The Final Countdown

Daniel and I are at 37 weeks as of yesterday, which means this crazy little family are at full term for this pregnancy!!! I can't hardly believe how quickly the time has flown by. I remember thinking back sometime around March or April that we had months and months before fall would hit and October would be coming around. We had all the time in the world to prepare to bring this human to life, and 9 months later...here we are. My body seems to have ballooned up these last couple of weeks, and the reality has begun to set in that Daniel and I will be responsible for more than just ourselves now. How wild.

Work has been so crazy this summer selling real estate, I've finally stepped back the last couple of days to breathe and relax a little. I'm such a busy body that feeling remotely bored is a whole new concept that I'm trying to embrace. I've most noticed the effects of relaxing at night. Shrek feet get super gnar-gnar-sausage-esque by evening time when I'm walking around all day, but the last couple of days...I've actually seen the difference of not being up and out! (In fact, I had to buy a couple of new pairs of shoes because my fatty toes wouldn't fit in my regular flats.)


Counting away to Baby Morgan's arrival isn't the only thing slowly ticking down to...our house is still in process of being built, and it looks like we have about approximately 3-4 months left. The contractors have ripped up the whole house and what first started as this:



has progressed to this:





and to this: (our master bedroom)

The bay window is off the front side and is being built into place. Daniel and I snuck onto the site over the weekend and got to 'walk the house' and feel out the dimensions of each space. It's definitely a different experience being able to be there versus seeing it as a sketch on paper. When all is said and done, our home should look something like this:

AHH!!! We're so excited. I can't wait to see the final product!!!! Every day we go back to visit the house and there's consistent and drastic change. By the end of our renovations, we'll have remodeled from a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom, 1600 square foot home to a 4 bedroom/3 bathroom, 2200 square foot single level dream home. SO. STOKED. We have a lot of ideas that we've been throwing around for the interior, but we'll keep that on the DL for now. ;)

In other news, my baby sister is getting married this weekend!!! I can't believe it. She's got her own home and family now, too. I can't wait for her to jump on the baby bandwagon and join me so our kids can have tons of little nieces and nephews to play with! Just keeping my fingers crossed that our little one doesn't decide to make an early guest appearance.

The next time we post on here won't be until after Baby Morgan's arrival, so au revoir and see ya again when our lives are flipped upside down! Can't wait to meet you, little chica!

Love, the Morgans

National Geographic Ninja Punches

Without clothes on, I look like I belong in a National Geographic ad.  Sure, having some waist defining dresses and chest clenching bras can hold in the tidbits a little here and there...but for real...throw me in the jungle and I'd fit right in.

One thing is for certain---I don't think anyone's ever prepared to understand what it feels like to be pregnant until you actually go through it. It's my body, but obviously one that I've never known. WEIRD things happening people!!

And let's go ahead and talk about this kicking baby. She moves in-cess-antly. It's actually an insane feeling especially when you've got waves of movement and jabs right and left coming from the inside. The best way to describe it is it feels like you've got a bad case of the farts---except it never comes. (Gross...I know. How un-lady-like of me, but we're all human, right?) Like your stomach churns and gurgles.....and that's about it. It's unpredictable and you wonder what the heesh is going on in there. Not to mention, my beloved sleep routine seems like it has now become a thing of the past. If it's not being woken up by all these ninja punches, it's the excruciating-midnight-wake-me-up-fiery-charlie-horse-leg-cramps I'm getting in BOTH my legs throughout the evening. Or maybe it's the cotton mouth-but-I-dont-want-to-drink-too-much-water-or-I'll-be-peeing-the-entire-night that has been causing this restlessness.

Whatever it is, it's not anything you'd anticipate until you've gone through this whole life changing experience. I keep trying to get Daniel in on this so he can feel as connected as possible to baby Morgan, and he's certainly felt a few major kicks here and there---but most of the time it's just me who's feeling all of the squirmyness from the inside.

I've officially outworn my jeans. I tried to wear them as long as possible, and I managed to sneak away with a couple hair bands holding back the buttons...until my Santouka ramen lunch the other day at Mitsuwa. The hairband literally SNAPPED and broke off WHILE I was eating my noodles. It was a pretty major realization for me---seriously! I couldn't get away with it any longer, so I've finally ordered a few pair of mom jeans maternity pants. (Sigh.) I refuse to get rid of any pre-preggo pants, because I WILL fit in those again soon......sooooooon.

Our house project has been delayed (major grin) since the architect's main structural engineer has gone AWOL. Not the greatest news you should be relaying to a six month pregnant, homeless wife, but it is what it is. We'll just have to roll with it. Daniel went to town this past weekend and took it upon himself to go ahead and start demoing within reason. Our good friends, Danny and Jordan, and my sister's fiancee, Kevin, also volunteered their manly services to help wreck some things. One weekend and a large dumpster later...we've moved the needle a smidge! THANKS GUYS!!

Pre-demo. Of course, Daniel couldn't help himself and didn't wait for me to take pics before ripping out a couple cabinets to the left. I forced him to stop so I could at least snap a few before going to town.

Hey, laminate!

The smell of ripping out cabinets from the 1950's? Slapworthy.

Like whoa.

Let's break ish.

I've gotta admit---I was sort of a champ, also. My lazy butt managed to rip out a number of door frames and most of the baseboard. For someone who typically hates manual labor---go me! In all seriousness, though, the boys did a pretty fancy job mauling all the cabinets. Great job, men! 

With that, I leave you with my 5.5 month preggo pic. I'm not one for selfies ever...but the difference between 4 to 5 months has been pretty astonishing. SO, here she is:

Lovely lady bunp.

Which, by the way, she's been kickin' this whole time I've been blogging, so I'm going to get off my bum and walk her back to sleep. Hope you're all enjoying this gorgeous weather and beautiful summer. Until next time, au revoir!

Gun Registration & My FUBA

So where can Daniel and I register for a gun at?

Considering we BOTH had separate dreams of having a boy...having a girl has thrown us for a complete curveball. (And by dreams, we mean they were more like 'NIGHT VISIONS' and not exactly passionate desires to have a boy, by any means.)

In no way does this photo indicate we are not more than thrilled we're having a little mini-me, btw. More so, just an expression of ayudameeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! What do we do with a little girl??? She's going to be so fragile..so delicate. Eeeeek.

In fact, we weren't even coming up with girl names, because we were entirely certain it was going to be a boy. So imagine our surprise when the ultrasound specialist (who also had an inkling it was going to be a boy) told us, "It's a girl! See the two little lines?"

.....(apparently, also known as a "hamburger" versus a "turtle"---signs on the ultrasound)....

Help. 


We've got a name nailed down, so if there's one thing we're keeping a secret until this little girl arrives..it's that. So the cats outta' the bag. Baby in T minus 5 months, and Daniel and I are super excited and cannot wait!


Now---if we can just figure out this house remodeling thing. We're still awaiting the final sketches since we discovered it would be relatively easy to take down the large wall blocking off the kitchen from the family room, and it also turns out the chimney isn't supporting anything at all---thus, away it goes! We've decided to completely rearrange everything from our initial plans. Since opening up the floorplan to an even greater great room, we've basically started over and are waiting to hear from our architect on the final arrangement. Daniel and I also figured since we'll be under so much construction and demo work already, we might as well re-landscape at this point. I almost tripped on our driveway twice last week getting out of my car, so part of this includes jackhammering all the existing concrete and starting fresh with that, too.

Honestly, the whole process sounds painful...and we haven't even started yet.

If Daniel gets the green light on everything this week, he's going to go to town by self demo-ing the kitchen and doors. I cannot tell you HOW giddy he was about being able to tell met his. Boys! Hehe.

In other news, we're planning one final 'babymoon' vacation since we're in our 2nd trimester, and supposedly, this is the best time to go while preggers. (I'm supposed to be feeling my best right now, which for the most part, I am.) We were originally considering an all inclusive resort somewhere in Mexico, but after doing a little more googling, I'm going to see if somewhere else in the states sounds fun! (Chicago...Miami...New Orleans?) Chicago is topping my list so far with all of their fun outdoor movies, festivals, summer-fun things. We'll be planning and probably booking it tonight. Keep y'all posted!

Oh, and lastly---I've had people ask for a baby bump picture. Honestly, it's a pretty sad bump and I've been currently referencing it as my "FUBA" versus a "bump".

FUBA is also known as my "fat-upper-belly-area".

So, ask and you shall receive. Now featuring, Christine's 4 Month FUBA!

Sad, isn't it? I'm sort of in a funky middle ground where it's not large enough to look pregnant but no longer small enough for me to suck it in gracefully. FUBA it is. I guess I should embrace my size for now. I mean..not sure how long I'll be able to manage feeling like a beached whale.

Until next time, au revoir!