Progress on the basement...

Looking from the stairwell...this is Bobby's new office all framed in. 

Looking at the guest room framed in, just need to cut out doorway and frame around window.

The partial wall will be a future bathroom behind it and the open area is up for debate

Looking from the bar area where there will be ping pong or air hockey and then a media room with a big screen tv against the far wall with storage behind.

The only rooms we are completing right now are the office and eventually the guest room. The most important room to finish is Bobby's office because his current office is where baby #2 is going. We are now just waiting for an insulation company to come and give us an estimate for the spray foam, which we are having all done at once which is the reasoning behind framing everything right now. Our basement completion is in our 5 year plan, so it will be a work in progress from sometime. That is unless we win the lottery, but since neither of us play, that may be hard to do! My dad and Bobby have been working really hard on this and it's looking great!

Spring or Summer?

Wait...technically it is still Winter...what?! It feels like we are totally bypassing Spring and going straight to Summer. The high today was in the 80's and it sure was warm in the sun. Our thermometer that is directly in the sunlight was reading at 90 and if it wasn't still winter, I would have totally turned on the air conditioning today.

The guys continued working in the basement today with some tool malfunctions. Natalie, mom, and I all went to church this morning. Then, Natalie and I both took a nap...mine was longer, thank goodness for moms! After naps and Natalie's lunch, we put together Natalie's water table she got from Aunt Amanda and Uncle Matt for her birthday. Never did I imagine we would be playing with it outside in March, but we did and Natalie LOVED it...of course because it has water and music, 2 of her favorites!

Thank you Aunt Amanda and Uncle Matt!

Wet baby 

Relaxing on the glider mommy and grandma put together

Busy and great week!

While I say "busy" week, I am looking back on the calendar for the week and I'm not really seeing why it was so busy because there wasn't a lot of planned events. However, the weather was absolutely gorgeous all week here, so going to the park and have a cookout with friends took up a couple of our evenings that normally are free. I don't remember a time when we were having consistent 70's and 80's weather in March...it's crazy, but I love it!  There is just something about Spring-time anyway and to have weather as nice as it has been is even better.

Bobby was wanting to get working in the basement this week, but it just didn't happen until Friday after he had already been working since 3am and didn't get home until after 3p. My parents came down to Terre Haute again (for the 3rd weekend in a row...we owe them big time!) so my dad could help Bobby finish the framing in the basement and my mom could play with Natalie. 

Friday, we closed on our old house!!!!!!  I am so excited not to have to pay 2 mortgages any longer! So, 9 months after we had put it up for sale, we finally sold it. We lost money on the deal, but hey, it's out of our hair and the main nice thing other than not having a 2nd mortgage payment (alongwith utilities) is that we don't have to do any yardwork now that the weather is nice!  I think we are both more excited about not double the yardwork this Spring. We were starting to wonder if we really were going to close because it didn't happen until 4 days after the original planned date. The whole process of closing is silly and they sure do nickel and dime both the buyer and the seller. I almost wonder now if we would have sold it quicker and "cheaper" by selling it on our own because we were not very happy with our realtor that was selling the house.  I'm sure we could think of many what-ifs, but no need for that, just glad the whole process is over!  The young girl that bought our old house was nice and that house will be perfect for her...kind of reminded me of when I bought it 5 years ago!

I had a doctor appointment on Friday and everything is looking good. Baby #2 heartbeat was between 147-150 and she is measuring on time still. I don't think I am waking up as much at night as when I was pregnant with Natalie, but am getting the leg cramps like I did with her.

Saturday, Natalie started swim lessons at ISU. She gets to go for 6 weeks with a weekend off for Easter. Of course, she LOVED it!  Not that we thought she wouldn't because she has LOVED water since basically the day she was born. When she was a newborn, she loved having her hair washed and didn't mind her baths either. She was exposed to the pool early on...before she was even 3 months we had her in a pool (cold one at that) after doing the Indy mini-marathon. There were about 8 other kids in her class and she looked to be the youngest, smallest, and happiest! There were a few kids that just hated the water and were holding onto their parents for dear life. Fortunately for Bobby, since he was a swimmer in high school, Natalie is not like that at all. She was splashing and kicking and smiling the entire time!  I had signed Natalie up and had planned on getting in the pool with her, but I was glad Bobby got into the pool instead of me since he has taught swim lessons to kids before. I would have followed right along with what the instructor was saying, but instead, a few times Bobby kind of did his own thing to teach Natalie, which worked out great. I think he had just as much fun as Natalie.  My parents and I also had a great time watching from the sidelines.

1st time in the pool (sleeping) May 2011

Waiting for class to start 

Walking with Daddy

Watching Daddy blow bubbles

Happy girl

Learning the front crawl (I think)

Her very least favorite position...lying on her back, but she did great

Under she goes...

...out she comes!

Going under water didn't phase her one bit 

Blowing bubbles

After swim, Natalie took a good nap, the guys worked in the basement, Aunt Amanda came down to visit for a few hours, we made lunch, then headed out to run some errands. It has been a long time since my mom, sister, and I have been out shopping. I don't know if it was a good thing we all went or not because I did spend WAY TOO MUCH money, but I got an awesome deal on diapers!  I typically buy diapers on Amazon since they are the cheapest and free delivery to my door.  However, BabiesRUs was running a one-day sale on Pampers (the only diaper Natalie can wear, so I am just assuming this will be the case for baby #2 as well). For any 2 boxes of Pampers (88ct or higher), you got $25 off your purchase...and there was no limit of how many boxes you could buy. Luckily, I had assistance with Natalie because she would not have fit in the cart with the 8 boxes of diapers I had purchased. Once we got them in car, I realized I had more room to fit more diapers, so I went back in and got 8 more boxes. I spend a little less than $500 on diapers and saved $200, but I hadn't bought any for baby #2 yet and we are going to need them. Bobby was a little sticker shocked when I told him how much I spent, which I was too when I said the total out loud, but I've never seen this diaper sale and each package I bought was at least $10 cheaper than the Amazon boxes I buy. 

Saturday night, we took my parents to a restaurant in Terre Haute called Stables and had a very nice dinner. 

Updates on Natalie:

1. She is 13 months old.

2. She is walking more by allowing us to hold her hand, but will also take 15 steps or so by herself...only when she wants to.

3. At daycare on Thursday, she finally took 10-12 steps at a time for them compared to her normal 2 steps.

4. She continues to be Miss Independent during mealtimes which equals MESSY!

5. Still in 12 month clothes, size 3 diapers, and size 3 shoes. 

6. Her favorite word continues to be "doggie." EVERYTHING is "doggie" and we can't get her to say anything else.
7. She has been a great little sleeper lately.

Spring Forward

Daylight Savings happened today and I am pretty surprised that Natalie pretty much went on her normal schedule with the time change. I know I have heard many parents say in the past that whoever decided upon daylight savings time didn't have kids, but it really was not a problem at all in the Andreae household...thank goodness!

We had a pretty busy weekend.

Friday evening, Natalie and I met Bobby at the Terre Haute homeshow since we had free tickets from his work (it's only $3 a person normall, but I definitely would not have even paid that). Natalie was good the whole time in her stroller and Bobby was able to get some pricing information on insulation/drywall for our basement project and priced out how much it would be for a fence to be installed by someone else (pretty sure we will be doing that on our own, or I should say Bobby and friends). We have a huge fence to put up...I think Bobby said somewhere in the ballpark of over 250' and we definitely want to get that up before the new neighbors move in (we're thinking before June).  My parents also came into town so that my dad could help Bobby out with the basement walls.  I bet they wished we lived much closer after all these trips to Terre Haute, but my mom definitely doesn't mind because she gets to play with Natalie all weekend long...Natalie loves it too!

Here are some before pictures of the basement:

Looking at Bobby's future office

Bar/game area

Guest room will be the inlet with the window

Looking at the "media/sitting" room with storage in the very back

Bathroom will be near the water heater and white pipe with open space at the indented area

Looking at toward where bathroom/storage will be

Saturday, the guys worked down in the basement and started putting up the walls (the framing). They worked while us girls "played", except we did go over to the old house to clean out the garage since we had never done that since we moved back in July. My mom and dad finished clearing it out while I stayed home with Natalie and while Bobby went out to dinner for a little bit for a co-worker's birthday. Now our current 3 car garage does not look as spacious since the 3rd stall is completely full. However, the wooden swingset we got from Bobby's sister is taking up the most space. We have a lot of "junk." My dad's poor knee was really bothering him this weekend, but he was a tremendous help to Bobby and I don't know what we would have done without him. Surprisingly enough, with all the pounding, sawing, nail-gunning, etc, Natalie had no problem sleeping and took very good naps!

Since my aunt is out of town, my mom is watching her dog and Natalie absolutely loves her. Probably because Lacie stays in one spot and lets Natalie pet her, lay on her, kiss her and hug her. Lacie is also very soft. So, while Lacie wasn't hiding behind our couch, Natalie loved every minute of snuggling with Lacie. Natalie's idea of kisses from Lacie is to get in her face and open her mouth wide so Lacie can kiss her, and that is just what Lacie does. She doesn't kiss her any other time except for when Natalie does that. Lacie was great with Natalie!

Natalie giving Lacie hugs 

Petting Lacie...such a nice doggie (Natalie's FAVORITE word)

Sunday was a low-key day for the girls. Daylight savings put a little kink in the guys' schedule since they forgot about it and they "lost" an hour.  My mom and I worked a lot with Natalie on walking and she did awesome all day. She is still really unsteady, but she walked a TON and the most steps she took at one time was 14!  We are hoping Natalie will be walking by Easter so she can participate in the Easter egg hunt(s)!

The guys were in the basement much longer than anticipated and still have some short walls to do, but are making good progress. Bobby also had to do a couple other handyman things in the house, such as taking apart the dryer to reset the heat sensor since it wasn't drying clothes. Then, he had to finish burying the Time Warner and Dish cables in the yard, as well as temporarily fix the loose piece of siding.  I don't think when I married Bobby that I would have ever called him handy, but he has really surprised me over the years!

I am so appreciative of my parents for helping us pretty much EVERY TIME they come down to Terre Haute, as well as making the long trips. However, I'm sure they will tell you that an adorably cute 1 year old makes the trips worth it every time!

Next weekend, Natalie starts swim lessons at ISU on Saturday mornings. I know she is going to LOVE it!

Quick Update...or long?!

I have been really bad about keeping up with this lately since Natalie's birthday...oops!

So, I'll do a quick update about what we have been doing. Unfortunately, I haven't been taking pictures either. I'm really slacking!

We have had some really nice weather in Terre Haute, minus the wind and monsoon rains at times, but the temperatures have been so nice! We have gone to the park several times to swing, crawl around on the playground, and take walks. Natalie still has not starting walking and since I have posted the video about walking for bananas, she has figured out our plan and now won't even do that. Every once in awhile we will catch her taking a few steps, but I guess she just prefers to have bruised knees.

Talking Update: She says "doggie" non-stop!  EVERYTHING is "doggie." Other words she has been caught saying, but only once or twice are "play" and "all done." She likes to say "uh-oh" and "no."

Daycare Updates: This week she started sitting at the "big kids" table instead of the high chair which is interesting to me since she is so little, but I guess she is eating pretty good sitting with the other kids. However, today, when one of the girls watching her thought she said "all done" and turned around to see if she was, she was wearing her plate on her head...and what was on her plate?!  None other than beefaroni, so I guess she had a little bath in the sink. They must have really good bibs there because none was on her clothes surprisingly enough. She has been taking better naps at daycare and she is no longer the youngest since there is now a 6 week old little guy.

House Updates: Last weekend my parents came into town mostly for my dad to help us figure out the layout of our basement and to start it. It will be a work in progress for at least a few years, but we mostly need to add Bobby's office to the basement so baby girl #2 can have her own room. We would probably put the girls in the same room but with Natalie being such a light sleeper, I'd rather not have to deal with that headache. So, by the end of the weekend, Bobby and my dad had bought all the wood to frame all the walls and my parents are coming back down this weekend to help again. I'm glad my dad is so handy and knows what he's doing! We have several large projects this spring to conquer for the house: basement office/guest room, fence, front porch railings, and possibly the sprinkler system.  We should also be closing next week on our old house...thank goodness!!!!

Pregnancy Updates: I am now getting ready to go onto 30 weeks. It seems like I haven't been to the doctor in forever, but once I go next Friday, I'm already at going to appointments every 2 weeks. I have been so tired lately and feel completely lazy, but with chasing after Natalie and just the pregnancy (luckily it has been without complications just like with Natalie)...I just want to sleep much more. I can't really take naps like I did when I was pregnant with Natalie except for Mondays and Fridays, but I try to get something done on those days while Natalie is sleeping. Even though I'm only working 3 days a week, when I come home I am just so tired. I have been getting leg cramps at night which are always fun to wake up to where I basically have to jump out of bed and stand up to get them to go away. The frequent trips to the bathroom  have started only in the middle of the night (of course)! I thought by now I had been having frequent heartburn, but I've only had it 1 time so far. I feel huge already and still have 10 weeks left!  We still have no name for this little one. It is so hard to come up with a name. Naming her is so important because a name means a lot and plus you are stuck with it for the rest of your life!  For awhile it was Aubrey Kate, but then we decided we weren't really keen on Aubrey. Then, it was Kate (with a debatable middle name) Alyssa. However, now I don't know that I want Kate either because it's just so abrupt and short, although it is a strong name. Stay tuned for more changes in names :)

Natalie is still as crazy as ever and keeps us on our toes!  She is staring to exhibit "temper tantrums" when we tell her no, sometimes she just cries and cries but other times she laughs!  She is also not doing very well with sharing toys. I haven't heard anything bad about her not sharing at daycare, but when we watch our friends' daughter who is 3.5 months older, Natalie does not always share well and tonight she had a complete meltdown!  We still love her smile and deep belly laughs. She is typically always a happy, but hyper little girl!