Weekend whirlwind

How many family members does it take to reorganize a house? In our case, five, as Cortney's parents and Curtis joined us to tackle a broad range of fixes and furniture moves toward getting the house baby-ready. Jon started by installing a new shower head. Next up was the unexpected necessity of fixing the drainage hose for the dishwasher. This required a major battle with the floor to pull the dishwasher out (and we thought that with this trouble was behind us with the new linoleum!). After that was done, we could get down to the real business of hauling Cortney's office furniture downstairs, and the crib furniture brought in from the cars. Cortney's dad installed classy corner shelves and a key rack in the laundry room, and helped Jon assemble the new nursery furniture. Meanwhile, with the kitchen sink now available post-dishwasher-fix, Cortney's mom taught her how to make the family recipe for hand-made noodles that go into Bot Bie. After dinner, the crowning glory of the day was in hanging a special piece of metallic artwork over the stairs. This was definitely a team effort, but would really not have been possible without Curtis' Spider-Man moves. Affectionately known as "Ray," the artwork was courtesy of Cortney's godmother Lonnie. It was a favorite of Cortney's godfather, Bob, and its reddish-bronze hues are a perfect match for our maroon living room accents. It was a productive weekend. Still on the docket for March: wiring a light in the basement, taking a look at the weak water heater, and painting the nursery. We don't want to give away the nursery decor too early, but we've included a picture of the crib mid-assembly in the empty room and we'll give you this hint--we had to buy two colors of paint! More nursery info coming in three weeks. Thanks, family!

On the way out the door

Cortney struggles to open the door and hold on to her coffee cup.

Cortney: "I used to be capable. Now I'm pregnant."

Jon: "Actually, I think it's because you have mittens on."

Cortney: "People are so much cuter without fingers."

Preparation underway

Even though it's snowing outside, we're doing the spring cleaning now. The dust is flying as we cross paths, carting boxes for recycling upstairs and piles of office gear down. Even the front room is getting attention as it will be the new scrapbooking zone, with attached games closet. Though you wouldn't know it from this picture of the nursery pre-clean sweep, we finished emptying the room and couldn't be more excited to be picking up the crib set from Babies "R" Us this weekend.

Speaking of Babies "R" Us, we had a great time registering last week. We'd been to a few different baby stores and baby sections of department stores, and found there's really nothing that compares to their layout and selection. Sadly, they did not carry any Cap'n Crunch, so we couldn't match what we had on our wedding registry (sorry, Curtis). It took us the following week to make changes to the baby registry online, and now we're very happy with our cute, educational, and essential picks. Who wouldn't be excited about Bugs on Board?

All quiet on the Western front

No news is good news for baby development. It's been another week of steady growth for Raspberry. He has become an acrobat, busy a large portion of the time, and his swiping kicks suggest somersaults. What stimulates him the most? Singing in choir, drinking orange juice, and Cortney trying to sleep.

Our nesting instinct is working its way through the house. We've cleaned the clutter out of the basement and organized it. Next up is Jon's office, and then the nursery (currently Cortney's office). We have a musical safari planned for Raspberry's room, and we'll keep you posted as that renovation develops.

Raspberry is Unremarkable

That's what the doctor said after twenty-five minutes of measuring organs and appendages with the ultrasound machine today. Of course, "unremarkable" is to be read as healthy, normal, and of small average weight. Raspberry, as it turns out, is also chromosomally heterogeneous—or rather, Raspberry is a BOY!!! The images were fascinatingly detailed. We were treated to close-up pictures of the nose and lips, the beating four-chambered heart, and the sections of the brain. At last was a picture of the gender-defining paraphernalia, which Jon was sure was a face, until the technician pointed out the boy parts. An honest mistake :-) !

Click here to see the pictures from the ultrasound.