Here's our little man!

 Hi My Name is Zadok Brian Andrew. I was born on November 13th at 11am sharp! I weighed 5lbs 1oz and I am 18 1/4 inches long. I came a little sooner than expected but I am healthy and that makes my mom and dad very happy!

 Here's my feet! I think they are just right......

Since my mommy was so sick, she fed me when it was time and held me too but my daddy took really good care of me as well. I love it when I can lay on his chest.

We even took our first family picture, especially because we had so much time on our hands, we just really wanted to go home.

                                                                                                                      

I stayed in the Hospital a week because my mom had to get better first but then I took my first car ride! My Mom and Dad bundled me up and I could barely see out of my seat! Then I began my journey in the new world. I love to sleep and eat and listen to my dad play the piano. My mom will try to keep updating pictures of me because I know they sure do take a lot of them! Here are a few to keep up to date....

  

Finally Arrived

Zadok Brian Andrew finally arrived at 11:00 AM on November 13th, 2008. I suppose I shouldn't say finally, we really weren't done waiting for him to come. I suppose the reality is though, that Stacia was done waiting by the end of the hours of labor. Well, I suppose the best thing to do is just tell the story.

Tuesday, November 11th
We had an appointment with Barb, our nurse midwife, at the off hospital site where we had originally planned on delivering. When we got there we got checked in and did our normal routine. Part of the routine is a urine check. Stacia brought me her result stick and showed me that the color indicated the highest level of protein that could be shown. At the time, I did not know what that meant, only a matter of time though and we BOTH became more educated.

When Barb came into the room to talk to us, she was a little concerned about Stacia's protein, but wanted to start with listening to the baby. He was super active, and more than a little ornary. Each time that Barb tried to feel the top of the uterus, Zadok would push back at her hand. Barb said, "Well, do you want to measure 36 weeks, or 37 weeks?" We all chuckled and Barb moved on to the other issues.

Stacia's blood pressure had been creeping up the last few weeks, but we were trying to do natural things to get it back down. However, because the blood pressure was so high, and Stacia's legs, ankles and feet were so swollen, Barb called the OBGYN at the hospital that supports the Birth Center and came back with some not so wonderful news.

Barb came in and told us that though she had wanted to send Stacia home and put her on bedrest and monitor things, the OBGYN said that the risk was too high and that she wanted us to report to the hospital that night to be monitored there for 24 hours. There was only one problem with that. We had our baby shower in about an hour from the time that we were sitting with Barb. We told her about it, and she said that it would be ok for us to go to the shower and then report the hospital. The shower was nice and we got some really nice things, that we didn't think we would need for another month. God had a different plan for us.

When we got to the hospital it was about 9 pm. We were shown to our room and Stacia was asked to change into one of those wonderful hospital gowns. I must say, however that it was quite flattering....mostly because whenever she walked away from me, I got a free show! Anyway, we met our OBGYN for the first time, and were both thoroughly unimpressed! She came in and immediately was the bearer of bad news. As a matter of fact, at some point in time during the night I told her she was a funsucker. In all honesty though, she was most definitely ONLY doing what was ABSOLUTELY the best for Stacia and our little Zadok.

Since I was not writing this play by play as things were happening all the details are a little hazy now, however I do know that Stacia was quite the trooper. Stacia was started on a labor inducing drug at about midnight on Tuesday. The drugs started working pretty quickly, and Stacia went into a zone. She didn't really come out of it until after Zadok was born, and was not fully herself again until we were walking out of the hospital a week later. Back to the labor. Stacia labored very well! It was hard, there is no denying that, but she took it like a man...hmm, that saying really does not work in this situation. She took it better than any man EVER could! That is better. During her laboring, her contractions would be pretty consistent for about an hour, give or take, then the medicine would just kind of stop working. The doctor would order a higher dosage, her uterus would respond for about an hour...and then back to slow and unresponsive. Finally the doctor came in (because of Stacia's blood pressure being too high, and due to the lack of progress) and said that it would be best to break Stacia's water. Even though Zadok was not showing signs of distress, the situation could have turned for the worse very quickly.

What we were dealing with was Stacia being ecclamptic. The worse case scenario would have been that her kidneys would have failed and she would have gone into seizures. This, obviously, is bad. Weighing all factors, the doctor decided that breaking the water would be best because getting the baby out should help with the blood pressure and help get Stacia back to normal. Should is the operative word there.

Fast forward...Finally around 9:00 am on Thursday morning, after some long, hard laboring Stacia and I agreed to her having an epidural. The biggest reason we did this is because she was still not progressing past 5-6 cm, and she was VERY tired. The situation was interesting because they had checked her last about and hour and a half before they actually came in to start the epidural. She was 5-6 cm. When they came in, I almost asked them to check her one more time, but I decided that I should just let them move ahead, because we had already talked about it, and I didn't want Stacia to get any more discouraged by not moving any further forward. I should have asked. As soon as they completed the tap for the epidural, but before they started pushing the meds, they checked her, and she was complete! We both were a little downhearted, but still decided that this was for the best. Stacia could now rest for a while and get ready to push this baby out!

I went to the cafeteria to get some breakfast. I was gone for about an hour, and Stacia was sleeping the whole time. When I finished I headed back upstairs and shortly after that, we were ready to have a baby! It was approximately 10:30 when Stacia started pushing, and by 11:00 we had met the new member of our family! Zadok Brian Andrew came into our lives. I would like to say that all the pain and labor was worth it, but I can't...becuase it was Stacia that went through it all. I was just there to hold her hand, to pray with her, to help her breathe through the contractions, and, oh yeah, to catch the baby! When Zadok came out, it was into my hands he slipped and I announced to world for the first time, Zadok Brian Andrew was glad to meet everyone.

When he came out, he immediately started crying, but as soon as he made it to mom's chest, his eyes were open and he was just looking around. No crying. We had requested that he stay attached to mom as long as possible, via the umbilical cord. But again, the neonatal people "thought he looked too blue." I know that if they had left him there for even another 45 seconds he would have pinked up quite nicely, but again in the end it was all about what was going to bring about the healthiest momma and baby.

So this is where our story ends, right? No, actually it kind of begins here. We stayed in the labor and delivery for a couple nights, because the doctors were still monitoring Stacia's blood pressure. Finally, they decided to move us over to post-partum. There was something about that, however, that Stacia's body did not like. After being there about 12 hours or so, Stacia's blood pressure got worse. So back to labor and delivery we went. Apparently, they can monitor patients better in the latter ward. Stacia and I really didn't mind all that much, we felt like we received more immediate and personalized care in the l&d ward anyway. When we were just getting ready to move back, we found that we would be cared for by one of my buddies from college, sister. We were thrilled. It made home feel a little closer. By now we were asking every other person that came in the room when we would get to go home. Typically the answer was, "it depends on what the doctor thinks about Stacia's blood pressure."

Well, the time came for us to move BACK to the post-partum ward. This time the light was at the end of the tunnel. We were in this ward for another couple of days and then finally the doctor came in and said, "well, when someone has hypertension, we treat it as outpatient, so there is really no reason for us to keep you here any longer. I am going to put Stacia on some blood pressure medicine, though." By that time, we would not have cared if she said she was going make us dress drag and do the hula, we were just ready to GO HOME!

After a few more hours, and a wonderful visit from our friend, the nurse who had helped us a few nights before, we were released to take our new baby home. There are a few more stories tucked in here about the wonderful lactation consultants, and other really kindly nurses that took care of us during this extraveganza, but Stacia can tell those stories at her leisure. After all, all she does now is sit at home and nurse our son...just kidding! She is keeping busy, though, and everyone we see looks at her and says, "you look really good for having had a baby only a month ago!" And the truth is, SHE DOES LOOK GOOD! I might be a little partial though.

Thus ends the tale of how our little Zadok came to be with us. We are working on the happily ever after. The end.

The Kingdom

Since Stacia has been so good about posting, and I set up this blog, I knew I should take some time and do it too. God has had my focus on one thing lately. His Kingdom. What does this look like? How can we get it replicated now as it was in the first century church. Replicate really isn't a good work though, because for a God who is infinite in all things, why would we expect that he would do the same thing twice? However, I look for a powerful move of God that will resemble what God did at Pentacost. There is a greater annointing that God is longing to pour out on His people. These people are ones that are looking for something more. The thoughts that have been stayed in my mind are about being hungry. I have been praying for an insatiable hunger for the Kingdom. I want to be satisfied by NOTHING else, but God's presence in power.

There are a few ways that I believe God wants to make himself manifest. One, the presence of supernatural signs and wonders. These, I am more convinced now than ever are to be part of the normal Christian life, not the exception. I am still searching for what this looks like in my life, but I know that God has a plan, and I also know that perfect timing of the fulfillment of God's plan is just as important as the fact that it is fulfilled. This is in line with a sermon I heard recently on the descerning of the seasons, and knowing what to do in the season. One can have an accurate revelation of the season, but have no idea what to do. Another, however, might know what to do, but have no discernment of the appropriate time. The wonderful thing, though, is that God puts us next to people who compiment our calling, to bring us each into full fruition.

The other manifestation of His presence that I believe we must look for is not so much a occurance, but rather a state of being. God desires His people blessed. Now lest I be accused of preaching a 'Prosperity Gospel' consider that God desires us to be blessed, so that we have plenty to share. God does not want us to be scraping to get by, rather, "we are to be the head and not the tail, the lender and not the borrower." God wants to so position us that we can adaquately fund the needs of the Kingdom. I was listening to a podcast this week in which the speaker was encouraging believers to maintain five streams of income. He was challenging his listeners to ask God to show them how they would become blessed. Not only that, he instructed the people to bless themselves. A strange thought at first, but think about it. If no one else will pronounce it over you, why not pronounce it over yourself. Jacob wrestled with God until he received his blessing. I believe God wants to bless us exponentially more!

Lastly, I do not know what these things all look like exactly for Stacia and me, but I am convinced they are part of His plan. We have a rich heritage in being believers. We are priests, therefore we are to be recipients of Aaron's blessing in Numbers 6, "The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." Amen and amen.

Fall is here!

Holding Hands is one of our favorite things to do in the fall. I remember the first "date" we had in Brown County. Spencer took me on his fall break just before we were actually girlfriend and boyfriend and was taking pictures. When he would help me down the stairs, I could tell he just wanted to hold my hand. To this day it's hard to walk beside each other not holding hands and I feel safe.

Spencer and I have enjoyed the last few weeks just being outdoors in the fall weather. We have gone to Brown County, Apple Works, and just out and about.

Not a lot has gone on, just the normal work and home life. We are also preparing for baby and are excited to see when the little one will arrive. The nursery is about done and are hoping to finish it soon. We have a baby shower on the 11th so I'm excited to see all the surprises we will receive!

One day last week Spencer and I went to the grocery, there was the Wiener Mobile! Spencer wanted a pic so I took this one. There is one of me as well but that will definitely not make it to the public. I'm 8 months pregnant and swollen, need I say more?

It's amazing where the last 2 and a half years has gone since we have been married. A lot has happened, trips have been taken, problems have been resolved and we are still growing together. God has helped us and we are excited to see exactly what is in store for the next few chapters in our lives. I'm so happy to be married to Spencer and enjoy what every day brings. He is the light of my life and life is never boring!

The Chilly days are coming

I know, and I'm sorry it's been so long. Spencer hasn't been on quite as often and we just now got internet in our home. So, I apologize for keeping everyone in the dark....or so I feel. The past few weeks have been both restful and busy. Spencer and I are starting to feel the need to get things ready and finished in the nursery. Here is a pic of the wall decals that I received at an impromptu baby shower! I love the way it looks! The bedding will be Brown and White and I think it just accents the teal so well!

Last week was Spencer's fall break so we took some time to enjoy the fall weather (before it got really cold) and we went to Brown County. The Day was beautiful and crisp and I even took a mile and half hike! Wow, I was so proud of myself. The next day was rainy so we took it upon ourselves to devour some really good pancakes for breakfast, run some errands, and then went to the Indiana State Museum. The Chocolate Exhibit was the main reason for going but I have to say I was mildly dissapointed that you had to purchase the chocolate at the end of reading all about how it was made. Hmmm. Oh well. Saturday was spent in the Garage doing some organizing, pitching, and storing of items of my childhood. I had a lot of fun seeing all my dolls, barbies, and teddies I once had. What a joy! I couldn't get rid of them but hopefully someday I will have a use for them.

Spencer is doing great in school and has started his kids on Christmas. They did a concert a few weeks ago and did quite well considering none of them have ever been a part of something like this. There was a sense of accomplishment that most of them have never felt and I saw the joy of knowing that Spencer was proud of them. They have a long way to go but I know that they have the best teacher for the job! I love you Spencer!

I am now 34 weeks along which means we will have a new arrival in 5 weeks give or take. We are excited and nervous as with all new things!

Oh how the days go by......

Since my nonna and Mother-in law are doing such a great job at keeping their blogs up to date I thought I shouldn't dissapoint! This month has been crazy and I think about every weekend has something planned! Last weekend Spencer and I spent our time at the Indiana Wesleyan University Homecoming! It was a blast. Friday night we went to a Fernando Ortega concert and if you haven't heard his music you should look into it. It's so relaxing and worshipful. We then visited a free concert by Jon McLaughlin, a young and upcoming artist. That was fun and brought back so many good memories of our dating days! ;-)

This weekend we are going up to the farm to celebrate Spencer's Dad's birthday. It was a few weeks ago but this was the first time we had the time to spare. We are sorry for that but our schedules have been packed!

Next weekend marks the first birthing classes to prepare us to welcome a new member into our family! I'm so excited to see what it will be. The baby has been moving a lot still and right now has the hiccups. :-)

The following weekend, October 23-25th is Spencer's fall break and I'm looking forward to doing nothing much. We both need a break and are hoping to get that rest that we so desparately need.

God is good and has blessed us beyond measure. We are so thankful to be married to each other and remind each other as often as we can. Spencer has been such a gentleman and has given my swollen feet gentle rubs after soaking them in a bowl of warm water. This morning he even made me breakfast! He makes sur that I rest as much as I can and I'm so thankful that he is that thoughtful. I trust that I can be the wife that I yearn to be and stay in love forever! I love you Spencer!

What a Journey.....Stacia's post.

I have to say that being pregnant is not only a wonder and excitement but also such a journy of change. Now is the part where I am constantly tired, My feet are swollen beyond recognition and I have hardly any energy. (Did I mention I'm tired?) God is good and I will get through this. I am looking forward to the end result of holding a beautiful baby boy OR girl in my arms. Whatever it is, I know it is special.
I love the movement right now and feeling it do somersaults and kicks. Even hiccups are fun, they tend to make me laugh. :-)
To end this post I have to thank my husband for being wonderful, through the tears, the messy house and the mood swings, he has been so steady and loving. He has even given me a "foot spa" including a soak of warm water, some lotion and a nice long rub. It was such a blessing! I love you honey!

A Move of God

I have been reading a book by Bill Johnson recently called "When Heaven Invades Earth." This book is OUTSTANDING! The underlying message is one of The Kingdom coming on earth as it is in Heaven. That means that God wishes to invade our lives with power that comes through the Holy Spirit from the very throne of God. Keep your eyes and ears open, because Indianapolis is next on the Holy Spirit hit list. God wants to do amazing things, and by His grace, Stacia and I are lining up to be a part of it. Praise His awesome name!

It's a new day!

Well, I have finally updated all of the pictures on facebook so I thought I would update our blog too! it's been such a long time since we have put pictures on here so I have a few. The first one is our new sink! I never thought a sink could be so special and beautiful! Notice our new countertop surrounding it too! I LOVE my kitchen!Next is our living room, we have added our wallpaper and now all that's left is to paint the mirror to hang and pictures to place around. Can I just say that I love my home?

That's all we have done with the house so far, next is finishing the last touches on paint throughout the house, wallpaper in the bedroom, and painting the dresser for the nursery. Needless to say there is just a few boxes to unpack for the bathroom! ;-)

Spencer started at his new school a few weeks ago and loves it. Here is him in his classroom!

We had a blast last weekend at my cousins wedding, it was an evening dinner wedding and the reception was held at the Columbia club. Here is the newest picture we have of us and a picture or me at 24weeks! I did my hair in an updo for the wedding and felt great in my dress. Spencer on the other hand was SO handsome and I think we were the second best-looking couple there!

It's been a while!

Sorry that it's been so long since either of us has written! It's been a busy month and an exciting one. (We will post pictures later) Spencer installed our Kitchen sink at the first of August so our Kitchen is a complete kitchen with a few minor cosmetics to be finished soon. We have painting left to do in our dining room but our table is placed in there so it's feeling like home! Nonna and Max came over last Thursday I believe to wallpaper the Living room and it looks so elegant! I love what it adds to the room! We still have pictures to hang, a bedspread to buy and chairs to purchase for our entertainment/office room but we are well on our way! It's coming along!
Spencer started his teaching job yesterday as the Choir Director at Manuel High School! He is enjoying it and has Choir classes every day of the week with some breaks scheduled in. It seems to me that he was somewhat overwhelmed yesterday but I can also tell that he loves it there and feels like he actually has a place. Once he gets settled, starts actual music, gets the advanced choir back on it's feet and much more, I know that he will do so well! Honey, I believe in you!
This week with the baby has been fun, I'm starting to really have a baby belly and it's fun to feel it moving more and more! I've been a little dizzy the last few days with some sickness but I'm hoping it was just a strain of something going around and nothing too serious. I have an appointment with my doctor today so I will be happy to hear the heartbeat and know things are going well.
We have been traveling a lot lately, a few weekends ago we went to Michigan for meetings with church and also a small tiny trip to the Beach. It was such beautiful weather and I got some great pictures of the water! I can't wait to load them here and on facebook. Then last weekend we went to Farmland to Visit the Family and be helping in the church there for the service. Both weekends really wore me out but I'm hoping to catch up pretty soon. This weekend is Leah's wedding so it will be fun to share that day with my family and to support Nick and Leah as they start this journey together.

Ooh, and lastly! I got a new cell phone! It's a Blackberry Pink Pearl given to me as a surprise from my dear husband. He is such a sweetheart!

Thanks for reading, hope to update sooner than later with pics and more news!

Here is Baby Lloyd, It is a profile and it is looking down. You can see the spine at the top of the pic. It was being squirmy so it was hard to get a good face one, so we have this one and a feet pic that is so adorable. It was such a miracle to see and my heart is happy to know it is healthy. The heartbeat is staying steady at 149 and it is measuring at 20 weeks which it is exactly what I was told....I am 20 weeks today! Thanks be to God for a healthy baby!

Baby Lloyd Update

We went for the second visit to the doctor yesterday and I am 19 weeks along! I made an appointment today for Next Wednesday for my 20 week ultrasound. It will be the first so I am VERY excited! The heartbeat was 148 (156 last time) and beating very strong. It can hear now and I can feel it moving quite a bit. Spencer played some classical music the other night through headphones on my stomach and it was so excited! I felt it moving to where the music was! It get's it honestly! :-)

Will update with the pic of Baby Lloyd next week!

Deeper in Love - 2years 7/8/2008

I just wanted to tell everyone about how much fun we had on our 2 year wedding anniversary this year. I had taken a much needed vacation from work from July 4th through July 14th. It was so nice to feel the sunshine after 8 hours a day in an office. Spencer was so sweet to me and told me many times how much he loved having me home. We began each day around 10:30 or 11am and enjoyed just hanging out, no real plan and a lot of sunshine! (my request!) We went to the pool many days and slept a lot!

On Tuesday the 8th, As we were on our way to the pool, Spencer begged to get a new grill cover so that when it would storm that night his grill wouldn't get ruined (the first one had ripped severely) so although I wanted to enjoy the sun while we could I let him run into Target, I was not paying attention when he came to the car but in his hands he had a dozen roses! He fooled me good but I felt so loved. Then, we went to the pool for a while, took a nap and decided to go to dinner. We showered and got ready for a night out on the town, Downtown Indianapolis! We decided to splurge just a little on a dinner at Weber Grill. We sat outside and the food was out of this world amazing. We even had enough for lunch the next day! YUM! They even give free desserts for Birthday and Anniversarys (a good hint!)

After Dinner Spencer decided to surprise me and asked if we had the means to stay the night at the Hyatt. I said "Why not" very spontaniously! It was an absolute blast especially when the storm went through and the satellite processed the sound but not the picture on the tv as we were watching the last show of the season of Hell's Kitchen! We woke up after a nights rest on a king size bed with 6 pillows and walked to the circle for Starbucks. It was by far the highlight of the week!

I'm so in love with Spencer, my heart overflows. He is the most amazing man, who just wants to learn how to love me more. What more could I ask for? I LOVE YOU, my hero, my husband, Spencer!

It has been a while since either Stacia or I posted. So a bit of an update is in store for all. We have not done much else in the kitchen since the last update, because we are still waiting for the countertop. This will come on wednesday of this week. I am really excited to bring some finalization to the kitchen. After that is finished, I will really feel more like we have a home. Right now, there are still so many boxes everywhere. I think that our kitchen was probably 2/3 of our boxes when we moved. That is really funny since it was the smallest room in the appartment where we moved from. Well, that is that. This past week was a bit of a respite from the house. We were on vacation, no work was accomplished. It was nice. And now, since the school year is approaching, I have decided that Mon-Wed will be school preperation day, and Thur-Sat will be work on the house day. This, of course, will find a exception this wednesday with our countertop delivery. I plan on installing that immediately! Back to vacation. Stacia can update more on the particulars, but for the time being we had a blast. I fell more in love with my wife and really enjoyed the time that we had to share. We slept in, went to the pool, went downtown Indianapolis many times, walked alot, slept some more and baked the first batch (one of many) of cookies in our new oven. Well, thank you for reading, whoever you might be. We welcome comments on our posts if you might ever feel so inclined. For now, back to planning for school.

Hurray for progress!!! Kitchen post #2

Here is our kitchen! Well, almost what it will look like anyway. We are still waiting on our countertop and then the backsplash of tile. It will look so warm and inviting! I love it! We also put in new flooring. Spencer did almost all of the work and I only helped a small bit.



All I have to say is that I'm spoiled!!!!!

The Start of the Kitchen!

The last week had proved very beneficial to our house thanks to Spencer! He has finished the bathroom and started on our wonderful, and beautiful to be kitchen. The cabinets are a gorgeous maple in medium and soon our countertop will be measured and delivered as well. First of all, we have to get the flooring down and then the appliances will be welcomed joyfully into the room on Friday the 4th! I can't wait to actually have a working kitchen.

My husband has proved to be one handy-man. He has not only done all the tiling in the bathroom, installed the faucets and shower but he has run 2 new outlets in the kitchen and will attempt to move a vent from where the refrigerator is to the opposite wall. He has also installed all the cabinets here and it looks so good! Thank you my love!

Memories

So most of the posts have been about our house, but I wanted to throw one in here from a while ago. This is a video post of when the most amazing choir in which I sang in choir, The Indiana Wesleyan University Chorale, sang at Christ Fellowship of Indianapolis. I was the assistant conductor, and this experience (of being the AC) confirmed that I would love to conductor choirs for the rest of my life. I hope you enjoy.

Here are the pictures!

I have a few pictures to share with our adoring fans and readers. Since I am sure that I probably have the same reader count as the New York Times...but all of you are just too busy to post comments. I understand. But with all that said...here are some pictures. This picture on the left is of the bathroom wall almost finished! The photo on the right is one of the kitchen without the ghastly cabinets that graced us with their presence. And for the record, let me say that there was only part of a mouse under the cabinets. Most of it had already decayed. YUMMY!! And to wrap it up the last picture here is one of the bathroom more finished...not the best picture, but we will upload more later.

New and perfect!

Spencer just finished the bathroom last night! I have been recruited to finish the painting and the light still has to be hung, but, this morning when I got up, I went and took a shower. For the first time in our new home! It was perfect! I want to thank my wonderful, oustanding husband for loving me enough to go through all the hard work just to give me a desire of my heart. A bathtub. It is so beautiful and I hope someday you will get to see it. It was a long road, but in the end I know that spencer feels proud that he actually did all the work.
Today we get a new window to replace the foggy one in our living room and tomorrow our kitchen cabinets and countertop are being delivered! Hurray! Spencer and Grandpa Max tore our all of our old cabinets yesterday afternoon and I hate to mention it, found a dead mouse! ah! At least he was dead, that's all I wanted to know....

To those who need to know. I have the BEST by far husband in the whole world! He has conquered so much and has spent all of his hard earned time off this summer to rejuvenate our lovely home. I just can't imagine how wonderful it will all be once we can go home, cook, eat dinner, and enjoy our beautiful home!

*Pics to come, because of the lack of internet at home, and the fact I still haven't uploaded any pictures to put here, they will be added in the future.....thank you for your patience!

Bathroom Progress!

Spencer worked very hard on Saturday and got this done in our bathroom! It is one of the last peices in our remodeling process. I love the way it looks and am trying to imagine how sharp it will be when it's all finished! He is out of school for the time being and will be working on the rest of the tile this week. We should have a shower by Saturday or Sunday! I can't wait!

First

This is Stacia, I wanted to share a little bit about us and the Baby. I am now 14 weeks along (3 months & 2 weeks) It's both exciting and nerve wracking to think about all the changes coming and I am willing to accept them. Today, my body hurts. It's amazing how many muscles it takes to support a growing baby. I was told to sleep anyway except my back, and let's just say I'm already a back sleeper so no matter how hard I try I always wake up on my back! (sorry baby!) Then I notice I get tense instead of relaxed and wake up hurting because I wasn't really resting.

I'm finally over the morning sickness until I'm tired or hungry then my body tells me I need to either rest or eat. The sickies were very bad for me so i'm really glad they finally went away. We have heard the heart beat 3 times in the last four days. Twice when Spencer's mom was here over the weekend and once at my doctors appointment. The heartbeat measured at 156 and was so strong, I just want to smile and laugh when I hear it but if I do they always seem to lose it and have to find it again. The baby is a sly one, and likes to hide a lot. I can't wait until another 4 more weeks when I might be sent for an ultrasound. That will be a great day!

Spencer's last day of school is at John Marshall today, we stayed up last night making no bake cookies for the kids and finally collapsed into bed to fall asleep in a matter of minutes. I could tell Spencer was a sleep about 25 seconds after the light was out and his head was on the pillow. I told him to sleep when he got home, or mow the lawn unless it's raining. I really want to go out on a date to celebrate but we will see what we can do! It might be a better date night tomorrow night. Next school year Spencer will be a Manuel H.S. teaching choral and music appreciation. He's really into being at a H.S. and I can't blame him. From the sounds of Middle School I can't see how he has made it this far!

These pics are from our Family picture day with the Lloyds. It was a beautiful sunny day after a weekend of rain.

Herding cats

I have officially decided that herding cats (greased up, rabid ones) would be much easier than teaching my group of mostly 7th grade girls 5th period every day since mid February. When they are not screaming at the top of their lungs about wanting to beat somebody up, or shaking their booties in each other's faces they were almost teachable. I suppose the only thing that has been a positive, or at least one of the few things is that I feel as though since I have survived here, I can teach (and flourish) anywhere else. Speaking of being anywhere else, next year I will be at a different High School on the Southside. I am excited to be there for many reasons. The school is closer. They principal seems as though he is very excited for me to be there, and has told me that if I ask for an opportunity for my kids to sing, there will be one! For now though, I still have one more day of herding cats (greased up, rabid ones).

Home improvements

The other day I was working in the bathroom and I had to replace, or rather install...because my dad and I forgot...the plumbing for the faucet in the bathtub. It was fairly simple, it just involved cutting into the wall and measuring/cutting cpvc and gluing it all together. Now the hole is patched and I can start tiling on the wall. It is going to prove rather challenging because I want to do it on the diaganol. It will be SWEET when it is done, but for now, I'm a little intimidated. On the positive side, the floor turned out great, and now I at least have some experience under my belt. Here is a pic of my patched wall hole after the installation.

True Colors?

Today was "Nerd Day" at school. I, of course, participated! Stacia and I went to Goodwill last night and bought these suspenders and glasses. I tried to wear them with the lenses for a while on the end of my nose, but even then they were making me dizzy and making my eyes hurt. So to rectify the situation I popped out the lenses and they work much better. And to satisy the curiosity of my hundreds (or two or three) blog readers, I have decided to post a sweet pic of myself. What you can't see is the plaid pants I am wearing as well. Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the photo.

Some time off

So we have taken som time off of working on our house for the last week. Needless to say not much has gotten accomplished. Tonight, however, it is back to the grindstone. I need to stay dedicated to working on it because as nice as it is to drive to my in-laws, or my grandparent's every night to take a shower...it's getting old. Besides, I'm excited to take a shower in my own bathroom, surrounded by tile that I laid myself, etc. In any case, this whole process of destruction, rebuilding, fixing, re-fixing, etc has been great! I have learned so much, and still am. One question though, what happens when my dad is too old to crawl around in my crawl-space and do my plumbing for me. Hmm...hopefully, I can do it. Or better yet, I will have enough money to pay someone else to do it for me!

Speaking of the crawl-space, if you live in Indiana or the surrounding area, you will know that this part of the state experienced a monsoon this weekend. At one point in time I decided I had better check my crawl-space to insure that it was dry. Well, it certainly wasn't dry and it looked as though I had a little river flowing. So I get on the phone and start trying to decide what my next course of action is. A sump-pump? Probably not, says the expert (my dad), the first course of action is to try to re-direct the water away from the house. Looks like I might get a chance to do it tonight, more rain is on the way.

If you are a praying person, now would be a good time to pray, there are many people who are displaced from their homes for quite sometime, if not indefinitely. Some are gone from flood, others from the tornado that came less than a week before. But for now, lunch time...my paradise away from the students!

Our pictures - Updates to come!

Wanted to update all of our pics up onto our page. For your information, these pics were taken when we bought the house and it is beginning to look so much different already!

Even though most of it is because we moved all of our stuff in, but some of it is becoming so much nicer than we thought it could be. I was begging for a bathtub, not only for me (because I'm spoiled) but for the baby when it comes.

So, Spencer and his dad knocked out some of the drywall that had been put there for the shower and we have installed a bathtub! Spencer laid all new ceramic tile on the floor all by himself, and it looks awesome! Wishing I could post that pic here.......
Then we switched the toilet with the vanity so that it looks like a real bathroom. Spencer is in the process of tiling around the bathtub so we are still making trips to my parents house for showers. When it finally becomes finished it will look amazing! Thanks Babe!

In other news, we have ordered our Kitchen cabinets and they will arrive somewhere in the first week of July. They will be so beautiful and with the new flooring and countertops it will look like a whole new atmosphere. We are turning shabby into chic!

Hopefully will get to upload all the updated pictures of painting, remodeling and everything else involved VERY soon!

Just beginning

This blogging thing is new for both of us, but we really wanted a way to keep up to date with all of our friends and family out of town. We have bought a house, gotten pregnant, I'm starting at a new school next year and there is so much going on! On this blog you should expect to find before and after pictures of our new house, pictures of us (including Stacia's pregnant belly), and eventually lots and lots of pictures of our new little addition. Keep checking back often! Stacia will probably post more often than I will, but I will try. Thank you for your interest, and we really appreciate your prayers during this hectic time of our lives! Also, the pictures at the bottom of the page will change and actually be ours before too long. I'm not sure what is going on there...but we will have it fixed soon.