Day Four. Today I'm grateful for...

health insurance.
my mom.
not having to cook when I'm pregnant and tired.
netflix.
the sweetest nurses in the world.
my own clothes. !
my church.
my sweet husband who will sleep (or not sleep) on a fold-out cot two feet wide just so I'm not lonely all night.
modern medicine and proficient doctors.
visitors.
online shopping.
good books.
did I say netflix?
the opportunity to be a mother.
and, all those who have and do serve our country.

Day Two

Happy news!  I've been given doctor's approval to get out of bed to shower once a day.   

I had to wear an enormous funny-smelling rubber glove taped over my IV and hold my arm out of the water (tricky, washing your hair with one hand...), but it was heaven to stretch my legs for 20 minutes.  Things are looking up.

Micah and Maddi spent the morning with me and brought with them Chex Mix and Oreos, card games and a stack of books.  Maddi pushed all the buttons on my bed and managed to tangle herself in my cords and wires several times, but it was so wonderful to have them here with me.

I also have a new bed, a much much more comfy recovery bed, rather than the labor and delivery bed I was in yesterday.  I guess now that we've gotten past the critical first 24 hours with no signs of infection or labor, I'm expected to be here for the long haul.  That being two weeks-- which seems interminable after the way these last two days have crawled by-- but if I can give this baby more time to develop and grow and be a little more healthy when he arrives, I'm willing to do whatever it takes. 

Even happier news: Baby is still content as can be right where he is, and is showing no signs of distress.  I had an ultrasound where we were able to see him "practicing" breathing already.  We watched his little diaphragm and lungs huff and puff rapidly and then stop, then start again as he explores inhaling and exhaling.  The ultrasound tech said it's common for girls to start doing this as early as 30 or 31 weeks, but boys usually take a bit longer into the third trimester to pick up the skill, and she was surprised he was already doing it. (That's my boy!)  She estimated he's currently weighing between 3 and 4 pounds (and we thought Madison's 5-1 was tiny!  Oh my).  We also got to talk to the hospital neo-natologist, who was very optimistic and encouraging based on how things are going so far.  He said even if I were to deliver in the next few days, he expects baby to become stable pretty quickly in the NICU.  It seems things are just about as good as they can be, given the circumstances. 

Even with all the positives, I really shouldn't complain.  But can I, just for a minute?  The last two nights have been pretty miserable.  I miss my kid like crazy.  It's been all I can do not to sob out loud as I'm telling her goodnight over the phone.  I really really don't like sleeping without Micah right by me.  And I've had to get nightly steroid injections-- from a HUGE needle! In my buttocks!  Like I'm a horse!!--  that make my stomach churn all night long.  I'm woken up two or three times by nurses checking vital signs and monitors, and in between their visits I'm waking up constantly to use the bathroom, or to alarms going off,  or just to try getting comfortable on a hard bed with rubber pillows.  Not to mention I'm pregnant and emotional and cry all the time.   It's not ideal.  Sorry to be whiny.  I do know it's for the best, and it's so worth it, and I'll survive.  What's made it doable is all the support and love from everyone around us.  Thank you again for being so wonderful!

We’re starting to notice a trend…

It’s looking like babies like to come early in our family.   (No, he’s not here yet.  Not quite.)

Today I am 32 weeks along.  Yesterday my water broke. Which poses a bit of a problem, because this little guy’s still just a bit smaller that we want him to be before he comes.   So last night I moved into my own room in the hospital, and here I will stay until he arrives.

Ultimately, the doctors want to keep labor at bay as long as they can so baby has as much time in the oven as possible.   It’s common to  go into labor within 24 hours of water breaking, but if we can get past that hurdle and as long as 1: Baby has enough amniotic fluid, 2:  there is no infection, and 3: I don’t start contracting and progressing;  I will just stay here on bedrest and antibiotics until 34 weeks, at which point they’ll go ahead and deliver. 

So far, everything is stable and baby is doing fine.  Grandma flies to San Antonio tomorrow to take over mom duties at our house, and the amazing people at our Church have already swooped in to provide meals and babysitting while I’m away.  Meanwhile I am honestly a little excited to have an excuse (or mandate, rather) to rest, do nothing, and have people take care of me for the next little while.  And even as hard as it is to be stuck in a bed and away from my family, we are just hoping and praying that this little one stays right where he is for a while longer, and are grateful he’s doing so well at the moment. 

We’ll keep you updated—maybe too often because I’ll have nothing to do all day but mess around on the laptop—and post pictures of our little man as soon as he makes his debut!
 
**Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who have offered so much help and prayers already.  We appreciate all our dear friends and family!**

The other day, an alarm I had set went off on the computer and startled Madison.  She came running over to me, saying, "Mom, I scaried!"  I reached down to hug her and started to say, "It's not scary, just a loud noise."  Then she said, "I say prayers.  I scaried and Jesus feel me better." 

Never taught her that.

Should have taught her that.

She never stops surprising me with the things she puts together and the sweet, childlike faith that comes so naturally to her.  Now, each time she's scared or worried, we say a little prayer and feel the peace and comfort that comes from the Savior. 

I needed that reminder.  I know it should be the other way around, but I learn something from this little girl every single day.

Home sweet home. And the longest post ever. (but good pictures at the end).

Once upon a time, we decided we were tired of living in apartments.

Lucky for us, we live in a place where the housing market is FANTASTIC, at a time when the market favors buyers, and Micah happens to have a wonderful job.  In other words, we are very, very blessed.

So we did it. We bought a house.  It was a miserable, terrifying and elating process.
Let me explain.
No, there is too much.
Let me sum up. (Shameless movie quoting blamed on my brothers... )

We decided (ambitiously? foolishly?) that we really really wanted a project house.  A bit of a fixer-upper, if you will.  But just a bit.  Not a money-pit, but something with definite potential. But how do you know the difference?  Especially being inexperienced, naive first-time home buyers like ourselves?

Three months of house-hunting later, we realized we weren't going to find exactly what we had in mind at our price range. We also realized we probably weren't going to be up to as much fixer-uppering as we thought we would, with a baby on the way and all.  Then I went through the discouraged phase (aka emotional pregnant girl "we're never going to find a house" whiny phase).

Then this little beauty dropped $17,000 in asking price overnight, and popped up in our search radar:

Except, it actually looked like this at the time:

Kinda scraggly. With a jungle for a yard.
No, really.

 

But three-foot-tall weeds aside, the interior of the house was in great shape, the home is less than 5 years old, and the neighborhood is AMAZING.  Definitely not some place we could have normally afforded to be looking, but the fact that this house was a foreclosure and the seller, HUD, was obviously very motivated to sell put it right in our range.  

So we jumped on it. Then things started to fall into place. In less than 24 hours, we found the listing, walked through, placed a bid and were notified that our offer was accepted.

Then things started to go wrong. One thing after another after another.  Things like ZERO appliances (who takes the stove when they move??). And being required to shell out $600 to get the house de-winterized. and then re-winterized. and then de-winterized again (because, you see, all foreclosed properties owned by HUD are required to be winterized until April 1st, even in Southern Texas where Spring is 80 degrees and local plumbers have never even heard the term, "winterize."  And don't even think about asking for an exception because you happen to be closing the last week of March. No way. Winterized until April 1st, no exceptions. And then, after you close, pay somebody to come de-winterize again so you can turn your water on before you move in. Erg.).  

Then there was broken pipe number 1, and a technically unauthorized temporary repair that we were required to pay for, although HUD absolutely refuses to allow ANY repairs to be made to a property prior to closing, and the fact that said broken pipe, even with said temporary repair made it impossible to turn on the water to have a proper inspection so that we could even make an informed decision as to whether or not we wanted to buy the place anyway. 

In short: We managed to get water on for an inspection, found out the entire heating and cooling system was not functional, and got quotes for the potential thousands of dollars in plumbing and HVAC repairs we might encounter. But of course, HUD wouldn't allow any work to be done prior to closing, and absolutely no repair allowances, so we had no way of knowing how much we could expect to actually pay until after we'd sealed the deal.  

Then came number crunching, lots of tears (on my part), and much prayer.  And we decided to go ahead anyway.  

Then the vandalism. Minor, but still infuriating.  Swiping a shower head I maybe understand. But who steals a mirror from the bathroom wall?  And pees in all the toilets?! (Which could not be flushed, because the house had been winterized, mind you).  And all we could do was wait, for weeks, while HUD and our title company took their sweet time processing things, hoping and praying whoever had access to this home we'd already invested so much money into wouldn't decide to do anything worse or steal anything bigger.

And then came closing day.  And on the morning of closing day, we are informed that: one, we will not be closing until a week later; and two, there's been another broken pipe found at the house by HUD's property manager. 

Fortunately, given this new development, HUD decided to again give us the opportunity to break contract and walk away.  Unfortunately, that meant we had to make the decision. Again.

And then I bought myself a gallon of Texas' best Bluebell ice cream, fully intending to let myself wallow.  Because there was just no way.  It was just too much for us to handle, and too much to risk. 

But after a day of more tears, and number crunching, and lots more praying, we both knew it was the right thing to do, despite all the repairs and frustrations and unknowns. We estimated worst case scenario on all costs, and decided-- even though our savings would take quite a hit-- we'd still survive.  This is where we needed to be, and the Lord would provide.  (Thanks, Mom and Dad, for this: "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence- BYU Devotional, Jeffrey R. Holland)

And here's the happy ending to this story.  We took the leap of faith, and boy oh boy, were we provided for.  After closing we took a week to get everything functioning so we could have the utilities turned on. All the necessary repairs ended up being best case scenario-- costing in total just hundreds of dollars instead of our estimated thousands.  We scored some awesome deals on appliances from Craigslist and Sears Outlet, coming in way under budget.  A professional cleaning took a nasty, unknown stain in the living room right out of the carpet (good thing, because replacing the flooring was WAY down the priority list). A few gallons of paint (and several late nights for Micah) on the walls and ceilings spruced the place right up. A good lawn mowing and some bush clippers tamed the jungle (mostly), and heaven praise pest control.

And now it's just perfect (minus the decorating and improvement projects we want to do, but those things aren't necessary or time-sensitive).  We feel so humbled, and so grateful for the way things worked out.  The whole process taught us so much-- especially about relying on the Lord and trusting His answers to our prayers. 

Here's a little peek at the before:

And where we're at now. A little sparse in the decor department, but I'm on it. :)

We kind of love it!

Yes, we are alive.

We've been a little too preoccupied to blog.

We bought a house.

And then we almost didn't, and then decided to move forward, and then nearly backed out again, and then went ahead with it anyway. (More on that later.)

Then we moved, which is quite the feat with a two year old and one on the way.  I am now requiring that the next relocation be hired out to professionals. (Although, in our moves over the past few years, Madison has gotten really good at helping me pack.)

 

The last several weeks have been spent unpacking, getting settled, and sprucing up the place-- it had been vacant for over a year and needed a little love...

And although we still have much to paint, much foliage to remove (three oversized, maneating cactus plants, anyone?), and a whole lot to learn about homeownership, we finally feel functional again. 

And we really love this little house.

It's the perfect starter home for us, with just enough fixin' up to do without being overwhelming.  We have big plans for this place.  Stay tuned for more photos!