3,2,1 Blastoff! (Hopefully)

This weekend we are heading to the Space Coast to visit our friends from college, Dave and Sonya. (We are so glad they live close!)Tomorrow there is supposed to be a shuttle launch, and they are throwing a "launch party". It will be nice to visit them regardless, but I am so hoping that the launch will happen. I have always wanted to see one, but they are usually scheduled for weird times like Tuesday morning at 9:30 or something equally inconvenient. I've heard that watching one is spectacular, and Dave and Sonya have secured an awesome viewing spot atop a 9 story building!
I came in early to work today and am not taking a lunch break (eating at my desk while continuing to work)so I can get out of here early today! If all goes well, we will be on the east coast just after 5.
In other news, I finally finished the little pink baby dress I have been working on (on and off) since January. (I will try to take a couple pictures to post.)It has taken forever, but it looks awesome, if I do say so myself. I am my own worse critic, so it must be decent. I've decided that since I have invested hours upon hours making this, I have probably inevitably sealed the deal, and Peanut will be a boy. :)It seems strange to think that we will be finding out the sex in just a couple more weeks! I have my next Dr. appointment on Tuesday, and Dr. Langely said he would schedule my next sonogram at that time - within the following two weeks if everything goes as planned. I have about 98% convinced myself that Peanut is a boy (don't know why....just have a feeling), so it will take some getting used to if it's a girl. Don't get me wrong. I really would like to have one of each someday, so whatever God blesses us with, I will be thankful and excited either way! :)
Guess that's it for today. Hopefully the next post will have some great shuttle launch pictures!

Mini-Midlife Crisis

Well, it seems that I am making more posts than Candace right now. She shouldn't have given me the password to this blog! Well, according to Candace I am going through a Mini-Midlife Crisis. Just because I have been buying some baseball cards and went skydiving with my brother, she thinks I am freaking out about becoming a Dad. I am really excited about being a Dad. I bought baseball cards for an investment (laugh now, but just wait) and I went skydiving with Murray (my brother) because I have secretly been wanting to go and my brother was up for the adventure.
Skydiving was AWESOME! It was almost like a dream. Thankfully I have pictures and a DVD of my experience. We were hooked up to an experienced diver and jumped out of an airplane at 13,500 ft. We free-falled for about 60 seconds and then floated down to earth with our parachute taking us safely down. I get to check off another thing on my "do before I die" list. I have yet to write this list down in fear of scaring Candace!

DIY FLOORS

When we decided to tear out the carpet in the back 3 bedrooms and replace it, Candace went on a mission to find the best wood floors onine. She found some great prices and good quality stuff....one problem- I have to install it. Now if you don't know me very well, then you may not know that I have no skill when it comes to DIY projects. Let me give you an expample: Our wood fence gate needed replaced, so our neighbor and I went to Home Depot and bought 2 new panels. We got home, measured and cut the first piece, put on the hinges and hung the first door. We had to go take Murray to the airport, so we left the project half done. When we got back, Candace looked at the fence and said, "isn't the gate upside down?" Yep, that's right, I put it upside down! So, if the floors turn out, it might be a small miracle!
Here is our progress so far


The Old Carpet


Nice Linoleum


Taking out the nails


King of the Wood Floors


A slow process

Appreciated Associate

So this week at work is pretty much the best out of the whole year. It's "Associate Appreciation Week". It is a nice thing that our company does, and I think it fosters a lot of positivity around the old office. I mean, who couldn't help but have a fun time with all the activities that are planned:
Monday - Breakfast from Panera Bread....YUM!
Tuesday - Icecream social in the afternoon with a caricature artist (I had a meeting and didn't get in line early enough to have mine done....oh well. :()
Wednesday - Work 1/2 day, and then serve your community. My group is going to the nursery (plants and trees)for the city of Lakeland to help them prep plants and flowers. We have done this before, and I enjoy it. I like being outside and working with my hands, so I am looking forward to it.
Thursday - BBQ cookout for lunch.
Friday - "Teambuilding" activity for half the day, and the other half off since it's the day before a holiday weekend!!!
Plus throughout the week there is a ping pong tournament going on. I won my first round by default, and now I have to play one of the VP's! I know him, though, so it should be fun even if he ends up kicking my rear! It's tomorrow at 9, so wish me luck!

Gift for Peanut

Thanks to James and Jodi Tucker for thinking of "Peanut" as they were shopping in Target! We are planning to have a great weekend with lots of things to do which will include a wedding, a cookout, and I am sure lots of cleaning.

Like father like "son"

So for my birthday this year, Nick got me a super awesome memory foam pillow to sleep on hoping it would help my back and neck issues. Between that and the few trips to the chiropractor, I have been in much better shape!
Well, it's pretty funny how Nick "subconsciously" tries to steal it every chance he gets. For example, when I get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night (you know with Peanut and all) and come back about 30 seconds later, guess who has rolled over onto my pillow? He swears he doesn't do this on purpose, but it is pretty funny since it happens 99% of the time I leave the bed for more than 5 seconds.
Well last night, Charles (the cat) who NEVER comes on our bed EVER decided he wanted to join me and sleep but where else? You guessed it - on the other half of my pillow. Now I've got two to fight off! I guess this really must be some pillow!
I keep telling Nick we need to break down and get him a "wonder pillow" also, but so far we haven't done it. Oh well. I couldn't help but laugh about it all.
Hope everyone has a great weekend! We have a wedding and a "party" to attend tomorrow, plus clean the house (as best we can considering the circumstances)and get ready for Murray! It will be eventful, I am sure!

Back to School....Blah!

Tonight I begin the last class of my MBA program - Integrated Business Applications II (IBA 2).....sounds riveting, I know.
Full apathy has set in, and it is taking all that I have with in me to go, pay attention, and contribute to the group's effort.
This class is a continuation of IBA I that I just finished this spring semester. These two classes count in lieu of a thesis. This I am utterly happy about, but it is still lots of work and (dum dum dum!) a group project. Normally I loathe group projects, but this time I have a pretty good group of people to work with. I know them all, and they are all intelligent contributors to our project. (We made an A on the first half!)
The first part of the project that we just finished was lots of market analysis, company analysis, management strategy, action planning, etc. All in all it ended up being about 140 pages long. This new class, the continuation, is financial strategy, feasibility, planning, and forecasting based on what we have already done.
The up side, other than having a good team, is that the company we are assessing is really interesting. It's a company that provides video relay servicing for the deaf. Actually, I have learned lots about the deaf community, and it's funny...I never though I'd end up doing my final project on a company like this. It's been good so far. We came across this company because one of the girls in my group works for them. She is in management, but is also a professional American Sign Language interpreter. She signs when she talks and is fascinating to watch. :)
Anyway, now that you are as excited as I am, I better get ready for the first class. Wish me luck.
I just keep telling myself, "it's only 10 weeks, it's only 10 weeks." God grant me strength, patience, and sheer will power to push through!

Like Finding a Wedding Dress

I've found that some of the most joyous occasions can bring about some monster stress. All you brides: Remember trying on all those different wedding dresses? For some, this may have been more stressful than it was for others, but nonetheless, you wanted to find "the one". Again, most brides will say that they knew when they found it. You turned around, looked in the mirror and thought or said "this is it!"
Well, I have to say that looking for nursery bedding has been plaguing me much the same way. I have looked at hundreds of sets - boys, girls, neutrals - and none have caught my eye. Sure there have been lots of cute ones (just as brides will say there are many beautiful dresses), but none have really jumped out......until now!!!!
Well, I have been thinking lots about this, and decided that I wanted to be practical (surprise surprise). After assessing the price tags on all these different baby items, it seemed irrational to cater to one particular sex in terms of nursery decor. What if this one is a boy, but the next one is a girl, or visa verse? What a waste it would be to have to re-do everything all over again (for all those who don't know this is my frugal, practical side screaming out). This stuff is just too cute to use just once!
The added pressure came when the flooring came in. We would like to get this stuff installed and situated, and we can't install until we paint. But we can't paint until we have the bedding picked out!!! Aye yi yi!
Alas, after many hours of browsing, I finally found it! Cuteness abounds, and all is well. Once I found it I immediately had to start praying that Nick would like it, too. Some of you may not know, but he can be particularly opinionated and involved in many selections - everything from wedding color to tile for our house, to paint colors, to nursery bedding. I can't say that I would rather have it the other way, because it is fun learning to compromise and come up with things that we are both happy with. I think it makes it more "ours". :) Fortunately, Nick agreed to the bedding, so we are set! Now we can get all our paint at Lowe's tomorrow! I present to you our choice for Peanut (bedding only, Nick and I haven't selected the crib or anything yet):

Nick immediately decided that we needed to start a registry so we could save the bedding choice, so he opened us up an account. Now you must excuse me, I must remove the Play Station 3 from our BABY registry. (sigh) What will I do with him?

P.S. Yesterday I finally had a good day. It seems so far that all I have been able to do is think of all the bad things about pregnancy, delivery, and child rearing and worry worry worry (I hate to admit that, but it is true). However, yesterday was the first day in a long time where I felt joyous anticipation and happiness. Is it because my morning sickness has finally left for good (hopefully)? Was it the excitement of the flooring and new bedding and looking forward to preparing? I don't know, I just pray for many more of those days to come!

Pictures (a little late) as Promised

Well, I know that I have been a little slow with the pictures, but I am at the mercy of Nick. :)Without further ado, here are pics from Dad's visit, and Abby's bridal shower in Higginsville:

Unfortunately, this is an aweful shot of me. If you remember, I had a head cold on top of my morning sickness at it's peak. However, you can see the ever so slight appearance of Peanut if you look closely....this was about at 11 1/2 weeks.
Even though I wasn't feeling the greatest, I'm still so thankful that I was able to see my dad!

I don't have too many pictures of the shower. It went by so fast, and I guess I just wasn't on top of things! Oh well, photographer Nick will be with me at the wedding, so we will definitely have a better assortment then!

Here's the lovely Moss ladies. Nana to be on the left, and bride to be on the right! :)(and Aunt, too!)

Here's all three of us celebrating the special occasion.

So there you have a few pictures.....

In other thrilling news, Nick called me this morning at work to tell me that the flooring has been delivered, and everything looks great! Pictures to come on that process for sure!
This weekend, we are going to Lowes to pick out paint for the back two bedrooms - I guess we can't pick out paint for the nursery until we have our bedding picked out, and I guess we can't pick out the bedding until we know what Peanut will be! Alas! I'm sure we will have PLENTY to do by that time. If we can get the other two rooms completely done by then, I will be one happy camper. So, while Nick paints, I'll be going through closets and dressers sorting into throw away, donate, and keep piles and then moving a lot of "keep" into our storage unit out back. We have limited closet space, so I am thankful for the unit- I just need to use it more.
Anyway, enough about that business....we'll keep you posted on the progress.....

14 weeks and good news!

I went and had my second doctor's appointment this morning and got good news all around! All of my blood work that I had the first visit all came back great! My blood type is B+ (my doctor says that's his favorite type :o)), my hemoglobin levels are good, I'm not anemic, thyroid is good, I don't have hepatitis (:o)), and I've only gained 2 pounds since my last visit (which is just right, though I feel like I've gained about 10!).
Peanut seemed to be doing well, too! I got to hear the heartbeat again (so surreal) at a healthy and normal 152. The little one even moved around some - I couldn't feel anything, but you could hear it on the monitor.
Dr. Langely said he liked everything he saw and heard, and I'll see him again on June 5th - he said genetics testing will be done at that time to see if there are any big problems. He said a couple weeks after that he would schedule our next sonogram, and that's when we will find out if Peanut is a little girl or a little boy!
So thanks be to God for good news and a healthy momma and baby so far. I pray that both will continue....

Soon to be a Daddy

Hello all this is Nick.
Since Candace changed the blog to "our" blog, I thought I would make an entry. Well, yesterday we went to the Beach, we figured that we better get out and do stuff while we have a chance. People like to tell us that we won't have time once the baby is born. I get that, but just don't need every member of St. Paul to continue to remind me! The beach was great and I was able to find a lot of shells that I am going to use when I talk to the Kindergarten class this week about Baptism. Candace wanted to take a "walk" on the beach and got upset with me when I wanted to stop and look for shells. She said she wanted to exercise and I said I wanted to stop on occasion and pick up shells...she ended up going for a "walk" and I stayed and picked up shells.
A lot has been going on at St. Paul this year. I am working on our summer mission trips to Panama and the Dominican Republic. I am really excited to go on these mission trips!
Until next time America....

Squee!!! :)

At long last we have finally ordered our flooring for the back bedrooms! For those of you who have been keeping up with our "home improvements", you know that this is another step in the master plan. The carpet back there has GOT to be some kind of a health hazard, and I told Nick long ago that we will not be putting our child in a room with that atrocious carpet. Also, it has been a source of embarrassment every time we have company and someone has to sleep in one of those rooms. Sooooo, no more! The next time our parents visit (sorry Murray, it won't be finished by the time you get here!) we will have beautiful new floors. Behold:

Isn't it beautiful?!?! It's wood laminate in "Rustic Oak". Fabulous! You may or may not know that Nick and I are avid online shoppers. Neither of us shop in the traditional way very much, so we usually find all the goods online. Nick in particular has a special talent of finding the best deals - I really don't know how he does it! In addition, we are also "thrifty" and always comparison shop and look for the best deals and how to make our dollar go the farthest.
That said, several months ago we began looking and comparing flooring for the bedrooms. Started with the regulars..Home Depot, Lowes...and then we started looking online. I found this website "Build Direct" which is basically whole sale flooring shipped to your house. We saw some that we really liked and ordered samples a couple months ago. We really liked the color and pattern, so yesterday, we placed the order! We were able to get a much higer quality product for just as much, if not a little less, so we are happy!
Once it comes in, we will be doing the install ourselves....much like many of the other projects we have done. We've sure learned a lot, and in the end, it has always come out looking pretty good (if I do say so myself)! This project looks doable, just time consuming - making sure everything is lined up properly, ect.
Thus begins what people refer to as "nesting" I suppose....We've got some clean up to do (where will the furniture go, and what junk can we get rid of) and then painting of what will become the nursery. I'm thinking of light blue regardless....blue is both mine and Nick's favorite color. I guess we'll see. They may not make any "girl" nursery decor in shades of blue if peanut turns out to be a little lady....
That, though, is a post for another day and time.