Pregnancy Update - 22 Weeks

This week was really fun because Charlie felt the baby move for the first time. I was so glad that he finally felt what I have been feeling for weeks and I think he thought it was cool too.

On another note, Happy New Year!!!! We are looking forward to an exciting 2012 and I wish all of you a wonderful and prosperous new year as well!

Basement Progress - Insulation Complete and Ceiling Up

More progress has been made in the basement over the last couple of days with insulation being completely installed and the drywall on the ceiling almost complete. Yay for progress!

Basement Progress - Electrical Complete

Adam was here this week and got most of our electrical done in the basement. It looks great and the lighting is so much better than before. Charlie also got the ceilings insulated while Adam was working so things are moving along great!

Hawkeye Basketball Game

On Wednesday, I had a ton of fun taking Adam, Raegen, Tristan, Tyson and Jabrel to a Hawkeye men's basketball game. (They were at our house for a couple of days because Adam was helping us with the electrical in our basement.) It was a first for all of us and I enjoyed cheering on the Hawks even though they didn't win.

Christmas 2011

Here is a non-crazy picture of us from Christmas at my parent's house although I think the crazy one does a better job of showing our true personalities. :)

Pregnancy Update - Ultrasound Pictures

Above are some pictures from our ultrasound that we had on the 20th. It is fun to look back at the old ones and see how much she has changed, especially since the first ones where she was basically a blob.

Pregnancy Update - 20 weeks and It's A....

We are so excited to announce that we are having a girl! We had our 20 week ultrasound on Tuesday and she is healthy and everything looked normal. Bring on the pink!

Our Christmas Photo 2011

So, we had every intention of sending out a Christmas card this year and time just slipped away from us. Because of this, you now have the joy of seeing our makeshift Christmas card which includes our ugly Christmas sweater collection. This is as good as it gets, so enjoy!

Garage Progress - Ceiling is Drywalled!

On Saturday, Pete and Ben came over and helped us finish the ceiling in the garage. It went a lot smoother with their help and we even have most of the drywall up on the walls. It is really nice to almost that piece done and soon we will be starting in the basement.

Garage Progress - Drywall is Going Up!

Over the last week, our garage has been coming along very nicely. We are actually hoping to have it completely drywalled by this weekend.

On Monday we had an electrician come by to clean up some electrical, add wiring for two more lights and add an outlet. That night we installed the four recessed shop lights and Charlie finished up the insulation on Tuesday.

Tonight we had the joy of starting to put the drywall up on the ceiling. We installed two sheets and had a great time doing it, especially going around the garage door equipment. If I weren't pregnant, I am pretty sure I would have a cocktail in my hand right now. The good news is that once the ceiling is finished, the walls should go up pretty quickly. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the rest of the ceiling goes better!

Insulation

We finally are at a point where we purchased insulation for the garage and basement. As you can see it filled the vehicle and that was only one of the trips we made.

Pregnancy Update - 18 1/2 weeks

Here are some pictures of me at 18 1/2 weeks. I finally felt like I started having a baby bump but just realized the top picture makes me look a lot bigger than I really am. All of our doctor's appointments to date have been really good with the baby being right on target and I am starting to feel the baby move quite. I think this baby is going to be a mover and shaker!
Our next appointment is coming up in a couple of weeks and we get to find out the sex. We are really excited and can't wait to share the news.

Basement Progress - Sump Pump Cabinet

Where's Charlie?

This week Charlie finished the cabinet that will go around and still allow access to our sump pump. We are making a ton of progress and more pictures will be coming soon showing off all of Charlie's hard work.

Thanksgiving in ABQ

Me with Kaden

Sarah and Kaden

Charlie and Kaden

Me and Sofia

For Thanksgiving this year, we headed to Albuquerque to visit some friends. We stayed with Karl, Sarah and Kaden Lindblom. Kaden turned 1 month old while we were there and I really enjoyed holding him. It was also really fun to hang out with Karl and Sarah again.
We also got to see Hugo, Jessica and Sofia Escobedo. Miss Sofia is about to turn 8 months old so we got to see two very different ages of kids and got a little glimpse into our future. :)
We even enjoyed a Hawkeye game at Spectators with the NM Hawk Club. The outcome of the game was disappointing but it was nice to see most of the regulars from the last couple of seasons. Enjoying the green chile cheese fries was an added bonus.
Overall, we had a great time and even purchased a crib and changing table on Black Friday. Who knew we would go all the way to Albuquerque for that!

Basement Progress - 1/2 wall in and more studs up

Charlie has been super busy in our basement over the last month and he has all but one stud wall up, the half wall is in, and most of the soffits are in place. It is a lot of fun to see all the progress and I can't wait until it is complete.

Basement & Garage Progress - Spray foam insulation

It was a messy process but we added spray foam insulation to the garage and the rim joists of the basement. Charlie did a great job and I think it is going to make a huge difference with warming our house and as a sound barrier from the garage.

Basement Progress - Studs going up!

This afternoon, Ben came over and helped Charlie put up some of the stud walls in the basement. They made huge progress and the rest of the walls should be up by next weekend. I love productive weekends!

Basement Progress - DriCore Flooring

Our construction supervisor was sleeping on the job.

The final piece is being laid!

Starting out

This weekend we finally made some progress on our basement after a little over a month of no activity. We laid the DriCore flooring, which helps with moisture/musty issues in old basements, on Saturday and it felt good to get that done!

We're Expecting!!!!

Charlie and I are so excited to let everyone know that we are expecting in early May! Today we heard the baby's strong heartbeat and lots of movement, which made us so happy.

Now, we have one more project to add to our remodeling list, getting the nursery ready....

Chicago - Day 2

On our boat tour

Views from the boat tour

The Bean

Marilyn Monroe Statue

On Saturday, we explored Michigan Avenue, went on a boat tour, saw a movie, and went to Navy Pier. It was a full day but a fun way to spend our last day in Chicago!