Gotta love family and their talents

So I have to admit that I have a very talented family. Since I have a big family, that means there is a wide variety of talents. As we are doing our kitchen, there are some electrical needs that should be taken care of by a professional. Luckily, my cousin Aaron is an electrician. In his off time today, he was able to come over and help Jerad move the wires for the can lights and other stuff. I don't get too technical as I was sent to Home Depot to pick up some of the needed wire and other brackets so I wasn't there when they were discussing what needed to be done. Luckily, I came back to the house with the correct items. There is just something about a woman walking into the electrical aisle that just screams - ASSISTANCE PLEASE! Below are some pictures of Aaron and Jerad working on the electrical stuff and cutting additional holes to get to the electrical stuff.

What do you think of our new can lights? If you recall, they use to be hanging from the gaping holes in the ceiling and now they are placed in the middle of the kitchen. I wonder who the next family member will be that we contact.........

Kitchen Remodel - nothing like taking on a big project right now

If any of you know my husband, you know he constantly has ideas in his head on improving our house and updating. He has several projects that he has been talking about for a while. One is building a bigger patio by either concrete or pavers or building a deck, another is finishing our basement, another is updating our kitchen, and finally updating the main bathroom, otherwise known as my bathroom. And the winner this summer is........THE KITCHEN!! Yes, I told him he had to choose one and not two at a time or all of them...JUST ONE! In my "delicate" state I don't think I could handle much more. So we headed off to Home Depot to check out the cabinets and counters and talked with the Kitchen design lady, Patty and then we got a design together and went for it. Now that we ordered, it was time for demolition. I helped out where I could, but Jerad did most of it. One of the biggest changes for us is that we tore out the soffiting that had our can lights, moved the lights closer to the middle of the ceiling, closed up ceiling and will have cabinets that go to the ceiling. Can anyone say "step stool for Amanda"? :-) Here are some pictures from Demo day one and two!

As you may see, we currently have a wall oven and stove top as well as an 18 inch dishwasher (space saver size) so the plan in the new kitchen is to take out the wall oven and stove top and put in a new full size range as well as putting in a full size dishwasher. I am absolutely thrilled with this!!!!

23 weeks along

Today I am just over 23 weeks in my pregnancy. I am feeling really good that sometimes I forget that I'm pregnant. But then there are other times when I lean over and have the wind knocked out of me b/c I have this ball of a person pushing and squishing on all of the other organs in me.

So this morning's picture isn't the best as I was just out of the shower trying to get an updated picture before Jerad took off on another business trip. Plus he still hasn't got the angle right.....I think he needs to take cues from our friend Jon who became an expert on taking pictures of Kristine during her pregnancy. :-) He started a new position within Cargill in February where he will be traveling more and starting this past month, the travel has picked up.

It's a BOY!!

PROFILE w/ hand
All Boy!

Today was our ultrasound and we found out we are having a little boy!! Jerad was thrilled. Not only because he thought that a boy should come first but b/c he had already nicknamed the baby "Zeus". He doesn't have to change his nickname. I am already picturing a little mini-Jerad following him around doing yard work, hunting and fishing and playing sports. Let the daydreams begin!! Our little guy is also taking after daddy in size too....as he is measuring a week bigger than average. Don't worry...it doesn't mean I will deliver early...just that he will be a bigger than average baby. LUCKY ME!! But I'm not too worried...average is considered 7lb, 10 oz. Jerad was 8lbs 2 oz , 21.5" long and I was 7lbs 4 oz, 20.5" long.

Face FeetArms

SPINE

Just recently I have really started to feel him move about too. During the ultrasound, the tech had a hard time keeping up with him. He was moving about constantly and if you take a look at the profile ultrasound, you will see that he looks like a thumb sucker already. We couldn't get him to move his hand away from his face. She tried pushing on him to get him to move, but since I do that all the time, it didn't phase him one bit. Huh, seems a bit stubborn like his dad. :-) I am already picking out personality traits.

20 weeks

So the picture is deceiving. I feel like am much bigger than what I look. I think it is b/c Jerad takes the picture from above (him being 6'3" and me 5'6"). Don't worry, he promised to level it out for the next picture. This week I am 20 weeks! Next week is the ultrasound!!

The Nursery

As shown in the 18 week picture, the nursery has been a work in progress. Starting around Christmas time, Jerad and his mom painted and put up the wainscoting. Then late February/early March we got the hardwood floors finished in 2 of the bedrooms - one being the nursery. Once the floors were finished we moved the furniture in there and it is really starting to take shape and look like a baby's room.

Big News

After Jerad and I got back from our honeymoon it seemed like the holiday season just set in. Before we knew it - Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas were here and gone. We were able to meet our friends' new son in the middle of November, Bradley Weber (proud parents - Jon and Kristine Weber). We were able to spend Thanksgiving with Jerad's mom's side at his uncle Gary's and aunt Sue's house. For Christmas we had a little celebration with Jerad's mom early and then went down to Iowa for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for my family. We were able to share some wonderful news with them all on this joyous season - we are expecting our first baby!! Due in early August! We had found out right before Thanksgiving but it was still too early to say anything so we decided to do it at Christmas time with both of our families. Everyone was really excited. Below is my first pregnancy photo - not the most flattering but hey - I'm pregnant, right? :-)

I am standing in the new nursery here at 18 weeks. We found a gender neutral color for the walls that match the majority of the baby room decor that is in the stores and we even got the floors redone. It looks fabulous. I will definitely keep you all updated.