Vacation Update

Just a really quick note that we got to Oregon yesterday safe and sound. All 6 (hee hee) of us. Pregos survived the long drives (that would be Steph and Jolie). The smoke was really bad in Redding, we thought we were camping around a campfire. We got to Portland/Hillsboro around 6ish on Saturday night and we brought the heat with us. Yes, it was hotter than Fresno here. . . and there is no air conditioning. However, today we were saved by a most beautiful thunder, lightning, and rain shower. It was georgeous and smells way better than smokey Cailfornia. We are having fun. We will fill you in later and post pictures!

Abigails 1st Home Video (not done at home)

Here's the video that we received during out 3D ultrasound.. It's fairly long (33 min.) but it shows movement and more facial expressions. It's the full video which includes the still shots that were taken and some rewinds that the guy did to make it look like she was talking. She's about 30 weeks old (or maybe it's -10 weeks).

It is really cool and exciting to see her move and the strong heartbeat is very reassuring.

Josh

Baby Abigail Lauren Mikow

Ok, so we've been very excited about this day. We are so excited to be able to bring you more pictures and video of our baby girl, Abigail Lauren Mikow, that is coming in September. The actual video will come later and will show the heartbeat and other fun moments.

Hopefully you'll enjoy these as much as we do.





Abigail's Daddy!!

East Coast Vacation Pictures

Finally, after many, many hours I have finished a photo book of our East Coast Vacation. It was really fun to put it together, it was like scrapbooking but without all the pretty paper and on the computer. I have a feeling this is not my only book that I create. We took 2,361 between the two of us and i have to filter through all those pictures, only 349 made it into the book. So this link is for those who won't see the actual printed copy of our 100 page book.

http://www.mypublisher.com/bookshelf/bookviewer.py?d=tq%3Ey-cppl%60je%3E3366837

This is me

This is what i look like at 27 weeks pregnant.

More work on the house

As Josh had mentioned earlier we are working on both spare bedrooms, one nursery and one guest room. We made a lot of progress yesterday, both rooms are clear of carpet, wallpaper, wood paneling, and the beautiful popcorn ceiling. Now there is a nice echo in the rooms when you talk, it's amazing how much carpet and furniture absorb sound.

And no Josh is not coming out of the closet!

Where we hope to be. . . . someday

My parents finally got the chance to pay off and burn their mortgage. My parents decided to include the whole family in the momentous occasion of striking a match and burning the paperwork. Here a few pictures to remind us that in 20-30 years we too can burn our mortgage.

How I know my wife loves me

Ok, so I know that my wife loves me and I gave her the opportunity ;-) to prove it tonight. I don't need her to prove it, but I had no choice but to let her prove it to me.


Here's what happened.

We're in the middle of remodeling our 2 smaller bedrooms in our house to prepare for the coming baby. One will be the nursery and the other is a guest room for when family or friends are in town and need a place to stay.


Side note - Steph's mom is recovering from a pretty major surgery yesterday and Steph took the turn of staying with her overnight on Friday. She'll (Steph's mom) get to go home on Saturday but they wanted to have someone be with her overnight, just in case. Steph was with her at the Fresno Surgery Center (about 1 mile away from our house).


We're pretty much done with the demo on the nursery and I decided, since Steph wasn't home (or I was not thinking straight), that I would start working on the guest room. At this point we hadn't moved anything out of the room and we need to get the demo done quickly as we have our annual rummage pickup next week and we want to get the carpet out of the rooms by the end of the weekend.


I started working around 9:30pm after about 30-45 minutes of Mario Kart (I had to get in the mood to work apparently). I turned on some music and starting moving some of the big items out of the room (bed, 1 bookcase, shelving of storage for Steph's yarn and some other small items). I then decided to start pulling off the "fake" wood paneling (it was actually real birch!).


As this came off easier and cleaner (single pieces) than I expected I kept working. I quickly ran into the issue of needing to put the paneling somewhere so I could keep working. I decided to put the paneling in the street in front of our house where it will be picked up next week. This was a great plan since that is where I'd take it anyways.


As I was taking a big piece out to the street (around 11pm) I swung the front door closed behind me and it closed all the way. Typically our door does not close easily, but this time it went ahead and fully closed. This wouldn't have been a problem if the door handle wasn't locked. I checked all other ways into our house and it was successfully locked all around. The worst part, I had no phone on me and no way to get a hold of my wife.


I knew that I had no choice but to go to a neighbors house and borrow their phone to call her. Luckily our neighbor to the south had their lights on and I saw movement. I lightly knocked on the door and they answered. I used their cell phone to call Steph and explain what happened. I told her I had gone outside and the door closed to easily (as it never does). She was curious when I added that I had a surprise for her when she got there.


So, here's how I know my wife loves me. She had just laid down and turned over ready for bed (covers and all!). Her and the baby were ready for bed and were quickly headed to dreamland. She made her way home to save me and let me back into the house. She was surprised to see that I had started the demo on the guest room, but still just laughed at the situation.


My wife loves me sssooooo much! I totally appreciate everything she does for me and how she's willing to save me when needed. I definitely owe her one!


I just felt I had to share my story of how my wife proved that she loves me once again! I'm glad to know she's there for me, even at almost 6 months pregnant.



Josh



P.S. - On a good note I got to see the sprinklers in action as they started right as I got locked out. I know for sure that after a full cycle that some of our plants are getting plenty of water.