Papa's hands

I love my Dad's hands. They are large, strong, calloused and capable of so much. During the short week that my Dad was staying with us, he accomplished so much with his hands to help us with our home.

We now have a parking spot off of the busy street that we live on, a gravel path through our backyard, pruned shrubs/trees, patched walls, working heater registers, outlet covers & light switch plates in place (yes, most of these were missing!), a window pane in our bedroom that's not held together with painters tape, curtain rods hung, working backyard gates, a bathroom mirror put up (no mirror had been left by the tenants), disconnected porch railings reattached, a new hose connected for our stove so we could create more space in the kitchen and so many more things. 

Out of all of that, one of the sweetest things to see his hands do was to hold his first granddaughter.

Thanks for everything Daddy!

Becoming a BIG brother

While we're all adjusting to our new addition, Luke is probably the one with the most adjusting to do ... it has amazed me how he seemed like such a little boy the moment we left him with my parents and headed to the birth center; and yet how when we saw him the next morning, he seemed absolutely HUGE.

Less than an hour after leaving home, Mabel arrives into the capable hands of our midwife (who arrived with only 3 minutes to spare!).

Luke's first time holding her -- he seems so so big! And that scares us a bit ... he's not quite sure of his role as big brother, but so far he seems to think it should involve lots of quick jabs at Mabel's face with his fingers. Poor Mabel. She is going to have to get tough fast!

Introducing ....

Miss Mabel Grace Schlafmann
Arrived Saturday September 12, 2015 @ 1:19 pm
Weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces and measuring 19 inches

Our room - updated!

We finally got to sleep in our room last weekend! After being set up in the dining/living room for 3 weeks with the prospect of the baby arriving any day, this is very exciting stuff!

Here's our room's progression --

During our walk-thru

When we moved in --

After getting ALL the peeling paint & plaster down -- really pretty :)

Repainted and moved in -- finally!

Ready to POP {@ 39 weeks}

We won a free promotional photo shoot from an acquaintance of mine who is starting a photography business (score!) and figured that although I'm huge right now, it might be nice to document this stage in our lives...

Here goes --

An unfinished basement revamped

Remember this scary looking place?

Jason & I have been working on converting it into something usable in time for my parents arrival this past Tuesday. Not an easy task in the midst of our other projects and life stuff .... but well worth it I think --  my parents arrived the night before last to stay in this:

Luke's room - a bit better (hopefully!)

We've been in our new space for nearly 3 weeks and the only real "completed" project has been Luke's room. Thank goodness we at least have that! I haven't had a chance to decorate it or do much with it, but it's a room that at least feels fresh & clean :)

Here's a few photos of the progression ...

When we visited the house while it was for sale.

When we moved in ...

Platform bed, "closet" and ceiling bucket list removed (plus about 200 glow-in-the-dark stars/moons that had been painted over many times - grr!) and a few coats of fresh paint added.

Now, with a few of Luke's (and #2's) things ...