I’ve really enjoyed today! We had a nice start to the morning, I had a late morning outing, we got an exciting house delivery, Brady spent the afternoon getting good news about the house and getting a thing or two done, and I chatted on the phone with my sister for a bit while he was away 🙂 It was really quite awesome! I’ll go in order.

We woke up decently early, and Brady went out to retrieve coffees and breakfast McFlurries. I highly recommend this breakfast to all, especially when there is a good coupon out! So I kicked the day off with a double double and a Rolo McFlurry. It was a delicious morning. After a little bit of doddling, I headed to my waxing appointment. I really like it there. I always do. And it feels nice to get my legs and and brows all freshened up. I have to laugh, though. Its always at my last waxing appointment before having a baby when I come so very close to fainting. I am just physically unable to recline at all right now. So if I’m not sitting straight up, or laying on my side, I can’t breathe. She was really good about it all, though. Soon, the fan was on, and she was letting me sit in different, weird positions so I could breathe while she worked. Its hard to wax upper legs when there is an enormous belly resting on them. She rocked it though. Thanks, Jenn!!!

After my appointment, I ducked into a grocery store for milk, and then headed home. The kids were in good moods, and the house was nice and relaxed. Brady and I visited and played with the kids, and while we were discussing his afternoon of work, we heard someone walking onto our deck. Brady opened the door, and accepted the delivery of our shower doors!!! I’m SO glad they came already!!! We were eager and silly and couldn’t wait, so we opened the box up, and everything was in order, in great shape, and looking exactly as we had hoped!

They don’t look like much here, but they’ll be perfect when they’re installed into our main bathroom in the new house!! EEK!

Since we’re coming to the end of the build, lots of little things are coming up for us to discuss and make decisions about. Its not the most relaxed part of the process, to say the least, but we got a lot of that done yesterday and today, and part of Brady’s afternoon was going out and making some of those changes, picking some things up, and asking a lot of questions. I’m SO happy to say that his afternoon was smooth and successful!

The shower doors came early!

The pricing we’ve been waiting for to possibly change out our exterior doors is FINALLY in, and is a solid $500 LESS than we were expecting!

The few door handles that were missed on the order are IN TOWN rather than being four weeks away like we thought! Brady was able to pick them all up today 😀

We got some answers finally about what hinges to get for our laundry chute doors, so we can finally go forward with them!

Best of all…..

Our garage pad got poured EARLY!!!

Ok, no, its not early. We still won’t be able to park on it for a week or two after we take possession, but we had been told the absolute earliest it would be poured was May 26th, and it would most likely get bumped. This is a lovely surprise! I’m SO happy its in already!

A little thing thats been irking me a bit is the doors in our master suite.

This is our walk-in closet and our en suite. We have no intention of having a door on our closet, so we just had it drywalled like this. It looks really clean and straight and I’m VERY happy with it. But. It looks unfinished to me. With the two openings so close together, to me, it feels like they should both have trim. Brady and I disagreed for a bit, which is fine. We mulled over it for a bit and yesterday, decided to bite the bullet and change it, even though it meant the painters charging us for having to come back an additional time. We just decided to take the hit. I knew it was something that was going to bug me every time I saw it. We’ve both had a couple of those things come up, so we’re fixing them as we go. Therefore, today Brady went and picked up some casing and jambs, and went to our house to pull out some drywall to re-case and trim the door.

I don’t know about you guys, and maybe I’m the only one who thinks so, but I think this is SO much better! It looks complete, and finished, and less like someone forgot to trim that one door. I am SO happy with it! Now we wait for the painters to come back and paint it. Whew! Easy fix.

While Brady worked, I visited with my dear sister. I love her, and every once in a while, she calls on her drive home from work, like today. We chatted for almost an hour before hanging up. Brady was then on his way home, and the kids were getting a bit twitchy.

Now to close off the day with supper and bedtime. And perhaps and late night McFlurry. Don’t judge. I am LOVING ice cream these days!!!

Before I talk about my pregnancy, I want to thank everyone who texted/liked/commented on the last post. Its been fun to see who is super interested in the build, and its also wonderful to have people excited with us. You can see by the pictures yesterday just how close they are to being done!!! I always hesitate to share official dates for things on my blog, just in case they don’t work out, but it really really won’t be long now. I am SO excited to have our baby so soon, and then to move into this beautiful home! I feel like its all going to just be surreal for a while. As if this is OURS!

Onto todays events, I had what might be my last prenatal appointment of this pregnancy! Yes, I tend to be induced a little early, thanks to my last two VERY fast deliveries, and I like to know I’ll be IN the hospital when baby is born. It just feels good to me to have my babes in a controlled environment. To each their own 🙂 No judgement here! Usually, we all go into the appointments as a family, but we had a pretty rough start to the day this morning and we just knew it wasn’t a good day for it. For the last several days, no matter what Laela says, Dekker argues with her over it, or refutes her. Basically, its as though anytime she speaks, he figures she’s sucking the air out of the room. I’ve felt that way, and it feels awful. Therefore, we’re jumping on his behavior, trying to stop it fast, which results in lots of correction and even more tears. It just wasn’t a good morning to all be cramped in a small room while the kids were expected to sit quietly. Brady and I decided I’d go to my appointment myself and he’d take the kids to go fill up the van, grab coffees, etc.

The clinics waiting room was positively BURSTING with new moms and brand new fresh babies. It was SO sweet, and just made me more eager for my baby boy to be on the outside! All of the little honking newborn cries just made me ache to hold him!! But that’ll all be soon enough. I was called in pretty quickly, weighed, and then put into a room. The nurse who usually takes me back was so surprised that I didn’t have the fam with me, but I told her they were just a little temperamental this morning and she laughed and claimed to understand completely. As I waited in the exam room, I hear Dr. Guselle, rather than my student doctor, approaching, and she commented to someone that she was going to get some family time in with this next patient. I LOVE that she was actually anticipating seeing my kids, and felt a bit sad that I hadn’t brought everyone with me, but truly, it was a fantastic appointment, just she and I. We have such a good dynamic. I have missed her being my primary doctor this time around, and just sitting and chatting with her felt so normal and comfortable. As for the little details, all checks out. My BP is good, babys heart rate is good, he’s fully engaged, or “good and down” as we said, and measuring right on. We talked more about induction day and made some further plans on it. She informed me about when she is and isn’t on call, and then made some notes on my prenatal information sheet, which she then printed for me. And I WISH I could post pictures of it, but there’s too much to blur out. She wrote that she was to be called, regardless of the call schedule, and that I was to be considered a VIP 🙂 I laughed, and was also incredibly pleased, because honestly, why not? Part of me is embarrassed that I require some special treatment, but I love her, and I LOVE that she is willing to provide me with whatever I need to be as comfortable as possible. She then encouraged me a lot about how capable I am at delivering my kids, and that she was very pleased with how my demeanour is regarding delivery. “Where did the anxious mama go?” she asked. She knows how shaken up I was after Laela was born, and how nervous I was going into Rowan’s delivery. I love that she’s seen the progress I’ve worked and prayed so hard for. I feel ready. Prepared. And she knows I am, too.

After a few more pleasantries, and even a little chat about baby names, I was on my way. She teased me that I should feel free to hit the lights and just take a little rest before heading back to the family. “Tell them I was running behind, like usual,” she suggested. I laughed and said I’d go save my husband rather. It was an incredibly lovely appointment. It really couldn’t have gone smoother. What a fabulous woman.

Now, we’re home, and believe it or not, Brady is back at work for a bit of this afternoon. A couple of things came up that are his responsibility, so he’s ducked out to make a few small purchases and go do a small job or two on the house. He’ll likely go out tomorrow too, and possibly again! All of the little things are getting done, but there are still a few big things we’re waiting on. Today, the painter is back doing a second coat, but thats all I know of for sure. Still, progress! Always good to see!

I wish Brady could have been home today. I’m always sad when he ends up working a stat. Somehow it just feels like a big, boring day, when I know so many families are all together and mine is not. But if Brady had to work today, I’m so happy it was on our house, and I’m SO happy it was countertop day! Countertop day is a fantastic day!!!

Of course, I’ll start with the small stuff. The main bathroom vanity is probably the least exciting part of this, but even that looks just beautiful to me!

 

Its a very standard unit with very standard tops, but to me, it looks like it could stay exactly the same forever and just be crisp and nice and exactly what we need. No frills, but just right. The drawers are nice and deep, so they’ll store lots, and its all just very classic, I’d say.

The next vanity is FAR more exciting! Its the one in our en suite, and guys, I can’t WAIT to get ready for my day in there!!

 

So as you can see, its a nice long vanity with a super fun raised sink! Instead of a double sink, we got a big long sink with two faucets! So Brady and I can both use the sink, but sharing is caring 😉 I think its cute and corny. Beyond that is a makeup desk for me (YAY!) and lots and lots of drawer space. There is a surprising amount of storage in this unit, which I am grateful for.

Then…*deep sigh*…the kitchen. Are you ready?

 

Whew. I know. Let’s just look at it for a second…

Its true. It really is that beautiful. The island top is now installed, as well as the other countertops, obviously. It is SO ready to be in operation, trust me. It told me when I went to visit it this afternoon. Now in this first picture, Brady hadn’t cut out the hole for the sink yet, but he did that later, and even dropped the sink in to please the plumbers. And I’m SO glad he did, because I am unreasonably enamoured with our kitchen sink!

Ok, maybe it doesn’t look like much, but it is a BEAST! And it is amazing. Its cast iron, coated beautifully shiny white, and let’s just say that when I first picked it out, it weighed more than I do. Obviously not anymore, because babies and stuff, but it is a super beast, and I can’t wait to use it!!! Just think of how many small children I could bathe in this sink at once!!!

If you’re looking closely at the pictures, you’ll notice that a few little things here and there are missing. A drawer front, a few handles, etc. We know, we’re on it. I still think it all looks just about perfect. Seeing it all together makes me realize just how close we are to being done, and being moved in! It also makes me really happy with all of our choices. I feel like we’ve had to compromise on very little, yet we didn’t go vastly over our individual budgets for each area of the home. Yay for not having super expensive tastes, haha!

I’m done for the day. Sleepy, happy, overwhelmed, excited, fat, you name it, I feel it. Its been a good day, and I have a great week of positives ahead of me!

Today was the day that Brady and I decided to install the baby’s car seat! I’ll be 38 weeks right away here and the plan is for induction around 39, so we figured we should make sure everyone is going to fit well, and that the kids had a chance to adjust to the new set up before baby makes his appearance. I’ve been researching like crazy, trying to see if there is a way to put three car seats across in our van, but the dang wheel wells made it a HUGE challenge! Everyone I asked said to replace our car seats with the Diono brand rather, because they’re some of the narrowest seats on the market. They are also some of the most expensive, and replacing all three convertible seats with Diono seats would have set us back around $1000. Also, after some easy research, we saw that our car seats are about 0.5″ wider than Diono, so for the sake of 1.5″, it was NOT worth the cost. Not even close.

We wanted to include the kids in the installation of the baby seat, so we brought them outside with us the first time. It was insane, to say the least. The all were in the van with us, Rowan was crying, Dekker and Laela were getting feisty, and we had all four car seats rolling around from place to place, taking up a ton of space. Our van is not that big, haha! It was absurd. We got some ideas, and came to terms with the fact that three convertible car seats was not going to fit across in the back. We decided to break for lunch and do some more research.

I started researching booster seats. Dekker would still be good in his convertible seat for another 25-ish pounds, but he does meet the qualifications for boosters, and it was suggested to me that booster seats are often slightly narrower than convertible seats. After extensive online research, it seemed like a booster might help, if not be our answer. So we decided to go for an afternoon shopping trip and see what we could find. Brady went back outside to reinstall the car seats and came back in with some extra info. He pointed out that the convertible seats are 18″ wide, but that the baby bucket was only 15″! That gave a LOT of hope. We got everyone ready fast, grabbed the bucket seat, and headed out!

At our first stop, we found what we felt could be the ideal booster seat for Dekker. Not only was it a nice affordable option, but it was a high back booster that had a seatbelt guide, came in a nice blue, and was available in store! Its actually kind of a shame that Laela is still so little and won’t need a booster for a while, because the pink one was cute too!

(Yup, we were the parents that put our kids on the top shelf to test out the seats. Don’t judge.)

We bought the one blue one available, and headed back to the van to, yes, install it in the parking lot. We figured that, if it didn’t work, we’d go back in and return it right away, and then head on to our next place. We were determined to figure this out TODAY.

So it was a bit of a clown car situation out there, haha! Once again, we were ALL in the van, and everyone was getting in each others space. However, Rowan was clipped into his seat, happy, so that helped a bit. We had the AC pumping and some music on. It also helped that Brady and I felt really hopeful that it would work. And sure enough, all three seats fit across in the back, with Dekker in his new booster!!!

We knew it wasn’t a perfect set up, but we also knew that it was possible, so we beetled out of there and got some cookies and iced coffees on the way home.

When we did make it home, I freed Laela from her seat, and Brady brought Rowan in. I then went to unbuckle Dekker and, let me tell you, the struggle was REAL. I couldn’t figure it out! Finally, I realized we actually had to remove the baby seat first before being able to reach the buckle that was somehow within the bucket seat base. Basically, it was an enormous hassle. While we likely would pull baby out first anyway, it wasn’t a great set up. Brady and I sent the kids inside and did a bit more brainstorming. When we had a different direction to go in, I went inside to wrangle the kids and left Brady to his own devices in the van. And sure enough, our new plan worked 🙂

How fantastic is that??? We have Dekker in his booster in the back, Laela still in her convertible in the back, baby #4 in his bucket in the back, Rowan still rear facing in his convertible in the captains chair, and we’ll be able to leave that last captains chair folded into the floor so we have space to haul someone with us!!! We’ll have that floor space to make it easier for Brady or I to buckle the kids in, or to put groceries, or suitcases, or whatever else we need. Yes, it is a tight squeeze, and we will obviously be on the market for an upgraded vehicle sooner than later, but for the time being, we can make things work, and relatively comfortably at that!! I’m VERY happy with how the whole thing has turned out!

But let me tell you. We are TIRED! SO much figuring went into this whole thing, haha! And if we have another tank kid like Dekker, he could outgrow his bucket in a matter of 4-5 months. That will leave us back at square one, with a convertible seat that doesn’t fit in the back row. But if that happens, we’ll just crack out the last captains chairs and roll with it. This is good for now 🙂 I’m really really happy we found a way to make it work without compromising on the rules. Feeling successful!

Sorry in advance for the haphazard post about unrelated things, but at least all of the updates are from today! Does that count for anything? Hope so!

Brady had to work this morning. He didn’t have TONS to do, because he’s going to work Monday, but he went in today just for the morning in an effort to make absolute sure that Monday wouldn’t turn into a 12+ hour work day. The most exciting thing Brady has been working on is assembling our island top! I was very adamant that we have butcher block, but our island being 7′ long makes that complicated, since all prefabbed slabs are 6′. That left us buying two 6′ slabs and cutting them up, and reassembling them. This makes them run the less common way, vertical along the counter rather than horizontal. But he’s been working hard at getting everything smoothed out and glued well and I have to say, the slab is gorgeous. I’m SO excited for it to be my island!!

Brady came home shortly before noon, bearing coffee, breakfast sandwiches, and hash browns for us. It was a delicious lunch! I got ready pretty quickly after that and headed out around 1:30 for my hair appointment at 2:00. I had one little touch up in between (just getting the side re-shaved) but otherwise, I haven’t hd the color redone since before Christmas!!! That is a LONG time for me, but the shaved part being brown makes my roots look a lot more reasonable, aaaaalmost intentional. But I was very excited to get it redone today. Since my natural color is so dark, it always takes a solid 2+ hours to get it all white blonde like I like, which means a nice stretch of away time, chatting with my hairstylist, getting pampered, and just not being “on” constantly. This time around, I didn’t make any major changes (Major Changes *salutes* Anyone? Anyone?!) I got the blonde redone, the side re-shaved, and the long hair was shaped and helped a little, but really, very little changed. I am loving the long side with the completely shaved side, so we’re going to keep rolling with it. At the end, when Carlinna styled it, I mentioned that I sometimes braid the front, and I hope to figure out a braid in the back eventually. She, of course, offered to braid the back, and it was probably 2.5 minutes later, she had put in a beautiful french braid. I wish I could always have it!!

When I got home, Rowan was in a bit of a state. He had napped most of the time I was away, and had been fairly out of sorts since he had woken up, which is not normally the case with him. Brady said he was trying to cuddle him, but Ro would struggle to get down and then burst out crying the moment he was down. We’ve all been there :/ Its not an uncommon baby thing. But I scooped him up into the big recliner with me and he just morphed around my belly, tucked his fist under my boobs, and was still and silent. It was adorable. It felt good to be needed. After a nice ten or fifteen minute snuggle, he was off and happy to play.

Brady and I are both feeling decently wiped at this point, however. Our bodies know our Saturdays are usually different that this one, so we’re a bit sleepy. Looking forward to some lazy hours after the kids hit the sack. T-30 until bedtime routine begins!!

I’ll admit that I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me. After a bit of a difficult day yesterday with the build, today has been almost as frustrating, and I have spent the better part of today feeling discouraged. What I CAN say is that today has been better than yesterday! I’ve completed a few things on my list, which I really had to psych myself up for, but it feels good to have accomplished at least a couple of small things. I made some calls, scheduled a few things, and I did several days worth of dishes. SO thankful we’ll have a dishwasher again at our new place! Besides my small but relevant accomplishments, the kids slept in nicely, and I can tell they’re working hard to behave, as I’m rocking my emotions on my sleeve :/ I appreciate my kids so much. They are incredibly sensitive.

That being said, I hid from the kids for a little while and called my mom. I had a bit of a rant to her, which she handled so very gracefully, supportively, and prayerfully. What a relief it is to have a friend in my mom <3 She never once told me to just buck up and blow past everything. She let me feel how I feel and encouraged me to take my feelings to God. She’s basically a rockstar.

I was then blessed again, by a friend. Right when I got off the phone with my mom, I had a Facebook message waiting for me that made me feel excited and uplifted. Even though it was not directly related to me at all, hearing positive things just made me feel lighter.

While I’m not feeling 100% awesome today, I’m working hard to see the good in the day. It is Friday, after all! And tomorrow, I get to disappear for a couple of hours and get my hair redone! So I can look all fresh and new for when the baby comes. Because that is SOOOOON!!!!!

As the title suggests, it wasn’t our best day of news with our house. Brady DID have a great day working there. It DOES look fabulous inside. There IS still lots of progress. I AM still very happy we’re building a house. There is still lots and lots of good 🙂 Our kitchen sink came today, and its GORGEOUS!!! Exactly what I wanted and asked for. We discovered a miscommunication we had that can easily be fixed, which always feels wonderful! I was able to go pick up some drawer fronts in an effort to save on some delivery charges. I got an iced capp. I say again, there is lots of good on the build today.

We found out a few bummers along the way, though. Lots of our cabinet stuff still isn’t ready, and Brady was supposed to be done cabinets by tomorrow :/ Somehow, our information got lost in the shuffle (it has to happen sometimes, just sucks when its you) and no one had assembled our drawers for our vanities. We’re also missing a front or two, and all of the hardware. Its a bummer. Also, we discovered today just how much damage has been done to our railings already, and they cannot be stained or repaired too much, being that they’re already completely installed and surrounded by all forms of flooring, and lightly painted walls. Only so much can be done to repair those. And our garage pad. Sigh. I’m SO disappointed about that. In an effort to have the ground be as settled as possible, they plan was to pour it later on in the build. However, there is now even a chance we won’t have it before we move in, and once it is poured, whenever that is, we won’t be able to park in it for a month. A MONTH! I’m sooo disappointed about that 🙁 There were a few other things that felt like monstrous hits today, and at least speaking for myself, I feel a little bit discouraged. BUT!, not every day can be 100% happy, or awesome. Some days are just ho-hum. And really, today was NOT ho-hum AT ALL! I spent the afternoon at my moms with the kids! We ate delicious food and visited like we’ve been apart for weeks. Probably because we have been!! We talked about recent shops, baby stuff, pregnant stuff, doctor stuff, house stuff, trips, summer ideas, upcoming events, etc. My mom and I just gabbed and gabbed. We played with the kids and she read to them and snuggled with them and they all really got their fill of each other 🙂 After lunch, the kids were tuckered out and zoned a bit in front of some tv, and then we could really get a good chat in!

At the end of Brady’s work day, he came over and mom made an AMAZING supper, of which I ate THREE large helpings. Don’t judge me. It was that good. The kids ate pretty well too, and we all had a really nice time together. It was SO nice to all be back in each others company.

Our last thing we did together was go tour the house. Minus installing a few pieces of hardware that we are short, Brady has finished his second stage of finishing, lol! Doesn’t make a ton of sense, but his “finishing carpentry” stage of the build is now done. Tomorrow he’ll hopefully finish up cabinets and vanities, if the drawers are ready. We’ll still be short that one missing front, but you work with what you’ve got, right? Maybe he’ll even get our island top installed tomorrow?? That would be SO exciting!

The place really looks awesome, though. We had a LOVELY day, and the kids stayed awake the whole drive home, so they’re very ready for bed. It sometimes makes for a sadder bedtime but then they fall asleep nice and fast, which is good. Its hard to stop playing when the day has been sooo dang good. I’m happy everyone is happy 🙂

But tonight calls for a bath and snacks for Brady and I, then some “Good Wife” and then to bed! So ready for all of the above mentioned things.

The kids and I spent the afternoon at Kims house, playing outside. They ate outside, played in the little lap pool, with the water table, in the sandbox, with the hose, with the toys, in the grass, etc etc etc. My kids had a riot, and were SOOO dirty by the end, hahaha! Dekker was probably the cleanest as usual, but Rowan was soak, his socks were FILTHY, and Laela was definitely the dirtiest, her legs covered in sand and purple freezie, her baby pink hat now grey. Worth it tho. Everyone got lots of sun and really seemed happy. All of our kids played well together, no scrapping or struggling. It was a big success. Kims youngest slept through most of it, but the rest of us enjoyed the outdoors today.

Around 4:00pm, Brady was done working for the day, and since he was working nearby at our house, he came over to help me load up the kids, just because he’s nice. Dekker had an absolute throw down, he was so sad to leave. Laela was very accepting, and did as she was told, which was nice. And Rowan was just happy to see daddy and unaware of pretty much everything else.

I expected everyone to crash on the drive home and sleep the short 20 minutes, but only Rowan slept, and it took a little while to get him there. So unfortunately, my kids were TRASHED once they got home. We put on a show so they could zone and rest a little bit, but I bailed for the evening, as Kim and I had some prearranged plans for a supper out and a quick little shop for a few camping things for her.

Brady texted shortly after I left about the debacle that was bathing the angry kids, and what a disaster his evening was. (For the record, he wasn’t trying to guilt me or anything, we just try to find humor in our kids sometimes) But I could reassure him that Kim and I were having a bit of a debacle ourselves, as her youngest son had come along with us and despite his 2.5 hour nap, was incredibly unhappy and would NOT have it. Any of it! We ended up getting our food packed up and took it to go. He finally gave into sleep in the stroller and we managed to limp through our shop with him waking and sleeping on and off. And I do mean limp. I was in a bit of a lame state of things right along with Ellijah. It was kind of a funny, messy, haphazard evening, but it worked, and we got what we needed to. I bought some nice tank tops and Kim got what she came for as well, snagging some groceries and a new Starbucks mug.

It didn’t last too long, however, and Kim is already on her way home. I’m home as well, and Brady has run a tub for me to soak in, so I’m going to go focus on THAT for a bit. Can’t wait! After such a good, but VERY busy day, I am ready to rest and call it an evening. I promise to show you pictures of Bradys work on our house very very soon! Tomorrow, second stage of finishing should be DONE!

I know Lowes isn’t new in the city, but it is compared to our usual Rona, J&H, and Home Depot. When our family first discovered that our build was in fact POSSIBLE this year, we began filling our evenings and weekends with slow walks through these kinds of stores, and that was probably the first time I ever set foot into Lowes. I found that they were comparable in a lot of ways, pretty severely lacking in others, but they had some WONDERFUL products that we couldn’t find anywhere else comparable.

We found a couple of things at Lowes right off the hop that I knew we could not compromise on, because I loved them way too much. We got our kitchen sink from Lowes, if you remember from waaay back in the posts. At least I think I shared it! Its a HUGE white coasted cast iron sink. Its Kohler, and only $300. I didn’t even ask if it put us over our kitchen budget. I didn’t care. It was SUCH a beautiful sink!

We also ordered our countertops from Lowes. It was kind of amazing actually. We went into the countertop place that our builder uses as their standard, and we knew it would cost more than a hardware store countertop, of course, but we figured we’d give it a go and just see how the prices compared. I picked my absolute favorite top off of the wall and the salesman laughed and said that was practically his cheapest top. (This is why we ended up buying from a hardware store. I don’t have expensive tastes for countertops.) When the quote came in, however, it was WAY over our budget! And that was even excluding the island top!!! So we politely said we’d let them know and bought the lovely medium grey standard laminate tops from Lowes. We paid a fraction of the cost that way.

The last thing we chose from Lowes was tub/shower doors. Rather than hanging a shower curtain, Brady expressed that he would really like to have shower doors in the main bathroom instead. Since I feel like almost every little detail has been chosen by me, I was quite determined that Brady should get his shower doors. He also wanted three panels instead of two, for the sake of bathing our kids in the tub and having it more open. I did a lot of looking online and myyy goodness, those doors are EXPENSIVE!! And most of them are only two panels. But I am pleased to have found a three panel shower door with raindrop detail for a VERY reasonable price! What fun surprises all of these purchases were!

I have to say, though, we have gotten the SERIOUS run around actually receiving these products.

The sink is up to the plumber so I’m sure (hoping) he’s on top of that. The shower doors we ordered last week, and we were informed they would be shipped by Same Day Worldwide shipping. Its a deceiving name, really, since they’re not going to be here for at least another week. *eye roll* Ideally Brady would install them before Friday, but I guess another day will have to do. It won’t really affect anyone else, but he’s working on his second stage finishing tomorrow through Friday, and he will be installed all of our bathroom hardware anyway. But oh well. Shower doors will just come later I suppose.

We ordered our countertops a while back already, and they were supposed to arrive on May 10th. It is now the 17th and we have gone through a decent amount of annoyance trying to actually get them into our hands. We FINALLY got the call last night that they were in store, so Brady and I set up the plan for today. He’ll also be finishing up cabinets this week, and doing countertops, so it all needs to be there this week. We decided, since Brady only had Daytona work this afternoon, that after breakfast today, we’d each take a van, drive to Lowes (me with the kids, he in his work van), pick up the tops, drive them out to our house, and haul them in while getting a good look at the house as well and showing my mom around it. She hasn’t even seen it painted in person yet!!

OVER AN HOUR at Lowes!!! Not only did Brady have to explain who he was and what he was picking up again, but they then said they had to go pick the order. When they brought it out to us, it was all damaged and messed up 🙁 The main part of the order was two 10′ chunks of countertop. They had ordered three, and THANK GOODNESS for that, because one was split right down the middle, and one was missing a hunk of the backsplash. We’re actually trimming one down, so the loss of the backsplash corner isn’t a big deal. Thank goodness one was in good shape all around and we could use it. They agreed to take a percentage off of the broken one that we accepted, and on their own, took that same percentage off of the one that was still in good shape, just as a good will gesture, which we appreciated. It was quite a long mess getting everything sorted out, but we did not stick around to stay annoyed. Once Bradys van was loaded, we bailed.

We had a couple of other plans fall by the wayside because of how long Lowes took, which is too bad, but stuff happens. We got our countertops, they will work well, and we got to tour around our house! The carpet guys were working in there, but had no problem with us being around. However, there were open tack strips everywhere, so we carried the kids through to save their toes. Now that the flooring is basically done, our house is officially a “no shoes” house, which we really appreciate! Brady has seen muddy footprints through new builds, caking up the new carpets, and UGH! That would just make me sick to see in my own house. So we carried the kids through, and my mom also came along to see how it all looked. Because we carried everyone, we didn’t take pictures, but I promise, I’ll ask Brady to take some tomorrow. It all looks AMAZING! I was worried that the dark grey tile, grey laminate, and grey carpet would looks suuuper monochromatic, but it really doesn’t. It looks classy and finished and beautiful. Eek! Seriously, I want ALL of you guys reading and caring about our house to come to a house warming party so you can see the place in person!

I digress. I was VERY frustrated at Lowes earlier today, and I still think a lot of that hassle could have been avoided, but I do love what we ended up with, and I’m VERY excited to see it all installed!!! We are so very fortunate to be able to do what we’re doing, and to build our dream home! I truly can’t wait to show it off to each and every one of you who wants to see it!

I went in for a prenatal today, as I’m doing weekly at this point, and it was strange, once again! This is my first pregnancy with this particular clinic, so some things are done differently. That, and being seen my a student doctor while just overseen by my doctor, things really feel different. I’m getting pretty late in the game here, and I’m finding it hard to come to terms with. Everyone I’ve encountered has been lovely, I have no big issue with anyone, its just been very different. I feel slightly “un-doctored,” if I can be so bold, but I think my doctor has been VERY engaged and hands on in the past, so this is a big change. I’m trying very hard after todays appointment to worry about nothing, to not be anxious, and to roll with it.

What surprised me right off the hop is that my student doctor brought a med student in with her. Now I have zero issue with people learning, and I’m ok to be part of that. Sure, of course she can take my blood pressure, find baby’s heartbeat, measure me, etc. But isn’t my student doctor learning?? I don’t know, it sort of took me aback. Luckily, all of those things turned out just fine. Baby boy has never been especially cooperative for a doppler, but it just took some digging. I knew he was fine the entire time, as he is a big mover. No harm, no foul there.

Now I don’t want to be gross, so sorry if this crosses a line, but this weekend, I’m pretty confident that I lost my mucus plug. I know, it sounds awful. I don’t recommend googling it. Its just a nasty gooby thing that falls out sometimes if your cervix starts to open/ripen/whatever else. With some people, it means labour is RIGHT around the corner. With others, they lose theirs really early, and it kind of fills back in. Lots of people lose and regenerate their mucus plugs multiple times. The difference with me is that I’ve never knowingly lost mine. I always just lose it in delivery. Not everyone noticeably loses theirs, and I am one of those people who never has. So to me, this counted for something. Because I don’t feel labour, it really made me nervous when I first realized it was happening. But my student doctor, like most every other appointment, kind of blew past it and said “So you had a little discharge?” No, dude, this was NOT a little bit of discharge. I know enough to know what that was. She just tends to downplay a lot of things. Everything I’ve been feeling is wrapped up in “Well, it iiiiis your fourth baby…” Yes. I know it is. Things can still happen when its your fourth baby. Experienced mothers still appreciate reassurance.

I digress. It was an ok appointment regardless. We picked an induction date, knowing obviously there would be wiggle room, because people can get bumped multiple times, but we have a kick off point anyway. We know where to start making plans and who to notify about what when. We know which form of induction we’ll be using. We know enough. I feel slightly more “planned” than I did before, I think.

After our appointment, we picked up supper and headed home. Now, I’m sleepy and ready for a soak. Soon and very soon!