Goodbye, Wisteria Lane...

We've been busy over the past couple of weeks. Nick used his winter break week to get lots done around the house, with baby's room as the major project. This back bedroom was the first room we painted after buying our house (it was Ninja-turtle green before we painted it a lovely purple shade called Wisteria...). We spent an evening taping and reminiscing about our first foray into do-it-yourself-dom. While I was at work, Nick primed, then Uncle Mick came over to help put the new color coat on.

We chose to paint baby's room yellow, and we'll be decorating with farm animals (guess who suggested that one...). I absolutely love the way it turned out. Uncle Mick was a huge help, and although it looked a lot brighter than the purple initially, it's great to see the room when the morning sun comes in - very bright and cheery, which is exactly what I'd pictured!

We also took a day to make a trek to Ikea for some new furniture. We ended up with a bookshelf, combo shelving-cabinet unit, and a dresser with a changing table top that can be removed when baby's beyond diapers. I put the pieces together last weekend, and the room is coming together - looking in there makes me wistful and excited at the same time - life's changing - it's no longer our guest room, or Anne's room, or the gift room, but yet another reminder that our baby will be here before we know it.

Speaking of Peanut/Bono, we had our 24-week checkup this week, and everything looks and sounds great. We feel truly blessed.

And how does your garden grow?

Ours grows pretty well! We've had a wonderful summer eating yummy organic veggies right from the backyard - lettuce and spinach, carrots, onions, tomatoes and squash! We even got more than 9 pounds of potatoes after planting some leftovers from the store. We combined our tomato haul from home with tomatoes from our Canadian garden, and have canned the past two weeks - sauces, salsa, and even a couple jars of pickles. We had a nice afternoon apple picking yesterday, so applesauce is the plan for this Saturday.

All hands on deck, part 2!

Well, now we're both back at school, but here's an update on how we spent the last days of our freedom (er, summer...). The deck is finished, and we've already used it 2000% more than we used the porch shell - we've had several nice dinners outside, and I've discovered that our wireless network extends to the porch. Now, all we need is a nice lounge chair for next summer! We also spent one afternoon changing out the address numbers on the front - a job which should have been fairly straightforward, but ended up necessitating retouching paint (which, of course, included a shopping trip to buy new paint that matched the faded siding color).

All hands on deck...

Hi there - a quick progress update on our deck. Nick spent a day sodbusting and digging holes for footings. Wednesday, he and his dad poured the concrete footings and did the framing for the deck. Work continues (weather permitting) tomorrow. We also happened upon a great bargain - we passed a house with a set of patio furniture for sale (they're moving), so we have a table and chairs just waiting for their finished deck!

This is the greatest sight these eyes have ever seen...

Ok, that may be a bit of an overstatement, but not by much. We've been back from our trip for almost two weeks now. Jet lag ruled the first week - we'd be tired at 10 or 11, but be unable to sleep until 2 or 3. It turns out you can watch a lot of House Hunters at 2 in the morning. We're both feeling much better now, and today was a day I've hoped for for nearly two years. Nick made headway in the past week with dismantling the porch shell, and today, with his dad's help, the porch is no more! They've outlined the deck, and plan to install footings today. Yay!