When did she get so big?

Here's my big five year old modeling her new gymnastics leotard.


She looks so grown up in this picture to me! When did her legs get so long and where did her toddler belly go? Her little round face isn't round anymore. Her hair has lost it's baby curls and now dons more mature waves instead. She has opinions and insights and is such a wonderful helper. Don't grow up too fast, Elizabeth! I don't want to miss it!

Relieved!

I had a follow-up ultrasound yesterday and my low-lying placenta is no longer low-lying! Isn't that wonderful? Thanks be to God!

I thought I was doing a good job of not worrying about it and the possible complications that it could cause, but when I heard the news yesterday I felt so incredibly relieved that I had to admit to myself that worry had been causing some stress. When the doctor told me about the condition a month ago, he spelled out all of the risks and potential problems. He's done that with every issue we've encountered, large or small, but he's also very realistic and in the past he's always been very encouraging as well. He would be matter of fact about all risks, but quick to reassure that he didn't foresee their being any long term problem or that most likely the problem would rectify itself, etc. Well, none of that reassurance came this time. In fact, he seemed to really emphasize that because of my particular situation, we needed to be prepared for all possible eventualities.

Also, when I did some research on the condition once I got home, the information I found on the internet was much more reassuring than my doctor had been. It's rare that information found online is actually less frightening than what the doctor says!

So, the results of the ultrasound yesterday were a big surprise! I was just hoping for a little improvement, but instead my placenta had moved completely out of the danger zone and I'm cleared to have a completely normal delivery and have no reason to anticipate any complications!

I have to give a big thank you to all of you who said even the smallest of prayers for me and Button. Thank you, thank you, thank you! God is so good!

Good Reads

I'm an avid reader and I recently realized that I rarely post about books on this blog. Why? I have no idea. But, here's an attempt to remedy that situation somewhat.

I've read a number of great books lately. Sometimes it seems like it's getting harder and harder to find really good books to read. The problem is that once you read a few really good books, it ruins all the average or mediocre books for you. I have to admit it - I've become a book snob. If a book isn't well written with interesting characters, universal themes and original story lines, then I don't want to waste my time on it. Oh yeah, and it has to have a happy ending. I don't mean that the entire book has to be sunshine and roses, some of my favorite books deal with death and tragedy, but it must end in an optimistic or inspiring way. And yes, good must triumph over evil and the hero/heroine must have upstanding moral values.

So, here are some of my favorites from the past few months:

Father Elijah by Michael D. O'Brien. This was the last book my book club picked before it kind of fell apart. We never did meet to discuss it and I really wish we had. What a fantastic book! An apocalyptic novel, it's an amazing story of faith and spiritual warfare. It's fascinating, page turning and really made me think. I highly recommend it.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. I have to admit that I am usually very skeptical of books that are currently on the best seller list. Usually my idea of a good book and society's idea of a good book don't exactly mesh, know what I mean? But, another blogger recommended it, so I gave it a try. I loved it! I'm even planning on giving it to another book-loving relative as a Christmas gift. The book is set in post-WWII London and is centered around a writer who is writing a book on the Nazi occupation of the Channel Islands (in the English Channel between England and France. Don't worry, I had to look it up on the map, too.). It's a wonderful, funny, real, charming, heartbreaking, endearing, hopeful book.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. This book is the first in a series of young adult books called Percy Jackson and the Olympians and it's a romping good read. It's fast paced, exciting and incredibly creative. I plan to share this book and the rest of the series with my kids when they are a little older. The premise is that Percy Jackson is unknowingly the son of one of the ancient Greek gods. As a Hero, he goes on adventures to save Western Civilization from destruction. If you like Harry Potter, you'll love this series.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson. This novel was written and is set in pre-WWII London and is centered around the middle-aged, down-on-her-luck Miss Pettigrew who has one sparkling, exciting, life-changing day. This short book is fun and sweet and clever and I guarantee you will have a smile on your face when you finish it. Be sure to check out the movie after you read the novel; it's very well done.

So, there you have it. If you decide to read any of these books, please let me know. I'd love to hear what you think of them!

Small Successes Vol. 2

1. Well, I haven't actually completed this success yet, but it's on the to-do list today and will definitely happen. I'm going to buy Gustin his first set of underwear. We're going to give potty training one good go before the baby comes. If it doesn't happen, no big deal. But, he'll probably be three years old before we try again!

2. I've been fighting a cold this week and when I've been feeling particularly exhausted, I've stopped what I've been doing and sat and put my feet up without feeling guilty about it.

3. I bought a few simple, organizational items for the house this week. They are nothing particularly exciting, but now my bathroom cleaning products and Elizabeth's dress up clothes have a place where they belong and it feels so good!

Be sure to head over to Faith and Family Live to read other mom's inspiring Small Successes!

Pure joy

On Thursday this week, Jonathan brought home his book order from Scholastic Book Clubs. I loved getting books that way as a child. A brand new book all my own; I was in heaven! So, I really enjoy being able to provide the same opportunity for my kids. Every time a Scholastic Book Club order form comes home, the kids are allowed to choose one item. This time Jonathan picked a 3 pack from a series of books called Dinosaur Cove. I'd never heard of them, but we thought we would give them a try.

Well, as soon as Jonathan hopped in the van after school, he started reading the first book. By the time we got home, he had finished the first chapter. He continued to read for the rest of the evening only stopping to do his homework and eat dinner. I couldn't help but grin when we actually had to tell him to put his book away so that we could say grace. He finished the book before bed time.

I had to work so hard all evening to not let on to Jonathan how excited I was to watch him read in this way. I felt like I was about to jump out of my skin! My son has learned to love to read!

That Dinosaur Cove book was the very first book that he ever voluntarily picked up and read silently to himself. He's a decent reader, but he normally only reads when we tell him to and it is always aloud. Now he's entered into a whole new phase. As Eric said, the entire known universe is now at his fingertips. Anything he could possibly want to to learn about can be found in a book and now that he has discovered the joy of reading, his young mind will be able to learn and grow so much faster. And, I can't express how fun it will be for me to observe the whole process. It's one of the great joys of parenting!

House Progress

This post is mainly for myself. We've been making progress on the house, but at times it seems so slow and it's easy to only concentrate on how much we still have left to do. So, to change the focus to all we have accomplished in the last couple of months, I thought I would do a picture update to compare with this post, shortly after we moved in.

The living room is the most complete. Here's before:


And after:


I finally found our family portrait and hung it over the mantle. I bought the pots and plants that are on the mantle and bought and hung the curtains. This room is really coming together (except for a couple of remaining boxes, as you can see in front of the fire place)!

I also got the kids' portraits framed and Eric hung them for me last night. I'm so glad I got that done instead of the portraits sitting in the box on my desk for months like they normally do. :)


There has been virtually no progress in the office. We are stuck on the paint color.


Eric and I both agreed that we wanted to have two colors in this room with the color above and below the chair rail being different. I prefer the lighter tone on the left and Eric wants something a little more dramatic, like the color on the right. I would gladly give in to Eric on this, especially since the office is mostly man territory, but we actually don't like either of these colors. In person they have a greenish tone to them, which was not what we were looking for. And, looking at the paint color cards, I'm really having a hard time finding anything better. I've never had so much trouble picking out a paint color!

We finally settled on a color for the master bedroom.


We'll go with the darker gray color which I think will nicely complement our pale blue bedding. The master bedroom has always been a rather neglected room during our entire marriage. But, this time around we're making it a priority to make it into the soothing sanctuary that it should be. I'm even planning on printing some of my nature/flower photos and using them to decorate the walls. I can't wait to see it finally come all together!

Elizabeth's room now has curtains, a nightstand and a mirror on the wall. We're getting there!


The boys' room, however, looks exactly as it did two months ago. The biggest hangup in that room is a very opinionated 7 year old. I want him to be able to have input as we decorate his room, but his ideas and my ideas are polar opposites. For example, he would like to paint the walls and ceiling black and then he wants me to paint stars and planets all over them. That's not going to happen! I think we may have talked him into putting up a chair rail, painting below it a dark gray and above it a lighter blue-gray and adding posters of the planets on the wall. Jonathan's room has definitely been the most debated room in the entire house!

The play room has been primed, but I still haven't settled on a color. Here it is, still in it's normal, messy state.


Any recommendations on a paint color for this room?

Now for Eric's pride and joy. He calls it "the farm".


We've already picked some black eyed peas and made a batch of pesto from the basil. Eric added two more beds a couple of weeks ago and hopefully we'll have squash and tomatoes from them before the cold weather hits. He also created a box (at the back near the far fence) for compost. It might sound silly, but we really enjoy composting our kitchen scraps and lawn and garden waste. Yes, I said enjoy! I think it's the engineer in me who loves the efficiency of the whole process. Nothing goes to waste and we use the compost to make our garden even more healthy and productive. I love it!

And, here's our most recent addition, completed just two days ago.


The kids are so excited to have a sandbox again! I'm not so excited about walking through the house and finding sand sticking to the bottom of my feet, but I'm glad they have such a great place to play and create.

So, that's it for now. Sorry for the long, picture laden post. But, it sure has made me feel better about all that we have been able to accomplish!

Small Successes Vol. 1

It's my first time to participate in Small Successes. It's kind of sad that this is one of the first times that I actually have some small successes to post about!

1. Remember those portraits I took of the kids weeks ago? Well, today I finally ordered the prints! I can't wait to see them hanging on my wall. Of course, that means I need to go buy some frames. I wonder how long it will be before I'll be able to post a small success that they are actually framed and hung on the walls? :)

2. I took my camera out today and tried to take some pictures. I'm so out of the groove with my photography hobby and I think it is showing in my stress levels. I tried to capture some shots of some hummingbirds in our backyard. They are so fast that I don't think I really got any good shots, but at least I tried!

3. We got through homework time yesterday without anyone getting sent to their rooms. That's a big success! It's been hard for the kids (mainly Jonathan) to stay focused on his homework and actually complete the little he has in a reasonable amount of time and without having a bad attitude. But, we've got a good homework routine going and hopefully from now on it will be a much less frustrating part of my day!

Head over to Faith & Family Live! to find more moms posting their Small Successes! Also, while you're there, check out Blair's featured article!

20 week ultrasound

I had my 20 week ultrasound yesterday. We decided not to find out the sex of the baby. Early in the pregnancy I thought I would really like to find out this time. But, as time got closer to the 20 week mark my feelings changed. I'm really glad to not know right now. It gives me an excuse for all the time I spend pouring over baby name books; I have to come up with two names now instead of one! :)

The ultrasound did reveal one thing we weren't expecting. I have a low lying placenta. Not placenta previa -thank you, Lord! - but the baby's placenta is very close to the cervix, only 1.5 cm away. Normally during the course of pregnancy the uterus stretches and the placenta moves away from the cervix. My doctor said that my placenta is in the part of the uterus that does not stretch very much so it may not move very much. It needs to move to at least 2 cm away from the cervix to avoid an automatic c-section. If, at delivery time, it is in the 2 cm to 4 cm range, he said I would be induced about 2 weeks early under controlled conditions where an anesthesiologist is available in case of an emergency c-section is necessary and blood is on hand in case I would need a blood transfusion. The concern is that the placenta would detach during labor which would, of course, put the baby in danger and I would be in danger of excessive bleeding.

So, I'm really praying that we can get to the 4 cm mark at least. There is plenty of time between now and when Button should be making his or her debut, so I'm trying not to worry and just be patient and see what happens. I go back in 5 more weeks for another ultrasound to check the position of the placenta.

In the mean time, I think I'm going to go see if I can find a novena to St. Gerard. :)

First Day of School!

Last Thursday was the first day of school for Jonathan and Elizabeth.

Jonathan (a new second grader) is a pro at the whole going to school thing so he was very cool and jumped back into the school routine without a hitch.


Elizabeth was a very wide eyed Kindergartner. She was very excited to be there but she also climbed all the way back into her shy shell. She would nod "yes" or shake her head "no" to questions asked of her, but that's about it.


By the second day she declared that she already had a best friend and a good friend and that she spoke to the teacher that day. She is so cute. She wants to be big so badly and she really is trying to overcome her fears.


On the second day of school I asked Elizabeth if she wanted me to walk her into her classroom again. The first two days the parents are allowed to walk their kids in before everyone falls into the regular car line routine next week. Honestly, I was hoping that she would say "yes". But, she didn't want me to. She had her brother with her and she assured me that she is a big girl and knows where to go. Sigh... They grow up way to fast.

Dress up clothes

When I did the kids' portraits a couple of weeks ago, I let them pick out the clothes they would wear. I figured Elizabeth would pick out some dress up clothes and, sure enough, she did. But, the outfit she picked has some history. My mom and dad were in town the week before and Mom brought some old dance costumes that I wore as a child that she thought Elizabeth would like to have. She saved them for the last 25 years and they are still in really good shape and, of course, Elizabeth absolutely loved them.

In the mail today I received a letter from my mom and enclosed was a small 3x5 picture.


I was 6 years old in this shot (gosh I was tall even then!) and I'm doing one of the poses from my dance routine. What a fun little trip down memory lane! I remember this brick wall from the tiny little house we lived in. It was the official picture taking spot and all of the pictures of us dressed for any occasion have it in the background.

That little outfit sure did stand the test of time! The hat got a little squashed somewhere along the line and even though it seems to constantly drop copious amounts of sequins, it still is just as sparkly as ever.


I think Mom and Dad got their money's worth.

Two year old talk

Isn't it fun to listen to toddlers talk? Gustin adds new words to his vocabulary all the time. The other day we had a fruit salad of strawberries and blueberries and Gustin was very proud of himself for being able to say, "stawbees and doobees." A day or two later we were at my brother's house having dinner and fruit salad was again part of the meal. Gustin was excited to practice his new words some more. However, over the 24 hours since he last said them, his pronunciation changed. Now they were, "stawbees and boobees." Oh no. I'm sure you can imagine how Eric and my brother encouraged him to repeat his new word. Men are so easily amused. :)

Trying to turn over a new leaf

We've had a very busy summer (as I'm sure I have stated over and over again!) and unfortunately, I have not been dealing with all stress as gracefully as I would have liked. Even though my morning sickness is gone, the fatigue has continued well into this second trimester and I'm afraid that my exhaustion and the endless to-do lists have led to me being rather snappy toward Eric and the kids. I even feel that I was grumpy and distant while my parents were visiting a couple of weeks ago and I really regret that.

The thing is, I know things are going to get even crazier, especially after Button arrives. I have got to find something to help me deal with all the stress now before things get worse and my family decides to disown me! I've been thinking and praying about it for the past couple of weeks and in mass on Sunday a solution finally presented itself (or the Holy Spirit knocked me upside the head, however you want to look at it :)).

So, this Saturday morning and every Saturday after that (God willing) I'm going to leave first thing in the morning and head to church for some quiet time with the Lord. I know it is not that ground breaking of an idea -- to go to adoration every once in a while -- but I think it is exactly what I need. In college, even though I was very busy then as well, I was able to stop in at church at talk with Jesus for a few minutes at least daily. Because of where I parked and where my classes were, I would walk right by the church several times everyday and rarely walked by without at least stopping in to say hello. How I miss that easy access to the Blessed Sacrament! But, after entering married life and then adding one, two and three babies into the mix, those trips to adoration have become rare.

I wanted to be sure to post about this decision because I need the accountability. I think this is important and is God's will for me and I don't want little things (being tired or busy or not in the mood for prayer) to distract me from following through. So, we'll see how this Saturday goes and how the graces flow into the rest of my week. I sure do need those graces because I've already proved that I can't do it on my own!

Struggling along to live my vocation as it is meant to be,

Sharing my loves

I love being able to share things that I loved in childhood with my kids. Usually that manifests itself in movies and books. My kids are too young for many of my most favorite books (Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden, Little Women, all the Jane Austen novels, etc) and I'm having to hold myself back so I don't introduce them too early and bore them.

But, I have been able to show them some of my favorite movies. The boys don't seem to appreciate them quite as much (no surprise!), but Elizabeth loves them! She's seen Annie, Mary Poppins (the boys actually liked this one), The Wizard of Oz and even The Sound of Music. Yes, she sat through all of Sound of Music (we watched it a little bit at a time over several days) and loved it! What I love even more is that she loves the music. I downloaded the sound tracks to many of the movies on my iPod and we would listen to them on our half hour long drives to and from the school (not a half hour anymore, though! Yeah!). She sings and sings and sings along to all my favorite childhood songs. Some of her favorites are My Favorite Things (she calls it Raindrops on Roses), Tomorrow and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

But, she is not the only one who sings. When he was about 21 months old or so, Gustin started to sing along with the music, too. It was so cute! "Momorrow, momorrow, ell-ah, momorrow... AH-WAY!!!!" (Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow, you're only a day away.) He would even sing to himself while he played or in his crib he would sing himself to sleep.

Such precious, precious memories. Isn't it wonderful to be able to share our loves with our children?

Kids' portraits

When I got a digital SLR camera about a year ago, I was excited that I would no longer need to go to the portrait studio to get my kids' pictures taken. I could just do them myself! Well, in the past few months we've celebrated all of the kids birthdays, so it's time for some new portraits. I got this idea from another photographer on flickr and I'm really pleased with how they turned out! Here are the pictures that will soon be hanging on the wall in our living room!




The kids picked out their own clothes and props (except for Gustin) and I think their unique personalities really shine through in these pictures. Just what I wanted!

7 Quick Takes Friday (vol. 5)

--1--

It's been a weird -- and itchy -- week. Jonathan and I woke up Tuesday morning covered in an extremely itchy rash. My first thought was that we had a reaction to something we ate. But, I couldn't think of a single thing out of the ordinary that we had eaten in the last day or so. The rash continued to spread throughout the day so I called and got Jonathan an appointment with the pediatrician and I was already scheduled for an appointment with my OB for the next day. Both the pediatrician and the OB made the same diagnosis; Jonathan picked up poison oak on a cub scout nature hike over the weekend and transferred it to me. But, that diagnosis didn't sit completely right with me. My rash was actually worse than Jonathan's and it was all over me, like I had rolled in the stuff instead of just picking it up second hand through casual contact. The next morning (Thursday) the pediatrician called to say that Jonathan's strep culture had come back positive. So, it turns out that both of us have strep (not poison oak) and the only symptom is the itchy rash! Weird.

So, just be aware that strep can present itself in strange ways. I also remember that the daughter of a friend had strep a while back and her only symptom was a stomachache. You just never know.

--2--

My kids go back to school in less than two weeks. Texas has a law that public schools cannot begin classes until a week before Labor Day, but that doesn't apply to private schools. Our school seems to beginning early than any of the other private schools (August 13th). But we also will be done in May and I really appreciate the extra time we get off around Easter.

How do you homeschooling moms decide when to start up school again?

--3--

We had a wonderful family vacation at a Texas lake last week. Most of Eric's side of the family was there and we were even blessed with a break from the sweltering heat we have been having this summer. It was a very simple vacation; no major events were planned, we cooked all our own meals and it wasn't very expensive. Still, I am so thankful that we are able to do it. We very rarely had vacations when I was a kid growing up. If we did travel, it was usually to see family. But, for a long time money was very tight and even the trips to see family stopped (all of our family was far away in Nebraska and Colorado). So, I really appreciate even these simple vacation experiences that we are able to give our kids.

--4--

If your looking for a good movie for you and your hubby to enjoy one evening, I would recommend Bottle Shock. Some of my favorite actors are in it (Bill Pullman and Alan Rickman), it's based on a true story (but isn't cheesy) and both Eric and I enjoyed it. It can be so hard sometimes to find a movie that both the husband and wife like, so I thought I'd pass on this recommendation!

--5--

According to my allergist, about a third of pregnant women have their allergy symptoms improve during pregnancy, a third stay about the same and a third get worse. Unfortunately, I am in the later group. I have to say, some times I am amazed at the copious amounts of snot that my nose is able to produce. Seriously, if scientists could come up with a way to use snot as a fuel source, I'd be a billionaire and would be able to power at least half of the Houston metroplex.

--6--

I apologize for #5!

--7--

My 20 week ultrasound is scheduled for August 19th. Will we find out the sex of the baby? I don't know. I guess you'll have to check back in and find out! :)

Make sure you click over the Conversion Diary where Jen is hosting 7 Quick Takes Friday!

A very different pregnancy

This pregnancy has been very different than any of the others. I'm not just talking about how I feel physically this time around, which has been a daily adventure, but my mental state has also been very different. I was trying to articulate the difference to Eric the other day when I said, "I completely aware that I'm pregnant, but I seem to forget that I'm having a baby."

Does that make any sense at all? I think life has been so insanely busy lately that I've hardly had the opportunity to relish the idea of a new baby. I can recite the litany of pregnancy symptoms that I have been dealing with, but I have barely given a moment's thought to names or godparents or what it will be like to hold a newborn once again. I feel guilty because I often forget that there is a child, a living soul, residing in my belly. In previous pregnancies, I was much more aware of the life growing within me (I'm now almost 17 weeks along).

I hope that these feelings will change soon. I'm now feeling Button move, which is a wonderful reminder of the baby in my belly. Also, I'm beginning to look forward to school starting again and our lives falling into more of a routine. I don't think we'll be any less busy, in fact as meetings and organizations begin again we will get even busier, but there will once again be a predictable rhythm to our days. I'll be able to look forward to quiet times in my day where I can think and plan, anticipate and pray. I think I just need to a little time to myself so that I can fall in love with this precious, new baby.

The House

Here are the long promised pictures of our new house in all it's cluttered, recently moved-in, still unpacking glory. Let me take you on a tour.

Here's the living room. There is no carpet on the first floor; it's all laminate and tile. The wall with the fire place was painted with a very dark brown faux finish. I think the previous owners must have paid a professional to paint it, there was at least four different colors used and one of them was metallic. I felt a little guilty covering it up, but the fact is that I hated it. To me it looked like someone smeared poop all over the walls (sorry for the graphic description!) and it made the whole house feel very dark. I opted for a soft creamy color instead. It's much lighter, brighter and more soothing.


If you ever want a very clear picture of just how messy a room is, try shooting it from above. Eeek!


This is the breakfast room. It also was painted the faux poop brown. I painted it a pale sage green. Except, I think it turned out too pale, you can hardly tell there is any color at all. I think we may repaint it a slightly darker shade.


Here's the kitchen, also formerly poop brown. With the dark cabinets, counter tops and flooring, it felt like a cave.


It's now the same color as the breakfast room. The cabinets are very nice custom cabinets, 42" high in a cherry finish. They are beautiful! But, honestly, if I could have my way I would paint them white. I know, I know, to paint such cabinets would almost be a sacriledge and Eric has already vetoed the idea. But, I just love light, bright kitchens! It will take me awhile to get used to all the dark.


Here's the dining room that will serve as our office. It was a dark green with some kind of purple glaze sponged over it (yuck!). They even had the trim painted black! This room isn't finished being painted yet, but it's now the same creamy yellow as the living room.


Here's the master bedroom. It's in need of some decorating TLC, but I love this room. It's hard to tell, but there is actually a window seat. Sweet!


This is Elizabeth's room, her very first room of her own. For her birthday (which was the day we moved) she got new bedding and we painted her room first (it was a little boy's room with red and blue verical stripes). When I finally buy a rod, there will be curtains at the window and hopefully soon we'll find something to put on the walls.


Here's the boys' room. It's hard to tell from the picture, but it is actually very large. I plan to paint the walls a pale blue.


This room will remain a guest room even after Button's arrival. As you can tell, it used to be a little girl's room. I can't imagine how much time it took to paint all those dots! It's very cute, but way too much for me. I haven't decided on a color for this room yet but it will be a light, soothing tone.


This is the game room (I must say, it is awesome to have a game room!) There is a faux finish in puke brown (not much better than the poop brown that was downstairs) on the walls and I think I'm leaning toward a pale blue in this room, too.


On to the outside. Here's the awesome porch I mentioned. Even in the extreme heat of this summer, we've enjoyed sitting out there first thing in the morning and when the sun is setting. It's so peaceful!


Here's the entire front of the house including the scraggliest, most pathetic tree ever. Eric has spent hours researching trees and which type would be best for shade trees in our area. This house is completely lacking is shade and we hope to plant some new trees in both the front and back yards in the fall.


Here's the kids' favorite feature of the house. The previous owners left this awesome playset in the backyard for us. They play on it every day!


Here's the one little vegetable bed that we've made so far. I picture 4 to 6 of these lined up on this side of the yard eventually. With all the sun our west-facing backyard gets, I can't wait to see what kind of vegetables we can grow!


I have to say again how very blessed we are to have this house. Our old house sold so quickly because it's in a niche market of houses that are moving right now (small, one story starter homes). And, because the rest of the housing market is depressed, we got an incredible deal on this new house. I never thought we would be able to afford a home this big and nice. I am still in awe at everything that has happened in the last three months!

I hope you enjoyed the tour. Could you answer one question for me though? Would it really be that horrible to paint the kitchen cabinets? Just curious.