He's Here

Jack Robertson
9lbs 6.8oz, 21 3/4 inches





Coming Soon....
Jack's Blog

And I thought the kitchen progress was slow...

I have no labor signs at all, so most likely I will make it to the induction scheduled for this week. I call on Wednesday to find out what time that evening I should come in, and will be given a preparatory treatment that evening for the induction drugs on Thursday. I am very much hoping that the hospital isn't super super busy and they have to reschedule (which is not common, but does happen apparently). Of course I truly have my fingers crossed that I go into labor naturally before then.

In more productive news, thanks almost entirely to Steve we got around 85% of our stuff clean and back into the kitchen yesterday! Thank goodness....

Before & After!!!

Ok, so it isn't 100% done, but close enough for this.
Now on to finalizing paint colors and cleaning the dining room..

Still here...

Both the kitchen guys and me!

The kitchen guys should be 98% done today! All the carpentry/touch up work is slated for completion. After that we are just waiting for 2 missing doors, some shelves, the toilet seat and a part for the bathroom sink. So the contractors will be in here next week at some point for an hour or so.

Baby and I are doing fine, I was monitored this morning to check the baby. During this they simultaneously monitor contractions, or in my case, lack of contractions.

I will try to post kitchen pics tomorrow...

Giant Feet

I had an ultrasound yesterday to check the baby's position since the OB and I thought he may have turned sideways. Luckily, he didn't and is head down as he should be. It was nice for Steve and I too see the little guy again.

This confirmed without an inkling of a doubt that he is indeed a he - though we are saving that picture to annoy him as a teenager. We also confirmed that he has huge feet, like both his parents. The nurse doing the scan seemed a little taken aback by the size of the feet so I guess it wasn't just our impression. You can be a judge...




The foot is the oblong light spot at the bottom of the image, you can also see the leg going up the image towards the top.

Looks like if I don't go into labor on my own, I will be induced on the 14th, so at longest we have 7 more nights of sleep.

Food milestone...

Well, I didn't get a picture, but Steve actually cooked dinner in our kitchen tonight. Sadly, that doesn't mean it is all done, but the appliances now all work so we tried out the range. It boils water for pasta just fine:)

Nothing to report...

For those wondering, our lack of an update is not because Lauren is in labor. I am still here, feeling pretty good and we are both hoping our kitchen is done soon.

We went to see Knocked Up on Saturday. I was hoping for my water to break or something during the movie, as it clearly would make a memorable story. Alas, it was not to be. However, the movie was worth it, we both found it extremely funny.

Status Report

Updated 4:00 Friday..notice nothing has changed since 1:00 PM on Thurs - though the plumber did show up for 1.5 hours this morning...

Done:
Fridge in place and working w/ power but no water it seems-- (need to check on that)
Dishwasher in the room
Range in place and working
Glass installed in the 2 cabinets with glass fronts
Reordered cabinet and door have arrived

Still to do:
Install last 2 cabinets
Install microwave (after adjusting the vent)
Once the prior 2 are done, install the crown molding above those 2 cabinets
Install and hook up toilet
Intall bathroom sink, faucet, then hook up to water
install toilet seat
Install backsplash on bathroom sink
Install bathroom mirror, hardware
Install footboard at base of all cabinets
Install & hook/up under cabinet lights
Finish off last of outlets
Finish off outlet for dishwasher
Hook up dishwasher to water
Hook up radiators

I am starting to get very impatient and am not at all convinced they will be done by Friday. I will not be amused if all our dishes are still on the dining room floor when we come home with a baby.

Happy Birthday!

We went out to explore the Arlington "res" this morning instead of doing chores (and because it is such a nice day). It turns out it has a 1 mile walking path around the reservoir and a small beach run by the town. You need passes to use the beach in season, but they do provide lifeguards, bathrooms and also a small playground. It is no Lake Michigan but not bad for 1.5 miles from our house...

After a couple of false install dates... flooring...

The floor is in and we are very, very pleased. The wood brings some color to the room and warms it up nicely (as we had hoped).

My last “Case of the Mondays”

In honor of Office Space being on Comedy Central last night I thought I would take a second and reflect on my last Monday at work (at least for awhile!) I have mixed feelings about leaving. For many months I was extremely excited at the prospect of no more deadlines, fewer off-the-wall requests from bosses, and less time spent in traffic. Making my own schedule (ok the baby will make my schedule) seemed somehow a nice change of pace, even if it wasn’t going to be stress-free or relaxing.

However, the closer it comes the more I realize I will miss my amazing, caring coworkers and being lucky enough to work in Harvard Square. I took a walk around the block to enjoy some fresh air this morning before heading into the overly-fluorescent bulbs of the office (another thing I won’t miss) and took these 2 pictures. Though I rarely have enough time to enjoy the views and atmosphere during the work day, it really is a pretty amazing place to work. What makes this somewhat easier is the prospect my organization is about to undergo a major change resulting in different staffing and likely a major move out of the Square WAY out into the suburbs. I actually hesitate to use the word “suburb” as it is that far out. I most likely wouldn’t have considered staying given that daunting potential commute, but regardless I am approaching the end of an era.

Of course what is to come promises to be more unpredictable, more exciting yet at times even more routine, and will push me in ways I haven't been challenged before.

Ok, well no floors

BUT, we do have counters installed!






The plumber should be here Monday to hook up the sink/fridge. The floor should be delivered any day (the contractor has been bugging them regularly and they are dragging their feet apparently). Then it has to "season" for 2-3 days before being installed, apparently. Hopefully that means the floor can be done this week. I am hoping that the week of Memorial Day it will be all done.

This week, besides the counters, all the trim around the doors and windows was installed. Other than that we are waiting on the floors and the replacement cabinet to show up so the final touches can be done in the area above/next to the range.

Kitchen Pics to Come Next weekend

We are getting our floors AND our counters this week! Too much excitement. There will be a grand reveal of the almost finished kitchen next weekend.

In the last week our cabinets got hardware (brushed satin pulls), the trim/molding was put up around the doors and windows and all the cabinets we have are installed. (One had to be sent back and a replacement has been ordered.)

More Kitchen & Nursery Updates

Sorry for the bad lighting -- but you can see most of the high cabinets, the vent for the range and the bottom cabinet doors are up on this wall.

The molding is up and doors are on for this side!


The bathroom - the mirror still needs to go on the wall cabinet (duh) and the bottom cabinet door isn't in yet either...



And the glider was delivered for the nursery - it is so comfy!

Couldn’t ask for a better place to work!

My office threw me a shower today and besides being very generous, they showed remarkable thought and creativity.

In addition to the assortment of outfits, books, toys and other such things they got me an adorable cake of my favorite flavors from where our wedding cake came . A few months ago I had a discussion about local bakeries and wedding cakes with a coworker who remembered. Luckily she ordered plenty and my office is health conscious so Steve and I will be eating it all weekend!

One of my other coworkers is extremely creative. She actually appeared on an HGTV show called “crafters across America” showing off greeting cards she makes. She made me the tee-shirt below.

For those that don’t immediately get it, check out or corporate logo below!

Appliances and Cabinets!

Really and truly it is starting to come together!

~All the cabinets (save one high cabinet) are up on the interior wall and the fridge is here (though clearly not pushed in all the way.
~ All the bottom cabinets are in on the exterior wall - and the slide in range is in place.

Even more progress..

We have...

~finished walls and a ceiling (just need paint)
~overhead lights that work
~cabinets IN the house (though not installed obviously)
~ an appointment for appliances to be delivered (Thursday)
~ our millionth black granite sample – (nero angola black)
~ an appointment for our granite to be templated (Friday)

Finally starting to look like a room -

We have walls (almost). The plasterers come tomorrow, then they will be done! The cabinets should be up shortly after that - probably Thurs/Friday.


We are going to pick out our granite slab on Friday too.





There has finally been a bit of glitch. Now that I realized that the cabinets weren't in boxes (which I assumed!) in the garage I peeked in. The bathroom vanity is not at all what I had expected/envisioned. It wasn’t a stock design so they had to do some custom work. Luckily I don’t think it will be a huge deal for them to make it right and I am sure they will. I gave them a photo of what I wanted and we discussed it at length. There is no question what they sent isn't the same (or even that similar) to the picture. A little bit of carpentry will solve that though.

Luckily the kitchen cabinets look great.

I should have known...

Looks like the kitchen will be completely insulated by the end of the day - just in time for our (nearly) 70 degree weather this weekend. I didn't know the contractor had a deal with the gas company.

Inspected!

So the "kitchen" has been inspected by the town, and our floor has been leveled. According to the carpenter the floor was off by 1 1/2 inches from one side of the room to the other! It is now now only level but also sturdier.

They are now saying they should be able to start putting up the real walls as soon as Monday. Thurs-Sat they will be finishing up some of the floor and insulating the walls!

Most importantly they say that the “hard” part is done!

Major Progress!

Thanks to the rainout of the Sox game, Steve and I (well mainly Steve) were able to put together the baby’s crib and the baby’s dresser today. We also cleaned up a lot of dust and put down the rug. We are still waiting on the delivery of the glider/ottoman which will go in the corner between the windows.

Other to dos - I still have to paint the changing table (I don’t like the wood color with the rest of the stuff).

And the final touch will be the murals that will go up sometime soon.

2 big arrivals

Our cabinets arrived today and our crib came in yesterday.

The former should be up on the walls either the end of next week or early the following. I finally feel like it is progressing. We have lots of new pipes and the bathroom wall /door is framed. I believe the room will be inspected for the plumbing /electrical soon, then insulation will be put in and the walls will go up.

The latter is still in a box in our living room. Once our nursery trim is finished, we can bring it upstairs and assemble.

Let there be light!

This is the first big improvement we can see! A new slider instead of the old, very drafty door-

(You can also notice there is, at present, no wall between the kitchen and the bathroom. The window you see in the right of the frame is on the bathroom wall!).










View from the front door....

Joys of living in the northern US...

We got some snow yesterday/last night...Steve had to shovel the stairs/sidewalk this morning. It wasn't very much, probably 3/4 of an inch, but all the rooftops are white and it makes walking outside slick, especially for me in my front-heavy state. When I got into Harvard Square (about 4 miles - if that- from our house) there was not a speck of snow or ice remaining!

In kitchen news, we will have a new back door quite soon. The hole has been cut in our back wall to make room for a sliding glass door. This will allow us much more natural light and solve the problem of the back door opening into cabinets (or in the old layout opening into and denting our fridge). We also have had visits from the electrician and the plumber to some “rough” prep work.

Baby Shower and Kitchen Update!

Steve and I spent the weekend in Connecticut so I could attend my baby shower. It was a lovely afternoon filled with family, friends and much joy all around. People are so generous with their time and money I am truly touched!

The kitchen is still totally gutted, right now they seem to be replacing one of our structural beams that support the ceiling of the kitchen. This was a planned repair as the carpenter didn’t think the old one was sufficient or installed properly. In addition it allows us to raise the ceiling height a few more inches. Steve can correct me if I am wrong on any of those details. We also had some collateral damage from all the pounding. One of the tiles (luckily hidden behind the toilet) in our upstairs bath broke in multiple pieces and fell off the wall, and a small piece of plaster in the dining room that abuts that ½ bath that is gutted feel off. Given the plaster is 80 years old and the interior wall there appears to be only 1-2 inches deep, I can’t say I am shocked.

I came home to

THE GOOD
Nursery - colors are benjamin moore's "lake tahoe" and "jasper yellow" (the blue is just one wall)




AND THE BAD/UGLY!
The Kitchen
this is our ceiling (top photo) and part of the outside long wall (bottom photo)

Busy, Busy weekends

We are right now on opposite coasts, but one thing is the same - we are going to be much busier than normal this weekend.

Lauren - work 10-6 Saturday and 8:30-7:30 on Sunday

(I get quite a few breaks and none of it is physically tiring - don't worry!). The major upside to working on the weekend is I am in lovely weather and from my room at the Hyatt I can see the bay bridge, the old port building and the water. View from my window at 7:20 pacific time: (Sunrise is late here!)

Steve - We have some exciting news - a dumpster is coming a dumpster is coming! Steve has the not enviable job of emptying all our cabinets so they can start ripping out the kitchen. We never got a full-size dining room table, so hopefully we have enough free floor space for all the added pots/pans. Steve also will start painting the nursery.

An (almost) clean slate

People just came and picked up our guest mattress/box spring from the house. We discovered it doesn't fit in any other room and since we need to fit a crib now, it had to go. We sold it on craigslist. This was our first big sell this way and were quite please with the results. ---For my mom: they paid cash so I don't think we will end up on Judge Judy!

So what had been the guest bedroom, now looks like this...






Hopefully next week the walls and trim will be repainted.

I don't think the relative emptiness will last long. Tomorrow we will purhcase the dresser. My shower is in three weeks, after which, presumably, more boxes filled with baby stuff will need a good home! Oh, and the crib and glider/ottoman have been ordered but won't be in for some weeks. (A special thanks to Linda/Rick for the crib and Bill/Pat for the glider & ottoman).

By request...

..a pic of my growing belly.

Feeling unaccomplished

I just got my high school alumni magazine which, like most college ones with which people are likely more familiar, is a glossy set of pages to brag about alumni enough to make other alumni so proud to have attended this institution that they send money. (Unlike my college one it doesn’t have ads, nor are classes charged for it). I digress.

Apparently a student - Ryan Sager - that was a year behind me (making him only 27 or 28), and who I actually knew quite well being a fellow day student, has written a book. It has been reviewed and quoted by the Economist, the Wall St. Journal and has been the topic of 2 Times Op-Eds. He has been on CNN, Fox News and many other radio and news programs. I had heard he was on the editorial board of the NY Post (impressive enough), but this is too much.

Of course, had he been on the Daily Show or Colbert Report I probably would have heard about his book when it came out instead of months later.

The premise of his book sounds an awfully like another book I read “The Right Nation” that also argues that the Republican party is composed of two main groups that at some point are going to have to split as the glue that binds is becoming less and less effective. I think the Right Nation was more historical, however.

On top of this, another student I knew that was TWO years behind me (also a day student) just published about about how to use advanced math to evaluate poker moves. (I am sure his parents are glad he is using his Cal Tech degree to good use).

And up to this afternoon, I just felt like I was unaccomplished because I had a to-do list a mile long and need to do some laundy.

Nothing major to report

So we have nothing major to report - we spent the weekend cleaning and doing things around the house which we had neglected for months. We are also starting to prepare the attic for its impending transition to our guest room and the guest room for its transition to a nursery. I suppose we better get that done now, as otherwise it will be many years before anything is done (or so people tell me). Also, I am in single digits until my due date.

A milestone, of sorts…

I just dropped in the mailbox my pre-admission for the hospital where I will be delivering…one more thing to make this seem very very real :)

Interesting Fact: The King of Thailand was born at the same hospital. The only reason I know is the “Square” (read 6 by 6 brick area) outside my office is named in his honor to commemorate his birth in Cambridge.

Bhumibol Adulyadej

Another beach...

another climate...


Steve and I spent the weekend in Dennis Port (Cape Cod), with my mom and stepdad and their dog (can't leave Rebel out!). It was a nice trip, though as you can imagine we passed on some of the more traditional seaside pastimes. We stuck to shopping and eating:)

Hmm, this is not good…

So we knew we wouldn’t have a kitchen or a ½ bath for awhile coming up in the spring, during the renovation. However, we were not expecting to lose the ½ bath now! Apparently a pipe burst the night before last (not the one that froze before?!) in that bathroom so for the moment the water is cut off to that room.

Steve has learned WAY WAY more about plumbing than I think he ever wanted to lately.

Kitchen Decisions

Yesterday we gave away a lot of money for a deposit to our contractor/designer, so our cabinets, floor, etc. can be ordered. (Rest to be paid at milestones during installation). Start date is going to be around March 26 - April 2 which gives them about 9-10 weeks to work until the baby should arrive. They claim that should be plenty, and we are cautiously optimistic as so far they have given us every indication that they are a well-run organization. My aunt's was just done in 5 so it can be done!

Pretty much everything has been picked except the final granite (long story I don’t want to get into right now). Since we haven't shared too much about this, and it is a huge project, here is an idea of what it will look like. White cabinets, round knobs, dark wood floors (see sample) and almost surely black counters (yes we know they show dust and finger prints).

Wall color isn’t final, but it may well be the red in the pic below. As of now, we won't have a full backsplash, but the granite will rise up 4" onto the walls... we may put a tile one in eventually, but a) we can't make a decision at this point - it is too daunting, b) the tile guy recommended living with it for awhile to see what you think will work best.

This is one our inspriation pics and the end results should be quite a bit like this - similar cabinet style/color, to the floor/ceiling cabinets, round knobs on all cabinets, similar molding and stainless appliances.


Floor:


I will post pics of some of the plumbing fixtures in coming days. Also up, more info on the 1/2 bath.

The most exciting thing to happen to our street, since, well .... probably ever.

For those of you not in the northeast, Boston had a citywide bomb scare yesterday that wreaked havoc on the city and traffic. It turns out the “bombs” were essentially lite brites of a cartoon character and part of a marketing campaign for a comedy central cartoon.

Last night they arrested the person that placed them around the city for the ad agency (3 weeks ago!), and they showed them on the news leaving his house with the cops. They mentioned it was in Arlington and I thought it looked like our generally area (most houses look the same) but one in the background looked really familiar. Still, I thought nothing of it. However, later in the report they mentioned he was arrested on OUR STREET! Apparently it was the house he lived in for a long time with his "parents."

Let's say Steve and I are not shaking in our boots about a struggling art-school graduate's family lives on our street.

Nursery Ideas

Steve and I are very lucky to have an extraordinarily talented friend. She is actually the one that introduced us. As if that isn't talent enough, she is also a wonderful artist in addition to being a big-shot NYC lawyer.

So, in honor of our Alma Mater (also Dr. Seuss') - Darlyn has offered to recreate these (or maybe slightly different) characters on our nursery walls. These specific images are from a relative's house she did awhile ago.

I am pretty sure she doesn't consider these high art, but I think they are pretty darn impressive!

All images are copyright by Darlyn, and can not be displayed or distributed without permission.

Check, Check, Check.............what, there is more??

So we have been very busy and accomplished a lot in the last 2 weeks:

*Bought and put up valences on the stairwell
*Hung a few pictures
* decided on a bunch of baby items and what my best friend will paint on the walls (this will be the topic of another post and will include sample pics!)
* Decided on a bunch of kithchen stuff including:faucet, glass for the few cabinets that will have glass fronts, and the color of cabinets (which white? ugh - we made our lives easier by sticking to the standard 8 whites to select from instead of opting to look through ALL the sherwin williams colors that they no offer - talk about too many whites!)

Sadly there is still a ton to do:
* final type of granite for counter (down to 2 blacks - absolute or galaxy)
* final color of floor (we are getting prefinished hardwood so we have to pick a stain)
* Any tile work (we may skip this at this point - long story)
* toilet
* bathroom fixtures
* furniture for the nursery
* lots and lots of baby stuff including figuring out what you do with one once they come home!


Once all the kitchen things are decided (they want it finalized this week) they will start in 8 weeks - the last week in March - and they swear it will be done before the baby. This gives them 9 weeks. My Aunt's contractor just managed it in about 5, so I am somewhat optimistic.