1 week down, 5+ to go

First weekend of construction wrapped up and left us with lots of little projects.

Support beam was added to the garage ceiling, bearing posts were added to garage walls, trusses were removed and new joists added. After the crew left Friday Scott had to relocate our satellite dishes, remove an AC vent, move the light/fan in the powder room, plug the holes in the wall between the garage and the living room (see second picture), and rewire the speakers to the patio, garage, and living room surround.

Me - I got to clean up piles of drywall dust & insulation, while trying to ignore the many holes in my living room walls. Fun times!








I thought we needed an official "before" snapshot, for comparison later. I still need to take one of the front.



The weather was (temporarily) warmer Friday, and Evyn played in what was left of the snow while I did some garden cleanup.


After all that work it was - pizza night! Evyn does the sauce & the cheese (while taste testing along the way).

a look back

I had a good time digging out old photos to post on my Facebook profile, here are a few:


my parents, 1968 or 1969

Scott on the right in both strips - mid 70's


Stephanie, Lori, Jule Kellie & Jana early 80's


Julie, shooting rifle at Camp Snoopy with her grandfather, early 80's





we were so young :) late 90's


wedding day 2/13/2001 Botanical Gardens, Nassau, NPI





My old pregnancy journal, from when I was carrying Evyn, is now back online. I can't say it's the most exciting read, but I did promise I would post the link when it became available. So, here it is - link to pregnancy journal, original due date 4/15/04.

Here is what we were up to, when I was 32 weeks pregnant with Evyn (I'm 32.5 weeks now) - funny to note my writing was even more fragmented than it is now:

32 Weeks -- 2/21/2004

Notes: Yikes! Only 8 weeks to go! We have been very busy the last couple of weeks. Scott is working a lot, and he suddenly has a bunch of side jobs to do. We're glad that business is good, but it's sure taking away from all the things that need done around here.

I have been working 4 days a week, due to holidays and maintenance days. I go back to 5 days this week. I will soon be cutting back my hours, though, because I am beginning to have a difficult time getting thru a whole 8 1/2 hour shift. By the end of the day my legs and feet are swollen, and my back hurts.

On February 7th the Martin's went to Mazzi to celebrate Chris' 40th birthday. That was a lot of fun, though I had to come home early so I could be at work at 4 a.m. the next morning.

On February 12th I had my first haircut in over a year! (Unless you count the hack job I did in December, when I cut off 7 inches!) But I resisted the temptation to go short.

Scott & I were in Centre Country Friday February 13th-Sunday the 15th, working on the tile in the cabin. It went quicker than I was expecting and everything is really starting to look good. We stayed at an Econolodge about a half hour away. We had dinner on Friday night (our 3rd anniversary!) at a place called Elizabeth's Bistro, near Bucknell. The food was great and we had a lot of fun walking around the town.
On Saturday we dined with Mom & Guy at the Towne Tavern, just down the street from Elizabeth's. On Sunday we worked 'til about noon, had lunch, and were home before dinner time.

Wednesday February 18th was our first scheduled childbirth class. Neither of us wanted to go! We did, although the teacher forgot to show up, so the class was canceled. We'll try it again this week!

I went through another growth spurt between the 15th and the 19th! My belly aches now from being so large. It doesn't feel like it can stretch any more. I had a checkup yesterday and finally learned that my 3 hour glucose test came back normal. My blood pressure was 100/60, and I gained another 3 pounds, for a total of +15.

Baby should be a little over 4 pounds, and 18 inches long. S/he has been more active than ever the last few days, putting on quite a show between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. most nights. The poor baby is still having hiccups 2 or 3 times a day, every day! And they usually last for 10-15 minutes. I haven't noticed that anything in particular is triggering them (sometimes things that the mother eats can cause baby's hiccups).

We got the walls in baby's room patched, sanded & primed this week. Scott built some shelves in the closet, and I picked out our paint and carpet. I don't know yet how long it will take to get the carpet, but the painting should definitely be done this week.

We picked up the cabinets for baby's bathroom yesterday, but we can't install them until our tile order is in. I'm still hoping I'll get to take a bubble bath in my new tub before the baby is born!

* * Snow * *

Monday night Evyn had a blast rolling around in the snow, eating snow, making snow angels, shoveling snow, and sledding through the snowy yard.

It was a damp evening - the pictures aren't overexposed, that's a thick icy fog!










Evyn's sibling class was canceled, hopefully they will reschedule soon, Evyn was really looking forward to it.

Pregnancy update, I'm 32 weeks and still at +11.5 pounds. Back pain has gotten a little better, but reflux is worse (it keeps happening in my sleep, waking me up - yuck!). Baby's been less active the last few days, as s/he is running out of room to move around.

Construction update, builders came by for a few hours today, mostly for a strategy session. They'll be here bright & early Wednesday morning, and the real work will begin! Looks like no more sleeping in for Evyn & me....

the good, the bad, and the weather

weather report: It is snowing again! There have been flurries off & on for the last few days. Tonight we can expect about an inch of accumulation. Never thought I'd be excited about such a small amount of snow, but ANY snow makes Evyn so happy, I can't resist.

the bad: Cold temperatures over the weekend did this:


Cracked our bathroom window! Apparently, warm moist air inside + zero degrees outside built up pressure between the panes. Now we have the headache of trying to find a replacement sash - if we can't, we'll have to tear out the entire window and install a new one. Just what we wanted to do in the middle of winter.

the good: Our builder called today. He's picking up our permits tomorrow morning, and electricians will be here in the afternoon to get started. FINALLY. Whew!



One more tidbit - tonight is Evyn's sibling class at the hospital. Should be fun!