My mom's visit

I thought I'd post a bit more about my mom's visit now that our Internet is working better (hooray!)

My mom had the great idea to come up after we moved to help us settle into the new house. Due to some construction delays and her being sick, we kept changing the date of when she'd come up. However, it worked out perfectly for her to come when she did.

She worked super hard but managed to take some breaks

We had a lovely after church meal at my love's mom's house 

My mom got to meet our adorable niece Jenna Grace

Getting some good Gramma practice in!

The road near our house, it turned into a Winter Wonderland while she was here!

We spent two full days working hard on the house, then went into town over the weekend. UAF had their annual Women's Christmas Craft Bazaar the weekend my mom was here so we enjoyed walking around and seeing what all the vendors had to offer. We went with my mother-in-law, so between the two of them, I was strictly watched and ordered to take a 10 minute "rest break" after being on my feet for 15 minutes! 

My mom was able to come with me to get the cerclage stitches removed at the doctor's office the morning she flew home. We did some errand running in town and got a few needed baby items. We also enjoyed a nice lunch at the Cookie Jar Restaurant together. We had a great visit and I'm so glad she came up! She and my dad are flying up for a week over Christmas so we're looking forward to introducing them to their grandson! 

A house becomes a home!

We successfully moved into our new home just over a week ago (Thurs, Oct 27). Even though we had all of our stuff inside the house, I knew it would take a while to get it feeling like a home. We lived without hot water and a stove for almost a week but it wasn't too bad. We got our old apartment all cleared out and cleaned and I was anxious to start my "nesting" at the new place.

My mom arrived last Wednesday night. She and I stayed home all day on Thursday and Friday and whipped the house right into shape! We got the kitchen all organized and pretty one day, then worked on Bobo's room and organizing all of his (abundant!) cute little clothes the next day.

Without further ado, here are some pictures of our new home!

Kitchen and living room, all pretty and ready for us to move into!

My love's cool flashy light truck with the trailer 

holding all of our earthly possessions

Our good buddy Eirik with my love - they were great movers!

Pretty new kitchen

Doing my part with the move - resting and directing!

My handy-man hubby put together this cool shelf for Bobo's room

My mom was such a great help to us!

37 week belly shot - all baby!

Living room

We piled all of our stuff in Bobo's room - temporarily!

Bobo's room - BEFORE

Bobo's room - AFTER

Isn't his room cute?

All of Bobo's stuffed "friends" are waiting to meet him, and so are we!

We are having some difficulties with our Internet at the house so that's all for now. I'll try to post more pics and an update soon. 

Happy November!

Wow, time sure is flying by...it's November already! I have been looking forward to this month all year!

We got all of our earthly possessions to fit in one trailer and moved it all over to the new house last Thursday, yay! Our friend Eirik helped my love move all the big stuff and I got to be the "director". I took a few pics but don't have access to them right now to post. We currently do not have Internet at the house, but that should be hooked up soon. We found one corner of the house where we can get a cell signal so we are not totally out of the communication loop! I actually don't mind being less connected to technology for a while.

We're hoping the hot water for the house and the propane for the stove will be in working order by tomorrow. I am currently over at our good friends/neighbor's house using their computer, where I also take a shower! 

My mom flies in tomorrow evening to spend 5 days with us. We are looking forward to having her here and she will be such a blessing in helping us get settled. I am a "nester" naturally, even when I am not pregnant, so I'm looking forward to having things in their places! For now, I'm concentrating on my "job", which is to rest, take it easy and grow Bobo. Based on my napping pattern yesterday (2 naps after not getting up til 10am), I'm taking my job very seriously and doing well!

We celebrated my love's 31st birthday on Saturday. He is very happy to have a house and kept wandering around looking at stuff saying "wow, we have our own house!" It was cute. We are excited to make it a home for our little family. Bobo is as active as ever and tries to find more space in my belly. He's running out of room!

I'll try to post again later (with pics) once we have better online access. 

Bye for now!

Most recent house progress

My love and I went and checked out the house tonight, it's looking great! Rather than keep posting tentative move in dates, I think I'll just keep posting pictures and when it's done, it'll be done and we'll move in! God is giving me patience in this waiting season (for house, baby, etc). Of course I'm hoping we can be moved in and mostly settled by the time baby arrives, but I know He'll give me grace if that doesn't happen.

Here is the latest progress...

 Beautiful tile design in front entry way 

Tile in kitchen 

Beautiful kitchen cabinets (and our builder's workspace for now!) 

 Porcelain tiles in bathroom - opposite of kitchen

Big darker tiles with light accent ones

 Me in my pretty kitchen, can't wait to create yummy dishes in there!

Look at that pretty under cabinet lighting, I love it! 

My love doesn't think I should post this (especially on Facebook) 

if I want anyone to come visit us!

This was taken about a mile and half from our house

And yes, winter is in full force here already! 

We woke up Sunday to about a half inch of snow. Every morning since then, there's been a bit more. We probably have a little over an inch on the ground and the roads are icy and pretty slick. I have a little SUV with good snow tires and 4-wheel drive and I drive cautiously, so I'm just fine. I don't go out more than I need to and just take my time. I'm feeling pretty good about winter arriving already. We had a good summer and gorgeous Fall, now it's time for winter. I just need to remember that when the snow is still hanging around in April! But of course, winter also means Bobo is coming and I like that! I can't wait to meet our squirmy wormy guy, he sure has been wiggly in my belly this week! 

So close!

Well, we missed our move in date last week (Oct 12th) but it's looking promising that we may get in sometime this week. Here are the latest pics of the progress...

Pretty new garage door

 Gloria in front of Bobo's room, notice the pretty sconce lighting?

 Beautiful kitchen cabinets

 Countertop in kitchen

 Beautiful tiling our builder Micah is putting in

(the bathroom tile will be opposite - big dark tiles and light accent ones)

 Entry way - there will be tile where I'm standing

Pretty front door with a touch key pad lock

 Friends having fun together!

Almost there!

My love and I went to check out the progress on the house today. We are quite impressed! I'll let the pictures do the talking...

My fun "accent wall" in Crimson Red (the door is to Bobo's room)

A work in progress!

Pony wall for island in kitchen

Pretty door trim

Bobo's room - hard to see the color (on left), but it'll be light green on three walls 

and a shade darker on one other wall

Our electrician friend Joe working on the lighting

Pretty lights for kitchen

Doors and cabinets to go in next week!

Sheetrock is done in the garage, they'll mud and tape it and it'll be done!

Micah and my love discussing things in the garage

Front entrance

Garage entrance

Pretty sky

This was taken the other night at our friend/neighbor's house 

across from our new home, beautiful sunset

Things are definitely progressing on the house! The laminate and porcelain flooring will go in next week, along with the kitchen cabinets, countertops and other fixtures. The bathroom was getting painted while we were there so I didn't get a picture of that. I am happy with our choice of paint colors, particularly the red accent wall in the living room!  The rest of the house is a nice neutral color, called "Writer's Parchment". 

We are flexible on our move in date. We're hoping to start moving stuff over in the next week or so, we'll see how things progress! For now, I just try to pack a box or two a day at our current place so it doesn't feel so overwhelming. We are excited to get in and get settled there!

House progress

It's been a while since I posted house pics on here and boy, have things been moving along!

When I left for Oregon in August, the walls of the first floor were up and it looked like this:

Imagine my shock and delight when I came back to this! 

(My love kept all the great progress a surprise as my b-day gift and what a gift it was to come home to!)

The second floor was all up and the roof was on!

The entry way was a bit scary, see the next pic for what happened to me!

I attempted to go up the "walkway" only to make it to here. I called out for my love to help me but he was talking to our friend. I waited about 10 minutes and then my love came and rescued me and help me get the rest of the way up! 

A little precarious for this preggo, but I did just fine and didn't fall!

Here's the "grand tour" of the inside!

View from front door - spacious living room and kitchen, all open!

Bobo's room

Our bedroom (there will be walls between ours and Bobo's room eventually!)

Window above sink in kitchen

Shower and tub in bathroom - the tub and toilet will be separated from the vanity area/laundry section of the bathroom with a pocket door

On the right: 8 foot x 5 foot picture window (that will have a window seat!)

On the left: nice window to see up the driveway 

Our new home, we're so excited!

Me in Bobo's room, dreaming of holding my sweet baby boy!

My handsome love

Pretty house (and my love's very Alaskan truck, he puts a plow on it in the winter and it has flashy lights, it pretty cool!) He designed the garage big enough to park his truck with the plow on it in there!

Our awesome and fearless builder (& friend), Micah

Deck with stairs going down to the garage (this phase only has external stairs to garage)

Core sample of what walls are made of: "Insulated Concrete Forms or ICF's"

Basically, they stack hollow styrofoam "Lego blocks" and pour concrete down in them. 

It makes super tight construction and provides great insulation for our cold Alaskan winters. 

The walls are about a foot thick!

Our pretty front door, I picked it out all by myself (well, with a little input from Micah our builder!)

Siding is going up and garage man door

Beautiful Fall trees on our 10 acres of land

My love searching for a cell signal, one minor problem out there!

My love's mom and some friends checking out the progress on our new front porch

Nice tension wire on deck to prevent Bobo and other small children from falling to their demise!

My love working hard, he was chopping down some trees that day

Hanging out at our friend and neighbor's hammock just across the way from our house! 

Just doing my part! (This was while I was on bedrest so this was the best place for me to be!)

There's a slight delay on the windows right now (it's always something, right?!) but we're still on track to be moving in around the end of this month! The well is in progress of being drilled and sheetrock and the ceiling will go up this week too. It's so fun to see all the progress on our beautiful home! 

This lil mama is so excited to get all settled and "nest" in the new place before Bobo arrives!