Knock em' down

In the midst of all this baby and pregnancy fun...we have been keeping quite busy doing other things.  (and yes, we will admit we are crazy, so we are on the same page and wonder why we do things like this...)  Other things like demolishing our guest bathroom.  Well, really my dad and Jimmy have been doing that.  Take a look.

After taking the walls/nasty tile down.

Continuing along with taking the walls out.  Bye bye blue tile.  Not sad to see it go.

I was there to make sure that nothing bad happened (aka something dropped and ruined our wood floors that were recently refinished) while hauling all the demo stuff out!  This was my solution!

And Jimmy, well he is the muscles of this group.  Here he is carrying out half of the vanity down the stairs (very carefully, as I'm standing there saying "please don't drop it on the floor!!")

And better yet, it was pouring down rain.  What a guy...even stopping to pose for a picture!

And here is my dad, the brains behind the operation and the brains behind the demo.  Here he is in the midst of it all with half of the vanity he had to cut to make it manageable to get out the door and into the dumpster.

Oh and then they started taking out the floor.  Which apparently is same 2 inches of concrete that was in our master bathroom, but my dad took care of all that by himself when we weren't there.  Wow.  Doesn't like that look like fun?  Jimmy looks a little defeated...

Here was what the aftermath looked like in the entry hall after the initial demolition day.

And I mentioned before that the tub was going to stay...well.  That decision is no more.  The biggest problem with the bathroom was actually the tub and that it didn't have good water pressure and it literally didn't drain - hardly at all.  It was embarrassing.  After Evan came over (our plumber and friend) to take a look, he said it would be best to take it out so he can get to the drain - otherwise he would have to go through the ceiling in the bathroom just underneath there.  So guess what happened next?  Out the bath tub went.  Oh the pictures of that are just grand.  Because it is SUPER heavy.

As of this day 1 of demo, there was just one small plumbing leak.  So that is good.

However, there was a bit of a mishap when the floor was coming up (I received a frantic phone call from Jimmy about it, but luckily it was Evan to the rescue and our house didn't flood...so that is good).  But as anyone who does a DIY project knows, I'm sure there will be PLENTY more mishaps.  That's the fun of it right???

Right...keep telling yourself that...however, there is progress and this was 2 weekends ago, so more progress was made this past week and weekend.  And we are ordering a new bathtub and vanity this week, so that's pretty exciting!!!

BOY or GIRL?? Halfway there!!!

After 3 full days of holding it it.....and now that our families know...Jimmy and I are very happy for our little baby to make it's first picture debut.  First, let me show you what we saw the very first time we got to see and hear little Baby Carter at 10 weeks into the pregnancy.

So small (at only 1 inch), but that little thing that was so small literally changed our lives forever.  I really wasn't convinced that I was pregnant (no signs, except those like 5 pregnancy test I took and the doctor's confirmation...).  But this confirmed it and that heart beat, well that was music to our ears and we hoped and prayed it would continue to develop.  And it did.  Because 10 weeks later, we saw this:

And it was something that looked like a baby!!  And it was our baby, even better, right?  It looks so big on the screen, but really still about 6-6.5in long and 11 ounces (so still a little thing).  But it has a head (2 inches big) with a brain, heart, lungs, and developing bones with arms and legs - all the important things.  I couldn't have been more relieved when the technician said everything looked great.

And then she moved a little farther down and got a few more shots...and guess what she found?  A little baby boy part!  Yes, that's right folks, I officially am growing a little baby BOY Carter in my stomach.  Which is so so so exciting and so crazy all at the same time!!! I think it's funny that she zoomed in.  Sorry baby Carter (I promise I won't put any more of these revealing pictures on the internet...but just this once because I needed the proof!!)

So there you have it...while I do think Jimmy would have made a phenomenal dad to a little girl (mainly because she would have him wrapped around her little finger immediately), he is going to have a little boy aka mini Jimmy as he calls him already.  He also calls him Jamal - which I promise will not be his name, but apparently he thinks it's funny.  Oh mini-Jimmy, how happy and nervous that makes me all at the same time.  Happy because Jimmy is a phenomenal man, husband, friend, and person.  Nervous because of all the stories we have shared with each other about the things we did growing up....and I swear if my kid is caught doing some of the things that Jimmy did when he was his age...well, let's just say he won't see the light of day for a few weeks - or months.  The good news is, we have a while until we get to that point, so my blood pressure can drop now!!!

But a boy!!!!!!!  I'm so excited!!!  I can't wait!!!!  

I literally couldn't stop the tears laying there watching our little boy dreaming and thinking about all the things to come and just how much we already love him.

Here are some 20 week bump pictures too...

(kind of embarrassing, but as I see pictures of myself EVERY week, you might come to realize just how boring my wardrobe is...all neutrals...but hey, that's life!)

How far along: 20 weeks
Size of Baby Carter: 11 oz and 6.5 inches
Fruit/vegetable comparison: Size of a cantaloupe
Total weight gain: At 19 weeks I hit the 10 lb mark and at 20 it was 11.5lb, whoa baby!
Sleep: Decent - besides the whole peeing thing
Movement: I think little moves, but nothing big.  We even saw him kick during the sonogram, but I didn't feel anything!
Unglamorous body changes: I guess the growing belly, but it has been fun that it's taken shape into making me look like I'm actually pregnant and not just fat!
Food cravings: None the last few weeks!
What I miss: I'm going to go with my daily 4 cups of coffee - miss that and the extra energy!!
Strange experiences: Getting my belly touched by someone else for the first time!!
Milestones: He has tastebuds, so he can taste all the food I'm feeding him!!
Best moment this week: Seeing the little mister move around in my stomach, finding out the gender AND finally - telling our families after holding it in for a few days!!!  And finally getting to say HE versus IT

P.S. Will need tips from mommy friends on boys - growing up with a sister, I'm clueless!!  It's a good thing lots of my friends have had baby boys lately!!!

To hold you over...week 19

All right, so I missed my 19 week post last week...but not the pictures.  This past Wednesday was the 20 week mark - halfway baby!  We had our 20 week sonogram, which was pretty amazing (more on that in the next post), but the baby is progressing great with its growth and all the things it needs to live are there (heart, brain, arms, legs, etc.)

But from week 18 to 19....I feel like I kind of popped out.  It's pretty crazy.   Take a look

By the way, this is a maternity shirt and it might be my favorite one because it works great with leggings and it was pretty warm the day I was wearing it and was perfect!  From Old Navy and on sale!

P.S. Jimmy made me pull my shirt back on this one so you can see the bump better - haha.

So there it is.  Tonight is the big reveal to our families if Baby Carter will be a little miss or mister.  Lucky for you, I'm going to set my blog post revealing it to post at 7:30....so be on the look out!!

I thought it would be SUPER hard to keep it a secret for 3 whole days, but it has turned out being not too hard (I'm good at saying "it" - even when people try to trick me and say things like..."Oh, did you say "his" on accident?" - and I didn't - or like..."so you said you are filling the cupcakes with pink filling?" - nope didn't say that either!!).  It has been fun and something special for just Jimmy and I to know.  And I'm glad we did it like this because I liked getting to see the full view of the sonogram and learn what we are having there and just the two of us.  Not sure why, but it felt special.  Everyone does it differently, but this definitely worked for us.  Especially when I started crying (just tears, not like sobbing) and literally felt like I was never ever going to stop because I was sitting there staring at our baby.  That's 1/2 me and 1/2 Jimmy.  And it was moving inside me.  It made me realize even more what a miracle this whole process is and how thankful I am to be blessed to carry this baby.  God is pretty amazing.

Built ins

This past weekend, we wrapped up (well, almost) a few of the projects that I insisted on starting before moving everything out of the office (which will become the nursery).  The first was in the downstairs family room.  Since we mounted the TV above the fireplace, it made the need for the TV stand obsolete, but we still needed a place to put all the stuff that connects to the TV and hide those cords.  In come the wall kitchen cabinets that I got for 20% off and painted white.

See them now??

But where are the cords?  Well my dad and Jimmy rock and ran all the cords into the cabinet...which we will eventually organize and utilize this storage space.  I'm sure there won't be any toys in here eventually .

The tops I actually had enough MDF 3/4" thick left over from the upstairs project, painted those and affixed them on top.  Now what I need help with?  What to do with the top part?  Maybe floating shelves?  Not sure.  Any thoughts?   Pinterest....?

Now onto the upstairs.  I wanted to build onto the already built ins.  And my vision was clear with me, but not so much with my dad.  So I kept pushing through and he kept wondering what the end result was going to be after I made him hang the TV and strategically string the wires/cords to behind where a shelf was going to go.

Well, it finally came to fruition on Saturday after I spent Friday night (so cool) sanding/cutting down the top sheets of MDF at 1/2" and glueing them and painting them so they made 1" topper to match the other built ins...and leaving exactly 1/4" on top for a glass topper.  Whew.  Too much measuring...but guess what?  According to Roger, it was perfect and he couldn't believe how good I measured it...coming from my dad, pretty much the best compliment ever.  Take a look (still need to nail on the front piece of trim that covers up the unpainted part and get some extra molding, since that broke off).

See, no cords!!

I also got a little technical because this is the area I want to function as our home "hub" with the computer charging there.  So I had them run more wire so I could easily plug and unplug stuff in and our very easily.  And when we need to use the printer (which is very rare), that cord is run down to the printer on the bottom shelf and can easily be plugged into the computer!  Jimmy said it was a stupid idea, but loved it afterwords.  Surprise, surprise.

Remember what it looked like before and then "after" and now....

...more recent after....

Updated after.....(again - with a few more finishing touches to come)

I'm loving it a lot and am looking forward to the final touches.  I am thinking of painting that wall...but don't tell Jimmy!!

Boy or Girl? As long as you are healthy!!

Dear Baby Carter -

As I sit down to start this post, in exactly 12 hours, your dad and I will be walking into the doctor's office for our 20 week sonogram to check out all your organs and parts (the necessary stuff) AND searching around the picture to look for your "junk"....or lack there of "junk".

First of all, I cannot believe that you are half-baked, meaning you are 20 weeks developed already!!  I feel like it was just yesterday when I took that pregnancy test the Saturday after Thanksgiving and saw the first 2 lines I have ever seen and pretty much lost it.  I feel like it was just yesterday that I was making a fun video with funny pictures to tell your dad that you were on your way and that our whole world was going to change for the better.  I feel like it was just yesterday that we heard your heartbeat for the first time and I cried - because that was all I wanted to hear, just to know that you were there and your heart was beating fast and furiously inside of me (and really the whole thing just blew my mind because I felt normal and my stomach had not grown at all!!).

But guess what?  Those days of having to pronounce to people at the store that I'm pregnant and that is why I need extra soft carpet (not the cheap stuff) because I want the best for the floor that you will first crawl on.  That's because I'm getting bigger and bigger by the day...and so are you!  You are supposedly about 6.5 inches already - which is 6.5 times bigger than the 1 inch picture we saw of you last time.  I cannot WAIT to see you again and start to feel you more and more.  These 12 hours cannot go by fast enough.

I'm also very excited that your dad and I get to watch you together in my stomach.  It's one of those moments that I know I will always treasure with him.  And while I know sometimes he probably doesn't think it's necessary to come to EVERY appointment with me, I think he secretly really likes it because he likes getting to hear your little heart beat.  There are those few seconds when the doctor is searching around for it that I feel like she's never going to find it and my world will be crushed, but then you show yourself (or I guess let us hear you) and everything feels right.

I'm not the most sentimental person (just ask your dad) and I tend to hide my emotions, but when I think about you, I cannot help but smile.  When we were driving to work today talking about ideas for what to name you (which by the way, that's very stressful because I feel like any wrong decision could like ruin your life, even though I know it will be ok!), I smiled the whole time.  Even when your dad kept saying if you are a boy, he still likes the name Rudy....even if that means you will be small and unathletic.  But I have a feeling that you will change me...for the better.  I have a feeling that your dad came into my life to make me a little more open about those things and I think you are coming to push me even more.  And I can't wait.  I'm just going to kiss you all the time - so get ready.

And here I am now.  Trying to finish up some work, but all I can do is think about how our lives will change tomorrow morning.  And how excited we are to keep it a secret for a few more days until everyone that already loves you so much will get together and we'll tell them if you are a girl or boy (by the way, Ben, Eli and Will really want you to be a boy because they want more members of the Carter boys club...but Libbie, Kenlie, Maren, Norah and Katy all want you to be a girl...I'm guessing so they can dress you up...).  Either way, neither your dad or I have strong feelings on what gender you might be, just know how much we already love you.  And how we pray every night that you are healthy and you have 10 fingers, 10 toes, a good set of lungs (no matter boy or girl, we're sure you'll be a great athlete), a good strong heart and a great smile!  Know how excited we are.  Know that we are going to take in the next 5 months as much we can and prepare as best we can for your arrival, but we both know that you will surprise us - in a good way, right?!?!  (maybe you can just hold the huge blow out a few days after you are born...)

But for now, I have to run to Quik Trip (my favorite) to get a coke.  Coke heavy, no diet stuff for you.  So I can drink it first thing tomorrow morning and hopefully it will get you moving around and awake so you will be front and center during your second photo shoot tomorrow!!  For now, sleep tight inside my stomach.  Milly looks forward to snuggling right next to you in bed tonight again!  We're excited to see you tomorrow!!

Love,

Your mom (and dad)

Babymoon adventure: numero uno

Randomly on a Tuesday or Wednesday a week or so ago, Erica and I were emailing back and forth and boom - it was set.  Erica and Andrew were free that weekend; we were free that weekend.  So that meant babymoon trip #1 to Omaha.

First off, I need to fill you in on this whole babymoon thing.  Since we just went to Vegas and LA in December...not planning on that being a babymoon and there are lots of other expenditures going out right now...I told Jimmy we weren't going to do a big ole babymoon trip to Mexico, or some place like that.  I really wanted to, but probably wasn't super fiscally responsible, right?  Well, then my friend that I work with went to Mexico for a few days with her husband for her 30th birthday and oh.my.gosh.  I completely regretted that decision after hearing all about her trip and the sunshine, food, relaxation and was sending Jimmy all these emails like "let's go to Mexico, I found some flights, etc".  While my poor husband is sending emails back to me saying "I'm confused...you keep saying we need to save money and you are the one that wants to remodel the bathroom."  Sorry Jimmy, I know I am confusing myself.  Because I kept thinking how this will be the LAST vacation we will ever go on when it's just us.

So here's what we decided.  We would take some road trips and short flights (if priced reasonably) to see friends, as we want to do that, but probably won't have time, energy or money after the baby is born.  And that's what we are doing.  Hence, Omaha became round 1 of the Carter Babymoon Adventures.

We left for Omaha early Saturday morning and got there around lunch - Erica and Andrew treated us to a delicious homemade salad while we scared the crap out of them with our day care stories....haha, sorry you two.  Then we searched for some Toms for Erica and Jimmy, which Erica found some, but apparently the entire city of Omaha does not have men's Toms.  I told Jimmy that was a sign.  And after that, to downtown Starbucks and went on a cold/breezy walk.

Then we had to head to the Old Mattress Factory, which is Jimmy's favorite place apparently in Omaha, to eat, watch the KU game and meet some of Erica's fun work friends!!  The food was good, the game was good and the company was even better.  Two highlights: Erica showing Jimmy an app on her iPhone linked to the juke box (luckily we'll be getting ours pretty soon) and getting to play photo hunt AGAIN with Jimmy.

The worst part?  I never took one picture...of people...without dogs.  Because I did take some pictures when we got home of the dogs.  Duh. Della wanted to sleep with us.

Della!

Me snuggling with Della boo 

Erica hugging Dieter!!

Jimmy and Della sporting the Royal's hat

 And finally - Della the next morning back in bed.  Haha, so cute!!

Sunday morning I was up early (as usual) and when I got out of the shower, Erica and Andrew were already hard at work in the kitchen cooking up a completely delicious breakfast.  Egg whites, fruit and hashbrowns. I felt like I was at a bed and breakfast.  They were pretty amazing hosts.  We had to get home that afternoon for a Carter birthday celebration (Granny, Ben and Norah's birthdays....) so that meant for an early departure after breakfast, but it was such a wonderful weekend with friends.  

Part 1 of the babymoon was quite fun and the drive wasn't bad either (Jimmy was nice enough to drive and I worked there and back, what a great guy).  Thanks again Wassinger's for a wonderful weekend!! Please come to KC soon!

Other babymoon adventures??  We are thinking maybe a trip to OKC to visit the Courtney and Brian (and steal baby advice from the OBGYN herself!!) and hoping to find some good tickets to visit Vanessa and Chris (and see her pregnant belly!!) and Katie and Barry!  Emily suggested we go to Denver too!  Can we even fit it all in?  So fun because now there are lots of little things to look forward to as we count down to Baby Carter's arrival!  In the mean time, we need to make a better effort to hang out with our KC friends too - ahh!!!

Friday Night out #2

So I mentioned a while back that we went out TWO Friday nights in a row, which is pretty out of the ordinary for us, which was really fun!  The first was out in Kansas City and for the second one, we decided to go on an impromtu road trip to Lawrence, KS - just about 20 minutes away.  I was having a craving for some fried pickles and wings from my favorite place in Lawrence (Jefferson's), so we decided to invite my sister and friend (Sarah) and made a night of it.  

Jefferson's was delicious, as always.  I will say that fried pickles and wings are a little better when you can sip on a beer, but hey, I lived, right?  After eating, we headed to Louise's West, which was a frequent spot we used to go in college when I was visiting Jimmy.  It's kind of a hole in the wall, but it has photo hunt (the naked kind, duh) and delicious bloody mary's.  This time, I ordered mine minus the vodka, and let me tell you....it was absolutely YUMMY.  I couldn't believe it.  And it was $1!  How's that for a non-alcoholic delicious drink.  Love it.  And we completely dominated the photo hunt and didn't leave until we had 3 high scores.  Typical.

Me and Sarah's back as we are completely focused

Girls picture!

Second girl's picture!

Next we headed out and went straight to the party, which of course is at the Hawk.  We were there early (of course) and it was a $5 cover.  But guess what, they didn't have change or something weird like that, so we all got in free.  Sweet.  It was funny giving them my REAL driver's license which states that I'm 26 years old instead of those silly fake ID's that are a thing of the past.

Since we were there so early, so got a killer seat in the main bar and waited patiently for the pine room to open.  We love the pine room.  So in the mean time, we snapped a picture, just for fun.

I am still unsure of when the pine room "opens", but Jimmy decided to check it out and when he walked in, apparently that was the signal that it was open because everyone followed him.  Lucky for us, he got a killer booth.  Major score in the Hawk world, especially when you are old and pregnant and need a seat with a back on it.

This was also when I made my first trip to the bathroom.  And I'm not going to lie, the whole night I was kind of giddy because it was fun thinking that this is where Jimmy talked to me for the first time in July of 2005 and now here we are five and a half years later at the same place, but married and with a baby on the way.  Pretty unreal.  So of course, just like when we were engaged (wedding word vomit), the word vomit is starting to emerge.  But this time is pregnant word vomit.  I'm so weird.

Here it goes.  I get out of the bathroom stall and a girl is washing her hands.  She looks at my wrist band (everyone at the Hawk gets them) and says "Oh my gosh, I love your wrist band...I don't have that one yet and am collecting all the different ones I get." (weird, but funny).  Then I proceed to say "Isn't the Hawk so fun?  Enjoy it - I met my husband here over 5 years ago and now we are having a baby!".  Random girl says, "Oh my gosh, how exciting!  Congrats!"  I mean, it was a funny conversation that I thought might end up in like a group hug or something awkward like that.  And walking out, I just felt super old.

Anyway - it was then time for more pictures.  At this point, it was starting to get super crowded.

Cheers to Lyndsay and Jimmy!

Sarah and I toasting (I'm enjoying my coke to stay awake)

And then my husband starting telling my sister how much I loved sitting on the top of the booths when we were in college.  Because it was just so cool.  So because we obviously knew no one in the bar - I agreed to do it once more for old times sake - but mainly because you still can't really tell that I'm pregnant, right? Haha.  It was fun, kind of.

Sarah having some fun with me

And then my friends - I hit a wall.  And since I was responsible for driving everyone home, I made everyone leave and end the night.  Because I was literally about ready to fall asleep at the bar.  But not before grabbing a picture outside at the spot five and a half years ago at the Hawk that Jimmy told me I was "hot" and that was it - completely smitten - haha.  But I guess it did turn out great!

Oh but we didn't make it out of Lawrence without the stop at Quik Trip.  Jimmy of course got the standard taquitos.  I got a drink and a blow pop and Lyndsay and Sarah walked out 6 donuts?  Haha.

Overall, it was a pretty good night.  And I was more impressed because I stayed up until like 12:30!!  Wahoo!!