Will's Birth Story

Writing William's birth story has been weighing on my mind as I feel with each passing moment, the details are becoming more and more foggy. It was such a whirlwind to begin with, but nothing in comparison to the whirlwind of bringing a newborn into an already busy family at the end of the school year! Here's the story of how Jeff and I hand delivered our 4th child into the world. This pregnancy was a little different than my others. I had experienced a miscarriage right before I became pregnant this time, so the dating and timing was all a little bit off. I had an early u/s at 7 weeks to check the viability of the pregnancy and it showed my due date off 9 days (April 29th) from where I had calculated it (April 20th). My OB suggested splitting the difference and moving the due date back 5 days to April 25th. I was wishy washy on the idea simply because all of my other kids had been born so close to their due dates (calculated by first day of last period + 40 weeks - 7 days), but went with it knowing in my own mind I would likely deliver closer to the 20th. Fast forward to April 20th and the many long days that followed it as I remained steadfastly pregnant. Watching the 20th come and go, the 25th come and go, my mother and father-in-law come and go from Florida and finally the 29th come and go. I was missssssserable. Being so far overdue is truly mental torture. Each day coming and going with hope squashed and another painstaking day following with the same disappointment. All the kid coverage we had scheduled, work coverage for Jeff, etc had all expired and each day we found ourselves scrambling to come up with a plan for the big "IF" I went into labor. My phone chimed every 15 minutes with another friend or family member checking in to see if anything was happening and each time I had to deliver the disappointing news that "NOPE...still here...still waiting!" Twice during those overdue days I had contractions start and get into a pattern. They weren't painful at all but they were regular 'tightening' contractions that seemed to be early labor. Both times, after about 3 hours of consistent contractions, they would completely stop only to never start up again. My weekly midwife appointments weren't much help in the morale department. Hardly dilated, babies head not engaged but rather 'buoyant' meaning when they pushed against the baby's head, they could move it. They had me do a plethora of positions and exercises to try and get baby to drop into position. They also had me go see a chiropractor to see if something could potentially be out of whack with my pelvis that could be corrected therefore allowing baby to drop. All the while, I had this odd pain on my pubic bone which I had never experienced in pregnancy. It felt like the baby's head was just sitting there pushing against it vs tucking behind it. This would prove valuable information in the coming days. On Thursday the 30th I had another round of contractions start and continue throughout the day. They were more reminiscent of early labor in my previous pregnancies. They would establish a pattern but all would radiate out my back. I was so discouraged at this point. Back labor - the WORST! Even though these contractions weren't terribly strong and I felt no downward pressure of them making any progress, they were miserably uncomfortable in my back. These continued on throughout the day...only to stall out every 4-6 hours. They would suddenly stop and be completely gone for an hour or two before starting back up. Thursday night I had them most of the night keeping me up. I'd lay in bed and time them only to fall asleep when they would eventually stall. I woke up Friday morning in MISERY. 11 days overdue, a sleepless night of contractions after having them all the previous day and I was no where further than I was before. I decided to call the midwife and see what the heck my options were at this point. She suggested I come in and have my membranes stripped to see if it might get things going and keep them going. I met her there and she did an u/s to check baby's position since I was having labor in my back and because it didn't seem baby's head was all that low even now...after a good 24 hours of contractions. She was suspicious that the baby could be face up (posterior) and that the contractions were my body trying to move him into the right position. This could explain the pressure on my pubic bone and also the lack of dilation if his head wasn't facing the right way to make his way down. The u/s showed him sort of angled toward my hip bone, but not completely face up. So after the membrane stripping, she said to go take a nap, get some dinner and keep busy in hopes that tonight would be the night. She also mentioned my cervix was effaced enough that once baby was ready to drop, it would move really quickly. These will be the words that forever ring in my mind;-) The rest of the day went on and the contractions continued as they had been. By Friday evening, I. was. miserable. My body was sore to the touch from being so tense for so long. I couldn't sleep because of the contractions and they all stayed in my back...no progress, just a repeat pounding of my lower back hour after hour. We went to dinner and I sat there breathing through contractions and unable to talk only to get home and have them STOP. AGAIN. COMPLETELY. At 10:30pm I called Jeff into the kitchen and told him I was done. I couldn't do this anymore. Approaching hour 36 of contractions and no further than I was 2 days ago. I couldn't take it anymore, I was mentally and physically exhausted. I wanted out. He suggested we go to the hospital then and just ask to be induced but I refused because I figured they'd just send me home being I was dilated 1 cm and at that moment, not having a single contraction. We agreed we'd call in the morning and devise a plan for an induction. By the way, I was a complete mess by this point. I was crying and pretty much would have sold my soul to the devil to bring this to an end. Before we headed up to bed, I looked at the time and made a comment to Jeff that, "I guess it won't be a May 1st baby afterall." May 1st was a significant day in both of our families - my Great Aunt's birthday, both of Jeff's Grandparents birthdays, Jeff's cousin's birthday and his brother and sister-in-law's anniversary. We thought how fun it would be to have our baby share their birthday with so many loved ones. Jeff climbed into bed and I sat in our doorway staring at the bed. Jeff suggested I rest and I remember dreading getting into bed because I was so uncomfortable and knew I'd just be laying there awake, in pain for hours. I finally got in and settled and had another contraction. Hmmmmmm...this got my attention...it was bigger, stronger and lasted substantially longer than the others. In fact, by the peek of it, I was sort of yelling out to Jeff. He was caught a little off guard and once it ended he declared he'd be calling my parents, this was ridiculous - we should just go to the hospital. I told him not to because I had no idea if I'd have anymore or if it was just going to stall out again. I told him I'd go to the bathroom and wait to see if I had another one (he called my parents anyway). 5 minutes, 6 minutes, 11 MINUTES later, I finally have another one...and it's big. Nice and strong and primarily on my abdomen (not back). Happy, happy, joy - maybe the tides are changing. So I told Jeff I would finally give the midwife a call and tell her we'd head to the hospital. There were still 10-11 minutes between contractions, so I still hadn't had another one. I left her a voicemail saying I had no idea if this was really it - but this was the first time I had felt some bigger contractions so we were going to head to the hospital. I said we'd be there in about 30 minutes. I got dressed, threw a few things in my bag, mosied down the stairs and was waiting in the hallway for my parents to arrive. Here comes the next contraction - and it's big...bigger than the previous two. Pretty darn huge...but it ends eventually. Jeff's getting antsy at this point telling me to get my shoes on as he's loading the truck and what am I doing? Still being stubborn saying I'll get my shoes on when my parents get there and to stop telling me what to do. I GOT THIS. So Jeff walks outside to start the truck so we are ready to go and the next contraction comes. And it starts...and it doesn't stop...and I am paralyzed in the hallway trying to yell out for Jeff but literally can not get a sound or a breath out. It must have lasted two full minutes long not letting up for even a second. I managed to make a few noises that Jeff finally heard and he comes running inside. He sees me and immediately grabs me under my arms and we are now running to the car. I'm saying over and over, "We have to go, we have to go, we have to go" and he's saying something to me like, "It's ok, we're gonna go. Everything's going to be ok." The contraction finally stops and we jump in the car and as soon as I get in there, I'm looking for somewhere I can lay down. I have no idea why...I just really wanted a place to lay down or attempt to get comfortable. In my mind, I remember thinking the backseat was too full of stuff and there was no way I was going to be comfortable in the front seat. I wasn't having a contraction at this point and I suddenly felt like I needed to go to the bathroom. I told Jeff I wanted to run in and go quick and it registered in HIS mind that this wasn't a good sign. This didn't register in my mind, I really did think that I'd be more comfortable riding there if I didn't need to go to the bathroom. So we got out of the car and the next contraction hit so he's pretty much carrying me back into the house. I make it inside and into the bathroom where I pretty much fall over on the toilet. I was thinking to myself, hurry up and go because you really need to get to the hospital before you have the baby. I started to push...thinking I was going to the bathroom, only to realize what was really going on here...and I started to panic. It was completely internal and the things I remember about that moment are so random. I remember seeing the window and really studying it, I remember there were no lights on in the bathroom, it was just dark. I remember thinking there was no way we were making it to Abbott or Southdale. I remember wondering how in the hell I was going to get to an epidural. I told Jeff to grab a garbage can because I was going to be sick but by the time he ran back with it (about 2 seconds later), that feeling had already passed and I was on to the next stage. In that moment, I realized that there weren't going to be any car rides, or hospitals, or doctors or epidurals. I was having the baby right there and it was all going to be over in a matter of moments. Once I realized that, I actually felt a sense of calm. I was afraid of the pain and uncertainty carrying on and on and at that point, I knew it was a matter of moments until it was over. So I started repeating over and over to Jeff to "Call 911, call 911, call 911" and he was repeating to me, "Sarah, your dad's going to be here in a minute and we are going to go to the hospital - we are going to the hospital - we are going to the hospital." Another contraction must have started because I knew the baby was coming then. Oddly enough, I have no recollection of pain at this point. Jeff said I looked like I was in pain, feet and hands curled, moving and shaking all over - but I have no recollection of that. I think my body had gone into shock and my brain was no longer registering the feelings. I started saying over and over, "The baby is coming out now, the baby is coming out now" and Jeff finally dialed 911. I remember him yelling into the phone, "4*** Drexel my wife is having a baby - NO...the baby is coming out!" And he threw the phone to the side and reached out to grab the baby's head, followed by his shoulders and the rest of him. Although I don't remember the feeling of pain when he came out, I do remember the incredible sensation that he was leaving my body and I could breath again. Sure enough, he came out face up which explains so many things - the back labor, the fact that his head wouldn't come down and engage, the lack of dilation, etc. My water never broke, I never had any spotting or any other 'normal' symptoms of labor. After he was out I sort of fell back down on the toilet and Jeff held him up to me. The baby looked unrecognizable and wasn't crying. To be honest, I thought he was deformed, he had webs extending from his ears to his shoulders. Jeff turned him to try and sweep his mouth out to get him to cry and realized he was still in the sack. My water had never broken during the contractions and he appeared as though he was covered with a plastic bag. So Jeff reached in his mouth and sort of peeled the sack off him like a hood. He held him back up to me and we were both like, "Ok, that's better...now what?" He started to whimper a little and Jeff handed him to me. He was still attached by the cord so there wasn't much room to move him. I held him close to my stomach and rubbed his back to try and get him to cry. Slowly he made more and more noise and let out a good cry. Jeff ran upstairs to grab some towels to keep him warm and we could hear the police sirens coming into the neighborhood. I just stayed where I was with the baby and Jeff went outside to flag them down. When the police officer got there, he was calm. We both appreciated this because the adrenaline was still running pretty high. I should mention that before he got there, there were these moments between Jeff and I. A lot of staring at eachother in disbelief and crying and laughing at the same time. Jeff kept coming to me and putting his arms around me and saying, "You did it." It was the strangest rollercoaster of emotion. I felt such relief it was over. Just pure euphoria that the pain was gone and we were both seemingly ok. I was so glad I didn't have him in the car. I mean really, I think that's as awful as it could get being that our drive would have taken us down Lake Street at 11pm on a Friday night. So the officer asked us good questions like, "Is the cord around his neck?" (it wasn't) and "Is it a boy or girl?" (we hadn't even looked). He was just overall a calm presence and we were grateful for that at that point. The ambulance arrived another 2 or 3 minutes after the police and came right in. There were maybe 4 or 5 of them (all men) and they got right to work. They clamped the cord and asked Jeff if he wanted to cut it (he did) and they wrapped little Will up in a foil blanket like you see runners wear after a long race. I do remember telling them I was concerned about Will breathing and about whether or not I was going to hemorrhage and faint and fall to the ground with an attached infant in my arms. My parents arrived during this mix. The last they had heard from us we were casually thinking of heading to the hospital. When they turned the corner of our street and saw police and ambulance at our house, they were obviously shaken. They sped down the street, threw the car in park and left it in the middle of the street. They ran up our driveway only to be greeted by the officer who said, "Grandpa? It's ok...it's a boy." My mother walked in the back door quite hysterical. She came in the bathroom and gave me a hug and then proceeded to immediately dial up both of my brothers. She was standing there amidst the chaos of paramedics and a now screaming infant telling them I'd had the baby in the house. The paramedics told me there was a stretcher out back for me and I could walk out to it. Hmmmmmm...walk out to it. Ok. So I looked at the clothes and sandals around my ankles and the pool of amniotic fluid all over the floor and cord still attached to me and wondered how exactly I do that. My mom wrapped a towel around me (with all 5 male paramedics watching on) and I walked out to the stretcher in a shirt covered in every substance known to mankind. It was a humbling and honestly, hysterical moment. I even had my dad snap this photo to document this unimaginable moment in time.

They wheeled us to the ambulance (I was holding Will) and loaded us up. Jeff rode with us and he made a few calls along the way - to his mom to convince her that yes, we had the baby and he indeed delivered it and to the midwife to let her know it was a boy and we'd had him at home (you can imagine her shock and disbelief!) They gave me an IV of fluids and a little extra oxygen for Will via a mask they rested on his lap. The heat was turned up nice and high for little Will while the rest of us sweated profusely;-) Once to the hospital, the nurses were all there waiting for us and took over right away. Delivering the placenta and getting me cleaned up and out of the clothes I was in. It felt good to have them caring for us and feeling a little sense of normalcy amidst the chaos. It actually takes substantially longer to retell this story than it took to happen. The time between the call to the midwife where I casually mentioned we'd be starting on our way to the hospital to the 911 call when the baby was actually coming out was 9 minutes. And in the end, it was 11:03pm when this little miracle entered the world, meaning he did indeed share his birthday with so many loved ones. I can't help but feel that the ones who have already passed away were watching down on us in those adrenaline filled moments knowing that this was God's plan for Jeff and I all along. The circle of life - how amazing it is!

**Prior to this day, we used to refer to this bathroom as "The World's Smallest Bathroom." Now, we refer to it as "The Delivery Room"**

**Now imagine Jeff, me, 5 paramedics, a police officer, a newborn and my parents in this area!**

**Proud sisters and brother during their hospital visit**

Dare I Say 'Finished'?

As anyone who has ever owned a home will tell you, a home is a constant work in progress. Everyone's homes are constantly evolving to reflect their changing taste and style trends. I get that. However, my inner workings tell me to protest that very statement. I am a completely goal oriented person - I do nothing without first figuring out the end game and then working through the steps from finished to start. So the idea of a project never being done makes me want to gouge my eyeballs out. I need a moment - even if it only lasts a second before the project completely unravels again. Let me also disclaim that this drives my husband insane. If you can imagine - me and my timelines and deadlines and all for what? WHY do we actually have to 'finish' this house? And who decides what 'finished' actually means? Anyway, just a rambling of sorts but my point for revisiting this old blog is to say that I think my house might be done. We have personally touched every square inch of it with our fine tooth home improvement comb. Some spaces have been made completely new down to the studs that hold them together, while others have been given a facelift with a fresh coat of paint and a good scrubbing. In the past few months we have: - Touched up every single solitary ding, divit, handprint and slobber print on each and every wall. And by the way, if you have ever wondered if you really CAN'T touch up eggshell finish paint, let me attest to it's validity. We tried that - and then ended up having to repaint 13 walls in this house...yeah, that's basically the entire thing. - Turned the creepy 'toilet' stall in the basement into a legit looking potty place. It's amazing what a chic towel bar can do to a cinder block wall;-) - Drywalled the basement ceiling and installed recessed lighting in the storage room and family room. - Cleaned every window well in the basement - YUCK - not sure that had EVER been done. - Converted the creepy under-the-basement-stairs closet into a 'clubhouse' for the kids. It was all quite the under-taking and Jeff and I have realized through this little exercise that are life status quo does not allot additional time for home improvement projects. With a 5, 3 and 1 year old - a kindergartner and a preschooler, a business to run and a store remodel to plan, there are just no extra hours in the day. It nearly killed us trying to get those few piddly projects done - the old Jeff and Sarah would have laughed at those jobs (or maybe I should say the YOUNGER Jeff and Sarah:-/). Either way, life is busy and we are looking forward to this Summer in our happy home planting our vegetable garden, playing at the park and enjoying the patio we dream of putting in the back yard;-). Please enjoy these 'finished' photos of our little house. The journey has been fulfilling and beautiful at its finest - and exhausting and defeating at its worst. But it's a part of OUR journey, which is one filled with love and happiness and that is what makes me love this home the most.

Puttsing...

I've slowly but surely been puttsing away on this house. I feel like I have quite a few things in the 'pipeline' at the moment. Things that are in process but not quite finished, things that I've ordered but haven't arrived and/or things I've scheduled but the work has not been completed yet. Let me fill you in: 1) For about 2 years now, I've been on the hunt for new wall sconces for our upstairs bath. To refresh your memory, the ones that were there were $3.99 fixtures from Home Depot that the previous owner installed. Picture chrome bulb holders with etched glass grapes. Yikes, they were pretty awful. However, I don't blame her for installing them since the space is really difficult to work with. With the slope of the ceiling and the height of the mirror, finding a squaty enough fixture was tricky. I was reaching my throw-my-hands-in-the-air point in my search when I looked up and noticed the wall sconces that have been residing in our family room. They were the finish I was looking for (black), had a shade (which I thought would fit nicely in there) and very stout indeed. I had Jeff un-wire one and try it out in the bathroom and wouldn't you know it was a perfect fit! So, he moved the other one and we called that little project done. The finish on the fixtures is oil-rubbed bronze and feels verrrrrrry traditional in the bathroom. I'm thinking down the line maybe I would paint them to give them a chic-er feel...maybe a high gloss black or maybe something completely different. For now, they work, so I'll just leave them be. 2) Next up came the task of filling the now two gaping holes in the wall of our family room where the previous fixtures lay. This was absolutely NO problem however since I've been dying to find a place for these puppies in my home. I have been in love with them forever as they've certainly circled the blogosphere a time or two. I ordered them in brass as well as a nice compliment to the dining room fixture, stairway gold gallery frames and few other accents of gold in the house. Can't WAIT to get them! 3) I am also still waiting on my pair of pink lamps I ordered for our family room. One will reside on the laptop desk to the right of the couch (where I am currently residing myself;-) and the other on the black end table to the left of the couch. But UGH! I ordered them in JANUARY. Supposedly they ship next week - I'm keeping my entire body crossed. One concern I had with the previous wall sconces was the fact that there would be a shaded sconce right above a lamp - 2 shaded sconces + 2 shaded lamps equaled a whole lotta shades on one little wall. I feel like the less fabric shaded look of the new sconces next to the shaded lamps will be a nicer combination. Here's an old pic from when I 'tried out' the lamps...see what I mean? 4) The new 'den' upstairs is about to take super shape. The chaise/sofa we ordered for up there is scheduled to be delivered around 5/5 (seen here but not in this fabric): I also ordered a rug for that room since I finally found an inspiration image for how I wanted the room to feel. Here it is: So I ordered an over-dyed rose colored rug that is slightly larger than the current rug that's in there. Here's a glamor shot of it... I'm also considering the pendant pictured in the inspiration image (which is surprisingly cheap but INTERNATIONAL and we know the kind of luck I've had with that;-) or this one that I've long been in love with. Have a preference? I still need to figure out a top for the floating wall of cabinets we did - I was originally thinking stained wood, but am kind of feeling like going glossy white with it like the inspiration image. Hmmmm... 4) I have been working on a little arrangement of frames for the bare wall in our dining room. I had the kids silhouettes updated by the same artist I originally had do them (found through Etsy). I'm waiting on those so I can update the girls and have the matte cut for Henry's. Then I have one other print that I ordered from one of my favorite print shops #SSPrintShop, and then I can finally start putting the frames up on the wall. Aside from the painting going over the fireplace (scheduled to be here before 5/11), there really isn't much left to do in this room (here's a preview of my painting...eek!). At some point, I would consider a large rug to make the room feel intimate and a little more comfortable - but I'm not in a rush considering Henry is in the peek (I hope) of his food-throwing phase;-) Have considered a mirror between the windows and would also someday like to get a table runner or placemats or cloth napkins...I own none of any which I became painfully aware of when setting my Easter table with paper towels for napkins;-) 5) My windows are about to go black. All of my common area windows will be removed from their sashes and sprayed satin-y black next weekend. I had the estimate done long ago, but was held up by this blasted Sprinter. You can believe that when I saw the forecast for this weekend, I got straight on the horn with my painter. Of course each year around this time I get a fire lit under me to wrap. up. some. tasks. It's birthday season in our house which is really and truly the one time of the year we have our families over. Our house is far too small for hosting our two large families, but we do it anyway because Jeff and I both enjoy entertaining and because Gloria asked that her party be at her "homsey home." She so loves being here and begs to go home when I take her out - so her little palace shall serve as the home of her and her brothers little 'beach party' (as chosen by the birthday girl). Even with it just family, the guest list tops 48 people, so a 'party' it will be! But this little ball of sorts is good motivation to get all these dibble dabbles of projects tied up in one big birthday bow:-)

Pictures.

Just a quick moment to check-in. Our house was photographed by our architect to use for different materials/media. I caught a glimpse of these beautiful shots and thought I would share them with you. You can see our project by going to their Facebook page LNA Architecture & Design - or their website www.lnaarch.com. Hurrah!

Alone Space.

After a lengthy discussion of how different my husband and I grew up, we decided to redo our office. You see, my husband, youngest of 4 active, adrenaline loving boys grew up in a 'loud' home and I grew up in a home where no words were spoken in a single day. In other words, quiet. I like to tell Jeff that our kids take after him, in other words, loud;-) And being a stay at home mom who is 'on-the-job' 24/7 means I often crave a little peace and quiet. After talking with Jeff in length, we decided to make our office over into a den of sorts - in other words, a quiet place. This new quiet place will encompass a few objectives. 1) It will be a place to hang out (ie: there will be a TV in there). We currently only have one tv in our home and at times, although not that often, it would be nice to have another. 2) It will house all of our files, office supplies, books, crafting supplies, etc as it currently does. 3) It will be a spot to read with the kids at night. Ever since getting the girls bunk beds, it's been tough finding the perfect spot we can all settle in for a handful of stories at night. This will be that spot. 4) It will function as a hangout room, reading nook, office area - in other words, a multi-functional room. It's a tiny room. It used to house a large Pottery Barn desk I bought nearly 10 years ago. I sold the desk on Craigslist (in a day and had about a billion inquiries on it) which has opened up the possibilities and budget a bit. To fulfill the need of seating, I have narrowed my search to a chaise/sofa/daybed of sorts. A spot to snuggle, lounge, read, sit, work, play, etc. Here are my 3 top picks: Pay no attention to the fabrics they are shown in. We are more looking at the size/style of the pieces. SO - do you have a favorite? I'll be back to share the other side of the room with you soon - off to finalize that tomorrow. Looking forward to having a quiet place we can enjoy and another functional room in the house.

A Painting.

I won't spend much time dwelling on the fact that I haven't updated my blog in ages. I'll just jump right to the news worthy of visiting this old blog friend of mine. For a LONG time now, I have been on the hunt for something to put above our dining room fireplace. I sort of knixed the idea of a mirror as I already have a mirror hanging in our entry and powder bath, both which are in earshot of the dining room. I wanted something feminine in color (since my fav color is pink), but also added a glamorous layer to the rather tone on tone esthetic of the room. I found an artist via Instagram that I was keeping a very close eye on. As soon as I saw one of her pieces I knew she would be a perfect fit. Because I was looking for a unique size and color scheme, I knew it would be likely I would need to have something commissioned. I decided to hold off and just keep an eye on her new pieces should anything catch my eye. Then one day she posted that one of her pieces had been pinned by HGTV designer Emily Henderson. I sort of freaked out and told Jeff I had better pull the trigger before she got any more popular and her prices went through the roof. And so began my commission. The process involves a brief survey requesting more information about likes/dislike/wants/wishes, etc. What room will it be in? What colors do you want to see? What do the surrounding rooms look like? Photos of the room, house, etc. I told her I wanted pink and a lot of it. I also wanted gold, bits of black and a little blue since the color has definitely managed its way into my home despite my dislike of it (I'll have you know it's growing on me!) The process is pretty lengthy, probably 6 weeks or so - but the lamps I am adding to my living room will be arriving right about the same time, so it will be fun to pull it all together. Here's a shot of the lamps: So the first step from my artist is to receive a sketch of the painting. Basically a good gist of what the painting will look like, the color palette, overall feel she is going for. I received this last night and was speechless. It's beautiful! The only problem? It's portrait orientation and I had envisioned landscape. So, she's working to revise it as we failed to communicate on that front in the beginning. Here's a close up of it: I really do love it. I feel that if I saw it in a shop, I would snatch it up instantly. The glitter is for real too - actual fine gold glitter applied to the painting. There is an extensive sealing process that goes on afterwards to make the painting last a literal lifetime, so I love the idea even more knowing it won't be making its way all over my house. Anyway, the next layer I'll be adding to my dining room right around painting time is black windows. That's right, I'm painting all of my 'common area' windows black (basically no bedrooms or basement). Here's a few inspiration images: So you'll notice the trim stays white and only the window panes themselves are black. I've already had my painters out to give me an estimate. Because I want them sprayed and not brushed, I have to wait until it's 50 degrees out. So likely looking into April before this little project gets underway. But - I'm excited at the thought of it - especially with the bits of black in the painting.

2 Years.

Believe it or not (I can't), today is the 2 year anniversary of us closing on our current home. I wish I had a photo to share of us on closing day, however, my camera was stolen shortly after capturing that photo, so no such photo to share (still salty about that one!) I don't even know how to describe the disbelief that we've lived here for two years. Those years are a complete and utter blur aside from a few lingering memories. The ones that pop immediately into my mind: - Laying my overly exhausted head in bed many a night thanking God for this house. - The lack of furniture for so long is a huge memory - there's something about sitting on the floor that makes time move more slowly;-) - Hosting Gloria's 1st birthday party here by the skin of our teeth and working around the clock, 24/7 to try and be somewhat ready for it post-remodel. But as I'm sitting here tonight, at 12:51am (ok, wait, I think it's morning)...and look around, nestled in the corner of the couch with my feet propped up on a coffee table and puzzle pieces strewn all. over. the. place. - it's hard to remember not living here. We have been so busy...a new level of busy. Busy like busy that never stops. With Jeff assuming ownership of the drug store, our excitement coupled with the sheer number of things that need to get done there means working until one of us yells uncle. Oh yes, there's also the newborn factor and the part where Henry still likes getting up three times at night. And of course the other two kids that appreciate a little entertainment during the day. Hmmm...I seem to be on some sort of a rant here. But my point is, life is insane. Somedays, it's insanely good and other days I'm insanely exhausted. But this home is home to all of it - our ups and downs, our triumphs and our failures. This house is for us an unconditional love. We bought it not for what it looked like (you know by now it needed work!), but we bought it because it had a feeling. It felt like we belonged here and that feeling hasn't gone away. I still find myself laying my head down - mind drained and drifting off to dream land, but wandering towards God and uttering 'Thank you for this house.' Thank you Lord for this safe and happy place. Thank you for the work that it required so it could become a part of us. Thank you for giving us a place to bring our baby home to. Thank you for this incredible journey.