Crown, more cleaning/organizing

Well, I finally feel almost back to normal from my cold/flu/whatever I had. :P So, in between cleaning and organizing, I've been watching the Cosby Show on Youtube. haha I never knew how much I liked that show! Especially, for those of you who are girls, the one where the men are pregnant. lol I had Jared watch it with me b/c I couldn't stop laughing. Let's just say I thought it was a little more funny than he did. :P But, I think most girls would enjoy it, and most husbands who's wives are or have been pregnant. It's called "the Day the Spores landed."

Anyway, here's a mini tour of our house and things we have done/gotten for it.

This is an antique upright grand piano that was given to us by very good friends, the Wellings. We decided to add some decorations, so on top is a "Family" sign that was given to us for Christmas from Jared's sister Melinda. To the left is a cute pocketwatch clock Jared got for Christmas, and to the right is a really cool old book of how the Hymns came to be. Then, sitting where a book should is some pictures from when we were dating/engaged. So, there's our cute little antique area. :P

This is the bottom half of a dresser we got for free!! One morning I decided to look on Craigslist and there was a dresser for free. I though, "I can't pick it up, and it's probably too far away". But, I decided to look it up anyway and the person lived about 2 blocks away!! They put the dresser outside and said they wanted someone to come take it but not to knock on the door. So, I drove over to see if it was still there, and it was! The top part is really pretty with a mirror, which I'll show later. The dresser is pretty old and scratched, but after cleaning this part up and tightening screws, it looks pretty good! I still need to work on the top part. Anyway, so my really awesome visiting teacher came to help me load it and even brought her truck to load it in. She was very sweet! Jared was surprised when he came home and I told him that she and I lifted it. haha.

This is our entertainment center, that I showed you when it was empty. We've found some things to put in it, including that TV that my friend Laurice and her roommie Mary gave us! It fits perfectly! The baby high chair is so cute, and my parents gave it to us. :P I can't wait for our little girl to sit in it!

This is the top half of our bookcase that I got at that auction for 10 dollars! We temporarily moved the couch in front of it, but I decided to take a picture anyway. The top two shelves were empty, so I decided to put some signs and pics of us. My sister Aimee and her husband Josh made the two signs in the middle. They are both very pretty! the top one says our names and our wedding date.

Well, there's the end of the mini tour for now. Last week, I went to the dentist b/c I've felt like I had a cavity for about 6 months now. I didn't go to the dentist b/c we didn't have good insurance until December, and then we were moving...anyway, I didn't have any cavities! It's been over 2 years since I've been, so I was relieved to hear this. However, I do have a cracked tooth and they put a crown on it on Tuesday. Not very fun, and the numbness took 5 hours (I'm not exaggerating) to wear off. I was happy to be able to eat, b/c my tongue was so numb that it was hard to swallow.

I still haven't been able to start substitute teaching b/c of all these hoops I have to jump through. But, hopefully I'll be able to start here before the baby comes.

Speaking of the baby, I'm 30 weeks tomorrow! About 10 more to go! I had a doctor's appointment today, and everything's great! She's so active, and she kicked the doctor again. :P However, I am getting a little nervous for the labor part of this. So, if anybody has any advice or knows anything, I would be happy to hear/talk! Here's some pics of me now, at 29 weeks 6 days.

Yup, I am taking them in the bathroom. :P Sorry, it's the only place we have a mirror.

Tonight we have a ward dinner party, which I'm excited about. Yummy food, date with my hubby, and getting to know people in the ward. :) Yay for weekends!

Everything update

We've moved in finally! We moved in last Saturday, so we've been in our new house for a little over a week. I got sick but after 10 days, I'm finally feeling lots better. So, working on cleaning and unpacking has been a bit slower than I expected, but it's coming along. We just barely got the internet today.

I had my first doctor's appointment with my new OB, and things are going great. Everything's right on track, and so far I haven't heard anything about the glucose test. Hopefully no news is good news! I can't believe our baby will be here in less than 12 weeks! I am 28 weeks and 3 days, and getting bigger and bigger! People tell me I'm not big enough to be this far along, but I feel like I am! I just filled-out the paperwork that I have to submit to the hospital before delivery! Crazy! It's all becoming more real and I now have a doctor's appointment every 2 weeks!

I gave my first two lessons in Beehives these past 2 weeks, and they went pretty good! Jared and I have a talk in church this Sunday! Things have been super busy!

My super sweet hubby brought me beautiful red roses yesterday for Valentines day! Hopefully everybody else had a great V-day too! Well, that's it for now, but I plan on having pics sometime soon.

Stress Kinda??

Let me start off by saying we have so much to be grateful for. What I'm about to complain about does not change the fact that I am very grateful for my life and what is happening. However, the past few weeks have been more than a little stressful.

So, I already wrote that Jared has a busy life. Work, school, homework, and now a scout leader. Well, I just got a calling to be the new beehive adviser! I'm excited and a little scared. The girls all seem very nice though. Well, luckily Jared's boys meet on the same night, so we have a little 5 minute car ride date on Wednesdays now. :P

Okay. Now for the house... So, we had to rip the floor out of one of the bathrooms and repair it b/c it had some problems. The guy we had do this was GREAT!! The pictures don't even do it justice!So, that was not one of the major stresses. I shopped with my mother-in-law to find the cheapest tile that we could find, that was the good quality needed for a bathroom. We found a great deal at Home Depot-98 cents per square foot of porcelain tile. This was amazing, since the next cheapest was 1.59 per sq. ft. Anyway, so we felt pretty good about that and we got a washer and dryer combo on craigslist for 125. Then began the stress. We had to rip out some cabinets that had issues that might not have been safe to be around, especially with a baby. Well, the cabinet guy took an extra day, we spent a long time driving around and finding materials for him, and then he changed the price he was charging. When I went to pay him, I asked about the original price he quoted. He stated that he thought that's what he charged, but then he talked to his boss who gets paid more, so he charged more. LAME!! Well, I was in total shock and didn't know what to do. I can think of a few things now! Anyway, so we ended up spending more on that job than we should have.

Next, came the plumbing. We had some leaks, and thought this would be an easy couple-hour project. Well, the plumber came on Wednesday and said that not only do the pipes need replaced on two of the bathroom sinks and the kitchen sink, but also the faucets. He said they were all corroded and would leak if not replaced. ahhh! Then, he checked the toilets and those need to be re-piped. Then, the laundry room faucet needed to be replaced. This faucet, however, was saudered down about 8 in. below the opening, so they had to cut a hole in the wall. *Sigh* So, the one-day job has become 3 and I'm really scared to see the bill tomorrow!

Think that's it? Nope! Last week my parents-in-law went around and kindly replaced most of our light bulbs for us, b/c many were burnt out. Then, on Saturday we went to the house and two rooms of lights did not work! many of those had just been replaced. We couldn't figure out what had happened. They checked the breakers and didn't figure it out. Then, my father-in-law tried replacing a few of the already replaced light bulbs. They worked! So, after 11 light bulbs burnt out at once, we realized there is an electrical problem too. So, I need to find an electrician to come take a look. *another sigh*

Then, we went to put our oven in, and the plug doesn't fit in the socket! So, one more question to ask the electrician when he comes. I was at the house from 7am-11 yesterday, and 7:20am-11:40 today! I'm so tired! Plus, it's freezing! So, our house was 50 degrees today and I was trying to clean cabinets with freezing wet hands! I am proud to say, however, that our kitchen cabinets are clean and polished on the outside, and almost clean on the inside. (I still have more work to do). They were pretty dirty inside and out, and the handles were gross. So, I unscrewed all the handles and washed those, and I've been working on the cabinets. I don't want to start putting food in dirty cabinets that haven't been clean in who knows when! My mother-in-law helped me with the cleaning supplies-thank you! And, the wood stain. Otherwise, they would not look like they do now!

On Saturday, we had someone come to look at our garage door, b/c we wanted a door opener. Well, we found out that a door opener won't work, so we need a new motherboard or receiver. Both are expensive, and the door opener itself was expensive. Also, we need a new spring b/c it's about to fall apart and can ruin the whole door if it breaks. And, the rollers need replaced or the door can come off the rollers. We are waiting on this and will just try to use the garage door as little as possible until we are through with so many expenses.

I've had a to-do list of things to do at our house everyday this week, but the cabinets are taking longer than I thought. Plus, it's really hard when there's no plumbing and I have to go to the bathroom. (You have to go a lot more when you're pregnant!) So, embarrassingly enough, I've knocked on two different neighbors to use their restroom, and also driven to the grocery store. :P

Anyway, enough venting. We have been very blessed with the help our families have given us, and we're still blessed with this house, even though it is a lot of work and money we hadn't counted on.

I'm hoping to start substitute teaching soon-I finally got my application sent in the mail for my license.

We're moving the rest of our stuff on Saturday and officially living in our house! (hopefully we'll have plumbing and electricity!)

I have my first doctor's appointment with my new doctor next week, and I'm excited! It's been 2 months since my last appointment, because I couldn't get in to the new one sooner. Hopefully all is still going well with our little baby.

Well, that's that and hopefully the next post will have more pictures and will be more upbeat. :P

belly, house

I'm so excited for the progress on our house! We will be moving in next weekend, and I still have lots of work to do before then. But, the bathroom will probably be finished today, and it looks amazing so far! And, our cabinets should be done today too. They look good, but it's only the inside that was replaced so it won't look very different. haha the guest bathroom is the one that had all the problems, and now it is the nicest bathroom in the house! I think we'll use that one and have our kids use the master bathroom. :P

I went to an auction yesterday with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. It was fun, and my first time being to one of those! I was surprised at how fast the guy talked! Well, I got a 6ft. wood bookshelf for $10! I was excited! I don't know where we'll put it yet, but I'm sure it will come in handy.

Here's yet another belly picture. Sorry you have to see so many, but I like to see how fast my belly is growing, and the baby! I'm 25 weeks and 5 days in this pic, and our baby girl is about 14 inches and 2 lbs. :) She grows up so fast. :P

I'm excited for this weekend! I get to see and spend some time with my hubby! Luckily, I have really amazing visiting teachers already! They visited me this week and one of them lives around the corner from me! Her hubby is gone often for work too, so we will be buddies! And, she has a cute little 1-year-old girl!

House of mess, new callings

Our house is coming along, but parts are very torn up.

This is part of our kitchen cabinet. We had to tear it out and repair some stuff.

This is what used to be our bathroom wall. It is now torn-out, but I'm sure it's gonna look so good when it's done!

These past few days have been insane! On Monday, I spent it looking for tile with my mother-in-law, and also getting a washer and dryer for a great deal! Then, on Tuesday, we left at 8:15 to get tile, got to our house at 9 to meet and let the workers in, and then he told us that we could save money by just replacing our bathroom cabinets. (We were having him fix some damage) So, we spent from then until 3:00 driving EVERYWHERE, and looking for a cabinet. We finally found a great one at the Habitat for Humanity Restore, for $72! This is a great deal, b/c it would've been over 300 for this at Home Depot.

Today, I waited for 2 hours at the house, b/c the workers were late. Then I went back to give one of them something they needed. It's just been a crazy week and I'm excited for our ho

I don't see much of Jared because he has school on Tues/Thurs from 7-9:30pm, and he gets home from work at 5. But, he is now trying to study with the few hours he has in between, and help with some manual labor at the house. Plus, he got a new calling! He's the new Webelo leader. So, he has meetings on Wednesday nights. Thus, with barely any free time and 8 credits, my day to see my hubby is Sunday. :( At least I get one day with him.

Our baby girl is very fun and active! She moves all over, and has found my right ribs. I'm still lucky though, because she hasn't kicked hard enough to hurt me. She does kick pretty hard though, and it's fun to feel from the inside and out, and also to see it bulging on my stomach. 14 more weeks until we get to see her!

We really like our new ward and have been going to it for 2 weeks now. Jared already has a calling, I will have one next week, and my visiting teachers are coming tonight! They are very on-top-of-things! Everybody seems so nice, and there are a lot of teachers! So, hopefully I'll get to substitute quite a bit before the baby comes.

Well, that's our lives right now. House work, shopping for house stuff, school, work, and callings.

House update and more...

Well, we're not in our house yet. Hopefully, we'll be able to get stuff fixed so we can move in next week. Our parents have helped us a lot with trying to get things finished, but it's still taking longer than we hoped.

Like I said in the last post, Jared started school this week. It seems good so far, and hopefully it won't be too much work because he works 9-10 hours a day.

Our baby keeps growing and it's so fun to feel her getting stronger. I finally started getting back into exercising. yay! I went with my mother-in-law on Tuesday morning to do her normal workout. It was a great workout, but I tried to be careful...apparently not careful enough, because I was really sore. So, I skipped two days and went again today. It was fun! Hopefully I can work up to 3-4 times a week and get into shape again. :P

Moving...kinda

So, we moved, but not into our house yet. We closed on our house, but we still need to make some repairs before we move in. So, we are living with the Morris', Jared's parents, until we can fix our house. We're super excited to tove in!

On another note, Jared starts school tomorrow. He's taking some pre-requisite classes before he starts his masters program.

And, here's two more belly pictures. My belly has definitely popped, and our baby girl is so fun to play with as she kicks me. I can actually see her kicking my stomach! I am now 24 weeks and 2 days. I love poking where she kicks and having her kick back! I can't wait to see her! less than 16 weeks left!