My hydrangeas are back, and they’re basically the prettiest things I own. Even prettier than Charlie, but that’s because she jumped my fence this morning and I’m mad at her, so she looks like trouble to me instead (kind of like when she climbed on my roof).
All of the pine straw seems to be working its magic on making all of them bluer than last year’s blooms (which I still loved), but I couldn’t be happier. Green ones are my favorite color of hydrangea, but I haven’t tried planting any of those yet. The blue ones still kick ass, though:
Also, little known fact: if you post a picture of blue hydrangeas, purple hydrangeas, or pink hydrangeas on Instagram, people will immediately tell you how to make them not that color. Add sulfur! Add egg shells! Add coffee grounds! Add your toenail clippings! Ok, that last one was fake and also gross, but you get the point. It’s kind of like everyone telling you why you’re so sleepy on Thanksgiving, but instead of there being one reason you’re in a food coma, there are six different ways to get there.
I think at this point, I am 110% covered on how to bring out a certain color on hydrangeas, but what I haven’t tried yet is propagating them. I intend to do that next (because who wouldn’t want even more pictures to share of more hydrangeas and get even more advice about how to make them blue?), so I’m still taking advice on that front. Especially after my history of killing anything that grows from a seedling.
There are other flowers blooming all over my yard, so there is a lot of color going on everywhere.
Ahem… not a lot of weeding going on, though.
But, for this weekend, I think I’ll just stare a little longer at these beauties and remind myself what past work on this backyard as blossomed into; maybe that will get me to finish the beds faster!
P.S. I meant to have the floating shelves play-by-play in the laundry room ready this week, but they wound up needing another coat before I could be done… and I suck at Google Sketchup. So, next week it is.
Have you ever started drooling while you are watching HGTV when they show off their Smart Home of the year? Imagined yourself living in it and enjoying all of the beautiful furnishings and crazy technology that it holds? Entered it every day in hopes that it would one day be yours? Me, too.
So imagine my delight when I actually got to take a tour of the 2015 HGTV Smart Home. Y’all, I tried to hide in a closet so that I could just stay forever, but they found me.
Come on over to see a tour of the home in Austin, Texas! It has some really interesting "smart" features and great decor ideas that you could incorporate into your own home. Click here to head over to the tour!
WARNING: This post talks about my rear end. a lot. #sorrynotsorry
In the last five and a half years, I have gone through four pregnancies. That’s pretty crazy, right?! That sounds crazy in my head.
And during all four pregnancies, I have had some sort of pelvic pain. For Will’s pregnancy I thought I was experiencing a type of round ligament pain but in actuality it felt like I was getting punched in the crotch. The front part of my pelvic bone would just ache all the time. Then I got pregnant with Weston and I would have these pains in my rear end….I called them ‘butt seizures’ because they actually felt like my entire rear end would seize up and I was not able to move. Not a step. Nothing would help but sitting down for a solid five minutes and then I would be able to get up and waddle to my destination. I talked to my doctor who told me that it might be sciatica pain and I should go to a chiropractor. Enter sciatica stretches and exercises. I accounted for the pain by saying that I was carrying different….and then came the birth. Weston was my first VBAC and I was so thankful that I could have him vaginally even though he was so big and posterior. The hardest part of the VBAC recovery for me was that he fractured my tailbone on his way out and I couldn’t sit comfortably for a long time. Fast forward to LJ. My pregnancy with my little sweetie pie was hard for a different reason….it was the first time I had really been ill while pregnant. I caught a cold and it turned into bronchitis and I had to wait till I was far enough along before I could get on really effective medication. That was really hard because I coughed REALLY hard all the time. I would throw up and simultaneously pee myself I was coughing so hard. (TMI Katie.) The pain in my rear end was slightly worse than with Weston but I just blamed the coughing and the stress it put on my pelvis. Again….blaming all pain on a pinched sciatic nerve and doing the stretches and exercises from a chiropractor for sciatica relief.
Okay…so basically the history of my butt includes pain, pain and more pain.
But it always went away after giving birth.
And I always blamed it on various things but mostly my sciatica.
So this past week, my rear end got progressively worse. It was that same pain….but it was REALLY bad….like the worse it’s ever been. And again, it was after I was really sick and coughing super hard. I literally could not sleep because of the pain. I couldn’t pick up the kids. I couldn’t walk or bend over or even sit comfortably. It was embarrassing and depressing and I could tell it was affecting me a lot mentally and my relationship with Jeremy because I was asking him to help me with EVERYTHING. I hate being helpless and I hate asking for help even more.
I decided that the best thing to do was google. I started searching everything I could find about sciatica pain that would disappear after childbirth. The funny thing is….sciatica pain doesn’t generally disappear after birthing a child. It should stick around. But mine never did. That is when I discovered PGP…..pelvic girdle pain…and it’s often confused with sciatica pain in pregnancy. I did a ton of research and read everything I could. Pelvic girdle pain is basically very common in pregnancy but people here in the US just don’t talk about it a lot and it’s often misdiagnosed. It’s so common in pregnancy because that is when our bodies produce relaxin (that hormone that makes our joints loosey-goosey). Relaxin is a good thing….but for my pelvis, it means that my bones are coming so far apart that it is producing pain. They recommend physiotherapy and keeping your hips and pelvis and spine aligned, resting and not lifting or pushing or carrying anything heavy. You can do manual alignment and also wear a support belt to pull everything back together.
In Will’s pregnancy, that is probably what caused the pain in front….the bones of the pelvis were coming apart right there in my crotch area. Then during Weston’s pregnancy, the pain was in the joints in the back but concentrated on one side (deceiving, yes but that is common). After the Weston injury, the pain got progressively worse….increased by pressure on my pelvic floor from coughing…and even more aggravated by the fact that I was doing stretches for sciatica (there is a big difference in treatment for these two things!). Since I didn’t do the recommended healing after Weston was born (physiotherapists recommend a year of pelvic healing and proper exercises to strengthen your abs and your pelvic floor) before getting pregnant again….my problem was exacerbated. Times two because then I got pregnant again so soon after LJ.
After talking to a therapist, I searched for a good belt and late Friday night I put on in my Amazon cart so that I could purchase it in the morning (I was in so much pain that I wasn’t about to crawl down the stairs to get my debit card). I wish I could explain the situation fully….but the short of it is that the pain was bringing me to tears. Not getting much sleep, not being able to walk, not being able to feel confident that I was keeping the kids safe from potential situations, having leg cramps and not being able to stretch them because I couldn’t move…it was all really bad. I prayed really hard that night that the belt would come soon and that it would work. The next morning, I woke up when I hear LJ stirring and I waddled slowly in to get him. Then it hit me….years ago, our friend Dan gave me a pregnancy belt. He was working as a medical supply rep and he gave away free samples to therapists and he had an extra one that he gave me. It was hilarious that I remembered it. I mean…it was six years ago….before I had any pregnancy or any pain. I knew that I wouldn’t have thrown it away and I just took a random guess that it was in our gift wrap closet. I know….that sounds crazy but for whatever reason, I thought….if I still have it, it’ll be in with our Christmas bags.
Low and behold, LJ and I crawled in there and I looked up and saw the box. It was just sitting there….on top of the rolls of wrapping paper….like God had delivered a present to me. I know this sounds like a crazy story but I opened the box and it was exactly the belt that I needed….right size and everything. I strapped it on as tightly as I could and I could literally feel my bones getting closer together. They even made weird popping noises. The belt is crazy good….even though it doesn’t make the pain completely disappear, I CAN WALK. I can sit. I can actually do things. I still have butt seizures if I do a twisting movement in the wrong direction, move too quickly or get my hips out of a locked position and the bad news is that my belly is itchy from the constant compression….but it’s totally worth it to have the ability to go to the bathroom, go get a drink, even just walk to the mailbox.
No Support Belt – With Support Belt
All that to say….I am a few weeks away from welcoming baby boy #4 and so excited to meet him and say goodbye to this PGP. Also….I owe my sciatica an apology. And maybe some chocolates. And if you are an expectant gal who is experiencing discomfort down there….I hope this post helps. If it only helps one person…it’s worth writing. I wish I had read something like this about pelvic girdle pain a long time ago. I very much recommend getting a support belt asap and starting on proper treatment. Because really….as in any DIY project, prep work really helps….and I know that you mama’s need to be able to take care of yourself and your family!
As for whether or not the belt is really noticeable under clothing….not for me as much. It could be worse. Sometimes I wear the belt over my clothing if I am gonna be home all day because it takes some of the itch away. I tend to be like a stuffed sausage when I am pregnant so the really only noticeable difference under clothing is that it pushes my spare tire up higher….also it flattens the top part of my bottom. Sometimes it does feel like it’s slipping up so I will have to adjust it under my clothing….especially after sitting….because it needs to sit lower to pull those bones together. I still practice my pelvic and ab exercises and do the proper hip alignment movements which definitely help. I write all this just to say….I love my belt. And dear sciatic nerve….I am really sorry you got blamed. Off to write a long apology letter to the nerve in my bum
Also…if you are wondering, this is the belt I use. Good luck ladies….may your rear end ever be in your favor
We only have a few days left of the school year, which means my kids are getting really excited about the summer. Even though we have torrential rains and deadly flooding around here (the streets surrounding our neighborhood were literally under feet of water a few days ago), the kids can't think about anything other than swimming pools, water slides and water balloon fights.
Water balloons. The words that make me feel like the meanest mom on the planet. I hate them. It's not the water that drives me crazy, but it's the little bit of balloon that no one else picks up out of the yard but me. But, the kids love them, so I'm stuck picking up balloon pieces all summer long. #partofthejob
One of the biggest problems with water balloons is wanting to use them at locations that don't have running water or a garden hose - like at a birthday party at the park. You could fill the balloons and put them in a bucket before you left the house, but I always manage to pop several of them in my car. I've been looking for a good solution, and I think I found it! Click here to see my solution.
Y'all. I feel like I have been away from the blog for so long. As I'm sure you've noticed, my posts and projects have been sporadic over the last few months. Tomorrow, I'm jumping right back in with plenty of DIY and home decor goodness to make up for it! But until then, I am dying to update you on what's been going on in our world.
I don't have a lot of beautifully staged pictures to share with you today. But, I think the story is worth a read.
Come on over and see what in the world we've been up to! Click here!
I thought since I have been writing this blog for a very VERY long time, that some of you might be new here and it was high time to reintroduce myself. Some of you might be like “Oh Bower Power….I heard of that blog…it’s by that weird girl that tries really hard to make jokes and do DIY projects, right?!” and that’s pretty much the truth. But I figured, I could tell ya a little bit about myself….and maybe reveal some things that nobody really knows. Let’s do ten things…that’s a good round number. And then maybe at the end, in the comment section, you could do the same. Let’s go….
Jeremy & I circa 2006
#1…..My name is Katie Bower and I have been married for seven years to Jeremy Bower. He and I have three boys with another baby boy on the way (due in two weeks!). I love DIY projects, crafting, cooking, photography, shopping for good deals, home decor, art and candy. I am obsessed with my family and with learning new things. I believe the Bible (even the crazy bits) and think that the greatest trait in the world is to love well.
Me eating a pretzel in 2008
#2….If I had a signature food, it would be soft pretzels. Jeremy’s would be ice cream. I used to make a lot of bacon jokes….don’t get me wrong…I love me some pork….but I can’t possibly eat the other white meat every day. Soft pretzels I eat every day. Every.single.day. The Atkins Diet would be a complete joke in my life. My favorite way to eat a pretzel is with cheese dip but the pretzel must be salty and buttery and not over cooked. That’s the right way to do it. That’s the only way to do it (enter drooling emoji here).
#3….I am not a fan of technology and resist it at every chance I get. I often let my phone die just so that I don’t have to answer it. I don’t do Facebook (except to post the new Bower Power posts), don’t understand Twitter, never even attempted Snapchat and have 9,526 unread emails in my inbox. I don’t even know how to turn on our thermostat. I barely know how to turn on the tv. Phone apps blow my mind. The repercussions of this fact is that I am blissfully ignorant of current events, celebrity news, and social media trends. In general, I find out most ‘world’ stuff about a week to two after everyone else. Jeremy thinks I am ridiculous because I am. I know that. If I had time and energy to keep up with news….maybe I would….maybe not….but all I know is that I don’t have time for laundry and my baseboards are a hot mess.
#4….My biggest dream is to watch my sons follow Jesus in their lives. If they loved others and loved God….that’s it for me. I don’t need anything else.
My McDonald’s pins from 1994
#5….My first real job was at McDonalds. I was thirteen and was only allowed to work 45 minutes per day….except on Saturdays when I could work eight hours. My first paycheck was just under $20 and I thought I was the richest person in the world. I said (and I quote as indicated by the quotation marks) “Now I can like buy like two things at like Old Navy!”.
#6….I met Jeremy on a blind date where I told him that I wasn’t the kinda girl that dates boys like him. When I did finally agree to date him, I wasn’t physically attracted to him until a year later. Now….I can’t keep my hands off the man. Obviously. Also…he’s hot
#7….My most embarrassing moment was when I was 20 years old and a swim instructor at a country club. I started my period unexpectedly while I was standing on the steps of the pool and my student, a seven year old boy, screamed, pointed and yelled out loud “MISS KATIE YOU ARE BLEEDING EVERYWHERE!”. I grabbed a towel, ran for the bathroom and then I had to inform the lifeguards who had to shut down the pool to shock it and send the hundred plus people home due to pool contamination. I ruined a sunny Saturday for a lot of angry people. Needless to say….I never miscalculated my ‘day’ again.
Sherry Petersik & I in Nashville 2009
#8….The best thing about blogging is that I met my best friend through it. Yes…there are a ton of perks to blogging. But six years ago I met a gal named Sherry Petersik who wrote a well known blog called Young House Love and fell in love with that girl. She and I are incredibly different yet we share so much of the same passions (DIY, our kids, our family life just to name a few) and if the internet exploded tomorrow, I would be grateful because I got the best gift ever from starting Bower Power….her friendship.
#9….When I was in middle school, I got detention twice. Once for cutting a girl’s hair in home economics. And once for writing on the girl’s locker room bench “If you are looking for a good time, call (Craig Willingham’s phone number).” A fellow gym mate said that I would get in trouble because she would tell on me. I said “No $#@* Sherlock! Of course I will get in trouble if you tell on me!” And then I got in double trouble for cussing at school.
#10….If I could go back to college, I would get a degree in art or marketing….or I would get my contractor’s license. Or some kinda certification in being a survival expert. That would be cool.
Okay….so that is ten things about me! What about you? I wanna know you! Any quirks, passions, moments you must share with the world? I wanna hear them. You can post and link up or just put em right there in the comments. If you can’t think of ten, just give me one. One golden nugget is better than zero golden nuggets…..says the ex-Mickey D’s employee
I hope those of you in the states had a happy, safe, and productive holiday weekend! I spent part of mine working on my garden beds:
The good news: all of the garden beds are now buried in their rightful spots in the dirt (sweet!). These three long garden beds were basically FREE thanks to some leftover materials I had from building this part of my fence (which was also basically free since my sister had these items left over from her fencing project, so it was win-win-win). I originally started with these plans, but modified them to be a little narrower and longer for each bed since I’m not planning on planting edibles in them (there’s not enough sunlight on this side of the yard). Let me know if you want the exact plans & I’ll include a post this week with them.
The bad news — er, well, the less fun news: I have a lot of layering to do. It means a lot of trips back and forth with the wheelbarrow, but thankfully I found this amazing Youtube video that has taught me how to pop my upper back by myself, which is such a help.
If you want to see what I started with, I took a few extra pictures before installing them. It’s pretty clear from these pictures why I’m putting these in front of this neighboring fence (word to the wise: do NOT plant bamboo in your yard… it grows fast and destroys everything around it!). While I can’t do much to repair it (I’d rather not incur the expense of repairing someone else’s fence to this extent, and the bamboo on the other side will still cause problems), I can certainly dress up this side and hide it a little with some evergreen shrubs — and the raised beds prevent me from having to dig down into the hard Georgia dirt and remove roots.
Sidenote: isn’t that Japanese maple in their yard gorgeous? I’m thinking of planting one along a back corner of my own yard (neighbors on both sides have them, actually).
I’m using a method that is sometimes called “lasagna gardening”; essentially, I’m putting in various layers of things like cardboard, mulch, yard clippings, and soil. A little gardening research told me that this will give my aforementioned black thumb a much better chance of keeping weeds at bay and the plants I actually spent money on alive (I think this is why I dislike gardening in general; it’s gambling my money on something that might not live… like buying a $15 goldfish… and yeah, I know that most places have guarantees for plants, but who wants to dig up a dead plant, put it back in your car, find the damn receipt, and drive to the store you bought it from? Ok, rant over.).
But best of all, lasagna gardening reduces the overall cost of filling each bed with pricey bags of gardening soil and instead lets me use items that my yard has already provided in abundance… like cheap newspapers that get chucked onto my front lawn, pine straw, and mulch from tree removal earlier this year. Here’s how I did it:
1. Cardboard
The base of each layered bed is a generous supply of cardboard. Just before I began building the beds, I gave away an entire recycling container worth of cut up cardboard, and then immediately kicked myself, thinking I would have to wait weeks to collect enough again to fill these three beds. And then I walked around my house for about ten minutes and realized that cardboard is about as abundant in a person’s home as that clown car of plastic-bags-inside-another-plastic-bag BS we all fall victim to. So anyway, plenty of cardboard.
The cardboard (wet newspaper works too) acts as a weed blocker, kills the grass below, and also helps prevent any roots from working their way up. While these pictures look a bit disheveled, you’ll want to fully cover any exposed grassy parts before adding the next layer (so fill in gaps with newspaper if the cardboard isn’t malleable enough to fit).
2. Mulch
For more weed-blocking power and to establish the soil in a well-drained setup, I wound up doing two layers of mulch: first with pine straw (because, well, there’s a shitload of that still around)…
And then with the mulch from grinding down the stumps of the pine trees removed earlier this year (because, well, with 5 trees removed, there’s a shitload of that too). Bonus was that since these mulch piles have just been sitting around in the heat and rain all spring, they’ve already begun to compost, which should be really nice for the beds! And people say laziness gets you nowhere. Pssh.
Some tutorials suggest adding “green” layers too, such as grass clippings or other yard debris. I haven’t added any of that to the pile, but if you have it, use it.
3. Soil
I haven’t really gotten to this step yet, because it turns out that it takes a lot of wheelbarrows of pine mulch to fill in these beds, but I’m planning on combining a few bags of compost and possibly peat moss to top things off.
There’s more filling in to do this week, but I’ve already accumulated a total of 6 plants to fill in the first two beds (I would have gotten more, but it was all the store had of what I wanted). But it also means I can only wait so long to put them in the ground, so this will be a good way to push me to get things done!
I’ll have some final shots ready once planting and mulching is all complete, but I’m glad to be feeling like I took a GIANT step forward in making this side of my yard look a bit more organized and well-maintained. It’s redistributing the large mounds of pine mulch too. And did I mention mostly FREE? Gotta love that.
Good luck ladies….may your rear end ever be in your favor 
