Steamer to the Rescue!

Even taking a couple minutes to update my blog gives me such guilt. The next two weeks are going to be insane - mostly filled with YW responsibilities. But even with such responsibilities ahead of me, I can't simply neglect my other "to do" lists. My crazy nesting hormones won't allow me to neglect ANYTHING lately! So I've been running around getting nothing really accomplished, but trying really hard nonetheless. And in the meantime, somehow my pregnancy has caught up with me. DANG IT! I knew that would happen sooner or later. I feel huge, awkward and completely uncomfortable...all with a super pinched sciatic nerve that has me hobbling around like an 80-year-old. Gotta love the third trimester, baby!

One of the things I felt the need to do was get the baby's room ready. I keep putting it off, but know the bigger I get, the more difficult it will be to help at all...and I don't think it's a project suited for Marcos alone. I've been looking for crib bedding FOREVER! I am just not used to/ready for a girl yet. But I scored big-time at Kid to Kid last week and found a darling crib bedding set that came with "the works" for less than half of the cheapest one I'd found even on sale. I was getting pretty discouraged at the thought of crib bedding on sale being at least $130...and that was just for the 4-piece bedding set. So even though it wasn't my first thought of nursery decor, I quickly realized it was perfect! So...that means painting the room....and in the process removing the wallpaper border that was there from the previous owners.

People, I cannot stress this enough. They are cute, they match your kid's room, yada yada yada, but do not do it. Wallpaper is seriously the biggest pain in the arse (yes, it's my way around a swear word) ever! I've heard the term "watching paint dry" to describe boredom before. Well, those people clearly never tried to remove wallpaper before. There should definitely be a saying about peeling off wallpaper! I bought stuff that is supposed to loosen the wallpaper - NOTHING! I asked around and got a couple tips. Someone said to spray Downy Fabric Softener on it and it would loosen it right up - NOTHING! I finally resorted to a warm rag that seemed to loosen it up enough that I could rip small pieces off at a time. Yeah, me and my expanding belly stood/sat there for hours on end doing this. I worked on a section that was probably 1/4-1/3 of the room for 3 days straight. I'm sure I spent at least 5 hours total working on that little section. Now I'm not saying this was inspiration because it may or may not have been. I like to think that the Lord is looking after me what with all the church responsibilities heading my way the next couple of weeks. But whatever it was, it finally hit me. If a WARM rag works better than a cold one, wouldn't steam work even better. Plus I wouldn't have to keep dipping my rag in a big pot of water over and over. Honestly, I should've googled it. I bet the answer is out there. But I was too busy to think about using a computer. :) So I called up my SIL, Amy, and asked if I could borrow her little clothes steamer just to see if it worked. Marcos and I plugged in that sucker and got to work. Within minutes, we had a system down that was virtually flawless. I kid you not, we finished pulling the wallpaper off and then going back over the entire section with steam to get any remaining residue/goo off with a rag all in about an hour. HALLELUJAH! It was the best feeling ever. I was so discouraged by this little project and now I had reason to rejoice.

So...here are some pictures from our adventure in wallpaper removal. They can also serve as "before" pictures since I hope to have "after" pictures of our little girl room in the near future. Dylan took most of them and I was having a major shlumpy day so the pictures are way LESS than flattering. Sorry people.

Feeling happy we discovered an easier way. The steamer was actually working.

Peeling big sheets of wallpaper off at a time.

See the little papers on the floor? Those are only a tiny portion of the "before" wallpaper remnants. The big strip represents a much easier way. I can't believe I wasted so much time before I came up with a better method. Oh well.

Thrilled with the steamer. My belly looks HUGE in this picture. It's just the angle though. I'm getting huge for sure, but my belly doesn't really poke out the way it looks here. I just looklike a great big rectangular person who can't walk right for now. GOOD TIMES!