Updates on the ongoing projects

Hi all,

Here is an update on our two main projects--baby-growing and house-renovating. :) Before I get into those, I want to give a couple of 'shout-outs' to some folks: Congratulations to Scott for coming in 3rd place in his age group in his triathlon a couple of weekends ago! It was a beautiful morning for a race and Scott did a great job!!

Scott biking into transition area #2 in preparation for his run.

Scott's times: 3rd in his age group; 17th overall (out of 299 competitors)

My Triathlon Hero

Scott getting his 3rd place medal.

Congratulations Jarret and Kim on their wedding last weekend! They are honeymooning now and getting ready to move to New Zealand! We're sorry we missed your wedding! Also, news of Willie and Sheila becoming grandparents for the first time is great to hear! They are waiting patiently for John and his wife to deliver sometime in mid-August. Yay Johnnie! Too bad we didn't live closer--we could all have Sunday bbq play dates and nice relaxing evenings of watching the Wonderful World of Disney like in the old days. Mom and Dad had a great visit with you and everyone in PA and at the wedding in Edmonton and it was fun to see the photos!

Best of luck to Sarah in her new job on the Paul Gauguin cruise ship in French Polynesia. She is working in the Human Resources department on the ship while also seeing wonderful sights! She'll be back home for Christmas!

Congratulations also to Stephanie, Vincent and Mattieu on their latest addition to the family--little Gabriel Alexandre! My pregger partner from afar had a wonderful pregnancy and delivery and all is well with the family!

Steph and me at my shower in May

The boys: Vincent, Mattieu and Gabriel

And now with the updates! Let's start with the baby-growing...

We're 38 weeks now, baby is pretty content in there and I'm trying to enjoy having the rock-hard abs that comes with pounds of baby-related innards pushing outwards! (Heaven knows that the rock hard abs won't be returning any time soon!) Baby's movements have ranged from both active to zonked out throughout the recent days/nights. He/she has been in the "ready" position (head-down) for a while now and with that, has become adept at giving me a swift kick in the lung every once in a while--nice! My doctor is out of town on vacation (...the nerve!) for the next week or so, but there are back-up docs in place. Our next appointment is tomorrow (Wed) and then again next Wed. It's just the waiting game these days. I have been keeping busy working on making 2 baby blankets out of the fabric from the shawl I wore on our wedding day. They worked out well, even though I rushed them (I just started this project about a week ago instead of thinking about it months ago!). They are super soft and cozy for baby #1 and future baby #2.

Scott made it home safely from his race in Edmonton on Sunday night and will be staying nearby, not traveling to the San Jose race this weekend, in case baby makes his/her debut. That's comforting. It was VERY nice to have Mom and Dad stay with me while Scott was in Edmonton from Wednesday until Monday morning. They are on their way back to Ottawa and will be back up when Scott goes to Europe for 2 races in late August. We had a great time; we went to a village nearby for a classic car show one night (ah, the good ol' days!), Dad installed the handles on the cabinets (see below for pics), we got the oil changed in the cars, Mom cleaned all of the baby toys, we had a fabulous trip to IKEA, got some groceries, and had a nice Sunday dinner of ribs, bean salad, and lemon pie. Mom also stocked us up with cookies and muffins! What more could you ask for? :) Other than the food and the help, which was much appreciated, the best part was just relaxing with my parents and spending some good time with them both.

Mom baking cookies

And now for the house-renovating!

Today is 'carpet-installation' day--phase 2! We are finally having the last of the lovely pink (ick) carpet in the living and dining rooms replaced with the beige carpet that is also upstairs. The installation crew is arriving sometime this afternoon. Good thing I have nothing to do today but sit around a grow a child. :) I'll have to do a mini update next week with all of the new carpet and decor, once we're finished with that.

This photo shows the new carpet on the stairs (which we had replaced a few months ago) and the old soon-to-be-outta-here pink carpet in the dining room.

Thought I would throw in this lovely photo--see the dirt on the pink carpet by the wall? Nice. That's from the previous owners.

Dad did a great job installing the handles on the kitchen cabinets; Ron is coming back early next week to finish up in the kitchen and then he'll attack the baby's room, installing some outlets so we can plug things in! So, the kitchen is almost finished! For the baby's room, we bought an IKEA (love IKEA...) wardrobe and Scott assembled it as well as the change table. We arranged the furniture and we are going to hang some pictures and install a little ceiling fan/light once the outlets are done, so all will be ready for the munchiken. It's a cute little room!

We sanded and stained the bannister over the dining room a darker colour to match the kitchen cabinets (Scott did the ladder-related parts!); Scott installed the toilet paper and towel holders in the half bath; we did some patching and touched up the green and white paint; we got rid of some old pieces of furniture that we don't need; we cleaned up the place a bit and installed the car seat. I think my 'list of things to do before baby arrives' is finally getting completed. I still have to sell some of the furniture pieces online, get the Salvation Army to pick up the excess stuff, get our installed car seat checked by the fire department, update the blog (hey, soon THAT will be done!), and a few other little things. It's nice to have the big things done. It's been a busy few months!

Scott staining the bannister

Oh, and the garden is growing! The front yard is looking nice (when the bunnies don't eat my flowers! Darn bunnies--they're so cute yet so mean!) and the courtyard is awash with colour! It's nice to put out our lawn chairs and enjoy a nice rest surrounded by the flowers.

The front yard

The courtyard

And that's where we are now! I'm still waiting for the carpet installation team--it's 3pm...hmm, it may be a late night of carpet installation for them! I'll post again to show that off once the job is complete!

Hope all is well with you all!

Love,

Becky