Framing Complete

Dad & I finished the first phase of framing for the basement yesterday. The only thing not included in the first phase is the bathroom. It's just too expensive to put in a bathroom down there, mainly because I don't have a clue when it comes to plumbing! Anyway, I included pictures of the complete hallway, bedroom, & bedroom's closet. You can see the pegboard through the back of the closet. That is my shop area that will eventually be framed in by the bathroom, but for now I have a HUGE shop.

Hallway (bath & shop on left, cedar closet & bed on right).

Bedroom Door (Cedar Closet on left, Bed. closet on right).

Closet

Obviously I had some help while taking the pictures. The dogs have adjusted very well to having their cages moved to the basement. We are still reprogramming our command to go "Night, Night." They are a little indecisive about which way to go, until they see us head to the basement.

While Dad & I were working in the basement, Sarah & Mom were finishing things upstairs. Here are some pictures of Connor's room:

The dinosaur picture came from my room when I was a little guy. I think we got while we were living on the East Coast at a museum in NY. Sarah & I like it, but my mom complains that it's not at her eye level... It's at mine!!! HAHAHAHA! Love you all. Hope to see you & Connor soon!

Bobblehead

Okay, so I was looking at the Royals website the other day and I found this. It lets you load a picture and then turns it into a bobblehead. Sorry, Den, couldn't pass this up! Click the link for some actual bobblehead action. Be sure to click play on the music. It's Take me out to the Ballgame hip hop style, since that's what Den would have picked. If you click on download bobblehead, it will give you a picture that you can save to your computer. I attached a picture of it at the bottom if the link doesn't work!

http://mlb.xm.varitalk.com/bobble/index.php?i=dT0xMiZnPWYmaT1ib2JibGVfRDlDNDFDOUFGMjQ4QUREMjc2MzZENDU2MzcyNUE0OTYuanBnJml4PS0xMzAmaXk9ODcmaXI9MCZpcz0yMjkuMjIwNTIxMDA0ODA2Jml0PTEyLjg5MDYyNSZhPTYmdz1tZiZrPUQ5QzQxQzlBRjI0OEFERDI3NjM2RDQ1NjM3MjVBNDk2

38 weeks

We are getting down to the wire here people. Connor isn't due for another two weeks, but the doctors have said that he is healthy enough & big enough that he can come at any time now. Talk about living in a constant state of "Oh my gosh!!!" Every time Sarah bends over from Connor kicks at her femoral nerves, I keep thinking, "Contractions!!!!" But nope, just him kicking and making her uncomfortable. The last sonogram we had put him at about seven and a half pounds with two and a half weeks left. If we go full term, we're are looking at an almost nine pounder!!! If you've watched the funscan video, you can see his rolls and that was at like 32 weeks, so I'm sure he's chunkier! Everything is ready here at the house. The basement is coming along. The nursery is ready. We have a bassinet in our room for early on and his room is ready to go when it's time. He has so many outfits. We know he's supposed to wear four or five a day, but we keep looking at all these clothes and wondering how he's going to wear them all!

I planted some more cone flowers in the front. I planted the seeds, so they aren't up yet, but these are the flowers from last year that came with our landscaping. Grandma Dunivan described them as "impossible to kill", but I read that as maintenance free! They really have gotten much bigger than last year. Hopefully all of them will be blooming in July. I also planted some Coreopsis, which look a lot like daisies, that are yellow, but they're not up yet either. Both species are native to the area, so it shouldn't take much to keep them alive. That is my view of landscaping anyway, Keep it simple, stupid (KISS). Anyway, talk to you all soon. Can't wait to see everyone! Much Love!

Basement Update

Dad & I have continued to work on the basement. Dennis, the first entertainment room will probably be ready for you in July for the christening. Not sure how much more we will be able to get done by then. Stupid price of a stud quality 2x4x8 has gone from $1.97 to $2.34 in the last six weeks or so. That adds up! I actually did some price comparison this last time I bought wood and saved $10 bucks by going to Lowes instead of HomeDepot. We have framed in the Cedar Closet, which Dad is really jealous of the storage space. The storage closet against the stairs just needs some doors & drywall and it's ready to go. We also got our last three blinds, so now no one can see into our house, since more people are in the neighborhood now. Anyway, here are the new pics of the basement and the blinds. I moved the Chinese fan from the upstairs guest room to the basement... There is a lot more room in the guest room now!

Cedar Closet

Storage Closet

Basement Window

New binds: They come down from the top & up from the bottom, so the dogs & us can both see out.

Jeepster

This might not mean much to some of you, but this was parked out in front of Carrabba's yesterday and it is gorgeous. It is a Jeepster. It was Willey's Jeep attempt at a car version of a Jeep.
That's my big white Tundra next to it.

It really was in amazing condition. Not a speck of dust or rust any where. It did have some after market add on's though, a cassette player... Don't think they had cassettes in the 50's. Anyway, just thought I'd share this with y'all. I always wanted one for some reason when I had my Jeep. I just think they are freakin' sweet.

Here are a couple of pictures of Sarah at 37 weeks. It looks like the kid is starting to drop (someone told us he shows up relatively soon (2 to 3 weeks) after that happens).


We love you. Talk to you soon.

36 Weeks & Basement :/

We have reached 36 weeks. Sarah is doing great. The boy is still fairly active. We went to our baby class on our Anniversary yesterday. We learned some stuff, but I really think those classes our for people who don't have a clue in this world... Some of you will be surprised that they don't teach the breathing exercises anymore. They still teach that breathing is beneficial (Go figure!), but that women have their own pattern of breathing with stressors and painful that they know instinctual. So that by teaching another pattern, you are actually ignoring a breathing pattern that will be more beneficial in reducing pain.



We had to watch a video of a lady giving birth. They didn't show us the actual birth because I guess they've had guys pass out in the class from watching the videos... Sissies! The lady was a little unreal. After one contraction she said, "That one was unkind." Who talks like that? Not any normal people that I know. Anyway.... The class did give us a ton of signs to look for as we get closer to our due date for labor. Basically, what I got out of it was when Sarah says, "I think I need to go to the hospital," we go. Even if they send us home and she wants to go back, we go. No questions asked! She's in charge when it's time to go! At least that's what the class taught me and I think I'm going to go with it, since I won't be the one in pain.

I've been working on the basement with Dad. I've got some pictures of where we are so far. We have the South wall and the West wall done with one wall of the cedar closet finished and have started the storage closet against the basement stairs. We have also gone ahead and moved the dogs down to the basement ahead of time, so they don't blame the boy for the move.


Here is the plan for the basement. If you click on it, it will enlarge.



Here are some actual pictures:

West Wall



Storage Closet


Doggie Corner



Entertainment Area


Cedar Closet



South Wall of Bedroom