Ode to my mom

Clara has been sick the past few days (nothing serious, but enough to make her want to be held and comforted more than usual), so I've neglected the blog a bit. I wanted to mention all the AWESOME help my mom provided while she was visiting her newest grandbaby. I had spent my last week of pregnancy ripping out more of the subfloor in the kitchen area, and she and Tom were able to lay down several sheets of OSB to cover the holes. There's still more to be done, but it's much safer now to walk around downstairs.

Basement skylight = greatly reduced.

We also picked up a sink base cabinet and have a temporary countertop set up for food prep. We still haven't installed the sink, but that should be happening pretty soon (I wanted to wait until I got the garbage disposal and under-sink water filter in-hand for installation all at once. We're washing dishes in a bucket right now, camp-style).

One lonely cabinet.

We hauled up the kitchen table and chairs out of the basement, gave them a good scrub-down, and now we have someplace to eat breakfast and dinner. At least in theory; it's mostly covered in mail and paperwork right now.

Okay, so I was ashamed of the mess and cleared it off for the picture.

Mom also bought some ferns to hang on the front porch to make our home look occupied. Happily, I haven't killed them yet. Yes, Mom, I'm watering and rotating them as promised. She spent hours and hours pulling weeds in the yard and edging the front sidewalk while I lounged lazily in bed with the baby.

The flowers on the steps were a gift from the neighbors.

She also helped me get started on hanging blinds downstairs. I got the cheapest blinds available (less than $5 each at Lowe's) because these are not permanent. Our insurance company wanted us to cover the windows downstairs until the house is completed; and though mini-blinds aren't really my style, it was the most cost-effective solution. They're not quite long enough for our 6'6" windows, but we didn't want to spend the extra $15 per blind for the longer length. That may have been reasonable for 1 or 2 blinds, but we had 11 to hang. It is much darker downstairs now, which is a good thing with the heat we've been having.

Not quite full length.

She also did lots of general clean-up and organization around the house, including putting together a mostly functional kitchen. Perhaps the most important thing she did was to help me learn how to care for a new baby. I've been babysitting since I was 12 and thought I was familiar with babies, but I've never been responsible for anyone under 3 months old. My mom had six kids of her own and now six grandkids, so she's an expert at all things baby. Those first few nights at home were a little rough, and she helped me decipher all the baby cries and fussiness. And after feedings during the night, she'd stay up and burp Clara so that I could get some sleep.

Thanks, Mom.