Project 2 of 3: Bathroom Remodel

FINALLY our bathroom remodel is complete and we can move everything from the guest room back into our bedroom and sleep on our bed!!! It has seemed like a never-ending project but the end product is worth it. Below are the before and after pictures. This has been quite an interesting project as we tried to spend as little as possible, but get the best bathroom we could. Of course we are sure we are over budget (our contractor has not given us the final breakdown), but in the end it is worth it and should add value to the house.

Before After

Homework!

We attended our 2nd of 5 birth and labor classes this week. Angie was skeptical about returning after the first class when the teacher actually prompted the class full of pregnant woman to research the rising infant mortality rate in the US after a discussion of C-Sections. However, Paul was eager to return and learn more about how his baby girl would enter the world. And return we did! This week's class involved massages and relaxation exercises. Now it is Angie who is eager to continue to practice these massages on a nightly basis. We have to make sure we get it right, right?!?

Project 1 of 3: Deck Staining

The Deck Staining is complete! Paul worked hard in the North Carolina heat and Angie helped a bit (but used the baby bump as an excuse to avoid the hard work) and the result is a fantastic looking deck. We look forward to getting some grass in the yard and having a few cookouts.

Now we just need to get the bathroom and baby room complete, then come up with other stuff for the house, because a homeowner's work is never really complete!

There's no place like home...

We had a great time in New York this past weekend which pretty much consisted of pizza, bagels, pizza, broadway show, pizza, ice cream, bagels, ice cream, bridal shower, pizza, ice cream and bagels.

We went into the city Thursday night and saw Wicked on Broadway. This was a great show and we really got into it. In general it is the Wizard of Oz from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West. There were some inconsistencies which we pointed out to each other the whole way home, but it really was a fun show. After the show we walked through Times Square back to Penn Station. It is so much fun there, if we didn't have a train to catch I think we would have hung out longer and enjoyed all the lights and activity. We had to hurry though so that we would have time to grab ice cream for the train ride back to Long Island... and we made it. Angie's ice cream was the size of her head and yes, she finished it.

We went to Sandy's (Paul's sister) bridal shower on Saturday and in true Long Island fashion there were a ton a people and a ton of food. It was a huge family reunion until the boys were kicked out and the presents were opened. It was so great to see everyone and their growing families. There were a lot of kids and they were so cute it helped get us even more excited for August. The cake was fantastic!!! We are looking forward to seeing everyone again in October for the wedding.

Thanks to Joe, Cassie and Ryan for giving us a great place to sleep (best sleep in weeks) and to all our friends and family who came out to see us during our trip! We would love to be cliche and say 'there's no place like home' but we came back to more bathroom construction, no sleep and we miss the pizza and bagels.

Buffett 2009

Jimmy came to Raleigh in April so this post is a little belated, but we thought we would fill you in: We had a great time at the concert! Angie was 5 months pregnant at the time and this was really the first time we began taking pictures of the 'bump'. Our seats were also amazing... center section right behind the VIP section (not as good a front row in Jamaica... but still pretty good). It is certainly a different experience to tailgate, party and sing along with 'limitations', but the show was very energizing, it always is. We are hoping things are comfortable enough (for Angie) to travel to Charlotte in August to see the Counting Crows. Our seats are front row center (but behind the 'pit'). We will certainly be taking pictures of the 'BUMP' then! Sadly, we will not make it to the Buffett shows Labor Day weekend in Virginia. With Angie due August 30 this just does not seem practical :( - although if the baby was born during the concert we are sure that we would get a shout out from the stage!