Halfway There!! (Merry Christmas!)

It's been a month since we announced Baby Frey was on its way... here is a little update on what's been going on, just in time to wrap up 2014:

How Far Along?  20 weeks down, 20 weeks to go! I am so excited that we're halfway thru!  (I can't wait to be done and have this little one in my arms!)
Baby Size:  Banana - about 10 inches long from head to toes :) (and weighing in at about 10.5 oz)
Gender:  It's a secret!  We're planning on spilling the beans, though, sometime in January!
Movement?  I wish!! I thought I'd feel more by now, so I've been disappointed not to, especially since they tell us at the ultrasounds that this baby is really active!  Sometimes I think I feel something, but I just can't really be sure its baby.
Weight Gain:  About 9 lbs!  Which I'm pretty pleased with considering we just indulged in two very delicious and filling Christmas meals!
Maternity Clothes?:  I've been wearing maternity pants a good bit now (I feel like I got big so fast - ugh!), but some days my belly does seems smaller and I can still get away with my normal jeans.  Just bought a few maternity shirts for the first time, but I really don't need them yet. :)
Stretch Marks?  Nope! None yet.  Someone gifted me a jar of belly butter and I will probably start using that pretty soon to help things along.
Cravings:  Over the past month I've had some random ones including donuts, fun dip, and Chinese food.
Aversions:  I've been enjoying some sweet things again... for the longest time, I couldn't stand candy and couldn't even think of eating chocolate (which most of you know I usually love).  Carrots are the only food that still makes me kinda queasy to think about... (had a bad experience with those in my 1st trimester).  I've also started to drink coffee again occasionally.  That was another horrible aversion for a long time (and I really looooved me some coffee before that...).
Symptoms:  For the past week or 2, I have been ravenously hungry pretty much all the time.  It's not even really that I feel like eating, I just get soooo hungry and if I don't eat I get sick! /  My nose has been super stuffy ever since I got pregnant, I have pressure in my ears, and I sneeze a lot.  I found out that this is probably because of Pregnancy Rhinitis.  /  I have been having some pretty horrible headaches on an off over the past month. /  A little bit of heartburn, especially in the evenings... Tums have become my close friends :)  /  I have been tiiiired - I know they say there is usually more energy in the 2nd trimester, but I often get really sleepy throughout the day and need to take a nap. / My prenatal still makes me queasy sometimes.  /  My back gets really sore, usually when sitting, and I have pain under my ribs a lot - the doctor said that the top of my uterus is up there pretty far (I guess normally it's about even with the belly button right now... but not mine!)  And the poor ultrasound tech had such trouble getting to see the baby because it was curled up near my ribs the whole time.
Sleep:  Ugh... didn't sleep great before the pregnancy, I'm sleeping even worse now, and I have a feeling after the baby is born sleep will continue to evade me. It's been really difficult to get comfortable at night, and my hubby is constantly rolling me onto my side since the doctor says I shouldn't be on my back anymore.  I'm still sleeping on my stomach though :) My in-laws gave me a Snoogle body pillow for Christmas which I have been really looking forward to, so I'm hoping that will help me some now!  I also simply just wake up all the time. I joke with Chad that I'm already getting up for nighttime feedings... it's just me that I'm feeding! lol! I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night so hungry that I feel like I'm going to vomit.  That's definitely been a part of this pregnancy I didn't expect.
What I Miss:  I'm not going to lie, I miss having a drink now and then. :(  /  I miss just eating without questioning what's in things.  There are SOOOOO many things that the experts warn you not to eat when pregnant - deli meats, soft cheeses, store made salads, leftovers from restaurants if they don't get straight to the fridge, certain seafood, dippy eggs, certain teas... I mean the list just goes on an on and I feel like I'm constantly google-ing to find out what's okay or not.  I am pretty lax about eating some of those things anyway within reason, but it just feels like it's a constant job! Plus eating out has become more difficult!  Did you know that Carrabba's makes nearly ALL their salad dressings with raw eggs?!  Sigh. I can't have those (unless they are pasteurized). /  I miss the medicines I'm not allowed to take - ibuprofen, I wish you were here.
Favorite Moments So Far:  Working on the nursery.  We got a crib!  It's been fun to get everything designed and planned out.  /  Seeing the baby on the ultrasounds.  We had one at 16 weeks to find out the gender, and we had the official anatomy scan done at the hospital 2 weeks ago.  It took more than an hour and it was interesting to see the little one moving all around.
Least Favorite Moments So Far:  Our anatomy scan showed everything was measuring good and developing well, except they saw a bright spot on the baby's heart called an Echogenic Intracardiac Focus, usually caused by small calcium deposits.  It in no way hurts the baby's health or heart function, but they did explain to us that these are considered a "soft marker" of chromosome abnormalities like down syndrome.  So, because of that, they scheduled us to have a more detailed ultrasound at Maternal Fetal Medicine, which will happen next Friday, where they will check to see if the bright spot has gone away (it usually does eventually) and if there are any other soft markers present.  There's only a very small chance something is wrong - We're believing and praying that Baby Frey is completely normal - but it's a very nerve-wracking thing to find out!
Looking Forward To:  Friday's Ultrasound, and (hopefully) hearing great news that will ease our concerns! / Getting the rest of the nursery furniture, working on some DIY projects, and starting to decorate!  / The gender reveal get-together we plan to have sometime in January to tell our family (and the rest of the world, too) the baby's gender.


We hope everyone had a lovely holiday!  Chad & I had a fantastic time celebrating with our families the past few days (My sister and her boyfriend got engaged on Christmas!!! AHHHHHH!!!! So so exciting!!)  AND, of course, it was wonderful to officially make it halfway through this pregnancy as of Christmas day!  Baby Frey even got in on a little Christmas action this year.  Aunt Tanya & Uncle Brandon got us an adorable little onesie that I can't wait to see on this little one! :)

DIY Entryway Bench

(Disclaimer:  This post may have affiliate links.)

When Chad & I talked about redoing our basement, I knew I wanted some kind of entryway bench.  I love halltrees and the cute cubbies systems that you can buy from pottery barn and other similar places, but I do NOT like the price tag.  Here is one really cute bench from Pottery Barn that costs $400. AND it doesn't even include the baskets or the cushion (or the matching shelf above which is entirely seperate).  The baskets and cushion together cost about another $170 (on sale).  So to buy it like it's shown in the picture (not even including the shelf), I'd be dishing out more than $570.  I just can't see myself spending that kind of money for a bench.

Potty Barn's Samantha Collection

UPDATE! I still looooove this DIY projected we completed, but I have noticed in the three years since we built this bench, many much more affordable options have become available.  If a DIY project like this is just out of your realm of comfort, check these out.  In the spirit of honesty, of these benches are cheaper than what we spent to build ours! Check them out:

We had a console made for downstairs to set our ginormous new TV on because we ran into a similar problem finding one.  All of them were crazy expensive and none of them were the length as we wanted or really looked like what we were hoping for.  So, we decided to check out a local furniture maker, and I am SO glad we did.  We had to wait a little on it because he was really busy with other projects, but he built us EXACTLY what we wanted for less money than almost anything we found in big box and local furniture stores (and actually also in really remote furniture stores that we spent hours driving to hoping to find something that would work).  Life Lesson: Custom-made does not always mean overpriced.  Check out ALL your options, even the ones you think may be out of your price range, before you make a decision.  You may be surprised!

Anyway, I explain all that to say that we briefly considered having this furniture maker also make us an entryway system (and every other piece of furniture we ever wished we had), but we examined our priorities and decided that we just didn't want to spend the money this time around.  We aren't sure how long we'll stay in this house (but it's looking like we may move sooner rather than later), so we don't want to be rash and spend money on a bunch of custom things that we can't end up working into a new place.  But we definitely want to enjoy this house and make it as functional as possible for as long as we're here.

So I decided that we were going to build a bench Chad was going to build me a bench. :) Just kidding.  (He wished I was just kidding about the whole project at first). I am proud to say that I helped out on this project quite a lot and that after we got started, it turned out to be not-so-difficult to build.  We had a lot of fun and we feel quite accomplished now.  And Chad had a great time using many of the Christmas presents he's received over the past few years (AKA: tools).

Here's how we did it.  I found some awesome plans HERE for free that we modified to fit our space.  Then we headed to Lowe's and bought a sheet of MDF and two 1x3s also made of MDF.  The lumber cost us $45.  (MDF is the same material that the Pottery Barn bench is mostly built out of).

Then we got our saw set up and made the necessary cuts and started assembling... this took us a few hours one weekend afternoon.  The plans and pictures of other similar projects that I found on Pinterest helped us figure out exactly how to assemble the bench to our liking.  Chad pre-drilled all the holes for the screws to keep the wood from splitting and countersinked the holes so the screws would be recessed into the bench and could be filled with putty to make them virtually invisible.

Here's what the bench looked like when before we added the trim to the bottom or the backing:

Pretty simple so far!

For the backing, I used a left over piece of wall paneling that we pulled out of our basement when we remodeled it just a few months ago.  I primed it with the dreaded oil-based primer and then we attached it to the back, and also attached the 1x3 trim pieces around the bottom of the front and two sides. (...apparently I forgot to take a picture of us doing this...)

And then I painted the whole thing.  Just one coat.  Yep.  Usually you should do two.  I probably should have done two.  Did I wait and take the time to do two?  Nope.  One was good enough for me.

Here it is:

Close up of the backing here:

So with the main bench assembled and looking pretty good by itself, I was really excited to dress it up a little!  

Chad and I scrounged up some plywood that was left over from some other projects and cut that to fit the top of our bench. Then we made a trip to Hobby Lobby and bought a roll of 1 inch foam that cost less than $5 for the amount I used, and a yard of some home decor fabric that we both liked which I cannot remember the price of now, but I believe it was about $8.

We did the good ole stretch and staple method to upholster the bench.  First I cut the foam to fit on the plywood with just a little overhang on all sides to make it a little padded on the edges so that it wouldn't hurt anyone's legs if they plopped down on the bench.  

Then we laid the fabric out on the floor upside down, placed the foam over that making sure to line it up so that the fabric print would be centered, and laid the plywood over the foam. Here Chad is painstakingly lining everything up so that it turned out perfect:

Usually, you'd want to glue the foam onto the plywood to keep it from shifting.  Did I take the time to glue it? Nope.  It worked out just fine anyway!  I stretched the fabric while Chad stapled.

Asher guarded the left over fabric. He cracks me up. :)

Pretty cushion all done and in place:

I am really thrilled with how well this bench turned out! Not to mention, the satisfaction of knowing that you built something from scratch by yourself!  And best of all, the crazy amount of money that we saved by sacrificing a few hours of time and building this ourselves!  All in all we have this bench built and finished with cushion and crates in the cubbies for just over $100! That is just so much cheaper than the inspiration piece from Pottery Barn!

Asher loves it, too.  He thinks we built it just so that he'd have another cozy spot to lay.

If you're wondering about the crates in the bench cubbies, I got them from Michaels for less than $20 each.  I originally wanted to use baskets, similar to what was shown with the Pottery Barn version, but I ran into these crates at the craft store and they were cheaper than the ones I was considering from Target.  Plus they pretty much PERFECTLY matched the color of the console that we had professionally built for out TV downstairs, and the color also tied in very nicely with the gray fabric of the bench cushion.  Easy decision!

I am so happy with how it turned out!  Chad and I definitely plan on building a matching shelf, too, eventually, and then it'll be a complete set and we can hang our coats!!


I made a little chart of some of the main materials and products I used on the bench, if anyone is curious where some of the things came from! 

Paws To Enjoy

Meet Asher, our new ragdoll kitten!

a little blurry...

The weekend before Chad and I left for Florida, we drove just outside of Harrisburg to visit a little cutie we had our eyes on.  Chad and I have talked about getting a ragdoll kitten since before we were married.  In fact, if you were at the wedding, you may remember these cool cootie catchers we made! Instead of telling fortunes, our Cooties Catchers had trivia about us including this this little tidbit:

When we meet Asher for the first time, we nearly died of cuteness overload.  This was just a tentative visit to see him in person and see what his personality was like… However, we decided very quickly that he was going to be ours.  We really wanted to take him with us right then, but since we were leaving for Florida in only three days, we were worried that he would be confused and scared to move and then be left alone.  So we hesitantly left him there.  However, we made plans to come pick him up as soon as we were home from our vacation.  In fact, we drove straight to get him from the airport after we landed in Baltimore.

Asher loves to be on laps

The first week was all exploration and getting used to us.  He was a little shy at first, but warmed up to us really quickly!  Ragdoll cats are a lot like dogs.  The crave attention.  They want to be in the same room as you all the time.  They are extremely playful with lots of energy, but will also simply go limp as soon as you pick them up, falling asleep in seconds.  Even as I type this Asher is laying on my desk, batting at my hand.

Every day he got a little braver and started exploring new areas, taking on one room each day until he’d been everywhere expect the basement.  He was terrified of the stairs.  I have no idea why, except I’m wondering if the breeder we got him from simply didn’t have any and he just didn’t know what they were.  We tried to get him to go down on his own for almost two weeks, and he just wouldn’t do it.  We carried him down there a few times, and he really liked to explore that area, but even when we held him on the steps he was very afraid – he would cling to us, claws digging in, like he thought we were about to throw him the whole way down.  So I came up with this brilliant idea to put his food on the steps.  He loves his food.  We feed him twice a day (we wanted to just fill his bowl and let him eat when he is hungry, but he was having some really nasty messes in the litter box because he wasn’t moderating his intake correctly – so we had to put him on a “diet”, poor thing).  Each time we fed him, we moved his food a little farther down the steps until it was at the bottom, and that solved our problem in 2 days!  Now the steps are awesome.  They are just another obstacle course for him.

He loves obstacle courses.  He always takes his toys under the dining room table or our bar stools, and kicks it around under there so that he has to jump through and around the legs of the chairs to get it again.  As can be witnessed here:

So anyway, we are loving Asher!  He’s a great little kitty, and I’m sure we will have many more stories to tell about him in the future! Stay tuned!!!

I'll leave you with a bunch of cute pictures of Asher sleeping on my desk. Enjoy!