hondas, hallways, and hardware

as we near the end of summer (and the end of my second trimester -- WHAT??  how is that possible?), i thought i'd share an update of things we've been up to.

in mid-august, my dear husband totaled my little red Civic -- my first major purchase as a college graduate.  steve had been driving on wet roads and slid right into a telephone pole.  :-(  praise, praise, praise the Lord that he didn't have any major injuries!  it was a rough couple of weeks, trying to figure out what we were going to do and how we could possibly afford a new/used vehicle at this point in our lives when money was already pretty tight.  my car had been paid off for several years, and i was REALLY enjoying not having a car payment!  but alas, God had other plans for us.  better plans, in fact.  because the Civic was totaled, the door was opened for us to purchase a car that was a better fit for our growing family.  so i've graduated from a 2-door Civic to a 4-door Accord.  (staying within the Honda family, of course!)  and i've gotta say, i couldn't be happier.  God provided us with a reliable car, affordable payments, a huge trunk, and a spacious backseat... perfect for a baby's car seat and other baby-related paraphernalia.  what a blessing!

good-bye, sheila!  hello, lovely car yet-to-be-named!

we've been keeping busy with our Pre-Baby To-Do List also!  one of the items that i've been meaning to tackle is painting our main hallway.  the doors really needed to be sanded and repainted (the previous owner did a very sloppy job!) and i wanted a bit of color on the walls.  this project turned out to be much more of a hassle than i had anticipated (cue major hormonal pregnancy meltdown!), but i'm happy with the results.  it looks so much fresher!

the before picture really doesn't do any justice to how horrible it looked.  the paint on those doors was thrown on SO haphazardly!  it was drippy, streaky, and downright ugly.  the newly-painted, crisp white doors and blue-gray walls make me so happy!  :-)  (FYI: still need to replace the light fixture... just haven't found the right one yet!)

i also replaced all of the door hardware -- hinges and doorknobs!  we happily disposed of the rusty, brassy, hideous hardware that came with the house and replaced them with these sparkling beauties!  (it is, perhaps, a little unhealthy how ecstatic i am about this part of the project.  it really was the icing on the cake!)

so what's next on our list?  well, the windows will be installed sometime in late september / early october.  (but that won't be a major issue for us since the window company is installing them.)  as steve continues to toil away on the second floor drywalling, i have decided it's high time to dive into the nursery!  oh, and we really need to register soon too.  so yeah, those are the immediate projects.  i'm actually feeling pretty good about the status of things at the house.  there have been some other emotional / mental hurdles that i've been dealing with, but i'll save that for another day...  right now, i'm just going to look at my shiny doorknobs and SMILE.  :-)

Pop!

i have been told that i've "popped" this week.  and i agree.  what do you think?

23 weeks and feeling great!

i love that little bump!  and i love feeling baby girl moving around in there.  she has definitely established very clear patterns within the past few weeks.  i feel her moving every day around 11am, 4pm, and 10pm.  she's imitating her mommy already -- establishing an organized schedule.  :-)

steve and i have been keeping busy during this past month, knocking things off our to-do list and feeling pretty good about it -- new windows have been ordered, the hallway and doors have been painted, progress has been made on the second floor renovations...  i plan to post some project pictures soon!

well, i'm off to the eye doctor!  that's another thing i wanted to accomplish before baby girl arrives -- new glasses to replace my current pair that has been super glued together for the past few months.  :-)  have a great day!

halfway!

well.  today officially marks the halfway point.  20 weeks!  i can hardly believe it.  as of this morning, here is how the baby bump is progressing:

still nothing too exciting.  (but i did "instagram" it, so maybe that will make the picture a tad more interesting...)  :-)  mind you, i'm not complaining about my size.  i'm sure i'll pop soon enough!  i'm not a small person to begin with, so maybe the baby has more room to hide.  :-)  however, according to my weekly pregnancy email update, the baby is now the size of a cantaloupe.   i'm just trying to figure out where that cantaloupe is hiding...

so anyway.  halfway.  that's both exciting and scary.  i am thrilled beyond belief to meet baby girl lougee, but SO MUCH has to happen between now and december 23(ish)!  here is my current list.  (i'm posting this mostly for my own benefit.)  :-)

• settle on a name for baby girl.  (i'm pretty sure we have this one nailed down.  but we just want to be sure!)
• register for classes.  (birthing class?  breastfeeding class?  infant care 101?  i need all the help i can get!)
• register for baby supplies.  (at babies r us?  target?  i'm not sure yet...)
• figure out what maternity leave is going to look like and how long it is going to last.
• prep everything for the temp who will fill in for me during maternity leave.
• finalize childcare plans for when i return to work.  (my FANTASTIC sister has volunteered to be our primary babysitter during the week.  however, she currently has one child of her own and two on the way from rwanda (!!), so with baby lougee, it's going to be FULL house.  i'd like to find another babysitter for one or two days a week to give keri a little break.)
• finish house projects, including but not limited to:
• finish repairing our squirrel-ravaged second floor (wiring, drywall, moulding, painting, etc.)
• replace all windows (it's an older house.  the windows are 50-60 years old and very drafty.  we don't want baby girl catching a cold unnecessarily!)
• move the office from its current location (first floor) to its new location (second floor)
• create a nursery (in the old office -- right next to our bedroom on the first floor)
• finish painting the hallway on the first floor, which includes five doors plus the walls  (i guess technically this doesn't HAVE to be completed before the baby arrives, but i'd love to just get it over with.)
• organize EVERYTHING.  :-)

so i think we have our work cut out for us for the next 20 weeks.  but i'm sure it will all come together.  right?  (i mean, it really will, right?  i need a pep talk here.  it WILL come together.)

let me wrap this up before i get too overwhelmed (which seems to happen a lot these days, thanks to my only semi-functioning brain).  :-)  have a great weekend, everyone!!

Gender Reveal Party

if you are friends with me on facebook, you are already aware of this.  but, if you're not, here's the big announcement...

it's a girl!!

and we are tickled pink.  (pun intended, of course.)  :-)  from the beginning, i just knew.  i'm certain that i would have been equally thrilled with a boy, but i have to say, girl just feels right for us... at least at this point in our lives.  who knows what the future will hold!

so, we had our ultrasound on wednesday, and on saturday, we had the Gender Reveal party.  can i just tell you how hard it was to keep my mouth shut for that long?!  but i'm so glad i did.  the party was so much fun!  here's how it all went down...

 

i made two strands of bunting from scrapbook paper.  i hung the "boy or girl" strand from the mantle, right under the framed ultrasound pictures.

photo credit: megan wark of blackstone photography

the "baby lougee" bunting was hung in the window between the kitchen and living room.

i didn't get a great shot of the food table, but here it is...  i prepared foods that i have been craving throughout this pregnancy: fresh fruit salad, deviled eggs, sweet party sandwiches, salt and vinegar chips, and lemon bars.

 

photo credit: megan wark of blackstone photography

and then there were the cupcakes, which would be used for the big reveal.  i used yellow cake with a strawberry cream cheese filling -- and a few extra drops of food coloring just to make sure the filling was nice and pink.  :-)

photo credit: megan wark of blackstone photography

we asked all of our guests to wear pink if they thought it was a girl and blue if they thought it was a boy.  here is Team Pink!  (and purple... my sister claims that she does not own a pink shirt.)  :-)

photo credit: megan wark of blackstone photography

and here is Team Blue!  you can see that blue was the majority.

photo credit: megan wark of blackstone photography

the whole crew

photo credit: megan wark of blackstone photography

after eating and socializing, it was time for the big reveal!

photo credit: megan wark of blackstone photography

pink filling!  it's a girl!!

it was such a fun day!  steve and i feel so fortunate to be surrounded by such a fantastic group of friends and family.  baby girl lougee is sooooo loved already.  we continue to praise the Lord for this amazing gift!

shout out: many thanks to my friend megan wark for capturing these memories for us!!!

projects, preparations, and pending news

so i've been a bad blogger lately.  but really, there just isn't much to talk about.  so far, my second trimester has been gloriously uneventful.  i feel healthy and alert and (on most days) pretty darn happy.  oh, i still suffer from the occasional FREAK OUT / I-CAN'T-HANDLE-THIS moment, but i'm just going to go ahead and blame that on pregnancy hormones.  :-)

steve and i have been keeping pretty busy preparing our home for the baby.  having moved into our first home just 9 months ago, we are still learning the ropes and working on some fairly major projects.  we've made a serious dent in the jungle that was our yard.  it's coming along nicely!  we're also making very slow progress on the second floor, which basically had to be gutted and re-built, thanks to some significant squirrel damage (that went unnoticed by our home inspector -- don't even get me started on that!).  looking forward to the day that i can post some before-and-after pictures!  (just FYI: the baby's nursery will be on the first floor, right next to our bedroom, so at least the construction chaos is out of sight.  BUT, this project really needs to be completed before the baby arrives or it will just never get done, i'm afraid.)

some pretty exciting news is that our first ultrasound is set for this wednesday, july 20!  i was a little bummed that we didn't get an ultrasound before now, but my OB only does early ultrasounds if there are complications or something.  so, on wednesday, we will finally get to see the little person growing inside of me!  YES, we plan to find out the gender.  (i mean, really.  have you met me?  i need to plan, plan, plan as much as possible!)  :-)  and YES, we intend to tell everyone.  but, for a bit of fun, we've decided to throw a little "gender reveal" party on saturday, during which we will share the results of the ultrasound with some close friends and family.  i certainly hope that baby lougee cooperates with us on wednesday.  this is probably the only time in my life i will say this, baby -- please don't be modest!  :-)

so, i'm about 4 months along now... almost 18 weeks.  how about another bump update?

yeah.  still not much to write home about.  there is an ever-so-slight protrusion in my lower abdomen, but it's hardly noticeable.  and yet, very few of my clothes fit (which is maybe why i look so ticked off in the picture... sorry about that!)  it's interesting how i can feel so big and so small at the same time.

well, i suppose that's all for today!  feel free to leave your guesses -- boy or girl??  for the record, i think it's a girl.  steve is on the fence but is leaning towards boy.  (which is not to say that he is hoping a boy... in fact, he starts to glow a little bit every time he talks about having a little girl... so cute.)  :-)  either way, we are going to be over the moon with excitement!

goodbye, hello!

goodbye, first trimester!  hello, second trimester!

today, i officially start my second trimester.  i'm really looking forward to it, as i've heard it's the most favorable of the trimesters.  i'm definitely looking forward to having some energy again.  bring on the nesting!! :-)  i have a long list of projects to tackle before baby lougee arrives, so i'm hoping the promises of the second trimester "super energy" and "awesomeness" and "bliss" are true.  i'm really, really ready to retire cranky, sleepy, nauseous, headachy beth.  (i'm sure steve won't mind a break from her either...)  ;-)

without further ado, i'd like to recap my first trimester.  here are some of my First Trimester Favorites:

foods that contain VINEGAR.  cannot get enough!  i've had my fair share of sweet cravings too, but mostly, i'm into salty, vinegary snacks.  salt and vinegar chips, french fries with vinegar, pickles, pickled eggs and red beats, pulled pork with vinegar.  mmmmm!  i'm salivating.

JACK BAUER.  i've been spending a lot of time with him lately.  or, i should say, jack and my treadmill.  i've been working my way through 24 on netflix while i walk on the treadmill in the evenings.  i'm currently on season 6.  definitely gets my heart racing! (the treadmill, of course.  not jack.  ok, well, maybe jack a little....)  ;-)

in the mornings, i do a pregnancy workout DVD.  i've been using LINDSAY BRIN'S FIRST TRIMESTER workout, which includes both a yoga segment and a strength/cardio segment.  it's a pretty good workout, although lindsay is a bit too peppy / cheerleadery for me.  "ok, now let's work those bun cakes!"  really?  bun cakes?  i have a hard time with that kind of perkiness at 5:30 AM.

i love this pregnancy journal called THE BELLY BOOK.  it has a place to record the highlights of each week, details from the doctor appointments, growing belly pictures, memories, current events, etc.  a friend of mine highly recommended that i keep a pregnancy journal, and i'm so glad i took her advice!

STEPHEN LOUGEE.  he is also a favorite.  probably THE favorite.  :-)  he's been such a gem throughout this first trimester of fatigue, mood swings, inability to concentrate, feeling overwhelmed, etc.  he's been my partner in every imaginable way.  i love him, and i so appreciate all his hard work in preparing our home for the baby!

let's wrap up this post with... drumroll please... my first official belly picture!

or should i call it my non-belly picture?  because really, there's just not much to see yet.  my body is definitely changing, though!  hello, expanding hips.  (while i am not super excited about you now, i am quite certain that i will have a greater appreciation for you in december when i'm huffing and puffing my way through labor and delivery.)  :-)

so there you have it!  i'm so excited to see what my second trimester has in store!

a look back

i started my first blog in april of 2004.  i probably never would have done this, had it not been for the urging of a tech-savvy friend, who explained to me that blogging was "the next big thing."  (though, at the time, i was trying to figure out A. why would i want to post my personal thoughts online for the whole world to see, and B. who would really care?)  but somehow he convinced me to move forward with the idea and encouraged me to post at least once a week.

so i did.  and i'm glad.  this blog chronicles some rather significant events in my life -- my first job out of college (cashier at a hardware store, of course.  isn't that what all english major do?), my first (and second and third) apartment, my love/hate relationship with becoming an adult, many evolving friendships, my first real honest-to-God relevant-to-my-english-degree career, and then the experience of getting laid off nearly five years later.  throughout all of this, we have a developing love story -- the on-again, off-again (and then permanently on-again!) relationship of steve and me.  it's a good story, and i'm definitely thankful for steve's persistence.  :-)  he is, after all, my match.  my partner in life.  my best friend.  my husband.  (and soon to be, my baby daddy.)  ;-)

anyway, why am i talking about my old blog?  well, i occasionally like to scan through old posts.  it's kind of like looking through a scrapbook.  it's often bittersweet to crawl back into those memories, to "feel" it again through the eyes of my younger self, and to know that i will never experience that piece of life again.

a few days ago, i came across one of my more recent posts, from just over a year ago.  to set the stage, i was unemployed, having been a victim of the recession.  steve and i lived in a dingy, dark apartment.  he had just graduated from college and was hoping for the best from a new job opportunity.  i was feeling hopeless and trapped, no prospects on the horizon, unemployment benefits quickly running out.  here are my words from May 25, 2010:

wow, what happened to the month of May?  it's nearly over, and i haven't posted even once.  the weeks have just been flying by, and yet i don't even know what i've been doing.  i had a "moment" yesterday -- one of those movie-like moments in which the song that is playing on the radio is just so appropriate to your mood and situation that it seems as if some all-knowing DJ picked that tune just to mess with your head.  as i was waiting at the drive-through window at the bank, The Weepies' World Spins Madly On played softly on my stereo.  i was so absorbed in the lyrics -- the whole world is moving and i am standing still -- that i barely heard the teller as she piped over the intercom, "excuse me, ma'am.  ma'am?  what can i do for you?"

this is my life these days.  i'm just here.  being very still.  as (what feels like) the entire world swirls around me in excitement.  promotions and pregnancies, new homes and opportunities, celebrations and vacations.  it's all out there, but i just can't tap into any of it.  and don't get me wrong, i'm not complaining about it.  i don't feel deserving of any of these things or entitled to them.  but in this period of waiting, i fear i've become numb.  i've been unemployed for eight months now.  eight months!  and i'm no closer to finding a job now than i was back at day one.  all of our well-thought-out plans have been put on hold -- they are quickly gathering dust as i sit here and wait.  i feel defeated, but instead of that "rattled" feeling that used to haunt me to my very core, i now don't feel much of anything.  i'm not sure if that is good or bad...

i'm still searching.  following leads and sending out resumes.  and praying that God will continue to provide.  but even my prayers have turned stale.  it's a strange sort of existence...

but despite my hollow prayers and crippled emotions, God is.  He is life and love and hope and peace.  He is unchanging and eternal.  He is my provider and keeper.  He is bigger than my circumstances and my melancholy existence.  He has a plan that far exceeds my own.  truthfully, i don't feel the power or the raw emotion behind those words right now, but i believe them.  and i will continue to hold on, even when that means sitting very still and waiting.

this post makes my heart heavy with the memories of that difficult period.  and yet, in hindsight, it's strangely encouraging.  exactly one month after i wrote that post, i was employed.  God knew all along.  He knew what i needed in a job and was preparing the perfect one for me -- and was preparing me for it!

i think the same is true of our baby.  steve and i waited a while to start trying for a family... and then when we did start trying, it took another year and a half to conceive.  it was frustrating and very painful.  eventually, i grew numb and my prayers turned stale.  but through it all, God was there -- even when i didn't feel Him.  i believe that this baby is the exact baby God had planned for us all along.  no other child would be just right for us.  God wanted to bless us with this precise little person.

i'm just so thankful for God's provisions today.  for His attention to detail.  for His grace.  so grateful that all of the little (and big) things that are freaking me out right now are already taken care of.  it's part of the plan.  part of our story.