tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60360738395087309632024-03-05T03:52:59.613-06:00The Adventures of Taddy-Long-Legs & J-MoneyTaddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.comBlogger301125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-36489537732315931522014-04-03T10:19:00.000-05:002014-04-03T10:19:54.994-05:00Akinya Kate @ 5 MonthsTuesday marked the start of a new month...and another "birthday" milestone for Akinya! 5 months! Already!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7UiWrRriduHjIYyHVtB_3W57dLZI4o6OAolV9JzTmF215MCcdtouis2G5iiy2o4mxMvE-GzkKWsBGjk2X3Tbv4NwxD7K_d18Eda5HGMeXIUOR7TNG7myOIn7-d79aqP_u_RD6dLS5LgIu/s1600/10167914_10101546737931751_1671141428_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7UiWrRriduHjIYyHVtB_3W57dLZI4o6OAolV9JzTmF215MCcdtouis2G5iiy2o4mxMvE-GzkKWsBGjk2X3Tbv4NwxD7K_d18Eda5HGMeXIUOR7TNG7myOIn7-d79aqP_u_RD6dLS5LgIu/s1600/10167914_10101546737931751_1671141428_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Just a year ago, we told our family and our very closest friends that we were expecting. The following day happened to be April Fool's Day and even though it hadn't crossed my mind, all of a sudden, some of our friends asked if our news from the day before was a prank. No joke, here! And a full year later, it's crazy to think we already have a 5-month old baby! <br />
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Here are some of Akinya's "accomplishments" from the past month...<br />
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-She weighs close to 20 pounds and has moved out of her infant seat to a convertible car seat<br />
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-Though rice cereal has been offered, no interest. <br />
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-She's starting to "recognize" people and lights up when she sees those she's frequently around<br />
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-Babbling...lots of it! Akinya is constantly babbling; she now does it to put herself to sleep and a lot of times, we find her "talking" in her sleep! She's also started "singing" for the daycare ladies and she has found a love for squealing!<br />
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-Her mouth is her way of exploring the world<br />
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-3 days after her 4-month well baby appointment, Akinya rolled over for the first time! She's now able to turn herself around in the bouncer, stands with support, is very close to sitting up on her own and when on her tummy, has everything in place to crawl. She's still just not going anywhere! <br />
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-Akinya's signature head full of hair is starting to become wavy (and not just when wet)<br />
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-The 6month clothes are being replaced with their 9-month counterparts<br />
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-She's back to sleeping through the night! After several weeks of waking up numerous times to give her her pacifier, we're relieved that she no longer wants the crazy thing!<br />
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-She also had her first overnight stay at Cousin Marcella's house<br />
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-Akinya can hold her bottle for brief periods of time<br />
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-Daddy bought Akinya her first pair of "stunna shades" and a sunhat for walks...now, we're just waiting on warm weather, sunshine and NO wind so we can take the long overdue walks!<br />
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-Speaking of Daddy, Justin gives her "airplane" rides and Akinya absolutely loves them!<br />
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-Akinya also loves, loves, loves the dog. She reaches for Mitzi and is always trying to pet her. All was good until one day Akinya pulled, instead of petted, and thank god Mitzi just ran away. Now, Mitzi's a bit more careful about letting the baby pet her ;-)-<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Ongs1iBpl_n_qKyIqJlj-OTo9PhB2gB6poJLcp2Vv-4lNVuY1XSGU7vsWTPSUR-rOXXNezdH6eNaf1jTZBhl97aEud7AsU7r5wt5ar1xq8TRHc7qNarJZIGo4PaSZsco1ipWK87SWKPP/s1600/1901886_10101546738091431_43737047_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Ongs1iBpl_n_qKyIqJlj-OTo9PhB2gB6poJLcp2Vv-4lNVuY1XSGU7vsWTPSUR-rOXXNezdH6eNaf1jTZBhl97aEud7AsU7r5wt5ar1xq8TRHc7qNarJZIGo4PaSZsco1ipWK87SWKPP/s1600/1901886_10101546738091431_43737047_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AK & Mitzi at 5 month</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AK & Mitzi at 1 month...BIG difference (in Akinya's size; not Mitzi's glare)!</td></tr>
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-The other thing Akinya loves? Kisses from Mommy! A kiss on the cheek is guaranteed to make her smile, if not laugh. And this little girl LOVES to laugh! The other night, I popped out in a workout DVD for the first time in months and guess what she did??? She started cracking up--and I mean, belly laughing, cracking up--while watching me try to work out. Guess that means I need to work-out more often!Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-51154634045966699302014-03-01T22:02:00.000-06:002014-03-01T22:02:30.288-06:00Akinya at 4 Months<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
According to the calendar, today is the first day of March. According to tonight's snow and sleet, though, it is still winter!!!</div>
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Being the first day of a new month, that means that it's another monthly "birthday" for Akinya! I know it sounds so cliche, but seriously, how is she already 4 months old?! Or, as I told Justin this morning, a third of the way to her first birthday?!</div>
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February was a month of many "firsts" for Miss Smiles.</div>
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The month started out with a major snowstorm...over 11" of snow in just a day's time! We've actually had numerous snow falls this winter, but that one constituted a REAL storm. As a result, Justin's company shut down for most of the week and then that Friday, he had surgery on his meniscus. Needless to say, Akinya had LOTS of Daddy-time in February!</div>
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The following week, she started daycare. We finally found somewhere that had an opening for an infant and so far, she's loving it there. But it didn't take long before we experienced the contagious environment of a daycare facility...after she came home from her last day of her first week at daycare, she was sick with the stomach flu! In fact, it was the first time she had ever been sick so we had no idea what was going on at first. But I have to say, making it 15 weeks without any type of illness during the winter is a blessing!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Feeling better! 15.5 pounds at 15 weeks!</td></tr>
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Once she and I were on the mend (yup, I was the lucky one who also caught the bug!), Akinya went to her first home inspection! It was one of those deals where I made a phone call to see when the inspector could get us on his calendar and he was available in two hours. My "work from home" day quickly turned into a "baby's coming along" day! Fortunately, she was her typical happy self and once she was done learning about how a house should be maintained, we headed off to the title company to learn about how ownership is transferred. Something tells me that once this little girl starts school, she'll be able to tell her teacher not only her ABC's, but all the inner-workings of the real estate industry!</div>
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Aside from all that, she's just growing and changing everyday! She's now in 6-months clothes...and some of those have already been outgrown. We've just moved up to a size 3 diaper and finally, finally she's now eating 6 oz each feeding. And the feedings are now about 3 hours apart...vs 2 hours! I feel like I get SO much more done now! The hair? It's still growing like crazy. It's now long enough that it's laying down and starting to form the shape of a bob.</div>
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Developmentally, Akinya is leaps and bounds ahead of where she was just a month ago. We're hearing LOTS of vowel sounds and her little hands are grabbing EVERYTHING! She's nearly rolled over on several occasions and belly time finds her holding her head and chest straight up. Akinya is also starting to "jump" when excited and she's learned to "throw" herself around, too. When taking a bath, she kicks like crazy and just smiles, smiles, smiles. She's exploring everything she can with her mouth and even though she hasn't had any teeth cut through yet, we're seeing more and more nubs in her gums with lots of drool and fists in the mouth.</div>
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It's still crazy to think our Miss Smiles is already 4 months old. I still can't figure out where the time went. In fact, today we finally had her "newborn" photo shoot that was scheduled for back when she was 2 weeks old! lol...long story short, we had to reschedule and this was the first weekend that we were available! Guess that gives a little bit of insight into how/why time has flown by!</div>
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For those of you who like to watch paint dry, these videos might be up your alley ;-) lol...the first video is a 3-month old Akinya checking out her Baby Einstein and the second video is her at 4-months. Quite a bit of difference, developmentally!</div>
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Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-7430286923383772502014-02-01T09:55:00.002-06:002014-02-01T15:08:14.306-06:00Akinya at 3-Months<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Our little girl is coming alive! Today marks "3-months of Akinya" and we love her more and more every day. She's really starting to become more social and it's safe to say that we just can't get enough of her. </div>
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Here are some of Akinya's highlights from the past month!</div>
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She learned to play the piano ;-) She loves this thing and it usually preoccupies her for a good 15-20 minutes...I can get SO much done during that time!</div>
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And Akinya is starting to figure out her Baby Einstein...still a bit small for it, but she loves checking out all the toys and trying to bat at them! Her hairline in the video is crazy, but more on that in a minute!</div>
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Akinya got all dressed up for her first Russian New Year's party. We got there and she slept through most of the party! She did wake up at the very end to eat and she went to bed as soon as we got home. If I must say so myself, I was impressed with her ability to be a good party guest:-)</div>
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She also made her first trip to half-court at Bramlage Coliseum. A proud papa had to take her with him when he went down to be recognized for the K-State Legends weekend.</div>
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The dog...The dog loves Akinya. One day, Akinya was napping on my chest (the only way she'd sleep during the day) and I had to get up and use the bathroom. Put her down in the exact position she'd been in (I wasn't about to wake her up!) and came back to find this! I think Mitzi will really enjoy it when Akinya is old enough to play with her.</div>
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And while I'm thinking of the dog, the other day I had AK doing tummy time while I laid next to her, checking email (the things you do when working from home and caring for an infant!)...Mitzi decided she wanted to join in and harass her, I mean, do doggy yoga while everyone was on the floor.</div>
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The biggest occasion of the past month was Akinya's Baptism.</div>
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For her Baptism, Akinya wore the same headband that she wore for her newborn pictures. Our plan was to use her christening gown for any future siblings (IF that happens!), but later that night, I had an idea...</div>
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I don't want to spill the beans but Lord knows blogging will be non-existent when she's old enough to read, so I feel safe sharing my idea. Plan is to have the dress cleaned and preserved, inclusive of her headband, the bonnet that came with her dress and the baptismal towel. Then, many, many years from now (and I mean many--like 30 years from now), when she puts on a different white gown for another big celebration at church, we'll give Akinya her Baptismal box and celebrate the newest sacrament in her faith journey. It's bittersweet to think so far ahead, but I believe it will be a great material reminder for her to always keep her relationship with God first.</div>
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Aren't the girls adorable?! Love that cousin Marcella likes Akinya so much...even when she's asleep and boring!</div>
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But back to the past month...! AK's hair is still growing like crazy. Now that the wave is kicking in and it's starting to lay down in places, it doesn't look nearly as long as it is. Just the other day, she lost a big chunk of hair next to her bald spot from where the vacuum had been used, so she'll be wearing lots of headbands until the spot fills back in!</div>
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Most of the month's changes have been fun! There has been lots of smiles, cooing and squeals...now that she's finding her voice, Akinya LOVES using it! Some of the 0-3 clothes are now being put away and Akinya has moved into a size 2 diaper. Thanks to the current growth spurt, we also bumped up to a larger bottle so she isn't left starving at the end of feedings. AK continues to have a VERY strong neck and is as active as ever. She's discovering the use of her legs and moves all around her crib at night. For her Grandpa's birthday, we tried to do a video message, but she was so distracted by her legs and TV that she didn't "converse" as much as she usually does.</div>
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The not so fun change? It seems Miss Akinya is teething! Eeeek! Oh well...if it's going to start this early, I just hope that those pearly whites come through sooner, rather than later. Guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens--and what kind of developments we see during the next month!Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-43248141051671865282014-01-23T11:48:00.000-06:002014-01-23T11:48:18.147-06:00Born a Wildcat--Baby's First Basketball Game!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Last weekend, we checked a "first" off of our list for Akinya...she went to her first K-State Basketball game!</div>
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We had talked about going to some games earlier in the season, but Justin was concerned about the noise hurting her ears...plus, being around such a large number of people during cold & flu season made him even more anxious.</div>
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Then, the invitation came. Legends Weekend was once again upon us and it was time for Justin to take his annual trip down to the hardwood for a halftime presentation. You see, every year, K-State hosts a reunion for all of their former basketball players--there's always the game, plus some sort of meal. I made the executive decision that we were going--after all, by mid-January, Akinya's immune system should be fairly strong!</div>
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Finally, the day was here. We started at the new football West Stadium Center.</div>
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We were originally supposed to have breakfast and the recognition ceremony of the 1964 Final Four team at the Training Table...turns out, they had recruits down there, so we had to meet elsewhere.</div>
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We were moved to the concourse area of the West Stadium...I totally stole these two pictures off of the web, but the space was gorgeous! It was a perfect spot to have breakfast and check out the field!</div>
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The morning sun was VERY bright, so our "tourist" photos didn't turn out the best...but you could still see the field in the background!</div>
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Miss Akinya Kate & her cousin, Marcella. They were the two cutest AND best-behaved cheerleaders at both the breakfast and basketball game!<br />
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A "K-State Family" picture...we had the privilege of sharing breakfast with the very sociable George Shupe (class of 1968). And if you know anything about K-State, once you put on the purple, we're all family!<br />
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Finally, it was time for the game at Bramlage Coliseum...as we left the West Stadium, the Athletic Department had a 6-passenger Gator waiting to take us to the front door of the coliseum. Considering how windy and cold it had become, we were more than happy to hop on board and let people think we were someone "important" as we zipped by them! lol...</div>
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I was actually pretty excited about the game! We were playing West Virginia--not only did they recently join our conference, but old Bob Huggins had been our head coach just several years ago. After one season at K-State, he left to accept the WV job...lots of K-Staters had been hurt and angry about his choice, but fast forward to 2014 and I don't think there were any hurt feelings in the room!</div>
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After all, two coaches later and I think we've found something in Bruce Weber!</div>
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Even though her parents were excited about the game, somebody managed to snooze through the first half!<br />
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Fortunately, Akinya woke up in time for the recognition ceremony...she waited with the guys (Justin, Schyler Thomas & Kyle Taylor) for the elevator to the tunnel.<br />
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Pretty sure there was a nice 80-year age difference between her and some of the older "Legends"!<br />
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Finally, it was time to go out on the court! This is the picture of the "Legends" from the 2000's...neat part? Kyle, Schyler & Justin were teammates. Discouraging part? There are 12 years of "2000's" teammates out there that need to make the trip back for Legends Weekend! I know Justin would absolutely love getting to spend time with the other guys!<br />
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Smiling for the crowd after his name was called!<br />
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And getting ready to wave "bye" to the crowd!</div>
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All in all, it was a great day to be a Wildcat! Akinya did great--she pretty much slept, ate and just took in her surroundings. It was definitely sensory central--so many new sights, sounds and smells--and I was worried how she would be later that night. Our evening at home was a happy one and she only woke up once during the night. Guess she enjoyed her day and getting to celebrate a win over West Virginia!!</div>
Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-69218073076848716902014-01-13T15:10:00.001-06:002014-01-13T15:19:24.776-06:00Baby on a BudgetI'm back to work.<br />
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Thank God. Because having a baby is not cheap.<br />
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But I'm cheap. <br />
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That's all there is to it. But much to my surprise, the two CAN go together!<br />
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When we found out we were having a baby, one of my first thoughts was "cha-ching." I could hear the bank account getting sucked dry! We knew babies were "expensive," but on top of that, my job is strictly commission. Until I'm sitting at the closing table, I don't get paid...and in real estate, the average lag time from activity to paycheck is 45-60 days. We knew to budget for a maternity leave of at least 6 weeks. Thanks to an emergency c-section, that leave turned into 8 weeks. Thus, we were automatically looking at a minimum of 4 months without me bringing home any income. Let me tell ya, that definitely made the "cha-ching" only grow louder!<br />
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In order to soften the blow once we learned of the pregnancy, we started socking away what money we could--but we also tried to cut as many corners as possible. Fortunately, no pain came with being cheap...the only pain came when we had to face expenses that just couldn't be found at a reduced rate elsewhere (ie the crazy hospital bills).<br />
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I know not all of you are mamas or daddies, so this might not apply. But if you know someone who's is expanding their family, maybe some of these tips will help them?! Who knows...but I thought I'd pass some of it on...<br />
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<consignment b="" sales=""><b>CONSIGNMENT SALES. </b>We bought things like bouncers, burp rags, bibs, basic onesies, play mats, stroller, you name it at our local semi-annual kid consignment sale. Just the other day, we literally cut a onesie off of Akinya when she had a record setting blowout--considering we paid just pennies for the onesie, we weren't out anything. You wouldn't want to buy everything there, but we managed to pay about 1/3 of the retail cost (including tax) for everything. Uh-mazing!</consignment><br />
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<maternity b="" clothes=""><b>MATERNITY CLOTHES.</b> A lot of women borrow maternity clothes, but honestly, my ridiculous inseam made that nearly impossible. So, I hit up eBay for gently used high-quality clothes...and I also stalked GAP, Old Navy and Pea In The Pod until they had sales. Surprisingly enough, their sale prices were cheaper than Target & Motherhood Maternity, and the items always laundered without developing holes, etc. Plus, the designs were "normal" enough that people thought I was still wearing my "regular" clothes while I was pregnant and I'm still wearing some of it as I wait for my pooch to disappear!</maternity><br />
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<wait b="" it="" out=""><b>WAIT IT OUT.</b> We obviously bought some things ahead of time--bouncers, a swing, etc--but I wouldn't go crazy buying every little thing out there. With the advent of Diapers.com and their overnight delivery, I would recommend waiting out some things to see what you truly need once the baby is here. I always heard a white noise machine is "a must." Turns out, Akinya could sleep through a freight train running through the backyard. We never bought a white noise machine and at this rate, I doubt we'll need to. There's a lot of stuff out there that you COULD buy for a baby, but how much of it do you really need???</wait><br />
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<wellness b="" programs=""><b>WELLNESS INCENTIVES.</b> Check with your health insurance provider to see if they have any prenatal wellness programs. Our company offered one and if we went to just half of our prenatal appointments and called when the baby was born, they would give us a $250 Visa gift card. You know how many diapers that will buy?! </wellness><br />
<wellness b="" programs=""><br /></wellness>
<wellness b="" programs=""><b>DON'T RELY ON YOUR REGISTRY.</b> My sister-in-law gave me this heads up and it was SO true. While we certainly received much needed items from our registry, the seasoned moms in attendance usually gifted me items that I never would have thought of registering for--and now I find myself using those items all the time. But, when it came to the leftover registry items that we wanted/needed, Amazon and Target offered post-baby-shower-date discounts for the items we took care of ourselves. Discounts were from 10-15% so not huge, but every bit helps!</wellness><br />
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<goodwill b=""><b>GOODWILL. </b> Maybe it's the transient nature of our community, but I have found super cute, name brand baby clothes at our local Goodwill. There were times that I'd be in Goodwill and there were entire sections of baby clothes that still had the tags on them! Hello, $35 Baby GAP sweater for just $2! It's also a great option for basic sweats, onesies etc that are great during those first few weeks when you're pretty much home 24/7...or, those days when you go through 3-4 outfits! <b> </b></goodwill><br />
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<craiglist b=""><b>SECOND-HAND FURNITURE. </b>We scored well-loved "real" furniture on Craigslist that we had refinished. It wasn't as cheap as buying the fiberboard alternatives, BUT, the stuff will last much, much longer--and it cost a fraction of what it would have cost to buy the items new at a furniture store. </craiglist><br />
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<stock b="" food="" nbsp="" pile=""><b>POST-DELIVERY MEALS. </b>Several months prior to my due date, I started buying items when they'd go on sale and when I would make one dish, I'd make enough to freeze for another meal. I even did this with basic items such as taco and sloppy joe meat, sauteed diced chicken, etc. Two and a half months into life with a baby, we're STILL digging into our stash of food. We only order out once every blue moon as we always have something to eat and usually it's quicker to defrost taco meat than it is to wait on the pizza guy! </stock><br />
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<gift b="" cards="" dining="" for="" out="">However, if you do find that you are ordering out, pick up gift cards from your local Kroger/Dillon's for the restaurant. It won't save you money on the cost of the food, but you get crazy gas points for buying the gift certificates at the grocery store. Also, the holidays is a great time to snag deals on the cost of the gift cards. For example, several weeks ago, Hy-Vee was offering $100 worth of gift cards for just $80 bucks. </gift><br />
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<b>CREDIT CARD REWARD POINTS. </b>We have a credit card that we use for gas, groceries, etc...We discovered we had enough reward points to purchase a new crib and changing table and pay only $40 out of pocket. Had we waited several more months, we wouldn't have had to pay anything, but it was more important to us that the items arrive while I was still able to help put them together. Every month, we pay the balance on our card, so I love earning money when purchasing items that we already have to buy!<br />
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<bulk b="" s="" thank-you=""><b>THANK YOU NOTES. </b>Go to Target and buy their bulk Thank-You cards. You get 50 cards for about $8. They are super cute and the quality is excellent. And if you have any manners, you will write a LOT of thank-you notes once you have a baby. At last count, we're at 120+ cards! I definitely feel like we're doing our part to keep the Postal Service in business! </bulk>Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-28919994844027240502013-12-20T17:06:00.002-06:002013-12-21T16:08:51.952-06:00The Garage is DONE!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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With the completion of our garage, all of our projects for 2013 are done!!!<br />
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When we bought our house, we knew the garage had had past termite activity and subsequent damage. Being that we were twenty-some years old and leaving the world of renting, we didn't mind that the garage was rough around the edges. After all, it would primarily house our lawn equipment and Justin's Caddy.<br />
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Then, in the Fall of 2012, the "restored" Caddy was sold. A few months later, Justin decided he needed another "project," and this time he focused in on the garage. Aside from the foundation and roof, most everything needed replaced so I knew Justin would be able to spend LOTS of time on the garage.<br />
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And that's exactly what happened. The weekend of Memorial Day 2013 was spent clearing out the garage and getting ready to tear into it...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqwmjj1TnM-uO2qaFa-Nj09w0Utr1lxTCqZ_Pq953L0z3_RUfMpwDGKr12IMtO4bHow0ILy1IB8Fz0mSuCit-1FnSfAmiLCyfArzPU-KpOidR13lEbe-7dc1ZMqqOw4l7cib07nxCzg68x/s1600/garage+before.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqwmjj1TnM-uO2qaFa-Nj09w0Utr1lxTCqZ_Pq953L0z3_RUfMpwDGKr12IMtO4bHow0ILy1IB8Fz0mSuCit-1FnSfAmiLCyfArzPU-KpOidR13lEbe-7dc1ZMqqOw4l7cib07nxCzg68x/s400/garage+before.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">About two years ago, the City road-grader hit the corner of the garage. The inside boards were too rotted to nail the siding back onto and the hoops we'd have to jump through to file an insurance claim through the city were crazy. So, we it just became an eyesore and *hopefully* a reminder for the road-grader not to get too close!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK09Xh1RX5b25BtTPM6GrUNt1A5oOLJPoBwEtQlglxQpVIGK3WjoJ_hwV6AR9bAUjq2nBJz4uZlPqKV4yhfawcsL2EvVk3XDuFYs9rFpmrg-92TUwaA9eTQna3gfv4vd8zj2wAwU6rTjBD/s1600/garage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK09Xh1RX5b25BtTPM6GrUNt1A5oOLJPoBwEtQlglxQpVIGK3WjoJ_hwV6AR9bAUjq2nBJz4uZlPqKV4yhfawcsL2EvVk3XDuFYs9rFpmrg-92TUwaA9eTQna3gfv4vd8zj2wAwU6rTjBD/s400/garage.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At some point in time, the garage was added on to and it was very obvious from the back...and the fact that it had multiple widths of siding didn't help make the addition inconspicuous, either!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyo_A6EeygfHD9s_Qdhf43QrJ9DzlrCQEKc7_XUfWiT4tqHpqwf3GgY_W0Y0fWn08vQ9dW92qcuMXTYVAR44M-Avtna9o50RUM-SJsznlwiI4R3gZ41b6JQhIv5Xt9rAgYqeiWozAhtACb/s1600/garage+before1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyo_A6EeygfHD9s_Qdhf43QrJ9DzlrCQEKc7_XUfWiT4tqHpqwf3GgY_W0Y0fWn08vQ9dW92qcuMXTYVAR44M-Avtna9o50RUM-SJsznlwiI4R3gZ41b6JQhIv5Xt9rAgYqeiWozAhtACb/s400/garage+before1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFlP_63nmIczLiFB00BeH6ZE0CVPcLKIXwe24ZOJgFSFo_lwTDbMf0orkYToVBmcRSeKKwhkgZ2hsGzvHmTH9JpA77-MgWDMZnQvheIqPKcLmj2O00FhpBgp4sPh6F5LtHnVdL1_lJAxu6/s1600/garagebefore3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFlP_63nmIczLiFB00BeH6ZE0CVPcLKIXwe24ZOJgFSFo_lwTDbMf0orkYToVBmcRSeKKwhkgZ2hsGzvHmTH9JpA77-MgWDMZnQvheIqPKcLmj2O00FhpBgp4sPh6F5LtHnVdL1_lJAxu6/s400/garagebefore3.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the lovely termite damage...the boards shattered like fine glass!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqZkAL_vnkKBr0SjpHDRcploWvtSKHdMGSguGIblS5TB0gMo46Ack18VT39mbMA8qyNW04S7PJhIjFGIcKPsab0Ce02-bIRe8rONkuSikckwKZwCBT7lKdwGoWBlSLpUA5vSHg6osCQP7/s1600/garagebefore4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqZkAL_vnkKBr0SjpHDRcploWvtSKHdMGSguGIblS5TB0gMo46Ack18VT39mbMA8qyNW04S7PJhIjFGIcKPsab0Ce02-bIRe8rONkuSikckwKZwCBT7lKdwGoWBlSLpUA5vSHg6osCQP7/s400/garagebefore4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the moldy paneling and insulation from inside the garage--and no, the pregnant lady only got close enough to take pictures! And even then, the guys yelled at me for getting too close to it!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigIXH8Ad9hQIT4qf1eWzZ8notVfnHNuOWeMmgpE9M6xDXBnRuOY6fRsiSEe12HsZd_T-led7VDsXqX7L9RrOrs_ixdOju3ceaEzGvZuaAzxea-WBk2bqZNGZ4-haDGsKC0ChS7PhRMaLHu/s1600/1157674_10101167108437301_2000097416_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigIXH8Ad9hQIT4qf1eWzZ8notVfnHNuOWeMmgpE9M6xDXBnRuOY6fRsiSEe12HsZd_T-led7VDsXqX7L9RrOrs_ixdOju3ceaEzGvZuaAzxea-WBk2bqZNGZ4-haDGsKC0ChS7PhRMaLHu/s400/1157674_10101167108437301_2000097416_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was too scary how easily the walls came down...how the garage didn't blow over with a strong wind was beyond me!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhODCkHzRCko63br7jrufQ8Bt1GCPFaOLCxaqFJYl83xAiy3bJCoP4kkmZjn3zVJhOOGgce-mf_9oG1JOQcSkiJ7OAjRpqLwFrkCokXeBHrefuqjLZyGYSyO0WwO00w5Ktlt1XrE7ivFNan/s1600/7167_10101168659888181_1971967437_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhODCkHzRCko63br7jrufQ8Bt1GCPFaOLCxaqFJYl83xAiy3bJCoP4kkmZjn3zVJhOOGgce-mf_9oG1JOQcSkiJ7OAjRpqLwFrkCokXeBHrefuqjLZyGYSyO0WwO00w5Ktlt1XrE7ivFNan/s400/7167_10101168659888181_1971967437_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the walls ended up getting reframed...</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHSspGbiZPq8p44hI3iS8s2Eq7Rcz_lEktv4znCiFMLKjUOV3Od-wCUym1soBEH6LADmnc7ji_M_aJ0S0olIYAIuZ4XaCZPNp10vc2ydaJYN1jLn4IPis_SFySIXEMLQHdOZDRVhf5rwcr/s1600/garage1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHSspGbiZPq8p44hI3iS8s2Eq7Rcz_lEktv4znCiFMLKjUOV3Od-wCUym1soBEH6LADmnc7ji_M_aJ0S0olIYAIuZ4XaCZPNp10vc2ydaJYN1jLn4IPis_SFySIXEMLQHdOZDRVhf5rwcr/s400/garage1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7LnM0Yw41P7RK5YEuDO8SbPKi9L-NGyauh19UXAntup0E7EVOFMG51skwF22IeyRy1YTsOaDyel64XwEly7mD664KqZYjN0iAc-B6lUzKiFv2q1WECePBU_9wjJfUR_dnjAEmnUb1tjWe/s1600/garage2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7LnM0Yw41P7RK5YEuDO8SbPKi9L-NGyauh19UXAntup0E7EVOFMG51skwF22IeyRy1YTsOaDyel64XwEly7mD664KqZYjN0iAc-B6lUzKiFv2q1WECePBU_9wjJfUR_dnjAEmnUb1tjWe/s400/garage2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We had an electrician restore the power to the garage. Now, we have lights, outlets and an electric garage door opener!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLlCawGEREFj5ISx4Pa-mbmmze26UTLjrEeoWig-pBwLhIPJzsPwdQtbaZ5qzhbo-nG69aF7-sw1wqNx5bkqUIVp30HMLaf_EgS1ssKnhSqVm058oYL8TLGTOlkvhdFxCg_vlMo0uPW86L/s1600/garage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLlCawGEREFj5ISx4Pa-mbmmze26UTLjrEeoWig-pBwLhIPJzsPwdQtbaZ5qzhbo-nG69aF7-sw1wqNx5bkqUIVp30HMLaf_EgS1ssKnhSqVm058oYL8TLGTOlkvhdFxCg_vlMo0uPW86L/s400/garage.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One wall of new siding...we went with wood in case we ever do seek the historical designation for our house. The use of wood should allow the garage to count as a conforming building.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjICFCUSpcEwNfAYrNCe63RBSxF4IQX7EKFflbIeJPfhEpQEe0FTHCbosaFj9kxC-pM1dvoL4wdAJ-Y-jHjTzl8K9djAG-cpPRJdsjYljS4dIzJd3w5NfB3BZwpr7NsTwkUTTCJksmoemZ7/s1600/garage+after+1o3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjICFCUSpcEwNfAYrNCe63RBSxF4IQX7EKFflbIeJPfhEpQEe0FTHCbosaFj9kxC-pM1dvoL4wdAJ-Y-jHjTzl8K9djAG-cpPRJdsjYljS4dIzJd3w5NfB3BZwpr7NsTwkUTTCJksmoemZ7/s400/garage+after+1o3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New siding, new door and trim!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5ANhtBBLPZ4B8aUq5yehz54ZRM430eL8jJr6UKcvsuxtj93CWRgc_LeDyJ8BZDYT8MsgjKkL5ZdQaxEvhRFytJ0UATq3iQRmsTOb8oH9oiXU_YC1utJSogGMEMOR4JOqaKr3sqLYGMcE/s1600/garage+after+3o3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5ANhtBBLPZ4B8aUq5yehz54ZRM430eL8jJr6UKcvsuxtj93CWRgc_LeDyJ8BZDYT8MsgjKkL5ZdQaxEvhRFytJ0UATq3iQRmsTOb8oH9oiXU_YC1utJSogGMEMOR4JOqaKr3sqLYGMcE/s400/garage+after+3o3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can't see it in the pics, but ordered door panels with beadboard inserts that coordinate with the house's beadboard soffits</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqGnGM7NvaL67FbfEOHs7HvxTu9rl6rsXzgCqk78xKgBeYa7d96OKrtEYlAI8-QeIvEZVVv0fxpzGL1G4Q0cscxxkMbYk3Q57uM0E2nWEyMsiygRWLl1JAkLmTQTVLH5SOp1RxiIFchCkR/s1600/garage+after+2o3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqGnGM7NvaL67FbfEOHs7HvxTu9rl6rsXzgCqk78xKgBeYa7d96OKrtEYlAI8-QeIvEZVVv0fxpzGL1G4Q0cscxxkMbYk3Q57uM0E2nWEyMsiygRWLl1JAkLmTQTVLH5SOp1RxiIFchCkR/s400/garage+after+2o3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All the siding matches :-)</td></tr>
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Last night, the final trim work was done and after 7 months of work, we can say the garage is 'a wrap'! Well, the siding joints still need caulked and the body painted, but at least the surfaces are all primed so the wood will survive any winter moisture.</div>
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After tearing into the garage, it was amazing what we found...like I said, we knew about the termite damage. But then we found water damage. And framing that wasn't attached to the sole plate in numerous places. In fact, some areas had the sole plate on a dirt foundation! Between the amount of framing that wasn't attached to anything, and how damaged the structure was, I honestly don't know how the garage was still standing.<br />
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Now that the garage has practically been rebuilt, the structure shouldn't be going anywhere! Thankfully, all the primer colors look fairly decent but I'm definitely excited to hit it with a paintbrush come Spring and get it matching our house. What I'm most excited about, though, is having power to the garage...the old shin-splitter door was a PAIN in the butt, especially after a heavy snow, but now with the touch of a button, I can pull right into the garage!<br />
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I'm just glad that with only days left in 2013, we can say that all of our projects are completely wrapped up...our goal was to have the garage completely wrapped up before Akinya was born and obviously we missed that deadline by a few months. But as they say, it's always better to be late, than never!Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-86666801713788490372013-12-16T16:01:00.001-06:002013-12-16T16:01:42.495-06:00Our Simplified Christmas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
This was our house just 8 days ago...flurries of snow and yes, our pumpkins (minus one that disappeared while I was in the hospital) were still out.</div>
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If anything, this picture is a perfect representation of what our life has been like lately! Unfortunately, it still looks more like Fall than Christmas around our house! I did get the pumpkins off the front porch this morning, but the interior decor is yet to be touched...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckqZ6zhrQlFfm56zatOtW7NGzqt6aN0I_vMWcchprQsH3ph-jNNpW0iKcQ95trT8Nj38vvyf0m5h7uWuOSqQB5kN3Mbdj8lZ8Ro0LSqm_QLvyaXEzPgj84b-2w49qsf64oAkDws_qRM61/s1600/1239747_10101376311842001_1790704233_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckqZ6zhrQlFfm56zatOtW7NGzqt6aN0I_vMWcchprQsH3ph-jNNpW0iKcQ95trT8Nj38vvyf0m5h7uWuOSqQB5kN3Mbdj8lZ8Ro0LSqm_QLvyaXEzPgj84b-2w49qsf64oAkDws_qRM61/s400/1239747_10101376311842001_1790704233_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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In years past, we hung wreaths on our windows...as someone once told me, the wreaths made our house feel very "Charles Dickens-ish"...and if that wasn't enough, the porch railing would be draped with more greenery.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZzaOU8__D4wp0jfkc8vLjSicf1_YR2VCUP_NbMghsTG3rrL3FiUWPPdizWPgXHRybMiQNjPDu0SvyU3xljHj58duOIg9aAazAC008gkFP09hr3967x8b72fvoBvuSSAG0vLbtACFrkNo/s1600/406153_10100317079307491_1593374999_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZzaOU8__D4wp0jfkc8vLjSicf1_YR2VCUP_NbMghsTG3rrL3FiUWPPdizWPgXHRybMiQNjPDu0SvyU3xljHj58duOIg9aAazAC008gkFP09hr3967x8b72fvoBvuSSAG0vLbtACFrkNo/s400/406153_10100317079307491_1593374999_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Lights would be strung along the roofline, porch and as an addition last year, along the fenceline...<br />
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And the Christmas tree...I love, love, love our tree but hate, hate, hate all the loose glitter that comes with it! It's also super fun to put up, but very time consuming to take down. In fact, it didn't come down until mid-April last year...ooops! </div>
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With adding a new baby to the mix, I was worried that if we put up very many Christmas decorations, they would never come down! So this year, there is no tree...there are no wreaths nor garland...there are no lights. I did manage to get our vintage wooden sled and a wreath out to the front porch--but that's it. Compared to years past, it's definitely a simplified Christmas! And it's not that we're trying to give old man Scrooge a run for his money--it's just that sometimes you have to pick your (time consuming) battles!</div>
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And the winner of every battle has and will be Miss Akinya. She is an absolute doll and we just can't get enough of her! As I write this, she just passed the 6-week mark but the picture below is from when she was just 2-weeks old. Too sweet! As soon as I saw the picture, I knew it was going on this year's Christmas card and I can't wait to see the finished product!</div>
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In the 4 weeks since Akinya had her photo shoot with Beautiful Isolations, she has really started to change. And become fun!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKo-ToUkDnM5DnicOfRcFCXCNCwYWEbaeNUO4BywPuXQ8ZUDRmv0LrsqWuLx4fd0aWMU7PaE-R8wRjkVjqBnJTZms2VBM8pjvkDC77yDDMlwhlxg4TDh46_FqwdytGs_mpBhbAf9kPzoLj/s1600/1450962_10101363938323631_245854785_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKo-ToUkDnM5DnicOfRcFCXCNCwYWEbaeNUO4BywPuXQ8ZUDRmv0LrsqWuLx4fd0aWMU7PaE-R8wRjkVjqBnJTZms2VBM8pjvkDC77yDDMlwhlxg4TDh46_FqwdytGs_mpBhbAf9kPzoLj/s400/1450962_10101363938323631_245854785_n.jpg" width="271" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1 month old!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First "just-for-fun" outing with Mom & Grandma!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5 weeks old and already making funny faces for the camera--seems to take after her Uncle Shawn!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starting to see some "real" smiles! 5 wks & 5 days old</td></tr>
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It's crazy to think she's already 6 weeks old! I have no idea where the time has gone, but it certainly hasn't been spent sitting at home! When I stop and think about it, since she's been born, she's had 4 of her own doctor's appointments with one of those appointments sending us to Kansas City for the day; 2 doctor's appointments of my own; there's also been an out-of-town birthday party, Thanksgiving, daytrip to Topeka, a Christmas party and several board meetings that I've already hauled her to! And I wonder where the time has gone...ha!<br />
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At this rate, I imagine I won't be on here again until after the New Year, so here's to wishing each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas and the best of luck in 2014!Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-90668129520446017852013-12-04T17:21:00.000-06:002013-12-04T17:34:29.195-06:00Our Very Thankful ThanksgivingAs this year was our first Thanksgiving as parents, we knew the holiday would have extra meaning...and be a bit more exciting, but little did we know just how thankful we would be to have a healthy baby girl!<br />
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Two days before Thanksgiving, Justin and I loaded up Akinya and took her to her appointment at the Cystic Fibrosis clinic at KU Med in Kansas City. We were hoping to complete the daytrip without either Grandma calling to see what we were doing/how things were going...after all, we hadn't told ANYBODY about our appointment and we were hoping that once the appointment was over, we could share <i>good </i>news with everybody!<br />
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You see, it started the week before Thanksgiving when we received a letter in the mail from the Kansas Department of Health & Environment. Apparently, when Akinya was in the hospital, they collected a blood sample from her for the typical newborn screening tests. Well, all her levels came back normal, except for her IRT level. Because it was elevated, they ran a DNA test and they found she had one of the gene mutations that causes Cystic Fibrosis. With that, they were having our primary care doctor set us up with a referral to KU Med for further testing.<br />
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Once we got to their Cystic Fibrosis center, they did what is called a "sweat test." This test is considered the gold standard for the life-threatening disease; based on the results, we'd know exactly what we would be dealing with. To do the test, they hooked several electrodes up to Akinya's arm to produce sweat; once the are started to produce sweat, they attached a round patch to her arm for the next 25 minutes. Once enough sweat was collected, they took the vial to the lab and we headed upstairs to meet with their Pediatrician.<br />
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About an hour later, the test results were ready and the pediatrician came into the exam room. Fortunately, our prayers were answered and the sweat test came back negative--Akinya does not have active Cystic Fibrosis. But rather, she's just a carrier of the disease. Long story short, the mutated gene she has is carried by people of European ancestry--meaning, I'm a carrier and passed the gene on to her. Justin doesn't carry any mutation, which is typical of the Black population. As I like to joke, good thing I didn't marry a white dude! But anyhow, because she only has one mutated gene, she'll have to make sure that whoever she has children with (and that better not be for like, 50 years!) is not a carrier of the disease--otherwise, they run the risk of having children who end up with full-blown Cystic Fibrosis.<br />
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Looking back, it was very random that we even ended up in this situation. In Kansas, IRT levels above 60 are sent on for DNA testing; in other states, they use a level of 190 as children with active Cystic Fibrosis usually have levels in the 200-300 range. Kansas decided to be very aggressive in setting their standards so that treatment could be started as early as possible for sick kiddos. Considering IRT levels can be elevated by a traumatic birth, jaundice and an epidural (which, we had all 3 of) and Akinya's number came in at 62, we now know that our family carries the mutated gene...but now we're also going to have a very expensive medical bill to pay! I'm tempted to send our bill to KDHE so they can pay it, but Justin said not to ;-) In all reality, though, we would pay any amount of money so that Akinya can have this knowledge when it comes to having children of her own some day. Which, to be honest, it was VERY weird to sit there in the doctor's office and think about your 3-week old daughter eventually procreating! <br />
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With that, we had a VERY thankful Thanksgiving! We celebrated the holiday at my parents, filled the family in on what had been going on and spent time catching up with the siblings, in-laws and my niece.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGq_bsUec5ZwMl5QRxUQj-b7syGO5ijlmhgfbUvtIoMqsP7F_dD7J3BSBu6iiLDTlXd4Fe5k0ic-j7-3aSLrghorvQ9bV-NpmXArn1faYcIhZ4k_idRXsIoK4wQUTb7u3pDMzksol7rYjD/s1600/kk+thanksgiving.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGq_bsUec5ZwMl5QRxUQj-b7syGO5ijlmhgfbUvtIoMqsP7F_dD7J3BSBu6iiLDTlXd4Fe5k0ic-j7-3aSLrghorvQ9bV-NpmXArn1faYcIhZ4k_idRXsIoK4wQUTb7u3pDMzksol7rYjD/s400/kk+thanksgiving.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Celebrating with Grandma & Grandpa T</td></tr>
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Speaking of my niece, Miss Marcella's temperament toward Akinya is still a bit hot-and-cold. At first, she's never just sure what to think of the baby (especially, when Marcella's mom wants to hold the baby!)...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDVLw9d69uFUyd0PLNOI0Tz7YcStsziGQXcvbggbvkLokOkrjpw0f1CynswQJNa453KEVp1olK3THYZkNiPJFx-PV4DyCoNJWjAb6k9SiF4vBlIhkFBk4cFPZQ53QnaRnf_LCE_OGRUJIr/s1600/DSCN0365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDVLw9d69uFUyd0PLNOI0Tz7YcStsziGQXcvbggbvkLokOkrjpw0f1CynswQJNa453KEVp1olK3THYZkNiPJFx-PV4DyCoNJWjAb6k9SiF4vBlIhkFBk4cFPZQ53QnaRnf_LCE_OGRUJIr/s400/DSCN0365.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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But with enough time, Marcella warms right up! The week before, at Miss Marcella's birthday party (she turned two years old--eeeek!), we ended the evening with Marcella stroking Akinya. Something tells me that in just a few years, the two girls will forget about these awkward moments and they'll be the best of buds!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWFXcnCg0eD86AiDnObXU8Y51QL0R7hE1yiTdYKBi7C3Z1IT8CbUz9f0Bi6cQSV1HDZ-82o-BgYjQ6_NDh21qvGGwAbH3dWW55yW9pHdNnte8F2Z8voceMpbHJr7gPE8koDI7MHqmln8Lq/s1600/DSCN0366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWFXcnCg0eD86AiDnObXU8Y51QL0R7hE1yiTdYKBi7C3Z1IT8CbUz9f0Bi6cQSV1HDZ-82o-BgYjQ6_NDh21qvGGwAbH3dWW55yW9pHdNnte8F2Z8voceMpbHJr7gPE8koDI7MHqmln8Lq/s400/DSCN0366.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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The Thanksgiving weekend also marked Akinya's 1-month "birthday." We got her up for the day, slapped the 1-month sticker on her onesie and took out the camera. And then, all hell broke loose. Mitzi wanted to be in the picture, but Akinya didn't know what to think of having the dog next to her...so, Akinya started freaking out and Mitzi refused to move. After some funny noises and gestures made by Justin, we managed to snap a picture of Akinya looking at one of us. It wasn't the "one of us" with the camera, but whatever, you take what you can get! And then you just crop the stressed dog out of the picture ;-)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moody models!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuaBDjHoatiLVDj7hdSVh-DoxYYXsye4hCYUXNnXcFu1ewoSHtZo_bjq4olkwZsOR1JcSGS_OyKoOVHAms5XtVpDu1RQC4dbBWvYjDiKm8slb6Lxh9Rb-fdEFcKNj11gCCSHLOmxpAl2cL/s1600/1450962_10101363938323631_245854785_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuaBDjHoatiLVDj7hdSVh-DoxYYXsye4hCYUXNnXcFu1ewoSHtZo_bjq4olkwZsOR1JcSGS_OyKoOVHAms5XtVpDu1RQC4dbBWvYjDiKm8slb6Lxh9Rb-fdEFcKNj11gCCSHLOmxpAl2cL/s400/1450962_10101363938323631_245854785_n.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>
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It's crazy to think our little Akinya Kate is already 1-month old. I'm not sure where the time has gone, but it's certainly a reminder to make every day count. Her well-baby visit was earlier this week and since coming home from the hospital, she's packed on 2 pounds and grown 1 inch...and I'm convinced her hair's grown an entire inch, too. No joke! It's crazy how much she changes with each passing day, but we're just thankful for the blessing she's been and the great health that we were able to celebrate!</div>
Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-16162913735418511182013-11-23T14:49:00.001-06:002013-11-23T14:49:23.224-06:00The Maternity Session<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Here we are, three weeks into parenthood and we finally got around to ordering pictures from our maternity session. Something told us that if we didn't do it now, it would never get done! It's absolutely amazing how your day disappears when all you're doing is diapering, feeding, burping and repeating the process. With being home, I have lost all sense of time (the other night I woke up in a panic because I had absolutely NO clue what day it was) so once we finally realized we never dealt with our maternity proofs, we decided to get on it!</div>
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One of our friends and Justin's clients is a local photographer. In fact, he did our engagement pictures...</div>
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And then our wedding pictures...</div>
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So, when Rod found out we were pregnant, he offered to do a maternity session for us! We happily accepted his offer--not only does he do great work, but it was neat that he, of all people, would be documenting the addition to our family.</div>
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Fortunately, Rod is a man of patience! At 8 months, Rod stopped by and confirmed that yes, my belly still looked like a beer belly and would NOT be cute to photograph! With that, we decided to wait several more weeks. Occasionally, Rod would stop by our house, take a peak at my belly and each time, we decided we would just continue the wait. Then, when the doctor predicted at our 37-week appointment that the baby would be here in just a few days, we called Rod and said, "it's now or never!" Fortunately, Rod had just retired from his full-time job as a photographer for The Mercury, so he was able to drop everything and get his equipment ready!</div>
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That weekend, we met up at the historic Union Pacific Depot for our maternity session. Not only have I always loved the building, it's also where we had our wedding reception. I'm telling ya--Rod had it figured out when it came to sentimental value! </div>
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But in all honestly, Rod opted for the facility as he was hoping it would have some great natural light--and that it did! For the session, the interior lighting was off and we worked with the sun beaming in through the windows. My belly still wasn't ginormously cute (in fact, as you will see, it still looked like quite the beer gut when I would sit down) but we managed to take quite a few pictures in just an hour's time, and here are some of my favorites!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCOfMbbYPLIT0VdjLGLcariKgxIBGP9KZJUXJA5T85ByjoXjia3RgJRZiR0rPjBfSQ1PM0Lyk_DfNPFW7me9LLL5RjhsauswzLvO6FqlF9lRvf8g94zFASeVtXPSdFteo4RGUGUj5sTyd_/s1600/DSC_8804.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCOfMbbYPLIT0VdjLGLcariKgxIBGP9KZJUXJA5T85ByjoXjia3RgJRZiR0rPjBfSQ1PM0Lyk_DfNPFW7me9LLL5RjhsauswzLvO6FqlF9lRvf8g94zFASeVtXPSdFteo4RGUGUj5sTyd_/s400/DSC_8804.jpg" width="281" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty sure this is my favorite one! Would it be weird to add it to our wall of family photos?!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEincS3RMyORvggZ3FaN-GqiCFNquVnG6ItSnxqRp_GGNqw_1JQvfU06qZpGM2LSuKFTZK9hZawWzqKpRdG_Kro-v4zYPPl-lCjZ9YEwCqPxJ_06VaS0E0AfxXq31VHtFInT6Go6m0DkRROC/s1600/DSC_8772.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEincS3RMyORvggZ3FaN-GqiCFNquVnG6ItSnxqRp_GGNqw_1JQvfU06qZpGM2LSuKFTZK9hZawWzqKpRdG_Kro-v4zYPPl-lCjZ9YEwCqPxJ_06VaS0E0AfxXq31VHtFInT6Go6m0DkRROC/s400/DSC_8772.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I had to add this picture because it cracks me up! Justin's bubble butt it rounder than my belly! Lord only knows that when Akinya grows up, her little booty will be all or nothing!</td></tr>
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Once we get through the holidays, we're meeting up with Rod for our first official "family" picture. And yes, we ARE waiting until after the holidays! Reason being--Akinya definitely needs to have a diaper on for pictures! Last weekend, another friend and client of mine had offered to take newborn pictures. Sarah is extremely talented, so I couldn't turn down her offer! Well, Akinya managed to share her bodily fluids with us, projectile-style, several times during the photo shoot with Sarah...once we were done, Justin decided we were DONE. We were scheduled to have Akinya's shoot with Rod the following afternoon, and yeah we get that babies have no bladder control, but we just weren't in the mood to volunteer ourselves for another round of messes! At least we had a great maternity session, a great newborn session and we'll have the opportunity to document the baby's growth and changes in just a few months. And as pictures become available, trust that I'll be posting them on here!!!Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-16015778057591590282013-11-06T15:27:00.000-06:002013-11-06T15:27:40.301-06:00Bringing Home BabyOur baby is home!<br />
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Just last week, I was starting my <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">week 40</span></b> post. Baby still wasn't here and the doctor was setting an induction date for either today, or yesterday. It seemed this little girl was not going to come on her own terms! In fact, when I woke up the morning of my due date, there still was no baby. My phone was buzzing as friends checked in to see if anything had happened and all I could say was, "think we're getting induced!"<br />
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I had been working all week and when I woke up that Halloween morning, my pajamas felt sooooooooo good. And on a lame note, it felt kinda nice to have a "slow" morning in bed with the dog. I decided to work from home that day and boy, am I glad I did!<br />
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Just before noon, I decided to heat up some lunch. When I opened our fridge, I realized how badly it needed cleaned out. We had so many leftovers that had been in there way too long, so I decided I'd spend my lunch hour emptying out the Pyrex dishes. I started pulling all the bowls, containers, etc and sorting them on the counter when all of a sudden, it hit me.<br />
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My lower back instantly started hurting. And hurting like a son of a gun. My pelvic area started cramping like nobody's business and I had sharp, shooting pains running through my hips and down my thighs. Something was up. This was NOT a normal physical response to cleaning out the fridge!<br />
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I called Justin to see where he was working and fortunately, they were working on our side of town. I told him I wasn't sure what was going on, but I was experiencing pain like never before and I was thinking I may be in labor. Because we were totally expecting to be induced, his response was, "Are you serious?!" Again, not knowing if I was in labor or not, I told him just to stay near his phone and if I needed him, I'd call back.<br />
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I spent the next hour trying to putter around the house. The pain was very consistent, but about every 5 minutes or so, it would flare up. Within about 50 minutes, the pain and pressure was so bad that I couldn't stand up. I still wasn't sure what was going on, so I called Justin and told him to come home.<br />
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By 1:35, we were at the hospital and the nurses were checking me. Sure enough, there had been a change in dilation (from where I'd been at my last doctor appointment) so they decided to keep me for another check in an hour's time. 2:45pm rolled around, nurses came back in and sure enough, I was in labor! Our "Halloween" baby was on her way!<br />
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Long story short, things didn't go quickly enough to have a Halloween baby--instead, we had an All Saint's Day baby! After 14 hours of labor, trying every single possible option and eventually having to do a C-section, our baby girl was here!!! And she was healthy!!!<br />
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At 2:41am on November 1st, we welcomed Miss Akinya Kate! She weighed 8lb 3oz (more than we expected!) and measured 20" long...and she had a full head of hair! And it was long--a good inch to inch and a half!<br />
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Her first name is pronounced uh-Kenya and yes, we kinda made it up! We were going through a list one night and saw the name Kenya--the name Kenya in itself didn't do anything for me, but when Justin suggested adding "uh" to it, I loved it! And after a little research, we discovered there's a Nigerian village named Akinya...kinda neat considering it takes a village to raise a child! The middle name, Kate, is a family name for both of us. Well, on my side of the family, it's Catherine but we decided that since we'll most likely end up shortening it to Kate, we'd just go ahead and do it now. And with that, we FINALLY had a name!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDTX2jLWvTOB-kAtdQhnfSRfZn6OK2k-5Z1-WSsU3jfOcrIhhjzptTJI_IsNi2bTwN7-Cl-vl_hSm_LTz0WCQOnxneRhFN4LQ11lr_1Nr6Tu36oD4j6s6MOprulNOF13mRfnJEWX5O9zxI/s1600/1441567_10101308365621771_1442035352_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDTX2jLWvTOB-kAtdQhnfSRfZn6OK2k-5Z1-WSsU3jfOcrIhhjzptTJI_IsNi2bTwN7-Cl-vl_hSm_LTz0WCQOnxneRhFN4LQ11lr_1Nr6Tu36oD4j6s6MOprulNOF13mRfnJEWX5O9zxI/s400/1441567_10101308365621771_1442035352_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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The past couple of days have been a whirlwind! We've had a nice, steady pace of visitors coming to meet baby Akinya and drop off meals...we've been trying to catch some sleep between feedings and I've been trying to spend some time up on my feet, without being too active. That in itself is a HARD balance for me! Justin took this week off from work and it's been great having the three of us home together to bond. This little girl is pretty precious and has definitely stolen our hearts!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PCf5IX2SROoUZKHWvc1KbhJdMHS_m7mJAPIhjwLqtELidrtf2WQFWtirvayZatB9hTsUy91QzQ1wCKf0Ak1lt0UdW_9z37pXpmMFD3VZnYlAv68a_2atsc27s5uPxwHtsGGWbbdBCZTR/s1600/2013-01-01+00.00.00-16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PCf5IX2SROoUZKHWvc1KbhJdMHS_m7mJAPIhjwLqtELidrtf2WQFWtirvayZatB9hTsUy91QzQ1wCKf0Ak1lt0UdW_9z37pXpmMFD3VZnYlAv68a_2atsc27s5uPxwHtsGGWbbdBCZTR/s400/2013-01-01+00.00.00-16.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1 day old!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3-qTPtzOz1ZdaeDYJVUcOCdJN3TBAzEvbgvluJKz15xd0kKjWNXBHFWHVLQYlGbcWqhQbsppMMwgm4DV0FBoaIIGH5zyKO_TcIGKXy8RyTvK19sCyFn0rGn_XH7ne8wLUFBLpxLMpiwvj/s1600/going+home2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3-qTPtzOz1ZdaeDYJVUcOCdJN3TBAzEvbgvluJKz15xd0kKjWNXBHFWHVLQYlGbcWqhQbsppMMwgm4DV0FBoaIIGH5zyKO_TcIGKXy8RyTvK19sCyFn0rGn_XH7ne8wLUFBLpxLMpiwvj/s400/going+home2.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leaving the hospital--the nurses made she sure went home in a VERY appropriately adorned cap! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNWlGO6z3dzjoaHQ0FCCdVVa6q-FDlRCy0MH2B-H2VnUnCJnnEjqId3c3z22Y-3raRAIfHYJoHglt6syilvRWY3EVRlEgG3HJawLEeOkjcqwBqWxkv8tQGbTTf01BjU4LRzUPZGXGGC6v/s1600/coming+home.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNWlGO6z3dzjoaHQ0FCCdVVa6q-FDlRCy0MH2B-H2VnUnCJnnEjqId3c3z22Y-3raRAIfHYJoHglt6syilvRWY3EVRlEgG3HJawLEeOkjcqwBqWxkv8tQGbTTf01BjU4LRzUPZGXGGC6v/s400/coming+home.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And we're HOME!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw984GXOMHJR4BK5fNlodC9XKLKu-TFE_2NcUiemka2D87kXrsWmzPj1vCuClPpVEef68M0h6MAd98TtfDSoozLPPsW75e_uBLhwRp3S4VReEc2f2zlCR3b2QIh8E6Oeg0SALBmsTkdOwT/s1600/j+&+baby+sepia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw984GXOMHJR4BK5fNlodC9XKLKu-TFE_2NcUiemka2D87kXrsWmzPj1vCuClPpVEef68M0h6MAd98TtfDSoozLPPsW75e_uBLhwRp3S4VReEc2f2zlCR3b2QIh8E6Oeg0SALBmsTkdOwT/s400/j+&+baby+sepia.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daddy and his little girl! Didn't take long to wrap him around her little finger!</td></tr>
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Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-81779771969814379712013-10-29T19:11:00.000-05:002013-10-29T19:11:13.204-05:00The Bathroom "Reveal"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Finally, finally our bathroom is done! Well, it's been done for some time now, but sharing the "after pictures" hasn't been top of mind lately!</div>
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When we bought our house, the previous owner had done some updating to the bathroom--new vanity, medicine cabinet and bathtub...What he left behind, though, was a hideous Mallard Duck border, outdated flooring and awful Hollywood lighting above the vanity. We knew we could live with the bathroom the way it was for a while, but at some point, we'd change a few things.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-3dS_283vy04Q4Og8OiwxqIyytqFbsrW36PJUz-FuEDwiszJlZDxN_K_VA8WSQgxJMpJqHIeaozj5PvkOuaVH7mZCWhK__pRyptuH6tSZ8aP4GR0I-VaE4-6Nk66dGAZE_DjM6pNJUlZ/s1600/24375_739666685041_7439755_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-3dS_283vy04Q4Og8OiwxqIyytqFbsrW36PJUz-FuEDwiszJlZDxN_K_VA8WSQgxJMpJqHIeaozj5PvkOuaVH7mZCWhK__pRyptuH6tSZ8aP4GR0I-VaE4-6Nk66dGAZE_DjM6pNJUlZ/s400/24375_739666685041_7439755_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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One thing that DID change right away was the wallpaper border. I found a shower curtain that didn't make the flooring look AS BAD, so I then found a border to match the shower curtain. It would have to work for the time being!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSy1hcGR1JLKPgVlVa8PDneA4Ba1ls3py-0NuOn3d92MXBp33oIzCFiecVDWtjMGOeEH-gdAlTjUVB64zmll7iuWChCh2mGNtfSy8w_CoGWNlg60PQIz41QuGXraJ9UIqdK6ngP7VzspM/s1600/25485_740255619811_2770468_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSy1hcGR1JLKPgVlVa8PDneA4Ba1ls3py-0NuOn3d92MXBp33oIzCFiecVDWtjMGOeEH-gdAlTjUVB64zmll7iuWChCh2mGNtfSy8w_CoGWNlg60PQIz41QuGXraJ9UIqdK6ngP7VzspM/s400/25485_740255619811_2770468_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And it stayed that way for about 2.5 years. The hideous flooring continued to hold up and we just couldn't justify tearing it out and replacing it...</div>
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But then, one day, Justin melted the floor :-) He turned the steam mop on, forgot about it and came back later to discover it had melted the vinyl tile...Fortunately, the spot was SMACK DAB in the middle of the bathroom floor! He was worried I was going to freak out when I realized what he did but why would I be upset??? I finally had an excuse to replace the flooring!</div>
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With that, I bought a new shower curtain, stripped down the border and repainted the walls. And then started the search for new tile. Who knew I could be SO picky?! I wanted something affordable that future buyers would appreciate--but that we would also enjoy for the time being.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8H2ajZ743R3cpJfQ96EL67iugqNUxuHojmqjBE98T2imzEcdT0aQus-Zi53mCGeN97PcD9S9prKOkb2SdLaN31k8qkSKd755bFVw3PEHAsR94zN4OcoT9i8iMmFfzyFJnukaz63Y8Jnuo/s1600/387492_10100712519901371_529331286_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8H2ajZ743R3cpJfQ96EL67iugqNUxuHojmqjBE98T2imzEcdT0aQus-Zi53mCGeN97PcD9S9prKOkb2SdLaN31k8qkSKd755bFVw3PEHAsR94zN4OcoT9i8iMmFfzyFJnukaz63Y8Jnuo/s400/387492_10100712519901371_529331286_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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While the hunt for new flooring continued, our bathroom looked like this. Pretty. Darn. Bare. And Blah. Complete with the melted tile. It was this way from September of 2012 until late August of 2013...nearly a whole year!</div>
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I eventually found the tile I had been looking for--the coloring was perfect, the shape was what I wanted and the price was exactly what we were willing to pay. It was time to call my contractor buddy in and have him get to work!</div>
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With a baby on the way, we knew our budget would only allow us to "freshen" the space. I wanted to swap the vanity for a pedestal sink and replace the medicine cabinet with a nice, pretty framed mirror...but both of those cost money! And as Justin pointed out, we'd lose a LOT of storage doing that. True to the small bungalows of the 1920's, our house only has one bathroom--and one thing that made us get over that hesitation when we were house hunting was the amount of storage the bathroom offered. Knowing this won't be our forever home, we had to think like potential buyers and I decided it was best to keep all the storage we could!</div>
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With that, the vanity and medicine cabinet stayed...we decided to replace just the flooring, throw some beadboard on the walls and get rid of the gawd-awful Hollywood strip lighting above the medicine cabinet. No home improvement project is ever "cheap," but at least these few modifications would keep us on budget while updating the space!</div>
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Like I said, we called our contractor friend and put ourselves on his schedule. And of course, once you start any project, things go from ugly, to worse, before they look better!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoOQ_uiUj-I3YE5Hv4pxBnZAU4yLCgfK9fiohb7H6DFKMhLjQHMJELrEjQIVMlCkQWcQBEtsphJJ661iFruOr_u7zXiPOh6Go2KEXqKp5cS_zwW247shXQ2svHxM-FmuDt1bKcWiqpTCzq/s1600/IMG_1472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoOQ_uiUj-I3YE5Hv4pxBnZAU4yLCgfK9fiohb7H6DFKMhLjQHMJELrEjQIVMlCkQWcQBEtsphJJ661iFruOr_u7zXiPOh6Go2KEXqKp5cS_zwW247shXQ2svHxM-FmuDt1bKcWiqpTCzq/s400/IMG_1472.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our dining room became the "storage room" for everything that came out of the bathroom!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCIHdgYzQjH5Pvgu0CcK0ChXyhp9mIZRmD_2fA8pTEAR7_vxm9FWLQiL7MbX47aCdaCkT1Qrv-ydBt-tQZkYBDsqg-0HqwGqema8p-pVWrKJwo8DmfkovE3MQgv4Vuaqnwi89uvcLR86c/s1600/IMG_1471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCIHdgYzQjH5Pvgu0CcK0ChXyhp9mIZRmD_2fA8pTEAR7_vxm9FWLQiL7MbX47aCdaCkT1Qrv-ydBt-tQZkYBDsqg-0HqwGqema8p-pVWrKJwo8DmfkovE3MQgv4Vuaqnwi89uvcLR86c/s400/IMG_1471.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bathroom had always had an awkward but smooth piece of paneling on the walls--thus, the reason for the border. And this is what it looked like when the paneling was removed!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMX3ZI7QZMF7SgVc2Xuv_fxrv-8gr8JnK-sL1Q0ShVzpBcTMWtpmo6-gDiACwnQbSEjGcmYUiH-_C5IrOGhkGEPkOKkHO5Ysb0ii2iGq1ynA0ngp93yRuNswM5JXKw6gTNX5ll1YWrkpq9/s1600/IMG_1474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMX3ZI7QZMF7SgVc2Xuv_fxrv-8gr8JnK-sL1Q0ShVzpBcTMWtpmo6-gDiACwnQbSEjGcmYUiH-_C5IrOGhkGEPkOKkHO5Ysb0ii2iGq1ynA0ngp93yRuNswM5JXKw6gTNX5ll1YWrkpq9/s400/IMG_1474.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice, bright techno-colors! lol</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKEhdhqQdEJbq5aF1Mxqn_5ROt0j21rahqkfY-4xgE1F1kFj-jZW5R1NbdkruKr3TvA5SaihE2F_3rDX5oBkERpJ3I-QYv252ag-BK0c_JJB6Idb_PbheM2sPlD81z1wL7BRvoOM4sDkME/s1600/IMG_1475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKEhdhqQdEJbq5aF1Mxqn_5ROt0j21rahqkfY-4xgE1F1kFj-jZW5R1NbdkruKr3TvA5SaihE2F_3rDX5oBkERpJ3I-QYv252ag-BK0c_JJB6Idb_PbheM2sPlD81z1wL7BRvoOM4sDkME/s400/IMG_1475.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When the medicine cabinet came down, the Mallard ducks reappeared! There is NO getting away from them!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_S2M0QUJPamY0eBN8AIcFvmfZ4XJWK1oC3qAyLVASjXqW-1qbxx2Y82l6f8KYYXGHPDx42iJ5uZhy43ZOLiEozP_MR3WvYCJdU1JDALDFSE2-bbLJe5VjB4H3Y920BPZO8xxXjYjEqtNC/s1600/IMG_1476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_S2M0QUJPamY0eBN8AIcFvmfZ4XJWK1oC3qAyLVASjXqW-1qbxx2Y82l6f8KYYXGHPDx42iJ5uZhy43ZOLiEozP_MR3WvYCJdU1JDALDFSE2-bbLJe5VjB4H3Y920BPZO8xxXjYjEqtNC/s400/IMG_1476.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">End of Day 1--the major stuff was done. Next up was grouting the tile and doing all the trim work.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRGDKIqzXzXbEWRNh-ChCt5w0EJ3cc0dyDXpOF_X5OC8EcTKWc9m7qKQvZzs3NPAC3XgLB-sgjHgfZXjtlx4HWklLm5J-DpaL3S05KbAcAYkeI1oEnfF78plTQmxo-ki9aUo1E4iKx9LC/s1600/IMG_1473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRGDKIqzXzXbEWRNh-ChCt5w0EJ3cc0dyDXpOF_X5OC8EcTKWc9m7qKQvZzs3NPAC3XgLB-sgjHgfZXjtlx4HWklLm5J-DpaL3S05KbAcAYkeI1oEnfF78plTQmxo-ki9aUo1E4iKx9LC/s400/IMG_1473.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Close-up of the tile, prior to grouting...not the hexagon tile I had always dreamed of, but at least it's something that will wear well and future buyers should appreciate! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLqTuXBWNiRv9UZSjkPsF0cfnxTEXJpjI6AldfmV_6c5Nh_IZGWvJlvrvBT2oxrLr30QxjiUETUIVtCrmVsniPbTBB-YJR7VJEqHOR7j-D5YGDK0NuTqB65iR6kVyBLOltVNrPUKdiURmB/s1600/IMG_1479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLqTuXBWNiRv9UZSjkPsF0cfnxTEXJpjI6AldfmV_6c5Nh_IZGWvJlvrvBT2oxrLr30QxjiUETUIVtCrmVsniPbTBB-YJR7VJEqHOR7j-D5YGDK0NuTqB65iR6kVyBLOltVNrPUKdiURmB/s400/IMG_1479.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Day 2--the work is DONE! And Justin still can't stand straight up to look in the mirror! Ha! Someday, we'll build a house just his size!</td></tr>
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I eventually bought a few knick-knacks for the bathroom and it's feeling more cozy than it ever did! The new clock actually works and keeps me on schedule in the morning...and we hung a curtain in place of the wood blinds. Who knew that dust, wood blinds and hairspray do NOT go together?! lol...The curtain is fairly long, but we found that even though we kept with the obscure glass in the bottom sash of the new window, our neighbors could TOTALLY see our top-halves...good bye valances, hello nice long curtain!</div>
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But my favorite part??? Kissing the Hollywood strip lighting good-bye! I no longer feel like I need my big blush brush, can-can outfit and feathers! But I do appreciate having a nice, brighter space that we were able to update on a baby-friendly budget!</div>
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Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-60379635531695358262013-10-22T20:02:00.001-05:002013-10-22T20:02:08.521-05:00Week 39--Picking a NameWhen Justin and I first found out we were having a baby, we started tossing around names. It was still very early in the game to spend time on something that could easily change, especially since we knew we would be finding out the gender--but I really do think that discussing names served as a way to distract ourselves from the shell-shock of becoming parents and provided that much needed "bright spot" during a very, very sick first 18 weeks.<br />
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Keep in mind, we didn't have crazy intense "naming" conversations. But rather, we'd hear a name here and there and ask what the other one thought of it...or, we might have a name pop up in our mind and we'd send the other one a text asking what they thought of it. I remember one night, while soaking in the tub, a little boy's name popped into my head and I hollered at Justin--he came into the bathroom, I ran the name past him and he loved it. And that was that--if the sonogram revealed that we were having a boy, we were done!<br />
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As luck would have it, the sonogram revealed we were having a daughter. And the name we had picked for a boy definitely was NOT a unisex name or something we could make more feminine! Off to the drawing board we went...<br />
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Many more bubble baths later and we still didn't have a name for our daughter...and all this time, I claimed all my best thoughts and ideas came about while soaking in a big, hot tub of aqua! Guess not...! We wanted something unique, without being too unique, but we also wanted to incorporate a family name. Eventually, we narrowed down the list of first names and at this point, I think we may have a first name picked out. But that still leaves the middle name. This has always been the absolute hardest part for us as. Some names just didn't sound right, some were way too long, other names had already been "taken" by other babies, etc...it was starting to look like this baby just wouldn't have a middle name!<br />
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And then last week, we finally figured out the middle name!<br />
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We stumbled across the name Roxi. Definitely not the most common name, but not too out there, either. And it had some spunk and personality to it. I could be wrong, but my guess is that this baby girl will be anything but quiet and reserved, so it would most likely "fit" her. We decided that Roxi would be her middle name and with that, we finally had a name!<br />
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But, wait--I still wanted the familial element. Naturally, we added 'Ann' to it, creating Roxann. 'Ann' happens to be my mother's middle name and the first name of Justin's late aunt. Bingo--we not only included a family name, but we covered both sides of the family :-) And if we ever wanted to shorten her middle name, we would just call her Roxi.<br />
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Then, it hit me. Every time we said the name Roxann, I kept hearing "You don't have to put on the red light....ROXXXXXX-anne...duh, duh, duh..." You know, the song Roxanne by The Police?! I started to become hesitant about the name, but Justin never once associated the name with the song about the prostitute. After a few days, I was able to move past the association and Roxann it was.<br />
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<img height="397" src="http://beforebigs.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/the-police-roxanne.jpg" width="400" /></div>
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Roxann it was, for just about 2 more days. Thanks to our guilty pleasure of true crime TV shows, we're back to not having a middle name!<br />
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It goes a little something like this...Sunday night, we're laying in bed and we turn on Forensic Files. I don't know what it is about that show, but the two of us absolutely love it...we could stay up all night watching it! Anyhow, back to the story...so, we turn on Forensic Files and the narrator comes on, explaining that this episode would be profiling the case of a dead stripper who was just 21 years old at the time of her death. Hmmmm, that could be an interesting story! Justin and I settled in, turned the volume up only to hear that the dead stripper was named Roxanne and went by "Foxy Roxy." <br />
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Are you flipping kidding me?! I turned to Justin--and he was already turning to me. Not sure why, but we both just started cracking up...all I could say was "No! No!" between bouts of laughter! And all he could say was the same thing! Once we were able to talk again, we immediately decided that we were NOT using Roxann as a middle name! No way in h-e-double-hockey-sticks could we name our daughter after a dead stripper! I had finally worked through associating her name with The Police's song, but adding a dead stripper to the list of associations was just too much.<br />
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So here we are, back at the drawing board...! Fortunately, this little girl seems to be hanging tight and defying the doctor's prediction of an early arrival, so with each passing day, we have more time to *hopefully* figure out a middle name. True to the style of our early "name conversations," we've continued to casually throw out this name and that name...neither of us are too concerned about the lack of a middle name at this point. We still have a good week or so! Something tells us that we'll eventually stumble across a name (and not one that has to do with sexual exploitation) OR if the baby beats us to the punch, just getting to meet her will give us the inspiration we've been looking for!Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-41232418792371896792013-10-17T10:51:00.000-05:002013-10-17T10:51:06.873-05:00Week 38--Still StandingIt's <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>week 38</b></span> and I'm still standing!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I hate self-ies, but with Justin already being gone for the day, I figured I better snap a Week 38 pictures while I could!</td></tr>
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When we went to our weekly appointment last Friday, we were greeted with some surprising news. They asked if I wanted checked--I really didn't care either way, but Justin was eager to hear some numbers, so we went ahead and had them check me.<br />
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Without getting too personal, let's just say there were some major changes from week 36 to week 37. Now, I know the numbers aren't always indicative of things to come, but essentially, they found that it won't take much and the baby will be here...or, as I like to say, if I were to jump on a trampoline right now, the baby might just fall out! <br />
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Keep in mind, this whole prenatal stuff is very foreign to me so when they were first reporting the numbers, I thought, "Hmmmm, those numbers sound kind of high." So when everything was said and done, I asked what the numbers meant and the doctor's response was, "I don't think you'll be here for next week's appointment--I expect that you'll be delivering any day now."<br />
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Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?! I still had a good three weeks until my due date and our childbirth class kept pounding into our heads that most first-time moms deliver around 41.5 weeks. So in my mind, we had plenty of time. And now, they're saying days, maybe a week at most?!<br />
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We left the doctor's office and honestly, I didn't know what to think. I was overwhelmed. Justin was overwhelmed. We kept telling ourselves that if this little girl wanted to prove the doctors wrong, fine by us! I think it was our way of still maintaining some sanity in the midst of having your apple cart upset!<br />
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And so far, the baby IS proving the doctor wrong as it looks like we'll be at our 38-week appointment tomorrow morning. Granted, as I write this, we still have a good 24-hours ahead of us, so who knows. What I do know, though, is that my body is definitely doing its thing! Up until week 37, I'd only felt one contraction (and it was the night before our appointment)--can't say the same about this week! Again, I know numbers aren't everything, but based on what my body's been doing, it will be interesting to see where things are at tomorrow's appointment.<br />
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The one good thing about having your apple cart upset (or, the realization that a baby really is going to be here at some point!) is that it definitely lights a fire under your butt. Everything's in place with work so that whenever I do go into labor, the other agent will pick up where I left off and it should be a seamless transition for my clients. Justin's arranged things with his work so that if he has to go, he can GO! The cars seat has been installed and checked by the fire department. Hospital bag is packed--baby's clothing and blankets have been washed. A lot of the *crap* that needed done around our house is now done. We snuck over to Junction City to try a new-to-us restaurant that has been on our pre-baby-bucket list for several months now. We're making it a point to be in bed before 11pm so that we can get some extra rest. Yada yada yada...<br />
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And on a fun note, the reality of a baby soon being here prompted us to finally do our maternity photo session. Because my belly has been a slow-grower, our photographer friend was trying to wait until the last minute to do the pictures...and since it looked like we were finally down to the wire, we went ahead and did them over the weekend! Rod did our engagement pictures and photographed our wedding, so when he offered to do baby pictures for us, there wasn't a moment of hesitation. Now, we're just anxiously awaiting the proofs...we had the session at the Union Pacific Train Depot (same place where we had our wedding reception!) and the lighting inside the building was just incredible. Add to that Rod's artistic eye and I think we'll have some amazing photographs documenting this little girl's incubation!<br />
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All in all, I think we have everything in place for whenever the baby DOES decide to come. Will she be on "Taddiken" time (if you're early, you're on time--if you're on time, you're late") or will she be on Southern time??? Who knows?! Regardless, most everything's done and we can just sit back, relax and see what happens!Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-37413022427218836702013-10-12T11:52:00.001-05:002013-10-12T11:52:46.884-05:00The Nursery Is Done!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The title says it all...the nursery is done!<br />
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The nursery was originally our guest room--aka "The J-Money Shrine"<br />
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The walls were plastered with Justin's basketball memorabilia and let me tell you, it was NOT easy for him to see his shrine taken down. He honestly wanted to keep the room the way it was, but just add a crib, changing table and a few basketball knick-knacks...I told him, "MAYBE--if it's a boy."<br />
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Well, we all know we're expecting a girl, so down went the shrine...and in came new decor!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrjzyLr3aLj99-idpxwuIqdcTaAHN89wZKKHIpWkw_7yb7XKNo0jli5pqoaXe2VjdUUcPHN-U20kYZYZDtSZFNg6PRJ0mq02c3zkmYrpCvoW9fvLdezQOwqByzrTaF_2pV98fz_780jjUc/s1600/guest+room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrjzyLr3aLj99-idpxwuIqdcTaAHN89wZKKHIpWkw_7yb7XKNo0jli5pqoaXe2VjdUUcPHN-U20kYZYZDtSZFNg6PRJ0mq02c3zkmYrpCvoW9fvLdezQOwqByzrTaF_2pV98fz_780jjUc/s400/guest+room.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The guest room (aka J-Money Shrine) on "demo day"</td></tr>
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I'm the first person to admit that the nursery is not one bit girly...for some reason, the frilly pink nurseries never spoke to me. Instead, I liked something a little more whimsical, eclectic and "vintage." Something that went more with our house than a castle!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinprKuGrdsuudRfGZcyU8wJZxrtyvxWN8DLL0KBur16d0AZiMygtVhrFXPY9xgnnBEf4otRgI8aLdTRRvuRQm3paT32z9p4YSwlwYF_AQ4mRyB49sSV-IZyRFvMwh3JhPGtuNUL-zIbAk2/s1600/nursery+inspiration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinprKuGrdsuudRfGZcyU8wJZxrtyvxWN8DLL0KBur16d0AZiMygtVhrFXPY9xgnnBEf4otRgI8aLdTRRvuRQm3paT32z9p4YSwlwYF_AQ4mRyB49sSV-IZyRFvMwh3JhPGtuNUL-zIbAk2/s400/nursery+inspiration.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks to Target, I found a few "inspirational" pieces to kick-start the nursery decor</td></tr>
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Up went new paint and curtains--in came an area rug, a super-worn rocking chair found on Craiglist, the crib, changing table and armoire (also found on Craiglist). The armoire and rocking chair were scheduled to be refurbished--but before the chair could go to the upholstery shop, we'd have to get Mitzi out of the rocking chair...she LOVED that nasty thing!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgiZzg65HCJHYQznxZ0CNxG27T2ZqOyi02A2pEcWjV1L2n5oPhEGqT9pHAaQGRB_xhJyGmCrTskf07IuhHJLFth-L7uZAFjkAvuxFSi_KZ61KFuZ8WTmxczG86Io6VIyYbZydSF8_iIaNK/s1600/mitz2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgiZzg65HCJHYQznxZ0CNxG27T2ZqOyi02A2pEcWjV1L2n5oPhEGqT9pHAaQGRB_xhJyGmCrTskf07IuhHJLFth-L7uZAFjkAvuxFSi_KZ61KFuZ8WTmxczG86Io6VIyYbZydSF8_iIaNK/s400/mitz2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAubMA2JWDhi3lWr33dFHw47wYh9uFMF8aWdLwcKCiTavf9pLSyWPfbvvL24OCOwXBZqQaxOz_tpnb3zS4FeOqbVXvrZj0BGvdw8GCjLm8mXImSSapMBA2v2osuuTIIdctcRd3N83NWxSE/s1600/joanie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAubMA2JWDhi3lWr33dFHw47wYh9uFMF8aWdLwcKCiTavf9pLSyWPfbvvL24OCOwXBZqQaxOz_tpnb3zS4FeOqbVXvrZj0BGvdw8GCjLm8mXImSSapMBA2v2osuuTIIdctcRd3N83NWxSE/s400/joanie.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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And finally, after several months, the nursery is done! </div>
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The pictures turned out a bit "hot" from using the flash, so I apologize! When the curtains said they were black-out, they weren't kidding--and probably didn't help that I decided to take the pictures after dark, either! </div>
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But anyhow, here it is...our little girl's nursery, full of blue! lol</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGODu1HrIrfQtlyOYvskdcv7-b0gfB4Wh6d3wlKnY_L1hQUCu1DWi-ViMPr8Q0S-Tc6mz9IyInHnt4nD91n1Qej6GwMt4XN6a0GwECy3Ho_9WoTWqoaaW1XWx6e5hu_p45SxU2pFhnfIeo/s1600/nursery1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGODu1HrIrfQtlyOYvskdcv7-b0gfB4Wh6d3wlKnY_L1hQUCu1DWi-ViMPr8Q0S-Tc6mz9IyInHnt4nD91n1Qej6GwMt4XN6a0GwECy3Ho_9WoTWqoaaW1XWx6e5hu_p45SxU2pFhnfIeo/s400/nursery1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLqTdQcKqEpCq2QDuT8qfdGrx8jpw-LUsOUvjBWWcQnnAxQn3ukf4_iB8rzqt031tZbOm-gEsq5DKCJjNl62xERBilDKbG5k_Z2Mt1aHlqydAYqKkcl-qnX0ulhwJYIfcpV2Zf5n0oINKP/s1600/nursery2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLqTdQcKqEpCq2QDuT8qfdGrx8jpw-LUsOUvjBWWcQnnAxQn3ukf4_iB8rzqt031tZbOm-gEsq5DKCJjNl62xERBilDKbG5k_Z2Mt1aHlqydAYqKkcl-qnX0ulhwJYIfcpV2Zf5n0oINKP/s400/nursery2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQTQ71abn-vWW8s1cI7GzSq6_8uf0MqeFvsET3WGZBFGw2hT22rz3AQz-zwtuhNajTcaf3vniDVWVUxHodeN3Ui1XZwGQ7XtME7T1YARa62WvsEMdxK5BKlVVE4D4rSt8L1insb3LEErC-/s1600/nursery3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQTQ71abn-vWW8s1cI7GzSq6_8uf0MqeFvsET3WGZBFGw2hT22rz3AQz-zwtuhNajTcaf3vniDVWVUxHodeN3Ui1XZwGQ7XtME7T1YARa62WvsEMdxK5BKlVVE4D4rSt8L1insb3LEErC-/s400/nursery3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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For the time being, the area by the armoire is the "Mitzi-zone." Mitzi's crate and food will be in the nursery until the baby moves out of our room--at that point, we can decorate that area a bit more and make it blend more with the rest of the nursery. But something tells me Mitzi will continue to be a fixture in the rocking chair--thankfully, it's just not near as nasty as it once was!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig1OCfwiFVMeGFLx6YfmcnPrAe1_fxQ3Z6cNxd806gAHMeEHx9kyThT2DGuucRZ4ByZKDU1S7qCBxUilGaC3VmHlW_zQ2sxdLBOKepKsz1RqYG8ou5wD64KlEA1OKqVn4E3N5PcP5kzva6/s1600/mitz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig1OCfwiFVMeGFLx6YfmcnPrAe1_fxQ3Z6cNxd806gAHMeEHx9kyThT2DGuucRZ4ByZKDU1S7qCBxUilGaC3VmHlW_zQ2sxdLBOKepKsz1RqYG8ou5wD64KlEA1OKqVn4E3N5PcP5kzva6/s400/mitz.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-54801941994498433762013-10-10T19:43:00.001-05:002013-10-11T08:20:22.683-05:00Week 37--Insomnia & Gaining An Extra DayWell, folks, in an attempt to make up for my last novel...I mean, post...I will try to keep this one short and sweet!<br />
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This week is <span style="font-size: large;"><strong>week 37</strong></span><span style="font-size: small;"> and we find ourselves in the midst of the weekly doctor appointments. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXlaB20LU6hwsRBLv1BN1hg288ig-BOBzuF2sQIRJJtvCoYvMSauy_ItoFGRPtqnLXU_IfpzC-alBrFbrLh04Ivw1E2eZMlL3jvyA10eHB-nTvuBbiMN9I0a9yIQBbq5DYPGQOp0WHKAh1/s1600/week37front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXlaB20LU6hwsRBLv1BN1hg288ig-BOBzuF2sQIRJJtvCoYvMSauy_ItoFGRPtqnLXU_IfpzC-alBrFbrLh04Ivw1E2eZMlL3jvyA10eHB-nTvuBbiMN9I0a9yIQBbq5DYPGQOp0WHKAh1/s400/week37front.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Last week's appointment went well. My belly continues to measure "perfectly" and after some poking and prodding, we had a bit of a discovery. As I've suspected, and even been known to say, this girl is truly "hiding out." From what the doctor could feel, she and her protective bubble are literally tucked up in my ribcage. But it makes sense--between the awful, awful stomach pressure and watching my ribs literally move when she kicks, we weren't surprised by the news. The surprising part, though? Doctor noticed her head was low, "very low" as he put it...so, either this little girl was REALLY stretched out, or she's going to be a long one!</span><br />
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While at the doctor's office, they did the usual dilation check and while there was a slight change, Dr. Gros gave me his blessing to spend a few days in Kansas City. The annual Kansas Association of Realtors conference was this week and my graduation from the association's Leadership Academy was to take place on Tuesday. After a year's worth of traveling for sessions and learning more than I ever imagined I would, I did NOT want to miss our grand finale. Luckily, baby stayed put and I could "walk" with the other 11 Realtors who were selected to participate!<br />
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Tomorrow, we have yet another appointment. I'm curious about a few things...at last week's appointment, I was still up just a total of 19 pounds, but I feel HUGE!!! And honestly, it feels like this baby experienced a significant growth spurt since last week, so I'm anxious to see how much weight has been gained! Justin's curious about the dilation--I really haven't had any contractions (that I know of), so I'm guessing there won't be any changes there. But who knows--the doctor might have something different to report!<br />
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Aside from feeling huge, I honestly do feel pretty good. I don't feel like I'm just weeks away from giving birth. I'm still moving around really well, my moments of waddling are few-and-far between, swelling is pretty mild, etc. There are occasional twinges of pelvic expansion, but hey, I'll appreciate that when it's go time! <br />
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The one thing I'm already missing is sleeping ALL night long! Justin and I chalk it up to my body preparing for being up throughout the night, but more often than not, I find myself wide awake after 4 hours of sleep...even if I take Benadryl! I try to fight it and I'll lay in bed for a couple of hours, then I give up and get up for the day...as my mom is known to say, "If you start your work one hour earlier every day, by the end of the week, you've gained an entire work day." I hadn't always thought if it that way, but it's very true. Guess I have the combination of her philosophy and insomnia to credit for my productivity!Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-46593324883023825922013-10-01T20:14:00.000-05:002013-10-01T20:14:30.288-05:00Week 36--Where Did September Go?!?!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Have you ever had one of those months where you just KNEW you were going to be super busy??? For us, September was certainly one of those months...When we turned the calendar from August to September there was hardly any blank space left--where would we fit in all the day-to-day stuff that pops up? And now, today is already the first day of October!</div>
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It's crazy to think that in just about 4 weeks or so, we'll be welcoming our baby girl to the world...eeeeeeek! I haven't been the best about taking weekly pictures, but here are some updated belly shots:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitzwDvS3ggVZ7tqXAtct7mr7ZQr6dwl7Y4f2M_nlr80-eGCkxN0bFLu3C2v-YZpjOaeTYxq23bNzQxiFidRL6c1VJa0YpKg_2Mbx8Gr06TnN2eg7lmH2pcY0vKcCySwac3P6vzzsaefz0u/s1600/week+33+side2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitzwDvS3ggVZ7tqXAtct7mr7ZQr6dwl7Y4f2M_nlr80-eGCkxN0bFLu3C2v-YZpjOaeTYxq23bNzQxiFidRL6c1VJa0YpKg_2Mbx8Gr06TnN2eg7lmH2pcY0vKcCySwac3P6vzzsaefz0u/s400/week+33+side2.jpg" width="168" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Week 33--finally had a stranger comment on my belly!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7nQ59CKF13FHyRaY56nJmjO0tH24RKqAk_ZowpKLq5yQgTvPzmbtxQp2agNe28lLjn5rSRLqKcDPNNEt7PST2E9_eIThdmSAVKwN2Qymp7wzEivodQcwARR0A2AcUXMXiSEjlRC3T2fo0/s1600/week+34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7nQ59CKF13FHyRaY56nJmjO0tH24RKqAk_ZowpKLq5yQgTvPzmbtxQp2agNe28lLjn5rSRLqKcDPNNEt7PST2E9_eIThdmSAVKwN2Qymp7wzEivodQcwARR0A2AcUXMXiSEjlRC3T2fo0/s320/week+34.jpg" width="160" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Week 34</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL43GWiV1ooCffdHGt6ASIFcDY7zl0hDsYVQ1T9uZrFeuX1aL8_83W7nT6gXl_oMkx3CrE_fbVx3Cf5huDhFKLPDMomcwleBtOTsDg5_uHbQNpfBgQm1m08Tbah4ehqhNAxxvPSht8H64m/s1600/week+36-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL43GWiV1ooCffdHGt6ASIFcDY7zl0hDsYVQ1T9uZrFeuX1aL8_83W7nT6gXl_oMkx3CrE_fbVx3Cf5huDhFKLPDMomcwleBtOTsDg5_uHbQNpfBgQm1m08Tbah4ehqhNAxxvPSht8H64m/s320/week+36-1.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1 day shy of 36 weeks!</td></tr>
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And slowly but surely, my feet are disappearing! When I look down, this is what I see! On a funny note, my belly button has NOT popped yet--the little "bump" that's now showing is my belly ring...one day, an older lady said, "Look--your belly button finally popped!" and I just didn't have the heart to disappoint her with the news that she was really looking at my body piercing...!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibn5o_gCE2BUEOWJIo8vEfhyphenhyphenWd5epgIFeBlGUd0Z_-JynQVCgfjjydwEGX1P8ofW1FJzK8ZCBdPRx64OnSgTGcIuCUt1uR3mvbgSzGQPrt3CcyWn7xyFQqnUtY9XR-N4rrwCw8wJKBDheT/s1600/belly+down.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibn5o_gCE2BUEOWJIo8vEfhyphenhyphenWd5epgIFeBlGUd0Z_-JynQVCgfjjydwEGX1P8ofW1FJzK8ZCBdPRx64OnSgTGcIuCUt1uR3mvbgSzGQPrt3CcyWn7xyFQqnUtY9XR-N4rrwCw8wJKBDheT/s400/belly+down.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Speaking of baby, we had all of our baby classes this month and took our tour of the Labor & Delivery unit at our local hospital. Since most of my face-to-face time with clients is in the evenings, it was a bit tricky blocking out 6 evenings for classes and still finding time for clients--plus, all of my other community activities that have evening obligations! But, I got through it and we even heard a baby being born when we were touring the L&D unit--made it worth skipping out on work!</div>
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Work has continued to stay busy. Many people have asked if I will continuing to work the next few weeks and so far, that's the plan. I have another agent who will cover my transactions while I'm on maternity leave, but I really do like my clients and my work so much that I don't want to be on the couch, twiddling my thumbs, doing nothing. Fortunately, during the past month, I have been blessed with four closings, executing a contract on a pending sale and bringing on a new listing--my broker is loving my productivity, but I'm just happy that I could help my clients achieve all of their goals!</div>
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I will admit that when I get home from work, I am more than ready to sit down for a minute! Fortunately, my energy hasn't taken a huge hit, but I'm to the point where I definitely need to elevate my feet. And when I'm on the couch, that means one thing--the dog has to be on the couch, too! Mitzi, being the lap dog (or well, belly dog) she is, has finally figured out how to "fit" on my lap without smushing the baby! <br />
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<img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7yArBzJOZDK4bWJBBaFbriOX0xJpfHQb6T9X0E_eKoMX51cnVpDYZGl3FiEwdtTlISlrTVaoGvOKa8ydFMBgw1SRcOgFjwZcMz5s6aCxUeSVPSeibB59V7pXuz3wrgwM2cTzQPq7RdZA3/s400/mitz+&+baby.jpg" width="400" /></div>
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And anytime one works hard, you have to play hard! Otherwise, as one of my favorite movie characters once said, "If you take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive." Thank you, Van Wilder, for giving me permission to take some time off ;-)</div>
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Keeping that advice in mind, we spent one of our evenings at the 2nd Annual CASA Comedy Club fundraiser and let me tell you, it was a blast! They brought in three excellent comedians from the East Coast--the second guy had me laughing so hard that I was worried I'd start having contractions! And always the foodie, I have to admit the meal was top-notch, too. Just can't wait until we go again next year!!!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjLsqnH6cV0iQF75tV7C7vr7Vhlq1i7vI9rUtTO_ibrrhdxTXnKvJmCyucZ1Zogp6s80dvDnraXZDeUaeq7pCMHOekgY8qhy1WTF6Knf8H_TuxJTnVPWR2EIOODIaJ_56tFo_EasSqEF53/s1600/casa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjLsqnH6cV0iQF75tV7C7vr7Vhlq1i7vI9rUtTO_ibrrhdxTXnKvJmCyucZ1Zogp6s80dvDnraXZDeUaeq7pCMHOekgY8qhy1WTF6Knf8H_TuxJTnVPWR2EIOODIaJ_56tFo_EasSqEF53/s400/casa.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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A few Sundays ago, we scooted down the road to Lawrence to attend my brother-in-law's church confirmation. The bishop is always present for confirmations and I just had to tease Adam about getting a picture with the "guy in the funny hat." As a little, little kid, I could never remember the Bishop's title, but I always remembered the funny hat that he would wear!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgol_ZBHtF51RMlGz_rp-AwD0XG-GvS0WFiOtv5rLf-nXORH0q06UlKxVo48EvPZ6LB3hP2aPUTXEiu2RJWkTd7Piri3DcAdnH5_9LJ9LTGFMsMZS6YJkWqF_x_sK79AhtCzBRlKSSBbwm4/s1600/46446_10200772375487921_1002241193_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgol_ZBHtF51RMlGz_rp-AwD0XG-GvS0WFiOtv5rLf-nXORH0q06UlKxVo48EvPZ6LB3hP2aPUTXEiu2RJWkTd7Piri3DcAdnH5_9LJ9LTGFMsMZS6YJkWqF_x_sK79AhtCzBRlKSSBbwm4/s400/46446_10200772375487921_1002241193_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Before we left town, we stopped by Morningstar's Pizza to pick up our TEAM DAIN shirts. 5 weeks ago, my first cousin, Dain, fell from a roof and shattered his C-5 vertebrae. Dain's been living out in Washington State for several years now and has been receiving excellent care while in Seattle. But with his paralysis comes unbelievable expenses and hurdles--being a Lawrence native, the shirts for his fundraiser could be purchased locally and we just had to get our hands on one, take a picture and send it to him! Dain's updates always put a smile on my face (well, most of the time--sometimes his reality checks and my hormones aren't a good combination!) and we wanted to do the same for him!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip-9nANWv07JrQseH1cf-J4WRh6NCo5hqKhns6EQ4m5EYQfdXaSaHNdZxx1WJbtXyR_ivduGLqOK31nA1T5DMXIY9SkVut4FtmVUTm0a7stuvI8bXfP7bz0fK89O5QzbOIbqy0mz34tnjq/s1600/1176184_10101229136732101_1195937748_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip-9nANWv07JrQseH1cf-J4WRh6NCo5hqKhns6EQ4m5EYQfdXaSaHNdZxx1WJbtXyR_ivduGLqOK31nA1T5DMXIY9SkVut4FtmVUTm0a7stuvI8bXfP7bz0fK89O5QzbOIbqy0mz34tnjq/s400/1176184_10101229136732101_1195937748_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Speaking of family--last weekend, my sister and sister-in-law hosted a shower to celebrate Baby Williams. All I can say is that this little girl is well-loved by so many people and she's not even here yet!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnW1YYxq9W5mNWpzf0aK-immnGUrIZ6DmAgP2WX5RV4dybV02sMJjvJIbY8fb5NLXwRKWL0RUxROFF5tEsHPtiO7IU9tSmP2LdE3NNrZhWLGEu6Tf2UqRhceUoRLp39mlviJOsOAlJAp4a/s1600/1234232_10200814222454069_776264193_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnW1YYxq9W5mNWpzf0aK-immnGUrIZ6DmAgP2WX5RV4dybV02sMJjvJIbY8fb5NLXwRKWL0RUxROFF5tEsHPtiO7IU9tSmP2LdE3NNrZhWLGEu6Tf2UqRhceUoRLp39mlviJOsOAlJAp4a/s400/1234232_10200814222454069_776264193_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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One of the highlights of the weekend was getting to spend it with my former college roommate, Jill. A few weeks before the shower, she called to say she was coming down from Omaha for the occasion--needless to say, I was beyond excited! Sometimes, our schedules prevent us from seeing each other for several years at a time--but this year, we've squeezed in three road-trips to see one another! Kinda helps when there are "milestone" birthdays, weddings and babies to celebrate :-)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhewm9cvMDjM6qeaYh4hLCaQ2l1q-RFvtLjb5sT8BXpGsfHJY0NZS1k-DEPIvPjG-MpUlIUTKegKYPy_ercd1GEP67-f9eCY3zjxIW-UhUgAlBYWItIfoPVjcrP-hy3nAqH0jL8ZuWTs6WD/s1600/jill+&+ME-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhewm9cvMDjM6qeaYh4hLCaQ2l1q-RFvtLjb5sT8BXpGsfHJY0NZS1k-DEPIvPjG-MpUlIUTKegKYPy_ercd1GEP67-f9eCY3zjxIW-UhUgAlBYWItIfoPVjcrP-hy3nAqH0jL8ZuWTs6WD/s400/jill+&+ME-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The morning of the shower, we did our final walk-through with the painters. After four weeks of work, the painters were DONE and they could finally move on to another project! Needless to say, our house took WAY more time than any of us expected...The job was originally estimated to take a week and a half or so. By the time it was all said and done, they spent two weeks doing prep work, followed by 2 weeks of painting, used 50+ tubes of caulk and did numerous (unexpected) preservation projects. I guarantee they never want to see our house again!!! lol</div>
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I won't bore you with all of the before's-and-after's, but here are some of my favorite improvements:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF962T8gfYCs6K6BqQAIU_ozeT5zBE7iHyLOlST9jkHF_pKROTFxf_0PDEG4dUrerP2oILSAoS1qLP0YhyFlXr0RMjlivo1vdtNF-xLXjvL8GUFfDLEyrerYbWcDHjEDqxNxg1DUWQVMqY/s1600/1186034_10101229451720861_1364429869_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF962T8gfYCs6K6BqQAIU_ozeT5zBE7iHyLOlST9jkHF_pKROTFxf_0PDEG4dUrerP2oILSAoS1qLP0YhyFlXr0RMjlivo1vdtNF-xLXjvL8GUFfDLEyrerYbWcDHjEDqxNxg1DUWQVMqY/s400/1186034_10101229451720861_1364429869_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original mail slot...one of the things I love about our house! The mail drops directly into our living room--how cool is that?! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-7zaO375iQbjO1ISwuvoi3k4ozz-H-2A_mUEkkSq8Ocgf6j9McuGB3Hrg3LbeE_GKNkech6MinLtjSfZUp-fFSRTNRvTV12E3ezSBvu7kyvYUMOtTlSbm6tMZJtsy7WtPBeRtcRLktfAC/s1600/1175733_10101229453462371_1167445026_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-7zaO375iQbjO1ISwuvoi3k4ozz-H-2A_mUEkkSq8Ocgf6j9McuGB3Hrg3LbeE_GKNkech6MinLtjSfZUp-fFSRTNRvTV12E3ezSBvu7kyvYUMOtTlSbm6tMZJtsy7WtPBeRtcRLktfAC/s400/1175733_10101229453462371_1167445026_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The restored mailbox and hardware. MUCH more attractive! lol</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgspAa5kSeCloomm3xlJBWaFXJddrOxGu876LWWYWVD9KVf-NMbCHm-jYCgNueN0p4J6RDBaNQS-UcO4S9r8cRoFpvoJfOUMhxmfVIcDdDFWS6YVnA2Sorjbyf6dU1_HxtmivamTQlwAA9Q/s1600/1175493_10101229441341661_1956696421_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgspAa5kSeCloomm3xlJBWaFXJddrOxGu876LWWYWVD9KVf-NMbCHm-jYCgNueN0p4J6RDBaNQS-UcO4S9r8cRoFpvoJfOUMhxmfVIcDdDFWS6YVnA2Sorjbyf6dU1_HxtmivamTQlwAA9Q/s400/1175493_10101229441341661_1956696421_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dormer and "hand-crafted" vent before...Always loved the dormer, but HATED the vent</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWR8OnCZxKOqZ5miTyi6SAh-zs7j4sKH5Akp9D3LyQec9OUuUSiFtucE2hjh1cTR-k3ayIBAUR-ZDvkFrTGDLyAhfjeYC7IdzFsppfAwiw2977m_-FYBCOH5f20FRSulokYu7GyOrxX0Og/s1600/1235367_10101229444166001_1185066708_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWR8OnCZxKOqZ5miTyi6SAh-zs7j4sKH5Akp9D3LyQec9OUuUSiFtucE2hjh1cTR-k3ayIBAUR-ZDvkFrTGDLyAhfjeYC7IdzFsppfAwiw2977m_-FYBCOH5f20FRSulokYu7GyOrxX0Og/s400/1235367_10101229444166001_1185066708_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dormer with the original window afterwards...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The newly painted porch! There's a total of 9 colors up there! But fortunately, it doesn't seem like that many :-) Do love the throw-back blue ceiling and how it makes everything else just 'pop'! Before the other paint started to fail, the porch was our favorite part of the house--now, we enjoy it even more!</td></tr>
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After our walk-through, Justin started into the yard. Having people trample our yard for 4 weeks really did a number on the grass...but, it was also in serious need of being aerated and over-seeded. Thankfully, Justin loves yard work--he was beyond ready to go pick up the machines and get our yard back in shape!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7AEIdpVO25V4pCeBkRxSHr9i5lisBCjPRC2Z_CEGl8C0-Ku7MxiOSjQL-Gw-7l2yCTIJj6xsa2RcD-kVVhe3wuGXAQuA-o5DbRxS6We9df_DD180_M-qJzCeRSCgFGbY3VYZCELQ8UDPW/s1600/1236021_10101240406682031_631100694_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7AEIdpVO25V4pCeBkRxSHr9i5lisBCjPRC2Z_CEGl8C0-Ku7MxiOSjQL-Gw-7l2yCTIJj6xsa2RcD-kVVhe3wuGXAQuA-o5DbRxS6We9df_DD180_M-qJzCeRSCgFGbY3VYZCELQ8UDPW/s400/1236021_10101240406682031_631100694_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Running the aerator! We're not sure if our yard has EVER been aerated, so it will be fun to see if it makes any difference come Spring!</td></tr>
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Justin's other project is nearly done, as well! We now have power to the garage...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMojRf-L29F75a2nz8trS855sb1e-dN1thwtbo556sdlfhxPPojZI2slWgv2mqEvGj-R4RnVJHYYyaYi3R9UDINM7zAmMwEoPXeI24OOPNMgvIFltYoBtSLR383bZFCce_8R_ZVgbY0lNq/s1600/20130915_193733.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMojRf-L29F75a2nz8trS855sb1e-dN1thwtbo556sdlfhxPPojZI2slWgv2mqEvGj-R4RnVJHYYyaYi3R9UDINM7zAmMwEoPXeI24OOPNMgvIFltYoBtSLR383bZFCce_8R_ZVgbY0lNq/s400/20130915_193733.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The new siding has been hung and the opening has been reframed to accommodate a new door. Once the door arrives and is installed, the garage will be trimmed out and we'll be DONE for the season! The siding will still need caulked and painted but that can wait until the Spring. We are so over home improvement projects right now!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMs-14DDYFpJIrge3gIAV3fUtjkoMpqpleMpweLDjknietuP-UZbYBEKCoIu_vY6h53BxEjKGJr81Oz4-XcIdcoVgTMQing1pvuIyXYKQlG21ooUmOQihvuLI9_y8_HPeTI0fSIesi3lj/s1600/20130929_095212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMs-14DDYFpJIrge3gIAV3fUtjkoMpqpleMpweLDjknietuP-UZbYBEKCoIu_vY6h53BxEjKGJr81Oz4-XcIdcoVgTMQing1pvuIyXYKQlG21ooUmOQihvuLI9_y8_HPeTI0fSIesi3lj/s400/20130929_095212.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And last but not least, last week was our 3rd wedding anniversary! Woo-who! It doesn't seem like it's been three years since we got hitched. Time truly has flown by and now that a baby is getting added to the mix, I can't even imagine how fast the next 10-20-30 years will go! Scary!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-F16X73BanRSKMw6ViGdb4tbQjsbfjdLlfJqVOnG9kI6ndfgUId_GVCYlpmR92aovg-jMnFa6PV8NfPJs20-4SpXn97Ik80xYY5xZnm-wTG6hvXiruPVV8dNoGJ9M1KSb1jIlEhZYNPY9/s1600/577989_10101246500465041_250678327_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-F16X73BanRSKMw6ViGdb4tbQjsbfjdLlfJqVOnG9kI6ndfgUId_GVCYlpmR92aovg-jMnFa6PV8NfPJs20-4SpXn97Ik80xYY5xZnm-wTG6hvXiruPVV8dNoGJ9M1KSb1jIlEhZYNPY9/s400/577989_10101246500465041_250678327_n.jpg" width="340" /></a></div>
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As our anniversary fell in the middle of a busy week, we decided to "celebrate" with lunch on Friday--followed by flu shots at Walgreens. Could it NOT get anymore romantic?! lol...next year, somebody better force us to get a babysitter so that we can celebrate with a real dinner, a movie, SOMETHING! But worst part about being lame? We had Mexican for lunch and holy hell, my acid reflux kicked into high gear. It wasn't until Monday that I was able to consume something other than water, Tums and popsicles. I was absolutely miserable, but thankfully, the pressure on my stomach is just temporary. A few weeks ago, I shared my theory about this girl coming out with not just a head of hair, but an Afro...after this most recent experience with "heart burn," I'm convinced the Afro has grown into dreads ;-) Guess we'll find out if I'm right in just a few weeks!</div>
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Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-52708678985051800632013-09-08T20:50:00.000-05:002013-09-08T21:47:33.307-05:00Week 32--Common Questions & Favorite ThingsI feel like such a broken record, but I can't believe how fast time is flying by--today wraps up <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">week 32</span></b> and tomorrow ushers in week 33! On Friday, I had my 8-month appointment and all continues to go well. I'm up a total of 17 pounds and my doctor is convinced I'll gain like crazy during the final weeks...baby's heart rate continues to stay around the 148-152 mark and she's measuring "perfectly." The doctor still laughs every time I lay down because my belly REALLY disappears when I do that, but he keeps saying all is well. And that's what we've been praying for!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tired! In need of a nap and a break from the heat! Allergies have also been crazy and my face has puffed up!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smuggling a small pumpkin!</td></tr>
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As my pregnancy has become more obvious to the outside world, I've started to find that I'm asked the same questions time and time again...I try not to make my answers sound rehearsed, but really, how much can you differentiate a response?! Most of the questions and answers go a little like this (sometimes, language is edited or detail is left out!)</div>
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<strong>How do you feel?</strong> Most of the time, pretty darn good and complaint-free. Some days I wake up feeling like I've been hit by a truck, but hey, that wasn't uncommon before I became pregnant! <br />
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<strong>Does your back hurt?</strong> Holy hell, it hurts. So, maybe my answer to the previous question was a lie. My lower back hasn't given me any problems--but my upper back, right along the bottom of where my shoulder blades meet, has caused tons of misery since about week 18. Doc seems to think it's a pinched nerve--I seem to think it's a pain in the @$$. Or, the fact that my back isn't used to supporting so much weight in my chest. Either way, I hope it eventually disappears!<br />
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<strong>Do you have a name picked out?</strong> Justin and I have a list of names. First names were pretty easy to come up with--middle names, not so much. We have a few combinations that we like, but to be safe, we're waiting until we meet the baby to pick a name. We're just not "sold" on the names and I'd hate to be the fool who "changes" the name once she gets here! Months ago, before we knew the gender, we came across a boy's name that we BOTH absolutely loved--if there's ever another child, and Justin's chromosomes decide it will be a boy, we won't have to spend months figuring out a name!<br />
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<strong>Do you have a birth plan?</strong> Nope. Last I checked, this little girl has the final say on how she enters the world, so we're just going to roll with the punches. One thing I don't mind letting the nurses know ahead of time? I'm totally okay with the use of drugs :-)<br />
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<strong>Are you scared of labor?</strong> At this very moment, not one bit. 7 months ago? Most definitely. I couldn't even read the labor & delivery section of our insurance booklet without nearly losing consciousness. I've since realized that our childbirth classes will give me the information that I need, I will be in the care of a great team and I'll have Justin by my side (hopefully, he just doesn't pass out!). Now, coming home with a baby to care for??? THAT terrifies me!<br />
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<strong>Is the nursery ready?</strong> Almost! I am SO glad we started on it months ago. We're just waiting for the rocking chair to come back from the upholstery lady and the room will be done! Once everything's in its place, I'll be sure to do a "reveal" on here!<br />
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<strong>What kind of cravings have you had? </strong>None! For the first 18 weeks, it was more an issue of what <em>could</em> I eat, without making my nausea even worse. Once I got past that, I waited for the cravings to kick in. And they just haven't! The only "staple" in our pantry (or, well, freezer) is a box of popsicles--each night, I lay in bed and munch on two of them so that I can get my kick-counts in. And usually, baby girl gets her 10 kicks in within the first 5 minutes or so!<br />
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<strong>Have you had any heartburn yet? </strong>Ha! Heartburn?! Are you kidding?! If the old wives' tale is true, this baby won't be coming out with just a full head of hair--she'll be rocking an Afro! See, for several years the doctors thought I had Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)...what makes GERD different from typical acid reflux is that I couldn't FEEL the heartburn, even though it was there. After ongoing problems, we learned that I truly have what's called Laryngopharyngeal Reflux (LPR). Basically, and this may be too much information, my stomach acid doesn't just stop at my esophagus--it continues up into my larynx/voicebox. Problem with that? It causes episodes where I just can't breathe. I'll wake up in the middle of the night gasping for air--I'll be driving in my car and suddenly, I can't take any air in. The episodes are short and I'm always fine afterwards, but it's still scary. If I take my medicine and avoid wheat, no problems. However, add a pregnancy to the equation and I'm back to nighttime episodes--and now I FEEL the acid reflux. The burning is atrocious, but I'm ready and waiting to pick out that baby 'fro!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCtrBe_CGGiXgUzvjcdRliGBqvm8fWbTfWhW4mE-L2dyZgrycR_sUD4TInTbzEz8RwVfMFAI8M1DS-DW0CdjPVG2V3fgeVeL0tQVKV6NuF_sK6XJiPk8vBtylD_3kZGKXjDM5P_P0OJIf9/s1600/Unknown-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCtrBe_CGGiXgUzvjcdRliGBqvm8fWbTfWhW4mE-L2dyZgrycR_sUD4TInTbzEz8RwVfMFAI8M1DS-DW0CdjPVG2V3fgeVeL0tQVKV6NuF_sK6XJiPk8vBtylD_3kZGKXjDM5P_P0OJIf9/s400/Unknown-2.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a><br />
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It seems that with every change in life, you find "favorite things" that usher you through the new period. For J-Money and I, expanding our family happened MUCH earlier than we thought it would and I will never forget how overwhelmed I was by the news. We had had so many changes in 2012 and were really looking forward to some stability in 2013. But now, we were going to have a baby?! How would I ever deal with the changes that were bound to come in the next 9 months?! Fortunately, there were a few little things that sure made the changes much easier to deal with!<br />
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Somehow, I got signed up for weekly emails from multiple companies. Most of them sucked (hey, just being honest here!) or their links took you to totally different articles. The one weekly update that I actually appreciated came from Everyday Family. Soooo very informative and easy to navigate. Before too long, I actually looked forward to receiving their emails and Justin even enjoyed them, too!<br />
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One change that I noticed right away in my pregnancy was the texture of my hair. It went from being fine and silky to COARSE and dry! Pre-pregnancy, I could only condition every-other-day...now, I have to use a deep conditioning mask EVERY night! It will sure be interesting to see what happens to my hair texture after the baby is born...and I'm already mentally preparing myself for the dreaded hair loss!<br />
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One of my biggest worries was having to buy a maternity wardrobe. I've never had an easy time finding pants and now I was going to have to accommodate both a long inseam AND a swollen belly! Fortunately, GAP's maternity line offered my 37" inseam in some of their pants--and some of their "Tall" section had maternity options, too! <br />
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A lot of the (affordable) GAP maternity pieces bordered on being too casual for work, so I was excited when I discovered that Ann Taylor LOFT had a maternity line...AND they had Tall options, as well! I just had to make sure to catch one of their sales so that I could actually afford the items!!</div>
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I also quickly learned that when it came to dresses and tops, I could score some REALLY cute Pea in the Pod pieces if I surfed eBay or waited for their end of season clearance sales--and, had an internet promo code ready! I absolutely love everything Pea in the Pod--style, quality, you name it--and would have loved to have my wardrobe be 100% from this company, but I'd have to sell quite a few more houses to make that happen ;-) And while I'm thinking of eBay--I found quite a few great deals on there, too! With the help of my tailor, we could make various pieces fit like they should, but at the fraction of retail cost.</div>
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When it came to the basic pieces (layering tanks, regular tees, etc), I've had really good luck with Old Navy...for whatever reason, a lot of the stuff from Target fits me funny, but Old Navy has been pretty reliable and oh, so very cheap (again, gotta love those promo codes)! </div>
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As my belly has grown, I've become a huge fan of the Mama Bee Belly Butter by Burt's Bees. When it comes to lotions, I'm really particular about how they feel going on...and I love the way this belly butter FEELS going on and as it absorbs into my skin. Oh, and the smell is pretty lovely, too!</div>
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One thing I wanted to maintain during my pregnancy was a work-out routine. My work schedule has never allowed for a "true" routine, but I would try to work out when I could...being pregnant, I try to squeeze in some activity whenever I'm not working 10-12 hour days. One video that I really do enjoy is the Prenatal Pilates workout by 10-minute solutions. You have a choice of 5 different 10-minute workouts, so you can do as little or as much as you want. And the instructor makes great use of the 10 minutes--while doing legs, you're still using your arms, core, etc...and it certainly gets your heart rate going, too!</div>
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This next video took my a while to try. It had GREAT reviews, but looked kinda cheap and weird. When it arrived, Justin asked if the instructor on the case was a pregnant dude...really?! You're going to make fun of the video before I even try it?! The gal is a professional acrobat and yes, is pretty darn buff! I finally tried the video and I LOVE it! I can totally see why it had the reviews that it did. Only downfall? It takes about 45-minutes to do, so I don't get to use it as often as I'd like to. But when I do have the time, it's totally worth it!</div>
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And the final thing that has made my pregnancy easier and more enjoyable is this guy...</div>
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Today, we put together the bassinet that the grandparents ordered for Baby Williams. Well, not we--Justin. After putting together the crib and changing table, I realized any furniture assembly needs to be a one-person task! There are days where Justin drives me absolutely crazy but he's been great during my pregnancy (especially since I have 9 months to drive him nuts!!). He was a huge help during the first trimester, worked his butt off during the second trimester to support the expense that comes with a baby and now that we're in the home stretch, he's constantly talking to the baby and doing everything he can to prepare for her. When we meet 7 years ago, had someone told me "that basketball player" would be so enthralled with being a father, I would have laughed at you! And I would have laughed even harder had you predicted we'd be married and raising a child together! As we all know, life is full of changes and some of the best changes are those you least expect!!</div>
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Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-68149446223181056412013-08-31T11:03:00.003-05:002013-08-31T11:03:51.682-05:00Week 31 & Plenty of Excitement!This week has been full of excitement!<br />
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I returned to work from my week "vacation" and found out that the agent who was backing me up worked her BUTT off while I was gone! During the seven days I was out, she got two houses under contract for me, started negotiations on an offer for a third set of buyers and also took care of the inspections for a fourth set of my buyers. With that kind of productivity, maybe I should take more time off?!<br />
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The painters continued the work on our house. They originally estimated the project to take 7-8 business days. Let's just say that they've been here for 9 days and there is STILL a lot of painting to be done! However, their attention to detail is impeccable and when it's all said and done, the wait will be worth it. In fact, we've already noticed the neighbors down the street trying to sneak a peak! <br />
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We're also starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with the garage remodel. All three sides have been re-framed and new siding hung, so now we just need to get a new garage door ordered and we can finish up the front! Last step will be insulating the interior and painting it to match the house!<br />
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With the front still unfinished, it looks a little crazy--BUT, the siding is a huge improvement from what used to be there...</div>
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While I'm thinking of our house projects--the one thing I wanted to achieve after putting on a new roof and getting a fresh coat of paint was to get rid of this HIDEOUS vent. It's literally two metal vents screwed into a piece of plywood, that was then screwed into the opening for the original dormer window. Whoever thought this was a bright idea was an idiot! <br />
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With some additional roof ventilation, our roofer gave us the blessing to make the switch! With that, Justin crawled into our attic to remove the hideous vent and install the original dormer window! And of course, I had him do it on a day when the heat index was hovering around 100 degrees...</div>
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Even though I told him he won Husband-of-the-Year, Mr. Grouchy Pants wasn't too thrilled about over-heating after already spending all day out in the hot sun...but hey, the window is back in place AND his wife is beyond happy. Once the dormer is repainted and the window re-glazed, I'm pretty sure he'll have a big smile on his face!</div>
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But to be honest, he's already BEAMING. And it has nothing to do with the house!</div>
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For months, Justin has been studying for his International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist test...he'd wake up about 4am, study until it was time for work, come home and spend the rest of the evening studying. He truly did nothing but work and study! The test was on August 16th and they said it would take 4-6 weeks to receive the results...</div>
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Well, a packet arrived in Thursday's mail and the results were inside--he passed! Not too surprising, considering he could tell you everything you'd ever want to know about trees--and then some! But now, he isn't just a "tree expert"--he can tell you about all sorts of woody plants! </div>
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And of course, if you live anywhere in Kansas, you know that Friday was the start of K-State's football season! The new West Stadium addition was complete, the Bill Snyder statue was ready to be revealed, Purple Power Play ran for two nights--the town was abuzz with excitement!</div>
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I started Friday morning by making Justin help with a "festive" photo shoot. I was pregnant during the Spring Game, but was fighting some major allergies that day (soooo can't wait to be able to get my allergy shots again!) so I missed the game. Friday marked baby's "first time" in football purple! And plus, we needed a <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">week 31</span></b> pic!</div>
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The morning started out at the KMAN radio studio...as Campaign Chair for our United Way 2013 Campaign, I was interviewed alongside our Board President for our back Kick-Off Event that was planned for the following morning. By the time we left, traffic had already picked up and because my office is within walking distance of the stadium, all I could think about was how I wanted to leave work at the end of the day and NOT get hit!</div>
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Well, I think I jinxed myself. As I drove from the KMAN studio to my office, I totally got rear-ended at a stoplight by an out-of-town K-State fan! The other driver was freaking out about missing the dedication ceremony for the new stadium...the hormonal side of me wanted to smack some sense into her! I don't like to throw pity parties, but seriously! There I am--nearly 8-months pregnant, standing around in the heat while we wait for the police to arrive and file a report, missing appointments with clients (and missing more work so the doctor could check me out that afternoon) and she's worried about being late to a $#%*@^# dedication ceremony?! </div>
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Fortunately, my regular doctor was able to see me later in the day and after consulting with my OB-GYN, they both felt that baby was doing fine. And I was fine. But my concern--and Justin's, too--was that we wanted to make sure the impact didn't cause any problems. And thank the Good Lord, it didn't! But if anything, talk about a reality check--this baby hasn't even been born yet, and I was already about to go into Mama Bear mode! </div>
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At this rate, we're looking forward to a less exciting Labor Day weekend. Part of the weekend will be spent working, but we'll also be able to squeeze in some time for family and fun. Oh, and hopefully, some rest! I am becoming a HUGE fan of sitting on my butt for a few minutes :-) I still haven't had a chance to make friends with our couch and TV, but I'm sure that in about 8 weeks, I'll have plenty of time to hang out around the house!</div>
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Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-72740887928511468552013-08-22T17:31:00.002-05:002013-08-22T17:31:20.912-05:00Week 30 & Life In a Construction ZoneIs it okay to admit that I want to run away from my house and hide?!<br />
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Around the first of August, my broker convinced me to take a week off from work. It had been one helluva year for real estate--I hadn't taken any time off in the past 14 months and as luck had it, as soon as I found out I was pregnant, the market REALLY heated up. And that was back in late February! Since then, a "normal" week has been 70-80 hours and I've had one or two "slow" weeks that had me averaging about 40-50 hours. And I managed to take off two entire days (Memorial Weekend) since February. With a baby soon on the way, my broker knew that 1) I had to be just plain exhausted and 2) I would never have another chance to relax and have a little down time. With that, I recruited another agent to work my transactions while I took a week off...and the countdown to having an entire week off began!<br />
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FINALLY, my week of down time was here! And then the phone calls came in.<br />
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After a 3-month wait, our painters could start on the house this week.<br />
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Our windows (that had been back-ordered for nearly a month) were ready to be installed.<br />
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Justin's buddies had extra time to work on our garage.<br />
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And to top it off, the roofers figured out a way to make my dreams come true (and not in a dirty way, but more on that later!).<br />
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Holy crap. Are you freakin' kidding me?!<br />
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Knowing that we needed to get the jobs done while the contractors were available, and before a baby has to live through the mess, we said COME ON OVER!<br />
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With that, the painters showed up Tuesday morning as I was getting ready to leave with my mom and niece for a Girls' Day Out. I knew it would be a mess and was more than happy to leave town and do some shopping! Mom's first stop of the day, ironically enough, was at a liquor store...as much as I wanted to have a drink, I have to admit my niece was SUPER excited to be surrounded by bottles of booze!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1D_KgK4d7HhCNkiAGCnb5BOhJQ0XZH615duBEFILUmjUg61M4Xb5IWxxaLnC6gcesLiCEUNLx106hkQ-yTugM994S5-zKtCfrjAXxaJthkX542HqP-wUpu37aR8YF7Xe7wCNoSKeVfAwP/s1600/marcella.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1D_KgK4d7HhCNkiAGCnb5BOhJQ0XZH615duBEFILUmjUg61M4Xb5IWxxaLnC6gcesLiCEUNLx106hkQ-yTugM994S5-zKtCfrjAXxaJthkX542HqP-wUpu37aR8YF7Xe7wCNoSKeVfAwP/s400/marcella.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another ornery smile for the camera! Some day she'll realize you DON'T want to give yourself a double-chin for pictures ;-)</td></tr>
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Once we did all the damage we could do in Topeka, it was time to head home and check on the day's progress. The painters spent an ENTIRE day prepping the north-side of our house...what a reminder of WHY we're paying them to do the work!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Bz1RevoArLIpIlGsJrMK-GwYms5Aypw14mafYW6_HgwGEyMmQtQQPAwW_S7z30KVSp8Df3fTMmvur2YVxrhRaM6NPkEStbK5GzI7tQfM8kpNrKQ5tJwec2UyYAzyiopbDTWsd-4dsReR/s1600/House+Reno+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Bz1RevoArLIpIlGsJrMK-GwYms5Aypw14mafYW6_HgwGEyMmQtQQPAwW_S7z30KVSp8Df3fTMmvur2YVxrhRaM6NPkEStbK5GzI7tQfM8kpNrKQ5tJwec2UyYAzyiopbDTWsd-4dsReR/s400/House+Reno+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of scraping, sanding and caulking!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Remnants of the home's 90-year history...and all the chalky residue from years of moisture penetration is now gone!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I feel like our yard looks like a flea market. This is what it looks like (both side yards are full of crap, too!) when they're packed up and gone for the day!</td></tr>
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After evaluating their progress, it was time to pack up the inside of our house to make room for the window installation. Everything, in all the rooms, got pushed to the middle...it was quite fun waking up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and having your bed in a totally different spot! And no side table to grab onto so you don't have to roll off the edge just to get out of bed....ooooops! Should have thought that one through :-)<br />
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Wednesday morning rolled around and the window contractor was ready to start work at 7:15 am!</div>
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Replacing the windows was a hard decision for me--not so much for Justin, as he was always eager to do it. I'm the first one to judge people for ripping out original windows and replacing them with vinyl. Just drives me nuts--a GOOD storm window will do so much good and they're less expensive! After purchasing our house, I convinced Justin we should just invest in those "good" storm windows that I've always been a fan of. But we ran into a problem--we could NOT get the existing storm windows off the house...</div>
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So, we lived with the windows as they were for a few more years. But the problems started to compound. I couldn't open the windows on my own--most of the time, Justin struggled to open them, too. For a few summers, we lost power for extended periods of time (meaning, multiple days) and our house became an inferno. Numerous panes were cracked. The weights were broken. All the windows needed re-glazed. I called my window buddy in because if anyone can save old windows, he can do it. Unfortunately, the repair expense was going to be about the same as doing a total replacement. And because I've referred so much business to him, he gave us an amazing discount so we said, DO IT. The hormonal me kinda wanted to cry because I felt like I was betraying everything I had ever preached, but also knowing that we'd only be in our house a few more years, the Realtor in me accepted that new windows would help with re-sale.</div>
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Once they started in, I remembered why we decided to pay someone else to do the job...when it came time to remove the storm windows, it was a HUGE pain! Took a good 20-30 minutes per storm! Turns out, the storm windows were not only screwed into the frame, but also caulked over AND painted over. They never before had so much difficulty taking off storms!</div>
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Once the storms came off, this is how the windows looked!</div>
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Then, the replacements started to go in. And I started to smile :-) For once, we could truly see out our windows! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqXtebF8ZOnlSdmx98BPt_WIhMhNRW45Xw8UdiLWowBWaUygX0Sp7wmcbETVGhRiYkEMpfhva1wwr8Q6kPuk-aDpkV8AJvrQRKyx0Zy1XOJ6HZ8ZzXPp9romRnLa-_yOdkw_x8vfj3O5KG/s1600/house+reno+9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqXtebF8ZOnlSdmx98BPt_WIhMhNRW45Xw8UdiLWowBWaUygX0Sp7wmcbETVGhRiYkEMpfhva1wwr8Q6kPuk-aDpkV8AJvrQRKyx0Zy1XOJ6HZ8ZzXPp9romRnLa-_yOdkw_x8vfj3O5KG/s400/house+reno+9.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Replacement window on the far left, original windows on the right</td></tr>
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While the windows were being installed, the painters were still hard at work. They had 6 people prepping the backside and south side of the house, while their carpenter tore into our porch columns.</div>
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Ohhh, our poor porch columns...the base trim had been separated when we bought the house and it appeared to have been that way for a LONG time. The painters were going to pull off the trim and re-install it...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkVTT2kCUaRofvHzCgcZhPLDskZny8ORHtzYy8QVhtEcx-pVzOYh6BKI5BDT7zVeRCGxByfwu-2zdaR5VIUs235gZh-xvbyJrEvCLoRYrmb5DYFZidCW9pqeIDkyDtH0SaXFxbtYkpPVPK/s1600/house+reno+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkVTT2kCUaRofvHzCgcZhPLDskZny8ORHtzYy8QVhtEcx-pVzOYh6BKI5BDT7zVeRCGxByfwu-2zdaR5VIUs235gZh-xvbyJrEvCLoRYrmb5DYFZidCW9pqeIDkyDtH0SaXFxbtYkpPVPK/s400/house+reno+6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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But once they removed the trim, they realized the columns weren't sitting on ANYTHING but the trim pieces. And this supported our porch roof for 90 years?! Needless to say, they had to jack up the porch roof, cut new (solid) base pieces and trim for all the columns in hopes that we will continue to have a roof over our head--literally!</div>
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On the upside, so much has already been accomplished! The windows are all in and looking AMAZING! So, so glad we made the leap. Oh, and just last night, we already noticed how much sound they block! Just can't wait to see what our utility bills start to average for the coming year :-)</div>
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The painters continue to labor away. Today, they're prepping the front of the house--TONS of sanding and filling in gaps. I truly pity the person who gets the task of caulking our beadboard porch ceiling...because most every single inch of that ceiling needs caulked! At last count, there's at least 5 more days of prep and painting to be done, so it will be fun to watch it all unfold.</div>
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And fortunately, progress is being made with our garage...we just <i>might</i> have it done before the baby arrives!</div>
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In just a few afternoons, it went from this:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXrqEIj8AXKAX8ArzSGl8Vio_heY1xbucEwGMEx6LLqrjWaJq93Gi5Vh7zPzwXu-uodaPnT5lYLyne2ShGiJBjOgtubH6i2So37CWzxZujPgcMsyolGitJpFUmaXtmUSRUSiZoLlmnwUdu/s1600/1157674_10101167108437301_2000097416_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXrqEIj8AXKAX8ArzSGl8Vio_heY1xbucEwGMEx6LLqrjWaJq93Gi5Vh7zPzwXu-uodaPnT5lYLyne2ShGiJBjOgtubH6i2So37CWzxZujPgcMsyolGitJpFUmaXtmUSRUSiZoLlmnwUdu/s400/1157674_10101167108437301_2000097416_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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To this... </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMYojNBcJtVs2KHBHM3Z5b_TT_m8jWDp0JgPRCzVjDMRwKdnD6QZg3org3HPBezRBXQkxTGZ73mJvWG0EEh8-xUmIQw_pBv9tYogFUWoDgfLGZS4qhcHmsdlzSlYe8USCIYFv2XALl33u3/s1600/7167_10101168659888181_1971967437_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMYojNBcJtVs2KHBHM3Z5b_TT_m8jWDp0JgPRCzVjDMRwKdnD6QZg3org3HPBezRBXQkxTGZ73mJvWG0EEh8-xUmIQw_pBv9tYogFUWoDgfLGZS4qhcHmsdlzSlYe8USCIYFv2XALl33u3/s400/7167_10101168659888181_1971967437_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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To this.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdlvRKDfNdOUMVNpPQIYPC8THXCPABEM1WHPgnvGrPZSVhqrYdAvZdVtVGFQLXvPyNp7YgwrXAMzj1bLt2Ax8czuEnYHPPDcukigYT8SkdxdceXP58Y_NJsVpQLClq1lE8zJrnT7cMk0RN/s1600/house+reno1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdlvRKDfNdOUMVNpPQIYPC8THXCPABEM1WHPgnvGrPZSVhqrYdAvZdVtVGFQLXvPyNp7YgwrXAMzj1bLt2Ax8czuEnYHPPDcukigYT8SkdxdceXP58Y_NJsVpQLClq1lE8zJrnT7cMk0RN/s400/house+reno1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The north and west walls have been framed and plywood hung. This evening, the guys will hang plywood on the south side, then move on to the east side and figure out something with the garage door. Until we figure out what we'll do about refacing the door, the guys can start hanging the wood siding and we'll be nearly done! </div>
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In the meantime, baby girl will just continue to acclimate to lots of noise!</div>
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This week marked <b style="font-size: x-large;">week 30 </b>and because I never remember to have Justin take a picture when he's around, I resorted to taking some "selfies." I feel so dumb photographing myself (okay, I even feel dumb trying to smile for Justin!) but I know that down the road, we'll be glad we were able to (somewhat) frequently document the baby's growth!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0EuLJtDON1xLbAdpUv3HGKChsgOdPA7A7rjL6qIKWd6I7wXVCHuT5s12vIXaQSjGI6K5Tnu0QxO8jda7M-iCtBsS2VPKZsFQndpKPjMDCZ4W5r4z3UdWOrI8hKls8NHOpNgIhxg5LQVTh/s1600/week+30+side.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0EuLJtDON1xLbAdpUv3HGKChsgOdPA7A7rjL6qIKWd6I7wXVCHuT5s12vIXaQSjGI6K5Tnu0QxO8jda7M-iCtBsS2VPKZsFQndpKPjMDCZ4W5r4z3UdWOrI8hKls8NHOpNgIhxg5LQVTh/s400/week+30+side.jpg" width="290" /></a></div>
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Until the shape changes, I'm going to call my bump my "camel humps." Seriously--I thought that by week 30, your belly was supposed to be nice and round?! But nope, mine just sticks out like there's a torpedo in there!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5J6wiCWxkU6pI8pzFWnHWfS7hZBidiDyrjTO-SLgtYxvNjgdFwDy_Nt3HZZe2UHYsWRj_8KkWDoAzb_uxdBHG_TT5kXiYqN2rbxfMOLVV1w5RyDlFojBXKGMsHtimYulIhYE3-lvvMOd4/s1600/week+30+angle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5J6wiCWxkU6pI8pzFWnHWfS7hZBidiDyrjTO-SLgtYxvNjgdFwDy_Nt3HZZe2UHYsWRj_8KkWDoAzb_uxdBHG_TT5kXiYqN2rbxfMOLVV1w5RyDlFojBXKGMsHtimYulIhYE3-lvvMOd4/s400/week+30+angle.jpg" width="311" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Definitely gaining enough extra mass in the front that, one of these days, I may just tip over!</td></tr>
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As much as this construction mess and noise is wearing on me (and killing the "point" of my vacation), Justin keeps reminding me that it's good "practice" for the chaos that will ensue once baby girl is here. And he's certainly right in that life will be more chaotic than we ever imagined...I'm just glad that the construction mess is temporary and she'll have a beautifully painted house to come home to and a nursery that's not leaking cold air or lots of street noise!</div>
Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-36830423058131953332013-08-08T19:32:00.001-05:002013-08-08T19:32:23.600-05:00Hello, Third Trimester!The title says it all.<br />
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The third trimester is here!<br />
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Where HAS the time gone?! I felt this way around week 21, but here we are 7 weeks later and that seems like just yesterday. Literally! And to think that we're just about 12 weeks away from our Halloween due date! Eeeeek!<br />
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Considering how quickly time is flying by, I'm just glad we got a head start on a lot of the big things!<br />
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We enrolled in a bunch of childbirth/breastfeeding/baby CPR/daddy boot camp classes at our local hospital--they start in a few weeks and last through most of September. Justin and I seriously need all the help we can get when it comes to this baby thing! Though we know how to stare at a baby and go "ohhhhh, they're so cute!", we have no idea how to actually CARE for a newborn so you know we'll be all eyes and ears! <br />
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On a similar note, Justin's insurance has an "incentive" program that we're also enrolled in...if we attend every-other doctor appointment and call them when the baby's born, we get a $250 gift card! Yup, no joke! It doesn't even require that we attend the classes! Seriously, they have to bribe people to show up to just HALF of their prenatal appointments?! Oh, that's right...I did work in social services and I do know that for various reasons, some people don't take proper care of themselves and their baby...beyond sad. And beyond sad that insurance companies are now bribing people just to show up to only half of their appointments!<br />
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The nursery continues to come together. Several posts ago, I shared my "inspiration" for the nursery...really, it's just a hodgepodge of stuff that has a similar color scheme. VERY eclectic, to say the least!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0WACN0-RXgPdXBtuTdmUq54AITjZ3d00fsm3zHDNV03l2IkgWTrpiLOzt5tMK8UafywFavhjyC3O6_3g9C8Chw2fbx08g8qbZltvlS6BHVvEkKA36RFcr60an1fwhuDiwbX6uLeqEhyphenhyphen5Q/s1600/nursery+inspiration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0WACN0-RXgPdXBtuTdmUq54AITjZ3d00fsm3zHDNV03l2IkgWTrpiLOzt5tMK8UafywFavhjyC3O6_3g9C8Chw2fbx08g8qbZltvlS6BHVvEkKA36RFcr60an1fwhuDiwbX6uLeqEhyphenhyphen5Q/s400/nursery+inspiration.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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And fortunately, we assembled the crib and changing some time ago. At the time, I remember it felt SO premature, but now that squatting for very long is quite uncomfortable, I'm glad we did it when I still had the energy to move and boss Justin around :-) It was also the motivation I needed to change the wall color from K-State purple to a shade of turquoise!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIusxgNUUftN0f-1EzBSUHVCU1cBOV1dXRpM4yWpO7DVDiq2EhKhFwKTk18u6tVLWTzJZQEL1I7ZHnIarCXht6asvsDIMLGJsZbdgyc8MSL7g6Qp4SUlSqDeYtA3UpeY65D74u9kyFhGme/s1600/nursery-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIusxgNUUftN0f-1EzBSUHVCU1cBOV1dXRpM4yWpO7DVDiq2EhKhFwKTk18u6tVLWTzJZQEL1I7ZHnIarCXht6asvsDIMLGJsZbdgyc8MSL7g6Qp4SUlSqDeYtA3UpeY65D74u9kyFhGme/s400/nursery-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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However, if you were to walk into the nursery at any given moment, it would NOT look like the above picture! It's a total disaster zone! We've hung the curtains (but they still need the creases ironed out!), hung up some wall art, found a lamp base for the lamp shade that inspired this whole thing and found a mirror that needs to be hung yet. We've just been waiting for the final two pieces to be dealt with--the hutch and rocking chair. <br />
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The hutch is ready to be picked up this weekend---eeek! I'm super excited to see it! I found it on Craigslist (go figure!) and it dates back to the 1950s. I never knew WHAT kind of wood the hutch was made out of, but according to the guy we hired to refinish it, it's solid oak that was given a "pickle" finish to make it more blonde. The goal is to remove the pickling and return it to it's natural color (with maybe a bit of the white still deep down in the grain)--I have an idea of what the finished product will look like but I'll have to wait until I get off work on Saturday to see how it turned out! Like I told Justin, who knows--if it refinishes as well as I think it might, my crazy, cheap Craigslist find might end up turning into an heirloom piece of furniture for our little family!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2oEbQYuOxeNqxfqFBQB02mh-dxFQwj3hHjqyqatYrJXNqMjZGQvEnvWt0biBbNdb8C0J8rWZ7RW3Ev_2-6m3dLbXhCealuKqhVZ1pFYUSfEdZlAdeStMoibfxf86RqxNrsLgrmJ3Y18Af/s1600/joanie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2oEbQYuOxeNqxfqFBQB02mh-dxFQwj3hHjqyqatYrJXNqMjZGQvEnvWt0biBbNdb8C0J8rWZ7RW3Ev_2-6m3dLbXhCealuKqhVZ1pFYUSfEdZlAdeStMoibfxf86RqxNrsLgrmJ3Y18Af/s400/joanie.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "pickled" hutch--holding all our junk and just waiting to be refinished!</td></tr>
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And here's proof of the nursery's current state! On any given day, it's cluttered with stuff that still needs dealt with--and Mitzi. Mitzi just LOVES the nasty rocker and fortunately for her, both she and I can fit in it together....but I'm not sure how well that's going to work once the baby arrives!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgsdKVt-fFpGz874TpTxzkXliNSep6mUqJcI3ecXgjbUpmZztVQDrZhr4A1F25DaqjdH_rJQAcRVcCPCGtpECZoiAzHKrVARPAh0PWnxAosh-ENgP5Qaf_a9Zvb8opVHIClTmNOdWSKwol/s1600/mitz2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgsdKVt-fFpGz874TpTxzkXliNSep6mUqJcI3ecXgjbUpmZztVQDrZhr4A1F25DaqjdH_rJQAcRVcCPCGtpECZoiAzHKrVARPAh0PWnxAosh-ENgP5Qaf_a9Zvb8opVHIClTmNOdWSKwol/s400/mitz2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just waiting for Mitzi's newest favorite chair to be reupholstered, as well!</td></tr>
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Once the rocker is reupholstered and decor hung on the walls, I think the nursery will be finished! At that point, we can sit back and watch my belly continue to grow!</div>
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When I hit <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">week 26</span></b>, I realized I hadn't taken a new picture so we waited until a play date with my niece so that she could be included in the "documentation."</div>
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Miss Marcella is now 20-months old and boy, is her personality coming alive! If you ask her parents, they will tell you the she and I share the same personality...kinda scary, especially considering how stubborn they say she can be! lol...oh well, at least they know what I'm like and they can start to prepare themselves for a hard-headed daughter!</div>
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Anyhow, for the pictures, I tried to get Marcella to point to where the baby is...and well, it didn't start out so well! She first pointed at her knee and when we said, "No! The baby's not in your knee!" she then started to cheese the most ornery smile and well, never stopped being ornery! We tried everything we could to get her to flash one of her sweet smiles for us...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvarARsquYifv5teCLcsHep9CfCnrXYVrvHwtaTR2Ysmw-0re8mqr9ApZqfiNU3XoNQBwK7PTCYz7N5qZLZLdRZT9_m-5X5oBzmN-eD6JWZBnUrbEGbKJ66z6DnaKXWGeprKEwByiaxAGZ/s1600/1010884_10101149217460961_1240495441_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="337" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvarARsquYifv5teCLcsHep9CfCnrXYVrvHwtaTR2Ysmw-0re8mqr9ApZqfiNU3XoNQBwK7PTCYz7N5qZLZLdRZT9_m-5X5oBzmN-eD6JWZBnUrbEGbKJ66z6DnaKXWGeprKEwByiaxAGZ/s400/1010884_10101149217460961_1240495441_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And finally, the orneriness wore off! She started pointing at my belly and then put her hand on it! Fortunately, Justin was able to capture one of her more serious moments. In years to come, it will be a great picture to look back at and I just hope that I remember to put it in the baby book!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheOhJqCCSG9VUGBchIcAYaioSCEJiFgeimuVLwfgQMV0T90meCRSPLPw-5jhQNwkrdoGIUa3MsNRHXgO3oPK7hyphenhyphen-jpVe38JSTiJ09SRC3Ayy7k6z4r2KwqaCGHCsKf8LfhHzpNKRiJjBuQ/s1600/538967_10101149230090651_380547134_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheOhJqCCSG9VUGBchIcAYaioSCEJiFgeimuVLwfgQMV0T90meCRSPLPw-5jhQNwkrdoGIUa3MsNRHXgO3oPK7hyphenhyphen-jpVe38JSTiJ09SRC3Ayy7k6z4r2KwqaCGHCsKf8LfhHzpNKRiJjBuQ/s400/538967_10101149230090651_380547134_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And now, here we are at <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">week 28</span></b> and the start of the third trimester!!</div>
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This time around, Justin was out of town at a train-the-trainer workshop for Asplundh ...so, if I wanted a picture, it was a cheesy self-portrait or nothing!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPggj2cPQAKa-zkvpB-ONiIROUnVZF853BVr6xsYok4DVIF4HIB9zU7sWngvIfcOzz-zoUvLnNy1720zRcaEOsxv0bdgeLz3T6l5HXudnXHPGyV3xLiRyGltGDPLBAkM547TaaSpwkQEY/s1600/1150982_10101164797703031_1215568603_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPggj2cPQAKa-zkvpB-ONiIROUnVZF853BVr6xsYok4DVIF4HIB9zU7sWngvIfcOzz-zoUvLnNy1720zRcaEOsxv0bdgeLz3T6l5HXudnXHPGyV3xLiRyGltGDPLBAkM547TaaSpwkQEY/s400/1150982_10101164797703031_1215568603_n.jpg" width="382" /></a></div>
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Quite obviously, I'm finally starting to grow and show! People are still surprised to hear how far along I am--one of the gals at my office asked the other day if I was at 4 months and before I could answer, the other one said, "No--she's five months along." No. And No! :-) lol...the one downfall to carrying this baby high and tight is the lack of special "privileges"(cutting lines, being TOLD to back off, etc) from complete strangers, but that will probably come with a bit more growth! Per our bathroom scale, I've gained about a total of 15 pounds...it doesn't really seem like it until I go to get out of bed and holy cow, I move like a beached whale! I love, love, love our Tempurpedic but they're not the best for helping a pregnant woman "boost" herself out of bed!</div>
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Well, folks--I think that's all for now! Until next time...</div>
Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-88451226989281526022013-07-18T20:31:00.001-05:002013-07-18T20:31:53.079-05:00Wek 25 & ExhaustionI'm pretty sure I've hit the proverbial brick wall!<br />
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Work has been crazy busy--which is good and I'm most grateful for all the business...but after living off of nothing but adrenaline for the past several weeks, I'm starting to wear down. I keep telling myself to hang in there. And that before I know it, the 70 hour work weeks will be traded for days home with a baby. Granted, that still won't be easy and the good Lord only knows that I'll be beyond exhausted--but at least the exhaustion will be for a different reason :-)<br />
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In addition to the long work weeks, I'm really starting to notice the heat. Several Sundays ago, I had my first experience with overheating...and it was at 10:00 in the morning...at church! I wasn't sure what I was going to do because after church, I was meeting with a builder in 100+ weather at a house that had just been framed...oh Lord, help me! Fortunately, I made it through that meeting but it still took me about a good 5 hours of sitting in the air conditioning before my body felt like it was a "normal" temperature again. And then it was time to go meet another builder out in the heat! I'm quickly learning to appreciate the days where the high is "only" in the lower 90s and to keep tons of cold water on hand!!!<br />
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I guess the one good thing about being pregnant and exhausted is that it really makes you enforce boundaries and limitations. Last year at this time, I was just going, going, going and I never forced myself to stop. But if everything goes as planned (fingers crossed!!!), I'm headed into the office tomorrow for a few hours and then I'm turning off my phone and setting my email to "vacation" status...it will only last through the rest of the day, but to have a good solid couple of hours off will be HEAVEN!!!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0WpHExjaVcToipgDAkDDcuiDx3Fqsek7-t9kPXXMPYNZDElG3kkB-KxwKtnhDS9sEj1E0DbxKtYDLReyx3ILEBxh5qjl0i9YZnIrPB2ae3f_ZisrcJS2pIKsTcGN8qWHiStFw7Plmz5lK/s1600/week+25+new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0WpHExjaVcToipgDAkDDcuiDx3Fqsek7-t9kPXXMPYNZDElG3kkB-KxwKtnhDS9sEj1E0DbxKtYDLReyx3ILEBxh5qjl0i9YZnIrPB2ae3f_ZisrcJS2pIKsTcGN8qWHiStFw7Plmz5lK/s400/week+25+new.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ahhh---the dark eye circles. So very reminiscent of the first trimester!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmT_Ho0aS1r93X8mbtWeMvgWrPobpc03nZT0M_NQzfU5RV9qP7OevxfQY4F0t0ldfL9lJFc8BuRWCuO9qkyz44mZletUv2zgcaisBlSw93SvArrxfKSX-sBE5aKORGeTnLDoHGJY_Bq3gL/s1600/week+25+sidenew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmT_Ho0aS1r93X8mbtWeMvgWrPobpc03nZT0M_NQzfU5RV9qP7OevxfQY4F0t0ldfL9lJFc8BuRWCuO9qkyz44mZletUv2zgcaisBlSw93SvArrxfKSX-sBE5aKORGeTnLDoHGJY_Bq3gL/s400/week+25+sidenew.jpg" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can't really hide the belly anymore!</td></tr>
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Baby-wise, we had our 6-month check up with the doctor last week. I'm up a total of 10 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight...woo-who! Justin actually lost 5 pounds, so now we're even-steven with our weight gains. Doc says my belly is measuring "perfectly"and from what could be felt while pushing on my stomach, baby girl's hanging out sideways! And like always, she was moving and grooving during the appointment.<br />
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On a related note, Justin's felt her kicks several times now. At first, he thought it was me making my belly move but I don't have that kind of control over my abs anymore ;-) And just the other night, I had my phone on my stomach while laying in bed and all of a sudden, I felt a kick and saw my phone move at the same time--I thought my mind was playing tricks on me, but nope! I will say there have been a few times that the kicks have HURT and now that I know she can make objects outside of my belly move, I guess it's time to accept that her movement will only become more and more visible!<br />
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And on a totally UNrelated note, check out our first bits of produce from our garden! It seemed like the veggies would never grow nor ripen, but they did! Based on all the blossoms and buds on the veggie plants, something tells me we will have peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers out the wazoo!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaidxVNBsz0WrCM5L0Me4gSpPVk36uXHXjZ1NRwp8x5Z5u-YQuPuyHtNfOXaE-1-085AQjnGDa94GoqpX0CBGLduNdn9MmGNbph1Rs8smI3dlK3bzOzboIITCLSjl9wgtkGeVULWL0jik3/s1600/1002486_10101131422172861_137367797_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaidxVNBsz0WrCM5L0Me4gSpPVk36uXHXjZ1NRwp8x5Z5u-YQuPuyHtNfOXaE-1-085AQjnGDa94GoqpX0CBGLduNdn9MmGNbph1Rs8smI3dlK3bzOzboIITCLSjl9wgtkGeVULWL0jik3/s400/1002486_10101131422172861_137367797_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The middle cuke is over 1' long!!!</td></tr>
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Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-86912321915657425322013-07-08T18:57:00.000-05:002013-07-08T18:57:03.187-05:00Week 23.5--Back Pain & Weight GainWell, well, well...I think some pregnancy symptoms are full-blown around our house!<br />
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One of the questions I get all the time is "How have you been feeling?" Nowadays, it's not such a loaded question, but my typical response is, "Pretty good--but I've been having some crazy back pain." And then I'm met with some odd looks...<br />
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But--I thought pregnant women were supposed to have back pain?! I have tried to explain to people that the pain is almost like a pinching pain, in between the lower half of my shoulder blades. When I sit for more than 15 minutes, it's just out of control. Standing isn't near as bad and walking actually makes it feel MUCH better. Again, when I explain all of this, the looks remain odd!<br />
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So, I did what I naturally do when I have an ailment--I go online. For once, my research did NOT say that I was dying from some rare, awful disease...but rather, that my upper back pain is most likely due to being top heavy. When I read that, I couldn't help but chuckle! NEVER in my life have I been top heavy--but thanks to this little girl, my upper body is out of control. I always laugh and say that if I ever face-plant while walking, you'll know why...lol. In fact, the change in my upper body was one of the "symptoms" that first made me wonder if "something wasn't up." When we announced my pregnancy, one of my friends warned me that it would happen because she's built just like me and that's where she gained all of her weight. And sure enough, I'm pretty sure she was right! And just to think...I have yet to develop the more-typical lower back pain! But if anything, I'm sure to keep Victoria's Secret and Tylenol in business for a few more months!<br />
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Speaking of weight gain, true story...<br />
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At my 3-month appointment, I hadn't gained any weight.<br />
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At my 4-month appointment, I had gained two pounds.<br />
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At my 5-month appointment, I was up a total of 5 pounds.<br />
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And Justin was up a total of 15 pounds.<br />
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Amazingly enough, you can't tell that he's even gained a single pound.<br />
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And Mitzi...oh, sweet Mitzi. She was up a total of 1.6 pounds. Not a big deal--unless, you only weigh 8 pounds to begin with!<br />
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I'm still not sure what my most recent "numbers" are--we have our 6-month appointment later this week and as always, I bet I make a trip to the scale! Life is so bizarre--when you're NOT pregnant, you hate getting on the scale for fear of a weight gain. And then when you ARE pregnant, you hate getting on the scale for fear that your weight gain isn't what it should be. For once, can a scale ever be female-friendly?!<br />
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For those curious about the bump progress, here you go! Just a few days shy of 24 weeks..<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJdObVt83aEKwkrij7vcBG1xPtJmHAMO9yCCSfwnp5Nj2H2N8J20LTtLwuP9eY5ZC5_JuWsbD3AwGfRya3Pax5R7Imeu3tR0xYTNj351FzKLm_x69C2hwG32_RjPPiTCtzFHhK6mSxPqVw/s1600/week23-1.5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJdObVt83aEKwkrij7vcBG1xPtJmHAMO9yCCSfwnp5Nj2H2N8J20LTtLwuP9eY5ZC5_JuWsbD3AwGfRya3Pax5R7Imeu3tR0xYTNj351FzKLm_x69C2hwG32_RjPPiTCtzFHhK6mSxPqVw/s400/week23-1.5.jpg" width="233" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My dress may be too big, but when it's 100-degrees out, I don't mind wearing a loose cotton bag :-)</td></tr>
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Hopefully, my next post will have some "after" pictures of our bathroom "renovation." If all goes as planned, new flooring, wall treatment and hardware is scheduled to installed this week! It certainly won't be a dramatic change, but it should help update the space and make it feel a bit less stark. After several years of saying "we need to get it done," it will be nice to actually HAVE it done and be able to enjoy the outcome!</div>
Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-1640314914505029342013-06-27T20:06:00.000-05:002013-06-27T20:06:15.748-05:00Week 22 & My Idiotic MistakesMan, oh, man...<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">week 22</span></b> has been ridiculous!<br />
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The one highlight has been that I've finally "popped." We were at church on Sunday and one of our friends was SUPER excited because she could finally see that I was pregnant! I'm still not showing a whole lot and it usually depends on my shirt of choice, but baby girl is starting to make her presence known. Personally, I blame it on all the food we were served during last week's Leadership Academy for the Kansas Association of Realtors. There's only 13 of us from across the state that were chosen to participate this year--and this time around, only 9 of us could be there. And you just don't put food in front of people without them eating <i>all</i> of it! Well, at least if they're pregnant! Randomly enough, like I said, there's 13 of us in the class. 10 of us are women. By the time we graduate the Academy in October, four of the female Realtors will have given birth during the course of our Academy. I'm still convinced something was slipped in our water back during our first session in January...<br />
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But back to this past week...Aside from starting to pop and noticing eyes on my stomach, I feel like I've done nothing more than correct mistakes all week long.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixdH8UWo4kwt7sXVv3puT8ZlECqANtJUjHGUq5cpeVlkZeScMOIYT4ycFR1Nl2NJSry-UhVJX43Lpm2PiaTSu_8yIwgBanDhyphenhyphenwb0mpxQUuQ_S3JLPvU4VfNPMivrBl5AMm-_zxIjqWhaae/s1600/week22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixdH8UWo4kwt7sXVv3puT8ZlECqANtJUjHGUq5cpeVlkZeScMOIYT4ycFR1Nl2NJSry-UhVJX43Lpm2PiaTSu_8yIwgBanDhyphenhyphenwb0mpxQUuQ_S3JLPvU4VfNPMivrBl5AMm-_zxIjqWhaae/s400/week22.jpg" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can see a little more bulge!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Starting to 'poke' out a bit more!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And if you catch me at just the right angle, you can definitely tell something's going on!</td></tr>
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Idiot Mistake #1: I was out of business cards, so I finally ordered new ones. Within a few days, they arrived at my office and upon opening the box, I realized I ordered the wrong freakin' cards! Since it was TOTALLY my fault, I knew better than to even try negotiating a refund from the company. So, now I patiently await the arrival of new cards while figuring out a use for the 1000 business cards that were printed on awful, awful paper. Maybe they'll become mini to-do lists?!<br />
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Idiot Mistake #2: I managed to forget groceries for the week. We'd made a Sam's run on Friday to stock up on lunch stuff for J-Money...then come breakfast-time on Monday morning, I realized we didn't do our usual Sunday evening grocery run. Upside? We have so much stuff in our freezer that we've been able to pull together some (very) random, but edible, meals!<br />
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Idiot Mistake #3: The icing on the cake came this weekend when I went to paint the baby's room. I had picked up the paint on Friday evening, opened it Saturday morning and threw some on the wall. Right away, something looked off...I grabbed the paint swatch out of the kitchen and sure enough, I had Sherwin Williams mix up the wrong color. Seriously?! And because it was ME who made the mistake and it was a tinted color, I couldn't return the paint. Being the paint-snob that I am, it wasn't cheap stuff, either...Grrrr...Instead of pouting the day away, I put my big girl pants on, ran to the store and came back with the right color in hand, only to be greeted by...<br />
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Idiot Mistake #4: When I came home, I let the dog out of her crate and started putting away the old paint and getting the new paint poured into the tray. Minutes later, I realize that the dog managed to walk across up-turned paint lid (that I left on the drop cloth), tracking blue paw prints across the wood floors and new area rug! Could things become any more ridiculous and preventable?! I was SO ready to take off my big girls pants and finally throw myself a self-inflicted pity party...but if I did that, I'd never get the room done! The rest of the painting continued with several more hiccups, but it was eventually done and here's a sneak peak of the final wall color!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8JOFVjO9cDNX51vvCGIMSX4vMpcWpgJa5KHsjeZuQwKSswlB3_WvRc1WDK9tAxQgQbt6VJ3ujclblDQoEw-SI1zUn-ki_k8fCibgqG538u2uNl6cpngKnLlxn2pkSVmVyoDvvMNi_crys/s1600/nursery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8JOFVjO9cDNX51vvCGIMSX4vMpcWpgJa5KHsjeZuQwKSswlB3_WvRc1WDK9tAxQgQbt6VJ3ujclblDQoEw-SI1zUn-ki_k8fCibgqG538u2uNl6cpngKnLlxn2pkSVmVyoDvvMNi_crys/s400/nursery.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From K-State purple to this! It's not quite as green in person, but more of a turquoise...almost a dead-on match to our living room. Guess I didn't think too far out of the box on this one!</td></tr>
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On a positive note, I do feel like we're making progress with several other projects. <br />
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In a couple of weeks, the work in the bathroom will commence. We're talking new flooring, hanging of beadboard, a new light fixture and if I ever get the stuff ordered, we'll install new decorative towel bars, etc. Needless to say, because I can't even paint a room right now without causing major headaches, we're having one of my contractor buddies tackle the project. Plus, it will be nice to let someone else do the work! The hutch for the baby's room is on a waitlist to be refinished--hopefully, it will be done in the next 5 weeks or so. And our crazy, icky rocker is also on a waitlist to be re-upholstered. That waitlist is several months long, so I'm glad I finally got around to calling the gal before I ended up having to rock the baby to sleep in the icky thing! It's not easy for me to live in a house with unfinished "tasks," but the upside to it all is that once baby girl gets here, everything should be done and looking NICE! Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-72249325811474305532013-06-20T20:43:00.001-05:002013-06-20T20:43:26.024-05:00Week 21 & Planning the Nursery<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Week 21</span></b>. I don't even know what to say. Obviously, I'm over half-way through my pregnancy and I really can't seem to figure out where the time went. Then, I stop and think about having this "condition" since February...February...and then I start to realize maybe it hasn't gone so fast! At least, the first 14 weeks didn't go fast. But with feeling decent the past 7 weeks, time has flown by!<div>
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For the curious, here are some updated pics...</div>
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This is my belly at <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">week 20</span></b>--the next morning, we had our sonogram and learned that we will be welcoming a daughter into this world!</div>
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She (still seems weird referring to the baby as something other than "it") weighed in at around 13 oz and appeared to have longer-than-average legs and bigger-than-normal feet. Didn't surprise any of us in the sonogram room!</div>
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Even though I was still "hiding" the baby, my (internal) growth is right on track. My weight is up a total of 5 lbs since getting pregnant and so far, my doctor doesn't seem concerned...my guess is that the weight will soon be here!</div>
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Speaking of which, here are my <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">week 21</span></b> pics. Baby's definitely been eating well enough to hit a growth spurt! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXvBQvH0laZ8rcG5SG5w9oK1nrwj3ZfcFC4MISwLysKX25MtdC2tGZFW46r5zE43leZWr_lWRqgtZVnAd6Bq2KGrIPEgxhN6blfsIltp9MGjRLmyUCfTpWWLPRZmHd2JKmZpQIL2R_ZRq8/s1600/week21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXvBQvH0laZ8rcG5SG5w9oK1nrwj3ZfcFC4MISwLysKX25MtdC2tGZFW46r5zE43leZWr_lWRqgtZVnAd6Bq2KGrIPEgxhN6blfsIltp9MGjRLmyUCfTpWWLPRZmHd2JKmZpQIL2R_ZRq8/s400/week21.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwDcm4_eLcutbxsdLpcH7gbrkijnZZQpcE7c5HmPR0Wc8gFhicLhOFKEcGOlMPSDrqKHX6cAf2sHNZVbDJF1Mvhakz1cCn5gH-UvwwSa9D9nA8luSOQQFGA7CcUKijNTmtfRM5yRETI0y/s1600/week21side.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwDcm4_eLcutbxsdLpcH7gbrkijnZZQpcE7c5HmPR0Wc8gFhicLhOFKEcGOlMPSDrqKHX6cAf2sHNZVbDJF1Mvhakz1cCn5gH-UvwwSa9D9nA8luSOQQFGA7CcUKijNTmtfRM5yRETI0y/s400/week21side.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Now for the fun part...planning the nursery!</div>
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Once we learned we're having a girl, my creative juices kicked in gear and I started finding pieces to work with. Everyone asks, "What color are you painting the nursery?" Well, folks, I hate to disappoint ya but it won't be pink. Nor will it be purple. We're painting it blue :-) Yes, our daughter will come home to a blue bedroom! But that's what happens when your mom is far from a traditionalist and your father listens to Jay-Z on his record player...you will never have a chance to live a "normal" life!</div>
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So, what do I have in mind? Here's a little sneak-peak of what I've found for the nursery. Definitely not the most typical baby decor, but what did ya expect?! I had to laugh when J-Money asked why I bought a clock for the nursery--as he pointed out, the baby won't be able to tell time. And while he's right, this mama can't stand to be in a room without a clock, so a time-teller automatically became a necessity!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPv4DfLHjQjiSHMr6Wi4g0E2e7NFXErsh52pu1p4IsW6PLaR-3UNO5MCSvc-a3iOd-FwWfTWWABusuStzFfjzn0bbLbwe9wqb7q6w7oCwHHJgZ9XXvzBCOS2uE1v4TXxGpq2ih5-oZmH90/s1600/nursery+inspiration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPv4DfLHjQjiSHMr6Wi4g0E2e7NFXErsh52pu1p4IsW6PLaR-3UNO5MCSvc-a3iOd-FwWfTWWABusuStzFfjzn0bbLbwe9wqb7q6w7oCwHHJgZ9XXvzBCOS2uE1v4TXxGpq2ih5-oZmH90/s400/nursery+inspiration.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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Slowly but surely, things will start to come together. The wall color has been determined (after going through various shades of hideousness); I picked out the color for the hutch and need to get it up to my paint lady; and now that we have the rug rolled out, I can start looking at upholstery for the rocker. Ever since we cleared out the guest bedroom and started moving in baby furniture, Mitzi stopped showing any interest in the room. However, once we unrolled the new rug for the room, she laid down and made herself a spot...and then, eventually jumped up into the nasty rocker for a brief nap. Seems our household is finally starting to adjust to the thought of bringing home baby!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVHj-j-wtRzNzo6TgH5sFBW96Pnw1AARsxxJ_T0pbVBqy7s0UApXZaLGvGwZ4EHzws87N6DN7OVdnqVhlOxdsRMnQu-MvrWpagfxTrQRBO3bvF-6Yy2bsQfebmwenU6aefRo9kW6tX4a_B/s1600/mitz+in+nurs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVHj-j-wtRzNzo6TgH5sFBW96Pnw1AARsxxJ_T0pbVBqy7s0UApXZaLGvGwZ4EHzws87N6DN7OVdnqVhlOxdsRMnQu-MvrWpagfxTrQRBO3bvF-6Yy2bsQfebmwenU6aefRo9kW6tX4a_B/s320/mitz+in+nurs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6036073839508730963.post-85335083595116484852013-06-16T20:03:00.001-05:002013-06-23T09:16:06.287-05:00Sonogram Says...It's a Girl!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
On Friday, we went in for our very first--and only--sonogram!</div>
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I was surprised how well I slept Thursday night--I was convinced that I wouldn't sleep a wink!</div>
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Even though I woke up bright eyed and perky tailed (ha!), I still thought it was wise to drink a cup of coffee and sip on some orange juice before we headed to our appointment...</div>
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And I'm glad I did!</div>
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The baby was moving around like crazy and within moments of pressing the wand on my stomach, the gender was revealed--we're having a <span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;"><strong>GIRL</strong></span>!</div>
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As soon as the words, "It's a girl" came out, Justin's head fell into his hands. At first, I thought he was disappointed and when I took a closer look at him, he was not only holding his head but he was also shaking his head. What was that about?! </div>
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All we truly wanted to hear during the sonogram was that everything looked okay and was developing as it should be...for us, the gender reveal was secondary. Praise be to God that all the organs are working just like they should be and they kept saying, "It looks like the baby is healthy." Last time anything was "checked" was 2 months ago and they just ran blood tests. We had been on pins and needles waiting to hear about the baby's development...and we finally heard what we were hoping to hear!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>Our Little Alien Baby...</strong><br />
<strong>20 weeks</strong><br />
<strong>13 oz.</strong><br />
<strong>Longer than avg. legs</strong><br />
<strong>Bigger than avg. feet</strong><br />
<strong>Still due on Halloween!</strong></td></tr>
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But back to Justin...</div>
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Once we left the appointment, I asked him how he felt about having a daughter. And he started doing his little whimpering thing where he struggles to get words out (NOT what you expect out of a giant man, but it is what it is). Lo and behold, he was freaked out. His exact words were, "I'm going to have to protect her and someday, I won't be there to do that. I thought maybe we would have a son first so that he could look after his sister when I'm gone." Ahhhhh.....And then he started in on how much work it would be to raise a girl (not that I needed the reminder!)...so, to lighten the mood, I kindly reminded him that it would be okay and the best part was that he gets to live with TWO of me :-) lol...I'm pretty sure that made him want to run for the hills!</div>
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But here we are, on Father's Day, and just one day away from Justin's birthday. He now knows that in about 4 months, he'll be welcoming a daughter into the world and from now on, he'll be celebrating her birthday and doing things together on future Father's Days. When I really stop to think about it, I can see how things became so real, so quickly for him!</div>
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And in just about 4 months, we'll get to see our baby girl again. During the sonogram, they asked if we wanted to do a 3-D sonogram at a later date--we smiled and politely said, "No." One, we're cheap--I can think of other productive ways to spend that kind of money! Two, it will be such a surprise to see what she really looks like...or if she still looks like an alien! And finally, we will have all the time in the world to look at her--that's something that an expensive sonogram will never beat!</div>
Taddy-Long-Legs & J-Moneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755465597673377332noreply@blogger.com0