7 Quick Takes Friday


Thanks, as always, to Jen.

1. We had our house inspection yesterday and Collin was able to get in and take pictures. The inspection went very well; there are a few minor things but nothing major. Overall everything looks great! Our official closing date right now is November 20, but paperwork and such is proceeding ahead of schedule so we may be able to close the week after next. 

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3286555&l=ea042b656d&id=571261248

2. My 29th birthday is on Tuesday. Eeep! We have no plans to celebrate on the actual day, since we both work (Collin's shift doesn't end until 7:30pm), but I'm hoping we can arrange a sitter for next weekend so we can do dinner and a movie. I would love to see the new version of "A Christmas Carol" -- especially in 3-D!

3. Speaking of birthdays, I received a fantastic early birthday gift from my friend Rose. I'm wearing it at work today and am telling everyone that I'm a load bar for Halloween.

4. Speaking of Halloween, here's a quick joke: 

What do monsters use to drink their beer?

A Franken-stein!

Yuk, yuk, yuk.

5. Elanor has been asking to go trick or treat for the past week. She is terribly excited. William is excited too, but only because Elanor's so worked up. I'm excited too; they are both going to be so adorable in their costumes! (William is a cow and Elanor is Minnie Mouse.)

6. I heard a sweet song today, and apparently there's a video that goes with it. Check out here -- it's called "God and Dog".

7. Happy Halloween, and All Saint's Day! Remember to pray for the souls in purgatory on All Souls Day.    

7 Quick Takes Friday


Thanks, as always, to Jen.

1. I'm testing out the "post via e-mail" feature in Blogger... very impressive feature (once I get it to work)! It will make it easier to post pictures of the baby to my blog when s/he arrives.

2. We're going to a pumpkin patch/fall festival event this weekend. When and where, I don't know. Collin and his brother are organizing this excursion and I just heard about it last night. It should be fun! Elanor is very excited already... she wanted to know why we couldn't go today instead of tomorrow. If only, kiddo, if only.

3. Less than one month until we close on our new house! It simeltaneously seems so close and yet so far away. The inspection is taking place on Thursday, and I'm going to have Collin take a ton of pictures.

4. All is well with Baby 3.0. I felt him/her kicking me from the outside for the first time this morning -- s/he is a feisty one, that's for sure!

5. Collin joined the local Knights of Columbus chapter last week, and we had a KofC rep come over the other night to give us the insurance spiel. I received a pleasant surprise -- a gift of a new rosary, courtesy of the Knights. It's mother-of-pearl and just lovely. (Collin received a rosary when he joined, and the idea is to encourage family prayer.) I was/am very appreciative.

6. I'm having a very frustrating discussion in the Catholic Answers forum with a poster who continuously pulls quotes from papal writings completely out of context and then tries to claim that the Church has "reversed" Her teachings since Vatican II. It's been a struggle to remain charitable. Please pray for me (and him).

7. Collin found EGGNOG at the store last night! Yay! Let eggnog season begin. Soon it will be time for eggnog lattes, eggnog milkshakes, eggnog pie, eggnog ice cream... Mmmmmmm. I can't wait.

Have a great weekend!

All I can say is...

...WELCOME to any Anglicans who choose to cross the Tiber now that Papa Ratzi has given you a lifeboat. :)

This is great news.

7 Quick Takes Friday


Thanks, as always, to Jen.

1. The homebuying process has continued smoothly thus far. Collin's gotten all of the necessary paperwork as well as our earnest money to the proper people. Our realtor is out of town until Wednesday due to a death in her family, so we haven't been able to go in the house to take pictures, but hopefully we can do that sometime late next week. The next step in the process is to get the inspection done; again, hopefully something we can take care of next week or the week after. So far we're on track for our closing date of November 20.

2. I have to admit I'm not thrilled about moving again (especially not at six months pregnant) but it will be worth it. At least we can move in slowly, over the course of a month or so, instead of trying to do it all in a weekend. I may start some initial packing this weekend.

3. We are thinking we might paint the kitchen before we move in but save the rest of the rooms for later (e.g., when we have more money for paint and painting supplies!). The kitchen will be easier to do before the appliances (which we still have to buy) are in, though. Right now it's two different shades of peach, but I'm thinking I might like a pale yellow, or perhaps a warm gold. I've already reserved several books on interior painting at the library.

4. Collin flew to North Dakota yesterday for some male bonding time with his dad and brother. It's 30 degrees and snowing there. Ha, ha, ha. :) It's supposed to hit 100 degrees here this weekend! He'll be back Sunday evening and I bet he'll appreciate the warm weather more than ever.

5. Our trip to the Grand Canyon last week was a lot of fun. The Canyon is incredible -- pictures just don't do it justice. Here's one I took:



6. We also enjoyed the Flintstone Village in Valle, AZ. Here we are in the Bedrock Jail:



7. The baby's been kicking more and more lately. I love this stage of pregnancy -- the kicks are lovely flutters and not painful jabs, I don't feel terribly enormous, and except for being tired I'm pretty asymptomatic. Still, I'm eager for him/her to arrive.

Ultrasound news

My ultrasound went great today. Baby is 11oz and measuring 19w4d. Very cooperative too, but we resisted the urge to peek.

Here are the pics I finally got scanned in:



Here's a profile pic. I think s/he looks more like William than Elanor, but still different than either. Isn't it amazing that they can look different even in these grainy u/s pics?



Baby foot!



The baby with its hand up by its head. One of the kids (I think Elanor) gave us the exact same pose.

It's odd... up 'til my u/s I was having major girl vibes, but now I'm thinking boy. I guess I should just admit that my mother's intuition is broken!

Great news!!

As I mentioned on Friday, Collin and I put in an offer on a wonderful house last week, and we found out today that it was accepted! We are going to be homeowners for the first time!

The house is right behind our church --we have a magnificent view of it from the master bedroom. Great neighborhood, lots of small kids, close to good schools. 4br, 2ba, a gorgeous backyard with a firepit. There's even a cupboard under the stairs (if we make that William's room, maybe he'll go to a school of magic someday...)

The only drawback is that the interior paint job is pretty ugly (varying shades of peach with one accent wall that's red).  Oh well, we can paint. Elanor's room is not peach but rather pink and purple with a Disney Princess motif -- perfect for her!

We are so grateful to God for this opportunity! If all goes well we will close on November 20. Our lease on our current house isn't up until December 31, so that gives us plenty of time to move in.

The Return of Sanity

Collin's mom took the kids for a few hours on Sunday so I could have a few hours of peace and quiet... I think it helped keep my sanity intact. :) Thank goodness for sympathetic grandmas!

Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy....

Elanor is driving me crazy today -- throwing a fit if I so much as blink in her direction. William is having periodic "Demon Child" moments. My house is a mess but I feel too tired to clean it. Collin is working (this is the last weekend he'll work for several months, and all I can say to that is THANK GOD). Baby 3.0 is the only kid who seems to be behaving so far today. Oy, I wish I could have a glass of wine tonight.

Just needed to vent.

7 Quick Takes Friday


Thanks, as always, to Jen.

1. We looked at a WONDERFUL house last night... we are making an offer today. The location is fantastic; it's right behind our church! The neighborhood is wonderful and there's a firepit in the backyard. It has everything we want and is in our price range, too. Please say a prayer for us; we both really, really want this one.

2. Still no word on the short sale of our current house. Our realtor called the bank and they said they'd hopefully have an answer for us on October 14. I'm not holding my breath.

3. 20-week ultrasound is a week from today. Feeling very impatient to see the baby.

4. We're planning a quick trip to the Grand Canyon next weekend to celebrate the 1-year anniversary of our move to AZ. I can't believe it's been a year! I've never been to the Grand Canyon, and neither have the kids, so I'm looking forward to it.

5. My sister sent me a surprise gift today:



She is awesome! I'm going to use her sister-in-law's banana bread recipe this weekend.

6. I can't believe it's October already. Only one short month and a few days until I turn 29. Eeep.

7. I bought the kids' Halloween costumes last weekend. They picked them out themselves -- Elanor is going to be Minnie Mouse and William is going to be a cow. They will be so adorable; I just can't wait for Halloween!

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