Pictures

Joe has encouraged me to take weekly pictures to document the belly that will probably soon start growing. So far, the changes have been small enough that I don't think a camera will capture them, but we started taking a profile picture last Friday, which I'll post soon. I've decided to wear one of the maternity shirts I bought in each picture, so the clothing reference point will always be the same, provided it fits throughout the pregnancy. Right now, after wearing the shirt all day, it just looked very loose, almost baggy, around the waist, so I'm happy to report I'm nowhere near filling it out... with my belly, that is.

Anyway, I've seen some people post "stats" with their weekly pictures, including weight gain, cravings, how they're feeling, and other random things about that week. I'll try to do the same, but since my pregnancy so far has been quite symptom-free, it may not be too exciting! *Knocking on wood that it stays this way*

In other news, we started looking at baby items this weekend, since we figure we need to know what we're getting ourselves into and registering for baby goods, although a ways off, seems much more intimidating that registering for wedding presents! All of you with small children, we have decided that you are a much better resource for knowing what we "need" versus what Babies 'R' Us says, so don't be surprised when we start asking a million questions!

I think hell just froze over

When we moved in, our side yard was crazy overgrown, and other than keeping our side trimmed at the fence, there wasn't really anything we could do about it. Our neighbors, whose overgrown bushes were encroaching into our yard, always somewhat sheepishly said that they were trying their best to get everything fixed up, but it would take time. We bought the house with the yard looking the way it did in the picture above, so we knew it may never get any better, but had hope. Over the 6-9 months, the neighbors have started making improvements to their house, replacing windows, exterior doors, redoing their breezeway, kitchen and bathroom (so we have been told), and most recently, started to tackle the back yard. We don't talk to the neighbors that often, as their back yard got even worse this year - to the point we couldn't even really see into their yard!

A couple of weeks ago, Joe and I woke up to the sound of chainsaws humming. When we looked outside, we noticed these neighbors had a tree trimming service working in their front yard, taking a tree out. We crossed our fingers that they'd get to the back yard, and a few hours later, I discovered the workers starting to cut down a tree that was growing over the fence and brushing our roof, directly over the power lines to our house! I was so excited I was almost stunned, and sat watching as a few workers continued to take their heavy duty chainsaws to the bushes along the fence line. Although I would have really enjoyed watching this continue, I had to go to work. That night, we returned home to find that a good portion of the bushes along the fence had been cut way back, and a few trees that hung over our property were gone. While we were excited about the developments, we quickly came to the realization that now we could look into their yard, and the sight wasn't any better than the green, leafy 8' privacy fence we'd actually come to enjoy somewhat.

That was then. This morning, as Joe and I got up to go swimming before work, the tree trimmers pulled in the neighbors' driveway. Knowing that there wasn't anything left in the front yard to tackle, we could only assume that they were back to (hopefully!) finish the back yard. You saw the before picture above.... here's how their yard (and our view) changed and looks today....


We have never been able to see their entire fence, and it's amazing how large their yard really is, compared to what we've been used to seeing. Here's hoping that they continue to work on it, and maintain it so it doesn't get all overgrown in the coming years!

First attempt at sewing

Well, it finally happened. After my doctor's appointment this morning, confirming everything's going well with the baby, I decided I needed to pull out the sewing machine I got for Christmas and start practicing. I went to Hobby Lobby looking for patterns that looked easy for a serious beginner like me, and that wouldn't take too long. I opted for a selection of baby clothes; shirt, pants, gown, hat, onesie, and diaper cover. After selecting a fabric I thought was cute and forgiving for crooked seams and whatnot, I got home, ate lunch and started reading the manual for putting the sewing machine together. Turns out, it's quite user friendly!

Once I had the bobbin filled and needle threaded, I set out to try the diaper cover - it had the fewest steps of all of the patterns, so I figured I couldn't screw it up that much.
Figuring I'd need a lot of space, I set the fabric and pattern up on the dining room table, with the sewing maching in the living room. As you might notice from the above picture, the girls are totally bored with this sewing stuff! I got a lot of extra fabric so I can practice a few times, but the initial stitching went really well. After looking online for some terms I wasn't familiar with, I felt ready to stitch in the elastic around the legs and back. While looking online, I found a website to make an identical cover, with easier to follow steps. However, I had gotten too far involved with my pattern to make the changes, so I charged onward. The cover looked really good until the elastic, when I didn't leave enough space to tuck the elastic into the little pocket, so I had to sew it on the outside of the cover. It would work fine, except I couldn't master the zig zag stitch evenly around corners, and keep the tension on the elastic consistent. The bottom picture shows the (almost) finished cover - I didn't remember to pick up the velcro fasteners, but I'll probably try again to get the elastic down pat before calling this one done. Not too shabby for a first time project, and it only took me an hour or two once I'd put the machine together!

Another year older

Saturday was my 28th birthday, and unfortunately I had to work. On the other hand, we had a pretty good day at the store, selling a kayak, some lessons and general store merchandise, so at least I wasn't bored! Joe made the day great - I had breakfast in bed before work, he brought me lunch, and then after work we went to The Legends to do some shopping. Now that I'm at 11 1/2 weeks pregnant, my clothes aren't fitting as well as they used to! I have gotten through the first trimester really lucky - no morning sickness, only little bits of nausea, and no real food aversions. Unfortunately, that means that my appetite has been healthy, but the fatigue has lessened my ability to work out, which doesn't mean good things for my waistline! So it's time for the maternity t-shirts and my first attempt with maternity jeans. After shopping we ate dinner at Cheeseburger in Paradise, which was actually quite good.

I had asked Joe to bake my birthday cake himself, as opposed to buying one from the store. I actually prefer homemade cakes anyway, and I couldn't tell you the last time Joe made and decorated a cake, so I wanted to see what he could do. When we got home from dinner, he set about icing, assembling and decorating my cake, using the new cake plate I got from my parents for my bday. Joe's gift to me was a new camera, which I'm really excited about - it's so much faster than my old camera, with a digital screen that you can actually see pictures on! When Joe finally announced the cake was ready, I grabbed the camera to take a few pictures - he did a fantastic job! It not only looked great, but tasted delicious!

I'd love to report that we went out on the town later that night, but the dinner, cake and not enough sleep from traveling all week apparently took its toll, as I was falling asleep on the couch by 10pm! Oh well, it was still a great birthday!

Heat Wave

All this week we've had unbearable hot, humid weather. The temperature outside has been in the upper 90s, and with the humidity, it feels like it's 110! As frequently happens during super hot, humid weather, severe storms have been popping up around the midwest, usually in the evenings. Last night a big storm developed north of us, and within an hour had descended on the KC area. Tons of lightning, black skies, it looked ugly. I got home from work around 7pm, and Joe had gone to spin class and then an event promoting the KC Marathon this fall. Soon after I got home, it started pouring, and the winds picked up. Estimates I saw were 60-70 mph. In our neighborhood, all of the power lines are above ground, so wouldn't you know it, at 7:30 we lost power. I checked outside, and everyone on the opposite side of the road still had lights on, so I was hopeful that ours would come back on quickly.

Joe came home around 8:15, and the power was still off. Knowing that everything in the fridge and freezer was subject to going bad, (and having no way, other than the outdoor grill, to cook) we decided to go out for dinner. That took about an hour after trying to decide what we wanted, and discovering that our first choice had basically closed the kitchen already. When we returned home after 9:30 and still had no power, we realized that it may not be coming back for a while. Unfortunately for us, the brief rain showers and storm didn't drop the temperature very much, and the forecast was for the temp to creep back up as night went on. Joe decided to set up an air mattress in the basement. Sleeping in the dank basement on an air mattress sounded like a good idea because it was so much cooler down there, but after sore shoulders, necks, arms, etc, I headed back upstairs in the middle of the night to crawl into our much more comfortable bed. The worse part was not being able to turn on a fan and circulate any area, as there was no wind outside and the ambient air temperature just kept getting warmer and muggier.

Neither of us got much sleep, and as of 11 am the power was still off this morning. Our dogs got to stay at my sister's house, since we didn't want to leave them outside (today's high was forecast to be 96) and couldn't trust that the power would be restored soon enough to cool the inside of the house down. Luckily, when I got home tonight, the power was back on - I definitely wasn't ready to brave another night of no power and no air conditioning! Boy, do we have a greater appreciation for these modern conveniences!

The countdown begins!

Next week, Joe's family will descend on KC, which we are really excited about. Both sisters, their families, mom and step-dad, and I think even Grammy and Art are all coming for the 4th of July. What started as a long weekend visit with Lisa and family has turned into a mini family reunion! Thus, the rush to get the porch finished has started back up in earnest. Who knows - it may actually happen this time!

Sunday we put a second coat of paint on the ceiling panels, anticipating that Joe and a friend would start hanging them Sunday evening. Well, we didn't get started in time, so Joe pushed back the install job until Monday night after spinning class with said friend. On Monday, he managed to convince a couple other friends to come over and help as well, so we thought, no problem, we'll get them hung in a couple of hours! Well, that may have been the case, had Joe not forgotten to get all the necessary supplies ahead of time, and then left his wallet with one of the guys. So they didn't get started until around 7:30 or 8pm. Did I mention how horrifically hot it is right now, too? These poor 4 guys sweated more installing two ceiling panels than they did in their hour long spin class! By 9:30 they called it quits.

So now, we have 2 of 6 panels hung, and before the weekend Joe will re-install the ceiling fan and have that operational, as the next panel will cover that ceiling space above the fan. Saturday is the date to resume and finish hanging the ceiling, leaving us Sunday to touch up the paint, install the trim and hopefully finish the project (as much as we've decided we're going to do to call it done). Then Wednesday night, family starts to arrive and hopefully enjoy the finished porch!

Stay tuned!

Summer Fun

Over Memorial Day weekend, Joe's mom and step-dad were in town. We had a great time visiting with them, and upon realizing that our old grill was all rusted and needed the insides replaced, Jill bought Joe a new grill as an early birthday present. We had a great time grilling almost every lunch/dinner, and trying new foods on the grill. A week or so later, we went to this great store, called Smoke N' Fire, that specializes in all things BBQ (and fireplaces, but that's a different story). Joe was like a kid in a candy store, with all of the utensils, books, grills, and accessories. They also have an incredible selection of BBQ sauces, rubs, marinades and whatnot, so we went ahead and picked up a few different items to try.

Since the end of May, we've done a fair share of grilling, and really enjoy trying new things. It's nice having dinner cooked so quickly, and not heating up the kitchen in the process. When everyone comes to visit for the 4th of July, hopefully Joe will have perfected his techniques!

In other news, remember that "weekend project" of re-doing our screened porch? We started that last year, on the 4th of July weekend. Progress? Nope. We worked frantically to paint the ceiling panels before everyone came over on Memorial Day, but realized we need to brace a beam in the roof that is cracking. And since then, everything's sat in the same place. I don't think it's asking too much to have the project complete before its 1 year anniversary, do you? :)