Moving Up Monday

Have you ever watched TLC's show, "Moving Up"?  Each episode of this home renovation reality show shows a family moving out of their home and then a new family that has purchased the house moving in and renovating it to their desired home.  Then, the old family sees the change to their old home and provides feedback.

Well, I'm proud to officially announce that I am living a real-life "Moving Up"!  

My Farmer and I purchased our first farm this year which included an acreage.  We thought for a long time, do we just stay in our current home and rent out the new farm's acreage as is, or do we renovate the new farm's acreage so we can live in it, or do we just knock down everything and farm it over?  Well, we decided late this winter that we should do the second option and renovate the new farm's acreage so we can raise our growing family in it!

If you would of asked me six years ago when My Farmer first moved into our current home if we would still be living in it now I would have probably laughed.  When we first got married I thought we'd live in our current place for a couple years and then move to another place.  But as time has gone on, I have truly fallen in love with our current place and am proud to call it home.  So this decision became pretty emotional for me because our current home is My Farmer's grandpa's place, our first (and only so far) place that we have lived since getting married over five years ago and LP's first home.  There are so many memories in this home and it is a very livable home.

So why did we decide to move?  Well, to start off the new house has more space and more bedrooms.  Our current home is a two bedroom ranch and the new place is a 1 1/2 story farm house with three bedrooms.  A second reason, the new house has a better foundation and in general is just built better, so if we would want to add on someday, the possibility is better at the new place than our current home.

So we are currently renovating, with the help of a general contractor, and plan on moving into the new house at the end of the summer.  The old owners of our home (who are a landlord of our family's) are excited to see what we do with the place and want to see the house when we are finished.  And we have some friends of ours, who are getting married this summer, who are going to move into our current home once we have moved out.  So see how we're living a real-life "Moving Up"?

Through out the rest of the spring and summer I'm planning on posting a "Moving Up Monday" once or twice a month with updates on the house.  This week there is work being done in the bathroom and mudroom, as well as our new windows should be coming in and work is going to be started in installing central air/heat.  So for now, I'm going to share some "before" photos with all of you.  When looking through the photos if you see anything or have any ideas please share!  My Farmer and I are doing a lot of "while we're at it" and "just as well" projects besides some major renovations, so any ideas are welcome.

View of South Side of House from Road
(we are planning on painting the house "Farm House White")

View of North Side of House (and part of the garage)
We are planning on adding a deck to this side of the house,
as it will be the main point of entrance and near the kitchen

View of Kitchen

Kitchen looking into Dining and Living Rooms

Living Room looking to Den (which we are thinking Play/Toy Room)
and the open door to the right goes out into a small enclosed front porch
(the front porch is so small it is hard to get a photo of to really show anything)

Living Room looking into Dining Space and Kitchen
Farthest right door leads into hallway with Bathroom, Linen Closet and Office
Left Door leads upstairs

Bathroom from hallway

Bathroom from inside doorway

Downstairs Office that will have back wall (that I'm standing by)
knocked down and added with...

Laundry Hallway that can be accessed by back door
to create a larger Office/Laundry/Mud Room

View from top of stair well looking at second floor

This unfinished closet at the top of the stairwell
is going to be a second floor half bath

Bedroom 1 (which will be MP's room)

Bedroom 2 (which will be LP's room)

Bedroom 3 (which will be My Farmer's and my room)
This room also has two closets, one on each side
(I guess you could say his and hers closets)

So there's a little first look at the place.  Any advice for us as we go through our first major home renovation?  Also, any ideas for 1/2 story closets that are all slanted?

A Letter To My Son On Mother's Day

Dear LP,

I am so happy, and feel so blessed, to have you call me Mom.  You always make me feel special - from making my kisses feel like they cure all, to cuddling up on my lap, to still wanting to get a hug from me even it was me that just punished you for something.  Soon our lives will change and there will be two who will call me Mom.  I want you to know that I love you with all my heart and after MP arrives, I will then love two children with all my heart.  Thank you for being such a good little boy that makes me smile every day.  I feel very honored to celebrate Mother's Day because God blessed us with you.

Love,
Mommy

Hump Day Bump Report

Another week closer and I'm so excited!  I was hoping that my doctor's appointment yesterday was going to be more than just a little check-up but sounds like if I had went one day later, I would have been checked to see if I was dilated, but since I wasn't a full 36 weeks yet, it didn't happen.  Oh well - next week!  Here's this week's Hump Day Bump Report:

• How far along?  36 Weeks Down - 4 Weeks To Go!

• Baby size:  Honeydew Melon

• Baby milestone:  The baby's liver and kidneys are in working order.

• Have you started "nesting"?  Yesterday I bought some newborn diapers to have on hand but I still need to do a full "baby run."  I haven't started making lots of meals or washing baby clothes, but I do have to say that in the last couple of days I've been better at knocking things off of my to do list.  I'm not sure if that is because I am starting to "nest" or if it is just because I told myself I needed to be more productive during the day...

• Have you been having any heartburn?  Not really.  LP had a full head of hair when he was born with minimal heartburn during the pregnancy, and it'd be fun if MP had hair too.  Baby hair is so cute and soft!

• Have you been having any ankle and foot swelling?  I don't think so - I can still wear my cowboy boots so I say I'm good still!

• Does LP understand what is happening?  I get asked this a lot.  Does any two year old really understand what a new baby means before the baby actually arrives?  We have been reading big brother books so hopefully that will help.  And we talk about the baby - he'll point to the baby in my stomach and give the baby kisses by kissing my stomach.  But does he really understand what it all means - probably not.

• How do you think LP will do once the baby arrives?  I think he will be a good big brother.  He is a big helper around the house now and is a very curious and inquisitive toddler.  I think that will only continue after the baby arrives.  And in the past when LP has been around newborns he is either not interested or affectionate.  So hopefully he'll be affectionate towards his baby brother or sister.

• Do you have a "coming home" outfit picked out for the baby?  Not yet but I do have going through newborn clothes on my to do list.  I'm not too worried or concerned about picking out a "coming home" outfit though.  We had to change LP out of his "coming home" outfit before we even left the hospital because he ended up having an accident in it.  (He ended up actually coming home in a hospital bodysuit.)

• Emotions:  I'm simply happy.  I also am proud that I have been more productive lately.  It is about time, because I feel like since March I have fallen behind staying on top of things because I was so fatigued.

The bets are starting to roll in on my blog's facebook page - what is your bet?  Do you think we'll be having a boy or a girl?  And when do you think MP is going to arrive?  Place your bet and keep your eye out for the next month for the results (well hopefully in the next month)!  So far the girl bets have a slight edge over the boy bets!

Signs of Spring

Who would have thought after having a snow storm just last week, it would feel so much like spring so soon!

I put out my hanging annual flower baskets

Our dog Bailey and LP are enjoying going on adventures together on the farm
(Since it has turned nice again it has been hard for me to keep LP in the house!)

My Farmer officially mowed the lawn for the first time for the year

LP and I have been taking walks on our gravel road again 

The snow is almost all gone...
(There's only some left on field edges and in ditches.)

LP has been busy on his tractor

Now the only thing left to really make it feel like spring
is to get the "big" tractors back in the field!

Hump Day (+ 1 Day) Bump Report

LP and I having a PJ Day on this Snow Day

So this week I purposely waited to do my Hump Report because I was suppose to have a doctor's appointment this morning (and part of me thinks I may have started dilating so I was hoping to share that information).  Anyways, due to the snow, my appointment was cancelled.  So, here is my Hump Day (+ 1 Day) Bump Report (with no doctor appointment report included...):

• How far along?  35 Weeks Down - 5 Weeks To Go!

• Baby size:  Coconut

• Baby milestone:  The baby's hearing is fully developed and the baby responds best to high-pitched noises.

• Other fun factoid:  At 35 Weeks, a woman's uterus has grown 1,000 times its original size.  Isn't that crazy to think about???

• Do you think you're going to have a boy or a girl?  I've always been pretty even and haven't had a feeling one way or the other, but in my most recent baby dream I had a baby boy.  So part of me thinks that maybe I'll have another boy.  This pregnancy has been very similar to LP's but I know in the end, that doesn't mean jack-squat...  I'm prepared and ready for either a boy or a girl.

• Do you have baby names ready to go?  About a week ago My Farmer and I actually sat down and talked and worked through baby names.  Our list probably has six names for each boy and girl and we'll work on whittling down the list to just two or three before we get to the hospital.

• How are your Braxton Hicks contractions?  In the last several days my Braxton Hicks contractions have been getting stronger and more frequent.  I take that as signs the baby is continuing to get ready for its arrival!

• Do you have your hospital bag ready to go?  No.  And I probably won't at least for another couple of weeks...  That might be pushed up depending on how my doctor's appointment goes!

• Food cravings:  Diet Coke.  I am usually pretty particular about pop and usually never drink dark colas, but for some reason here lately I've been craving Diet Coke (or Diet Caffeine Free Coke if available).

• Emotions:  I've always been hoping and praying that the baby is going to come a little early, and I do have to say that I really do feel like the baby will be here by the end of the month.  So that makes me excited!  I can't wait for my rescheduled doctor's appointment!

I think it is officially time to start taking bets on when the baby will arrive and if it'll be a boy or girl!  Go on to my blog's facebook page to mark your guess!

May Snow!

You know how they say "April Showers Bring May Flowers" so what does "May Snow Bring..."?

That's right - May Snow!  You have no idea how many times I've thought about writing about the weather this year!  We've had unseasonable highs, unseasonable lows, dry times, wet times and of course snowy times.

Who would have thought we would have been doing this just a couple days ago?

Planting Corn

So as My Farmer and I woke up this morning what were we thinking?  I think My Farmer was in shock that it actually snowed and that it is suppose to continue snowing all day today.  And I am thinking - well, at least it is moisture!  We have been in a drought for the past year and I figure you've got to look at the good side of this May snow and say - moisture is moisture!

What does this mean for the corn we've already planted?  Well, we'll see in a few weeks...  It either means the seed will not germinate properly due to the cold conditions and we'll have to replant due to low stand counts, or it means the seed was not harmed and we'll be happy we got a couple fields planted early.

I guess this is why they say that "Farming is a Gamble" - there are some things you can control, and others, like weather that you can not.

Happy May Day!

LP ready to deliver May Day baskets this morning

Happy May Day from our family to you!

This year our May Day baskets are cups of Teddy Grahams with a muffin liner flower and note attached.  Pretty simple besides that LP wanted to keep the Teddy Grahams for himself...  May Day baskets are a fun family tradition!