Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Our Project in Pictures

You remember the before, right?





Are you ready for the after...........................










And here are all the in betweens (please excuse that some of these are low-quality cell phone pics)!

























Oh, and here's what the rest of the house looked like during construction:



We still have a punch list of things that need to be done, but we were thrilled that the project was at least to the point where we could move back in this past weekend. And, can I say, I LOVE my new kitchen!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't be happier with the work that Lichty Brothers Homes has done for us! Daniel Lichty has proven himself to be a true perfectionist — not to mention a man of his word. You worry when you hear a contractor guarantee anything, but I've got to hand it to him, he's followed through with his promise to have our kitchen finished before my Oct. 27th shower, despite a few hiccups in the project along the way (as expected with an older home).

Here is the list of our vendors for you local folks who need recommendations: Kitchens for Your Family (cabinets), Amazon Stone (granite), Colors R Us (painters), Dalton West (backsplash), our lighting and microwave came from Home Depot, our drawer pulls came from hardwareresources.com, and I'm not sure who did our floor, but he did an amazing job. If anyone needs hardwoods, get in touch with me and I'll get the dude's name. Hope I'm not leaving anyone out!!

Now, it's time for me to finish nesting and get ready to welcome my firstborn!!!


Friday, October 12, 2012

Happy (almost) 2nd anniversary!

My love,





I will spend the rest of my life trying to deserve your unconditional love.

This anniversary is so special for us. My heart is so full of love that sometimes it feels overwhelming — and obviously that love is now multiplying for our sweet Nora!

You understand what it means to love me the way Christ loves the church. I thank God for you every day and I will treasure every day we are given together on this earth.

You've given me my heart's desire — love, a wonderful home and now a daughter. Thanks for doing life with me and being my family. I can't wait to see you in your new role as a father.

Here's hoping we have the opportunity to grow old together and see where this love takes us!


Love,

Wifey

Monday, October 1, 2012

33 weeks

I feel like I should preface this blogpost by saying that I'm still very excited about Nora and the upcoming birth of my firstborn daughter. I'm a writer, so when I strive to document details in an honest way, sometimes they're not pretty. :-)

On Tuesday, I am 33 weeks pregnant, presumably with around 7 to go.

This baby weighs over 4 pounds now — and I feel every bit of that on my sciatic nerve and bladder. I'm starting to develop a noticeable waddle. My husband has to lift me out of chairs. I have to make sure while I'm eating 24 hours a day that I'm completely upright — otherwise my uterus falls onto my stomach and makes me nauseous.

Nora is still more active than I think any other baby has ever been in utero. When I describe her jabs as sometimes painful (and always constant), I mean they can be PAINFUL. Like take out your liver and ribs painful. Jonathan finally believes me, he's seen her in action.

I don't sleep the best, especially in the early morning hours. I'm wondering now when to make the transition to sleeping upright in a chair (at which time I'll probably also make the transition to Depends).

Oxygen is about as hard to come by as sleep these days. Nora's pressing on my lungs and I walk around sounding like I'm having a perpetual asthma attack. When she drops, I hear that will help alleviate the pressure on my lungs some, but then there's the bladder issue again...

Labor occupies the majority of my thoughts now. There are so many decisions — and, yet, ironically, there's so little control over the birth process. We have a birth class all day Saturday, so I'm interested to see what we'll learn and if it'll change my mind about anything in my birth plan. I'm just ready to get this show on the road and meet my little girl/get my own body back!!!

Me & Nora: 33 weeks