All the things!

That pretty much sums up the last few days!

We are FINALLY going to closing on our construction loan and purchasing our lot today!  This has been a long two months in the making, and everything has finally settled into place (knock on wood!).  We have patiently waited for my company to take ownership of the lot (part of a larger trade) and now we get to buy it from them!  Woohoo!

We have been getting everything prepared that we could in advance for this build.  We already have the building permits, our GC has ordered for Demco to set up the pole, the property markers are being placed today, and.....yesterday, we put the deposit down for our front door!  We had a good idea of what we wanted and were fortunate enough to find it.  They will deliver the door once we get to that point in the building process.  Monday, we picked out our brick and granite.  Yesterday, I sat down the guy who drew the plans originally and we made some (last minute) changes to the house:

- Changed the front elevation from stucco to all brick
- Adjusted the master bath to get six more inches of length for the tub (we're bath people)
- Added a place for a refrigerator in the outdoor kitchen
- Added a drop table to the island in the kitchen
- Replaced the microwave with an ice maker (it was below the counter on the island - easy placement for little fingers to press buttons)
- Added outlets in the floor in the living room
- Added a pot filler at the stove
- Added a gas drop to the outdoor kitchen (it was set up for propane tanks)

Next week, we are meeting up with a guy who specializes in stained concrete.  We have some ideas on what we would like to see in person - including the following:



Faux wood stained concrete in the living room

A design in the entrance

 

There are SO many things you can do with stained concrete.  And, the maintenance is so much lower than with wood or even carpet.

On a "sad mommy" note... We went to Ethan's open house last night - he starts MDO next week.  I was so amazed at how organized it is.  They have everything set up like a classroom.  Of course with two year olds, there is more flexibility since most are coming from a "stay at home" environment and not a daycare.  I am so excited to see how Ethan is going to flourish!  They have picture day in a few weeks, and have a field trip of sorts every month.  Plus, they go to chapel once a month - which I really like.  It makes me sad to see him grow up, but it is very exciting at the same time.

All of this going on really makes me excited for March.  I am anxious to be in our new home with our two beautiful babies.  I dream about those magical 12 weeks where I get to play "Stay-at-Home Mommy" and just enjoy the two of them.  I can't wait! :)

Prenatal Yoga

Why didn't I do this with Ethan?!  Who knows.

So, about a month ago, I researched prenatal yoga in the area.  I found two studios in Denham Springs that offer classes.  One was in the middle of a transition of owners and the other was right down the road from work.  They offer a class on Wednesday at noon, so I decided to sneak away from my desk and go try it out at lunch that week.  I absolutely fell in love.  It gave me an hour away everything and focus on me and baby.  I immediately grabbed the STEAL they had on Groupon and have been going regularly for the past four weeks.

What I love is that it's a small class - usually me and one other girl, but last week another two ladies tried it out (and, it was still an intimate class).  We start each class with a little recap of something good and bad that happened with us and baby over the last week.  Then, we move into the stretching.  We do some strengthening moves, including kegals, and then use the last 5 minutes or so of class to meditate.  After class, I grab a soup and salad from the DeAngelo's across the street and then come back to work feeling balanced and happy.  With the regular stresses of work and the bigger stresses of building a house, I need this time away (albeit brief).

I'm super excited to be able to FINALLY go to their Saturday class this week.  I have a video at home somewhere that I could use, but I don't really have a nice quiet place to do it at the house.  I wish I did because I would do it every.single.day.  When we finally get to move into the new house, I'll have that space for the final months of this pregnancy - which will probably be when I need it the most!

Two years old, so many changes

Wow.  It has been more than six months since the last time I blogged.  It definitely doesn't feel like that much time has passed.

So much has changed and happened in the last six months.  Actually, the bulk has happened in the last two.  Let's take a little trip...

Back around February/March, we had Ethan checked out for speech delay.  I even went as far as getting his hearing checked, just in case.  Everything with that test came back fine - as I knew it would.  The kid understands every single thing we say.  He follows directions extremely well.  Once we ruled that out, we coordinated with the Early Steps program to get him tested.  What we found out was that he did have a speech delay, but no delay anywhere else.  This meant that he was not qualified to participate in the Early Steps program.  However, they were very helpful with information on getting Ethan some speech therapy on our own - which is what we've been doing since the end of March.  He has absolutely flourished with Ms. Hope.  We have enrolled Ethan in Mother's Day Out, which will start in September.  We are all very excited to see how much more he opens up and improves his vocabulary once he is interacting with other children on a daily basis.  Ms. Hope thinks that we won't need her much longer once he starts that.  He is almost up to speed with where he should be as it is.

Back in March, I also got my first visible tattoo!



Uh, yeah it hurt like hell.


I absolutely love it, and it fits under the band of my watch, so I can cover it nicely at work when needed.  The "E" is for Ethan, of course.  I left enough room for at least one more initial, possibly two more.  There are a few meanings behind it, and I waited more than a year to do it just to be sure.  Dandelions are a symbol of childhood, and I can remember constantly looking for them in my parents' field.  I'd pick them and blow as hard as I could and make a wish.  In that same innocent spirit, Michael and I prayed and wished for God to bless us with a child.  He answered our prayers, and we have prayed for him to answer us again.  Which brings me to my next bit of news....

WE'RE PREGNANT!

 

See the baby? ;)

Yep!  Due March 25th!  We're having a Spring baby just like we hoped for!  We are so incredibly excited and cannot wait for Ethan to be a big brother!

With this baby, we are leaning towards finding out what we're having.  The main reason for this is because we are about to start building our new house, and will have roughly 2-3 months in the house before baby arrives.  I won't have all of this extra time before I get uncomfortably pregnant to paint and decorate.  Plus, with a toddler running around, it's highly unlikely that I will be wanting to decorate anything more than what is already there once the baby arrives.  Plus, I kind of want to know what the other side feels like.  There was so much excitement and anticipation with Ethan and not knowing.  I'm curous to know how different those emotions are with knowing.  Will I feel more connected to this baby?  Will my anticipation be greater?  I don't think that either will be the case, but it will be fun experiencing this pregnancy in a slightly different way.

Speaking of building the house...  We decided (for several reasons) to keep our first home together as a rental property.


And, guess what?  It rented out in SIX DAYS!! o_0  So, guess what that meant?  GTFO.  And, now here we are living with my parents as of July 6th!  Exciting, right?  It's not that bad.  It saves us in gas because we don't have to make a trip there every morning and afternoon to drop off and pick up Ethan, which is nice.  Dad cooks every night, so I don't have to plan dinner.  There are definitely some perks.  Plus, we're hoping to hit our savings goal by going this route.  A new house always means new things - even if you swear you're not going to buy anything new.  Plus, with this baby on the way, we will need a new crib for the baby or a new bed for Ethan.  Thankfully, his crib converts to a toddler bed & full-sized bed, so we'll have options.  And, who knows what we kept from Ethan that will need to be replaced.  I am praying that my breast pump won't make that list!!

So, that's about all I have time to talk about for now.  It's been a wild ride, and we are only just beginning.  I am planning to continue updating this blog with all the fun shnit that comes with being a Landlord (kinda - we hired a property management rep) and building a house on our own.  Oh, did I mention that?  We're not going with my company to build our house.  Oh, no.  We're doing it ourselves (with the help of one of our Superintendents).  Don't worry.  You'll get all of the juicy details as we go. ;)