Baby News

I went to the Dr. today for an ultrasound and some other stuff. The baby weighs 6 lbs. 5 oz! I am measuring at 37 wks. and 5 days, over two weeks ahead of schedule but here's why...the baby's head is measuring at 38-39 weeks! So, thanks Jeremy for passing on your big fat head to our child! I love you, but seriously?? Good grief!

I ALMOST DIED!

Ok, this time I'm serious. Friday night I went with a group of friends to hike to campsite 17 near Abram's Creek Campground. Its a 3 mile hike about 2 miles past where Jessica and I camped last summer. Well, when we got to the trailhead we saw a sign that said that campsite 15 was closed due to bear activity. 15 is about 2 miles south of where we were camping. We all joked about what we would do if we saw a bear. Joe, who was hiking with us, said if you see a bear under 1 year old you can punch it in the nose and it will sit down and cry. I joked, what do you do ask the bear its age when you see it? I joked that I would just Judo kick the bear in the mouth and all would be well. So, we all got to the campsite and had a lovely evening. At about 3am it started raining. That sucked and my tent started leaking a little bit. I was planning on leaving early that morning anyways and the rest of the guys were going to hike to Abram's Falls and spend another night. So, at about 6:30am I braved the rain and packed up my tent to leave...by myself. About a mile and a half into my hike back to the car, I was marveling at God's creation and really not paying attention to much else. I was hiking along the creek/river that ran along the trail edge. I came around a corner and there he was...a black bear! He/she was sniffing the air like Leo does when he knows there's something close that shouldn't be close. Bears have bad eye sight, but a really good sense of smell and hearing. I don't think he saw me, but he definately knew I was close. So, I stopped quickly in my tracks and walked back about 500 feet to some rocks off the trail. I got my foot caught briefly in the rocks (which freaked me out even more) and peered around the trees to see if I could still see him/her. No luck. So I waited a couple minutes, took off my pack, and walked back towards the bear. He/she was gone! Filled with the power of adrenelene I hiked quickly towards my car.

Joe walked into Church Sunday (they didn't end up staying the night) with a smile on his face and said, "We saw a bear on the way back to the car!" I said, "No way, I did to!" Only they saw it running from a distance and I got to see this thing...by myself...up close. I have to say that I've never been more scared then Sat morning when I was alone, wet, tired, and face to face with an unpredictable black bear. I did follow the "rules of engagement" when one faces a bear. First, you're supposed to get out of its way. If it comes towards you, you are supposed to get to high ground and make loud noises at it. Then you play dead if it becomes hostile. Luckily, I didn't have to go beyond the first step...



I will judo kick you in the face!

Phase 1

Phase one began this week. First, Byron destroyed our outside closet/shed. That was a job and a half because it was made out of concrete block. Now he is building up the outside walls. I cleaned out the sunroom today and he'll start removing windows, carpet, and doors so that he can enclose that room to begin on the bathroom. Fun times ahead! Here are a few pics...


Here's the closet/shed while it was being destroyed.


Here's one view of the outside wall.


Here's another view of the outside walls.

Our New House!!

Here's a picture from the front. We bought this home and 1 acre of land.


This is the carport. The carport will soon become our bedroom and the nursery.


This is the living room. The living room won't change much...just a few cosmetics.


This is the laundry room that will be moved to make room for a new kitchen.


This is the sunroom that will become our master bath.


Finally, this is the kitchen. Jessica is really excited about the changes that will happen here.

So, that's our new house. Byron, our contractor, started today. He has already started demolition. We'll keep you all posted on the updates as they come!

Updates!

Last week was CRAZY busy. We closed on a house! We were hoping to get some pictures blogged, but it rained. Hopefully, we'll get outside this week and get some "before" pictures to post on here. For those who haven't heard, we are renovating the house we had been renting. We are adding two bedrooms, updating the kitchen and laundry rooms, putting in hardwood/new carpet, and tearing down a couple of walls. I can't wait to start!

Sunday Jason and I put together a shed I bought from Sam's Club. It took us 6 hours to complete. Byron, our contractor, told me I had to start moving things out of our carport...so that meant I needed this shed put together asap. Thanks again Jason for your help! I tried doing it myself...but we all know what happens when Jeremy tries to put something together...it involved a lot of throwing things and yelling at inanimate objects. Wasn't pretty...

We are CRAZY busy this week as well. CCC is having a Cheerleading Camp to rival our Soccer Camp earlier this summer. We have 10 children signed up and they seem to really be enjoying themselves. So, I probably won't have a whole lot more time to post some of my wonderful blogs :-).

Anyways, I hope you all have a wonderful week. Blog at ya later!

Well, that settles it...

According to a Yahoo! survey, pet owners prefer McCain over Obama. Here's the study. This is by far the most ridiculous article I've ever read. I'm not going to tell you who to vote for, but I think we should probably put a little more thought into who's going to be the next president. And who gets paid to figure out which presidential candidate do pet owners prefer? Seriously, I want that job! Obama better buy himself a lab or a german shepherd quickly before he loses this election!!!!!

Enough sarcasm for the day. Jess and I still haven't closed on our house. I'm waiting for a phone call any minute. We're trying to close this evening and I'm not sure why its taking so long.

We set up the nursery furniture in the guest bedroom Sunday. I drove to Babies R Us on Sunday to pick it up and I didn't realize that the dressers would already be put together. So, I had to have Byron (our friend who will be renovating the house) swing by and pick up the rest for us. I started to put together the crib and I broke one of the stabilizer bars. So, the manufactorer is sending me a new one. I can't put anything together...oh bother. Hopefully, I'll get the thing put together this week and we can post some pics. Anyways, back to work I go...have a great Tuesday!

July 4th Celebration

We are in Cincinnati this weekend for the Fourth. We enjoyed the day with the Honeycutts and then today we are going to Ikea and then home. Jess is taking Katelyn's senior pictures right now as I write. Here are some pics from the event.


Here is lil Bobby hitting bombs out of the yard. We played a little home run derby.


Here's Bethany the game nazi.


I think this picture is extra special.

Some Happenings

Jessica and I have had a busy week and are looking at a busy week ahead. We've been waiting impatiently to close on the house we are renting. We made an offer three months ago and there has been some tie ups along the way. Anyways, we hope to close this week. After we close, I'll dedicate a post to pictures and drawings of what we hope to do to the house.

Jess went to the doctor today. Everything is normal. She is now 31 weeks along! Our small group is renting a pontoon boat in August and we were very much hoping to join them...but the doctor has suggested that we don't. With Jess' high blood pressure problems, she's nervous that Jess might go early. Anways, please continue to pray for us as we get ready for parenthood.

We are still looking for childcare for when Jess goes back to work. We had an interview with a girl last weekend...but she didn't show up. We've looked at two daycares...they have been dumps. So, we've got a couple more leads...please pray for us as we look for quality childcare at an affordable price :-)

Tonight we are hosting BJ and his small group guys as they pass through town to do some whitewater rafting. Three teenagers and three adult men all cramped like sardines in our house...hopefully everyone survives.

This weekend we are headed towards Cincinnati for the 4th. We're really excited to hang out with old friends. We'll post some pics when we get back.

Kindness and Forgiveness

I think the hardest part of forgiving someone is active forgiveness. I can say, "I have forgiven him/her," but its really hard to act in forgiveness. One way that Brian Jones suggests actively forgiving is through kindness. Now, when I first read this I thought, "Sure I can be kind to those I need to forgive." However, when I got to thinking about it, I realized that its not that hard to act nice and kind to our enemies (aka those we need to forgive) as it to deliberately find kind things to do for our enemies. So, I'm processing how I can deliberately show kindness to those I need to forgive. Feel free to post some ideas if you think of any.

I am in the process of buying a book (I haven't bought it but I want to) called The Shack by William Young. Its a pretty controversial book right now and I'm in no way suggesting it for reading...but I'm told its pretty good. Its written in a fictional way. Anyways, I'll let you know what I think as I read it. I appreciate the comments from some of you who are also on the journey to forgive. I just encourage you to continue on it. Read, pray, study, and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance as you move along. That's all for now...