A Girl and a Garage

Two weeks ago, we had our "20 week" sonogram.  As we were getting started, the nurse/technician asked if we were thinking boy or girl.  We said we were sure it was a boy.  The very first thing she saw when she started looking were the two legs (and what's between) and says, "Well, he's a girl."  And we were ecstatic.  Our nurse was really good at looking around and identifying the various parts.  She took lots of measurements and everything checked out.  She said our little girl is average weight and size, and that everything looks great.  There was lots of motion as she was moving the ultrasound probe and our daughter was moving.  At one point, I asked how much the baby was moving, so she held the probe still and we could see our little girl wiggle and move.  It was amazing.  The nurse was able to get a decent 3-D image of our little girl's face.  I can't wait to meet her. 

Interestingly, as we were looking at our little princess, the name I had been wanting to use most was not what came to me.  I saw her and kept thinking of the name Kristina prefers.  We want to wait until after the birth and we see her for real to decide on a name, but for now, it seems Kristina was closer on this one.  Around this time, Kristina's really showing clearly.  I also caught her waddling the other day, and she admitted to walking differently and having more difficulty bending over, getting up from the couch, etc.  During the sonogram, the nurse pointed out that the placenta is on the front of Kristina's belly, so that would explain why she hasn't felt any movement yet.  Kristina mentioned that as she was laying on her stomach that night, she felt the first little kick, but hasn't felt much since.  Here she is at 20 weeks, and then at 21.

We love celebrating every aspect, every week of this pregnancy.

Now to the house, after getting the exterior walls up, not much happened during the week.  The roof trusses weer delayed and our contractors kept busy on other projects.  I went back the next Saturday and helped again the whole day.  Again, it was hauling studs to where they needed them and other small tasks.  By the end of the day, I wanted to do something that required at least a little intelligence, so I built stairs for the entrance form the garage.  It was a nice illustration to me of why I hired others to build my house.  If I had done it all, it would have taken forever.  It was a long day for me; I really felt it the next couple days.  But that day we were able to get most all of the first floor walls up.

For the third Saturday in a row (this will be a continuing pattern, I think), I went to work on the house.  I bought electrical boxes and started installing then.  The next Monday, we went to the house as part of our Family Home Evening so I could get Kristina's input on where I had put light switches and such.  We walk up to the house, and I was focused on getting in and showing her what I'd done.  I was already in and going up the steps when Kristina says something about the garage being up.  I hadn't even noticed.

This past week, I didn't get as much chance to look at the house daily.  The last half of the week, I was at a Boy Scout Encampment.  In the middle of all the pregnancy, house, and school stuff going on, I was called to be the new Scoutmaster and Deacon's Quorum adviser in our ward.  I was glad I could make it to the Encampment for a couple days on short notice.  It was to celebrate 100 years of partnership between the Boy Scouts of America and our Church.  It was great.  I had a good time and enjoyed getting to know the boys a bit better.  There were all sorts of activities for the boys and leaders, including a zip line.

After getting back yesterday afternoon, we took a quick trip to the house and saw that the roof trusses had been delivered.  So I'm hopeful that this next week will see the roof go up.  My next pictures of the house should look a lot like a house!

Stutter Steps

The last month has seen a few incremental steps on our two projects.  Kristina is starting to show enough of a baby bump that people comment on it or ask if she's pregnant.  A few people have called it a tiny bump, and she doesn't understand how they can call it tiny.  She's now decided that she has a big belly.  I think it is kind of cute how she basically jumped from trying to dismiss it as just being bloated straight to saying her belly is big and obvious.  Here she is at 16 weeks (a couple weeks ago).

On the Saturday before Memorial Day, we went to to Spanish Fork to visit Tim and his family as they were at his in-laws.  We had a good time visiting and took a short trip to BYU-Provo.  I hadn't been there in a long time.  Tim wanted to get his boys out to run on the track.  Now there's a group I can keep up with.  Well, at least Bennett.  I let Tim worry about Zach and Grant.

The house has been going in phases as well.  We had to do a lot of waiting for our concrete guys, but they were good.  After that, the basement and floor joists went in.  Again, some waiting as my contractors are involved in more jobs than just my house.

It seems like everyone I talk to knows about our house going up.  Half our ward lives in that neighborhood; and a good deal of other professors I see on campus as well.  Last week, we stopped by some friends house on our way to check out the progress.  We had a good time playing with their kids, then headed down the street together to take a look.  You can see it in the background off to the right in the picture below.

Then last Saturday, we had breakfast with our friends from Bountiful, here to visit grandkids.  Mary said she could see Kristina's baby bump as we came walking up.  After breakfast, we took them by the house (as we do with all visiting friends these days), and our guys were there working, prepping the first walls to go up.  As we watched, they raised the first wall.

It got me excited enough that later that day, I went back and helped for a couple hours.  I haven't felt that useless in quite some time.  I was mostly reduced to hauling boards and keeping scraps in order.  I was able to keep them on tasks that I can't do and so helped them be a bit more productive.  It was good to feel like I contributed, and it did allow them to raise a longer wall in one piece instead of two.  

So we're seeing progress.  It comes in bursts, but comes nonetheless.