Hopeful Thoughts

He asked for tools for his birthday, so what else could I do??

My amazing husband turned 30 last week. It’s been a crazy year for us both, what with moving, quitting my job, my mission trip, his new job, getting pregnant, buying a house…

With all of these changes, I felt like he had earned an AWESOME party this year. Since we just closed on our house June 4th, it seemed appropriate to combine it with our housewarming and plan for a slew of people. I got busy pruning the weeds out of the yard and making plans to feed 30 plus people.

I also planned for some great entertainment. I enlisted the “Lightening Crispies” to perform their classic rock tunes. I can’t say I hired them, because they agreed to do it out of love for Ryan and free food. We are so blessed by the friends God has provided for us. I told my friend Taylor, the drummer, that it’s probably not unusual to have a friend’s band play your birthday party for free. The unusual part is that our friend’s band is actually REALLY GOOD!

The Lightening Crispies set up on our back patio. There is a drummer hiding behind the lead singer! I promise!

The cake was also a splurge. I actually ordered it from what most consider to be the best bakery in town, Candy Haven. YUM!!! It didn’t turn out to be as expensive as I thought for the half sheet cake, but it was worth every penny I paid. I will use them again in the future.

This was a lesson in planning, that’s for sure. I originally figured 6 pounds of hamburger to feed the crowd, but I went ahead and bought 9. We ended up using 11!! I think there were over 40 people in attendance by the time all was said and done.

A view of the band as they warm up. Only a few people now, but this yard was full by the end!

Our grill. We purchased it Super Bowl weekend, but it really served it's purpose this passed Sunday. Over 40 burgers and 30 hotdogs!

This party was also a huge confirmation of the decision we made to buy this house. Even with the band set up and the rows of chairs for people to watch, there was still plenty of room for the kids to throw a football. When it got too hot, there was plenty of room inside the house for people to sit down and visit without feeling crowded. The kitchen is plenty big to prepare and serve the food, even with separate stations for drinks and cake!

Sunday was AMAZING! We’re so grateful to all who have loved us over the years and have assisted us in the process of buying this house and planning our awesome party. Thanks for sharing it with us!

I just had my 32 week appointment at Inanna today. I can’t believe I only have 8 weeks to go! Our graduation from birthing class is next Tuesday, so I guess we should be ready after that. We’re physically prepared in that we have a house, diapers, a car seat, a few clothes, and a way to feed him.

Here are answers to the most common questions I hear for this point in my pregnancy.

1) Weight gain? My goal to stay under a gain of 25 pounds is pretty much shot. I weighed in at a gain of 24 yesterday. My midwife told me to cut out more bread products. That’s going to be hard. Most of what sounds good right now is carbs. 🙁

2) Cravings or aversions? Not so much. I do have to watch my protein intake, though. I get really light headed if I don’t get enough.

3) Boy or Girl? Name? We had another sonogram on May 28th, and actually got to see the proof that this child is most definitely a boy! We have decided on the spelling of “Grayson.”

4) Is he kicking? YES! Often. For awhile he was content to jam his head up under my right rib. He was actually in a breech position at the sonogram, but was head down at my appointment today. As I write this, he must be flexing his back muscles.

5) Belly button? It’s pretty much gone. There’s still a small indention that I would call an “innie.”

7) How am I feeling? I’m very tired and finding it more and more difficult to do physical activity. Since we bought the house, I really want to be out in the yard clearing up the weeds, but I just can’t bend over to do the work. It’s too uncomfortable.

8 ) What are you doing with the baby’s room? Now that we own the house, we will be doing something with the second bedroom that includes a place for baby. We are still working on a plan. Grayson will sleep in our room for a few months, but we are getting a crib and some storage furniture for baby stuff to go in the second room. However, Grayson will still have to share with Daddy’s office space. There is plenty of room in there for both of them. We’ve registered for some nice long baby gates to divide the room. We’ve even discussed painting a shade of blue.

9) How are you sleeping? I sleep good while I sleep, but I’m waking up a LOT to go to the bathroom. I also wake up several times and have to turn over because my legs ache. I had a good system with my pillows up until last night when I had to add another one.

The front of out first place!

It’s official! As of noon on Friday June 4th, 2010, we are HOMEOWNERS!!! We were hoping to be official a week earlier, but getting documents from a seller all the way in Hawaii caused us to push closing a week. No big deal, though. It just means our first payment won’t be due for another month!

Home ownership is pretty cool. We’ve already been living in the house since September, since we started out as renters, but now we can really start making this place our home. It’s got a few quirks, but we’ve also found some cool surprises. The furnace is about 50 years old, all three bathrooms will need updating, the apartment needs foundation work, none of the electrical is grounded, and the yard is a MESS, but we discovered that the front yard has a fully functional sprinkler system!

We’ve also discovered that my husband is pretty handy. The hall sink hasn’t worked properly since we moved in. There was a plumber out right after we moved in back in September who managed to get the leak to stop, but we’ve been living without any hot water since that time. The seller paid for us to have the valve replaced, but the faucet knob was so stripped that you still couldn’t turn the water on, so we weren’t much better off. Ryan decided that this was going to be his first big home improvement project. We went to Lowe’s, bought a new faucet and some tools, and two days later, our sink is fully functional!!!

The original faucet.

Ryan begins to take out the old faucet by removing the drain pipe.

Notice there is no water spilling out. He's doing great!

No more knobs! The faucet itself was a bit of an issue to get off. Ryan ended up sawing off the drain mechanism in order to get the final parts out. I guess it was too old and rusty to get out any other way. Good thing we planned to trash it from the beginning!

The naked sink.

Shiny new faucet that runs both hot and cold water! Complete with a working drain. All we had before was a hole! It's been almost a full day since it went in, and no problems to report. Way to go Ryan!

So one project down of many more to come. We’re going to hire someone to paint the outside of the house once we get our tax credit, but we plan to tackle many of the other projects on our own or with help from friends. On our “To Do” list: landscaping, interior painting and drywall repairs, new tile floors in both bathrooms, new counter in the master bath, new grout and caulk for the tubs in the master bath and the apartment bath, moving two interior door ways to create a true galley style kitchen with more counter space, a new roof, new locks on all the doors, … there’s more, but I can’t think of it all right now.

We are really excited to own this house and are grateful for God’s provision in being able to do so. We never would have found this place without Taylor and Allison who clued us in last spring that it was coming open to rent. We’re thankful to Charlie, our landlord, for letting us know he was going to sell it instead of just putting it on the market. We’re grateful to Ryan’s dad for helping with the downpayment. And were grateful to our incoming renters. God used each of these pieces to provide, and now our baby will be born into a house!!

I really need to stay on top of this! SO much has been happening in the last few weeks that I want to share, but it can’t all fit in one post! So, for today, we just have a shot of my new hair cut.

This will likely be my last visit with my favorite stylist at Salon La Page until after the little one make his grand arrival. So, when she suggested highlights, I decided it was now or never! The belly is 3 days shy of 31 weeks!

Yes, we DO still have a wreath hanging in June. I’m not taking it down until I have something else to hang there. That space looks horrible if it’s left blank.

The highlights are subtle; just enough to look like I've been out in the sun. Good thing, too, because I do NOT want to be out in the sun this summer!