Before and After Sneak Peek

We are nowhere near the end of our construction, but I just had to share a sneak peek of Avery's room. I still have about 50% of her stuff to unpack, but we have made good progress and last night was our first night sleeping in our bedrooms instead of downstairs in the family room and dining room.  

BEFORE: 

AFTER: (Removed carpet, baseboards, blinds, then scraped ceilings, textured ceilings and walls, primed and painted walls, new tile floors, new furniture)

We still have to do window coverings, baseboards, trim, light switches, outlets, closet doors, and wall art, but it's not hard to see her excitement!

Our new neighbors are very sweet and they love Avery.  They said they weren't sure if they were going to put up their Christmas lights this year. Josh told them that we wouldn't be hanging up Christmas lights on our house this year either, so they changed their minds and decided to put up all their lights and decorations, just for Avery. Luckily she has a view of their house right out her window. They lit it up for the first time last night so it was a perfect way to celebrate sleeping in her bedroom for the first time.

And Camden decided to celebrate by sleeping for 7 1/2 straight hours last night. 

Things are looking up!

Time Warp

Life with two kids is completely nuts. The weeks are zooming by and I can't seem to keep up with blogging, nor can I keep up with showering, dishes, laundry, or anything else. In the meantime, we have already sailed past Camden's first month, his first doctor's appointment and his first smile. 

So in the interest of time since I don't seem to have any these days, I will just post some pictures from the past several weeks as fast as I can with minimal captions while I bounce him in his baby seat with my foot. 

I feel I was very brave to take us all to a family photo shoot when he was only 8 days old...  but we did it!

(Believe it or not this one was taken with the photographer's iPhone. Not bad!):

Then just two days later we did ANOTHER photo shoot when he was only 10 days old! This time, at our house. Here he is in his (still unfinished and furniture-less) bedroom:

Avery sharing her toys with him:

Halloween:

Josh being "pregnant" with Avery (she loves this game, it makes her hysterical):

Happy smiles!

We are STILL camping downstairs and have not gotten moved up to our bedrooms yet. Amongst many construction setbacks, we are just exhausted and don't seem to have enough hours in the day! But I am hoping in the next few weeks I will be able to post some before and after pictures of the house. We're just not there yet. But it's coming... Stay tuned and Happy Thanksgiving from the Ness family!

Baby Brother

Baby Brother is here!

Last Thursday, October 11 (10/11/12, my due date), we got Avery dressed for school in her "Big Sister" t-shirt and I called the hospital to prepare for my check-in. But in the blink of an eye my pefect plan was destroyed. Apparently everyone else had plans to give their baby a cool birthdate also, and the hospital was completely full and did not have any beds available. I was told to call back later in the morning, and ended up getting bumped three times. Finally they just gave up and rescheduled me for the next morning. I was utterly disappointed and spent a good portion of the morning crying. 

But since Josh and I had a rare day home together without Avery, we decided not to let the hours go to waste. After a trip to Home Depot, we went to work upstairs painting Avery's room, and then the nursery. (Nothing like waiting until the last minute!) I figured what's the worst that could happen - I might go into labor? Well if that happened then the hospital would have no choice but to admit me.

It was worth a shot.

We have been promising Avery two things for quite a while now - a pink room and a baby brother. When Avery came home from school asking for baby brother, we were able to at least deliver on ONE of the promises!

So FINALLY, on Friday, October 12, we were able to check in at 6:30 am. Here's where I spent the day:

My view:

At 5:46 pm, Camden made his debut. It happened so fast that two of the people who were supposed to be in the room with us (my mom and my cousin Julie) completely missed it, since only about 30 minutes prior, the nurse had estimated his delivery to be around 7 or 8 pm! So Josh and I were the only ones present (along with the doctor and two nurses) who got to experience his happy arrival.

Camden Joshua Ness

Born October 12, 2012

5:46 pm

7 lbs, 11 oz.

20 1/2 inches long

We came home on Sunday and it has been an interesting week.  Avery is having some difficulty adjusting to this new change, and there have been a lot of tantrums and meltdowns and a lot of effort on our parts to give her extra love and attention, which isn't easy when she is being exhausting, frustrating and irrational.  We are hoping that over the next two weeks we can get all our furniture moved upstairs into our bedrooms, and start to really settle in to our new home as a family. At this point we are still "camping" downstairs and it feels somewhat chaotic.

On the other hand, little Camden is proving so far to be a very good baby. While he is up every 3 hours during the night, he only ever cries when he is hungry and pretty much goes right back to sleep after he eats. I don't want to jinx it but I hope he stays calm and mellow, especially since he has a very emotional big sister!

And a few last pictures since I am celebrating the joy of having a girl and a boy to complete our little family, and never going through pregnancy, labor and delivery ever again!!

(We took a photo every week but I will spare you all the weeks in between).

Week 5:

Week 40:

Week 41:

Welcome Sweet Camden!

Hit Me Baby One More Time

I had several titles for this post, but I thought this one was appropriate because Avery has been listening to that Britney Spears song over and over and sings it constantly. And today is the last day that I will ever get to feel the internal kicks and punches of a baby.  So I guess it's pretty fitting.

I decided to keep Avery home from school today so I could spend the day with her on her last day as an only child. With a new school, a new house, and soon a new brother, this poor girl has had a lot of changes going on lately. And she has been such a trooper.

We started out the day with a nice breakfast while we watched Cinderella. She tucked her babies in for a nap, and then we put on our jackets to go outside and sweep the leaves and water the plants. Avery loves to be outside and enjoys "helping" with these activities. 

I got a kick out of her trying to zip my (non-maternity) sweatshirt over my huge bump. She was not successful!

At noon I took her to my nail salon so we could both get mani/pedis. This was her first real experience at a salon, and she did awesome! We were there for over an hour and the staff kept commenting on what a good girl she was. She sat perfectly still while they painted her fingers and toes, and even sat patiently in front of the fan while the polish dried. I think she is cut out for a life of pampering!

I love having a little girly girl. I guess tomorrow I will find out what it's like to have a little boy too.

Next stop, hospital!



Things are about to get Crazy

Since I have a feeling life is about to get even more crazy than it already is, I thought I would squeeze in a blog post just in case I don't get another chance before the baby comes. I am scheduled for induction on Thursday morning, but at the rate things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if this little guy showed up early.

For now, I have had several requests for a look at our "campsite," which (believe it or not) is 1000 times more organized than it was last week. 

The Dining Room, which right now is Avery's room:

Living Room:

Entryway/Stairs:

Family Room, i.e. Master Bedroom/Baby's room:

My pile of cleaning supplies that I use to frantically try to preserve my sanity 

(which is not working):

All the things in the garage that we have yet to unpack:

And last but not least, our beautiful front yard:

Our living conditions look decent in the photos, but imagine that the floor is filthy and everything is covered in a layer of construction dust and grime. Because it is. It is incredibly stressful to think of bringing a newborn home to that environment, but I'm trying to be positive and adventurous. I'm hoping that in a couple more months we will be all settled in upstairs and we can look back on these photos and laugh. Or something...