Phase 2 - Part 2

We have been in our house two years this month. When we bought our house it needed a face lift. Or at least a little make-up.

PHASE 1 - The Interior
We repainted the whole inside. (And when I say we, I mean the nice guys from our church.) New paint on every wall, every door, every cupboard, and every vent. New carpet upstairs and new tile in the downstairs. It was a whole new house.

PHASE 2 - The Exterior
But now that the inside is mostly done, it was time to move to the exterior. I really want to be able to entertain outdoors and it really hasn't been an option. When we moved in, the back yard was a hodgepodge of plants; fig trees, plum trees, palm trees, a random tiki hut, and even some cactus. It was all quite bizarre. We pulled most of it out. I don't like bees, and the only thing Kevin hates more is spiders, so anything that bloomed had to go. Then we got dogs . . .

We love our boys, but they destroyed the back yard. They dug holes, chewed up sprinklers, and ate threw the fence. (In their defense, the fence was pretty rotted.)

The first part was to put up our patio cover. I'm not sure I wrote about it before, but about 6 months (maybe a year ago), we (again, not actually us doing the labor) put up a patio cover. The main reason for the cover was to block the morning sun that heats up the family room and kitchen. After fighting with the HOA for a month, we finally got the cover up and were very pleased with the results. It's cooler, and we enjoy the fans we had installed as well. The boys have chewed on the plastic drain pipe, but the alumi-wood cover seems to be fine.

This last week we started part 2; the block wall. We only did the wall on one side, and will eventually put a dog run along side it. Lets see the boys chew through that!

Stoney Masonry did the work, and so far, we are very pleased.

Here are the materials I came home to find in my drive way last Monday.

And the view of the back yard after the fence was down. Anything green belongs to my neighbor.
And the almost finished wall. We are waiting on the final inspection before they wrap it all up.

My goal, or at least the one I keep telling Kevin, is just grass before Baby comes. I just want to be able to let the boys back in the yard to pee!

Fat and Happy

Pregnant women are frequently asked "How are you feeling?" It doesn't bother me. It's polite. I did it, too. But my common response lately is simply "Fat and happy." Both are true. I'm gaining weight . . . at quite a rapid pace. I make excuses; I'm hungry all the time, my back hurts and I want to put my feet up after work, I don't sleep well so I don't get up early, I sit at a desk all day so I'm not active. But the truth is, I don't really care. Sure I would love to be like my friend who gained little, had a healthy baby, and was back to her regular clothes in 5 days, but truthfully, I don't want to work that hard. I like being pregnant. I like eating. And whatever, most pregnant women gain weight. I may regret it after Baby comes and I have to stay in maternity clothes for longer than I wanted. I'm already kinda wishing I had slowed down only because my work clothes are pretty snug. But oh well. Mostly content. Loving feeling Baby move around. Watching my belly grow and move of its own accord. Fatter than 6 months ago and very happy.

Here is belly at 24 weeks. Belly button is out and spreading.

Baby Shower

Last month we got to help Rachel prepare for Baby #2 with a little shower. I would post pictures and tell you all about it, but Rachel has already wrote about it on her blog. And she is such a better blogger than I. Not only is she a great blogger, she knows how to throw a party. Even though the theme of this shower was my idea (stolen from blog stalking), Rachel's small details made it all come together. Head on over the Rachel's blog to see the pictures from our little tractor party.

Why I Love My Husband - Reason #256

Friends of ours are getting married, and they don't have a lot. It isn't their first marriage, but it is their first as Christians, and they are trying to do it the right way. They don't have a ton of money, and they are doing most of it themselves. Kevin offered to help. He offered to help with whatever was needed on Friday night, and again with what was needed on Saturday for the wedding. Tonight we went out to pick up some items for the weekend and ended up spending more than I had anticipated. I felt like we were doing a lot for one wedding; especially when we have been to so many showers, birthday parties, and weddings already this year and we are only getting started on the summer season. But truly, the amount we spent wasn't crazy. And even if our friends don't think twice about what was done (which is not like them at all), it was important to Kevin. Kevin is generous (and sometimes a sucker for fund raisers). He likes to do things for others. I am so glad he balances us out. I would be a complete Scrooge without him.

Kevin truly understands the concept of what has been given to us is not our own. He never puts our family in financial danger and he takes care of us. We have never gone without. Kevin understands that all we have belongs to God, and it pleases Him when we share and take care of His children. For whatever reason, I am always the last to remember this concept. I am brought to my knees with guilt and once again, apologize to my Lord and my husband for my behavior. God knew I needed Kevin even before I did. He gave Kevin the gift of giving (is that a gift?) and gave him to me for He knew I would need him.

Thank you Lord, for continuing to shape me into the child you want me to be. Thank you for continuing to give to me so I can learn to give and share with others. Thank you for bringing me an example in my husband; I am so grateful and blessed.

Making Room

When we first bought our house our friend Lee was helping us redo the inside and asked what we were going to do with all of the space we just bought. After we moved all of our stuff in the question changed to "How did you fit all this in a two bedroom apartment?" And it's true, I am a pretty good space "utilizer." I actually keep/save a lot of random things even if my husband thinks I though everything away. He should be glad he didn't marry my best friend - she gets rid of everything; except wrapping paper . . . I quickly filled the closets and cabinets of of four-bedroom home.

As we prepare for a new roommate, I have begun condensing and minimizing the "twin room." For lack of of a a real name, we began calling each room by the size of the bed in the room. Even now I am trying to call the room the nursery or Baby's room, but end up calling it the "twin room."

Under the twin bed I found a tub (another post to come soon about tubs) with old clothes of Kevin's and mine. Kevin has a pair of snow pants and probably 3 pairs of thick snow gloves. The odd thing about the snow gear is that I think Kevin has only been to the snow three times. This means he bought a pair of gloves each time. At the bottom of the tub were my old Calvin Klein overalls! Quite popular in the late 90s. And yes, I wore them in college, probably long after I should have. But they were comfortable and I wasn't the only one who had them. But why I saved them, I can't really say. Maybe I was thinking I would wear them while I was pregnant. Or maybe I thought I would need a farmer costume. Who knows?! When I saw them I had to put them back on. I was home alone and very entertained.
Still, as ugly as they are, I find myself putting them in the Goodwill box, and then pulling them out again. Why can't I get rid of them? Why would I ever need them again? With all that, I decided that I don't need the space in the tub and the tub remains, so back inside they went. Who knows, maybe my kids will play dress up and make fun of the 90's just like we did with the 60's and 70's. Who remembers Centrifuge when we had a 70's night??