Week 27:

How Far Along: 27 Weeks

Gender: It's a BOY!!  And we are so, so excited!   We still aren't 100 percent on the name yet!  We are so laid back this go around it's not even funny!

Maternity Clothes: OHHH Yes!  I told Chris last night that I was past the "cute and pregnant" and now I'm just "uncomfortable and pregnant"

Weight gain:  25 pounds....yikes!  I only have 5 pounds to go until what I gained with both Sam and Charley...clearly I'm killing that record! HA!  

Movement: Lots of movement.  Chris and the kids can see from the outside all his rolling!   

Sleep: Some nights I'm up and I can't get back to sleep.  It's fine for now because I can sleep in late but I'm worried when I go back to work!

Symptoms: Some days I have so much energy and some days I have exactly zero energy!  Once again...school should be interesting!

Cravings: Does the Homeplace 3 times in 3 weeks count!!

Best moment this week: Daddy set up the nursery (which we are keeping the guest bed in there for now until we finish the basement bedroom)!  After much debate we decided to just use all of Sam's old bedding.  Even though it's not what I would have picked now (it's already 5 and half years old...crazy) there is something special about them using the same stuff!   Charley and I washed and folded and put away all of baby boy's clothes (0-6 months)!  I was in a complete nesting mood all week...I even have the bottles in the cup cabinet ready to go!  The funniest moment was when we were all at the grocery store and I went to pick up some Dreft forgetting how expensive it was: 

Me: I really want that baby smell but is it worth 10 dollars? 

Chris: Just use our regular detergent, you only use the baby stuff for a short time before you throw all the clothes together anyway.

Me: But I used it for Sam and for Charley for their first couple of loads...I'm a third child...I don't want to rob him of smelling like a baby...  

Chris: Oh Emily if you're going to worry about it just get the baby stuff!  

I'm so glad I did!  I washed all those clothes and while I was folding them I would smell that baby smell and I got tears in my eyes!  Best 10 dollars ever! Pictures of nursery to come!  

Happy Birthday Gee-Jo

Last Sunday we went to the Homeplace to celebrate mom's 62nd birthday!  I'm sure she is so happy that I posted that to the ol world wide web but doesn't she look great!  I'm banking on good genes when I'm 62!  Here is miss priss passed out with her shades on!  Ms. Hollywood at her finest!  

I mean really people....how cute are they... 

 and these two...

 and this one...

 waiting to serenade Gee-Jo as she comes out!  

We missed you in these shots Popper (that would be the littlest for now grandkid, Parker!)

Happy Birthday Gee-Jo!

Washington D.C.

"This past January Sam had a whole week of learning about dinosaurs in his pre-k class!  He loved it so much that we told him we would take him to the dinosaur museum (AKA Natural History Smithsonian) this summer!  Clearly that was before we knew I would be 25 weeks pregnant!  Last Monday and Tuesday we headed up to DC and had such a great family trip!  On Monday the boys golfed and Charley and I headed to Tyson's Corner to find the American Girl Store!  She loved it!  She didn't even know you could buy things so we just played with the models and watched the dolls at the "salon" and managed to leave the store without spending a dime!  It was a win/win for all!  

 That night we watched a movie in our hotel, went to eat dinner, shopped, and went to the hotel swimming pool!  Chris and I kept saying how much fun we were having on our little family trip!  The kids were great the whole time and then they crashed....

 Washington Monument!

 We made it to the dinosaurs!

 Sam and Charley loved the dinosaurs bones and the animals the most!  Chris and I both loved the "best of" photograph exhibit!  After a quick snack we were off to the Air and Space Museum!...action shot...

After the Air and Space we rode the metro (we parked in Vienna and rode the metro in) over to the National Zoo!  You will notice no zoo pictures mainly because it was 100 degrees and I'm 25 weeks pregnant and I was in survival mode!  We had a great time at the zoo (except the walk back up the hill) !   We tried to avoid the rush hour on the metro but we got stuck right in the smack dab of it!  Poor Charley was asleep in the stroller the entire time but we were literally packed in like sardines!  I lost count of the number of people who at some point were literally resting on my pregnant stomach.  Let's just say I'm a small town girl and COULD NEVER live in a city with that kind of commute!  

We really had a great time on our DC adventure (minus the metro during rush hour)!  We keep reminding Sam and Charley how lucky they are to have both parents off for 9 weeks of the summer!  We are so grateful for our family time together!  (if anyone wants to know how I survive soccer season...it's these 9 weeks!) 

We also tried to do a "budget" friendly trip!  I packed a breakfast and a lunch for the ride up and Chris got his golf round for super cheap off a website!  We only paid for our metro tickets on Tuesday (28 dollars) both museums and the zoo were free!  I also packed all of our snacks and drinks for Tuesday so we only paid for lunch in DC!  We splurged a little on the hotel room but it came with a super legit free breakfast!   

A visit with the Storcks!

We headed up to Williamsburg last week to visit with Amy, Greg, and Parker and attend our 8th Allstar  game!  We had such a fun but short visit!  We took Dylan and the kids had the time of their lives!  They went to the game, hit range balls, rode bikes (Sam made it all the way around the 4 mile loop), went shopping (I'm sure they loved that), went swimming, Greg took the boys out on the kayak around the pond (personal favorite for both boys), and watched fireworks!  And I got to do what I do best at Amy's lay back in the recliner and catch up on People magazines while eating eclair cake...it's a win/win for all!  

Checking out their pond...

Allstar game!  The West won!  Check out this really great article on Max!  He is such a great kid!  I love Chris's quotes!

Chick-Fil-A Night!

We met Cam and Wayne last night for dress like a cow Chick-fil-a night!  I kept saying how crazy it was that some white paper and some scissors got us 20 dollars in food but we will def. take it!  Sissy was so scared of that cow she was shaking!  We do in fact realize that Sam is wearing his sister's snow leopard hat but he insisted that it was white and black spots so it was perfect!  Chris drew the line at the black "mascara" nose!  HA! 

Cam and Chris are all over our "costumes" for next year so I have high expectations!  AND for the record Wayne this was 2 posts in 2 days...only for my most loyal blog reader!

Summer Happenings

Chris had just made a huge bowl of fruit dip right before the power went out during last week's crazy storm.  He flipped the soccer goal over and threw a blanket over it to make a puppet show stage!  I was seriously entertained for hours eating fruit and watching at least 50 puppet shows!  During the shows we kept looking each other dying laughing...seriously our kids are so funny!  At one point it was our turn to give a show and Chris had me laughing so hard that he made it so all my characters had to do was laugh.  Sam and Charley got to sleep in the same room with a flashlight!  They loved the power being out!  Luckily we were only without power for 24 hours!  

 The day after we had a working kitchen Charley begged Chris for sausage poofs!  They put Jerry's to shame!

 She also talked cousin Danielle into some dress-up!

 For the record...this is what happens when you have a 5 year old that loves to "play ball" in the house that is being remodeled!

 These are the only pictures of the kids from the 4th! Well at least I tried! HA!

House Update: Number 4

We are trying to balance working on the house with a little summer fun!  It's nice to be able to take it a little easier as we have more hours in the day.  Here is the latest update!  

Chris saved us $127 dollars by hooking up the dishwasher, $109 dollars by installing the over the stove microwave, and $75 by installing the garbage disposal!  He's pretty handy to have around!   Here he is figuring out the dishwasher...

 At this point we were still living like this...

 He also put in all new lights!  Here is the breakfast nook pendent light...

 Cleaning out the pantry:

 Sometimes little helpers are required!

 I pre-painted all the base and 1/4 round

 Due to the plumbing pipe (that we found when we demo'ed the cabinet soffit)  Chris had to cut out this wall cabinet to fit.  We like to think of it as "custom"! HA!

 Wiring more lights...this is the track lighting in the kitchen!

 Only we would live like this...

 Stocking the pantry...we painted added trim and 1/4 round...clearly we still have to sand and paint the door!

 and added clear, bumpy shelf paper for a clean look...

 Do I spy some granite!  Let's all get ready to sing...

 track lighting in kitchen...

 We liked how the track lighting favored the pendent lighting...

 Chris also changed out all of the plumbing under the sink!  This may or may not but def. did require 4 trips to Lowes!

 You know you are in a remodel when things like, "Charley that is not playdough it's plumber's putty" comes out of your mouth!

 Sam and Charley taking down the wallpaper in the half bath!  Let's talk about how there is 3 different layers!

 Cueing chorus.....

 We plan on doing a backsplash at some point but since we had the paint out we went ahead and painted it!  Did you spy Elli photo bombing!

 Sitting room.

 We are going to use the same stone for the fireplace as we had in our old house!

 The sink was actually an accident.  We thought we were getting a basic two bowl sink and we ended up with one big one!  We ended up loving it and keeping it!

 We still have to hide the plumbing above the window...we will get to that eventually!  We are just super pumped to have running water!

 Our accident sink came with these cool accessories...a cutting board that sits in...

 and a colander!  We actually have used both far!  It also came with a little sink base you can rest right in the big sink!

See how the hardwood doesn't go all the way to the fireplace.  That was in anticipation of the stone. 

 The little things take FOREVER!  Like all new base and 1/4 round!  Chris has to measure and make all the cuts twice!  It's a long process!

 We are down to some little things!  We would like to have the half bath and dining room done this week!