Project Bathroom: Before & After

In our lovely home we have two bathrooms - one upstairs and one downstairs. I'll admit, I like having one on each floor especially when we have visitors but I will also admit that I am not proud of one of them. The downstairs  bathroom. It is very outdated and it is a project that we have yet been able to tackle.

This is our shameful downstairs bathroom. We added a few items such as a trashcan, towels and the necessities but it definitly needs some work. Nonetheless, it is still functioning.

This is our upstairs bathroom before it was made over.

The major work that had to be done on this bathroom was cosmetic. The seller replaced the toilet and the sink. All we really had to do was paint and decorate it. Most of our house is painted with grays, greens and blue so Johnny suggested that I go with something else. And I did! I chose purple!

We stuck with the same type of blinds, Roman Palisades from Home Depot for the window. The round shower rod and shower curtain are both from home goods.

Turns out the Roman Palisades were a little revealing to the outside world. We covered it with a matching shower curtain. (My mother-in-laws brilliant idea!) We also added matching towels, a rug, a picture on the wall and the essentials. 

Before:

After:

What's in your hospital bag?

I'm a less than a week away from my due date and I finally have my bag completely packed! Everyday for the past few weeks I have added to it. When I first found out I was pregnant I treated myself to a new travel bag for a hospital bag. I found this bag at Ocean State Job Lot for $38 and it came with all sorts of inserts. It also has a pull out handle and rolls on wheels. If this was a backpack I would say its a little nerdy but for travel purposes the wheels are awesome. I couldn't resist buying this suitcase! I felt a little overwhelmed about packing the bag because what do you really need when your going to the hospital to deliver a baby and what will be provided? And how much baby clothes, diapers or swaddle blankets do you have to bring? I was pleased that during our birthing classes they went over the essentials that you will need to pack for the hospital bag. We made a list and went from there. I also want to tell you that a great baby shower gift is gift cards to Target, Walgreens or any grocery store so that you can pick up some of these essential items. The following items are things that I packed for my hospital bag.

Hospital Bag Essentials

This is my beauty bag. This insert rolls open and has all sorts of compartments for your beauty supplies. See how nicely it rolls out?

In my beauty bag I included:

• Toothbrushes (one for hubby and one for myself)
• Travel Toothpaste
• Floss
• HPA Lanolin Lansinoh Nipple Cream (I heard it's really expensive when the hospital tries to sell it to you.)
• Make Up Remover
• Travel Q-Tips
• A Razor
• Travel Contact Solution
• Extra Contact Case and Contact Lenses
• Glasses Case
• Hair Ties
• Head Bands
• Bobby Pins
• Travel Hair Spray
• Waterproof Mascara (You must think I'm a little vain! I never go anywhere without mascara on and I definitly don't want it to smudge during delivery!)
• Eye Liner
• Body Butter
• Deotorant (One for hubby and one for myself).
• Travel Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Wash

I couldn't fit these in my little beauty bag but I also brought my Hair Brush, Blow Dryer and Flat Iron.I probably won't use them much. I plan on just putting my hair in a pony tail and wearing a headband but hey - just in case! My blow dryer broke about 2 months ago and I figured it was probably healthier for my hair to not use one at all. I finally splurged and bought myself a new blowdryer.



I got this Revlon blow dryer at Target. I like that it is collapsable and good for traveling. I was also drawn to it because of the retractable plug and wire. My other one broke from wrapping it everyday.

The next bag that I packed was the Goody Bag. Don't want to waste money on the over priced vending machines!

In the Goody Bag I brought:

• Lolly Pops (These were suggested from the birth class that I went to in case you have a long labor lolly pops will prevent dry mouth. My hospital also provides popsicles.)
• Gum
• Doritos (for hubby)
• Energy Drink (for hubby)
• Chewy Bars
• Fruit Snacks

Aren't these bags sooooo cute!

The next thing I decided to pack was the charger bag.

This is where we are going to keep the:

• Camera charger
• Cell Phone Chargers
• Ipad Charger (The hospital has Wifi so we plan on doing Facetime with my grandparents in Florida so that they can see their new Great Grand Daughter!) 

Moving on to the Diaper Bag

We got this diaper bag as a baby shower gift, it is from Babies R Us! I love it, and its perfect because its not something that Johnny will be embarassed to carry around.

In the Diaper Bag I packed:

• A few New Born Diapers
• Two burp Cloths
• Swaddle Blankets
• Travel Baby Wipes
• Lansinoh Diaper Rash Ointment
• Sleep Sheep
• Options for Coming home outfit

The sleep sheep is my favorite! During our birth class they did a sound demonstration of what a baby hears from inside your womb and then the second it enters the world. Its a dramatic change from constant swishing noises to what seems to be silence in the real world. I want to help our baby's transition by having the sleep sheep which imitates the sounds in the womb to soothe the baby. The hospitals now recommends that instead of putting the baby in the nursery keeping them in the room with you and that's what I want to do. I also want the room to be as comfortable for the baby as possible.

I packed a few outfits similar to this one. At the birthing classes they said that they baby has to be completely covered when we go home from the hospital. It's going to be hot! So that is why I chose this dress-like onsie. It also has the little mittens that curl over the babies hands so that they do not scratch themselves.

This is what I mean by the mittens.

I probably packed too much for the diaper bag. I know that the hospital will supply me with some of these things like the swaddle blankets, diapers, rash ointment and wipes but it was nice to get my bag all set up anyways.

The last thing we had/have to pack is clothes. Some things that I packed are:

•  Socks (The hospital suggests that you bring grippy socks so that you do not fall. You could bring slippers too. I brought enough socks for my husband and myself)
•  Nursing Bra
•  Underwear (I may not use these because I was told that the hospital supplies mesh underwear for your hospital stay.)
• Bathing Suit (In case you decide to use the tub to relax and relieve contractions. You can also bring a bathing suit for your husband)
• A nightgown or something loose that you would like to deliver in (At the birth classes they suggest that you bring something from home, something that you feel comfortable in.)

The rest of the clothing we have to pack the day off. After delivery you are usually in the hospital for about 48 hours. I would say bring a change of clothes for 2 to 3 days. It could be even longer if the delivery doesn't go as smoothly as hoped for. Make sure to remember:

• T-Shirts for your spouse
• Shorts / Pants for your spouse
• Undershirts for your spouse
• Boxers for your spouse
• Pajamas for your spouse
• Yoga Pants or Sweat Pants for yourself
• And comfort clothes!

The last thing that I would like to suggest that the hospital also suggested to me is that you bring pillows (the hospital ones are uncomfortable) and extra long sanitary pads!

I hope this post was helpful! I think I may have gone a little overboard but I would rather be prepared than not be prepared. Plus I don't think I will be packing for any other trips this summer!

All packed and ready to go!



Coming Soon

Please bear with me with the delay in posting. I can no longer add any photos to my blog until I update my blogger account. Once I am able to do this (sometime after work today) there will be more posts to come:

1. Whats in Your Hospital Bag?
2. Upstairs Bathroom: Before & After

Maternity Photos

Two weeks ago Johnny and I got our Maternity Photos done by my aunt who is a photographer. You can visit her website if your interested at www.photographybynoonan.blogspot.com . She did a great job. I knew that if I didn't get the photos done, I would regret it, and Johnny was a really good sport about it too. These are a few of my favorites:

www.photographybynoonan.blogspot.com

Front Porch: Before and After

Your probably sick of hearing about baby showers so I wanted to sneak in my weekly house update before the week is over. I decided to finish up with the downstairs and give you a run down of the before and after of the front porch. Believe it or not, two of my favorite things about our house is that it has a front porch and a huge walk up attic. The down fall is that in the heat of the summer, both the front porch and the attic are comparative to a furnace! In the future I would like to turn my attic into an art studio for myself. As for the front porch it is still usable in the evenings when it cools off and in the spring and fall. This is our front porch when we first bought the house. It was a storage room for tools for a little while.

Once it was cleaned up a little bit I decided I wanted to make it look more homey and inviting. We had leftover paint after painting our bedroom. The paint that we used in our bedroom is Sherwin Williams Rainwash. It is very similar to the color in our living room.

I wasn't sure if it would look better if I painted all of the panelboard or just the bottom portion. The best way to find out was to paint it all and see how it looked. I ended up repainting the stop portion back to white. Then I brought in the furniture, decorations and sheers. The white sheers are from JC Penny and the teal sheers in the left of this photo were from Christmas Tree Shop. It created just enough privacy for us to spend time on the porch but also lets enough light shine in. This was the first time I had ever hung curtain rods by myself and they were a pain in the butt! At least now I know how to do it!

Before

After

In the springtime I enjoyed eating me breakfast and dinner out here everyday!

Baby Shower Highlights

My baby shower that I mentioned in my last post was on Saturday. My Mom threw an amazing party. She always does! I didnt get to help her but when I walked in the hall this is what I saw.

Here is a closer look at the tables.

My mom made the centerpieces by attaching a vase to these cute baby toys that she found for $1.00 each! And that is one of my pom pom balls that I made used as a half ball to decorate the table. It was my Grandma's idea to insert the leaves under the pom pom ball to make it look like lilly pads! It all came out so cute.

Notice the Goya hot sauce? The food theme for the party was spanish food. My Grandma, Mom, and Adriana catered the party. They made spanish rice, steak tips, chicken, and plantains! My mother and father-in-law also brought three platters of sandwiches!

My Mom made more of the vanilla extract for party favors.

And the beautiful cake was made by Janet who also made our announcement party cake. We also had the cookie bar and more cake pops.

Our friend Sheila surpised us by making this adorable Baby Carraige Fruit Basket! Her and Keeana also made a Motorcycle Diaper Care Package!

Aren't they so creative!

My mom doesn't throw the typical baby shower. She invites couples rather than just women. My mom likes to have a good time and she doesn't like the guest to be bored. That's why the place she rented had a dance floor and of course she had to have a DJ there too. Here is another cute inexpensive way to decorate which we used on the DJ table.

This is just a simple paper chain made out of scrapbooking paper. It is a great project for kids, my six year old neice was able to help make this.

While we opened gifts my Mom entertained the guests with all sorts of games. This is a great way to distract your guests if you don't like attention (if your anything like Johnny and myself.) And of course my Mom made sure to reward them with prizes!

Homemade Swedish Fish Vodka

And an assortment of other homemade Vodkas and Kahluas. I was able to decorate the bottles! They make great gifts.

Pineapple Infused Vodka

Pear Infused Vodka

Like I said, not the typical baby shower - but totally awesome and we had a great time!