Welcoming Baby Oliver!

Wow! Sorry for the delay in photos, but I feel like the Fresh Prince. My life got flipped, turned upside-down. The past two weeks have been unreal. We had a very happy, healthy pregnancy and delivery, but we did spend a few extra days in the hospital(s). The good news is that everyone is home now and thriving. Here are a few photos for the grandparents. I know you've been (im)patiently waiting. 

Oliver Adam, one week old. Look at that face! He's such a little Adam!

He can't get enough of his hands. He just absolutely loves to devour them!

Oliver, you picked the most beautiful time of year to be born, just as the leaves are changing for the new season. Also, did you know that you were born midway between our birthdays? I am September 24, Adam is November 16, and you fit right in on October 20.

It's not all sunsets and golden foliage, though. We're going to need more diapers ASAP.

Happy Halloween! 

We don't fit into all of our Halloween outfits yet, but we promise to wear them at Christmas.

Oliver weighed 6 pounds, 9.8 ounces at birth. The nurses were impressed, because he was exactly 3000 grams, but I'm not surprised. My sweet little perfect metric baby! I would expect nothing less.

He was born at 38 weeks, 5 days, just 9 days shy of his due date. His weight put him at about the 25th percentile, but his length shot him up over into the 75th+ percentile. Can't you tell? He has such long arms and legs, and he knows how to use them! And anyway, with the way he's eating now, he'll be back up to speed in no time. 

It should be noted that this kid knows how to relax. (And how to pose!) Please ignore the flaking skin. He's in a bit of a molting phase right now.

We're tired and happy and loving every minute. This little guy has moved right into our hearts.

Operation Bathroom is Complete

A lot has happened since our last bathroom post, but we will fast forward a little bit. It might appear that Nicole wrote this post based on the byline, but I assure you that the poor sentence structure and awkward phrasing is all Adam. Let's move on....

We planned to tile the tub surround on a Saturday and grout on following Sunday. Easy, right? 

 Our pattern took a little while to establish and it was helpful to have it laid out. 

The tile saw was very easy to use. Props to Dave K for lending us the supplies. 

Working late into the night, we realized that this would not be a simple weekend job. Tensions ran high at times, but Oskar Blues was there to help ease the pain. 

The next day we worked to finish the tiling and even though it was taking longer, the impending outcome kept our spirits high. 

Drilling holes into tile was so much easier than I expected. I could drill holes like these all day. 

Grout work began the following Saturday. Several rest periods were mandatory for all the pregnant women of the house. 

The shower surround was finally complete. 

On Sunday we started laying the floor tile.  

It went so fast that we had time to visit Dave's Brewfarm later that afternoon.

All the heaviest work was complete and it was time to finish this damn thing. Nicole was put on trim painting patrol. 

Fast forward again and we are done with this stupid bathroom. Thankfully it looks great. 

 Here are some after and before shots.

This project was 90% the great work of our contractor, Brad Johnson. He worked quickly and with a strong dedication to quality. We can't recommend him enough. 

We complained for years about the bathroom and would like to thank the little man below for inspiring us to complete it before he arrived. 

Get used to this face, because you will be seeing a lot of him on this blog. 

Full Term!

We've finally reached 37 weeks, which is apparently full term. Yes!! I'm doing much better with the weight gain the past few weeks, probably because I've been eating my apples with caramel and my carrots with cake. 

I'm not entirely sure how I feel posting a bare belly photo, so you only get black and white. Trust me, it's still a little creepy to me, too.

Adam was feeling left out of all the photo fun, so sometimes we like to switch up the subjects.

Even Pickles gets in on the action.

Fall is on the way, especially this weekend. I'm still debating whether to completely decorate for Halloween and buy candy. There's a good chance we won't be home to pass out treats, and then we'd just have to eat bags of bulk candy ourselves. Hard to decide...

Today was so beautiful that we finally worked up the courage to take TJ (in memory) to his favorite park. We previously planted a tree for him, sprinkled his ashes on the farm, and made a space on the shelf to hold his remains, but this park was his (and our) absolute favorite. We could hardly stand to go back after he passed. But it was time. 

The sun came out when we got to the prairie, and we could hear the chickadees singing. I know people think they call fee-bee, fee-bee, but we always heard tee-jay, tee-jay. It's a bittersweet reminder of our buddy, but I'm glad for it.

This was our final walk with TJ. 

He was a very, very good dog.