Fire Pit

Last October we decided to put a nice fire pit in our backyard. We picked up the materials from Lowe's and did it all ourselves. We pretty much got it done in one weekend. We love it! We've used it several times and the girls have a good time throwing things in. :) Here is the evolution of our fire pit:

 

First, we measured and roped it off for a perfect square.

 

 

Second, we had to get rid of the grass. That was hard work rolling that thing back while pregnant!

 

 

Third, we dug a bit of the dirt out, dug a hole in the middle, filled it with small rocks (for a drain) and leveled everything with sand. This picture doesn't actually show that though. I was too tired and ornery by that point to take a picture of it.

 

 

Fourth, we laid the paverstones and grouted them.

 

 

 Then Jaren laid and mortared the stones for the fire ring. It's all black on the inside in this final picture because we had already used it several times. Jaren even gets a good workout by going out and chopping wood.

 

 

All in all it cost us about $300. We looked at getting the kit for basically the same thing at Lowe's and just the ring (without the paverstones underneath) was $300. We have a nicer setup for the same price by doing it ourselves! Hooray for DIY projects! Now we just need to move onto better landscaping in the front yard.

32 and 34 weeks

32 weeks...

 

34 weeks...



 

 

Busy, exhausted and in pain doesn't seem to truly describe how I've felt lately.  As you can see, my pregnant belly sticks out more and more each week. I feel huge and I still have 6 weeks to go! I also started swelling at week 33 so that's awesome. I almost want to stop posting pictures at this point because I'm afraid of what I'm going to look like!

 

For my own record, my body is experiencing extreme back pain, numb, tingly, and stiff hands and arms, and some pain with the severe swelling in my feet and ankles.  My doctor says I'm progressing well. My blood pressure is normal and baby seems to be doing fine. I have not experienced any contractions yet but I sure have felt baby Blake stretching and moving about A LOT! Poor guy must be getting squished!

 

Chasing after 3 little girls is getting more and more difficult. They are all doing well though. I finally have #2 potty trained! Little one # 3 is acting more like a true 2 year old every day. She's talking a lot more and she understands a lot more than she did just 2 short months ago. She loves to get into everything and takes every opportunity that the bathroom door is accidentally left open to pull as much toilet paper off the roll as she can. They all love "their Jaren" and ask where he is every morning that he's gone to work. They even fight over him when he's home. We do have a lot of fun with them but we haven't had any time without them in 2 months and we are both burned out. I understand why people always say "make sure to go on a date once a week" when you have kids. It's because you need it for your sanity! Unfortunately, only being able to have babysitters that are at least 21 yrs old who are approved by the foster agency with a background check makes it extremely difficult to get ANYONE to babysit. One day...

 

Not much else is new. Just taking life one day at a time! Time to go make lunch. :)

 

Kitchen Remodel

I know I promised some house project updates awhile back and I'm finally giving you one. We put in granite counter tops and a tile back splash for Christmas. Wahoo! This was the last of our house projects (on the inside).  It took us from May until January to get the entire house done and it looks much better now. Anyway, here are some pictures of before.

 

 

This is a light beige/pink Formica counter top and back splash. Yuck. It was so ugly and dated looking. We also didn't like the drop-in oven either so we got rid of that.

 

 

Here are the after pictures...

 

 

  The granite is just so shiny!!

 

The cabinets are the same but I think they look a ton better now. We upgraded the stove to stainless steel. We obviously didn't install the granite ourselves but we did do the tile back splash!

 

 

It was a serious pain. My sweet and patient hubby did it the way I want because he loves me so much. He kept telling me that it was going to be A LOT of work but I didn't believe him. We had over 100 tiles and only 11 did NOT get cut. That's a lot of tedious time in front of a tile saw. We had some major setbacks and it took us more than twice as long as planned but it is DONE!!! Also, Jaren installed new under and over-cabinet lighting (see pictures above) . It just looks great!

 

 

The worst parts of doing a big kitchen project are living with the mess, not having a usable sink or oven for a few days (which means lots of eating out), and cleaning up the mess. But it was worth it! So glad I have a very handy husband who can do projects and save us money. Thanks honey!

 

P.S. I did help too! A lot! Even though Jaren might have thought I was just watching over his shoulder to make sure he did it perfect. :)

27 weeks and 3 girls

So, quite a bit has happened in the last week and a half! We finally got foster kids...three little girls! They're soon to be ages 2,3 and 4. I can't really say much about them but they are sweet girls and we've had several people tell us they look like our little girls! They all love music and dancing...especially when dancing with Jaren. We have little dance parties quite frequently. They just LOVE Jaren. It's so fun to see them get excited when they know he'll be home soon and to see the little reunion with three chubby faces trying to get his hugs and attention!

Jaren has been a huge help! He even said he's done more dishes in the last week and a half than he's done our entire marriage! That's totally true. :)  The thing he's greatest at is keeping them occupied and playing with them when I need a break or have things I need to get done. The little one can get quite clingy and wants to be held from the time she gets up from her nap until dinner time. That makes preparing dinner EXTREMELY difficult! But she has the sweetest little face and with those hands reaching up at me I just can't resist! Sigh. What am I going to do when I have a brand new baby too?! I am a little (a lot) worried. One thing Jaren has NOT been helpful in is changing diapers. I believe he's change maybe 4 or 5 total. I change that many poopy diapers in a day. He has had to change 2 because I wasn't around to do it. He he he. He tries to bribe me with foot massages but I have yet to get one...mostly because I don't take the time to make him pay up!

On a different note, I am now 27 weeks and about to start my 3rd trimester. Bending and leaning forward is getting progressively more difficult and uncomfortable. I just didn't realize how much until the girls came and I feel like I'm bending and leaning ALL day long. I didn't feel baby Blake kick until just before I hit the 24 week mark. Now I feel him quite frequently and stronger. I've even seen my belly move from him kicking!! What a strange sight (and feeling)! 

The kids are up now and I'm finding it impossible to keep typing with 6 hands pulling on me! I'll update more later!