What's new pussy cat!?

OK so I admit, I am not the best at keeping a current or accurate journal. My mom gave me a journal to start this year and I did do one entry, but nothing since. I find I have more time and energy to type blog posts than I do to write in journal. So for that matter, I am going to attempt to fire the blog back up!

I guess I need to address the biggest item first. It is no secret everyone already knows but…

WE’RE PREGNANT! DUE AUGUST 1st

So the story to date:

Our original plan was to wait till the first of the year to start trying for a baby. We then thought well why wait, it could take us a while to get pregnant anyway. So I went off the magic baby repellent in the end of October. We decided whatever happens, happens. Poor Dale’s head was already spinning with the fertility time table.

I’m going to fast forward and then go back. Thanksgiving morning: (TMI but I’m going to tell it anyway)

I should have got my period the day before. I was thinking my body is going to be off because I went off the pill, but for shits and giggles I took a pregnancy test. I was SHOCKED to see that it came out positive! I told Dale and he was excited as well but we were both still uneasy as it was so early on. We decided we would not tell anyone yet just in case something happened or the test was a fluke. I purchased another test and we did one a few weeks later. Still positive so I guess we are for sure pregnant. At this point I decided I wanted to wait till Christmas to tell the family. I thought it would make a perfect Christmas gift.

Christmas Day: So to break the news I got everyone a t-shirt stating their new titles. Mom got “Grandma to bee” (with a little bee on it). Dad got “Great dads get promoted to Grandpa”. TJ got “World’s greatest Uncle”. Renea got “World’s coolest Aunt”. They had to open them all at the same time. Renae said “Is there something I’m missing?’ and mom just mouthed to me “Are you pregnant?” So, the cat was officially out of the bag. Mom wore her shirt to the family party with pride. She was so excited.

Now here we are 17 weeks with an onion sized baby. Everyone keeps asking “How are you feeling?” I have been pretty lucky and I know it. I did not get the morning sickness at all. I did have a few days that I was feeling a little nauseous. I generally just forced myself to eat and concentrated on my breathing. Other than that, the only side affect I am having is a rough time sleeping. We have been in for two appointments with the midwives and have heard the baby’s heartbeat. We even have a recording of it to listen to whenever. We are not going to find out the sex (which is killing my mother). I figure that will make me push harder with excitement and anticipation J.

Not a whole lot else to report at the moment. We are not doing a nursery so there is no prepping going on for that. A friend has been kind enough to give us a bassinet to use for the time being. I have knit a few things for the baby and plan to do more. We have been pretty good about not buying things as I am sure we will get slammed with things from friend s and family when the time comes. We are just taking it day by day for now.

So the rewind. As we sat back and thought about WHEN this may have happened there were only 3 days in which this could have happened. It could have been the weekend of Punkin Chunk or the day before Dale’s motorcycle accident. In looking at the timing, Punkin Chunk would have been too early. So our little one was conceived on November 10^th, 1 day before Dale was going to be laid up for weeks. I think that was Gods way of saying slow down buddy you got a baby on the way. I was ever so more thankful that Dale was OK once we realized we were pregnant. I am going to try and keep this up to date with baby happenings. Stay tuned.

Drywall is coming along!

Almost half way there :-) It is getting really bright in there and now it echos!

These steep angled walls have been a bit of a nightmare.

But god love him in the heat he is being a trooper! The man can do anything and I love him for that.

There is still a chance it will be done by faire. Here is hoping!

A little bit of love outside the Lute plantation

It was high time the Lute estate got a few flowers.

Inspired by Joel and Gloria's "Shade Garden" We went and picked a few Evergreens, Perennials and Annuals.

I think it looks nice! Now lets see how long I can keep it that nice looking :-)

I also broke down and got a bike a few weeks ago. Living right on the B&O Trail, we should use enjoy it every now and then. We had a lovely 8 mile ride on Friday.

Next thing to fill is the old stove. We have 4 spots we can put pots in. Need to come up with something creative.

After all that work Blackbeard is beat :-)

Now to go get all the dirt out from under my finger nails!

Renovations are coming along!

Insulation is almost done! Dale is doing an amazing job bless his heart.

You can start to see what the room is going to look like once drywall is up.

Good thing we have air up there or he would really be dieing!

The new chandeliers in the dormer windows. They look great from outside too! Dale hopes to finish the insulation this weekend and then it will be on to the drywall. Ugh!

Dormers done! Studs almost there...

The dormers are finished!

Dale has been working hard on studding the walls for dry wall.

Dale added a knee wall which we are going to top with some kind of nice wood.

This is the baby/sewing room dividing wall. My closet will be on the other side of this wall.

Looking up the stairs at the new window and knee wall.

Looking down the left wall. Dale is going to build a bench were the cedar chest is right now.
He is doing an awesome job! He has one more wall to stud then wire the electrical.

First day of renovations...

The end of day one and the first gable is near completion. It is looking awesome so far.

Paneling is down and insulation out!

The first panel coming down.

Look at all the ghosts!!! LOL all the stink bugs that lost their lives up there!

And these are shots with everything down. Ready for the gables. Looking up at the chimney.

Looking down the wall the gables are going in.

Gable wall looking toward the bedroom. We are ready to go, once the windows come in for Mark to come and work his magic!

And so it begins..

Today I started to pack things away in the bedroom to get ready for renovations. Before I started I figured I better take a few pictures. This one is looking up the stairs from the kitchen.

Once you get to the top of the stairs you have what has become my dressing room/sewing room/store it here room.

This is the area that we are going to turn into a baby room/sewing room.

This is the bedroom.

Looking from the bedroom back to what will be the baby room. From this view the two new dormers will be on the right side.

To the left of the chimney is going to be a closet for my clothes. So within the next week or so we will start pulling down the plywood and the insulation. Once that is cleared out, Mark will come in with his crew and put the dormers in. From there it is up to Dale and I to install new insulation and drywall. We are probably going to do something with the floor as well. From there paint and enjoy! I'll try and post pictures along the way.

Ahhh Spring

The battle of the bugs continues. These stupid stink bugs are driving me mad! I caught all of these in the bedroom and sewing room in one day. Every time it gets warm they come out in masses. I hope when we redo the upstairs we will be able to get rid of most of them and seal up all the areas they are hiding.

Dale has been working hard in the shop. This is the chandelier he is working on to hang from the barn. It is made from old wagon parts. The crossbars are going to hold tiki torches. The chains hanging are going to connect the center disk to the rings itself.

We spent some time yesterday cleaning off the deck and flower beds. Getting them ready to plant some flowers.

And the newly refurbished smoker is just about ready to go. Time for a party I think :-)