3 weeks and 3 days

not that we're counting or anything...
well, we're getting ready for the big arrival of our Christmas gift! i had the last of my wonderful baby showers (technically, i had 5 baby showers... i know, totally extravagant! but i feel SO WELL LOVED!!) and we feel pretty well-stocked for the baby's arrival. of course, it also helps that susie is loaning a bunch of her baby things and i have several friends who have done the same. awesome! :)
the room is painted & carpeted (although the trim isn't completed yet) and most of the furniture is ready. we still need to put together the crib, but i think that will be later this week. we do have the bassinet from mom abbott for when the little one first comes home, so the crib isn't that big of a deal at this point. we're just glad to have it in the house! now, for the little details like a lamp in the room (lighting will be helpful) and wall hangings up. so exciting! once i get things organized, i'll post a picture of the room.
in the meantime, i've set this week as my "get it all done" deadline. eddie & i went shopping last night and got most of the boys' Christmas shopping done. i have a few more things to complete, but otherwise we're about ready. this week, i also have 2 child-birth type classes (one for mama only and one for daddy & me) and we need to get our tree & finish the outside lights. then, i think we're about ready and we'll just wait on the kid to arrive.
work is another story at this point, but i've tried to arrange what i can ahead of time. beyond that, i can't worry about it. its hard for me to admit, but the office will carry on without me and somehow the church will still run in my absence. :) this is probably a good lesson for me anyway.
kinda like the swollen ankles that are working on my pride these days... i've always prided my thin ankles... God is humbling me quite a bit in these last few weeks of pregnancy! see? just look at how God is working in me, even as He blesses us with a new baby!! (mental note: careful what i pray for...)

35 weeks

so, we have 5 weeks to go until the due date. time to really get things moving!

on nov 1, i was showered by my church friends & co-workers with a really lovely party! it was such fun to get all sorts of baby items and we just marvelled at the size of the tiny clothes and the little person inside of me who will soon be wearing them! we also had special surprise (uninvited) guests at the church shower...

last weekend, ed was sicker than i've ever seen him thanks to an infected tooth that had to be pulled! poor guy. he was in such pain. so, the guys and i tried to keep things quiet at home and went about our busy weekend, including going to dinner with aunt woofie (from NJ) and cousin, Alex (who came up from WVU). while ed was sick, the house projects obviously took a bit of a break, so it was a good time to address the issue of 3rd floor (boys' living quarters... that i try not to enter any more than absolutely necessary). lets just say this: after our weekend together, the boys have clean clothes again, you can see that there is carpet on the floor, the smell of rotting, moldy foods (like fruit peels & a block of cheese(!), etc) is definitely diminishing, and our kitchen has been restocked with dishes that had disappeared. clearly, the former rule of "no food or drinks on 3rd floor" is being reissued and enforced. as for the new holes in the wall, brought about by wrestling (about 30 minutes AFTER bedtime)... that's just going to have to wait until dad is done with other projects. we get all excited when we think that we're done replacing walls (the ones that are falling down due to old age, etc) and then we're reminded that we have 4 boys... the wall replacements may continue for a few years more. what on earth will we do if #5 is a boy too?!

anyway, speaking of the baby, i had another shower this past weekend with my friends from home - girls i've grown up with and known about 27 years. it was SO good to connect with these lifelong friends and chat about life, motherhood and all sorts of other fun things. and, again, it was SO EXCITING to get some of the things we need for the baby! every time i look at a diaper bag or the pack-n-play, i get excited and a little freaked out about the fact that this little person is on the way!!

ed is back to working on the baby's room (as i type, even) and i think he'll definitely make his deadline of having it ready by thanksgiving. we'll be painting later this week (still undecided on color) and then the carpet goes in. and sometime in the midst of that, we'll have furniture arriving! so, things are starting to finally find their place. i think once the room is ready, i'll feel a little more at peace about this kid's arrival.

thanksgiving weekend is the last of the baby showers - one with the kenyon family and close family friends. can't wait to celebrate with my sisters! and that week will also be the "abbott sibling hospital tour" (they get a personal tour so they aren't in a group with little toddlers) for the boys (and us) to get a feel for where we'll be for delivery and ask any questions. (right, like teen boys are going to ask questions about labor and delivery! ha!!) we're just happy that they will know where to go and where we'll be, should we have to run off to the hospital and have the boys come and find us. so glad the delivery will be at the hospital at the end of our street! that way, the boys can come and go on their own. :)

long update. sorry! :)

30 weeks (& the pellet stove)

homecoming dance

taylor & drew both took juniors as their dates for homecoming last weekend (not bad for freshmen & sophomore boys)! taylor's date was a girl he met from another town. (ed put on his red long-johns to go and pick her up... t didn't think it was funny. don't worry, we made ed change his clothes!) drew's date was on the dance committee and had to be there early, so there were no pictures of the two of them. anyway, the boys had full schedules of pre-dance parties and after-parties and had a really good time. ah, high school dances. :)

kitchen surprise!!

this past weekend, i went away with aunt betsy to visit my little sister, susie, & her family in north carolina. i expected ed would take a slow weekend, enjoy his return to playing drums at church and just hang out with some of his buddies. ha! instead, i came back from the 5 day trip to be surprised with a totally re-created kitchen! i can't even say how exciting it is to have the kitchen (still in "phase 1 stage") that we've been dreaming of and planning. ed worked with my dad all weekend and the result is a very excited wife!! :) (and the boys think it's amazing also)

because our kitchen has interesting angles & 4 different entry points (one on each wall), we've been limited on how to make the best use of the space. thus, the "big island" plan, which is perfect for the appliances and the counter space we need.

here are pics:

the back yard

okay, so "we" (read: ed) have been working really hard on the house this summer and fall. since ed is still looking for work, he's been home with time on his hands to complete some major work on the house and this is especially great to get the particularly yucky projects done before the baby arrives. so, one major project was the back yard/driveway. our neighbors (downhill) agreed to give us a lot of fill dirt if we would put up a retaining wall (they hoped it would help with their water problems). so, ed was able to level out the small yard in the back and with the retaining wall, extend the driveway a little more to allow 2 cars in the parking area. on the other side of our driveway, we had a small hill that was not only ugly to look at, but seemed to be eroding right before our eyes, so ed also built a wall on that side of the yard (and flattened out our neighbor's yard for her too). this was all tackled just after ed completed the work on the deck (replacing the falling down "lean-to" that was formerly part of our kitchen)... needless to say, the man is incredible and also very sore at the end of every day!

so, here are pics of the backyard project (including the deck):

15 weeks... and counting

well, i'm in my 15th week and still sick every day. staying on meds that help with the nausea and just trying to cope. feeling really tired too. and i had an interesting experience with my clothes... tried to wear my stretchy, elastic-waisted skirt to work and found that the waist was just too tight to be comfortable (especially for all day at work). so, i'm wearing a maternity skirt for the first time. oh, it is so much more comfortable!! anyway, that's pretty much the update on the baby. we did go and hear the heartbeat a few weeks ago and it was amazing. (this finally seemed REAL to me when we heard it) we'll have the sonogram in a few weeks more (around 20 weeks), but we won't be finding out the sex of the baby. sorry to those of you who don't want to wait to find out! (oh, and since i only look fat and not pregnant, there are no pictures yet)

the house changes daily - and i do mean DAILY - and that's exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. as soon as we get a system down, things get switched around again, so it sometimes makes daily living a little difficult. but we seem to be managing okay and the results (like our new placement for the laundry and our forming baby room(!!!) are really exciting!!! i can't keep up with ed and all of the work he's getting done. he's like a machine! but i should be taking more pictures... hopefully i'll get more before we head to MN so that the abbotts can see what's going on. (i do hate to take pictures when it's a mess, though... and it's usually a mess these days)

summer is going well, for the most part. noah joined the swim team (finally, a swimmer in our house!) but isn't as into it as i think i'd like. one more area where i need to learn not to push... the weather around here has been really disappointing, so we haven't had a lot of good pool days. but we've been busy. we went to a few great concerts at the arts festival and have had fun with friends and picnics, etc. to celebrate father's day/dad's b'day (the boys will be away for ed's birthday), the guys bought new drum sticks, brushes and a stick bag for ed. ed has finally returned (sorta) to the music team and is very happy to be back to playing drums. and we moved the drum set back upstairs and it now sits in the front hall (it was in storage in the basement). that makes the 5 drummers in our house happy again.

i think that's about it. we're anxiously awaiting our trip west to see all of the abbotts and i'm trying to figure out a few other trips we might fit in before our busy fall hits.