Check that Off the List!

The mural is done. Finished. Completed. Colorful. Beautiful. Just what I have imagined and dreamed of for the past four years. It looks fantastic!

Check out the photos below (note the finished trim in some of the pictures; note the ceiling fans we put in (including a photo of the master bedroom fan/trim, as well) -- remember that the nursery room didn't have a single light fixture in it when we moved in ... look at what three years can do for a room! LOL!!)

It feels so good to have these little details coming together. Now, we still have some painting to do, and we have to finish the windows and build out the closets, but it is getting there. We have a lot of work to do, but it won't be happening this weekend. No, this weekend it a time for celebration and relaxing. This weekend is a time for Tim and me to connect as a couple before we become Daddy and Mommy. This weekend, we celebrate our 5 Year Anniversary! How fun is that?! Let's just say that as fast as these past nine months have gone, the past five years have gone even faster!! I cannot believe that we are celebrating already. I keep trying to think back to what I was doing this time five years ago ... well, I am sure I was going crazy! Family was just starting to arrive, last-minute details were being completed, I was picking up my dress (and forgetting my veil! -- thanks to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Micah and Brandi, for picking that up for me on my wedding day!!), moving into the apartment ... that was such a fun time. It truly was a beautiful day, and it couldn't have been more perfect!

We had a check-up yesterday and all is good. Baby Liby's heartbeat ranged from 154 - 144 bpm while we listened in. Linda also pointed out Baby's back to me and explained to me how (s)he was laying. Amazing.

There is a fabulous foreign movie, titled Life is Beautiful. Honestly, one of the best movies ever -- and I am not joking; if you haven't seen it, rent it and watch it today -- it is that good! It is sub-titled, but before too long, you don't even realize that you are reading the sub-titles. Anyway, I agree. Life is beautiful.

Love,
Katie

Welcome, Fall!

Well, Fall begins today -- officially at 11:44 a.m. ... wow! Where did Summer go? I cannot believe that Summer is gone -- what a crazy summer it has been! With Grampy Fred's broken leg (pray that he gets his cast off this week and is able to graduate to a walking cast! That will be such a blessing to him and Grandy Rose), the Mastursery project, preparing for Baby Liby and everything else, Summer flew by ... whew!

We were able to get all gussied up on Saturday for a wedding ... cute picture, huh?! :) I was thinking the other day that we didn't have one nice picture of the three of us, yet, so we had to get one before Baby Liby arrives.

We were able to get quite a bit of work done on the rooms this weekend; Grandy Rose, Grampy Fred and Auntie Anne all pitched in. We got up a lot of the trim back on the walls, painted (some more ... when will it ever end?!) and got up the ceiling fans in both rooms. The mural is being painted right now, and will be finished tomorrow, so check back for pictures of that soon. It is sooooo awesome!! I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am about it! We also have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, as well -- fun stuff!

That's all for now ... more fun stuff coming later, so check back. Also, don't forget to vote if you haven't already!

Love,

Katie

One ... Month ... Left ...

So, if you look at the baby counter, you will see that we have only one month left until Baby Liby's due date ... holy cow!!! Where did the time go?! We have so many things left to do -- but have also managed to get so many things done -- it has been a crazy summer, that is for sure! Let's see ... there are many things to update you on ...

We had our second shower this past Saturday. What a blessing! Not only did I get to see much of the Liby family, but we also received many fun gifts for Baby Liby. There was even a sun-shaped cake (delicious!!). Grandy and Grampy Fred, along with Auntie Anne and I all made the trip to Fort Wayne through the utter downpour on Saturday (hectic driving, but Auntie Anne did just fine). It was a great day and lots of fun to see and catch up with the Liby side of the family!

On the downside, when we got home from Ft. Wayne, I was walking into Auntie Anne's garage when I slipped and fell (ouch!!) -- thankfully, I landed on my knee. Boy, did that hurt!! I was carrying Chewie Louis, Grandy and Grampy's dog, and he took the tumble, too. While we both survived, my knee is still very tender to the touch, black and blue and a bit swollen -- but thankfully, it doesn't hurt to walk anymore. Baby Liby survived just fine -- way better than my knee!!

Baby Liby and I also started our weekly doctor visits this week ... if that doesn't make time fly, I don't know what does! Linda was very happy with the progress and is content with all of Baby Liby's numbers. Actually, when we were listening to Baby Liby's heartbeat, it started at 131 bpm and accelerated all the way to 174 bpm within the few minutes we were listening. Linda said that was excellent, and that when they monitor a baby, that is exactly what they look for: accelerated heartbeat. It seems as though Baby is doing just fine. We go back again early next week. Would you be shocked to learn that I am already 1/2 cm dilated, 50 % effaced and that Baby Liby is at a -2 position? Well, I can tell you that I was!!! Actually, when Linda told me this, it shocked me so much that I forgot every other thing I wanted to talk with her about! While there is not direct correlation between these things and the start of labor, it does mean that my body and Baby are working towards the end goal ... a healthy baby boy/girl entering the world.

You know what I am going to miss the most when Baby Liby is born? Feeling him/her move ... what an amazing feeling! I love to sit with my hand on my tummy, feeling him/her move back and forth, push out and around (like (s)he is doing right now!!) and try to guess which part of Baby is poking out ... honestly, one of the greatest feelings I have ever had. It is so reassuring and peaceful! Seriously, men have no inkling as to what they miss out on! I treasure the movements as much as possible because I know that I won't be feeling them for much longer. It is so mysterious to be this connected to something that I have never laid eyes on. There are some sweet correlations, here, to being connected to God, with deep intimacy -- even though we cannot literally see Him. I can see and feel Him move, but I cannot see Him with my eyes -- it is a lovely mystery. It also begs the question, how often do I marvel at the way God moves? Honestly, I can say not enough ... He is so mysterious and transcendent -- constantly moving and working and yet, I rarely pay attention to it. I am trying to correct that ... I want to be aware of where God is moving, and join Him in that movement.

Get this: the countdown of weekends until Baby Liby comes ... well, we are going to be BUSY! This weekend, we have a wedding, the following is our fifth (yes, that is FIVE years!) anniversary and we plan to get away (somewhere close but quaint) for a few days to celebrate (our last anniversary with out kids -- how crazy!), the following weekend, we will be working on the house, the next -- my 10-year class reunion and finally, the next weekend, Baby Liby's official due date ... so our next month is going to be nuts. I may be one of the only women in history to pray that their baby comes around his/her due date -- and not early, since we have so many fun things to do before now and then, and a Masterursery project to finish.

As far as the Masterusery project is concerned ... we have great news! A muralists is starting today on the sun mural in the nursery. She is going to draw it out today and paint it tomorrow and Monday -- I can't wait to see it!! Literally, I have been dreaming about this mural for four years now, and to see it come to fruition is such a blessing and joy! We are sooooo excited!!!! We are still putting the finishing touches on some of the trim, while working on the windows, as well. Momentum seems to be slowing, but I think that is just because we are in a dull part of the project. Once we can knock out this trim, I think we will both have better attitudes and a new outlook on the project! What we have left: putting all of the trim back on the walls, building out the closets, finishing the windows -- moving in!! Yeah!!

So, there you go ... I don't post for two weeks, but look at all of the information you get when I do post! Hope you all are well.

Love,
Katie

Labor Day ... Working Away

Whew! We are exhausted!! (Check out Grampy Fred in the background ... hilarious!! This isn't actually a good representation of what he did all day on Monday, but it is a funny picture!!)

It was a long and very busy weekend ... but we did get a lot done!! Suffice it to say that our Labor Day Holiday was full of work, work, work ... kind-of the opposite of what is supposed to happen, I think! :)

So, on Saturday, Tim and I got up early and went to Lowe's (our home away from home) to get supplies that we would need for the weekend (one trip early on Saturday, we thought, to get everything we would need for the weekend work projects ... I think we went back to Lowe's three more times!!). We got back home and got busy. Tim finished patching the floor in the nursery room (it looks great!), I started scraping paint off of trim ... oh, what a fun job! Tim finished the floor and started scraping. Grandma Liby came up Saturday afternoon and helped us scrap. That is what we did all Saturday ...

Sunday, we woke up and went to church (sweet service this week; excellent message by Wil Crooks!!) and came home. Tim, Grandma Liby and I went back upstairs and began scraping more paint off of more trim ... that is what we did all Sunday.

Monday, we woke up, met Grampy Fred and Grandy Rose for breakfast, went back home and started scraping trim again ... will this job ever end?! Grandma Liby, Grandy Rose and I scrapped and scrapped and scrapped. Grampy Fred and Tim sanded and filled holes with wood putty. Around 4:00 (after the fourth trip to Lowe's!) we pulled out most of the trim and primed it.

The fruit of our labors ... most of the trim has now been scrapped, sanded, wood-filled, wiped down and primed.

Grampy Fred woke back up and started joking with us again ... good to see him out and about, huh?!

We have a little more wood that needs to be scrapped (Grandma Liby is going to ever so graciously finish those three pieces today!), sanded, wood-filled, wiped-down and primed. Then, we get to paint all of it and actually hang it all back up in the rooms!! Since the patch work is done in the Nursery room, we are actually getting soooo close to being done. After the trim, Tim will only need to finish the windows. We ordered blinds for the rooms, so those should be coming soon, too! We can then pick up the ordered furniture, and begin to move in and decorate those rooms. Baby Liby is coming in approximately 6 weeks, so this can't be done soon enough! I can't even begin to explain how nice it is going to be to have these two rooms done!!

So, with swollen feet and a tired body, I say, whew!! Our Labor Day was full of labor (thank goodness not the kind that births a baby!), but it was also full of success. We are so thankful to Baby Liby's grandparents for all of their help, and we are so close to being done, we are starting to get super excited!!

Hope you are well.

Love,
Katie