A Full Plate

This week has brought on quite a bit of stress for Josh and I! On Sunday we found out that the rental we are in is going into foreclosure due to our landlord not paying the mortgage. The house will go to auction in August (within a week of my due date) and we were suppose to rent through January 2010. For us this means that we need to find a new rental, one that will rent to us for less than a year, and move within the next month or so! I can't believe that we are going to be packing up all our belongings and moving for the third time in two years. I feel like I am in college again and moving every few months :-) I try to keep a positive attitude about the whole situation. Looks like we may have to move within a couple days of Josh's final project for the term being due. And if you have heard...the last week or two before his final project is always stressful for him. To top it off my nesting instincts have kicked in and all I want to do it get the boys rooms all set up and ready! Fighting my type A personality traits is a challenge :-)

On top of it we are working through the permit process for our home and ramping up to start the construction! Super exciting, but stressful none the less.

Last week I also started to feel some light contractions, very similar to what I felt with Grant at this stage. I have had to make a huge effort to keep my stress in check, rest and drink plenty of water. At this point my doctor isn't worried about the contractions saying that they are very normal in a second pregnancy at this stage. I feel so much better knowing that she isn't concerned right now. I can't imagine going on bed rest this summer with all we have going on. Please keep us in your prayers for a full-term pregnancy and no pre-term labor.

On a lighter note, Josh and I had a wonderful night out for our 9 year anniversary last night. We dined at A Cena in Sellwood...which was amazing. Seriously I haven't enjoyed a meal out that much in a long time. We had a fun time talking about the exciting (yet somewhat stressful) things we having going on right now and debating baby names! Really it comes down to two names we both like, but each of us has a slight preference for one. How do we decide? I suggested a vote by friends :-) We shall see. We know the middle name will be John, but it the first name is still unknown.

Looks like this weekend will be beautiful and I can't wait. Sunshine always makes life feel brighter!

The First Major Step....

Today we went to the City of Portland and submitted our demolition and building permit plans for our house on SW 54th! On our way downtown, Josh and I realized that we have almost owned the property for two years now....WOW...time flies! Designing your own home from a blank piece of paper is a BIG task, but we are excited to finally be making major steps towards getting the construction process started.

The City actually issued us the permits to demolish the existing house and pool (yes, I lost that battle) today and we should expect to hear from them as to when we'll be issued a building permit by April 29th. Typically building permits take from 10-15 working days to issue. Lets hope they are true to their word!

I am looking forward to keeping track of our home building journey via blog and photos!

Sunny Day Fun!

The last two days have been sunny and bright in Oregon...we took full advantage of them too!

On Monday we went to The fountain in Lake Oswego and then to Foothills Park with Taylor and Leanne Forseth.

On Tuesday we met up with Ethan & April Baker as well as Emma, Sophia and Kirsten Carnese at Commonwealth Park in Beaverton. It was a cute park that I had never been to before...there was a big pond and the kids had a blast feeding the ducks. I had to convince Grant that the ducks didn't need to eat a whole bagel at a time and that the fun would last longer if he gave them smaller bites.

We could get use to this sunny weather!

Fruit Blossom Train Excursion

For the last couple weeks, Grant could not stop talking about the ride we were going to take on the Fruit Blossom Train out of Hood River. Saturday was the day of the big ride and Grant said that it was a "Very Special Day and the air was fresh." We met my parents in Troutdale and headed to meet the 3:30 train out of Hood River to Parkdale, OR where there was to be an art and jazz festival.

Once on board the train, we were in for an hour and a half ride there and the same on the return trip. Grant did not tire of the ride for a minute. The train whistle was a little loud for him so he spent a lot of the time with his hands over his ears!

But for the most part he just rested his head on the window sill of the train and watched everything go by.......We were surprised to find that the art & jazz festival was two guys with guitars and 4 small booths selling tie-die shirts and dream catchers. Not really the "festival" I had envisioned, but after seeing the size of Parkdale, it was in scale. At the stop over in Parkdale, Grant needed to check out the engine to make sure everything was ok and was invited by the engineer into the main engine. A little boys dream!!!

On the ride home, Grant spent lots of time in the open air caboose...we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day for a train ride.

"Rest Time"

Grant's naps are a thing of the past...however he is still very good at taking a "rest" in his room. I never know how I will find him when I open the door and today this is the scene! He told me he was just reading his bible for Vacation Bible School. Must be more comfortable to study the bible sans pants and underwear!

Extra Prayers

Each night before bed we say prayers with Grant. Sometimes he wants to say them himself, but most of the time he wants me to say the prayer. After Josh and I volunteered at Doernbecher Children's Cancer Unit, it was heavy on my heart to pray with Grant for the sick kids. Especially two that I had met personally that night, Mesa and Adrianna. So in our nightly prayers I prayed for them and explained to Grant who they were.

Today he asked about my sick friends at the hospital and wanted to be reminded of their names. At bedtime again tonight he specifically asked to pray for the sick kids who are mommies friends. I said the prayer, tucked Grant in and happened to be lingering in the hall once the door was shut. I could hear him talking and did a little ease dropping. He was in his bed saying a prayer to God for those sick kids in the hospital, mommies friends Mesa and Adrianna. He wanted them to get better so they wouldn't have to get pokes.

Could a mom be any more proud of a 3 year old who says an extra prayer for sick kids he doesn't even know? I don't think so.......he never ceases to melt my heart!

A Visit From the Easter Bunny

This was the first year that Grant was super excited for a visit from the Easter Bunny! We had talked a lot about the Easter bunny, but also the true meaning of Easter and it was so cute because he would say "the most important part of Easter is God." But bottom line he couldn't wait to hunt for those eggs :-)

When he woke up he ran downstairs and started looking for the eggs. He spotted quite a few right away and with each egg discovery he grew even more excited!

He realized he hit the mother load when he found his Easter Basket!

The festivities had just started and this was the first of many egg hunts of the day....Grant's Mimi and Papa John came over with more Easter loot....

Then it was off to church followed by a family brunch at Josh's parents house. We had wonderful food and another egg hunt for Grant. His Easter outfit made it until just prior to the brunch (I should know that a white shirt and a 3 year old boy just don't mesh).


After brunch we made the trip to Gigi's house (Grant's Great Grandma Ouellette) for another egg hunt and wonerful dinner. Grant had lots of fun playing paddle ball....the pink glasses were for eye protection after he got a shiner from the hard rubber ball.

Our family had a blessed Easter!

Easter Fun

What could be more fun than making sugar cookies and decorating them with mom? Hmmm...playing with Hot Wheels cars! I thought I would plan to make Easter sugar cookies with Grant for friends and that he would be totally into it. Well it turned out that he was totally into eating them instead of decorating them. He decorated a total of 4 cookies and ate 3 of them immediately after putting the frosting and sprinkles on. Then he was off to his new Hot Wheels race track. So much for the Mother/Son cookie activity :-)

Grant did enjoy cutting out the cookies!

Here he is eating his work! By nights end he had eaten a total of 5 or 6 cookies!

Later in the night we decorated Easter Eggs....which Grant LOVED!

I think we are all ready for the Easter Bunny to visit on Sunday!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

It's a BOY!

On March 31st, we had our ultrasound to determine the anatomy of Baby K. Instincts had told me that we would be having a girl, but odds told me boy! With almost everyone around me having girls lately and about 75% of pregnant people I know expecting girls, I should have set my sights on the odds this time.

Both Josh and I came from family units where there was a girl and a boy so I think in our mind we had thought that is how it would be. After really thinking about it we are so happy that Grant will have a brother to play and develop a strong bond with.

In the days leading up to the ultrasound I had told Grant that his job would be to teach his brother/sister the ABC's when they were born. I have a friend who had her daughter teach her son the ABC's and I thought that was a very cool idea (Thanks Diana). Grant came to the ultrasound with us and as always was concerned while I lay on the table and made comments about me being brave. At one point he stood by my side and put his hand on my arm, to seemingly comfort me, and then sang the entire ABC song. It was one of those precious moments that I will always want to remember. That little guy melts my heart continually.

The ultrasound tech said that the baby looked healthy and gave us some great shots of him proudly displaying his gender.

Another shot of him waving hello!

And a full body shot!

I was a little concerned when I got a call two days later from my doctors nurse asking me to come in again in 3-4 weeks for another ultrasound because they weren't able to see everything they needed to in the heart. After I had time to process the initial call, I called the nurse back because I was really worried. She assured me that this happens a lot and that it was most likely (90% of the time) because the baby was in the wrong position and she also said that it may have been due to getting the ultrasound at 18 weeks instead of 20. So please keep us in your prayers as we head into our next ultrasound.

We can't wait to meet our little guy and raise him to be a strong and good man!