babies and houses
So life as a dad has been rewarding so far, despite the inability on occasion to stop the crying. She has definitely pushed Lori and I's tempers/wits/hearts/etc.. to the edge some of the time, but that's to be expected. We're already learning the tricks of the trade to keep her calm, feed her more easily, and now keep her occuppied. That's right, she's alert enough to actually want to watch things. Moving bright colors seem to be her favorite right, just like the books told us they would be. All in all, things are going well on the baby front.
I've added quite a few pictures to her picture section of the site;
http://www.disturbed.org/gallery/v/mikes_pictures/people/baby/first_year/
Our house is coming along nicely.. The pool has rebar, the house is stucco'd and partially painted, the roof is tiled, A/C units are in, the interior has cabinets, tile, and all the trim. We're missing some final paint, appliances and carpet on the interior, and a finished pool, paint, and landscaping on the exterior. It's moving along nicely and we're getting pretty excited. I'll see if I can get some pictures this weekend to post for the update.
Work has been really bad lately, with the company's goals of being profitable looming and tempers flaring with usual end of year chaos. Between that and Kaelyn I've been busy as all get out. So I figured now would be a good time to start another class! =) I start my next class on Tuesday, so we'll see how well all this balances.
Lori and I were lucky enough to get to see the Diamondbacks win last night while my parents watched the munchkin. From the looks on their faces when we got back it looks like she was a handful. We'll see if they offer again soon =).
kaelyn's hospital pictures
mine;
http://www.disturbed.org:8888/gallery/v/mikes_pictures/people/baby/hospital/
my dad's;
http://www.disturbed.org:8888/gallery/v/paul/Kaelyn/
life is no longer a game
For those of you who have asked, the reason I was not updating my blog seems to have passed so I can update my blog again. For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, don't worry about it!
So. Wow.
Let's go chronologically.
The house was sold in mid-August! Woo! The experience was pretty painless for the most part. I had to make a few repairs myself (make a screen for the guest room window, patch some drywall under the kitchen sink, put a loop in the dishwasher drain line) and hire a few contractors for a couple of other things. The closing costs ended up being less than I had expected and all in all it was a good experience. The buyers did turn some vague language in the repair paperwork into my last minute drywall repair that I didn't agree with, but we were still able to close on time and it only cost me $35 in materials and a half day of work.
So Lori and I are now renting a home in Maricopa about a quarter mile from the house we are building. Dan/Marcella/Eddie/Denise are living down here as well and Lori and I are enjoying the experience so far. Lori has not enjoyed the drive, but she hasn't had to deal with it for a few weeks (more on that in a minute).
On the evening of 8/19 Lori and I went to the Great Indoors to look at blinds prior to a trip to my parent's new home for a going away dinner for my brother. As Lori stepped out of the car she told me "I think my water broke". Sure enough, about 10 minutes later we were back tracking to Chandler for the birth of our daughter. Lori endured some serious pain that was not helped by what I considered to be two poor medication choices by the staff but did an amazing job anyways just to spite them =). I was really impressed by her the whole time, and after being in the hospital for over 22 hours (and pushing for 3! ouch!) they decided to give her a cesarean section.
At 6:22pm on 8/20 Kaelyn Rae Benjamin entered the world. The very very cold world of an operating room I might add. She has been so great the last three weeks (and 2 days) and we don't have enough proud things to say about her. Lori and I have been changing diapers and feeding her with the best of them, and are still completely clueless about what we're doing. It's great.
As most of you know my job lets me work from home so I've been able to stick around quite a bit to help Lori sleep more often. I've only gone to the office four times since she was born, so I've been able to witness more squeaks, grunts, and growing than I would have been able to otherwise. I guess sticking it out at this company has had its advantages.
I'm going to be updating pictures of her here in the next few minutes, but I also hear her waking up on the monitor. So we'll see if I can get the link posted tonight or if I head to sleep after feeding her.
One last note, our house is coming along really quickly now. The doors are hung, interior is painted, cabinets are hung, and the exterior has been stucco'd. There is still plenty to do, but it is looking like a house! The last estimated closing we got was mid-October, and they might actually meet it. Scary.