There was a crooked man. . .

Who walked a crooked mile.
He found a crooked sixpence
Against a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat
Which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together
In a crooked little house.

What the nursery rhyme leaves out is that the crooked little house they lived in is ours!!

When Steve redid our kitchen, the cabinets gave him no end of headaches as he realized just how crooked they were. The backsplash we put in was pretty amusing when we ended up with one side that fit perfectly and the other that needed a crooked mosaic boarder to finish it up.

Now on to the basement and what do ya know. It wasn't just the cabinets. Whole walls are crooked, which makes measuring and drywalling, and flooring, etc. a nightmare - for Steve. Since I am not the one carefully measuring to just to find that the part I measured is over an inch off of another part on the same wall, I find it somewhat amusing. Seriously though, what can you do but laugh at some of this stuff??

**In other news, we now are carpet free on all of our stairs! My dad's "Norris List" included removing the terrible, nasty carpet from the stairs going up to our bedroom. That's the part he wanted to tackle first. Hooray! I may have said this before, but I am seriously almost the most excited to have that horrible carpet out of our house. It's disgusting. And now it's a step closer to being a thing of the past!**

Charlie and me

Our black lab, Charlie, is a real nut. We adopted him a year ago and had been told about some of his quirky behavior, but it's a different story to live with him! Last year the family that had fostered him told is if we were missing items, to check his kennel. They said he didn't chew on things (which after losing a pair of sandles, the top of a cowboy boot, and a few other things, was obviously not the full truth), but he likes to steal things and put them in his kennel.

In preparation for the baby, we have not been paying as much attention to the zoo. (Ok, so we've just been really busy with this basement remodel and a zillion other things going on.) As a result, they've needed to entertain themselves a bit more than normal. Here is a short list of some of the things Charlie has gotten into this past week :

*Emptying out, can by can, bags of recycling, and placing items under the dining room table
*Stealing a bunch of bananas from the kitchen counter, and placing 4 of the 5 at the top of the stairs (the 5th was initially thought to have been eaten, but was later found in the living room slightly bruised)
*Moving shoes, one at a time, to underneath the dining room table or in to the living room (See a trend? Shoes typically are mine and he rarely if ever takes a pair, he just takes one)
*Lounging on the couch (this one is new)
*Taking my toothpaste off of the bathroom counter and placing it at the top of the stairs
*Eating underwear (gross, right??? And yet another privilege reserved for his favorite person. . . )

Today before Steve left he found the toothpaste at the top of the stairs, underwear in the living room, shoes under the table, and Charlie on the couch, with a flip flop. He scolded Charlie for being on the couch and a bit later when he called the dogs to let them out before he left for work, Charlie didn't come. He found him curled up under Steve's desk looking a bit depressed. Apparently he knew he had been in trouble.

Rightie Tightie

The baby shows a definite preference from my right side. Sometimes, like last night, this is incredibly obviously. After a staff meeting yesterday, a woman I worked with even commented on it - and she had been sitting across the room! I get a huge kick out of this funny shaped belly! (And I'm curious if this has any correlation to future handedness. . .)

*Both pictures are from 33 weeks, 4 days*

Baby Shower!

Steve's aunt Barb and cousin Kathleen threw me a lovely shower on the 11th. There was family from both sides as well as a few of my best friends. The baby was given lots of lovely gifts that will be so helpful in just a few short months! Here are a few pictures from the day.

Hump day

Wednesdays are my day for catch - and if you saw our house, you'd be convinced I definitely need this day! Last Wednesday was my grandpa's funeral, so some of the weekly tasks didn't get done. Couple that with a busy weekend filled with birthing class and friends and I think I could use a whole week!!

Steve is still busy in the basement, spending almost all of his time out of work down there. Windows are installed, initial plumbing, electrical, mechanical, and framing inspections are passed, insullation is done (I think), and drywalling is well underway. Phew. Does that wear you out? It does me! Our friends Doug, Janel, and Peyton stopped by Saturday evening. Doug helped Steve get the insullation in and Janel, Peyton, and I hung out. We so appreciate the help!!

Here are a few pictures of the progress. The goal is for the drywall/mudding to be finished this weekend, at which point he'll turn his focus to completely finishing our bedroom down there. That'll allow us to move down to the basement so he can come out of the dungeon in to the attic so to speak to put down the new floors up there. (Then back to the basement for the bathroom, family room, and laundry room. It will be SOOO nice when it's finished!)

Home Depot Delivery - it was quite impressive!
Basement window insullation. Hopefully these will keep creepy crawlers out!
Surveying the bedroom.
Bedroom with insullation & partial ceiling
Future family room - Emmit is acting as tour guide


In addition to basement remodel, we've still got baby growth! Here are a few recent pictures. The bump is growing!



32 weeks, 5 days


33 weeks - with Gma Wilson. My dad gets back this coming Monday for some basement help prior to his trip up Nort', 'eh, so we'll have to get a picture of him with the bump!

21 Old Mil Salute

My grandpa passed away early Sunday morning. While it would have been nice for him to meet this baby, I was pretty satisfied that he lived long enough to know of this baby (let alone attend my wedding, know of graduation, be a long distance participant in house projects, etc.). He told me before our wedding that he would probably be dead and not be able to come and I said "We'll see," so when he told me that about being gone before this baby's birth, he got the same response. I do know that this is truly what he has been wanting since my grandma passed away almost 3 1/2 years ago, so for him, this was a very good thing.

Tuesday was the viewing and upon getting there, we found my grandpa in stripped bib overalls (that he had purchased for expressly this purpose years ago for $6.95), in a John Deere casket (Nothing runs like a Deere), with a funeral spray that had been adorned with construction tools (a hammer, giant pencil, tape measure, rulers, etc.), with a great grandkid boquet of M&Ms and ice cream cones nearby. Perfect. If that weren't personal enough, there was Old Milwaukee beer in the back to toast Gpa Norris with as that was a favorite of his (there's no accounting for taste, but let me tell you I was not crushed to have to decline - for the sake of my child).

Wednesday after the funeral service where memories were shared, my favorite through Heidi's "Where I'm From" poem, we headed out to the cemetary. After the brief service led by the pastor, my Uncle Dave announced that there would be a special toast to Norris, so hold tight. I sat there underneath the oak trees in this peaceful cemetary that my grandma, uncle, a plaque for my brother, and now my grandpa rest at almost laughing at the sound of people cracking in to cans of Old Mil. There was a toast to my grandpa and my uncle Maynard, who would have been 73 that same day. Later, we sang Happy Birthday for Maynard.

It was what a funeral should be - very personal with a good balance of laughter and tears. So next time you have an Old Mil, take a moment to think of my grandpa, or at least his 6 kids, most of his 19 grandkids, many great grandkids, and great grandson toasting him in a cemetary. It should bring a smile to your face too.

4th of July Baby BOOM!

In the past 10 days, 4 of baby Murrays friends (or cousins of friends, but we know (s)he will like SH very much!) have entered the world.

The first (on the 1st), made her appearance almost 2 months before she was expected. Our good friends Ginger & Marek welcomed their daughter Zula, weighing a whopping 3 lb 10 oz at 32 w 4 d. We went to meet her last Friday and she is tiny and beautiful! It was sooo surreal seeing a baby the size that ours is outside of the womb. I don't know what I think our baby looks like, but Zula looks like a real baby, much more so than I've been able to imagine! Seeing her tiny little movements was also amazing as they correlate with the sensations I feel as Baby Murray wiggles and jiggles around. So cool.

The second is the cousin of Eliana, who also came a little early (just a few weeks) on the 4th. She's a little 5 lber and looks so adorable. It'll be fun to eventually meet her. :o)

The third made a surprise arrival in his parents living room!!! I LOVE this story (and can't wait to hear the rest). Little Eli came, you guessed it, a few weeks early, and gave his mom the home birth she has wanted, although I think the circumstances probably weren't quite as they'd excepted since they had planned on a hospital birth. He's a book club babe and we can't wait for him to join us!

The fourth (phew) made an early arrival at just shy of 37 weeks to our good friends Brent & Jenny. Jenny had lectured their little girl on needing to stay put as they were in the process of selling their house & buying another. Closing ended up taking place in the hospital and little Rachel proved to have a mind of her own. She's another little one at 5lb 10 oz.

We're so excited for all of our friends and are thrilled that our kiddo will have so many playmates nearby. Now, if only our child proves to be a leader and decides against coming early like everyone else seems to be doing. . . If all the cool kids jumped off a bridge, would you do so too? I didn't think so. Listen to your mommy. ;o)

Troll Feet

I've heard them referred to as "sausage toes" and "Pillsbury Dough Boy feet," but in our house, they're troll feet. The lovely, swollen effect of pregnancy at the end of the day. For me, my left foot falls victim more severely than my right - I've heard that it's because the baby hangs out on my right, thus limiting the amount of fluid that can get down in to my right leg. Who knows. I thought I'd share a picture though - this isn't even at their worst as they'd been elevated, but it shows the difference between right and left. Lovely, huh??



In other news, Grandma Wilson was visiting recently. We took tons of pictures of our exciting visit, or just one the morning she left. Whatever. :o) We had a great, relaxing time. Had the visit down to see my grandpa, spent a lot of time knitting, and just enjoyed time together. I didn't even put her to work on the office as intended since I'd done such a good job myself. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to have an early morning picture of the 3 of us, but we've gotta get at least one recent one of the bump with his/her gma!



Finally, this week has been very exciting for the Murrays. We got a huge delivery of basement stuff from Home Depot, Steve passed the electrical inspection, and I passed the EPPP!!!!! Oh happy day! It is a huge relieft to know that I won't need to focus on that after the baby is born, or ever again for that matter. Hooray! That was a wonderful letter to come home on Thursday night, especially lafter we used my possible failing as an example of still accepting ourselves in situations like that. Now I get to come in and say I'm not a failure, so there! ;o)

(I had planned on using it as a wonderful example in the journal I'm keeping for the baby about how things like this don't determine our self worth, we'll love him/her in spite of any hiccups/"failures" along the way, what's important is that you did your best, blah blah blah. I did give that speech the day before I took the test - but upon finding out was able to just say "your mommy passed!" Much more fun.)

Just a few hurdles left and I'll get to add mommy and L.P. to my title!


31 weeks, 4 days, a front view

31 weeks, 4 days

Falling Behind

29 weeks 4 days

Week 29 was another one that zipped by. Work was busy, hormones were fluctuating -there were tears over moving furniture around in the house because I got confused. Sigh.

30 weeks with the soon-to-be 96-year-old Great Grandpa Keenan

Saturday my mom and I went down to Stewartville to spend some time with my grandpa. The drive wore me out and I ended up napping for part of the time, but it was good to see him and talk with him about the baby. I may not get back down before the baby comes due to work and weekend commitments followed by travel limits in August, so it's crazy to think that the next time I see him may be with a baby. Wow. He turned 96 on Tuesday, just 4 years 'til Willard Scott will wish him happy birthday.


30 weeks 4 days

And here we get to today. Again, not a ton has been going on. My mom is in town, which is great, but it's been too fast, as usual. Work gets in the way on visits, it's hard to juggle everything. I ended up getting myself motivated enough to do a lot of office purging before she got here, so she wasn't subjected to that. She did order the fabric for our diaper bag though and I am super excited, it will be very cute!! We spent time knitting (I finished a special project I've been working on for my nephew since October - now to get to the post office), watched a few movies, ran some errands, and enjoyed time with each other as well as other friends & family. She heads back Friday, but like I said, work gets in the way and our time is coming to an end. She'll be back up the last week in August, right before the arrival of Baby Murray. Hard to believe how quickly that'll be here!