dining room - the (mostly) after

As a refresher, here are the before pictures of the sunroom-turned-dining-room. And, some progress pics here.

As we (David/Randy) made a bit more headway on the room construction, we (I) realized the completion date was going to be precariously close to David's sister and her family coming to visit. They have four kids now, and I knew we would need and want as much space as possible so I encouraged (read: was annoying and persistent) everyone to get it finished before their arrival. Last week turned out to be nutty, but we got it finished. David made the VERY wise decision to hire John Bryant to come help get stuff done around the house. Some things had just gotten a backseat because the room had taken priority (clean out the gutters, put together our new grill), but he was a total lifesaver to have help. He was at the house Tuesday night until 10:30 laying tile because it HAD to get done that night in order for the timing of the rest of the week to happen. Oh, and a tree fell on the house mid-week, and he took care of that too. Whew. It really was a nutty week.

Now, some pictures (and a few scattered words - mostly for my future recollection):

Table score at the Pottery Barn outlet!

Then, this happened. Lovely, right? We actually had someone come give us an estimate to have this tree limb cut down a few weeks ago, and he told us it didn't need to be. Nice. Fortunately it came down very slowly over the course of a few days, so it didn't cause much damage (a dented gutter and part of the deck rail that needs to be re-nailed together).

And, the finished product! Complete with farmers market flowers David brought home on Thursday :).

We got the chairs from Pier One when they were running a sale, but our local store only had five in stock so my parents picked up the sixth one. The brown pillows were on the porch before, and they are a bit faded but who cares? I've had the baker's rack since my Birmingham house, and now it's finally getting more use. We certainly still have some styling to do - oh, and a boat load of touch up painting. Oops. Turns out I'm pretty horrible at painting... But, all in all we can call it complete. Tonight was our first family dinner in there, and it was so wonderful. I'm loving it already!

17 months

Crawford, at 17 months you:

• are a little parrot. You repeat everything we say!
• LOVE balls. This is certainly nothing new, but it has reached a whole new height of obsession.
• are addicted to your paci all of a sudden. We have always kept a few in a mug downstairs and now you know where they are and ask for them alllll the time (by saying and signing "peeeas"). And then you have to have a lovey (to rub under your nose) or the blanket off the couch to lay on the floor to cuddle. We've only let you have the paci in the crib and car seat for months now, but when you were sick recently we caved and let you have it a lot. We have to get out of that bad habit! I hate for you to talk with that stinking thing in your  mouth... you're too old for that!
• hated swim lessons, I think mainly because of the time... We're going to try a different session next week. You generally love being in the water!
• cut all 4 molars at once (verrrrry slowly).
• are down to one nap a day (around 12:30), but sometimes wake up so early we have to sneak in a morning cat nap.
• love to point out my earrings (and turn my head to find the other one) and teeth, everyone's hat and/or glasses.
• think all African American people are wearing hats. And point it out. Loudly. In public. 
• willingly give kisses, but mostly just to me and daddy. You almost never turn down an opportunity to give the baby kisses. 
• love stickers, your lawn mower, bubbles, wearing your sunglasses on your head, watching Elmo on YouTube for 30 seconds at a time, making baskets, the vacuum cleaner (and lawn mower and power tools- you call them all vacuum), driving cars and reading books (by yourself).
• LOVE the VBS DVD my mom gave you. It is the "music videos" of the songs they sang that week, and you would watch it all day if we let you. I don't know if it's the actual movie ("moomie") you like or just that it's the only you-specific thing we put on the tv.

snapshots

third trimester

Whoa. Third trimester!

A few notes about lately:

• I have gained 15 pounds. No shame. 
• I've been trying to go for walks regularly, but when I do I regret it almost immediately because it causes such horrific tailbone pain that lasts for days. 
• I have a ton of pin head sized hemangeomas all over my body, mostly on my torso.
• Little Lawson is very active, and he has hiccups about three times a day. 
• At my last appointment, Dr. Brody told me to start doing kick counts twice a day and that is almost a joke at this point. There's hardly ever a doubt he's in there.
• We're now on the two week doctor visit schedule, which is exhausting to think about. Last time I was itching to go, now all I think about is logistics of taking Crawford/having someone watch Crawford. 
• Mom, Dad and Greg all came with me to the last appointment, so they got to a) entertain Crawford and b) see Lawson! It was super special that Greg got to be there since he didn't get to ever do that with Crawford, and he probably won't get to again with Lawson. Mom and Dad were able to go once for each boy now, which is pretty cool considering they live out of town!

People keep asking if we're ready for a second baby. I don't know how to answer that, but I generally say we'll be ready when he's born! I think it will take until then for me to really wrap my mind around having two babies. When I do stop to think about what is going on, I mostly think about the way-in-the-distance future and imagine brothers playing/competing/hanging out. This post was really sweet for me to re-read recently. To now know that we are going to have two boys close in age (not as close at P+J) and that we have such amazing examples of parenting them is such a sweet gift from the Lord.

Life lately

Things have been a little hairy around here lately. My sweet parents came to town for the weekend, and I talked them into coming a day early so my dad could help me paint Crawford's room. Well, within 3 hours of them pulling in the driveway he had the whole room finished! By himself! A few touch ups the next morning and it was good to go. He's a pro! We have several other items to add to the room in the next week or so then I'll post a full overview. 

And I'll post more pics from the weekend soon!

Construction on the dining room started last week, and in just a handful of work hours they made a ton of progress! 

David has some work to do now, but were hoping to have the room finished before his family comes to visit at the end of the month. I can't wait!!

Sunday afternoon, after a three hour nap (which is unheard of for c!), I knew something was up with the little man. Pink eye. Sweet. Did I mention he had hand, foot and mouth two weeks ago?

The days since have been spent washing hands and cuddling on the couch. My mom brought the music video from their VBS and Crawford loves it. Thank The Lord, he is still sleeping really well so it's just his waking hours that are troublesome. He's totally pathetic, and it breaks my heart! Thanks to pharmacist grandma Cathy and nurse aunt Ashley who have been just a text away from good advice.

Our carpets got cleaned today (by the one and only Brian Cavanaugh, no less), our new couch is awesome, and I've gotten rid of a van full of stuff. The nesting is in full-swing!

Lots going on at casa Geyer!