stick planks.
Right now, about half of the house is finished and it has already made a huge difference. We do have a couple of area rugs to add some coziness in the rooms, as well as absorb some noise.
My Roomba has also saved a lot of time sweeping, so we are mostly just giving things a quick mop if they get muddy.
We really love the new floors and so do our fur babies. This is the newest addition to our little growing farm. His name is Tim Tom and he is a Holland Lop bunny. (We are thinking we would like to give him a new name, but have yet to figure out what that might be.)
What do you think of these new floors?
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2016 Year in Review
Hello, Friends! I hope you are enjoying the holidays and have eaten tons of amazing things over the past week! (We can all worry about our waistlines in the new year, right?) Anyway, for my 2016 year in review, I wanted to share some of the best posts from this year.
We’ve had so many amazing/crazy things happen this past year. This blog went from a two person business to a one woman show. Our family made a big decision to move from the city to the country. We finished remodeling one home and started work on another. Lucky for us, I have been able to document all of that right here on this blog. Here are a few of the top posts from this past year!
Most Popular Post
Spring Fling Home Tour – This post was the most viewed post from this past year. Spring is one of my favorite times of the year to decorate for. I love all of the fresh greenery and life that it brings to a home. And a lot of people also agreed!
Most Commented On Post
My Home Style Blog Hop: Neutral Modern Farmhouse Tree – We absolutely loved our Christmas tree this year. From the addition “snow” to several new ornaments, it was wonderful to have a light and bright tree to celebrate the season!
My Favorite Post
How We Sold Our Home In One Day – I have to admit that selling your home is one of the most stressful things a person can do. However, even though getting ready for showings and keeping your home spotless may have you wanting to poke your own eyes out, we were able to sell our home to the first buyer to walk through.
2016 has definitely been a crazy year! I can only imagine what this coming year has in store for us. Happy Holidays to you and yours! Please be safe and I will see you back here in 2017!
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