Mr. Handyman

David was working on the primer/trim/paint for the new windows he's installing in our house and he looked so cute I just HAD to get a picture.



Doesn't he look like a cartoon or video game character in his overalls?! I love it!

Time Flies!

...and before I know it, I have less than 5 weeks until my due date! Yipes!



This is our 35 week picture. The nursery is slowly looking more like a baby's room and less like a storage area for old paperwork, books, and other random items. Hooray!

Gettin' Away

David and I are going to the Youth Worker's Retreat this weekend at Delano Bay Christian Camp (up by Seattle, WA). I've never been to this camp before, but I'm looking forward to getting away for a couple of days and being enriched and energized for ministry!



Perhaps I will have some stories to share upon our return!

Under the Weather

I didn't come to work today until lunch time. I started to feel the beginning stages of a cold yesterday and when I got home last night I crashed on the couch for an hour. My throat was raw, my head was dense and heavy, and my body felt like it had been steamrolled (except my belly, which was protruding and moving around, as usual.) This pic kinda' represents how I felt.



I slept until 8 this morning and then spent the early part of the day taking it easy at home. I finished a book I was reading for book club (The Twentieth Wife) and did a bit of laundry. By lunch, my throat was starting to feel a lot better but I still am achy and my head feels compressed...

Curse you, immune system - you have failed me 3 times this cold season!

"Sibling" Rivalry

Little Rude will be welcomed into our family sometime in the near future, but it is important to note that he is not the first "baby" at our house. We got our Labradoodle, Tucker, in May of last year and he'll be about a year and-a-half when his little "brother" arrives. We are already seeing signs that there will be some jealousy/competition/rivalry going on in our home.



First, let me say that Tucker is great around babies and kids from what we have seen. He seems to know to be more gentle with tiny people and he is never aggressive or possesive of anything like his food or toys. The only problem is that he gets very excitable around youngin's - wanting to chase them when they run, and sniffing and licking all over them. Also, he is a very attention-seeking creature. When David and I are hugging or snuggling on the couch he has to weasel his way in-between us. Also, he will whine incessantly if we separate him in a room by himself when we are at home. He has to follow us everywhere we go (which is why I think he should have been named Shadow.) Anyway, these are all reasons that lead me to believe that there will be some challenging times for the Rude family in the near future.

As our house is slowly accumulating items of the baby-nature, we think that Tucker is becoming aware of an impending threat... He furiously sniffed the Pack n'Play set we brought home a couple of weeks ago, and he watched intently as we assembled it in the living room. I left a small stack of baby socks on the couch the other day, and when I got out of the shower, I noticed that many of the pairs had been separated and scattered in various places around the room. Last weekend, my mom brought over a cute pair of tiny shoes that I placed on the coffee table while we went down to the basement to look at something. When we came back upstairs, we found one of the wee shoes on the floor covered in slobber with the shoelace completely removed and chomped on! Such mischief! - and it only seems to be directed towards Baby Rude's stuff!

I borrowed a book that addresses the subject of introducing a new baby to your dog, and it offers advice for preparing your pet for the transition. I hope the pointers will work, otherwise, I may have some interesting blog posts to share in the near future...

Home Improvements - 2nd Nursery Window

We're taking baby steps in getting the nursery prepared. (Get it? "baby steps" because it's a room for a baby, and those are the kind of steps they take... ha ha...ha....ha...phew...yeah...) Anyway, with the big window already in place, it was time for the smaller window to get an upgrade.


David begins removing the old window.



...and he likes to be dramatic.



The new window is in place. (I didn't have very good lighting for this pic, and the condensation is on the outer storm window that needs to be removed...but you get the idea)



With the new windows, our old blinds will no longer fit, so I'm going to have to come up with some type of window covering. We've done the bedsheet thing for about a year now, so it might be time for something a bit less ghetto...

Kids Are Cute!

The younger kids from the Wednesday night classes at our church put on a production of Noah's Ark last week. I firmly believe that there are few things cuter than children dressed as animals (see previous post "Total Adorableness"). The performers did a wonderful job and the audience was highly entertained!







Genesis 7:1-5
1 The LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth. 4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made."
5 And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.


In comparison to Noah, it certainly seems like God asks very little of me...

6 Weeks to D-day!

...and by "D-day" I mean "Delivery Day"! Well, actually it's "Due Date", because who knows when this little guy is going to make his appearance!

Here we are in the nursery at 34 weeks!



We are getting excited to meet you Baby Rude!

Total Adorableness!

I'm not sure why I never realized this before, but there is absolutely nothing cuter in the "world of baby" than jumpers/jackets/snowsuits/hats with wee ears on the top!

How can you resist this?!



I mentioned in a previous blog that we have started receiving hand-me-down clothes from friends/family for Baby Rude, and I am ever-so-delighted when I find an item with this "bonus feature." Maybe I should get crafty and start stitching little ears on all his clothes... How presh would that be?!

Home Improvements - Kitchen/Dining Windows

David has been working hard on his days off and in the evenings, and there has been more progress around our house! His focus lately has been our kitchen and dining room area. Although our house was built in the 1920's, there was a "dining nook" addition made sometime later in the century, and it was built pretty poorly. There was no insulation in the crawlspace below this portion of the house and lots of cold air came up through the floor. David braved the small space, darkness, and bugs(!) to take care of that issue!



After insulating, he was then was ready to address the cheap metal windows. Our kitchen window had actually been broken before we moved in (there were still some pieces of glass around the sill) so the only thing separating the room from the chilly outdoors was a thin storm window - not very effective!

The old metal frame and storm window in the kitchen comes out!



A new vinyl window takes its place!



David measures the old single-pane dining room window (while making a dramatic face).



There is a large hole in the wall.



...and the new window is in place!




When I put my hands in front of the glass, I no longer feel a cold draft - it's like magic! =)

Home Improvements - Nursery Window

The window work continues at the Rude house, and David might even get them all installed before the baby arrives! In fact, the nursery was next on his list and he started with the bigger window in front.

The old wooden window before it is removed... not sure if you can see the cracks.



The new vinyl window that opens with ease!



Front view of the house. (new window on left, old window on right) David is removing the metal frame from the old storm window.




The nursery also has a smaller window on the side that he is hoping to tackle later this week! Just a bit of trim and some paint and Baby Rude's room will be ready to go! ...well...after I clean and organize and get the furniture in there... hee, hee.

Baby Par-tay!

I've been reminded lately of the need to thank God for all the blessings He's put in my life. That was the topic of the sermon on Sunday at our church and also the discussion at our Life Group that night. I try to remember to thank Him for my family and friends in every prayer, and I was especially made aware of my appreciation for these people in my life over the past weekend. Our friend Suzie was in town and she collaborated with Jamie and Amanda to throw a co-ed shower for Baby Rude. It was simply FANTASTIC!

Here are some pics and highlights from the event:

A sample of the food/decorations/festivities - Suzie is so creative! (There were over 150 wee diapers in the "cake")



Some of the guests chillin' before the par-tay gets started!



E'lana shows her skills during one of the games!



David got 100% in the baby food tasting competition!



We received many wonderful gifts. It was suggested that this baby tub could also double as a snow sled! (I'm worried that David will actually try it!)



The Mag7 Girls (except Anna) together again!



Everyone wants to touch the belly!




Thanks friends for being so fun and generous! Also, Baby Rude just nudged me and wanted to let you know that he sends his love as well!

Home Improvements - Bedroom Windows

After the roof, the next big project that David is tackling at our house is the replacement of our windows. Our little home was built in 1925 and it still has the original wooden-frame windows throughout (with the exception of the "dining nook" addition which has cheap metal-frame windows.) These ancient panes do little to insulate our residence and we saw the effects of this in our natural gas bill this winter - yikes! Many of the windows are cracked, only 2 of them have screens, and most of them I can't even open - years of warping and layers of paint have practically sealed them closed!

We got quotes from a couple of local window manufacturers and installers and found them to be waaaaay out of our price range! We debated about what we should do until a contractor from our church referred us to a supplier of vinyl windows and offered to let us use his discount. What a deal! David got all the specs and measurements and we mapped out all the details before we placed the order. Who knew there was so much to consider?! - size restrictions, style, color, latch type, installation type, direction of slide, number of panes, etc.

After our order arrived, David got to work right away. He said it's actually not that difficult to swap the windows out because the type we selected is easy to work with.

Here is one of the old windows in our bedroom.



This is the replacement vinyl window - much nicer!



All that's missing is a bit of trim and some touch-up paint!

Home Improvements - Roof

David and I bought our little bungalow almost a year ago now, and we are slowly plugging away at the repairs. ...and when I say "we," I really mean David, because he's the one who really does all the work! I just help provide the cash to back the projects and sometimes throw a paintbrush around or help clean up the messes.

Anyway, the big project of 2008 was replacing our roof. When we originally looked at the house, we knew that this would be one of the areas we would need to address, and we figured that we should try to get it done before winter. We saved up the money for the supplies and David rolled up his sleeves.

David starts removing the old shingles on the back of the house.



Several of David's "brothers" from the Kingsmen service club at Cascade College come over to help with the demo work.



David and Troy, a friend from church, replace plywood and lay paper.



The new shingles are looking good!



David also rebuilt the overhangs on the ends of the house. Here, I caught him with the primer-sprayer-gun (technical name) in hand.



David hangs the new gutters while Tucker supervises and sniffs the tools on the ground.




SPECIAL NOTE/BONUS STORY: My involvement in the roof project was very minimal. I was in my first trimester of pregnancy when the work began and was strictly forbidden from climbing a ladder. Also, I was very sick and spent a lot of this time laying on the couch. My major contributions included providing water and food for the workers, cleaning shingles and staples from the yard, and playing photographer. I recall one day in particular when several guys from church were over to help with the plywood replacement. There was much stomping and pounding echoing through the house and I had a terrible headache for which we had no medicine that I could take. I retreated to the bedroom, turned out the light, put a pillow over my ears, and secured an ice pack on my brow. The awful racket from above was relentless! I was actually crying at one point because I was in such pain and increasing nausea. I was so appreciative of the assistance of our friends, and knew that they were sacrificing their time to help us in making great progress with the house, but I seriously had thoughts of pushing them all off the roof! - Didn't they know there was a sick, prego lady in the house who was about to die from head-explosion?! Anyway, I think I score some points for enduring the effects of the work that day.


In conclusion, I'm glad that my hubby is such a handy-man and works so hard for us! More improvements shall follow...

Our Little Rude

Yesterday we had an ultrasound to confirm the due date for Baby Rude. It appears that he is growing right on track with the estimated arrival date of April 10th. I was excited to get to take a little peek at him again! His heart is so much bigger now and his frame is starting to fill out too. I think he actually looks a bit like David in his profile shot:



Our little guy was very cooperative for the technician and only kicked her Doppler wand once during the exam. I think this is indication that he will be a very well-behaved young man. =)

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

We have now passed the 32 week mark and are quickly approaching Baby Rude's arrival. We have an ultrasound this afternoon to take measurements of his growth and progress. At our 20 week ultrasound, he was measuring about 12 days ahead of his initial due date so we made an adjustment at that point. Now our doc wants to get another evaluation so we can have a more concrete idea about when we should expect him. I will share those results when we get them...

Here we are in the nursery:



In other baby news, David and I spent a romantic Valentine's Day attending a 6-hour Birth Preparation class. I was expecting a lot of cheesy awkwardness but it actually turned out to be quite enjoyable and informative. We got to learn about our birthing options and watched several delivery videos. I'm glad I wasn't the only one sheepishly wiping my eyes after watching those emotional moments when families welcomed a little miracle into their lives. Several of the other ladies had to get kleenex and I think I caught David nonchalantly rubbing his cheeks. In our class, we also learned techniques to cope with labor pains, the roles of the labor support person, and all the nitty gritty details about bringing a baby into the world. Next week we'll learn about breastfeeding and caring for a newborn. I'm glad we got all the blood and needles business over with - bring on the baby dolls!

So how about that weather?

After many days of glorious sunshine, we're back to the now-usual rain/snow business.



I may be smiling, but I'm not a fan!

Seaside Trip - Day 3

Sadly, all good vacations must come to an end. I could have stayed in Seaside for weeks - I never get tired of the ocean! Our real lives were waiting for us in Portland though, so we had to pack up and head home.

One last view from our room.



The next time we come to the beach, we'll have a little Rude with us!



David made a friend at the Carousel Mall, but I wouldn't let him come home with us.



A final stroll along the shore.



To end our trip on a traditional note, we purchased some saltwater taffy and chocolate covered seafoam to eat on the drive back. Hooray for sugar!

Seaside Trip - Day 2

It was simply delightful to wake up to the sound of rolling waves late this morning. I could see that there were lots of people out strolling along the shore and I kicked back and watched from the comfort of our balcony. It was already sunny and warm (I think it got up to 70 degrees today!) and a little old man made me smile when he called out "you have a nice day young lady," as he passed by on the walkway below.

David and I spent the day relaxing, walking the beach, exploring the quaint little shops, enjoying a pizza lunch, watching surfers at the cove, meeting his brother for a Mexican dinner, sharing a sundae at the Pig n' Pancake, and then chillin' some more in our room. David made some friends at the hotel pool but Baby Rude and I decided that we didn't feel like squeezing into a swimsuit!

Morning fog on an otherwise clear day!



I found a whole crab shell!



David leads the way!



We couldn't have asked for better weather!



Watching the ducks.



Lots of surfers enjoyed the waves at the cove.



I could really get used to this vacation thing!