Bedside Tables are almost done!

I finished sanding the tables and started the staining process. It has been very hot and humid here so I've been working in short little spurts. It also took FOREVER to dry between coats but here they are so far! We ended up using a few pieces of cereal box nailed to the bottom to get it JUST level so it didn't wobble anymore. The drawers just finished getting stained, I haven't done any polyurethane on them yet so they will get added later, but I just had to get them upstairs! Enjoy!

My table

Greg's table

Room angle- Next project- the BED!

Here's a cute picture of Haley just because! She was running around all day with her doll just hugging her! 

So cute!

Any Tips?

So it's been really hot and humid here in NC. I stained my tables but the stain is still tacky in places, any tips on getting it to dry? I don't want to put the polyurethane coat on it til its totally dry right?

Baby Levi Has Arrived!!!

Yesterday my nephew, Levi Michael, decided to make an early appearance! He was born at 1:58 PM, weighed 8lbs 1oz and is 20.5 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great! Dad's overjoyed and everyone is just in awe of this beautiful baby boy! Here are some pictures of this handsome little fella!

The proud new Aunt Erin!

Daddy Mike and his handsome fella! (Making his usual face of course!)

Uncle Greg visiting his nephew!

A cousin comparison shot. Haley on the left, Levi on the right... I see a resemblance I think!

Haley hasn't met Levi yet because she's not allowed in the hospital so hopefully she'll get to meet her cousin soon and I'll post a picture!

Haley Bear gets tubes!

So we went to see the ENT doc on Wednesday after Haley's 5th ear infection since September. (4 since February!) We determined that she needed to get tubes put in her ears. I was given the option of having surgery the next day or at the end of the month so I opted for sooner! So Thursday morning we crawled out of bed at 5am and got Haley over to Rex outpatient center by 6am.  The doctors and nurses were great! They explained how it would all work and she would only be under sedation for a few minutes. They said to expect her to be very upset when coming out of sedation and that it was normal. They took her back around 7:20 and we were only in the waiting room for about 10 minutes before the doctor came and told us that everything went great! When we went to recovery Haley was just chilling out with the nurse. When she saw us it was like "Oh hey" no big deal. My daughter is so chill haha! We came home- ate breakfast and then both took a 3 hour nap. Daddy went to work though :) Here are some pics!

Haley figured out how to use the thermometer

 Sitting with Daddy

Hugs for Mommy!

I found a paperclip!

Rash that showed up after we put on the gown!~ We think it was Roseola. It was gone by the next morning and she'd had a fever and loss of appetite the week before.

After the surgery! Look at her dog's hat! so cute! The only reason she was upset was because Greg was changing her diaper!

She felt so much better that we even spent the afternoon with Aunt Emily at the pool!

They're getting close!

So I did a bit more of the work on the bedside tables. Assembly is finished. There are some imperfections but that happens when you're making them from scratch. Overall I'm very happy with how they're turning out! Some of the measurements were a little off but I'm making my own modifications. The drawer had about a half inch gap on either side and I didn't like how that looked so I cut the 1x6 a little longer just on the front of the drawer so it looks better closed. I've gotta buy one more 1x6 to do the other drawer but other than that and attaching the handles- assembly is done! I did the wood putty and sanding in the kitchen on a mat on the floor since it's so hot outside. Sadly I think we're going to postpone the bed project until the fall so we don't melt in the process. Tomorrow is the neighborhood block party so I'll see if I can start on the staining sometime this week!

Here are some pictures!

Sanding

Still Sanding

Love the handprint on the butt...

Erin meets power tools, It was love at first spring generating hammering force...

So after viewing my friend's wonderful job making her beautiful Farmhouse Bed . I was inspired! If you've never been to Ana White's blog knock-offwood.com then you need to go! Its awesome. Anywho Greg and I have been waiting on purchasing bedroom furniture and just using our childhood dressers and a bedframe. Well I want to pass one of the dressers along to Haley (the girl has too many clothes!) and get new ones for ourselves. Since Ana doesn't have a dresser design out there yet we're going to purchase this dresser for me and this one for Greg. We are going to make the Queen Farmhouse Bed for our bed and have started the simple nightstands.

Here are some pictures of the nightstands so far. It's late (because we have to wait til the bearcub goes to sleep to play with powertools) and we're gross (because it's way to freakin hot in NC lately) but I hope you enjoy the photos! I'll try to get more action shots as we go. I forgot about documenting the process until partway in.

Posing silly by the tables so far

Enjoying the nailgun a little too much- Thanks for letting us borrow it Mike!

Greg putting a nail in

Tonight's progress!

I'll post more as we get more done! Once the tables are done- then we tackle the bed!!

I'm Back!

24 hours after taking the lower dose of my meds I felt infinitely better! Another day later I was even better than that! I feel like myself again! I can actually concentrate and get things done! Just in time too!

Greg left for work on Thursday and came back about an hour later with a dozen roses and a card and said "Happy Mother's Day, I took the day off." He TOTALLY surprised me! It was so sweet! We went to the Y and worked out then came back and put Haley down for a nap. We snuggled on the couch and watched a movie together. When Haley woke up we went to Crabtree and got lunch at Cheesecake factory. Then we walked around the mall for a bit. I bought a new dress at Old Navy for 5 dollars! (Yay 10 dollar reward certificates!) then headed home! It was a great day and I was so glad I'd started feeling better in time to truly enjoy it!

Friday Greg's mom (Nancy), Emily's mom (Carla) and Emily's sister (Katie) came down for Emily's baby shower. The shower turned out great! (again just in time!) We all went out to dinner on Saturday night then Emily and Mike had everyone over for a wonderful Mother's Day lunch at their house. It was a wonderful weekend and we are so blessed to have such great family and friends!

Incompetent?

I called the OB-Gyn today to say that I'm still feeling this dizziness - haziness sensation and I wanted to know if it was normal. The nurse called back to say that the dizziness was probably unrelated to the medication. I most likely had an inner ear problem and to call the general practitioner. I did and they managed to get me in this afternoon. They checked my blood pressure- sitting, standing, lying down etc. to see if there was any difference. There wasn't. Nothing made the symptoms worse or better, just constant throbbing dizziness. The doctor asked about the medication I was on. I told him how the doctor had switched me from Lexapro to Wellbutrin. He asked if I was tapered off the Lexapro and I said no. I have never seen a doctor become visually ANGRY before! He was so mad that my doctor had me stop the meds that way. "You can't go off that class of medication cold turkey!" He asked who my doctor was and the name of the practice.

SO in short- I've been going through major drug withdrawel... go figure! The doctor thinks the initial "fuzziness" I was feeling was that after I weaned my daughter, 20mg was just too much- that is why I was feeling extra tired, I was just being OVER-medicated. The solution should have been to return me to the 10mg dose, which is now what I'm doing. I'm taking 10mg of the Lexapro- stopping the Wellbutrin and going back in a week to see if its better. The doc thinks I should be in a couple days.

I'm very glad that this may fix the problem but I'm angry that the OB was able to prescribe a medication he doesn't know that much about. I think I'm in the market for a new doctor. I had issues when I was pregnant- I felt ignored by the office. I called them when I was 8 months pregnant and said "So... what am I supposed to do when I go into labor?" They said "Oh you didn't get that paper?" so I wasn't too thrilled with that part of the experience either. I also had the Mirena IUD put in and the first one fell down too low so I had to get another one. I had to insist on an ultrasound to make sure the 2nd one was in place. Might I also add that the first one caused 8 months of unnecessary cramping? So with this last thing, I think I'm going to try to find another doctor.

Hope things start to feel better in the next couple days. I've got Emily (my sis-in-law)'s baby shower on Saturday and I'd be much more on my game if the room wasn't spinning :)

Mother's Worst Nightmare

I just witnessed one of a mother's worst nightmare's in the parking lot of Harris Teeter. When I pulled up there was a firetruck in the parking lot. A woman had locked herself out of her car with her 10 month old baby inside. She was just standing outside crying while the firemen were trying to get the door unlocked through a slightly cracked window. They did get the door open before I'd gotten into the store and I spoke to the woman briefly just expressing my relief for her that they got the door open. I hugged Haley extra tight before her nap today. Its just pretty scary to think about.

Thank you Lord for taking care of that little baby and for all the blessings in my life.

Just Keep Swimming...

I talked to several friends at church on Sunday. The general opinion is that the combination of weaning and the meds and starting to have my cycle again just threw my hormones  and body for a trip and I've just got to wait it out until it figures out whats going on and levels everything out. The waiting game stinks. I thought today was getting better then the dizzy spells started again. However I did find the motivation to start taping off the shelves in the guest bedroom to paint them. They're only halfway painted and it's bothered me for a while so I'm finally going to paint them. Getting SOMETHING done always helps. Then I don't feel like I've just been a useless blob for the day.

As I write, my daughter is pulling tissues out of the box and shredding them... joy. I don't know why we buy toys... everything else is more entertaining anyway.

Speaking of getting things done, Greg and I wall-mounted the TV last night. It was rather funny- we decided to do it tonight since the kit came today, but we had to do it after bible study left. So we didn't start until about 9 anyway. Well the ratchet mechanism in some cheapo tool kit that Greg had stopped catching right so I had to call our neighbors at 10 to borrow a ratchet. Good thing they understand these things and were still up and glad to lend a tool. Thanks Erika and Scott :)

 Grammy (my mom) also visited this weekend. So we snapped a picture of her with Haley. I have such a cute kid :)

Post Partum- the Battle Continues

I know I stink at this blogging thing but I'm giving it another whirl. Plus I figure I might get an opinion that could be helpful. Who knows.

Anywho- For those who don't know I was diagnosed with Post Partum Depression back in September. They put me on Lexapro 10mg. Then in November it suddenly stopped working. I felt worse than before because I'd been feeling better then felt like it was being ripped away. They upped my dose to 20 mg and it leveled out and I'd been fine for a while. I recently started to wean Haley, I'd gotten down to one feeding per day and finally stopped last Monday. I noticed I just wasn't acting myself anymore. I was losing motivation, not doing stuff around the house- just kinda sitting there. I still take care of Haley and all, I'm just in a fog. I went to the doc 2 days ago and he says it sounds like I'm just starting to experience side effects so he switched me to Wellbutrin. I still feel like I'm in a huge daze. I have to concentrate to walk across the room. I have hard time sleeping - yet I'm always tired. Its only been 2 days but I read online about Lexapro withdrawel. I don't know if thats whats going on or not. Has anyone experienced anything like this? How long does it last? I just feel so very "medicated" I also feel like my body is just against me. This drop has been worse than the other one. I feel like every time it happens its worse. I hope it gets better- I want to be me again.