Wednesday, February 25, 2009

PREGNANT!!!

We're pregnant with baby number two!



Umm...Surprise!!?
So remember amidst the kitchen construction during the week of Christmas, back to the 5 day ice storm when we were out of our home? Followed by my rough patch with the "stomach flu?" Well, we were apparently so happy to be home that we made a baby and I've pretty much felt like crap ever since. I am 11 weeks now and starting to feel human again, but little did I know how lucky I had it when I was not sick with Preston and not chasing around an 18 month old! We were quite surprised by the news, but we are so excited and cannot wait for this baby to come. Ok- I take that back, we have a lot to do to prepare before he or she gets here, but looking forward to it!

We've had three doctor's appointments... one to confirm the pregnancy, one that we got to see the little bean on ultrasound and then one today where we heard the HB on the doppler. 174 beats per minute- nice and strong! We were nervous to share the news so we pretty much kept it to ourselves until our appointment today, but are now ready to share it with the world.

Our due date is around September 15th (ish). Preston was due September 3rd, but was born on August 17th, so it will be interesting to see when this baby arrives. They'll be almost exactly 2 years apart. I think I remember swearing I'd never again go through another summer pregnancy where I was hot and swollen in the humid weather for my third trimester, but such is life! Here we go again... :)

This will be the 2nd grandchild for my family and the 13th for Kevin's! There have been several due dates in September, and while there are family members with birthdays in every other month of the year, there are NO September birthdays in the Erb family. Maybe lucky #13 will be the one! It has lots of options- 9/9/09 would be fun, or our 6th wedding anniversary- 9/13/09. I have even thought that while it might seem strange to some, I would be ok with 9/11 to bring some life and celebration to that day.

This is a very exciting (overwhelming) time for us, stay tuned for details! While part of me is worried we'll never leave the house again, we are ready for adding more love to our family.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

First (real) Haircut!

Preston's hair was getting somewhat shaggy, so rather than trying to do another mommy-trim at home, we marched him into Famous Hair today. (Thanks for the idea, Aunt Heather!) It's one of those walk-in, no-frills places that takes kids on a whim, so I figured we'd give it a try. He did great with the help of a sucker and a Charlie Brown Christmas Video. Oh, and the "tractor chair" he sat in didn't hurt either.






Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Fit inducing camera

Lately, my camera comes out and Preston wants it. Immediately. He sees it, and gets closer and closer, fussing and reaching for it, until we have to explain that it's not for him and that usually ends in a meltdown. So, I apologize for my lack of photos lately, as it's becoming increasingly more difficult to take a shot of him. The poor kid, he wants to be the next Annie Leibovitz and we're squelching his dreams.Here are some pics of him reaching for, upset about and then a successful attempt of him taking his own picture when he was allowed to hold the camera for a short while.




I can't believe my baby is turning 18 months old this week! So- for a walk down memory lane, here are some pictures from this time last year when he was more content to do what babies do and not just grab for the camera...


Wednesday, February 4, 2009

kitchen progress!

Keep in mind that while our kitchen is hardly "done," the materials are in and it's ready to be painted and decorated.

Here are some pics of the kitchen before we moved in. Remember that I hated it and us being able to re-do it was really the deciding factor in buying the house.






Here are some "during" shots:
First thing we worked on (ourselves) was the floor. Kevin refinished all of the wood floors in the main level of the home and one of the bedrooms upstairs, so we figured we might as well have him do the kitchen at the same time. It had five layers- FIVE of old tile, backing, glue and God knows what else on top of the beautiful pine. Once we got that stuff up, we needed to remove and fill the nail holes, sand it down, stain and poly. Quite a job. ETA: ***I have to add here - at the suggestion of my brother in law, Matthew- that my brother in laws were PARAMOUNT in accomplishing the floors. Not just in the kitchen, but the breakfast nook and in our living room, too. They all spent hours slaving away on the project and by no means could we have done it withouth them. THANKS AGAIN, MATTHEW, MARK AND CHRISTOPHER!!!**** now, maybe I should take this next sentence out....
And to be honest, we will probably re-do and the breakfast nook again some day because they are darker than we had anticipated and show every spec of dust or salt that drops on the floor. (look how little Preston was!)





These are when they took out the old backsplash and took down the cabinet doors. They began the plaster work to repair the wall where the backsplash was and we had to live without cabinet doors for far too long. The sink, faucet and countertops were installed somewhere around that time, too.







Then, right before Christmas, we got a little tease of it starting to take shape. However, that was quickly ended when we realized we had to actually "move out" of the kitchen and put everything in boxes so that the painters could begin. So the first two pictures- it was like that for 1 day, then the last one- for about three weeks. This was also how it looked when we were out of our home for 5 days during the ice storm. I can't tell you how awful it was to come home to a house - with all the faucets running so that our pipes didn't freeze, fill up a generator to keep the heat going, and find it in this shape when we had to walk though the kitchen. Christmas a few days away- no gifts wrapped. Shopping not done. Not living in our house. Stress.




Then, the painters said they were coming, then they couldn't, then they were supposed to get started, and something happened. They were "losing power," "helping their grandmother," "needed to sand and fill the doors," "mixing the glaze," etc...etc...etc... They were very nice guys and did a great job, but all in all, it was really absurd and took almost 5 weeks longer than expected. What a nightmare. However, once they were done, the doors and drawers went on, the hardware was installed and the kitchen began to really take shape. The microwave was installed and we are now living with it ready to be painted, decorated and we are in desperate need of window treatments. (And new windows.) :) Here are some pics of how it looks now:





Tuesday, February 3, 2009

fun loving boy

Happy February!
Does anyone else feel like January was waaaay longer than normal this year? February and March are some of the hardest months for me to get through because it feels like winter is never ending, but once the "lamb" part of March hits, the world takes on a whole new view. Thanks to "Phil the scaredy-cat Groundhog" dashing our hopes for an early spring, I guess we'll have to soak up the sunshine of my happy boy's smile. :)

Preston loves to check himself out in the mirror after his bath. If we get him out of the tub and try to dry him off and get dressed too quickly, he feels like he's missing out on lovingly gazing at his reflection and rubbernecks around until we let him see himself in the mirror.


Being goofy after dinner



Loving the cupcakes at Miles King's Birthday Party! Happy B-day, Miles- hope 2 is a great year for you!





That's all for now- hope everyone is staying warm and optimistic in this cold weather!