Amateur Announcements

By now, I'm sure you've given up on me. First there's my sporadic posting, then you probably think I'm losing my ability to read, seeing as how I haven't reviewed a single book since October.

Well, I've been reading. To be sure, a lot of e-mails (does that count?), and I dutifully scour every month of Real Simple from cover-to-cover (thanks, Aunt Christy!). But I've slowly been making my way through this little gem since January:

No need to adjust your screen, folks. What you see is true - if all goes well, we plan on becoming a set of amateur parents come August.

Sometimes, I still can't believe it myself. Then I try to put on a pair of jeans and I'm quickly reminded of my dear, sweet, growing fetus.

We discovered the news the morning of Christmas Eve - could you really ask for a better gift? If you can, don't answer that; because I'm positive there's nothing more exciting, heart-warming, and fulfilling than those two lines (or plus sign or digital "pregnant," whichever the case may be). Of course, I had to buy two (or three) of each test and take one every other day to reconfirm. Me, worrisome? Never.

Needless to say, we are pretty excited and definitely nervous. Is anyone ever really ready for this step? Here goes nothing, I suppose.

So with all of the baby-prep reading and recent wearing of hand-me-down maternity clothes (thanks, Amanda!), we needed something more to complete our transition from a family of two to a family of three:

Thanks to Realtor Paul, the most awesome guy around, for the pic after our final walk-through, just before closing.

We now live the American dream (paying a mortgage) and are VERY amateur home owners. So, for what it is worth, I totally read a lot in February (we closed on the 28th), considering how much I signed my life away to Wells Fargo and made sure to insure our most recent pricey acquisition.

Another very exciting, however very nerve-wracking event for the books, my friends.

And just in case we want to paint one of our three bedrooms (come on over, visitors!) for our new arrival, I got in some decent practice last weekend with our basement and dining room (sneak peek of more to come, I promise):

Basement before and after:

Dining room before and after:

What says home ownership more than a few self-painted rooms? Maybe a little water from a recent rain storm in the basement, right? Got that covered, too. Thankfully, it wasn't a lot and all we need to do is fix the gutter. Insert a light (but not heavy, mind you - not there, yet) sigh of relief here.

As you can see, it has been a pretty crazy new year thus far for us - Scott started a new job on Jan 31st, We bought a house on February 28th, and we hope to find out the gender of our wee one March 28th. Add to that a couple of new church callings for us both and you've got yourself some fairly decent reasons for me not updating you all.

I know... excuses, excuses, right? But aren't they pretty decent ones?

Anyway, thanks for bearing with me if you're still checking up on us every once in a while. We sure do love you guys.