Riding in Style

Today was a good day for Matt, his dreams that Obama would help buy him a new car came true. We officially have a vehicle that will be "safe" for our baby girl. Now all we need is a car seat and a baby! :)

Just A Short Post! :)

What a nice relaxing weekend! Matt took some much needed time off work this week and we went to Lake Panorama for an extended weekend. We left on Thursday and didn't return till Monday. Thursday night we had the pleasure of watching Laura and Chris play some softball. Matt had a good time heckling them! After the game we headed out to the lake with Mom and Dad. Friday was a BEAUTIFUL day. We took advantage of every moment and spent most the day on the lake. The evening was perfect for a fire and some SMORES. Saturday Matt and I enjoyed some of Panora's finest and watched the Cardinals game. Sunday we were lakeside for another beautiful day! We got to see Katie and Grandma and enjoyed some BBQ with them! The dogs even enjoyed a Sunday night ride in the boat! Sadly we returned to real life on Monday.

I went to the doctor today. All is good. I am up one pound again. The doctor thought that I would end up loosing a few pounds as school starts and I am more busy. She said nothing to worry about. Baby is growing and probably weighs about 5 pounds. Hopefully she doesn't gain too much weight between now and September 25th! We want a small babe with a small head. :) We have an ultrasound Aug 17th (that is also the first day of school). We are looking forward to one last peek before we see her face to face!

Getting Closer

Last weekend Mom came down for my baby shower! We had a nice time with family and friends. Many generous gifts and LOTS of PINK! After the baby shower Mom and Charlene helped me find a place for all of the gifts and helped cut the endless tags off of the adorable outfits. It was nice to have their help. Mom even matched every sock with its pair and put them together after they came out of the dryer! :) I told her I would be thanking her when I had a screaming baby that needed socks on its feet!

The baby's room is getting closer to being finished! The last time I was in Des Moines Mom and I found the cutest bed set for the crib. I brought it home and it looks perfect in the yellow room. I am so happy that I don't have to repaint! After getting the mobile, changing table items, and rug to match, it really made the room look nice! Matt and I just need to purchase a mattress for the crib and I need to decide what I want to put on the walls and it will be done. Matt and I often walk by the room that has changed so drastically over the last few weeks and we feel that we are waiting on a new roommate to move in, a funny and surreal feeling! :)

We are headed to Des Moines for one last lake weekend before we become a family of 5! (We have to count Patches and Rylie, too) We finished our "Birthing Classes" last night. We feel more comfortable with what is to come. It was very educational and hopefully we can use what we learned to have a speedy delivery! We have about 7 1/2 weeks left!

I thought I would end this with a picture of curious Rylie, she doesn't know what is about to hit her! (Patches was sniffing over the bouncer too but I couldn't snap the picture before she ran off!)

Love you all!

Putting the Pieces Together

Well... we sold the twin bed on Friday and the baby's furniture arrived on Thursday, needless to say I was extremely excited to get started putting the pieces together. When the Cardinals sadly started to loose today Matt decided he would start with the crib! I added some pictures of the process, as you can see Rylie was very interested and wanted to be a part of the WHOLE process. She sat with us in the room the entire time. Providing Matt with many kisses as he concentrated on the directions.

Due to Matt's incredible patience and attention to detail the crib went together well. It really didn't take too long and I was really happy to be his assistant. Holding pieces whenever he needed it. Below is the finished product! It looks really nice in the room. We just can't wait to get a mattress and some bedding! :) Because the crib was fairly easy to put together Matt decided he would try one more piece before relaxing. We got on such a roll that now baby furniture is all put together and moved into the room! It only took us about an hour and a half to put the dresser and changing table together. The room is a little more cramped than we thought it was going to be but I think it looks good!

And All Is Good!

I went to the doctor yesterday and had a good report. I measure at 29 weeks, so for all of you saying I don't look 7 months pregnant... I am! I have officially gained 1 lb and my blood pressure was down! YEAH! I will start to go every two weeks now and August 17 is my next ultrasound.

We had a great time in Iowa over the 4th despite the crummy weather. We have a wedding this weekend and I think I have a buyer for the twin bed. Just in time for the new baby furniture to arrive. It looks like Matt will have to put it together sooner than he thought. Last night I made him go through his closets... wow that boy had some clothes! The closet in the baby's room is almost empty and ready for baby things!

That is all for now! I be back in Iowa in less than two weeks now! 11 Weeks to go! Love you all!

"How are you feeling?"

This has been a very common question lately and I thought I would address it on our blog. :) I am feeling great! I don't really feel pregnant unless I am walking a long distance... I run out of breath quickly! :) Oh and I forgot to mention that I still gag when I eat meat at home. I don't know why, I just can't do it. Matt says and I quote, "I think you have gone back to being an eight year old... you eat macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese and spaghetti with Parmesan cheese and toast!" That is not totally true but close! I can't wait to cook a meal at home and eat it too! :)

We finally registered a couple of weeks ago. We ended up registering at Target and Babies R Us. A word to the wise if you are trying to look at the Babies R Us registry, don't type in the city, just type in our last name and one of our first names. Registering with Matt was fun. He was so interested in everything and was really good about making sure all of our big items were gender neutral. :) He even picked out the diaper bag so it wouldn't look like a purse and he would carry it!

The house doesn't have that "For Sale" sign out front yet. The window project has been extremely frustrating and long. I think we are close to finishing it, so hopefully by July our house will be on the market. Pray that we sell it for enough to cover all of the Realtor fees and everything else plus enough to put down on a new house. Oh yeah... and that we sell before the baby arrives. Am I asking for too much?

Well, 13 weeks to go. I hope they go quicker than the first 13! I know that I am wishing away time but we are just so excited to hold our little baby girl in our arms!

Exhaustion!

Oh boy, am I tired!

Wednesday we had some toilet issues and we haven't had the mechanical use of our toilet since then. We have been using the ole' dump a bucket of water down the bowl method. Dave came over today to fix the problem and ended up replacing the entire toilet. Of course 18 Steeplechase was not nice to him and there were a few issues and at least one trip to TrueValue but the toilet is in. (No, I was not the first to use the toilet this time.... a blast from my very distant past! :))

Matt stained the deck today so that makes letting the pups go to the bathroom difficult but what a sacrifice! The deck looks really nice!

While Matt worked on the deck I worked on the front window. We bought some sandpaper and I went to town sanding all of the old paint off. I think the window has been repainted at least 3 or 4 times without sanding so this is NOT an easy task! When Matt came in from staining he picked up a piece of sandpaper and started to help. I had to laugh because he got 1/4th of a window pane done and he was looking for a power tool that could do the job quicker! I laughed because it made me think of Tim the Tool Man and his manly grunt. I do have to admit though that it will make the window project go quicker.

Now, we are off to Schnucks to buy our weekly groceries and then we will call it a day. For those of you that know us well this was not a typical day at the Lucas household! With a little TLC and elbow greese we will get this house looking sharp and ready for the FOR SALE sign.

LOVE and MISS you all!