Nesting

I hate being pregnant. I did the last time around and it hasn't changed much this time around. But one good thing I can say about being pregnant is the nesting instinct. I'm not so much of a clean freak as some people become when they are nesting, but I have a strong desire to accomplish a multitude of projects.

When I was pregnant with Josiah we built a picket fence around our entire yard. I did a lot of the work since I was home all day, but my husband did the cutting and helped attach them in the evenings. It was hard work and I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone. I also did a lot of sewing and decorating of Josiah's room. He had a pirate theme to his room and I not only stenciled a border round his room, but I also made wall hangings, curtains, a bumper, crib skirt, bassinet skirt, and embroidered a twin-sized blanket.

This pregnancy is not much different. I plan on making the same things or Sophia's room as soon as I can find fabric that I like. I've already painted the baby's room and painted Josiah's room. But as far as big projects go I have a long list that I hope to accomplish before the big day comes. The first of which I finished today. I built a small (maybe 2 or 3 ft.) retaining wall to replace a crumbled one that we removed while building our fence.

It started out pretty tough. I had to dig out a trench and level and compact the dirt. And then came the precision work. I had to make sure that the bottom layer of bricks were each straight and level in several different directions. It seemed like a lot of work, however it only took me about 4 or five hours to do. Today was the fun part. I was able to stack the bricks on top of my foundation level. That took barely any time at all, except for when I had to cut the bricks in half with a hammer and chisel. The first one I did wasn't so bad. Me and Luke took turns breaking it, but it didn't take all that long. The second one I tried to accomplish on my own. I was doing fine until I decided to try and hit it hard enough to make the break. The chisel slipped and my hand turned sideways and I hit my hand full force with the hammer. OUCH! I quit building for a couple of hours and let Luke help me stack the bricks when he got home later in the afternoon.

So now that my retaining wall is complete it's time to begin the sandbox that is going to connect to it. I have to dig out and move some flowers that are in the way, I have to dig up the grass and level the dirt underneath and then I can start digging out the trench for the bricks. All that prep work is going to be the hardest part and I'm sure once I get the foundation bricks laid it will go quickly and smoothly.

If I finish the sandbox in time my other plan is to build a raised flower bed. It will be done with the same type of bricks as the retaining wall and sandbox. I think it's going to be much more difficult though because it will be a curved wall that is sort of built into a hill. Again I will have to dig out the grass and dig and level a trench. After which I will fill it all in with dirt and soil and then I can begin the fun part. Planting flowers.

I have a lot of plans for flowers this year. I'm afraid that it won't happen because I don't think I'll get the flower bed done in time for planting season. And I'm not sure if I'll have the money to buy flowers (Looking back, I should have done the planter first, but I've already bought the materials for the sandbox). I want to put several perennials in the raised bed and then I need to work on the front yard. I want to put some edger bricks around the flower beds that are currently there and then I need to add some different types of plants to them as the only thing right now are spring blooming flowers. If I have enough money I would like to buy rose shrubs for the front as well.

And then there is the blueberries. I want to plant blueberry bushes just outside our fence and I briefly entertained the idea of planting a vegetable garden in the same location.

Those are just the outside projects. Luke also fully intends on replacing the basement windows with glass block. But I don't think I'm going to help him with that. That's maybe something he'll do with his friends. I've learned that we don't always work well together. He thinks I'm too bossy and controlling and I think that he asks to many questions and doesn't trust my judgement. I would like it if this summer he worked on his project and I worked on mine and we stayed out of the other person's way.

I'm very excited about these projects. I wish that I had more time to do them, I sit around at night planning what I'm going to do the next day and I wish that I weren't interrupted by things like meals and night time. Thank goodness Josiah loves to be outside and loves to help me or else none of this would get accomplished in time.