Sneak peeks :-)

Time is flying by and it's hard to believe that our daughter, Margaret is already six weeks old. Although much of our time recently has been focused on her, we have found time to continue work on our house. A few more projects to be completed before we are ready with a complete room reveal, but I couldn't wait to share a few glimpses into what we have been working on. 

First, we have been working in the "long room" which connects the parlor, bedroom, front hall and mural room. It's a long space with lots of doors. We are using it as a dining room and office at the moment. I'm excited about the vignette we created between the doors to the parlor and bathroom. We cleaned up an old radio cabinet that was in the barn when we moved in (it still works too) and added two vintage suitcases I had collected. On the wall above, we hung five vintage hats that belonged to my husband's grandmother. I love that it looks like someone has arrived from a long carriage ride and deposited their luggage and hung their hats. 

In the kitchen, we added this beautiful china cabinet built by my dad. It looks wonderful and holds many of our glasses and plates. On the wall to the right, we hung prints and added a rug under the bistro table and chairs.

On the opposite wall, we added a roman shade sewn by my mom and a chalkboard with frame made from wood we removed from the original kitchen. I'm planning to change the quote to match the season so Thanksgiving was first up.

We have also completed several projects behind the scenes! Our heating is working on the first floor, our water is cleaner and we have added a door to the porch. We also have refurbished windows in the bedroom and parlor and weatherproofing on many windows and doors ready for the winter. 

Margaret's "Birth" Day!

 

Margaret May's birth story begins on Tuesday evening, October 6, when my water broke in the evening at home. I wasn't having any contractions so the doctor said to wait before coming in. After a few hours, we headed to the Elliot Hospital arriving in the early hours of Wednesday morning.  

With still no contractions, we settled in for the night. The doctor recommended we get a few hours of sleep and we would start petocin in the morning to kick start labor. David and I tried to rest despite the excitement of knowing we would be meeting Margaret soon.

 

Wednesday morning, the petocin was started and we waited. My parents, Katie and David's parents came to join the fun. By early afternoon, my contractions had gotten stronger and more regular. I hung out on the birth ball, tried a hot shower and then laughing gas. By early evening, the contraction were painful enough that I opted for an epidural. I was able to rest for a few hours. At 11:00 pm, the doctor checked and despite the more than 24 hours that had passed since my water broke I was not dilating enough. After discussion with the doctor, we decided to move forward by delivering via c section. 

After 29 hours of waiting, everything moved very quickly. I was prepped for surgery and within half an hour, we were heading into the operating room. After just a few minutes, we heard Margaret's first incredible cries and then saw her for the first time. She had the cutest cheeks and a head full of dark brown hair.

The nurses cleaned her and David cut her cord and then we were able to hold her for the first time. It was absolutely amazing.

 

Back in our room, Maggie was weighed, foot printed and nursed for the first time. 

 

 

 

Then we were ready to introduce Margaret May to our family.

 

   

 

 Margaret's Aunt Katie even baked her a cake for her "birth" day!

Before we moved from the labor and delivery wing to our postpartum room, Margaret had her first bath.

 

 

Bathroom reveal

We have been slowly finishing the bathroom and adding decor as time allows. The walls are a pale yellow and decor elements incorporate antique laundry and sewing pieces collected from family and found antiquing. We kept the bathtub, toilet and vanity cabinet. We painted the vanity gray to match the trim and added a new sink vanity top, lights, fan and mirror.

I used a plain white shower curtain and sewed on five vintage yellow handkerchiefs.

Above the washer and dryer, we added two cabinets and shelves made from boards from the old kitchen and brackets found in the barn.

We hung an old ironing board that we found in the barn and added hooks for towels. A picture made by David's grandmother when she was in school was re-framed to complete the wall.

Maggie's arrival

Margaret May has arrived! We are excited to share that our daughter was born on October 8, 2015. As our blog has thus far focused on house projects, we will start by sharing her nursery and then photos of Margaret herself. 

Her nursery has pale yellow walls and vintage inspired fabric elements. I enjoyed incorporating some antique finds like the carriage and baby scale with vintage inspired designs like the Jenny Lind crib and dresser and 1920's style fabrics. Her bed skirt, quilt, curtains and diaper bag were sewn by my mom and sister.

 

Autumn has arrived!

Tomorrow is the first day of autumn which means pumpkins, cooler temperatures and for us the final countdown to the arrival of our newest family member. We can't wait to welcome our first child, Margaret May in the next few weeks.

We took full advantage of our backyard to have my dad take some photos of our family of two before we become a family of three. Here are a few of our favorites!

 

 

Room Reveal: The Parlor!

It's been a little over two months and we have made lots of progress on the house. Several rooms, the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom, are just a few projects away from being complete. The main floor electrical is all updated and work has begun on the heating system. We have been living here full time and yesterday our cat Chiquitita joined us.

Today we are excited to share the first completed room - the parlor! The parlor is next to the kitchen and will be our main living room. We refinished the hard wood floors, painted the walls and trim, added a new overhead light and of course decorated. Hope you enjoy it as much as we are!

First, a look back at the room before we started. These are taken to show the two ends of the room - the window in the first is the same as the left window in the second.

Now the finished product. The first photo here is the same doorway as in the first photo above.

The trim is now a nice grey and the windows a bright cream to match the walls. We added coordinating curtains and pillows to compliment the sofas, furniture and prints that we brought from our condo. With a few different accents and different room they give a completely different feel.

An old ladder from David's grandmother's garage, now holds a few mementos from our wedding, a wheat grass wreath and a warm throw knitted by my mom. Newly framed prints of historical maps of Nottingham and Merrimack remind us of the two towns we have called home together.

Three antique shoe molds give a nod to an earlier use of the room as a shoe shop.