progress

Baby progress is this: I have gained 16 pounds in the last six weeks. That is more than I have gained in pregnancy combined up to six weeks ago. Eep. :| But, I know right where it is going because Emmas toes can reach my ribs. And I have a LONG waist. Really. My mom is four inches shorter than i am, and we wear the same lenght of pants. Most of my body is in the middle, which has been great for keeping me from looking like a beach ball. Ive got more the watermelon shape going on. But that means Emma is getting big, and fast. I also think that she likes the homemade peanutbutter cups that have been my daily snack this week. :D

Home progress is this: Jason finished the edges around the rosebushes, and we were only one block short. It looks so nice on that side of the yard now. He worked on that end of the retaining wall too- so it has at least one row all the way to the back fence. (Now the hard part starts, because all the way across the back will need dug back away from the grass to lay the blocks.) I know that it wont be finished this year, we just dont have the time or the money for it, but I am sure that next year it will be done and it will look great. I really liked the back at the old house, but I love it here.

And about the old house: We had some issues there this weekend, which after cooling on it for five days, I feel better about. The old subdivision aparently has a problem with pint sized vandals. Friday afternoon or evening three children carried three gallons of paint, two rollers, three brushes, a paint tray, hammer and nails into the back yard and painted the inside of our playhouse. Polkadotted. They also tore the doorbell off of the front of the house, and nailed it to the gate leading into the back yard. We found this at 1230am Saturday, Jason sat up in bed and realised we had left the sprinkler on since wednesday evening. This isnt really a big deal because it is irrigation, and our back yard is the floodplain for the whole sub. So the only damage would be a big puddle in the yard. We got up and drove over to shut it off and found the paint in the playhouse, and the doorbell on the fence. The next morning we confronted parents untill we found a house where a little girl (with paint on her face) confessed to her dad what she had done that evening, and who had been there with her. She was the polkadotter. When we spoke to the other parents, they either a) didnt seem to care or b) didnt think their child was involved, despite the tattlings of one of the kids involved. These are 6-3 graders. Two girls and a boy. What kind of parents are they? The little girl who was caught, was very sorry. She knew what they had done was wrong, even though they were only trying to improve the looks of "their clubhouse." Her parents wanted to do whatever possible to make up for it (their child did the least amount of the damage. None of the supplies were hers, she didnt destroy the doorbell, she simply swept out the playhouse, and painted polkadots on the walls.) We didnt feel that it would be fair to have her help s paint when the other two were getting away with no punishment, so we asked her to help us finish sweeping out the place. While back there, she told us everything thats been going on while the house has been empty; how the fence boards have been breaking, why the shed has been open (michael is tall enough to jump and reach the latch, then climbs the shelves and crawls through the trusses like a tunnel or swings from them like they are monkeybars.) She was a wonderfull informant. :)

We filed a police report, incase the next dammage that is done (that I dont think the little girl will be involved in, but I am sure the others might) is more expensive, say, they paint the house instead of the inside of the playhouse. Or they break the gate trying to get it open now that we have taken the latch off the outside. Or they damage the shed doors trying to get the padlock off that we installed this weekend... this way insurance will be more willing to cover the damage.

The good that I think has come from all this happened Tuesday night. After talking to both our parents, and eachother, we have decided to drastically drop the price of the house inorder to sell it. Ours is the only home on the market in our size for less than 130 000 that has an entirely new interior, new exterior paint, and has not been lived in since things were replaced. All the rest currently have someone in them, or have not done a complete renovation to walls and floors like we did. It is also the largest lot that you can get in an established subdivision. We dropped the price enough (I hope) that this month it should at least get an offer. It is priced at 127 900. I think we made it a steal, I hope we did, because we are tired of spending all our extra time working on things at that house, when we have this one that is not complete, and Emma coming in just 86(ish)days. So pray for us, if you think of it, if you drive past a For Sale sign, or If you hear about someone who is looking for a starter home, or needs to downsize a bit, we have one that is just begging for a new owner. :)

There it is. The low down on things in this part of the world. Or rather, in the two mile raduis that I spend most of my life. Overall, I still have a good feeling about things, and Im sure that isnt the hormones of pregnancy, but I think it is a peace that things will work out in our favor. How have we managed even this much when I have been unemployed for the last six months? I have a big God.