The Basement Project Continues

Ben and Dan spent all of Fri-Mon working on the basement project.  They worked so hard!!  We are so excited about how much work they accomplished in such a short amount of time. They spent two of the nights working until 3 AM and then 5AM one night.

Here is all they accomplished:
-moved water lines so that they would be up in the joists
-moved a gas line so that there would be more clearance when you come down the steps
-moved the shower waste line up into the joists so that it no longer sticks down into the room
-finished moving duct work that was connected to a huge vent in the new doorway
-framed the walls to the closet and doorway to divide the rooms
-ran electrical to new lights and outlets
-made an outlet upstairs behind our baker's rack
-made a light switch to the back patio by the sliding glass door
-made an outlet and switch on the other side of the basement near my work table
-replaced the line into the washer

some of the big materials :)

gas line that used to stick down and try to hit you on the head as you came down the stairs
now it is up in the joists

all 3 ducts were moved and rerouted to get rid of this nasty eye sore

the large duct to the right was made into the vent for the bedroom
the top duct was rerouted from the furnace

frame for the closet door side
What a team!!!

all 3 walls framed and getting put into place

Hey...it's a closet :)

After picture of the shower drain pipe that was rerouted into the ceiling joists.
red water line was also put in
bottom water line was capped b/c it went to nowhere land :)

another picture of the shower drain rerouted
eventually the big black drain will also be moved
so that the egress window can go here in the corner

finishing the frame for the doorway

the finished laundry side with 2 recessed lights...yay for new lighting!

new switches and outlets

nothing coming down from the ceiling like pipes or duct work
some awesome recessed lighting on a dimmer switch

awesome view from the bedroom :)

Obviously we have some more work to do!  Ceiling and new walls need their insullation and drywall up...but what a tremendous job they did!  Looking at the new room makes me want to consider moving down there when the kids are old enough to be upstairs by themselves. The drain pipe and egress window project will also be upcoming making this a 3rd bedroom in our home! YAY!

(Anyone needing some work done in the Akron, Ohio area can always call Varner Quality Services, Dan's handyman and lawn services company. Really he is a jack of all trades!!! Just ask me and I can give you his number! Without his knowledge and expertise this project could have never happened. Thanks Dan!!!!)

Day at the Dr's Office

Well...I spent the day at the dr's office. I had an appt. scheduled on Thursday but I had been noticing a significant decrease in movement for at least 4 days.  The dr ordered an ultrasound and monitoring the heartbeat for about 20-30 min. to make sure the baby was doing ok. They basically wanted to make sure my fluid level was ok, the baby was moving and showing some breathing techniques and that he wasn't stressed in any way. Everything turned out fine.  The nice thing was being able to see such a detailed baby face on the screen.  He is so adorable and looks a lot like Leona did :)  The only bad thing is that currently he is already 6 lbs. 15 oz. based on the ultrasound. She said this is often larger than the actual size, but still...we have 5.5 weeks to go!!! YIKES!

Here are some pictures:

Don't be fooled...that is a foot on the right :)

Love those tiny lips and chubby cheeks!

Baby has long hair already :)

Self-explanitory!

Well...needless to say I am really exhausted.  With the basement remodel and my own physical energy...I'm bushed.  Pray for my strength!

Here are some videos too:

As you can see he had no problem moving during the ultrasound :)

34 weeks and the Basement starts

Well...I am 34 weeks tomorrow.  It is hard to imagine that there are only 6 weeks to go until my EDD (estimated due date). I haven't taken many belly pictures lately because I feel so huge!! LOL. I'll post one soon!

We are starting our journey into the 9th month by totally redoing the basement! We are putting a 3rd bedroom downstairs.  It has been many weeks of planning already.  The construction will probably take a year or so to complete, but it is going to be a drastic change already for our house guests when they come to visit for the baby. Here are the plans:

Work So Far
-Ben took down the old nasty ceiling and board that was hiding pipes underneath the north window.
-He also removed those nasty non-working florescent lights! YAY!
-Two duct works were completely off track allowing our furnace to heat the joists! Ben put them back together.
-Our dryer vent was also detached sending some great lint into the rafters! YIKES!
-All of the electrical wiring failed to go through the joists so he had to hoist them up there.
-Ben re-routed some duct work to heat the bedroom and laundry room since they are splitting. He also re-routed some duct work to different areas to eliminate a juncture that jetted out into the bedroom. This pregnant woman got to stand on a ladder and help tape the duct work while my hubby laughed and made sure I stayed steady. Gotta love my tiny arms, hands and fingers :) They come in handy! Sorry no pictures for your enjoyment!

Work For This Weekend
(Dan is coming out to help Ben accomplish some major tasks.)
-move a waste pipe to make room for an egress window
-dry wall ceiling
-stud and dry wall main wall dividing the laundry room from the new bedroom
-put in recessed lighting
-put in outlets in bedroom
-put in 2 outlets on the other side of the basement which is my work area

Here are some beginning pictures:

What the old space looked like as Ben started removing the ceiling and lights.

Ben removing those nasty tiles and the boards that held it up.

You gotta love the headlamp :)

Ben has removed the ceiling and the beaded board that covered a waste pipe.
The pipe will be raised so that an egress window will be on the left.
The old window will be covered over.

Here is the vent to the Kitchen underneath the Baker's Rack!

Here is the vent that goes to the Kitchen underneath the sink!
It's almost together, right?

You can kind of see how the wiring goes under the joists.

Here is a better picture of the wiring.
This is where the dryer vent was detached and spilling into our rafters.
Great for fire safety!! YIKES!

I am so thankful for a pretty handy man as my hubby.  He has really learned a lot over the years.  It is great to see him put all this work into our home for our family.  Seems like he is the nester more than I am!!! We are also grateful to have friends and family that are willing to help out or give their expert opinions...especially Dan as he drove many a mile to come lend a hand :)

More Puppy Pictures

We finally got to go see the puppies. LJ loved seeing them.  She just kept saying "Me hold". Ben and I definitely agreed that we could have taken them all home :) Good thing Baby Buckeye's timing and our new basement project keeps us from getting one.  We also realized that LJ is certainly not ready for a puppy in the house...or maybe I should say that the puppy probably wouldn't survive!  It's going to be interesting how she handles the baby.

Here are some more pictures:

LJ holding the biggest puppy. He was SOOO much bigger than the rest.

Here is Ben also holding the biggest puppy which is a male.
He'll probably be normal Shi-tzu size.

Momma, Kiki, was a little protective at first, but she let us touch them.
She is a great Mommy dog.

Feeding time.
The largest puppy is the one on top to the left.

All of them have spots. This one has one eye spot and dark ears.
Love the spot on his tail too.

This is the biggest one again. He was the first to open his eyes.
Notice his cool spot on top and his dark ears.
He has a Maltese set of eyes I think.

They are starting to weeble and wobble all over.
They will be ready for homes in about 3-4 weeks!

Honda is a Daddy!

Mommy Maltese, Kiki

&

Daddy Shi-tzu, Honda

proudly announce the arrival

of their first batch of puppies,

3 girls and 2 boys,

at the end of January 2012!

We are so excited to hear the wonderful news that Honda is officially a Daddy!  We have wanted to breed him since he was a little pup, but time and health stuff never seemed to work anything out!

Here are some pictures of the Mal-Shi litter:

As you can see, they have Honda's coloring of the black, brown and white :) Aren't they just simply precious? If there wasn't a baby coming into our home soon, you bet one of these would be joining our family!!  Maybe in the next litter!

Leona's a BIG girl!

Leona is now officially a BIG girl!

Leona's first night in her BIG girl bed!

Mommy and LJ reading her new devotional book
from Aunt Abby!

Getting settled in with all of her stuffed animals
and of course Honda!

These pictures are from the beginning of January.  Mimi and Papa Corey bought her bed for Leona for Christmas.  We got her "Million Dollar Baby" toddler bed at Once Upon a Child. We are so thankful to start getting the other side of the room ready. 

As you can tell...still working on getting his side ready!

It is going to be interesting having the two of them share such a small room, but I am sure it will work out for a few years!

Ben is currently working on sanding Leona's dresser and side table so we can paint them white to match the room.  We'll post a completed room picture sometime soon!

Mommy's Health
It's hard to imagine that we are almost in the last 8 weeks of the pregnancy! I've been doing pretty well. The braxton hicks contractions keep on coming daily. They have gotten pretty intense at times. I think it is because he is such a mover because on days he is moving a lot seems to be the days when I contract a lot. 

My back and my leg keep hanging in there.  I have had a few little spells, but the chiropractic adjustments and stretching techniques seem to keep any major problems at bay. Honestly we are so surprised and thankful at God's goodness to us in this area.  We certainly expected more trouble during the pregnancy.  It took a HUGE leap of faith just to consider another pregnancy and we continue to trust Him daily. We know that being able to stay home and rest when I need it is definitely one of the major differences this time around.

Names for Baby Buckeye
Many of you have asked about names for Baby Buckeye.  We started with a "for sure" name that we had picked out last pregnancy. Then, we added like 15 more names. Now we are down to about 5 names. We won't be announcing his name until he is born, but it would be nice to at least have a final two before the end of February!!

Baby Buckeye's Apparel
Of course Baby Buckeye's wardrobe would not be complete without some Buckeye apparel.  Here are a few of his newborn onesies!!

Hopefully my next post will be that Leona is finally potty trained!! Stay tuned....