Welcome to the third trimester!

Yep, we're 27 weeks along, and only three months away from our due date! Baby #2 is coming in 13 weeks (or so)! Wow!

We're also 3-4 weeks from moving into our new home! WHOA! Time's flying, that's for sure!

Tomorrow's our "Christmas" at home. I can't believe Christmas came so quickly!

-{lkr}

Trim

I got to go out to the house today, to meet a guy about our closet shelving. While I was there, I got to see the progress - some trim and doors are up, and the vinyl flooring is down. I took some pictures, but the ones I took of the windows didn't turn out well (because of the light, duh Lacey). So, I'll just post the interior shots.



The opening between the dining room and living room is trimmed.


The doors and trim in the hallway between kids' bedrooms.


The entryway coat closet, trimmed but with no door yet. Grace thinks it's just the right size for her to play in.


Our pretty vinyl flooring in the kids' bathroom.


Our new garage door keeps the warmth inside a little better.


That's all for now, folks.

-{lkr}

Ouch!

We're 26 weeks along already! WOWSERS! And yesterday I had another doctor appointment, the infamous "glucose test" appointment. Basically, for those of you who haven't gone through this process before, they make you drink this nasty, sugary liquid (I picked orange-flavored) and then prick your finger an hour later to check your blood sugar levels. If it's 135 or above, they make you go in later for a 3-hour fasting blood test. No fun. When I was pregnant with Grace, my blood sugar was pretty borderline (right around 135, I believe), so they made me do the long test. YUCK. I was kinda assuming since I had to do it last time, I'd have to do it again, but NO! I passed! WOO-HOO! It was 130 - so, close but just low enough. There's still only one diabetic in this household!

Also, things are moving along on the house. Here's the update for the week so far: Monday, the priming was done and the ceilings were painted. Tuesday, our trim carpenter started. Now our interior doors are hung and he's working on casings and other "stuff." He might be done-ish (besides the cabinetry and countertops) after tomorrow. Today, our flooring guys laid our lineoleum/vinyl in the mudroom and bathrooms, and our garage door/opener will be installed. Then next week painting will be begin! WOW! Sometimes it seems so slow, but right now it seems like it's moving right along.

I'm thankful for Terry and Jason. Terry is our painter, and also a friend from church. Jason is our trim carpenter, the guy that drew up our blueprints, and definitely a Christian. Both of these guys are really competent and willing to work around our cabinet mishap. And they're just nice!

The countdown is on...Four weeks and one day until move-in! I hope we can make it happen!

Oh, and tonight is the PCS Choir Christmas Concert. To those of you who are in it or get to go, have fun! We're sorry we'll be missing it, but can't imagine the four-hour drive tonight. So, enjoy it for us!

-{lkr}

A few cute pictures

Grace's size 4 and Daddy's size 14


Grace in the snow! (Not sure if she likes it or not.)


There's a sweet smile!

I don't need a cell phone; I have the Lord!

The Lord was looking out for us today.

Grace and I were on our way out to the house today, driving along on the freeway at a nice 70mph clip, when our back right tire decided to blow. At first, I wasn't sure what happened, because it was just a weird, loud noise coming from the back. Then I saw smoke. (Yeah, yikes!) I was only about a mile from my exit, so I thought I'd try to slow down and make it to the exit. But thankfully, two people in a car behind me saw the smoke, noticed that I had a baby in the car, and pulled off in front of me. I parked behind them, and a woman and man got out to look at the tire. Turns out they live in Lowell - same exit as us but north instead of south. And he used to change tires for a living. So he pulls out his hydraulic jack and a nice tire iron and changes out the dilapidated tire for the spare. THEN, after all that, they followed me all the way to our road to make sure I got there alright. I was blown away not only by their kindness, but also by how the Lord provided for us! Amazing! I shouldn't be shocked that He would take care of us like that, but it was so COOL.

We did make it to the house, where Luke and Pastor Jeff were working on our laminate floor. They did as much as they could without the kitchen cabinets in place. It's BEAUTIFUL.


Our entryway. Don't worry - the red paper is just temporary, to prevent primer from covering our pretty floor.


The hall next to our bedroom. This hall will be bright, because we have FIVE can lights above it. Luke says he's going to put 10-watters in them.


Our entry closet. This is where your coat will go when you come to visit us. You'd better come visit us!

That's all I have for now.

-{lkr}

Figures

It's hard not to be pessimistic about the house.

Things were going smoothly and looking like they'd stay on schedule (for once). Then BAM! I talked to our kitchen cabinet place and "oops" they never ordered our cabinets when they were supposed to place the order FOUR WEEKS AGO! So, now, instead of coming in today like they were supposed to, they won't come in for at least two weeks. And our trim guy was supposed to install them next week. WONDERFUL. Right now I'd like West Michigan Forest Products to disappear. Or give us a really big discount. That might make my feelings hurt less.

GRRR.

-{lkr}

Best buddies

We had a great visit with Melissa, Karl, and Kade last night and today. They came down for a wedding this weekend (Karl's a groomsman), and ended up staying with us last night. It was fun! I was happy, 'cause I didn't expect to get to spend that much time with them. I like 'em.

Grace had tons of fun with Kade, too. She even missed her morning nap and didn't get cranky at all until after they left. What a good kid. Below are some pictures of the two kiddos together...



Kade pushed Grace on her toy. What a good helper.



As they got ready to leave, we noticed that Grace and Kade have the same winter hat - Kade's in blue and Grace's in pink. How fun!



Goodbye hugs!


We also got a visit from Emily today. She's almost done with classes forever! (Or until she has to take more to keep her teaching certificate valid, but we won't talk about that right now.) We gave her some Splenda cookies to keep her going during her study times. Yum yum.

-{lkr}

Grace's latest stats

Remember when the doctor told us Grace was too skinny, at her 9-month well-baby checkup? It was because she was in the 90th percentile for height and only the 25th percentile for weight, based on the growth charts. So, the doctor told us to start Grace on formula to fatten her up. Well, who wants to start buying formula after nine good months of free breastmilk? Not me. So, we tried formula with her once, and she hated it, so we quit trying.

Anyway, we went in for her 12-month checkup today (a couple of weeks late), and not to worry - she's perfect (as always)! She weighs 23 pounds, which is 80th percentile, and is 31-3/4 inches tall, which is above the 95th percentile. She's a big girl!

She also got four shots, and she was a champ. Luke held her hands and I watched. She only cried for about 10-15 seconds afterward. I think it was harder for me than her! And she hasn't acted cranky or feverish at all. What a sweetheart.

We also taught her a new "trick." We say "I love you...Mwah!" and blow her a kiss. So, now we'll say, "Grace, tell Mommy 'I love you.'" And she'll blow us a baby kiss. It's SO adorable!

On the home front, our drywall is being mudded this week. It should be done by the end of next week, and then priming will happen Thursday or Friday. After that is trim. WOW! I hope it goes as quickly as it sounds like it will.

That's all for now.

-{lkr}

Happy Thanksgiving (Part II)

Here is the big, happy Rumley family:


We had a great time gorging ourselves, and going shopping at 4am on Friday. Grace loves playing with Uncle Zach and Aunt Elyse. She scared us to death when she accidentally pulled two small banquet tables over onto herself. She came out without any injuries, though she has run her face into quite a few objects since arriving here in Indiana. Sheesh.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for, including our family (with a new baby on the way), our new church family, and our house going up fairly quickly.

Here is what I am not thankful for this Thanksgiving:


That should make for a fun drive to the Rumley house in Indiana later today!

How old are you?

If you ask Grace, "How old are you?" she'll hold up one finger. She's so smart!

Yum yum yum!

Grace got her very own double-decker chocolate cake to eat at her first birthday party.



Sweet chocolate face...



This is Grace's new favorite toy, from Grandma and Grandpa Liabenow. It talks and sings to her, and she tries all sorts of different ways to sit on it. SO cute!


In other news, we had our 21-week ultrasound last Thursday, and it's a....BABY! No, we didn't find out the gender. We like surprises. But we did find out that there's only one baby in there, and he/she is perfectly healthy. YAY!

On the home front, we're getting drywall today! YAY again! They'll start hanging it tomorrow, and it'll take up to three weeks to finish all the steps (hanging, mudding, sanding, etc.). Then it'll look more like a house on the inside! Hooray!

Next week is Thanksgiving. Can anyone believe it? This fall has gone by SO quickly! And now, the first snow has fallen. I can't say that I'm ready for the cold and the yucky driving conditions, but it is so beautiful outside. Praise the Lord for his beautiful creation!

-{lkr}

Happy Birthday, Grace!

Grace turns 1 today, at 9:25pm! She is pretty amazing, if I may say so. She had a great time at her party on Saturday (Lacey will post some pictures later), and she is loving her new toys, clothes, and dolls.

Our family website, which we rarely update anymore because this blog is easier, still has the counter rolling. It is fun to look at today:


Lacey and Grace are out at the house right now for a possible 3 HOURS waiting for inspectors to come and let us know how we did on the electrical rough-in. Hopefully we did just fine, and the inspector won't complain about anything. We will see...

--
Luke

Party time!

Tomorrow's the big party! Grace is almost ONE! (Her birthday's not technically until Monday, but we'll celebrate tomorrow.) We're excited to see both our families and some friends. It's been a while since we saw our families, especially Erin and Betsey. If they could only come to college in Grand Rapids, instead of Indiana...

Today we're going to visit Luke's friend Dan in the hospital, and then Luke will spend the rest of the evening with our good friend Rusty, trying to finish up our electrical rough-in at the house. Grace and I will be at the church, decorating for tomorrow.

I can't wait for the electrical to be done. Luke's been out at the house a lot of nights, and Grace and I have missed him a LOT these past three weeks. I think next week will be much better.

See you tomorrow!

-{lkr}

Two years!

We're coming up on our 2-year anniversary - December 20! In some ways I still feel like a newlywed, but then I realize...In those two years, we have gotten married, gotten pregnant, had a baby, lived in three apartments, gotten pregnant again, and partially built a house. WHEW! We never get bored, that's for sure!

Grace's first birthday is just one week away! I can't believe what a "big girl" she's become. She's walking and trying to talk, and she says "please" in sign language (she sorta changed the real sign into her own version, but it's good enough for us!). I'm weaning her now, and it's bittersweet for me. I'm getting my body back (until baby #2 arrives), but I also won't have my little girl needing me for sustenance anymore. My baby's growing up!

Can't wait to see everybody this weekend for the big birthday party!

-{lkr}

Grapes and suckers

My eyes are looking and feeling a bit better even today. YAY! Apparently those eye drops are doing their job!



Isn't Grace sweet? She LOVES eating grapes.



Here's her pretty little hand picking up some grapes. Her fingers are gaining more and more dexterity as she grows.



And I, the generous mommy that I am, gave Grace her very first sucker ever - a raspberry Tootsie Pop. She couldn't smile well around it, but she really did like it!


Oh, and as of yesterday, we are officially halfway through this pregnancy! WOW! Those 20 weeks went by quickly! Our new baby will be here in no time!

-{lkr}

My face looks like a Halloween costume.

I have pink-eye. It's gross. I think I caught it from Stacy (the bride from last week). Darn! I went to the doctor today at got eye drops for it, and he thinks it'll clear up within 72 hours. But I can't wear my contacts until then. I hate wearing glasses!

Thankfully, Grace hasn't caught it yet that I know of. I've been careful to wash my hands a lot since I noticed it yesterday.

On the home front, we have gutters now, and our well is being drilled today. We're having some issues with the kitchen cabinet budget, but hopefully those will be ordered tomorrow or early next week. Crazy! Only two more months (ish) to go!

Can't wait to see y'all next weekend!

-{lkr}

Congrats, Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins!

Things are getting better. Last week was a very hard week with house stuff, and there's still some stuff that needs to be straightened out. But "the straw that broke the contractor's back" has been taken care of, which is a good thing.

Our gutters and downspouts will be put up this Tuesday, November 1. (That's my mom's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!) And then the outside will be complete, for now. (Sidewalks, asphalt, and deck come later.) Sadly, the inside takes forever. Electrical is what Luke and our friend Rusty are working on now, and it will be done by November 12.

We are SO tired from helping with a wedding this week. Matt and Stacy Jenkins are married now - yay! I'm really excited for them. They're a very quality couple...They love the Lord and each other with all their hearts. It's always exciting to see a couple get married that you know will truly be committed to God and each other...Anyway, I was the personal bridal attendant, which translates into "gopher." It was a lot of running, but I felt very useful. And then Luke was the MC at the reception, and RISEN performed, too. All in all, I thought the wedding and reception went really well, despite some complications of the week. (The maid of honor/sister of the bride got a really bad infection this week called infantigo and her face was really red and swollen, and then Stacy, the bride, got pink eye. The maid of honor's swelling went away, and she was able to cover the redness with makeup. And Stacy's pink eye was pretty much gone by yesterday. And THEN, Stacy's dad was the one actually doing the ceremony, and he's very allergic to lilies. Well, the florist did not know this and accented all the floral arrangements on the stage with beautiful white lilies. The poor guy had to take some good allergy medication before the wedding so he wouldn't have nasty allergies while he was trying to say "For better or worse..." Anyway, it was crazy, but it all worked out.)

Whew, weddings are hard work. I always thought it would be fun to be a wedding planner, but after yesterday, I've changed my mind.

Update: Grace can walk across the room, and she has eight teeth. Her birthday party is in two weeks! Can't wait to see you then!

-{lkr}

I quit.

Don't be fooled...

It looks like it's ready for us to move in, but we still need to do most of the inside "stuff!" The siding is done, though, and gutters will be done next week.



The strip of non-sided area under the slider is where our future deck is going to be. We just need Karl to help us put the ledgerboard up, and then we'll work on the deck maybe next spring. Help us, Karl!

Grace is getting her eighth tooth in this week. Crazy. No wonder she's so ready to eat all of our food. She's been eating like crazy at breakfast! She nurses, and then eats a bowl of baby cereal, and then a whole waffle and a smoky link (sausage). Crazy, huh? And she's still thin like her daddy. I wish I could eat like that!

Siding and more

Consumers finally came out and set our very own power pole. Then they ran an underground power line from that pole to our home. After quite a wait, we have electricity!



The partially-sided front of the house, with our pretty prairie siding and white trim. Sorry about the truck in the way!



The partially-sided back of the house. All the siding should be done today!



A line of recessed lighting housings ("can lights") in our hallway - placed perfectly in the right places by Rusty and Luke.



More can lights in the living room.



Sweet Grace in her new room. It's not quite ready for her to move in yet!



Grace likes to crawl around in the sawdust.

Wrong door, grrr

Welp, the front door is pretty, but it's not exactly what we were expecting, so now I have to try to get it changed. What a pain! I can't imagine being a contractor for a living - what a headache! I swear I'm going to get an ulcer from building this house. I can't wait for it to be done. I hope January comes quickly!

On a happier note, The Siding Guys started today. Yep, that's really the name of their business. Creative, huh? Anyway, we have a pretty prairie-brown color of siding. I was going to link to it on the manufacturer's site, but their rendering doesn't look like the real color at all. SO, you can imagine a nice, somewhat-dark brown color. A shade darker than the stone clay color that everyone seems to have these days. OR you can just come see it soon. That'll work, too. Oh, and I'm sure we'll post a picture soon, probably when they have the front of the house done.

Today Grace caught a fly. She's like the karate kid! The little bugger was standing on the windowsill in the living room of the new house, and she was trying grab it. Well, she did. I was afraid she was going to eat it (mmm, protein), so I made her let go of it. Poor, disabled, little fly.

-{lkr}

Windows and doors

Grace and I under the pretty red leaves at our apartment. Isn't she sweet? (And I don't look very pregnant, do I?)



The view from the driveway of our home. We have windows and doors!



The rear view with all of our many windows.



Our beautiful, huge living room window that looks out on the pretty fall trees.



The setting fall sun casts a beautiful light on our house, and the tree in the back is beautiful, too!

Beautiful!

We're getting excited about this home of ours...This picture is from yesterday evening (hence the darkness and the moon), and it's beautiful to us! The roof will be completely finished today, which we're excited about. And then we'll have windows and doors, heating and cooling, plumbing, and concrete (garage, sidewalks, porch) next week. Wow! Believe it or not, the house does have windows in the front (one under each gable), but they didn't cut the holes in the house wrap yet, so you can't really tell.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HYO-SUN! Her birthday was yesterday, and we weren't able to make it down there for the dinner celebration. We will be going up north this weekend, though, for Kade's first birthday party. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KADE! I'm amazed that he's already a year old (or will be this Sunday). That means our baby girl is almost a year old! AUGH! In fact, she's eleven months old today. Time really flies.

-{lkr}

Crazy weekend

Here is the latest...


Grace in Daddy's tie. What a sweetheart!


Friday, September 30 - Our beautiful, somewhat framed home - front view


Friday, September 30 - Our ginormous living room window - what a view!


Friday, October 7 - Our almost completely framed home! Yay! Isn't the roof huge?! They still have to finish one gable and put another one over the other bedroom window.


Friday, October 7 - Back view of our home. They still have to cut another window hole on the far left side, basement level.


One of the beautiful horses at the Belchers' house. We got to spend Saturday evening and part of today with the Belchers, and it was SO good to catch up with them. And Luke got to play with the rockin' praise band in church. It was so loud I thought Grace might have hearing damage. I miss loud church music!

Please!

So we have been trying to teach Grace to say please by doing a little sign language motion with her hand until she is able to talk, because we saw it work with one of the kids at our church. She won't do it, not for a million dollars.

We have also been playing games with her by sticking our tongues out, which she imitates and laughs about. Last night we got the brilliant parenting idea to teach her that sticking her tongue out meant "please." She picked it up immediately!!! It was really, really funny to say "say please" and have her stick her tongue out.

So we are bad parents.

--
Luke

Updates and lots of pictures

Grace Elizabeth at 9 months old - what a beautiful girl!
(c) Terry Sturman Photography



Our house on Wednesday, with the main floor almost complete. Looks like our house has a cap on it!



Our basement - You can see the floor joists in the 9-ft ceiling, and the supporting poles.



The view from the front of the house just one day later, Thursday. Those framers are fast! They have a good portion of the exterior walls up already!



The view from the back of the house on Thursday. It's really going quickly!


Today our excavator should have backfilled the garage, and the framers will finish all of the exterior and interior walls. Then Monday they will set the roof trusses. Tuesday is sheeting, and then the rest of the week will be finishing touches, including setting the windows and doors. WOW! It feels like it's going so fast!

I've been on the phone a lot today, scheduling our upcoming subs: roofers, HVAC, plumbing...I'm trying to stay on top of things so that they'll go as quickly and smoothly as possible. I'm ready to live in this house! Let's get it done!

Change of topic: I felt the baby move this week! I'm only 15 weeks along, but I've read that it's normal to feel the baby earlier in your second (or third or fourth...) pregnancy. It's amazing! I'm getting excited to have this little one in our lives. God sure has blessed us.

Wood and a picnic

Top view of the walkout basement, standing at the back of the garage.


Back view of the basement

Our house has some wood on it now! The framers were supposed to start a few days ago, but they were delayed (due to scheduling conflicts and rain). But, they started today! We went out to the land, and they already had this much done! It's the walkout portion of the basement. It's really starting to look like a house! YAY!




After we went to the land, Luke took Grace and me out on a beautiful date. We packed a picnic (sandwiches of Vienna Bread, cheese, lettuce, and deli meat; cheese and crackers; apples; Caffeine Free Diet Coke; and the yummiest cinnamon-sugar cake donuts), and went out to the Fallasburg Park just north of Lowell. We laid out a quilt in the grass next to the river, in view of the historic covered bridge, surrounded by beautiful trees and blue skies. It was wonderful. And it was Grace's first picnic ever! She was SO cute and did so well! We even fed her bread and ham, and she ate with us. It got a little cold out there, but it was still gorgeous. I like my husband.

-{lkr}