Update on the Hardwood Flooring

Since April we have been busy hardwood flooring our entire house, along with painting, putting in new baseboards, and countless other side projects along the way. Todd has eagerly awaited the day that all of our furniture was back in place--and it has finally happened. Today was the end of the hardwooding (with the exception of the stairs) and we are so happy with the results. Our bedroom needs a little more touching up with blinds and curtains before we move back downstairs, but we were eager to go ahead and put some updated pics on the blog. Claire's room has turned out so cute and I know a lot of you have been waiting to see it.

My parents have been a big help along the way, and my Mom has come to visit on countless Saturdays and worked all day long helping with painting, cleaning, and whatever else needed to be done.

Riverchase Baby Shower

To catch up a little....on Sunday, August 3rd, a bunch of very dear friends from church threw me a wonderful baby shower. It was decorated so cute with animals (our playroom theme) and birdhouses (the theme in Claire's room). The hostesses did such a good job planning the shower and preparing food and decorations. There were so many people from church that came and we were definately showered with tons of gifts. Claire will be a very well dressed little girl!!! There will be no need for her to run around in just her diaper!This is a picture of me with the wonderful hostesses: Shannon, Hilarie, Whitney, Jana, Windy, and Rachel. (There were also a few hostesses that couldn't be there--Kortney, Michele, Maleah, and Stacey)

Summer Camp 2008

The last week of June we went for our annual week at Boy Scout Camp. I'm sure most of you have heard us talk about camp before, but just don't quite understand. This was Todd's 20th year of camp attendance (he hasn't missed a year since he was 11 years old). His brother Tim has been going for 22 years, and I have now been for 6 years (2 of which I was on the camp staff). I'm sure most of you have heard the story of Todd and I meeting each other at Boy Scout camp. We love going to camp and definately go overboard in decorating our campsite--which is what our group of young adults is known for. So here are some pictures of the site from this year.

It was definately very tough being out there in the heat for a week while 7 months pregnant, but I stayed the nights at my parent's house which was such a great idea. I did stay one night out there in the tent and my whole body was sore for a couple of days afterwards. We throw an annual party for the whole staff and it kept me out there until midnight so I thought it would be a good idea to just stay the night, but it was a pretty rough night of trying to get comfortable.

Todd, his brother, and their friend Ben all participated in the Triple Ripple triathalon this year and Todd was able to swim three miles in the lake in what was record time for him. He was really worried about how he would do having to swim three miles (he swam 2 miles last year), but he was able to shave ten minutes off of each mile from last years times. I am very proud of how much he had improved with a little swim training this year.

On Friday night, there is always a closing campfire and Todd dresses up in a bear costume and runs around while "The Bear Song" is being sung. This is a picture of Todd with one of our good friends Joey. As you might can tell, the costume was homemade by Todd and Ben about 10 years ago, it looks pretty good to me for two guys hand sewing fake fur with dental floss.

Father's Day Weekend

This weekend was busy for our family and we also had a lot of fun too. Friday night we went to a cookout for our Sunday school class at Josh and Rachel's house that was a lot of fun. On Saturday morning Todd and I went and picked up the crib!! That was definately exciting. It made us come home and work all day on finishing Claire's room so we could put the crib together in a finished room. Todd spent half the day in the attic installing the new fan in her room, then we put in a new closet shelf in her closet, and then Todd touched up all the paint and trim in her room. After a good cleaning the room was finally ready!!!

My parents came into town Saturday night and we took my Dad out for Father's Day. We had a great meal and got to show off all the hard work in Claire's room. After they left, Todd could not wait to put the crib together--it was so much fun and was much easier than we expected. That got us really excited and we moved a lot of her stuff up to her room (including her changing table that's been sitting in the living room for about 3 months now driving Todd crazy). Todd has been working so hard for months now to get the upstairs ready for Claire to move in and I think it has been very rewarding to him to finally get to see a finished project.

On Sunday we went to church and then ate at Todd's parents' house for lunch. His Mom had cooked a wonderful Father's Day spread for Roy that we all enjoyed. We both had a great weekend and feel like we are finally getting closer to being ready for Claire's arrival.

Update on the Remodeling

So we haven't posted in almost a month now. Sorry, we have just been staying so busy lately. With Mother's Day weekend and all of Todd's baseball game attendance the remodeling has been kind of slow lately. This weekend we finally finished up all the floor moulding and quarter round in Claire's room and most of it in the playroom and guest bedroom. Here is a before and after moulding picture of Claire's room.

This is just a good pic of the playroom. It has almost all of its moulding now (not pictured) except for a few pieces while we figure out how to make some kind of built in bookcase under the window area. Todd has been working very hard upstairs and I have been trying to help out as much as I can. After all of these rooms have been caulked and touched up with paint, we are on to the upstairs bathroom, putting all the furniture back into these rooms and getting Claire's room ready, and then downstairs for a lot more hardwood flooring!

Ultrasound Photos

On Monday we had an ultrasound and our baby girl took some beautiful profile shots that we thought we would share with everyone. She has grown so much since our last ultrasound a month ago. We could watch her kick and squirm while I could feel her moving. That was the best feeling! I was so glad to see what she was up to in there this whole time. I have been feeling her move quite a bit, but I just wasn't sure if it was turning over, kicking, or what.

Update on the Hardwood Flooring

Todd has been working on the hardwood flooring in the nursery every night for the last week and a half. It is finally finished, with the exception of putting the floor molding and quarter round back down. It looks beautiful!! It took working about 5 hours every night after he got home from work and cost him a couple of finger injuries with a hammer.

Tonight some great friends came over and helped Todd work on the floor in the playroom. Josh and Nick worked very hard and the three of them were able to do as much flooring as it takes Todd a week to do by himself. We are so grateful for all of their help!

Trip to Hilton Head

This past week Wednesday through Saturday we went on a wonderful trip to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Neither one of us had ever been to Hilton Head before and we were very pleased at how pretty everything was and the family friendly atmosphere of the entire island. Todd's parents invited us to stay in a very nice timeshare condo that was a very short walk from the beach in a great golf resort. We arrived very late on Wednesday night and got up the next morning and drove to Beaufort, SC, and looked at old homes in the historic district. Thursday, we spent most of the day in Savannah, GA. We took a historic trolley tour around town and strolled down the riverwalk area. Both nights we enjoyed a great seafood dinner and then went for sunset walks on the beach. We had a very relaxing time in Hilton Head that we both needed very much. We hope to go back someday and spend a longer time.

The condo overlooked a lake in the back that had many turtles, birds, fish, and an alligator. Todd was brave enough to risk taking a picture of it one morning while it was sunbathing. It wasn't happy and showed it's teeth to Todd while he was snapping pictures.

Tomorrow I'll try to post some pictures of the nursery remodeling progress.

Busy Weekend

This past weekend was very busy. The nursery now has crown molding, new outlets, light switches and the floor has been prepped for the hardwood to be put in. We spent Saturday morning at Camp Sequoyah (Boy scout camp where Todd and I met) helping clean up storm debris. The afternoon was spent at my parents' house. We visited Nick and Hilarie and their new baby Colson at the hospital Saturday evening. We went to church Sunday morning and had a great lunch at Todd's parents' house and even had some guests from out of town. We were back at church this evening and had a church supper afterwards.

This next week will be very busy too. The plans are to start nailing down the hardwood flooring and getting some work done out in the yard.

Todd is already a busy daddy

Todd has already been a very busy new dad. He has been tearing out carpet from the upstairs in our house, painting the playroom and the nursery, and getting ready to lay our new hardwood floors upstairs. He made me pick out the nursery room color yesterday, the same day we found out we were having a girl, and he is already painting the room tonight.

He is such a sweet husband. When I got home from work yesterday there were flowers, chocolate and a note that said "flowers and chocolate for my two girls." I think he is going to adjust very well to having a daughter.