Ready for James

James has been given full permission to come now! I am 38 weeks pregnant and greatly awaiting his arrival! The heat and humidity definitely make this final stretch seem exhausting, but I am so blessed to still have energy and motivation. I am also fortunate to have my mom help watch David so I can run errands or go to my doctors appointments. She has the summer off from teaching, so it has been perfect timing to have her help during the 3rd trimester!

As I look back over the past few months I am so thankful that God took me through the roughest parts of pregnancy. I was very sick for nearly 24 weeks and didn't think that I'd have any energy left by the time the 3rd trimester arrived. I was blessed this time by NOT having gestational diabetes. Although I am worn out by the end of the day, I've really enjoyed time with David and playdates/lunchdates with friends, as well as not having to go to work (which I was doing while pregnant with David).

Shaun's new job is going well. He works the second and third weekends of the month, but gets compenstation time to use when he wants it. He had to travel out of town three different times, but I was glad it was sooner than later! No more travel until next summer :)

We've done alot of home projects since April. I can't even remember all of them, but here are some of the major ones that stuck out:

- removed the french doors to our office and converted it to an insulated bedroom for James
- repaired all evidence that we once owned rebellious dogs
- repaired the wall in our master bedroom after the 2nd pipe leak (only to have a 3rd leak afterwards)
- painted the exterior of our house (no more "icy blue" colors circa 1989)
- built a storage shed outback and de-cluttered the garage
- restained our deck
- lots of powerwashing & yard cleanup
- continued an ongoing attic project of installing a radiant barrier --too hot to finish at the moment

And...we had some unexpected mishaps along the way:

- David and I found ourselves locked inside the hallway bathroom (of course while Shaun was out of town!). After breaking the door with the ceramic toilet tank lid, we were set free. I managed to save the door, fill it with insulation, sand it, and paint it. Looks okay for surviving some major hits!
- a few trees fell over during a bad storm--creating major emergency cleanup
- needed a new oven and kitchen gas hook-up. Atleast now my casseroles aren't burnt :)
- a pipe breaking (third time within a year, and all within a 2 foot distance from each other) in our foundation on the 4th of July weekend of all days

We've spent many hours organizing and purging "stuff" that we didn't even know we had, then just had our house deep-cleaned by some maids as a "reward." It was all worth it...lots of sweat, help from family & friends, and some outsourcing of jobs that were too much to handle on our own :)

Now I am happy to say that MY NEST IS IN ORDER!

Here are some pictures of James's room...

Can't wait to meet the little guy! For now I will enjoy each day with the two other guys in my life...pretty soon this family of three will expand!

Rarely is David this calm...gotta savor the cuddly moments!