Seven years ago today....

Hard to believe some days...and others it seems twice as long! ;-) In those seven years we've been through two houses, two and a half pregnancies, eight cars, two dogs, one camper and countless laughs. So I guess we don't have too much to complain about...except each other (every once in awhile).

Well...the family room is SOOOOOOOO close to being done. Dustin and I literally almost killed ourselves this weekend but it felt so good to spend time in our new family room last night and watch the kids dance around to Christmas music.

On Friday, Dustin and I put two coats of primer on the walls and bought all the trim for the rest of the family room. That alone took most of the day.

Then Friday night Titi had graciously called and offered to come over and help with the kids for awhile. I told her I would love to take the kids to the mall and an extra set of hands would be greatly apprecaited.

She came over around supper time and as soon as I opened the door I could see she almost immediately regreted her offer. If I could have thrown her in the house, locked the door and run away from the situation...I would have. Josh was having a SEVERE fit. I'm not talking whining and crying. I'm talking "throw yourself onto the floor, scream till your throat bleeds", hateful, hour long fit. Last week was crazy busy (partly thanks to the addition of swimming lessons) and he was literally exausted. Add to that his new "Kindergarten" attitude and his inability to listen and you have a disaster waiting to happen on your hands.

Thankfully, we made it through the fit and ended up going out to the mall. He totally did not deserve to go but honestly, I needed to get out of the house.

Saturday morning we were up and working by 7:00 am. Dustin and Josh went over to mom's to help with some demolition and I worked on painting 26 pieces of trim until they got home. I stopped to make lunch for the boys and Lauren and quickly headed right back down stairs.

I started having some braxton hicks contractions and figured I should take a break around 2:00 and took a quick nap. Woke up...and went right back to work. We didn't quit until 1:00 am on Sunday morning. It was, by far, the most exhausting day we've had so far. Then Sunday morning we got up, I made waffles and by 8:00 we were back working.

We quit briefly yesterday to feed the kids lunch and pick up some items at Menard's and went right back at it last night. Josh and Lauren totally got into helping clean furniture and rip up the protection on the floor. Everyone was so excited to see it come together.

I can't even begin to describe the amount of blood, sweat and tears Dustin and I have poured into this basement remodel. We have always taken pride in our home...but last night, between the exhaustion and frustration of the project, I was beaming.

I couldn't even sleep! I went down two more times after Dustin fell asleep to just look at it! Sad...but true.

Here are the photos I took this morning. Of course we are just in the middle of putting it all back together and, of course...it didn't take long for me to put up a Christmas tree or Lauren to leave out one of her toys.






You can still see reminents of disaster not far in the background and there are still some major things that need completed. BUT...you can actually begin to see the final product!

I have a dozen errands to run this evening but I promised the kids we could go play in the basement as soon as we got home.

I can't wait to start making memories down there!

Baby Update: 22 weeks

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.