Monday, April 10, 2006

It's a boy!

Yes, the rumors floating around the “blogosphere” are true. Caleb Aaron Rumley was born at 6:49am on Saturday, April 1, 2006!

I was nervous about labor because Grace’s labor was 44 hours long. So I was expecting a long labor with this one as well.

Here is the short version: I woke up with contractions at 1:45am and we left for the hospital around 3. At 4am, I was dilated to 4cm, and asked for an epidural right away. Around 6:15am, I finally received the epidural. The doctor checked right after that, and I was already dilated to 10cm! There wasn’t enough time for the epidural to kick in because Caleb was born 15 minutes later!

After just a five hour labor, he was born at 9lbs 13oz, 21-½ inches long.

Thank you for all of your prayers and concern; we now have a beautiful little boy to celebrate. Here are some pictures from day 1, many more to come.

Caleb Aaron Rumley
Caleb Aaron Rumley

Caleb with mommy and daddy
Caleb with mommy and daddy

Luke and his "man cub"
Luke and his "man cub"

Lacey and her beautiful babies - Grace loves her little brother!
Lacey and her beautiful babies - Grace loves her little brother!

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Monday

Well, I'm back from the doctor's office, and his answer was a resounding "no." While Friday (tomorrow) was definitely my day of choice for induction, he won't do it because of issues with their insurance company. (Apparently the insurance people don't like it if they induce before 10 days overdue.) Anyway, they also do not induce on Sundays, which is my 10th day overdue. That means we have to wait until Monday. We are scheduled for a Monday morning induction, but I'm still hoping this kid will get the idea before that and decide to come out on his/her own. We'll let you know.

Oh, and as far as dilation, the doctor says I'm now "an honest three." I was rooting for four, but I'm happy with three. I was fearing that he'd say I went back to one or something. (Probably an irrational fear, but at this point, I wouldn't be surprised! Pessimistic, I know.)

So, we have no plans tonight, although it's gorgeous outside. Maybe we'll go for a nice, long walk. Then tomorrow evening is a Young Adult Get-together for our church. We'll go to that if we can. (There will be swimming, but I'm seriously doubting my willingness to get into a bathing suit at this point in my life.) We have no plans for Saturday or Sunday. I need to come up with something, because if I sit around all day and think about how pregnant I am, I will go crazy! Anybody have any ideas for entertainment?

Well, there's your update. That's all for now!

-{lkr}

No baby yet.

Every time I call someone, they think I'm in labor. So, I always have to begin the conversation with, "No, it's not what you think..."

I'm a week overdue today. Stubborn child. I have a doctor appointment at 1:00. They'll check to see if I'm dilated more (I hope so!), and we'll talk about inducing. I think I'm going to BEG the doctor to induce me tomorrow. We'll see what he says. I truly could wait until Monday, but I keep thinking, Grace was only 5 days late and she was 9 lb 12 oz. Every day we wait, this baby keeps growing and growing. I don't know if I can birth a 10 or 11 lb baby! Help!

Last night was "family night" at church, which means AWANA and POD groups. (POD groups are basically small group Bible studies.) I'm usually a Cubbies helper (ages 3-4), but I took last night off and went to POD groups. (A perk of being 9+ months pregnant, I guess.) It was nice to be able to interact with adults and discuss the Bible. The study they're doing is on II Corinthians. Last night was chapter 5, but we spent most of the time talking about our current bodies in relation to our resurrection bodies, and also about heaven and earth. It was so intriguing! I feel like Revelations is so intimidating, so I don't really ever try to read and understand it. And I feel like because of that, I have a lot of questions about the end times and heaven and such. AND I feel like a lot of my knowledge of the end times is based on my reading of The Left Behind Series. Augh! I love that series, but it's probably not a good idea to base my knowledge of eschatology on a fictional series, huh?

So, I think it would be SO interesting to do a Bible study on the end times and heaven. One book that Pastor Jeff suggested (and I've heard recommended before) is Heaven is a Place on Earth by Michael Wittmer, who is a prof at CU's seminary. We have it in our church library, and I think I will read it.

Hey, I should do something productive. But don't worry, we'll let you know when this little squirt decides to greet the world!

-{lkr}

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Still waiting...

Well, this little one is now five days late. Grace was five days late. I wonder if this one will be even more stubborn than Grace? Goodness...

If I don't have the baby before then, I have another doctor appointment on Thursday. The doctor said we'll "negotiate" my induction then. He said they usually wait until ten days overdue, which would be next Sunday (five more days!). But then everyone I talk to keeps asking, "Oh, they'll induce you on a Sunday?" And I say, "I have no idea. I just figured, since that's ten days overdue." So, I guess I'll have to ask at my appointment, and let you know. If they won't induce on a weekend, maybe I can get him to do it on Friday instead of Monday. The sooner the better, I say.

But, that's all if the baby doesn't decide to come before that.

I did start having real-feeling contractions last night, pretty far apart. But then I went to bed (because it was late), and they stopped. I'm hoping they'll come back soon. I may lose my mind if something doesn't start happening soon.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (That feels a little better.)

-{lkr}

Thursday, March 23, 2006

I think I can, I think I can...

I feel like the little steam engine trying to get over the hill, oh so slowly.

The doctor appointment was pretty good today. Not I'm-in-labor-and-having-the-baby-tonight kind of thrilling, but good. Last week I was dilated 1-2 cm. This week I'm 2-3 cm. That's progress, folks. The doctor also stripped my membranes. (If you didn't ask your mom, here's the short description from me - separating the bag of waters from the uterine wall inside the cervix.) It's not the most fun thing I've ever done, but not unbearable either. I hope it helps!

Oh, and for those of you who I haven't told yet, I say it now. I'm going to be an aunt again! Yay! My sister is having another baby - due October 8. Baby Webster #2 is on the way! Hooray! It'll give this new Rumley baby a playmate, since Grace and Kade have each other. I'm excited!

Well, have a great day, and keep praying for this little one to make an appearance soon! We're ready!

-{lkr}

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Not yet

I'm SO ready to have this baby, but am still waiting. I've been having contractions, but not consistently enough to call it labor. And so we wait, and I become more and more bored and impatient and frustrated.

And Luke is an angel. He's so understanding and sweet to me. He's been rubbing my feet and back every day, and he came home early from work today just for me.

I do have a doctor appointment on Thursday at 1pm, and they'll check to see if I'm dilated more. I'll also have them strip my membranes. (Ask your mom if you want to know what that means.) That might help the labor start. If we don't have the baby by next Thursday (41 weeks), I'm thinking about asking to be induced.

Not much more happening around here.

-{lkr}

Friday, March 17, 2006

Gross (but good) things...

Two pieces of fun (and gross-ish) news...

(1) Our amazing daughter, Grace, who is only 16 months old, POOPED ON THE POTTY last night! Isn't she cool? We bought her this potty recently. She loves it. She loves to sit on it, sometimes with her clothes still on, sometimes not. But last night she finally squeezed out the littlest poop rock you could imagine. And yet, we're excited and telling the world. : - )


(2) I had my 39-week check-up yesterday. (I'm beginning to feel like I live at the doctor's office.) And he said I'm dilated between 1 and 2! YAY! It's not a lot, but it's a start. And it's better than last time. When I went into labor with Grace, I stayed at 1 for FOREVER - like 24 hours. (That's a long time when you're having contractions, trust me.) So, I'm excited that I already have a head start on last time. YAY!

In other news, I got to see another doctor today because I have an ear infection in my right ear. Oh, joy. So, I'll be taking amoxicillan four times daily for ten days. Oh, well. As long as I regain full hearing in that ear soon, I'll be happy.

It's the weekend! Hope everyone has time to relax and have some fun!

-{lkr}

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Thoughts of a crazy pregnant lady

One week until baby Rumley is due! WOW! I'm SO ready to have this child. I've been feeling yucky all week, and having light contractions, but what does that mean? The baby will come when he/she wants to. DaRn. I have a doctor appointment again today (as I do every Thursday now), and I think they're going to check and see if I'm dilated. I really want the doctor to say, "Oh, good. You're dilated to four." (For those of you that haven't had kids before, you have to dilate to 10 before the baby can be born.) But I'm sure he'll say, "Nope. Nothing. Nada." (Probably not in those words, but that's what I'll hear.)

Either way, I keep telling myself that the baby will have to be born within the next three weeks, if not sooner. They won't let a woman go more than two weeks overdue anymore without inducing. So, I WILL have a baby within three weeks.

I've also been thinking, "What am I thinking!?" I mean, why am I so anxious to have this baby? Pregnancy is by far the easiest phase of parenting! Once this kid is out, everything changes! (Lots of good changes, yes, but lots of challenging ones, too.) Let's just say Grace has been gaining "spunk." She's testing her limits. And that makes me want to stay pregnant a while longer...But then I remember how yucky I feel, and that if I stayed pregnant for another nine months I would truly be as big as a whale, and I decide that I want to have this baby NOW!

See why I feel crazy?

-{lkr}

Monday, March 06, 2006

Good weekend, sad news

We stayed home all weekend, which was relaxing. Friday night Luke was a sweetheart and brought home Panera for dinner (YUM!) and "Just Like Heaven" for entertainment after Grace went to bed. It was wonderful!

Then we spent Saturday relaxing and running some errands. I got my watch battery replaced so I can keep track of the time between feedings when the new baby arrives. Soon!

Sunday was great, because my mom, dad, and little sister came to visit! They came to church in the morning and then spent the afternoon at home with us. We made pizzas for lunch and just hung out - talked, looked at pictures, played a no-pressure game of Taboo. It was nice!

We got some sad news after evening church, though. Luke's 19-year-old cousin committed suicide on Saturday night. We'll be going to the visitation tomorrow in Lapeer, and the funeral is Wednesday. His family could really use some prayer.

On a much happier note, we're going to have our youth pastor's family over for dinner tonight. They are such fun people, and we love to have people over! I hope we can always use the home God's given us to be hospitable and to encourage others.

That's all for now!

-{lkr}

Friday, March 03, 2006

Never mind...

We're not going up north now, because Alonna came home sick from school today, and I feel like poo. (It's a congested-head/cold type of feeling. I can't breathe through my nose.) And Grace is getting over a double ear infection. SO, we're just going to stay here and recoup, and not chance catching Alonna's sickness. We'll go up north when we feel up to it after the baby's born. (SORRY to my family. We miss you!)

-{lkr}

Streptococcal

Weird word, huh? I think it sounds like a dinosaur. But, alas, it is a bacteria that I am "colonized" with. Isn't that the most disgusting thing you've heard today? I had to get tested for "Group B Strep" at my last OB appointment. (Not to be confused with Group A Strep, which causes strep throat.) I didn't have this bacteria last time I was pregnant, so it would be uncommon for me to have it now. Welp, come to find out, I have it. Darn! Now I have to have antibiotics through an IV during labor. Makes me look forward to the whole birthing experience all the more. Which, by the way, is due in less than three weeks now.

And we're going to my parents' house for the night tonight, for our last visit before the baby comes. So, please pray that I don't go into labor while I'm there. I mean, what are the chances that my water would break three weeks before I'm due on the one night that I'm out of town? Not a great probability, but it's Murphy's Law that says what can go wrong will go wrong, right? Anyway, I'm just praying I can come back tomorrow evening with a baby still in my belly.

As for our other baby, she's growing up! Grace is learning to stack her Lego blocks, and she's trying to learn to jump (which is like acrobatics for a 15-month-old). And today she colored with crayons for the first time. What a big girl! I think she might be left-handed like her daddy, but we'll have to keep watching and find out.

Okay, everybody have a great weekend!

-{lkr}

Thursday, February 23, 2006

The countdown is on!

As of today, we are officially 8 months / 36 weeks along, which means that D-Day (Delivery Day) is coming in just ONE month or FOUR weeks! Yikes! Are we ready?

The bigger and more uncomfortable I get, the more ready I feel. I guess that's how it's supposed to work. I'm sick of being BIG! I long to wear normal clothes again, and not look as big as a house. Not too much longer...

On a different note, we're hosting our first get-together at the house tomorrow night! Our Young Adult Sunday School class is coming over for some munchies and games. Fun! I'm nervous that not many people will show up, but I know that we'll have a good time with the ones that are coming.

Well, everyone have a great Thursday!

-{adminswifeshusbandssonswife}

Monday, February 13, 2006

Tiny Tim...

Well, we've made a decision. Just to be fair to both dads (or grandpas, in this case), if it's a girl, we'll name her Timothea Davida Rumley.

Hahaha, just kidding.

Friday, February 03, 2006

Baby names...

So, I realized this week that I’m 33 weeks along, which means that in only four weeks (at 37 weeks along), the doctors will say something like, “It’s okay for the baby to come any time now.” In FOUR WEEKS?! Whoa! Where has time gone? It truly doesn’t seem like all that long ago that I found out we were pregnant, and now I’m suddenly rushing around like a mad woman, trying to figure out what to pack for the hospital and wondering how we’re going to survive as parents of TWO kids.

Oh, and what to name the baby…We’ve had a boy name, since we didn’t get to use it last time. But a girl name? Nope. We really like Madison Joy, but it seems that Madison is the most popular name ever right now. I don’t want my daughter to have four other kids with the same name in her class in school. So, I read through our entire baby name book yesterday and wrote down some other names that are nice. Luke and I are considering these first names: Ava, Avery, and Aubrey. (I shouldn’t have bothered to read the rest of the book after “A.”) For middle names, we could still use Joy, or Elaine, or Kae/Kay/Kaye. I kind of like Aubrey Kae, or Ava Joy…(I do like Avery, but my best-friend-growing-up-Jana’s-sister-Jaime just had a girl, and named her Avery Jane. So I’m not sure on that.) Any opinions? Other suggestions?

Grace update:
She’s getting two teeth in on the bottom now. Maybe they’re more molars? Poor kid. She’s having a hard day. She finally just fell asleep for her morning nap at noon. I gave her Tylenol, but I think I’ll give her Motrin for the next dose. That seems to help more with pain.

Other than the pain-induced naughtiness, she’s a sweet kid. And smart. (Of course, I’m her mother, so I’m biased.) But she can make animal noises for a lion (growl), horse (squeal), and pig (grunt, grunt, grunt). Isn’t that cute? And she learned how to turn our light switches on and off. That’s less cute. But it’s fun to watch her grow and learn. I have a feeling she’s going to seem like such a big kid when the new baby’s born.

That's all for now.

-{lkr}

P.S. I'm working on getting digital pics on the desktop computer, so I can put some on our blog. You'll know if it works!

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

I'm officially a soccer mom...

...and I'm not even good at soccer!

Luke and I have been looking at minivans for a little bit now, in anticipation of having two carseats to deal with. (Which, by the way, is coming in only 7 weeks, 2 days.) We thought we found a great deal last week, and went all the way to Richland to test drive it, and it just didn't float our boats. Or at least it wasn't "the one." So, last night I was looking through the Buyer's Guide (classifieds, for those of you who aren't familiar), and found what sounded like some good deals in a dealer's ad. I called on them, and we ended up going in "just to look."...And we fell in love...with a 2003 Dodge Caravan SXT. I never thought I would be excited about a minivan, but this one's a beauty! It's silver, with 4 captain's seats and a bench in the back, and it has some extra safety features, which are comforting for us with two little ones. It has a lot of miles on it for a 2003 (73k-ish), but is in very good condition. (And I'm guessing the higher mileage helped us be able to afford it.) So, anyway, the financial stuff is getting figured out today, and we'll pick it up tonight! Crazy!

On a sad note, I have to say goodbye to my first (and very faithful) little car, the Dodge Shadow. I've had that car for almost 7-1/2 years, since my 16th birthday. And it might not be pretty on the outside (or the inside, hehe), but it has more oomph than any other car I've driven. (I guess that's what happens when you put a V6 engine in a shoebox-sized car.) Anyway, I'm going to make Luke take a picture of me with the car before we trade it in tonight, just for sentimental value.

Update: Here are some pictures of the actual van I found on the dealer's website:






-{lkr}

Thursday, January 26, 2006

We're in!

Thanks to the multitudes of people who helped us move in to our house. That includes both Rumley and Liabenow families and a bunch of FHBC people. THANK YOU! The move was SO incredibly smooth. From the time people arrived and started packing stuff into trucks, until the time the apartment was completely emptied and cleaned from top to bottom, was about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Isn't that amazing?! It's all because we had probably 30 people there. I just sorta stood there and watched people go by in a big blur.

Then, when we got to the house with all of our junk, it was all inside in about an hour (I think?). And some wonderful folks stayed to help us unpack. Really, I was 2/3 unpacked in our first day here. How cool is that? I was SO incredibly blessed by those people!

We're feeling pretty settled now. We still have a few things to deal with, like finding the right vanity mirrors and hanging them. And our dishwasher will FINALLY be installed today. It came in yesterday, after a solid 10 days of dishpan hands. Really, my poor little hands could use a break from all that washing.

Luke got me this really hip shelf for Christmas that we want to put up in the living room, but that has been a disaster. First, I told him the wrong spot for the holes, so the holes were too far apart and the shelf couldn't hang there. That made a couple of extra holes in our new drywall and paint. Then, we got the holes right, and the drywall anchors wouldn't hold the shelf up. Luke tried to use some sort of glue to hold them in. It worked for about an hour, and then the shelf came tumbling down. (I sang that line just like "And the house came a'tumbling down...") Anyway, THEN we thought we were smart and bought toggle bolts. (Look it up if you don't know what those are. They're kinda cool.) Well, the heads were too big. I finally got the right size heads yesterday, and we tried to hang our shelf, and it's such a disaster. We can't get the screw heads close enough to the wall without them pretty much falling through the hole, and when they're a good closeness to the wall, the shelf won't catch on it. AUGH! And that's the saga of the shelf. I'd like to throw the thing out the window, but then we'd have four unused holes in our wall. Sheesh.

On another topic, Grace is in her big girl bed and loving it! It's a sweet, white twin size bed. We actually bought a bunk bed, and she's using the top bed, because it already has guard rails with it. So it's sorta like a big crib with short walls. Does that make sense? Anyway, she liked playing in it a lot when we first got it, but lately she's been an angel with it. She takes two naps each day, and yesterday for each nap I said, "Want to go take a nap?" and she ran toward her room, stopped to make sure I was coming, and ran the rest of the way to her bed. Then I put her in her bed, and she lay down and took a nap. How sweet is that? It's every mother's dream, I think. I hope it lasts! I told Luke we should've started with this bed in the very beginning, hehe.

Well, is that enough of an update? I will post pictures if I ever have the patience for it on dial-up. Have a good day everyone!


-{lkr}

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Goodbye, DSL...Hello, cornfields!

Tonight is our last official night with DSL. Tomorrow we begin our move to the boonies, where the phone lines aren't equipped for DSL and cable service doesn't exist. It's back to dial-up for us! (That isn't an excited "!". It's more of a "yikes!" kind of "!", just to clarify.)

If it wasn't for our beautiful home, it wouldn't be worth it. But boy are we excited to live in that house. Who's gonna come visit us?

Luke's addendum: You can also hear gunshots from our new home and smell fresh cow stuff. We do love it there, though. Pictures to come sometime when I figure out our camera's issues.

Friday, January 06, 2006

An essay entitled "Why we haven't blogged lately..."

My laptop has pretty much been laid to rest, which is part of the reason we haven't blogged in a while. It's not so much losing its functionality as a computer; it's just unable to keep power. The battery doesn't last long, and the power cord is pretty much broken. It'll work if I hold the cord really tight into the power hole, but can you imagine typing a whole blog (wordy as mine are) with your left hand as the muscles in your right hand cramp from holding the cord in? Not fun. So, I'm limited to the desktop, which is pretty much buried under piles of house stuff. In fact, right now I'm sitting cozily close to our new mailbox. How sweet.

Another part is that Luke's laptop hates our camcorder, so we can't get our digital pics off it onto his computer to post here. I don't like blogs with just words. I love to look at blogs with pictures. Therefore, I've been waiting to post until we have some pictures to show. Sorry - not gonna happen today. I'm sure we have pictures from Christmas and the house that we could post, if our technology would cooperate. But no.

And lastly, things have been insanely busy lately. We are now in the final stretch of house-building. Our countdown is pretty much down to one week. ONE WEEK! Do you remember when we started this project? Only four months and one week ago (approximately). And now, we're hoping to move in next week. WHOA! No, our toilet paper holders aren't up, and our countertops aren't quite done, and we don't even have toilets yet, but we WILL move in next weekend! I'm determined! Hopefully electrical will finish this weekend, plumbing on Monday, carpet on Monday, appliances on Monday or Tuesday, HVAC on Tuesday, closet shelving on Wednesday, and final inspections Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. BUSY SCHEDULE! Of course, nothing finishes when the people say it will finish, so we'll see how stressed out I can get next week. It might be in everyone's best interests to just wave and smile from a distance next week...I could be a little tense! Hehe, no, I will try my hardest to take things in stride.

In other news, I think we're going to switch Grace to a twin bed when we move. This way, we can put the crib away for a while before the baby comes. Then when the baby needs it we can get it back out and set it up without Grace feeling like the new guy stole her bed. Anyway, I'm a little nervous about putting my little girl in a big girl bed, but I think she'll do okay. It might take a couple of days of "training" to get her to stay in bed during naps and stuff, but it'll be worth it in the end, I think. Crazy.

It's the weekend! *Everybody cheers*

-{lkr}

Friday, December 23, 2005

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}

Friday, December 16, 2005

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}

Thursday, December 15, 2005

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}

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

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!

Saturday, December 10, 2005

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}

Monday, December 05, 2005

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}

Friday, December 02, 2005

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}

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

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}

Friday, November 25, 2005

Happy Thanksgiving (Part II)

Here is the big, happy Rumley family:
The whole 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.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

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!

Thursday, November 17, 2005

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}

Monday, November 14, 2005

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

Friday, November 11, 2005

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}

Monday, November 07, 2005

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}

Friday, November 04, 2005

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}

Thursday, November 03, 2005

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}

Saturday, October 29, 2005

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}

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

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!

Monday, October 24, 2005

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.

Friday, October 21, 2005

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}

Thursday, October 20, 2005

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!

Friday, October 14, 2005

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}

Sunday, October 09, 2005

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!

Friday, October 07, 2005

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