Remodeling, aka Demolding

This past week we've had the interesting experience of having to live with no kitchen, since we were in the process of getting it remodeled. Of course, when we bought the house we had really no intention of redoing the kitchen (which was never perfect, but good enough to not need a redo), but unfortunately due to some leaks, our base cabinets started to warp and it forced us to change them out. I was excited about the new kitchen, but also a little resentful that we would have to spend money that we didn't plan on spending when we bought the house....until we saw what was hiding from us. When the contractor (who was EXCELLENT, by the way) pulled out our cabinets, it turned out that the walls were literally COVERED in mold. I can't even believe that we've been living with that stuff in our house for the last year, and I can't tell you all how excited I am that it's gone before little H gets here. Here are some pictures, so you can see the actual damage, which was extensive. This is the corner of the wall, which was basically an empty space:

And here's the full wall:
As you can imagine, our house smelled VERY badly, and it suddenly dawned on me that the musty smell that I have not been able to clean out of the house since we bought it was not to be blamed on the dogs, but rather on this nasty mold. And the great thing is that now that smell is TOTALLY gone, it's made such a huge difference in the air quality. Oh, and not only was the sheetrock molded, but the insulation and the studs, which also all had to be ripped out, leaving us with block walls in our kitchen for one night, which led us to the next interesting discovery:Yes, you're seeing right, that's a beer can that has been MORTARED into the block wall. Hmm, wonder what the guys who built this place were doing on the job? Anyway, the good news is that it's all done and it looks AMAZING, even though the cabinets still need to be painted, handles and knobs still need to be put on, and we still need to run the hardwood floors into the kitchen. Really none of that matters for now, since that SMELL is finally gone. Here are some before and after pictures of our kitchen. Here are the before pictures:

And the afters:

SOOO much better, right?!? I guess it's just one of the many steps we're taking to make our house a safer and better place for little H...if only he knew. :)

Past the point of no return

Why "the point of no return", you say? Well, because I finally made it to the 24 week mark (last week, actually)!!! What that means is that little H is actually viable outside of the womb! Not only that, but I'm FINALLY into my last trimester!! Although he might struggle a bit with underdeveloped lungs and other organs, if something outrageous happened that caused me to go into premature labor, little H could be born and survive. How incredible is that?!? I've been feeling him move A LOT lately, and I can tell that he's getting bigger and bigger by the day. In fact, I love it when he moves because it reminds me that he's there and also, I feel, is helping me "bond" with him a bit. I know it sounds silly, but I feel like just feeling him move is giving me a window into his personality and is beginning the bonding process between us. I love it! He's very active, in fact, and even big H has felt him move on numerous occasions, which are becoming more and more frequent by the day. I can't tell all of you how grateful I am for your thoughts and prayers, and please keep them coming, just a few more months and we'll all have the amazing opportunity to give little H all the kisses we want!! I CAN'T WAIT!!

Oh, and even though I've been pretty slack with the weekly pics (sorry!!), here's me at 24 weeks...QUITE different than 21, right?!? And the best news of all...STILL NO STRETCH MARKS!! :)

The return home

I've been really lazy lately (no other good excuse), so it's taken me a while to get this post up. In any case, I had the chance to visit my family in Augusta a few weeks ago, and I wanted to put up some pictures from that visit. It was such a good visit, and it made me so happy to get to "show off" my pregnant belly. I also got my hair cut, and it was WAY PAST TIME for that to happen, so I feel a bit more like myself again. I enjoyed seeing family, and even though I contracted some ridiculously painful upper respiratory infection and was confined to the house for two days straight, it was totally worth it to get to see my Dad and Lillie and all of my brothers, as well as some other good friends and family along the way (MKB, Krischan, Father John, Bethany and Conor, among others). I also got to have lunch with my Mom, which was extra special since she doesn't live in Augusta. Here are some pics I hope you enjoy. (Oh, and please keep in mind that I was suffering from some severe respiratory issues, so my face and nose, and everything else, appears swollen.)
This one is from the Japanese restaurant we visited for my dad's birthday...it's a Dad/daughter moment:And here's us all together, me, Dad, and the boys:

And lastly, here's me and Bethany, my step-niece, after our yummy breakfast at Waffle House...we were both apparently striking a pose :)

All in all, it was a really good time. In spite of my crazy nasal/chest issues, I got to make some homemade pizza with Beth and Conor, I got to take my dad and Jarett (my brother) to dinner for their birthdays, and I got to spend some good quality time with my family. Still, the title of this post is a bit ironic, because the truth is that I felt more like I was returning home when I was driving back here to Gville than I did upon the return to Augusta. We all know the saying "home is where the heart is", and I guess that since my heart is always with H, for me the saying should be more like "home is where H is"...and soon, that H can be squared. :)