House Update - Framing

Our builder is making great progress on our house! We've been going by every weekend and taking pictures. It's so much fun! Today Levi and I had a "pre-drywall inspection meeting" which is basically a walk-thru with the builder to make sure the floorplan is right, the electrical and plumbing is in place and makes sense. You can definitely see the skeleton of the house and get a good feel for what it will look like. Last weekend when we went by we took pictures and some measurements...

The first several pictures are a time-lapse of our house going up. so fun!

The lot

Preparing for the foundation

Foundation and plumbing

"The Stick House" according to Olivia

How it looks now! soon they'll be adding the stone and stucco...

Now for a few other random pictures...

Dining room

Stairs! This is looking from the living room towards the front door.

This is our backyard and the back of the house. Look at all the windows!!

The view from our living room. No neighbors directly behind us! We also discovered today at our meeting that we have a lovely view from the upstairs...I'll have to remember to take that picture next time.

Soon, hopefully, we'll be drywalled and will have more pictures to share...today the builder said the house should be completely finished within 2 months! The whole process is very exciting for us, especially since we've never owned our own house before. Olivia is having fun with it too. She loves to go to "the new house" and explore.

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

Levi and I can't believe our baby girl is now 4! She's getting to be such a big girl. We often joke that she's "four going on fourteen" because she can speak like quite the grown up young lady sometimes. :) I'm sure all parents think that their kids grow up too fast...it just doesn't seem possible that Olivia is already 4. Sometimes I catch a glance at her and just marvel at the budding young person she is - no longer a hint of baby anywhere. And while at times it makes me sad (well, nostalgic anyway), she's such a delight that it's hard to wish her to be any age other than she is at this moment...

Olivia is very loving. She is generous with her hugs and will often tell Levi and I "I love you" completely out of the blue. She picks flowers (weeds) out of the yard or the park to bring to me every time she's outside. She is happiest when both Levi and I are home. She loves to read books - either us reading the story to her or just sitting on the floor by herself and "reading" them, and we usually make weekly trips to the library to keep her supply fresh. She's one of the most athletic/energetic kids I've ever seen...I can't count how many people have commented on her ability to run far longer than most. She loves being outside. She loves to wear dresses and skirts with tights....and then play in the dirt. She is very excited about being a big sister, and often will hug my belly and tell me how much she's going to teach Caleb to do.

Olivia is a really good kid. I can't stress this enough. She listens, she's polite, she does what she's told 9 times out of 10. When she's having an off day, Levi and I almost don't know how to handle it because they're rare. :)

Okay...now time for pictures of her birthday party! We had it at a place called Inflatable Wonderland, which is basically a big room full of jumping castles. There were 9 kids from her class at school there, which was a perfect number of kids. She had lots of presents to open from both friends and family!

Her "theme" was Rapunzel. I'm not certain if that's her favorite princess, but I think it's safe to say she's ranked pretty high!

This cake was supposed to be chocolate with bavarian cream filling. It was white with raspberry filling...which we didn't discover until I started to cut it after she blew the candles out!  Luckily Olivia didn't notice, because she kept telling everyone it was chocolate. lol.

Doing the Hokey Pokey! It was the only dance she'd play along with.

Blowing out the candles after a nutritious meal of hot dogs, veggies, fruit, and Kool Aid. :)

Lots of kids having lots of fun. It was a great party!

Olivia, Daddy and Mommy love you very much, and thank God every day for giving you to us. :)

Pictures as art

I have been doing a lot of planning for the decorating of our new house lately. I've opened an account on Pinterest to keep track of good ideas or things we plan to buy:
http://pinterest.com/charityj02/new-house-decor-ideas/
http://pinterest.com/charityj02/diy/

I've collected lots and lots of pictures in a notebook. And I've done lots and lots of looking online at DIY projects.

One such project I came across appealed instantly because it combined two things I love: using pictures of my family as art, and using Adobe Photoshop to modify/change pictures.  I wanted to share them with you because I love them so much! :) The process makes regular pictures look old-fashioned. For instance, I took this picture of Olivia:

And made it look like this:

So pretty! I love, love, love the effect. Here are some other before/after pictures I've done:

I have a few more, but you get the idea!

Again. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the way they turned out!Now I have to get them printed in a large size (Walgreens, here I come!) and buy frames. And figure out where to put them...I'm thinking either a hallway/entryway, our bedroom, or the staircase. We'll see! :)

In case you want to do this for yourself, here are some links to tutorials on how to do it. Also, you have to have some working knowledge of Adobe as well as the program itself.

Original idea & sample layout of pictures

Tutorial for how to use the special effects

Like the tutorial, I used this file for my layering. I don't know who made it but I'm thankful it was free!

If you decide to make some old-fashioned pictures of your own, please share them! I'd love ot see them.



Baby Update

Hello Third Trimester! :)

We're now a little more than 28 weeks along...and things are going great! I went to the doctor this week, and because of my MS my obstetrician is carefully monitoring Caleb's growth with ultrasounds from now on. Of course, I don't mind at all, since that means I get to see him once a month! I've been lucky with ultrasounds for both of my pregnancies - with Olivia my OB was one of my instructors so we had frequent peeks of her just for fun!

The ultrasound this week showed that everything is going well! Caleb is about 2 pounds, 12 ounces now, and growing very well. We'll be seeing the doctor every 2 weeks now for the next 2 months, then every week until he's born! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by!

This is a proflie picture of our little monkey...you can see the slope of his forehead, the peak of his nose, and his lips & chin. It looks like he's kissing his umbilical cord (the bubble-like objects just above him). :) In real-time on the ultrasound he was making sucking motions with his mouth. Practicing, I guess! He was also laying all curled up on his side with his arm under his head at one point...sleeping just like his big sister does!

We've also decided on a nursery theme, even though we won't truly be setting up his new room until we move into our new house. We're going with a jungle theme with brown, green, and blue. This is a picture of his bedding set:

Cute, huh? I set up a small registry at Target...mostly because the wonderful people at work are giving me a baby shower next month. :) Luckily many things we still have from when Olivia was a baby, but not boy-themed things. :) I don't think we want to put a boy in a purple butterfly themed room...

I also found this wall decoration idea that I think would be adorable in his room:

I'll probably paint the circles and just buy the animal decals. SO CUTE! :) I'm so excited to be able to actually use paint in our new house...

I guess that's it for updates. I don't have any new pictures of me, though I need to take one soon. My belly is getting so big!



House Update - PreConstruction

Levi and I met with our home builder yesterday for our official "preconstruction meeting," which was basically a time to confirm all of the selections we've made, look at the blueprints and make sure they are building the right house...you know, the important stuff!  He said they should "break ground" on Monday (less than a week) and that our house could be done as early as mid-May! So exciting!

I don't have any new pictures of the house itself, obviously, because it's still just a lot with dirt on it...but hopefully starting next week I can start taking progressive pictures. What I do have, however, is pictures of our design selections, so I thought I'd share those now...

Clockwise from top: 18in tile for kitchen/dining/foyer/bathrooms; wood floor for family room; granite countertops in kitchen; and kitchen/bathroom cabinets.

I know the kitchen/bathroom cabinets look black. They're NOT. They are "espresso brown." It's very dark, but as I keep reassuring Levi, they're not black. :)

This is a sketch of our kitchen cabinets and backsplash. The diagonal tile will match the floor tile, and the small accent tiles are metal. Both are shown below:

Our front door selections - we chose the one on the right. Our front shutters will be stained to match.

Light fixtures...the left side are outdoor fixtures and the right side are indoor fixtures. I think they'll be very pretty!



I have an idea in my mind of how the house will look when it's all done and we've painted and moved in...I hope the reality will be as nice! :) I have a "decorating" notebook that I carry around, adding pictures and paint swatches for the different rooms...I think it will be a modern-traditional style, with lots of browns and neutrals with a few accent colors, and wrought iron details. Can't wait to see it evolve! :)



Baby Update - 6 months along!

Baby J (henceforth known officially as Caleb) and I had our 6 month appointment yesterday...all is going well so far! It was a quick appointment: checking my weight, measuring my belly, and using the Doppler to hear the heartbeat. I told my OB I thought he was still breech (the head upright, bottom/feet down position) because when he kicks - which is often - I still only feel them very low down near my pelvis. My OB agrees but reassures that there is still lots of time for him to turn around!

Starting at our next visit (28 weeks) we'll have ultrasounds to monitor Caleb's growth, because of my MS. Thankfully, I haven't had any flare ups or problems with MS during this pregnancy, but decreased growth of the baby can be a complication with some women. At our 20 week ultrasound, he was perfect at 14oz (not quite a pound), so hopefully we won't have any problems. I am glad we are doing the growth scans, though, for reassurance AND because it means I get to see him more often! :)

I do have a few pictures to share...The one on the left is 5 months along with Olivia. The one on the right is 4 1/2 months along with Caleb. Pretty similar, even though they're 2 weeks apart! I guess that means I'm not as huge as I feel...

And apparently I like striped maternity shirts. :P The next picture I have from my pregnancy with Olivia is at 6 1/2 months, so I'll try to remember to take another one in a few weeks for comparison.

Christmas 2011

We had a great Christmas this year, and we hope you did as well!

Olivia was a lot of help decorating our house. She loved all the snowmen and pretty lights!

new baby doll - Olivia has named her "Nina." She feeds her all the time, and though she's not had a stitch of clothing on since Christmas morning, we think Nina is good practice for upcoming little brother! :)

A new bicycle for Christmas! She was very excited. It has a seat on the back for her baby (or kitty) and a basket in the front for her puppy!

She even has her name on her license plate! Stylin' girl.

So proud of her new bicycle.

Grandpa and Grandma (Tim & Kathy Lickliter) came to visit for Christmas, which was lovely. We took them to the Hula Hut for dinner. It's an Austin original restaurant right on the lake. If it had been warmer we would have eaten outside...next time! I think it's our new "go-to" spot to take visitors! Good food, good prices, good view!

Riding on the path. That baby seat in the back actually turns out to be a great hand-hold for Levi to help her slow down on the hills! Olivia is not a fan - she yells back at him, "Let go, Daddy! Let go so I can go fast!" 

...I'm thinking of investing in knee pads based on her love of speed. Maybe a whole-body pad. She hasn't fallen yet, so that's a plus. We've taken her on the paved path by the storm overflow creek in our neighborhood several times, and we're teaching her to "stay on the right!!" so she doesn't get run over by much faster cyclists...she still gets distracted by the scenery and turns her bike whereever she looks, but she's getting better!