Well, the dashboard informs me that our last post was June 11th. Wow. That was a long time ago! I guess the whole having a job, being pregnant, getting ready for baby, and traveling stuff sort of changes the way we spend our time. The basic, necessary stuff often barely gets done these days. And I think sometimes it definitely wouldn't get done...if it weren't for my House Elf...I mean, My Joanna!!!
Yes, we are delighted to have her back here, in KC; "it's better here." Fo sho. We are delighted in her company, grateful for her help, and sad she'll have to go...but there's always fall break, right?

So, what have we been up to these days?
Well. John is still loving his job. They finished the kitchen job they were working on and are probably going to be starting a bathroom remodel this week. Jim Leonard, (John's boss,) has lent John several remodeling/design magazines...it's so funny to see him lounging around reading them, instead of reading his car mags. (Which he still does, but not quite as often.)

John got tons done (on the house) the week I was in NC/PA after he left...said he gets more done when I'm not around telling him what to do...uhhuh. Because of all the prep work John did, Joanna is in the finishing stages of painting trim...yay! The baby room is looking awesome. The bathroom is almost done. The den is really shaping up...we took dad's advice and put John's barn pix up on the wall. The blue frame does look amazing against the green walls. We put up a few black and whites and I ordered a blue slipcover for the dog-chewed couch. (I mean, the Brae Leigh chewed couch :) I think the room is going to look awesome finished...very contemporary, but kind of barnsy and Johnish.
The front room still needs the trim to be painted and some stuff put up on the walls, but we're loving our rug and the Ikea chairs I got in PA. It's nice to have something besides folding chairs around the table!

We're still hoping to finish the basement, but we're having a flooding problem. During "torrential" rains we'll get just a few inches of seepage...don't know where it's coming from exactly, so we have to figure that out before we can figure out if we can fix it or not! John is now fantasizing about a deck...but I don't think we should commit to that unless we can't finish the basement.

Garden update? Well...I learned something this summer. Actually, I learned a few things. First of all, I CAN NOT EAT THINGS GROWN IN MY BACKYARD. They taste horrible. The other thing I learned was that the biggest common predator of flowers and vegetable isn't, in fact, rabbits. No, it's my husband. That's right guys. Between the birds eating all of my flower seeds and John accidentally mowing down 1. morning glories 2. sunflowers 3. moonflowers and weed wacking 1. a tomato plant 2. my only surviving squash, my hard work pretty much was for naught this year.
I learned valuable info, so I'm grateful for that. Next year I'll probably grow a few vegetables and herbs in big pots containing soil NOT from the backyard. And I'll start my flower seeds indoors...and THEN plant them. And, mostly, I WILL TELL JOHN MANY, MANY, MANY, MANY times where I've planted things. (I still have no idea how he could have mistaken three perfectly symmetrical rows of four inch sunflowers for weeds...)
He's just so goal oriented. When the man is mowing, THE MAN IS MOWING.
But I never would have learned all that if I hadn't tried. (Oh yes, and rhodedendrons die in my soil, along with mock orange bushes.) Hyacinths seem to do well, though.

I am READY to have this baby. VERY VERY VERY READY. The swelling and joint pain and peeing constantly have done me in. Months without more then 2hrs sleep at a time have turned me into quazi-zombie girl. I had two days of strong contractions (probably due to the full moon and working too hard) and am now having bad round ligament pain...evidently I need to get one of those belly support belts. The little guy is sagging low and my muscles can't take it anymore :) So I'm going to try and rest...though I'm ancy for things to do. This baby needs to stay inside for at least another 3 weeks or so. Wow....yay! yay! yay!

John is getting very excited to meet the little guy...I am too, but I think I'm so focused on "LET'S GET THIS BABY OUT!" that I'm distracted from feeling mushy and gooey concerning the imminent approach of the birth of our first baby.

We really enjoyed seeing family and friends back in NC, at the beginning of the month. We were delighted to be there for wedding anniversary celebrations! We definitely did too much, but it was our first attempt at visiting after becoming official residents of Missouri. It takes a while to figure these things out.
I had a good time in Pennsylvania, but it was waaaay too much driving....I'm so grateful to Hannah for being willing to make the trip and help with the driving...she and Joanna and I (and Mikey!) had quite a ride from PA to MO. We were READY to get out of the car!!! I took a pix of my feet all swollen up...I'll have to find it...

IHOP is continually delish, as Jo might say. Our hearts are being tugged back to where they're supposed to be. It's a slow process, but the kindness of God is overwhelming; His grace enables us to make righteous choices and CHANGE! Again and again I find my heart wooed out of numbness, as I sit at home listening to EGS or FCF online. The Spirit moves me and I am filled with overwhelming longing and desire for this God-man. I know John feels the same. We feel our immaturity in our daily walks...growing frustrated with ourselves for the small things we let pass each day...but I see our sight deepening and sharpening, and my heart is given peace and hope that we can push delete at the end of everyday and start again tomorrow. We'll get there. He delights in us today and sees the 'yes' in our hearts. We're in this for the long haul.

As to pictures, we haven't really been taking that many lately.

Here's John assembling the play-pen. We got one of the ones that have a bassinet/changing table you can set in the top. That's what we're planning to use in our room until we move the baby to his room. (AHHH! We're having a BABY!)




He didn't read the directions until absolutely necessary...I tried to help, but I had trouble finding the directions in English. I love how confused/bemused Brae Leigh looks. We got a lot done that day...cleaned out a bunch of closets, too...we're getting there!


And here's our carseat, picked out and put together by John.


And this is the robe I made for (mainly) while I'm in the hospital with the baby. I didn't expect it to fit right now, but evidently I added ample material for the belly. Ample material.


So maybe sometime I'll try and get John to actually post something, since I've been doing most of the posting. And maybe we'll actually post with more frequency, so we can move past catching up on mundane details and move towards deeper discussions...like the Sufferns...who always, amazingly, have the time to say intelligent things :)

love,
the Daleys