Long Absences and Nesting cont.

Finally, the moment you have all been waiting for... kitchen pics:

Okay, In looking at the blog I noticed that it has been nearly 3 weeks since I last posted... Sorry about that. I tend to be a man of single focus and as of late, that focus has been turned to work and home repairs rather than blogging.

There is both good and bad in that because while I have been away from posting for a while there is a bit more to catch up on. So... baby wise, we had our 13 week check up. It was a bit of a scary time considering that most of the advice that we had gotten was that we shouldn't even tell anyone until that point because the risks were much greater beforehand. Fortunately, there was nothing to worry about as they said that everything that they can see with the ultrasound looked perfect. The baby is right on schedule with growth and development, the heart rate looks good, and the spinal cord seems to be developing appropriately. I wish you could see the video as the fuzzy pictures don't do it justice. You could see the little arms and legs, the skeleton was clear, and it looked like it was having minature hiccups. In the week and a half since Austin is feeling a bit better, so there is hope that her sickness won't be the 8 1/2 month kind.

Home improvement wise, we have taken several steps forward. The tile floor is in, and I think it looks great! I spent virtually the entire day yesterday watching and talking with our Romanian installer, Ray. The guy really knew his stuff and worked the entired day straight with no lunch break from about 8 to 8 to get it finished. I will hire him again in a heartbeat.

I stained the quarter round for installation when he seal the floor on Wednesday, and the Lewis's officially have their first permanent kitchen floor. The improvement is dramatic. Dramatic enough that I decided to replace our flourescent lighting with new track lighting to compliment it, and am having a really hard time avoiding the "self install granite slab countertop" websites even though everyone I talk to (including Ray) says it's a bad idea.

Also, in the intervening time since my last post, you have missed my trip to my grandmother's memorial service in California. She recently passed away at the age of 8

9 and my family got together to celebrate her life. It was both a sad and happy time, and a great reminder of what a wonderful family that I have and just how important family is.

Oh, and back to the baby... Austin's sister sent us a Massive amount of clothing from both their boy and girl from the ages of 1 to 3. I think it is going to make a tremendous difference for the baby. If I have my way... this baby will be in nothing but hand-me-downs. :-)

For those of you who have been waiting with bated breath. My visits to the aquatic center now total 2.... not quite the 10 that I had planned on.

The male version of nesting...

I think that this weekend was a great example of how pregnancy begins to revert us to our "primal" instincts. For the first time in the pregnancy, Austin is feeling some of the emotional effects of all of the hormones coursing through her veins... There were a lot of tears shed during movies and yes, even commercials, this weekend. The need for cuddles has also increased markedly. :-)

I meanwhile, continue to have a stronger urge to build, improve, clean, and repair our house than I have ever felt before. The project during the week was having two dead pine trees cut down in our yard, then distributing the mulch over the weed bed bordering our driveway... very satisfying as they had been concerning me during the recent high winds we have had here in Georgia.

The weekend project was stripping the two layers of linoleum floor from our kitchen so that we can lay porcelin tile. The top layer came up easy in about a half hour. The second layer took about 4 hours of pouring boiling water on it waiting 15 minutes while watching TV, then pulling it up one section at a time. Finally, the felt backing for the second layer took about 8 hours between Friday night and Saturday of serious sweat with a razor scraper, boiling water, and Krudkutter (my new favorite cleanser/degreaser/paste remover). Seems like it would be a total pain... but it felt good.

Now, the rest of the flooring is in Home Depot's hands and I am Jonesing for my next project. Will it be sodding the backyard? Putting a patio in the backyard? Self-installing granite or granite tile countertops? Replacing our ever-leaking windows? Who can say... but I am anxious to do it while I have all of this father-to-be superenergy.