More Ultrasound pictures & New Due Date

We had another ultrasound December 10th. The due date was changed again to July 13th and this time, the doctor used the word "official" so we're going with July 13th. The ultrasound technician took a few still pictures to get measurements, the baby is just over an inch long now. Then the technician switched to video to hear the heartbeat. Baby's heartbeat is at 170 bpm, which is good. The average is between 160-180 bpm. Baby shocked both the technician and me by moving its back and arm. I'm pretty sure he/she was waving at me. =)

New baby!

We discovered on Halloween morning that we're expecting our first baby! The due date is July 16th of next year. I've had really bad nausea for the last couple of weeks, living on Saltines and 7Up and it's just now starting to alleviate. While I haven't been feeling well, Jake has been taking care of me, the house and the cooking, God bless him!
Our families are very excited. This will be the third grandchild for my parents and the first for Jake's parents. We've been married over 4 years,















I think they were starting to get antsy.
Charlie, Natalie, Bethany, Bekah and even Gabie are so excited about the new baby and call it "Baby Snow White" and if it's a boy "Baby Prince Eric". But they're very sure it'll be a girl...we'll have to wait and see. We do plan on finding out the gender when we can and we will fill everyone in then, but we've decided to keep the name we pick a surprise, so don't even ask!
We will be posting more as we have doctor's appointments and other developments so be sure to check back for updates!

Panzer

We got a new dog!! We went down to the Westside German Shepherd rescue in L.A. and picked out a one and a half year old dog that we named Panzer (like the German tank). He's really mellow and sweet and will be the perfect dog for us. He was really shy and timid at first, especially in the house (hardwood floors are hard for him to walk on) but he's warming up. So far he's learned that you have to open the screen door if you want to go outside, that his big bone is delicious to chew on and that every time Jake or I move in the middle of the night, that means we need him to lick our hands. He's a sweetheart and we're so excited to add him to our family.

New York-part 2

New York- Part 1

After family time in Seekonk, Jake and I went to New York for a few days. Here are some of the highlights...

Seekonk- Wedding Day

Here are some pictures from Elice and Michael's wedding day!

Seekonk-hanging out with fam

We went out to Seekonk, MA for Elice and Michael's wedding. We had such a great time hanging out with family and helping the bride get ready for her big day!

Vicki's Birthday Dinner

Thanks so much to all the family who came to my birthday dinner and helped me celebrate my big 2-8. It was a great night!

Glendale Quilt Show '09

My mom, sister and I all went to the annual Glendale Quilt Show the last weekend in March. We all had quilts entered and we all won ribbons! Mom won a blue ribbon, Sarah won a red ribbon for the novice category and I won blue for novice category!! We spent Friday and Saturday night at the hotel where the show was and had a blast! We went to the Guild cocktail parties, enjoyed the newly renovated pool, had dinner at The Ramp, helped out at the auction (where Mom's items alone brought in almost $350 for the Guild), and bought yards and yards of gorgeous fabric. We're all already planning our next quilts for next years' show. Any good ideas, I'm taking suggestions!

Housewarming

A big thank you, a kiss and a hug to everyone who came and saw our new house last weekend! We had a lot of fun seeing everyone, some people we hadn't seen in months and even years!! It meant so much to us to have people we love come and see where all our hard work has gone and why we virtually disappeared over the last five weeks. Again, a big thanks to all of you! Much love and blessings!!

Our New Home!!!

As most of you already know, we bought our first house in January. Because so many of our friends and family live far away, we wanted to post pictures for everyone to see it. We were truly blessed with the perfect house for us!
House Stats:
It was built in 1963, it has 3 bedrooms, 1 full bathroom and 1 3/4 bathroom (stand-up shower, no tub), kitchen, dining room, living room all have an open floor plan, the kitchen and full bathroom have been remodeled in the last few years, we have a two car detached garage and a backyard with a gorgeous view. There is no house directly behind us and we're up against a hill so we have full view of the valley below us.
Getting Here:
This was actually the sixth house we put an offer on and the only house that was a traditional sale, all the others were REO's, short sales, etc. We did a lot of research, met with a mortgage broker and found ourselves an awesome realtor. We looked through what seemed like every house in Santa Clarita Valley until we found this one and, like I said, made a number of offers on houses. Getting outbid and waiting on short sales was really hard; it was a good lesson in patience. Our realtor actually came across this house in a search for another client and knew it was the one for us.
It came on the market at midnight, we came to see it at 5pm the next day, made an offer by 8pm, and it was accepted the next afternoon. We actually hit a roadblock when we were told we'd have to wait 2-3 months to close because of a problem with the title, which was still in the seller's late-husband's name. But after some finessing on the part of her attorney, we had the green light to go ahead with our 21-day escrow.
After closing escrow, we did have some work done on the house. Some cosmetic, scraping the popcorn ceilings, changing out fixtures; some structural, fixing the garage wall that was backed into, forcing it off the foundation; and some necessary, fixing loose gas lines and installing electrical junction boxes. We also sealed over a door that went from the garage to the guest bedroom, making it technically a den or office. So we sealed it off, making it an actual bedroom. We also painted everything: every wall, all the trim, all the windowsills in the house (save for the master bathroom).
We still have some work to do in the house, hanging pictures and artwork, master bathroom redo, and finishing touches. We also have quite a bit of landscaping to do outside but we're having fun making our home just how we want it.
We couldn't be happier with our house; it felt like home the second we moved in.
Following are some pictures of our new home, you can click on any of the pictures to see them full-sized. Enjoy!!
(Some of the colors in the pictures are a little washed-out, we used a really old camera. )

Entryway and Kitchen

This is the entryway looking at the front door. On the right, nearest the front door is the doorway to the kitchen and dining room. There is a coat closet as well as a linen closet in this entryway. To the left is the hallway to the bedrooms and behind is the reading nook in the living room.
Ah, the kitchen. I was sold almost immediately when we walked in and saw my kitchen! It's been completely remodeled with a gorgeous tile backsplash, newer appliances, (faux-shh) granite countertops and a fantastic island. There is so much storage here and the pantry has pull out shelves so I can see exactly what I have in my cupboards and for someone who loves to cook so much, this is VERY handy!
Here is the island which has more countertop space and even more storage. On the kitchen side, there are regular cupboards and drawers for extra storage and on the dining room side, there are glass cabinets to show off my mother's sugar and creamer, Grandma's champagne glasses, Jake's grandmother's vase and all of our beautiful dishes that we can now show off. The door behind the island goes to the side yard. Notice the double oven and microwave. Yes, dear friends, we have moved into the early 80's and we now have a microwave for the first time in our married lives, actually for the first time since we started dating.
The kitchen sink has a really nice big window above it. This looks out to the front patio, so I can see who's coming to visit and the front garden, which wasn't much to look at until Aunt Sonnie put in some long hours to make it nice for us.

Living Room and Dining Room

This is the corner of our living room, we wanted to carve out a nice reading nook Plus I had to have my rocking chair and Jake bought this comfy leather recliner in college so we each have our own chair.
This is the large side of the living room (the reading nook is behind and to the right). The sliding glass doors open to the patio and the view. To the left is the dining area. Why, yes, those are two Guitar Hero guitars on the couch. Anyone want to lose?
Here is the dining area that is open to the living room (behind) and the kitchen (straight ahead). The first house we bid on in our crazy game of realty was a few streets over from this one with the same layout, just not updated like this one. There was a pony wall separating the dining room from the living room and the kitchen island went all the way over to the wall and up to the ceiling, closing it off from the rest of the house. So when we put an offer on that house, it was with making these changes in mind! Luckily, with this house, it was all done for us. We love the open floor plan a lot better!