Well life seems to be flying by as does this pregnancy. I mean... 10 months is a long time but I feel like it's going by really fast. I don't know if I'll be able to get everything done I want to! O dear... I hope I can. Maybe I'll have some extra help (any lady volunteers to help a 8 month pregnant lady pack and clean before the move!!!???) I know Sean will try and I love him for that.. HAA
baby is now?? over 17 inches long and about 4 and a half pounds. He is super healthy and very active. My DR did say at this point with how small my torso is and how close my ribs are to my hips I have a very uncomfortable baby and the rest of my pregnancy will be even harder than it is today. I can't imagine that. I've been hurting pretty much 24/7 for the last 3 weeks and my ribs on the right side are really sore and sleep is not happening. And breathing?? I guess I don't need as much air as I thought because I'm sure not getting it. Bending?? Who needs to bend. If I drop something that's where it stays. Right there on the floor. Unless I have a willing do-gooder there to rescue my pen or phone or anything off the floor. Let's see here.. Lowering myself into the bathtub?? O dear... haaaaaaaa. I'm sure that's funny to watch and if only you could be a fly on the way (IF it were appropriate) to see that art of bending and breathing and hard work in action... it's pretty funny.
Baby acrobatics. My child keeps me up and he wakes me up and he plays games all day. You can see just about every move he makes at this point and I love watching that. He's so funny and cute and I can't wait to see what he looks like.
Moving.. yes we should be the last weekend in July. Any men who have availability to come to the house to help!!??? I'll buy you pizza and pop for the help!!! July 30th!! lend your trucks or trailers or hands and backs!! whichever you can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and of course you'll be showered with blessings for helping the pregnant lady out!!!
here goes the packing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so... after waiting to hear back we did end up going under contract on that house!!!! so exciting. AND it's all coming together. This last week we had the inspection done and only a couple things needed to be fixed.. The water heater, the master bedroom sink and a broken window in the garage. After waiting for 4 days to hear back because of the weekend we finally heard back that they are paying for everything! And that was what needed to be done we're just glad they didn't put up a fight. So now we're waiting on the appraisal to make sure it's worth what we're paying (and FOR sure no worries there) Because it's been on the market for so long the price came down from 210,000 to something we can now afford.. It was quite the drop. I guess 145 days on the market with no movement will do that to you. Price was dropped 5 times and of course like a good buyer we offered less and got it for less. So if all the pieces keep falling into place we should be homeowners soon!!!

so.. we found a house yesterday. It was the 2nd one we looked and probably the 30th house we've seen. We still went and looked at about 13 houses yesterday but we just loved this one. So.. We put an offer in. We're waiting to hear back now. BUT if all goes well we will be the proud owners of this 2004 BEAUTIFUL family home!! the wait is going to be terrible I think... o dear!! we're praying it works out the way we feel like it should!!!

ok.. we started the search again. We shall see what happens. If we do decide to buy we'd like to move in the first week of August. We're going to look tomorrow morning.. I wonder what that will bring. For right now.???? We're both just hoping we can find that home that will be perfect for us. Wish us luck

A good friend of mine came to me today with something quite amazing. Melissa is one girl in a family with 5 brothers. She and I have become great friends here at Pinnacle where we work. Her oldest brother Nick has put together a program to help the Women's Safehouse in Denver. He is riding his bike from coast to coast in order to earn money to help women who are being abused and need help. You can find his site (which he'll update every chance he gets) www.anticycle.blog.com
Here you can find more information on what he's doing and why. Hope you get a chance to check it out.

my kid is huge... therefore my belly is ENORMOUS. I'm just growing and growing. Cars stop and people stare at me out their windows. And people double and even triple take as i walk by. I love my belly. I love my baby. I can't wait to be his mother!
Hurry up baby Chase!!! Your mommy wants to meet you!

So for the last 3 weeks all I have been doing is reading about cars online... And then?? traveling all over to dealerships looking for the "one". (Also, I have been talking to private sellers) Holy cow what a process. I mean... YES buying a car is a huge deal and it's very important for the next few years what kind I get, the money we decide to spend or NOT spend... and safety? That is my number one. Well... I have placed an offer in on hmmmm I think at this point 4 cars?? BUT they just were not willing to come down to the point that first of all, we felt the car was worth, and 2nd of all the what we wanted to pay and 3rd of all... it's fun to talk price and get it for the dollar amount I set. And not a penny more. That means, NO dealer fees, NO ANY OTHER FEES. The price of the car WE AGREE on and tax. No more.Well... after spending 3 very stressful weeks driving a car that shuts off WHILE I'm driving it I was finally just done and ready to feel safe in my vehicle. Especially while being so pregnant? I couldn't even imagine getting into a car accident at this point. So nope. I was not willing to compromise our saftey. But also as a couple, we were not willing to spend anything CLOSE to what the banks said they would lend us. And we wanted to make sure our monthly payments were low.. VERY low, while still getting a really good car for our money and efforts.
So?? After talking to dealers about a Pontiac Aztek (which I liked) and a Volkswagon Passat (which I also liked) and a Audi Quatro (which I liked) I finally found a car i LOVED that was in perfect condition, safe and much newer than the other cars I was looking at. Also... less miles. We found a Nissan Altima that we both really love. It's a great looking car and it has a large backseat for my child and car seat and another couple passengers. Also.. it just was well kept! The dash looked great with the CR player and not old like the other cars that had been in our price range and someone took great care of it when they owned it. That I appreciate. Since becoming a mother to be I have taken a whole new outlook on the word 'clean'. Yes.. I like things put away and the house vacuumed and everything in its place.. But BOY do i discenfect on a whole new level. When I clean out the tub and the sinks and even the toilet I clean them. Then I clean them again. (Rinsing and drying in between so I can check for ANYthing that's not perfectly done) and then I clean them again. And believe me there WILL be a white glove inspection when I'm done.. or when Sean's done... And so I just wanted my car to be the same. Very VERY clean. I don't want to put my child into a 'clean' car. I want to put him into a mother in her crazed nesting phase CLEAN car. So I was happy to find that this great, Maroon Nissan Altima 2003 that was low on miles and had a clean title and new breaks was the car for us.
WE get to go pick it up on Monday. It'll be detailed this weekend (just needs some vacuuming) and they were checking on thing on the car for us and then??? We get to leave with our car and I can drive it SAFELY to work every day till August 1st when I quit my job and then after that? I can use it to drive my little lovey baby around wherever he needs to go! YAY!! Can't wait to be a mommy!!! (And my car seat will look FANTASTIC in there! and the Trunk had lots of room for his stroller. WOOOOO HOOOOO! What a day it was.

this is my 200th blog entry. So I decided to go back to the beginning and read through a few every month or two and just see what I was doing over two years ago. What a journey this has been for us.
I met my husband three years ago on June 1. The day I moved from Washington down here I met Sean Stewart. And o boy did my life change. We started out as friends (that didn't last long) and then dated for what... 5 days?? before we decided to get married. And then wanted to have kids right away. That's where it gets interesting. Of course we enjoyed being newlyweds before we really started worrying, having our first holidays together and settling into our first home together and making it our own. Really getting to know each other. Of course I was expecting for us to become parents soon but we were content to be together. Soon we were REALLY ready... About 5 months after we got married we started our journey towards pregnancy. And we fought against my body for what seemed like forever till we found away to work with it. After all... we needed my body if we were going to have kids. So work work work work until we got to where we are now!! only 10 weeks and 6 days left till our baby gets here. Two and a half years later we are now looking forward to meeting our baby and expanding our family to include him. Our hearts have been waiting to welcome him for a long time and we can't wait!!
Now our to do list before the baby gets here...
1. Get mommy a car. (Sean is driving my old car because his truck engine blew and he commutes) So we'll be car shopping most of the day
2. Get the fish tank out and the changing table all set up and ready for baby.
3. Buy a mattress for his crib and a a changing pad for the changing table.
4. Finish decorating the baby room!! (which I'm really enjoying)
5. Take care of myself so the baby continues to grow healthy and strong
6. A couple baby showers to celebrate our little bundle of joy
7. Enjoy my husband for the last couple months that it will be just him and I.