32 Weeks tomorrow!

We're officially 32 weeks tomorrow. I have started visiting the midwives every two weeks now. So far everything looks great and very "boring."

Its been freezing cold here in Missouri and we're setting records for the most amount of snow they have seen since 1962... :( We also tied the record low yesterday for 9 degrees. The average temperature for yesterday was 46... which would be really nice about now.

We still have Abbie, our foster dog. Its a little discouraging that we have given the rescue about 7 months to find her a new foster home and we haven't heard anything about it. If you want a really sweet, cuddly little dog that is completely potty trained, let me know! I warn you she is a female pit bull which means she is a total brat, but we love her like our own.

Sassy is still going strong. She has a growth on her eye that doesnt seem to be giving her any pain. I am hesitant to take her in to have it looked at because she cannot survive a surgery and we're really just letting her live out her life until she is no longer comfortable. She seems pretty happy to me!

Mark takes his part 2 & 3 of his boards in March. Then he takes part 4 in May. We didnt really plan this stuff very well... but we'll get through it! He is very ready to be done with school and really enjoying his time in the student clinic. If anyone wants an adjustment, he is taking new patients!

Back to baby stuff:

We're getting so close its almost insane. We're starting to get things ready for her arrival. We are attempting to cloth diaper so we can avoid waste, landfills and cans full of stinky poop in our house. We received a really wonderful gift from a friend yesterday of 3 super nice cloth diapers. We have a few others that we found discounted online. My aunt also bought us a diaper service for a month after the baby is born so we don't even have to do our own laundry!

We had another friend loan us a ton of stuff that she had leftover from her little one who is now 2. She saved us a ton of money, and we're super grateful!

I have gained 25 lbs so far. Which sounds like a ton, but I really havent gained anywhere other than my belly. Here is to hoping it continues that way!

The floors are done!

Well, the floors are finally done and I'm very happy with the way they turned out. Our bedroom is almost finished...I still need to install the door and caulk the baseboards.

Here's the floor in the bedroom:


The new guest room is full of crap so I'm not going to post any pictures, but here's a couple pictures of our bedroom fully furnished:



And here's a couple pictures of the baby's room:

1st Coat of Stain!

Its lovely!

Sanding: BEFORE and AFTER!

The difference is amazing!

Before the sander:


After the sander:


He is staining and polyurethane-ing today!

Baby's room and floor updates!

The baby's room is starting to take shape.



Unfortunately its slow going because of the whole floor refinishing project that is continuing to monopolize Mark's spare time. As we speak, he is upstairs sweeping up the remainder of the glue he scraped up so he can actually rent a sander today and get that started. The baseboards need to come down and moved to a lower spot because Mark removed about 4 inches of old flooring leaving a huge gap between the wall and the floor.

The floor looks amazing. With all the scraping, water dumping and uncovered damage, the floor looks pretty decent. We're hoping a nice sanding will reveal strong, nice antique wood that spiffs right up with some stain.

So long 2009, HELLO 2010!

2009 wasn't a terrible year for us, but it certainly was a tough year. We're very excited about 2010!

Things to look forward to:

Birth of our first child around April 21, 2010
Rachel graduates with a master's degree in May
Mark graduates with his Doctor of Chiropractic in August
Mark opens his chiropractic clinic in August

Things we want to get finished:

The baby's room
Tile in the kitchen
Paint the exterior of the house
Find Abbie a forever home

What a year!

I hope everyone has an amazing 2010! We have already started off on a great note! The crib arrived today and we're super excited to get it set up!

Merry Christmas!

christmas gift
Originally uploaded by SeXyMaMa316

Merry Christmas to everyone. We're so thankful to have such an amazing family and friends.

The dogs are enjoying the morning running around in the snow, Mark and I just had our breakfast. Now we're getting ready for the drive to Detroit to see family.

Have a safe and happy holiday!

Michigan or BUST!!!

View Larger Map

Our trip starts tonight. We drive from KC to Effingham, IL where we're spending the night. The next day, we jam up to Michigan!

We have two dogs in a little tiny civic and terrible weather! Wish us luck!

Merry Christmas!

100_5812
Originally uploaded by Rachel and Mark H.

Sassy wishes everyone a safe and wonderful Christmas!

Not bad for a floor that previously had 6 layers of vinyl and glue on it!

Floor 12/21/09
Originally uploaded by Rachel and Mark H.

Mark has been working hard on scraping the floor so its ready to be sanded and refinished when we get back from the holidays!

Doesnt that look amazing compared to the before picture?


Before:


In between:

December snow and a visit from Lisa!

Mark's sister Lisa is famous for having travel troubles... It was only appropriate that we got 2 inches of snow the day she arrived. Thankfully, the snow came after her plane safely landed and melted before she left!

The dogs were excited to have their aunt in town and snow to play in!



This series I like to call "Slappy is going down" starring our foster dog Abbie!



We didn't do much while Lisa was here because she visited while we were both in finals, but we did make a trip out to the Louisberg Cider Mill in Louisberg, KS.



Mark made sure to snap a few photos of Sassy in her elf hat.



All in all it was a nice visit, and we're glad the snow is gone! Mark has one more final left tomorrow and then he can relax... of course by relax, I mean work on the baby's room!

2009 in Review! (long post)

2009 has been a really crazy year for us. Lots of good, and certainly a lot of not so good, but all in all, we're feeling blessed and we're moving into 2010 with a lot of hopes and dreams. The baby is born in April, I graduate in May, Mark graduates in August, we open a chiropractic practice! What an exciting year ahead!

2009 started out well. We really didn't do a whole lot in the first part of the year.

We had a few foster dogs. We still have Abbie, but she is our last foster for a long long time. I have officially taken a break with the rescue and will not be fostering or doing anything else, so I can focus on our family.

Hamilton aka Hammy or Hamster

Abbie the abbigator or destruct-o as we lovingly refer to her as.

We went to Paris, France in March. It was amazing, so wonderful and a great bonding opportunity for Mark and I. I am really glad we did this before the baby was born.



We bought a car from my good friend Lisa and drove it home through Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and into Missouri. This was another trip that I can't even begin to describe. Life changing! We had an amazing trip, saw the Grand Canyon, Historic Route 66, Painted Desert, the studio where Buddy Holly recorded all of his famous songs, Muleshoe, TX, Amarillo, TX, Oklahoma City, OK and home. It was so fun. We fell in love with Flagstaff, AZ and the food in the southwest was better than anything!

The Grand Canyon

Possibly the best meal I have ever eaten in my life in Flagstaff, AZ.

Painted Desert

This is outside of the painted desert in New Mexico.

Albuquerque has amazing food too!

Mark about to explode holding a guitar in front of the microphone that Buddy Holly used to record, and his amp.

The biker bar we ate at on Route 66 in Amarillo.

We went on a road trip to Memphis by way of Arkansas in the summer time. It was blistering. We saw the Sun Studios, Stax Museum, Graceland and Beale Street. We also ate some amazing BBQ.



In line at Graceland



We found out about the baby in August and found out she was a girl in November:



We went to Michigan later in the summer to spend some time with the dogs and family. Beans, Slappy and Pokey had a great time on Lake Lansing on the boat, and Ill never forget that day!



We lost a friend this year. Ryan Goodman was killed on his construction site leaving behind two young girls and a loving wife. We were very saddened to lose such a great guy.

We also lost our beloved Beans. I am still not comfortable talking about it because my heart is broken but he was a great, though troubled friend.

Half Way Done! 20 Weeks!

We're at the official half way point today. I cant believe that 20 weeks from today is our due date. We're really excited. Its been a whirlwind week with everything else that's been going on. I'm just glad we have our little girl to keep us company. Thanks for all the well wishes.

In much happier news: IT'S A GIRL!

We found out Friday that our little Mark Jr. is actually a girl!

Stay tuned for names!

We're due April 21st, 2010!

RIP Beans McCheese Hanses

I wanted to let you all know that yesterday at around 5 pm we had Beans put to sleep. He bit a close friend of ours while we were out of town. For us it was a last straw. We had the mobile vet come over and do it in our home, so we could hold him and tell him that we loved him. He passed very peacefully, and will be cremated.

Its been a long and hard weekend for us, and we appreciate all of your support. I enclosed some pictures of him on Lake Lansing in Michigan this past summer. Contrary to what everyone thought, he wasn't nervous and had an amazing time on the boat. Its rare to capture a moment of him smiling, but he had such a great time, he couldn't stop smiling. We will spread his ashes here in Michigan this Christmas.

Rachel & Mark