OBX 2012

Living in a construction zone for the past 6 weeks made our annual beach trip even more sweet this year!  We had 7 days in a row where we didn't touch a paintbrush or a power tool!  We had a blast with  the Jones and Wolford's!  We celebrated Father's Day with Duck Donuts and then the boys went golfing.  We ended the day with a trip to 5 guys!  Bonnie made Sam's cute shirt and Charley's bows that said "Daddy's Girl"!  Charley looks thrilled about her bows! HA!  

 Sam got some Kiptyn loving...

 Go Cart fun!  Charley was still too little but that didn't stop her fun!

 Charley insisted on wearing her "womper"!

 Boys and the 1st born....(round one of our kids...ha!)

 Sam and Daddy came in first!

 Boogie Board fun anyone?

 Who's that hunk?

 This picture makes me smile every time!

 Putt-putt fun!

 Hole in 1!!!!

The last night we were there we went to the beach (where Sam rode in a wave all on his own), went to the pool, ate pizza for lunch, rested, went putt-putting, ate burgers, went to the sand dunes, and got smoothies!  When we got in the car after smoothies Sam said, "Now, I could do that everyday!"  I bet you could Sam...I bet you could!!!  LOADS of more beach pictures to come!

House Update Number 3:

Feel free to skip right over these posts!  Someday when Chris and I are grey I want to remember what all we used to be able to do...and how crazy we actually were!  

Chris is known to dabble in some electrical work.  Here is he moving all the electrical stuff (official term) from a florescent light to all the electrical stuff (once again...we keep it official here at the Dowdy house) needed for a pendent to hang above the sink!  

Still patching up the soffit demo.  He will have to build a small box probably from drywall to cover up the plumbing pipe at least above the window where it will be exposed.  

Taping the seams...

Cutting base...for the record he purposely posed like that...

 Dining room getting brand new base and 1/4 round!

 Are those cabinets I see???

 Where did he score this cute little helper???

 Is the frig actually out of the living room??? Listen closely and you can hear the "Hallelujah" chorus!

 You can see the "chocolate" in the floors here...

 Step one in cabinet hanging: screw in a mounting board for the wall cabinets to rest on.

 I literally sang Little Mermaid when I saw the first cabinet go up....AHHHHH-AH-AHHHHHH!  You can see we are currently using the pantry for a tool closet!

 Chris switching up the ice maker line...he dabbles in simple plumbing too!  (please ignore the sawdust on the newly stained floor!)

Cuing more Little Mermaid!  See the deep cabinet above the frig cutout...it's super heavy and I couldn't hold it in place!  Last post when I said Chris was doing everything solo I should have clarified that meant without any official "contractors".  We frequently con our friends into helping, especially with the lifting since I'm preggers!  Thanks Brad and Aaron for pitching in on the lifting of the heavy cabinets!

 We used shims to make sure all the cabinets were level...

 My main duty in the hanging process besides just to hold the cabinet in place while Chris secures it to the wall (they are resting on the mounting board so its not heavy) was to read the plans and use the level!

 As soon as the cabinets are secure you can take off the mounting board.

 No kids were injured in the making of this photo!

 Sometimes you have to cut the new cabinets (for example to fit in the plumbing for the sink base)

 The cardboard boxes from the cabinets entertained the kids for hours.  They spent at least an hour sliding down the basement stairs!

Baby Dowdy Number 3: Gender Reveal!

I had started "pinning" ideas about a gender reveal before I was even pregnant!  Of course when I started pinning I thought I would well...you know...have a kitchen!  Since all my craft items are still WAY packed we decided to have a very low key, "what will it "bee" gender reveal playdate at the park!  I mean we went very low key!  HA! 

We had our ultrasound that morning and in between my ultrasound and appointment Chris ran the "sealed" envelope (yes even Chris and I were surprised!!!) to Cam and Wayne and they stuffed the box with the right color balloons!  I happen to be the only one in Roanoke that didn't know there was a helium shortage and sent Cam on a wild goose chase!  Capt. Party didn't have any helium and LUCKILY Kroger only had the color balloon we needed!  If the baby had been the opposite I'm not sure what we would have done!  Thanks Cam (she had to go into work so she didn't even get to see the big reveal) for running around crazy!  If I had secret that I had to keep...I would pick Cam to know it 100 percent of the time!  Chris and I had the box in our position and didn't peak for a whole hour...in fact the only one that tried to peak was Sam!  HA!  

Team Girl in their pink!  (Chris and I decided to wear black and yellow for our "bee" theme instead of choosing a side for sure!  Charley talked me into a pink bow and shoes because she thought girl and Sam then just had to wear blue soccer socks! HA!  

 Team Boy in their blue!  ( I love that even though the Jones' couldn't make it they "texted" in their vote by picture message! HA!)

 What's it going to be "bee"?????

 The anticipation was building (don't worry Amy Jo and Kelly were on stand-by by phone!)

Can you see the sneak peak????

 IT'S A BOY!!!!

 I love Sam's face here...he wanted a boy SO,SO,SO bad!  We had prepped him all week that if there were pink balloons we would still be excited.  He kept saying over, and over, and over..."Momma I knew it was going to be a boy...I just knew it!"  I was so happy for Sam!

 BABY BOY!!!

Check out Sam's light blue socks!  

Another action shot!  Chris cracks me up!  

It was so much fun!  And we are so excited about our little boy! Sam is still holding on to one blue balloon in his room!   Everything on the ultrasound looked good!  Dr. Martin said he was measuring big but I have big babies!  At least I think 8.3 is a big baby!  Which is what Sissy was!  We laughed going into the appointment because with both Sam and Charley they told us with in the first 60 seconds but the tech kept saying, "come on baby...cooperate" and we started getting a little nervous.  It turns out she knew the whole time but wanted the "money shot"!  I asked if she thought she was right enough to "paint the walls" and she said oh yes!!  We  saw the "money shot" after the reveal and we are definite believers! HA! Any suggestions for boy names???

20 weeks:

How Far Along: 20 Weeks

Gender: Stay tuned for the next post when I post pics of the gender reveal!

Maternity Clothes: OHHH Yes!

Weight gain: 17pounds!  I have a feeling this pregnancy is going to be a doozie...

Movement: Moves like crazy!  Chris is able to feel Baby Dowdy move but the kids don't sit still long enough!

Sleep: AHHHH SLEEEP!!!  It's seriously one of my favorite parts of the day!  

Symptoms: Lots of pressure!  

Cravings: WATERMELON...Sam and Sissy are enjoying this craving as well!

Best moment this week: Finding what Baby Dowdy number three will be!  

I kept waiting until I was showered with my hair "all done" for a cute maternity shot....this is however my reality...and what I have looked like for 98% of this pregnancy!  This was taken about a week and half ago...its the best I got!  HA! 

House Update...and shout out to the world's hardest worker...

Chris and been working like a dog!  He joked today that he has probably put in at least 10,000 dollars worth of work just in manual labor.  He is probably pretty close to being accurate! HA! 

Before look into the kitchen: Make note of the floor and the soffit (the box hanging down from the ceiling that the cabinets were attached to) 

After: floors- check, soffit removed-check!  

 Chris started staining at 11 o'clock at night last Sat. (he is crazy)!  He finally finished up at about 3 in the morning!  He stain is called Jacobean and is more chocolate than red but the flash always makes it look red!

 It's much darker than this...

 Then he applied 3 coats of poly (with a sanding in between each coat)!  We let each coat set 24 hours being sanding!  Needless to say we had some vacation time at the grandparents houses!

 Stain+Poly!  Think again more chocolate than red.  I'll work on getting a better shot of the color!

 Than we protected the floor with butcher paper while Chris finished demo on the soffit!  You can see how dark we went here!

 Next up: Patch the drywall where the soffit was!  Chris had to make a lot of cuts but he "nailed" it!  No pun intended!

 Then you tape the seams...

 Then he put a thin layer of plaster over the new drywall!

 Finally Chris has his shirt on!  Every time I take a picture of him working and he has his shirt off he ALWAYS says..."don't put that on the blog"!  HA...has that ever stopped me before!  I'm such a rebel!

Someone asked me where Chris learned how to do everything..because he/alone has literally done every step!  Chris has always liked to have "projects" to take up his time.  I'm SERIOUSLY married to the Energizer Bunny...he can not sit still...it is impossible!  Last Sat. after he had sanded the entire floor (3 times) before he stained, we had about 20 minutes before we were heading out to meet friends for dinner and he actually fired up the mower and mowed half the lawn....he has crazy energy!
He has been on several "construction" mission trips and the summer after he graduated college he worked with a local contractor "flipping houses".  Basically the guy gave him lists of stuff to do on the houses with a brief explanation and set him free!  When he hits a "problem" (such as the washer leak or most recently how to cut an inside corner of crown) he honest to goodness most of the time just "you-tubes" (can that be a verb?) the answer.  It helps that he is a "problem-solver" by nature (I see that so much in Sam too and I love it! :))  He also is not afraid to ask questions...Lowes rocks!  (We are not being paid to say so...ha!)  I always tell Chris that if I were on a reality show where I needed a partner who was a hard worker, and I could pick anyone on the face of the planet, that EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. I would pick him...and I'm not lying...he is the hardest worker (on anything) that I know!  He always responds with, "AWWW that's so nice honey"!  Notice how he doesn't respond with, "oh I'd pick you too"...because I did not marry a fool...no I did not!  :)  So I know it's not father's day yet but here is my official "bragging" on my bestest buddy in the whole wide world!  We love you and are so thankful for your hard work on the house!  (ps...momma don't mind one bit that you still prefer to work with your shirt off...I'm just saying...:))