Blissful Building . . . or so we hope

A few pictures of the model home . . . we are building this floorplan/houseplan (the "Holloway" by MI Homes) in Briar Chapel, a "green" community in Chatham county, NC. The exterior will look just like this, but with different colors . . . where it is red, ours will be dark brown. Where it is cream/tan colored, ours will be a medium brown. Our stone is gray. We will have the same long front porch as the model.

Picture of the entryway/foyer, looking right toward the dining room:

Picture of the kitchen, which is open to the great room/living room:

In the same room, but looking away from the kitchen towards the living room . . . we will have a stone fireplace similar to this one:

Dad and Becky in the kitchen:

Samples of the hardwood floors we've chosen, along with the carpet and wall & trim colors:

Sample of the bathroom cabinets with the stone tile floor, marble sink sample and hardwoods:

We had a lot of fun at the design center, picking out all the details for our new home. Matt and I actually made really quick decisions . . . we knew just what we wanted! (unlike the baby name!!)

Selling our house???

We put our house on the market 2 weeks ago, giving ourselves a nice amount of time to sell. And, by the looks of it so far, it's a good thing we did! Not one soul has been by yet . . . I think the mosquitos are more interested in getting inside than are prospective buyers! Anyway, here are some of the pictures I sent to our real estate agent to put on the Latter-Blum website:

There are two other units exactly like ours for sell in our complex. And, another six or seven units for sell with different floorplans. We're listing ours for $199,000, which is just undercutting the lower priced of the two units with our floorplan. We have spent a small fortune is plumbing lately . . . new hot water heater (very $$$), new kitchen faucet, new toilet handle and chain, new upstairs sink faucets . . . and since we've been here, we've also replaced the ceiling fans in the bedrooms and the bathroom lights. Hopefully, this will give us an edge over the competition . . . but so far it's been slow going. And, it's a lot of work keeping the place clean and tidy! Every morning before I leave for work, I make the bed, clean off the bathroom counter, wipe down the kitchen counter, pick up Frankie's toys from all over the floor, etc, etc! All in the hope, someone will come by to look (and be so impressed with our cleanliness!).

Here is what Matt is usually doing, esp on the weekends . . . on the couch, talking on (or playing with) his iPhone with miss Frankie sitting on his lap. Such rough lives!

Belly shot . . . please disregard the rest of me . . . this picture was taken one night after I had worked all day (and I was very tired!). I am 22 weeks here.

This was taken two days ago, at 23 weeks prego. Do I look bigger from the previous week?

Ultrasound Pictures from 1 1/2 months ago

Personally, I thought these ultrasound pictures at 18 weeks were much harder to decipher. I liked the 14 week pictures better . . . as he is getting bigger, he does not fit in the captured picture frame as well. Anyway, apologies for taking so long to finally put up some pictures . . . but here are a few:
His head (side profile) is to the right with his arm up over his body, fist in face:

Here, the arrow is pointing to his definite boyhood! (of course, I would never have been able to tell what that was, had I not been told!)

Jackie and I comparing our bellies . . . I am around 19-20 weeks and she is around 18 weeks.

Christina and I comparing our bellies . . . we are due within a day of each other!

We're Building . . .

Not only are we building a family, but we have decided to build a house in Chatham County, NC (five miles from the UNC-Chapel Hill campus)! Our past few weeks have been completely consumed with starting this building process. We had a vacation week the third week in February, and so we traveled to NC to see family and friends . . . and check out the real estate market in Chapel Hill. We arrived in Wilmington to spend time with Matt's family (Becca and David, his parents) and then onto CH. I actually interviewed with UNC Hospitals (anesthesia dept) on that Tuesday, and then we spent Tuesday afternoon house hunting. We ended up at a community under construction called Briar Chapel. That afternoon, after spending about 45 min there, we decided that this could be something good. So we cancelled the rest of the prospective houses on our list to see, and spent all day at Briar Chapel on Wednesday. By the end of the day, we had decided to build a house! (We make decisions really fast!) We extended our stay in Chapel Hill another day in order to pick out our lot, sign our builders contract and apply for a mortage. Matt and I really agreed on just about everything . . . which floorplan, which lot, which upgrades, etc . . . the only thing we debated about was the outside house color. And, surprises never cease, we ended up with Matt's pick for color (two shades of brown with gray stone). Anyway, if anyone is interested in checking out our new neighborhood, go to: briarchapelnc.com
To see the floorplan and pictures of the model house ("Holloway" model), go to:
http://briarchapelnc.com/homefinder/models/holloway---b.aspx?

The house is going to be around 3100 square feet, with 3 bedrooms (and we're making the downstairs den into a fourth guest bedroom), 3 full baths, two car garage, screened in porch, and a bonus room over the garage. We love the open layout! As soon as I walked into the model, I told Matt "this is what I want!" We are really happy about this decision and have a lot of peace with it. The neighborhood was a huge draw as well . . . big community center with 2 pools (including a toddler wading pool with slides and sprinklers), 24 miles of hiking/biking/walking trails, 900 acres that will remain natural park/forest areas, and a charter school that is supposed to be really good. The downside is that there is still much construction to be done in the neighborhood, but it is a sacrifice we are willing to make.
And, a quick baby update . . . at the 18 week checkup, he was 8oz and in the 70th percentile for growth. Definitely a boy! I will post pictures later of the ultrasound (and house). Still no progress on finding a name. We'll keep you posted! (Suggestions are welcome)

the name game just took a turn for the worse

Just returning from my 14 week OB appointment, and lo and behold . . . we were able to see the "little thing," as I'm calling it. This was, for sure, the most exciting ultrasound I've ever been a part of! Before we went in to do the ultrasound, I asked my doctor if she thought we might be able to tell the sex. She said not to get our hopes up, because "stuff" doesn't start differentiating until 12-13 weeks (and I am 13 weeks, 6 days). But sure enough, we got caught a picture right between his legs! Then I asked my doctor, so are you like 70-80% sure its a boy? and she said, no . . . that's a boy . . . and how a appropriate for a urologist's son to show off so early! Our little one was moving all around, waving his arms and hands, fingers spread out, and Dr. Grace said that was a good sign. HR was in the 150's.

Wishing I had a computer scanner, but here are the ultrasound pictures from my camera . . . yes, folks, his head is the same size as his body . . .



You can see the leg and foot in this picture . . . little bit of the elbow and arm to the left.



He's waving here, with his fingers spread out . . .

Face shot here, or should I say mostly forehead and brain shot . . . (kinda looks alienish!)

And, last but not least, his fully intact spinal cord.

These pictures are not the best quality, but we are saving the originals for all to see! Matt was able to get a little time away from Dr. Thomas to join me at the appt, and we are both excited! However, the girl names, we were agreeing on . . . boy names, not so much! We'll keep you posted.

Happy Big 2-9

My two-ly amazing sister turns a whopping 2-9 today! So Jackie, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! And take my advice, enjoy your twenties while they last! (Ha! Ha!)
Becca . . . if you read this . . . your blog pictures from Mexico look awesome! I bet you guys had a lot of fun. Maybe we should all consider a Mexico vacation next?
And, for everyone else, my next preggo check-up is next Thursday. I'm exactly 13 weeks today, so next week, I'll be almost 14 weeks. I'm really hoping the little one is going to be cooperative and maybe give us a glimpse of its boy/girl status! Let's keep our fingers crossed!