Our Tall Tale Life: August 2013

Well my wish came true, the last 3 weeks have flown, if it isn't evident by my lack of updates. We did our Cali trip for Denny's 36th birthday, had Baylee's first trip up to Prescott, traveled down to Phoenix for Miss Maren's Bachelorette, all while madly working on the house in between!

Cali was great, Dennis got to hit the waves, although not the best waves, he was still completely excited and little-boy-giddish over it, and got to hang with Norio. We had our own little private b-day dinner at Sushi on Fire and had what tasted like the best sushi ever, a group dinner with Shawna, Matty & Nick (Megan was in France) at our faaavorite local place, Cucina Alessa, and a little brunch with Jon, Amber & baby Liam at our fav Sit & Stay Cafe in Huntington before we left town! Was awesome to see everyone. Baylee's first trip up was a success- he was on high hunting alert, and never took a nap the entire time he was here. Dad helped me hang just about every picture frame in the house.. he's always looking to be a helping hand, and such help he is <3 And lastly, Maren's Bachelorette party was a fun success! Lots of cute, customized presents, gorgeous decorations, food galore, fun times at the pool slide & toasting s'mores, and an awesome "panties game" to wrap up the night. After this game was played, it was completely obvious how well these two love-birds know each other, and how ready they are for a blissful wedding in Hawaii in just 2 months :)

Dennis has completely stripped the deck so it's all wood showing now, and lifted a portion to level it. We now just have to build new steps up to the deck, sand, and refinish, but need to wait for monsoon season to end before we can get at that! Looks amazing and 100% better. Trimmed all our tree's... the Maple and Apple tree took a few minutes with pruning shears... the Juniper pine took a few days with a chain saw, hack saw, axe, and pruning shears. Those limbs were damn strong and needing major re-shaping. We got our new couch and painted the den where the couch now resides, so that room is pretty much complete. The room looks like an entirely new house, and is so comfy, Dennis & I keep fighting our eyelids at night while cuddling up on it... a good and bad thing ;) I've been stripping wall paper like crazy next to the fire place and in the dining/kitchen area. The fireplace took a portion of a day... the dining/kitchen is being annoying and is proving to be a very tedious effort, but getting there. We want these areas ready to paint before we have the new kitchen counters & flooring installed, though we probably won't paint until after so we can best choose the color. We've decided to put a gold/white/brown/black granite called "Golden Sand" in the Kitchen, and we think we've decided on a Distressed Kinsley Hickory for the floor, which will go in the kitchen, dining, living, and hallways. Will be so nice! Now just have to coordinate the install for all of the above. I've also been growing our collection of nursery items (which Dennis wishes I'd slow down on until after the flooring remodel is complete... but hey, I'm in the nesting mood ;) Purchased our crib, mattress & pad, sheets, glider (awesome Craigslist find!), swing/rocker (thanks momma), a boppy nursing pillow, nursing pads, bottles, a sleep sack, and some clothes. But I really need to wait on the clothes... my "gender neutral" selections seem to be slightly boyish swayed. But that's ok because in ONE week, we shall know!!!! Finally!

The past 2 weeks have been incredibly busy. So much, in fact, that somehow between my Dr. appointment last month and this month, I found out I actually lost a pound :/ I didn't like hearing that... especially when seeing my belly really starting to expand, it just doesn't add up to me that I would be lighter than the prior month. I chalk it up to the move, getting settled in to our new home, eating healthy, staying active... and well, I still feel like I can't keep up with my hunger. I guess it is time to buy some fatter foods and just start eating a little more "junk" from time to time. Bring on the burgers, fries, ice cream, and brownies ;) I want to be at least 4 pounds heavier at the next appointment and follow this whole "1 pound per week" rule. 9:00am... and yep, starting to feel hungry already. I'm convinced we have a giant baby in there stealing all my nutrients!

So yes, we are now in our new home, and absolutely loving it. We feel so comfortable here, and soo happy to call this our home. We've already gone to town working on the deck (and Dennis stepped on a nail in the process), ordered a new couch for the Den (being delivered today!), which then lead us to paint the Den to be ready for the couch, and we have unpacked and put away every single box. We love the layout, it's very very practical, best utilizes sunlight at all hours, and we get the most incredible painted sunsets every single night. After Dennis feels "satisfied" with the Deck project, we'll probably start peeling wall paper in the Kitchen & Dining, and paint... followed by my most anticipated project: the nursery.

I'm starting to conjure up some paint ideas for the baby's room. If it's a girl, I'd like to either do purples & tans, or coral & yellows/tans. If it's a boy I'm thinking greens & yellows/tans. Either way, it will have to match oak furniture & giraffe/safari decor! 4 more weeks until we get to find out... eee!

In the mean time, we'll be staying busy (still)... we head to CA this weekend for Denny's Birthday, I think my parents are coming up the weekend after (and bringing the beeze-man for the first time!!!), the 24th-25th will be Maren's Bachelorette Partay, then Labor Day, thennnn we find out boy or girl & head to Sedona to celebrate 1 year of wedding bells :) I'll enjoy this next month big time, but... really wouldn't mind the weeks going by slightly fast so we can hurry up and find out...!