summer 2016 fun!

This Summer has flown by much too quickly! It feels like just yesterday that the girls wrapped up the school year, and now here we are, about to start Kindergarten and 2nd Grade in just a few short weeks!  Even though it went fast, we managed to pack in a good deal of fun over the past few months. Some highlights...

Some of us went to Texas to visit family and to celebrate the Fourth of July:

While those of us left behind used their alone time to take up new and unusual hobbies, like cartooning:

We all went to Ocean City to soak up the sun and visit our friends (and to be artistically transformed in the sand as a gorgeous Merman by one of those friends):

Ryan and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on a sans-kid trek around Philly:


What square are we in? We have no idea!

We sold our wee house in TX:

And bought a new one across the street from us (which means more work for Ryan, but more rental income, too!):

Elliott got her first pair of glasses:


"I look so scientific!"

We traipsed around DC on an uncharacteristically pleasant August day:


And we finally got around to cutting the girls' hair in an attempt to look presentable for the upcoming return to school:

This is what happens when you suck on your hair, kid!
She is pretty pleased with her new 'do, though.

Ellie was bordering on a crazy Rapunzel-esque look...not anymore!

In addition, Ryan worked his butt off running the Farmers Market (which continues through October), the girls attended the local summer camp, we played with lots of good friends, and I managed to keep my head above water helping run the hectic Summer Reading Program at my library! We are also planning a visit to Hershey Park the weekend before school starts, and we are all looking forward to our mini-getaway before Summer officially comes to an end!

finished house pictures

I wanted to share pictures of the finished product of our first house.  Thanks Dad for all your hard work and Stephanie for being the most understanding wife on the planet.  I had never done plumbing, drywall, built cabinets, or actually most of what we ended up doing.  I definitely didn't know what I was getting myself into, but it ended up being a very rewarding experience and at some point in my life I will build another one.  We built one half at a time and lived in different sections as the work progressed.  One of the first things we wanted to do was separate the commercial side so we could get it rented out to cover the mortgage.  That was a good plan economically but not necessarily for comfort, space, and sanity.  We did make it through the rough times intact, and I then knew for sure that Steph was the girl for me.  We got to enjoy everything except for the kitchen cabinets which weren't done until the week before we moved and Stephanie and Elliott had already vacated for New Jersey.  Hope you enjoy!



Here are pictures of the work in progress.

the nursery!

Well, we've made great strides on our house of late, and now the nursery is finally ready! This is our office as well, but it's a big spacious room, so Elliott won't mind if we share! We did this room (once our bedroom) on a serious budget, but I think it turned out super cute...


OK, here's another scary one of me, at 38 weeks pregnant:
And the proud daddy-to-be, hanging up pics for me:
OK, we're ready for you, Elliott! (I may soon regret those words, ha!)

so tired

Not much to say right now, except I'm so, so tired! I'm 37 weeks pregnant, in the middle of an 11 day work week, and coming off of a two day sprint of "nesting" spurred on by a weird burst of adrenaline. I obsessively cleaned, folded, organized, laundered, etc. and didn't sleep til almost midnight the past two nights...now I'm barely functioning!

But we have managed to get a lot done in our humble abode since the weekend. Ryan finished carpeting and painting, the nursery is almost set up, and we even constructed a dresser from Ikea (I will finally be able to fit all my clothes away!) Progress is being made!!

I go back to the OB/GYN tomorrow morning, so we'll see what he has to say about the state of things ("things" being me and Elliott.) I'm really looking forward to labor and delivery (though trust me, I'm a bit scared, too) and can't wait to meet our very own baby!

thanks to the texturing team! | prego updates

Ryan and I owe a big thanks to his sister Becky, sister-in-law Gail, and brother Steve for spending their Easter Sunday texturing our kitchen, bedroom, and loft. Now Ryan just has to paint and carpet and we'll at least have our house in livable condition!

The texturing team after a long day of work!

Ryan's family also threw us a little shower the day before, which was so nice of them. We scored a bunch of essential baby items and even a handmade blanket and Boppy cover made by Ryan's mom. And Ryan's grandmom sent us a crocheted blanket with adorable little crocheted baby booties that look like cowboy boots. I'll have to post pictures of all these sweet handmade goods in the near future, when I get my act together. Thanks, gang!!

Now, shield your eyes if you are sensitive - here's a scary picture of my naked belly taken on Easter, at 36 weeks. So far I have gained a whopping 34 pounds. No wonder my body hurts so much!

36 weeks huge

One more update - I finally got put on antibiotics for my sinus/ear infection, and I'm hoping they start kicking in soon. Right now, they're just making me want to vomit on my feet...

upheaval!

This weekend was absolutely nuts, people! Our house was (and still is) in a major state of upheaval, as we took EVERYTHING WE OWN out of our living room, kitchen, and loft in order for Ryan and his dad to work on drywall, and eventually paint, carpet, etc. We also relocated our old bedroom to our new bedroom, which Ryan just finished:


This freed up our old bedroom to become the nursery/office - and currently, the makeshift kitchen:

Going through and organizing all of our belongings this weekend was no easy task. Take a look at just one of the mountainous piles we had to contend with:


Needless to say, the to do list before Elliott arrives is a looooong and daunting one, but we're getting there. Poor Ryan won't stop working even now, on Monday night at 9:09pm.

On a note of complete randomness, my friend from the library, Jen, who was due exactly one month before me, had a c-section today and gave birth to a healthy, 7 lb. baby girl, Ava Claire! I ran into her this morning when she dropped by the library before her operation, and we posed for one last baby bump shot:

Don't we look like we stuffed basketballs under our shirts just for s&*%s and giggles? Anyway, I'm so, so happy for her!

34 weeks | ryan the rock star | our bathroom

Hello, world. Just got back from another long day at the library and I am feeling quite awful, yet again. I'm hoping it's just allergies and not one of those raging colds that's going around...

Anyway, we took a picture yesterday of my 34 week belly:

But we've seen too many pictures of me lately. Here's one of Ryan (and his singing partner, Cynthia) getting down to Eye of the Tiger on Karaoke SingStar. I have a video too, but posting it would be grounds for divorce (though his performance is one of the cutest things I've ever witnessed!)

On a completely different topic, we are moving right along on our house. The bathroom is now completely done! See for yourself:

Nowhere near where we started, but this is the before as of earlier this month.


And this is the after.


I was responsible for the fancy tile work!

Our bedroom is almost finished as well, but we'll wait until official completion to post those pics!

i destroyed a book!

I confess - I'm a librarian...and I destroyed a beloved children's book classic! Here's the ugly evidence:

But it was for a good cause. I bought one of my personal faves, Madeline, for just a few bucks used and turned it into nursery wall art with a few $2 frames. Check it out!

Can't wait til the house is done(-ish) and I can actually set-up and decorate Elliott's nursery! Hopefully that will be before I actually give birth;~)

belly-bump and nursery plans

I keep promising a new belly-bump photo, so here you go. This is me at 22 weeks (and 18+ lbs larger than when I embarked on this adventure):

Me at 22 weeks, in front of our awesome new screened in porch.
(Yesterday, Jan. 3, was 80 degrees!)

I've been in crazy nesting mode lately, which is a little scary since we still have a lot of work to do just getting our house put together (we have one room, currently our bedroom, completely done, and that will eventually be Elliott's room. But our future bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and living room are in various states of unfinished-ness!) Poor Ryan is studying for his grad school comps which take place at the end of the month, while also working full time and finding time to work on the house. His dad is also cool enough to come help us when he's in town, and I mentioned in an earlier post that we hired a neighbor/contractor who is helping us finish up our future bedroom.

Anyway, today we went to the formidable IKEA, where we purchased curtains for the nursery. Aren't they cute?
I also bought a few colorful, cheapo picture frames that I plan to fill with my own homemade art. I may just have to buy these as well (they match the curtains):
And my parentals are getting us a cute little white crib from Babies R' Us as a gift, so we'll only need to buy a changing table. Here's the set I'm lusting for (it's relatively inexpensive but got great customer reviews):
I really never furnished my own place before, so I'm having a blast planning and dreaming about what a cute little nursery I'm going to create. Fortunately, Ryan is giving me free reign to pretty much do as I please! (He know better than to mess with me and my raging baby hormones, right, babe?)

home improvement

When I first moved here in June, 2006, Ryan was in the middle of a pretty impressive project - remodeling and rebuilding his 1930's cottage style home. He's made great strides in the past 2 years, as evidenced by these photos. If you click on the slideshow, it will bring you to our Picasa album.



We still have a ways to go, but we are certainly coming along thanks to Ryan's dedication and creativity.