This week, baby is the size of a cantaloupe. Wowsers. Only 6 weeks to go. Are we ready? Well, we are getting there. We finished our name selections last night. The biggest question we get right now is what's the name going to be? We aren't saying, because even we don't know. We've picked out some names that we both agree on, and we are now going to wait to see her before we choose the final name. Last night I got to feel baby girl having the hiccups again. It was once every 2 seconds. I couldn't figure out what she was doing since it felt like she was punching right near Victoria's belly button every 2 seconds. It's strange because I can start to feel the outline of a little body in there. I can't wait!!

And now I am starting to prepare myself more mentally than I have. Not only are we closer to the birth, but I was able to wrap up the big wood flooring project over the weekend! It's a milestone in many ways. The projects left aren't that large. And in my mind, it was the last big home project (for me personally) to tackle before I felt good that things would be in place around home for baby to arrive. My stress level has gone down considerably because of it.

Here are some great pictures of the finished product...first the dining room...the dingy kitchen linolieum looks horrible now, but that's okay...

The new and improved living room...with skinny Bailey and Katy looking on...

Now we need to get some area rugs, but that will be a few before we get to that.

Over the weekend, our fabulous neighbor helped us out by installing our new french doors (he's a professional door installer). I can't even begin to tell you what a huge change it's made in how the room feels.

Here's the before pictures...notice that one half of the old door isn't even able to be seen through...

And AFTER!

We also were able to get our new garage door installed yesterday. Our old door was just falling off the hinges...there were nails popping out, and the door sounded like it would fall apart at any moment. The new door is a 2 sided and insulated steel door, and with the top of the line Liftmaster opener, wow! It's the quietest garage door either of us have heard. We also finally got a lock installed on our upper barn door so we can store things in there without worry now.

Our shingles should be showing up by the end of the week and we'll have a new roof by the weekend! Then paint hopefully next week. It will be an all new house!

Did we win the lottery? I wish. These things have been on our list forever. And baby has made us get our butts in gear to get it all done. The lack of repairs has left the house in a pretty sad state, but now it's rising from the ashes! Oh, and our roses are starting to bloom. Yay!

Last night was the worst weather I have EVER seen at our house. As you may or may not know, I am into amateur weather and have a weather station at the house. We've had quite the crazy late spring/early summer with tornado watches and torrential downpours. Where we live has been spared for the most part, until last night. We had the highest rainfall in the shortest period I've ever been in...the rain collector measured just over 5 inches an hour for a rain rate and in the period of about 30 minutes, we got 1.5 inches of rain and hail. The driveway became a river and the bottom of the driveway and our front walk were flooded. The rain was actually coming sideways and hit halfway up our front door, which, if you have seen it, is fully covered by several feet under a low hanging eave. Unfortunately this downpour did cause some leaks through the new front door and our front windows. Of course this comes a week after I laid new wood floors down. I quickly toweled the leaks up so the floors wouldn't have an issue. Thank goodness this doesn't happen often.

As luck would have it, while this crazy storm was going on, I had a contractor over that we have chosen to fix the leak we have in the chimney. That's originally why we called. Our house is 18 years old, and as such, has an equally old roof and siding, both of which haven't been maintained very well. So, it was time to get a new roof, and have all the broken siding fixed and the house repainted. We got a pretty good deal, and can't wait for our entire house to be totally transformed before baby arrives in another 6 weeks (or so). We are also having our next door neighbor, a professional door installer, replace our horribly leaky and foggy sliding glass door with french doors on Sunday. When my mom flies in for the baby shower in mid-July, she won't even recognize our place with new roof, paint, doors, grouted fireplace, and wood floors!

This weekend I'll be wrapping up the wood floors, then I just have a few minor things to do around the house until baby arrives, but we'll mostly be taking it easy. Ah, that will be nice!

My last big task (in my mind) before baby arrives is to get the wood floors installed on the main level (living and dining rooms) of our house. I spent all weekend, and I do mean all weekend (with the exception of 30 minute eating breaks), putting down the floors. Unfortunately I didn't finish, but got about 75% of it done. I am renting the floor stapler again this coming weekend to finish up the job. If you look from the right angles, as you can see in the photos, it looks totally done, but it's really not.

This is a really nice floor. It's an engineered wood floor from Scandian. It's Brazillian Cherry, so it will darken with age, and it's from a sustainable forest, which makes us feel a lot better.

The dogs are still trying to get used to it, and aren't sure if they like it yet. The cats don't care, of course.

It's strange when you look at our house now because it seems so nice and new, almost like it isn't ours!

This week the baby is the size of a pineapple. Okay, now these size comparisons are starting to seem large. We have only 7 more weeks to go! Wowsers! Baby is moving around all the time. We got to see her again last week at our 32 week check up and ultrasound for size...and she was right on the money...4lbs 1oz, 38th percentile. And we got our second view through the 3D ultrasound as well...here are some great pictures from that...

She's all balled up...hands and feet by her face...

Here she is yawning....

Blowing a kiss...

And her eyes even opened for a moment...

This week baby is the size of a jicima. Ah yes, the white, crunchy, tasteless vegetable that doesn't appear to have a whole lot of purpose. Today also marks the beginning of the 8th month of pregnancy! Wow! The baby continues to be a squirmy work, especially at night when Victoria is trying to sleep.

We had quite the weekend! We spent a majority of our Saturday in baby classes, learning about breastfeeding and infant first aid. Afterwards we visited our good friends Suzie and Derek who had just given birth to a beautiful little girl on Friday. We got to celebrate her one day birthday while we were there.

After that, we decided to finally use Victoria's gift certificate at Landmark Theaters to see The Hangover. We preceded it with dinner at Pizza Republika, which was uber tasty. The Landmark is pretty cool, with free soda and popcorn. I think we'll be back. Unfortunately on our way back to the car, Victoria ended up taking a spill on a poorly marked step in the parking garage. A physician happened to be there also and helped with the initial stabilzation while a cop rolled up and we got someone to call 911 and get the paramedics there.

South Metro arrived within 10 minutes and was super helpful. Victoria couldn't walk, and had appeared to do some bad damage to her left foot and right knee. She landed on her hands as well and ended up with a few scrapes there, but luckily hadn't landed on her belly. Alas, since she was 32 weeks pregnant, they wanted to take her to the hospital to make sure. I took off in the car hoping the ambulance would catch up to me, since they said to follow, but I never saw them on the drive down I-25. I arrived at Skyridge and filled out all the paperwork for Victoria so it would be a quick admittance since I hadn't seen the ambulance yet.

They arrived another 15 minutes later and I rejoined her. After xrays revealed no fractures, she was given an air splint and some crutches, perfect for a 32 week pregnant lady that's already unsteady. We left the ER at midnight and headed home to see how Victoria could navigate the house. We live in a split level, so there are stairs everywhere. We got Victoria in bed and resting, which she'd have to do all day Sunday as well.

Since she was laid up, I did her essential household chores like laundry and grocery shopping (she helped sort the laundry and make the grocery list, though). Unfortunately it put me a bit further back on my things to get ready for baby, but I think it will turn out okay. I got half the carpet taken up in our wood floor installation area, which I am still planning on doing next weekend. So, our dining room has no carpet, and Katy hates walking on the wood subfloor.

So during this very busy week, I need to get the dining room ceiling painted, take up the carpeting in the living room, secure any squeaky spots, get the rental staple gun for the floor, fix 2 flat tires on the tractor and mow, and we have our 32 week checkup, and the second 3D ultrasound! I don't know how I'll get it all done, but I will somehow.

Even though it's been a busy week, I've still been able to make progress around the house.

I got the server moved from the utility area of the basement into my studio, which involved running network jacks, weather station cable and power underneath the stairs. Good times.

I also was able to grout the fireplace last night. Gee, it only took me, what, six months? Hehe. We thought it would be a good idea before the wood floors went in, even though it wasn't on the super high priority list.

I'm also in the process of moving the basement utility area all around to be able to accomidate both cats and dogs as Mo has gotten into the habit (during thunderstorms when he gets freaked out) of peeing on the gate between the kitchen and dining room. Well, with the new wood floors going in, that's going to be a big no no, so the dogs get moved to the basement, which means moving litterboxes and finding a way to put up a barrier across half the basement for the dogs.

I'm also hoping, this weekend, to get the dining room (and maybe nursery) ceiling painted. The dining room is currently cleared out in preparation for the wood floors, so it's a great time. Also this weekend, begin tearing up carpet because the following weekend, I will be starting on the wood floors. Hallelujah!

I can't start the floors this weekend because we are in baby classes all day tomorrow. Breastfeeding and Infant First Aid (CPR). Should be a full day of fun times.

With all this stuff going on, my todo list is down to 44 items today. Whew! And should be knocking a few off in the next week, big ones!

Oh, and our garden is doing really well. We have some rosebuds starting to form, and strawberries are growing, and tomatoes are just beginning to grow from their flowers, carrots have sprouted like mad. Woohoo! And it looks like the apple tree I planted last Fall is possibly going to bear fruit? The buds (and fruit that's starting) look exactly like the mature Liberty apple tree we have. I thought we'd have to wait at least another year.

This week, the baby is the size of four navel oranges, just over 3 pounds, and 16 inches long. We have 9 weeks to go...single digits! This coming weekend we have a breastfeeding class and infant first aid. I've finished reading all the baby books for now. The registry got rounded up over the weekend and the evites went out for the baby shower. Wowsers, we must be getting somewhere! She's been quite the squirmy worm and and seems to be falling into different patterns of activity than she has been. Victoria constantly notices her moving around.

I made some progress on the floor situation over the past week as well. We want to get our hardwood floors installed before baby arrives, in case you missed it. I was able to attend the MacDonald Hardwoods class and it was just me, so I got a lot of personalized questions answered. I was also able to get the floor vent moved. When we installed the new front door, there was a floor vent in the way since there used to be a window there that I needed to move elsewhere. Moving HVAC reminded me that I really hate HVAC, but it's done. This week I also plan to get the fireplace tile grouted before we install the floors. It's just safer that way I think. Hopefully I can also get the dining room ceiling painted as well so I won't need to use a drop cloth.

Having a child is really an amazing experience. I want to try to document at least some of the things that happen during the pregnancy since you don't get to hear a lot about that usually.

I think I mentioned earlier that I thought I could feel the actual baby the other night, and not a just a kick out of nowhere. Last night was even more amazing...I've started putting my ear up to Victoria's belly when we're laying in bed. It's really strange sounding in there. Like normally when you put your head on someone's stomach you hear the gurgle of digestion. When you put your ear on a pregnant belly it sounds like you are underwater at a pool. I am guessing that's the amniotic fluid. But then it sounds like there's someone splashing around.

Last night was really trippy. The baby was squirming around like crazy. And then we figured it out...she was in the midst of a hiccup session, as her movements were coming in timed waves, about a second and a half apart. She was a real squirmy worm last night while she dealt with her hiccups. I could feel her whole body moving around. She's usually pretty quiet at night, so it was a real treat for me, since she's usually very active while Victoria's at work.

The baby is the size of cabbage, again. But last time it was Chinese Cabbage. This time it's regular cabbage. Today starts week 30...that means, 3/4 of the way there! We have a 30 week appointment today as well. Wow, sometimes it feels like this goes fast, and sometimes, so slow. She's constantly kicking around in Victoria's belly. She said that Katy was barking this weekend, and the baby kicked/punched towards Katy. So crazy! She's getting big enough that I think I can feel her body or head when Victoria lays on her back.

I spent Friday through Sunday attending the Rocky Mountain Software Symposium. It was geekiness at its best. My work sent me, and it was really nice that they did. I learned a ton of stuff. It's good to get out every once in awhile and experience what the rest of the world is doing. I might post a bunch of stuff that I learned and how it's going to change me in some diverse ways at home and work.

I finished reading up for all our baby research so we can finish the registry this week. And not a moment too soon...Victoria's work wants to throw a baby shower and they are releasing the date on Friday...so that means we need to get everything done for the registry.

There is so much stuff to get ready! I feel so behind already. 10 more weeks to go until baby gets here, if she waits until the due date. (and we know how that goes!) I was going to start the wood floors this coming weekend (and finish them) but I don't think I have enough other time to get everything ready in preparation. I still need to move a floor vent. I need to take up all the carpet, check the current underlayment and fix squeaks, attend floor laying class, get my new eye prescription fixed, put down the new underlayment for the floor, finish the baby registry, ahhhhhhh! So I might postpone the floor starting, which I hate to do, for two weeks. I can't start it the week after next because we have some baby classes, so it has to wait two weekends, which we are also doing a tour of the birthing unit, and Victoria has something planned for Father's Day. I was hoping not to push the floors into the last weekend of June, or even the long weekend of July 4th, but I might have to. That's a lot closer than I wanted to be for getting them done. I guess we'll see.

This week, baby is as large as a butternut squash. Honestly, I don't know how they come up with these relative sizes since I've seen many butternut squash, and they are many different sizes. That baby loves to kick Victoria, especially at work! Our 28 week appointment went well, and we'll be in for a 30 week appointment next week. I think I could actually feel a baby last night, and not just a kick out of nowhere.

I've been going like gangbusters on our projects to finish before baby arrives! The list is decreasing somewhat, which is good. The wood for the floors has arrived and is getting acclimated to the house. I have a heating vent to move, then we can tear up all the carpet and go for it. It will probably be the weekend of June 5,6,7 since I have a conference to attend for work this weekend. We are very excited to finally get the flooring! It's the last major thing we want to have done before baby arrives.

We were also able to get a registry started. We are keeping it's location a bit quiet until we've finished. We realized then when we arrived at the store that there was a lot more research we needed to do before we chose certain items. So even if you find it early, you probably shouldn't get anything from it until we've officially released it. :)

The weekend was pretty busy! We had several social engagements to attend, including a last dinner with my parents before they headed up to their summer home in Idaho.

I've got my new glasses for the year, and boy is the prescription different. I think I might have to go back and have the prescription redone.

Even though I have very little time right now, I am very much looking forward to the release of the Sims 3 next week. The Sims has always been quite a fun game, and this new release looks incredible. Maybe I'll just snag the guide for now to tide myself over until I'll have time to get the game and play it. I am trying to plan a little fun into all this crazy project stuff before baby gets here so I don't get burnt out.