Keeping a promise

Well, I told you we have been doing a little work around the house and that I would blog about it. We finally tackled a little work outside (we're on sabbatical from inside work). We wanted a yard for the kids to play in and this house had a good sized yard for NY. Unfortunately it looked like a jungle or rainforest when we moved in. With plenty to do to the house itself we have turned a blind eye to the outside for the past two years. OK, last year we ripped out about 8 very large "wild" trees, but that is where it ended. With baby 3 due any day I knew that we needed to get a yard for the big kids ASAP. We didn't do any landscaping in the back this year, but we did manage to rip out the jungle and seed the back lawn! Here are the pics of the process...

What the yard looked like before we began:





Day One: The bulldozer moves in and makes short work of the debris, weeds, and sucker trees in the way. After they cleared it out they carted in 30 yards of new topsoil and planted the seed. The waiting began....




Just over a week later the seeds sprouted and we could see what would soon be our lawn. It was amazing that we didn't get any weeds...we figured they would show up soon.




These last pics were a little over 2 weeks after they planted the grass. It looks amazing! Still no weeds (cross your fingers).



It is even thicker and greener now and tomorrow we are going to give it it's first "haircut". We have never seen seed come in so thick and lush. It really is almost like sod. We still have no weeds and when the kids are out of school at the end of June we will have a great back lawn to play on. Next year we may tackle the actual "landscaping", but for now we are just happy to have real grass. Yay!

Where oh where...

...have we been??? Well, I have not spent any of the past 6 weeks here....



...because I haven't had any trouble from these....





...and I still don't have one of these...



But, we have had several visits from family including Aunt Gwen and Uncle Lee. And these guys....



We loved having the Dustins visit for a week even if the weather was cold! We also had a nice long visit with these guys....



the "other" Feldman family was out in NY for a long stay and we have loved having them over. Carson will really miss having Jackson back in UT. We've also spent time with the kids and their activities. Carson started kickball - a precursor to T-ball.



Erika has been busy at school performing in her 4th grade strings concert (violin) and also putting on a "Circus" with the rest of the 4th graders at her school. She was highly trained in Feather balancing (shown) as well as rope twirling.



She also had a "Fashion Show" for a sewing class she has been in. She is modeling the skirt she made for class. (Note: I did NOT pick the fabric for this one...she loved the "Asian" fabric ; )



Dan has been very busy here...



...I have been busy with everything above, as well as a lot of this...



Besides all this fun stuff we have been busy maintaining and "improving" this little cottage we call home. (I'll post those later.......I swear!) So, I am trying to get back to doing a little bit of blogging before we do have baby 3! That won't be long by the way...May 29th is the day if we haven't had him by then. So for better or worse, I'm back...at least until Thursday. (Maybe Dan will post for me while he is on paternity leave...hmmmmm)

A little creeped out!

So this little man-child is a VERY active little person. I am talking - full flips in the middle of the night - active. I don't recall either of the others being this crazy...I know this sounds weird, but it gives me the creeps. A little kicking here and there is always fun and endearing, but these Evil Knievel acrobatics that are being performed aren't comforting. In the middle of the night when he is busy working out some new stunt to try on my ribs, bladder, or belly I can't help but be a little creeped out! Please say I am not the only mommy-to-be that has felt this way. I am sure it is probably a result of the massive hormone changes I have undergone (right?), but maybe I'm just weird. Either way I am actually looking forward to the time when he is too big to do the stunt tricks he currently is working on! (Can you give Valium or Ritalin to a baby in-utero?)

Baby Update...

Time for a baby update...I'm 29 weeks and (knock on wood) I am doing great! For those who don't know, with both Erika and Carson I have had serious kidney stone episodes (approx. 20 in all - yes 20) which resulted in long hospital stays and lots of addictive narcotics. When we found out about Crackers I went to the urologist and had a renal scan and follow up. Her comment was, "It looks like a gravel pit in there." So many stones she couldn't count them...ugh! We have been prepared for the worst, but so far so good!! We are still on stone alert, but the longer I go the better. So here's hoping! Other than that things are generally OK...a few little concerns here and there, but really I feel pretty good. Hopefully the complications I had with Carson's delivery won't happen again and I will give this pregnancy a solid B- (is any pregnancy really an A???).

It really hasn't sunk in that we are having a baby yet...I realize this may be hard to believe, but its true. He's there, I feel him moving around like crazy, but still surreal. Carson is very excited and is anxiously awaiting the baby's birthday. We have done a little preparing (thanks mostly to friends and family) but I am beginning to feel a sense of urgency to get things together before this man-baby makes his appearance. On the list:

* get house inspected!!! (Don't ask why this is still not done)

* get lawn in the backyard (I need somewhere to put the kids once baby does come)

* get a crib (this is not quite as urgent, but it would be nice to have it done)

* organize the house - I should say reorganize to make room for him.

* get ahead on my business so I'm not swamped with work the day after delivery. (I know my partners have my back, but I still want it off the list)

This is the short list. No time for the fun stuff yet (like decorating). Hey, I'll be happy if I can accomplish even a few of the above. It would feel great and I think we can! I am so happy that things have gone this well so far. I promised a few people I would post a belly shot. This is not really my thing (I don't have any from Erika or Carson) but I am so far from friends and family I thought I would share. (this is for you jenn!)

12 is a great number!

Lots of moves & lots of change, 6 states and 1 foreign country, 2.5 kids, 4 college degrees, really great vacations, 6 cars - 2 with the steering wheel on the right, 1 really old house & many hours of renovation, 2 baby blessings, 1 baptism, 2 career changes, 1 startup business, dozens of trips to visit family, wonderful friends, and lots of love add up to 12 amazing years of marriage.

I like it

I really like this cleaner! I usually jump from product to product trying each in turn because none of them seem to work quite like I anticipate. (Read: They don't clean my shower without any effort on my part.) This stuff got my very white tile grout sparkling clean. I did do a little scrubbing with the brush, but overall I love this stuff. I have tried lots of cleaners that I had to work very hard with a scrub brush without any of the results. Now, I don't have hard water in NY, but we do get water now and then that leaves a slightly "off" color in the shower. Anyway, I had to pass it on because I rarely find something that really works so well for me. The only thing that comes close are these:


I know we all love 'em, but if you have a little boy around you come to really appreciate them!!! (With another little boy on the way I'm sure we'll be one of this company's biggest supporters.)

Happy Birthday Baby!

This was supposed to be up yesterday (March 4), but if you haven't noticed I have been "OUT" lately! So here goes...one day late!!!



Dan is not one to talk about himself, so I thought I would do it for him on his birthday!

* He is very responsible....I love that he has a been able to do such a good job juggling all the balls that we have had in the air the past two years!

* He is very funny....you out there (especially here in NY) don't see this side of him very often, but he is always springing one-liners on me and the kids. Hopefully our friends here in NY will be able to get to know this side of him sometime.

* He is very unselfish....He is always thinking about what he can do for me or the kids and rarely splurges (either time or money) on himself. He has always gone out of his way to watch the kids when he can so that I can travel, he will buy me new clothes even when he needs something for himself much more. He loves to pamper me if possible and will sacrifice something he needs or wants so that he can get something for me. I think I take this for granted at times and I am so grateful for such a sweet husband!

* He is passionate about college football and Notre Dame Football in particular - as most of you know. This has been a struggle for me...I am an on again off again college football fan and by the end of November I am done spending Saturdays in front of the tube. Once again he surprised even me with very limited football time this year sacrificing one of his loves to spend time with the family.

* He is good at a lot of things and if he isn't he will figure out how to do it. I love this about him! I am always asking him how to do things and to figure things out for me.

* He is a Great dad. He is so patient with the kids, especially since we came to NY. They love it when he calls from the office and helps them with homework or settles their disputes. He is always looking to the future when he can be home more with them again.

* He is adventurous! He loves to try new things, go new places, and eat new foods. He isn't afraid of a challenge - which sometimes gets us in over our heads (read massive home renovation + i banking job + move to NY). He doesn't let it get him discouraged and constantly works on finding solutions to it all.

* He is optimistic. I am a pessimist for sure - I think I do it so that I won't be disappointed if it doesn't work out. I fight against it constantly! I love that he is so optimistic for our future. It keeps me going and working hard and happy. He is always the one to bring me back from the brink of despair with his positive thoughts. I love this about him.

We are so lucky to have such a great guy in our lives! Happy Birthday!

(This may be my last post...he won't be happy that I talked about him!)