Crazy three weeks...

I know you are all probably wondering about our house since it has been so long since I last wrote. Well....it has been a pretty crazy and stressful three weeks to say the least. First of all, picking out our own flooring, counter tops, cabinets, and paint colors is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I had lots of help, which was great, but I never imagined that I would have such a hard time choosing, especially when it came to finding things that were within our budget. It's funny that if we were to have bought a house already finished I would have liked it just fine no matter what was in it (to a point...I may have wanted to change a few things, but I wouldn't have worried about it much), but knowing that it was my choice what color of carpet we walked on or what paint color was on every wall of our home is a lot more pressure. I know I take forever to make decisions anyway so I should have guessed I would have a hard time on a house, but I've found I'm not alone on finding it difficult to make decisions when finishing a house.

Anyway, everything was finally chosen...and then we decided to finish the basement. We
debated a lot about it, but thought that it would be the best thing to finish it now and not have to worry about the mess later. That decision brought on yet another stress because then we had to decide how we wanted our floor plan, which was also harder than I thought. We have one of those hallway basements - long and skinny - and it is so hard to set up a floor plan with one of those. I'd bore you with all of the little details of things we had to choose and make decisions on so I won't write about them, but there were a lot, and I have decided that I will never build a home from scratch unless I have so much money that I can do whatever I want and not worry about it. I guess that is the biggest stress - the cost. Not the cost of the house itself, but of all the extras we could add in. The house is already really nice, but we wanted to add a few other things, especially things that would be so much easier to add as the house was being finished instead of later. But everything costs 'just a little more,' which alone doesn't really cost that much, but times it by 10 and turns into a lot! It was hard to give up some of the things we wanted, but I think it will make us happier in the long run when we're not stressing about house payments.

Now things are finally getting started. The framer comes in today, and as soon as the basement is caught up to the top floor (wired, sheetrocked, taped, and textured) all they have left is the finish work. We don't have a set closing date yet. We'll know more in a week or so, but we hope to be moving in 2 or 3 months. I know we'll love the house and we are excited to see it finished, but it sure was a lot more involved than I thought it would be. It will be so nice when it is all over.

Well, that would have been great if the house would have been our only stress during the past three weeks...My back has been aching a lot the last couple of months, which is a pretty normal pregnancy symptom. But two weeks ago (right in the middle of all the house stuff) I pulled my back - hard. I couldn't even stand or walk by myself. Scott had to stay home for a few days because I couldn't do anything but sit on the couch all day. Every move hurt, and even sitting still was uncomfortable. It was awful! We worried that I had really hurt something, but when things started getting better after a few days we decided that it was just a really bad pulled muscle. Since then I've been feeling better every day, although I still have to be careful to not do too much. I really don't want to have a sore back when I start taking care of a brand new baby in a few weeks.

Speaking of the baby, I am due in a little less than 5 weeks and it is coming up fast! I'm nervous about 3 kids, but I'm getting so uncomfortable that I'm feeling more and more ready every day. However, with all of the craziness going on we don't have names picked, bags packed, or a crib set up yet. Hopefully we'll have at least a list of names by the time he/she comes, I probably won't pack a bag until I'm in labor, and I don't think we'll even set up the crib until after we move. I did get some newborn diapers though, and I hope to go through some baby clothes soon to pick out a few things for a boy and a girl to get us started until we know the gender for sure.

Despite all of the chaos in our lives right now, things are still going pretty well. Katie and Jace are doing great and are starting to play really well together. They also fight really well together, but over all they have fun. It's so cute to hear them pretend in their own little world.

Katelyn is loving primary and I've recently heard her and Jace having their own testimony meeting. I'm not sure if she learned it in class or picked it up from Sacrament meeting, but it was pretty cute. She loves learning the songs and sings them so much that Jace is picking them up too. She's also excited for a baby to come live at our house. She told me the other day that if the baby is a girl she wants to name it Jasmine, and if it's a boy we should name it Tarzan. A little too many Disney moves I think. : )

Jace will be two in a few weeks. He doesn't seem like he could already be that old, but I guess that's how big Katie was when he was born. He talks all the time, even more than Katie did at that age, and says the funniest things. He's still doing great in his bunk bed and rarely gets out when he's not supposed to.

Here is one of the few pictures I've taken in the past few weeks. I pulled out my camera today just so I would have something for everyone to look at in my post. I can't promise, but I hope to have some house pictures soon now that things are finally rolling.