New House

As some of you know, we moved into a new house in Coralville in February. We love our neighborhood! We love our kitchen! We love our living room! We love our basement! We love our 4 bedrooms! Pretty much, we just love our house! The only problem is that we have been so busy with everything else in our lives that it remains virtually unfurnished except for what we brought from our mini condo. I am definitely excited to begin the decorating process though! I just have a difficult time making decisions about paint colors, where to hang artwork, etc. I also tend to freak out about making big purchases! (I had a major meltdown about even signing for our house!) I am lucky though because I have a few friends who love to decorate and are great DIYers! I am hoping some of their creativity and decor skills will rub off on me... Anyway, without further ado, here are (amateur) pictures of casa a la Tweet.

Our office/future bedroom (and baby in his swing)

Baby Jack Jack's room sans crib

The master bedroom

The other side of the master bedroom

Guest bedroom (notice the air mattress. We treat our guests right! :))

Living room and a crazy eyed dog

View from the other side of the living room (Can you spot the puggle?)

Kitchen/dining room

Kitchen

Dining room

Bathroom #1

Bathroom #2

Bathroom #3

Master bathroom

Master bathroom continued

Basement

Another view of the basement

Laundry room

Garden room

Backyard (there's a creek somewhere back there)

Screened in porch

Like I said, it's pretty bare right now, but as we add to the rooms we'll post more updated pics!

Jack's Birth Story: chapter 1

Just over 8 weeks ago, little Baby Jack Jack was born on February 20. Prior to that day, I had a pretty uneventful pregnancy with only occasional heartburn, some leg swelling and pain and numbness in my right leg to complain about. (the big turkey cut circulation off to my right leg the last month or so of my pregnancy. I still have no feeling in my big toe!) However, I was getting very large (use the last post's pics for reference...I was a caboose...or a moose, whatev...) and with Ben having been an abnormally large baby (read: 10lbs!!), I was afraid Jack was going to come out a walking, talking toddler! It didn't help that at one of my last doctors appointments, my belly measured large and my midwife added to my fear of a large child by exclaiming, "Oh, wooow!" while feeling my belly. "Oh, wow what?" I fearfully asked. "Oh, wow! This is going to be a big baby! I'd guess around 10lbs if he goes to term!" At this point cue the cliche statement, "YOU did this to me!!" as I point and glare at Ben. All I can think of is the horror stories from "down there" that come with having a freakin' huge baby! But don't worry, my next doctors visit put my fears of an Andre the Giant baby to rest...not! My other midwife told me Jack was going to be a big "Iowa" baby, but "don't worry," she said, "it's not the baby that ate Chicago..." Thanks for the words of encouragement, lady (dripping sarcasm). It was at that point, 2 weeks before my due date, that I decided Jack was coming out early!

I started trying all of the (safe) tricks of the trade to induce an early labor. I mean, I was already term at 38 weeks. was ready to get that kiddo out early! I walked up the 4 flights of stairs at work every chance I got. I would speed walk during rounds. (visual: short, round prego girl leading a pack of 6 tall, male doctors around the hospital at warp speed...keep up, baby ducks!) I even ate a spicy meal or two (only caused massive heartburn for days). Nothing worked, but I was not discouraged. I left work on Friday and declared I would not be coming back until May because I was having my baby this weekend!! Gosh, darnit!

That night I went home, had a delicious (spicy) meal with Ben and his sister and went to bed.

We're back...again!

Holy cow! We took another hiatus from blogging! But don't fret, we are back and this time to stay (I hope).

A lot has happened since we last posted in November! I will catch you up.

Ben got a new job! He is still at Alberhasky Eye Clinic, but now he runs the business side of things...bills, marketing, etc. He still dabbles a little in selling glasses, but is working hard at getting the company switched to computerized charting and billing, as well as trying to initiate a lens manufacturing side to the company.

I got a new job too! I am now working in the Heart and Vascular Center at UIHC. I am a nurse practitioner with the thoracic and vascular teams. I left the Surgical Intensive Care Unit and started the new job in December. It has been a great transition! My co-workers are amazing! And I am learning a lot!

We also bought a new house! We have been looking for awhile to move out of our beloved condo. When I got pregnant we decided to step up our efforts to find a place with a yard and a little more room. We found this lovely (mint chocolate chip) home this fall and have been toying with the idea of putting in an offer. After looking at what seemed like all of the homes on the market in the Iowa City area, we put finally did put in an offer and got it!! We closed on it while in the hospital for the birth of our son! We moved in that weekend and are still slowly unpacking.

Through all of these changes, I continued to get bigger and bigger with my pregnancy!

My friend, Keely threw me a great baby shower!

And finally and most exciting! (After a great spicy meal!) We welcomed our son, Jackson Owen on February 20, 2011 at 12:34pm. He weighed 9lbs, 1oz and was 21 inches long. I will share more on his birth story later! He is the joy of our life! We are having so much fun watching him change and grow every day! He is amazing!!!