She's here!

Well in true "B" time Hannah Caroline decided to come to us 11 days late. Not only was she 11 days late but she decided to take her sweet time entering this world. 36 Hours later this precious miracle entered the world:

Here are her stats:

7lbs. 5oz.

21" long

Because I couldn't pick just a few pictures, I shamelessly put together this slideshow so you could see Hannah's first 2 weeks:

Onion Lights Make Me Happy

It's amazing what a light fixture can do. Honestly, I never thought I would be excited about a light fixture. But I am REALLY excited. I wanted to add a light with some visual interest above the landing of the stairs, since you can see it right away when you walk in the front door.  Here is what the light fixture looked like before:

Ugly huh?

So my biggest dilemma was finding a light that was affordable. I really wanted an onion light/lantern that would bring in a little nautical flare to the room. Did you know that onion lights were first used in this country on fishing schooners as a night time working light? Yeah, I didn't know that either.

So I started my research and was very disappointed in prices. I really didn't want to spend over $100 for a light, so my search was significantly limited. Apparently other people want these lights too! I stumbled upon LampsPlus.com and found this beauty:

Best of all, it was $80 with free shipping! Yipee! Please and thank you I will take one. Here is what black beauty looked like once hubby installed it:

I love it! I want to find a matching sconce for the living room that is a little smaller, since we have no overhead lighting in that room right now.  Hopefully I can find another good deal! All for now. Still Waiting patiently for Little B to arrive- gotta keep busy with projects!

Dear Little B...

Dear Little B,
  Yesterday was August 3, 2011 and it just so happened to be your due date. We have been anxiously awaiting this day for many months! We know that God has chosen the perfect day for you to come into this world so we continue to wait for His perfect plan. We know we will see you soon and hold you in our arms and forget about August 3 altogether.

 We are so excited to welcome you into this world and watch you grow each day. We look forward to taking you to the beach and building sandcastles or going for a walk around the quad at Gordon. We can't wait to teach you how to swim!

  You will come in His perfect timing and we are able to rest in these promises. We did, however, want to do something fun on your "due date".  So here is what we did:

It was my first day home from work and we made a wonderful breakfast. French toast, yogurt, and a green smoothie. Don't worry- we'll teach you about green smoothies. They are quite tasty.

  Daddy went off to work and I did things around the house- getting ready for you! I packed my hospital bag finally! I packed up a picnic lunch and brought it over to Gordon.

Daddy and I had a picnic next to the quad. It was beautiful out. We had chickpea salad sandwiches- so tasty.

 Later in the afternoon Daddy came home from work and we went downtown to watch a bike race. It was so fun! Don't worry, we'll take you next year:)

 We finished the night off with dinner in Salem with friends from bible study. All in all it was a great day. We talked a lot about you today and can't wait to finally meet you!

See you soon Little B,
Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Bumpdate- 40 Weeks....Happy Due Date Little B!

Well we made it! Happy due date Little B! Auntie K was kind enough to take these pictures at your favorite beach. Here are the latest pics of mommy and daddy right before your arrival:

New Project!

So Little B is due any day now. So why not start another project? Our latest undertaking is the basement. We want to make it a playroom/tv-room hangout-type-space. We also want to add a small half bath since we only have 1 bathroom on the second floor. Here is a pic straight ahead as you walk down the stairs.

Our plan is to put the bath straight ahead from the stairs. Why? I thought you would never ask. In order to make this a budget friendly project we desperately want to avoid purchasing an "Up-Flush" toilet (we're talking $1,000) instead of a $100 toilet from HD or Lowes. Since the main sewer drain is behind the washer/dryer we are going to build a platform that will raise the toilet high enough to avoid the $1,000 toilet situation. I mean, really, who wants to spend $1,000 on a toilet?

So we had a work weekend. Both dads and a brother-in-law came up to help. We got the platform in so we could have the plumbers come in and start their job of moving/installing pipes for the toilet and sink. Here is what the platform looks like from the stairs right now:

 

Here is a shot of the scary-scary basement before we cleaned it up. Some parts of the house really took a beating after the beam project. The basement may be one of those. Ok, it definitely is.

 

Back to the work weekend. We got all the junk cleared out and got to work. We cut out some wall below the stairs to add a closet and extra storage once the basement is somewhat livable:

Who do you think Peter takes after? His dad maybe?