Emmett Arthur!!!!!

It's been almost a week since my little Emmett was born. Best week ever!!! Emmett is an ANGEL so far- so so sweet, so easy, and so cute! He eats like a champ, sleeps for long periods (which means mom gets some rest too), and he gives me more joy and happiness than I ever could have imagined. He's really the best thing ever.

I'll write about his birth story more later, but I wanted to jot down a few of the things that have stood out to me this week before I forget them forever. 

• When they first handed Emmett to me he was crying of course, but as soon as I started talking to him he calmed right down and just stared at me with total recognition. He knew I was his mama as soon as he heard my voice. How amazing is that? It was such a sweet moment watching him realize it was me. I just held him and stared back in so much awe. He was so beautiful.
• Watching Ray those first few minutes was enough to break my heart a million times. He was so calm and relaxed during my labor, which really helped me to stay calm, and once Emmett was out it was so fun to watch his reactions. He seemed a little timid at first, and I have to admit I hogged the baby for as long as they let me, but Ray was so sweet, standing over us and watching and he kept saying how cute Emmett was. I could tell he was in love right away. He has been the biggest help to me so far- he jumps to help me with everything I need, he loves to hold Emmett and spend time with him, and he still keeps saying how cute he thinks he is. It's true- he's really really cute!
• Being a new mom is overwhelming and incredibly emotional. This is something I expected of course, but it's worth saying. You become so filled with love all in one tiny moment, and your entire life changes. Not to mention all the incredible and intense changes your body goes through in such a short time. The first few days were such a high and so so wonderful. I have never been so happy and everything feels so perfect. But it's a roller coaster as well. You worry about your baby and you worry about being the perfect mom, and I find myself putting a lot of pressure on myself to do everything and be everything and it's starting to wear me out. I'm trying to remind myself to take it slow and to learn as I go. 
• Breastfeeding is hard. It hurts! But it's worth it. I was nervous about breastfeeding because I've read that so many moms have a really hard time with it, but with Emmett, it's a breeze. About an hour after he was born he sort of crawled his way down to my boob and with almost no effort at all he latched on and held on and he's been nursing like a champ ever since. But still, it's hard. I feel so badly for mom's who have to work really hard to feed their babies. It would break my heart to watch Emmett struggle to feed. Especially with my emotions being as raw and delicate as they are- I'm sure it leaves you feeling inadequate and like you're failing. That would be so hard. I'm praying for those moms! Today I pumped for the first time and HATED it. I had my first real break down afterwards because it hurt and it was awful and I just never want to do it again, but I have to because I'll have to pump a lot when I go back to work. Emmett wanted to eat soon after I finished pumping, and Ray wanted to feed him with a bottle because I'd just emptied all my milk, but I couldn't handle that and cried like a baby all over again. I'm just not ready to let go of that special time with him. Like I said, it's all very delicate when you're a new mom.

I'm sure there's more but Emmett is laying next to me with the sweetest little look on his face and I need to go snuggle him before I explode. I miss him even when he's right next to me. I'll leave you to bask in all the cuteness with a few pictures from Emmett's first few days in this world. Enjoy!

Meeting Grandpa Wilby! (We'll come up with a better name than that!)

Ugh, this one kills me. So content after his first feed.)

His Ree is his biggest fan!

Emmett loves his Aunt Rachel!

Here's a few of his visitors!

First car ride, heading home!

I can't stop kissing his squishy little cheeks!

Meeting brother Bagel for the first time. It went really well!

Kitchen!

First, here are a couple pics of me at 38 weeks. When I look at these, I wonder who that person is. Kinda looks like me, but jeeeez look at that belly!

(Not sure why these came out so neon-y..)

Kinda hard to believe that's my baby in there, super close to coming out to play!

And now, for the kitchen! My husband bought our townhouse a couple years before we met, and with the market being the way it is, the house just isn't worth what he paid for it. So we really didn't want to put much money into renovating our kitchen. But it was in SERIOUS need of work, so we got creative and made some updates that we are really happy with. First, the befores:

This has been the state of our kitchen since I moved in. BORING, cheap, and just not done.

Notice the bulkhead on the ceiling. The worst.

Oh, also there were holes in it...

We have an entire wall of windows, which is nice for the light they bring in, but they're not very pretty.

Super cheap laminate countertops, with a cook top that only half works. That had to go.

This is the kitchen after the first day of demo- no more bulkhead!

And now, the afters!:

So, to keep within our tiny budget, we decided to refinish the existing cabinets. We painted them and installed bead board into the centers of the cabinet faces. We planned on painting the cabinets white, but in the end chose a nice brown-y grey. We love how they turned out!

We also put bead board up in place of a more expensive tile backsplash. We may change this later (when budget permits), but for now, we really like it! It cost almost nothing but made a really big difference.

I may have slightly over-decorated this little corner, but I really love finally being able to display some of my cute little things.

Close up of the backsplash, counter tops, and paint color.

The pic above gives you a good view of the lower cabinets, as well as the tile flooring that my husband put in when he first moved in. He made really good flooring choices, thank God! We also decided to keep the white appliances. We didn't want to spend a lot on new appliances, and we actually like the way the white ones look in the room. Who would've thought?

Please ignore that trash can. I don't know what I was thinking leaving that in the pictures. 

Eventually we will figure out some sort of functional/pretty window coverings, and maybe add a shelf above the windows. But for now, Ray and his dad built white frames to cover the cheap and ugly metal window frames.

Here's a close up of the bead board backsplash underneath the windows.

View from the entryway.

I love the island now that that awful cooktop is gone. There's so much space to work and entertain! For the counter tops, we decided it was appropriate to stick with a laminate, since again, we really didn't want to put too much money into the kitchen. I wasn't super excited about it, but we actually found a laminate that we really love. I think it looks the most like a natural stone, the colors are great, and I love the little bit of sparkle in the sunlight!

Close up of the counter top. Notice the little hint of a shimmer.

Above is the view from the kitchen into our entryway. This room seems to always be in transition, as we try to figure out the best way to use the space. For now, Ray's mom refinished this antique bar for us in the same color as the kitchen cabinets. We also just added the mirror, which really opens up the room and makes the kitchen look bigger.

This space is purely functional at the moment. I love having a place to hang my things, but it definitely needs something. Maybe a bench that doubles as seating and storage?

And then here are a few little details:

I LOVE peonies! 

I collect salt and pepper shakers, and have quite a few in the shape of little birds. These are my favorite.

My very clever husband mounted our spice rack above the stove to save space. Since the kitchen is pretty small, little things like this make all the difference.

And that's it! We are really happy with the way everything turned out. We put a lot of work in to it, and did almost everything ourselves to save money. In all, we spent about $2500, and we think we got major impact on a minor budget. 

Ray's parents were a HUGE help. They were here every weekend for what feels like months, painting, calking, framing, and just doing anything and everything we needed to get the job done. Thank you so much Ray and Laura!

My mom will be here on Wednesday to help prepare for the baby's arrival. (He is due in just 8 days, and there is still so much to do!) So, that means Ray have just 2 nights left in our house alone together, before we become parents. Wow! We're almost parents! Ray just made me brownies, without my even asking for them, so I'd say it's time for me to sign off and spend some time with my man. 

I'll leave you with this:

Our sweet little dog Bagel, who requires all of our attention at the moment. Isn't he cute?? Poor little dog. He has no idea what's coming!