butternut squash

this week marked the start of the third trimester! i've been getting mixed reviews about whether the next 11 weeks will fly by or be the worst two months of my life (thanks, to those of you who suggest the latter). currently, janie is the size of a butternut squash...about 15 inches long and 2 1/2 pounds. we are so excited to meet her, and the preparations are coming along nicely. i found out last week that the crib and dresser won't be here until late november, which i reacted very irrationally to. in fact, it was so absurd, i'm not even sure i can blame that scene on pregnancy. anyways, i've come to my senses and realized that there is no need for a crib until january and managed to turn my anger about that into excitement about these wall sconces and chandelier that we found on super clearance at lightstyles down near lake ivanhoe.

here are a few of my favorite janie things...

this is one of my favorite little outfits.

lauren found these adorable little shoes on etsy!

clearly, andy's child must own a pair of cowboy (or girl) boots. thanks mom and dad!

our friends monica and brackston bought these awesome headphones so janie can accompany her rock star dad to shows and recording sessions, and have her little ears protected.

as you can see, janie already has what it takes to be a pretty awesome little girl. andy's hoping she takes after me and spends the majority of her first 15 years playing baby dolls, swimming with floaties, and showing little interest in boys. for her sake, i'm hoping that she is way cooler than i was and finds something better to spend her babysitting money on than babies r' us gear for her dolls. no joke, i really did that.

alright, i'm heading to drop my computer off at the apple store to be fixed, so don't be expecting any exciting updates for the next week or so. i'm flying up to boston in the morning for my shower. despite that fact that i will probably be freezing from tomorrow at noon until sunday at 2 since i don't have a single jacket that will button over my belly, i'm really looking forward to seeing everyone. sadly, andy will not be joining me because he is opening for the blues travelers with mike dunn and the kings of new england tomorrow night at house of blues. in closure, this is the wife of a rock star, signing off.

hello, delaney harmon!

5:45 am - i'm practically typing this with one hand, as i keep my phone in the other, anxiously awaiting tim or shannon's phone call...at 12:30 this morning she called to say they were on their way to the hospital because shannon thought (though wasn't positive) that she was in labor. all i know as i write this is that delaney downey harmon is here!

the last time i had such intense butterflies in my stomach was the night before our wedding. if you know me, you know that it is a real stretch for me to stay awake for a movie or television show in it's entirety. well, over the past 6 hours i have watched approximately 8 seasons of the office. that should be a good indicator of the level of excitement i'm experiencing.

in between jim and pam's romantic love story (i'm still on season 4), i found myself having a conversation of sorts with god. events like this always lead me to be reminded and amazed by the fact that he knew, well before anyone even considered our existence, the exact moment that we would enter into the world, the exact number of hairs that would reside on our little misshapen heads, and the journey we would take throughout the rest of our days on earth. we hear it often, but i think the past 6 months have made it a much more real concept, being able to apply it the the little girl that is growing inside of me.

welcome to the world, delaney! you are so loved, and until janie arrives, you are my favorite little girl on the planet!

3:37 pm - yep, favorite little girl indeed. i just got home from the hospital and can assure you that delaney is one of the best looking babies i have ever seen.

"for you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. i praise you because i am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, i know that full well. my frame was not hidden from you when i was made in the secret place. when i was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." psalm 139:13-16

my 23.333333rd birthday

i should start this blog out by introducing you to some of our great friends, brianne and eddie kaufholz.

brianne is a coupon cutting, free food finding, mall madness winning, green element driving superstar. and she is hilarious. her husband eddie is a beer brewing master and has been featured on many great blogs. he is commonly referred to as an angel here on earth. well, i'd like to give eddie a break from the spotlight and focus in on his other half, bri.

last friday evening was a night worth writing about, and we owe it all to brianne and her coupon cutting skills. striving to be a good steward of all that she has, bri purchased a $50 gift certificate to SEA Thai for just $4. (if you're as interested in free things as brianne, you should check out her blog). upon printing out the coupon, there of course, was fine print which read "$50 off a $100 purchase". most people (me) would be super frustrated that they got tricked into such a deal...after all, what two people can consume $100 worth of pad thai and praram? bri's optimism and generosity led her to view the mishap as an opportunity to invite joey, lauren, andy and i along for the great coupon redemption. surely six of us could reach the $100 minimum. if you aren't familiar with SEA Thai, you should know that this is what it looks like...

as you might imagine, i was quite hesitant to enter into this place to eat, especially since it would be my first thai food experience, but eddie and brianne have never let us down.

turns out, the inside is really nice and it was totally packed. we finally got a table and our waitress, K, asked us immediately what the occasion was. in not-so-perfect harmony, eddie and brianne answered, "oh, no special occasion" and "it's her birthday!" (while pointing at me). i'll let you guess who's response was who's. great. we've started out on a good note. after the wave of embarrassment subsided, we enjoyed a 2 hour single course meal. the food was great, service not so great. or so we thought...

we had asked multiple times for our check, but to no avail. just as we were losing our patience, the whole kitchen crew came parading out to our table with a platter of birthday treats, complete with a candle glued to the center and "happy b-day" scrawled in chocolate sauce, just for me. i was serenaded by the SEA Thai staff and good friends and then consumed more fried bananas and thai donuts than one could imagine. it was the best birthday i've ever had 2 months after my birthday. thank you bri, for making it all possible.

and then there were two...

for the past 6 months i have enjoyed being pregnant with two of my favorite people on earth, lizzy and shannon. well, today, october 14 2009, lizzy moved on to bigger and better things, leaving shannon and i counting down the days until we join her as ladies with babies outside of our bellies, rather than in. fortunately for shannon, her countdown is just 12 days.

luke joel hunter made his grand entrance into the world this afternoon, and boy, is he good looking. we are really hoping that janie and luke fall in love and get married.

congratulations, joel, lizzy and luke! we love you guys a whole lot and can't wait to meet your sweet little man.

one room becomes two.

this is what the back room of our house used to look like:

actually, it looked even worse than that with awful carpet and peach paint

still one room, free of all the drywall and insulation that rodents and termites called their bathroom.

this is how you build a wall

future home of the washer and dryer

i don't think i meant to take this picture, but i'm glad i did. this is what was underneath the carpet

after seeing white painted floors at door sixteen, i was determined to make it happen in the nursery. luckily for me, andy is really patient and good at sanding, so janie will now have awesome white hardwood floors in her room.

this room is really difficult to take pictures of, and my photography skills don't help the matter, but here's an idea of what it looks like today.

so there you have it, without moulding, furniture, or a baby. all of that should be coming soon. i'll keep you posted.

it's not easy to blog from your phone

(for some reason this didn't post when i actually wrote it...probably because i attempted to do so from my phone, so here it is, a few days late)

a few months ago i thought i really wanted a dog, but yesterday morning, when i spontaneously decided to drive up to atlanta with my mom, i realized that andy was absolutely right in his decision to not get an animal.

my cousin chris ended up in atlanta on his way down to pensacola for some hockey business, and so i thought it would be fun to get to hang out with him for a little while before he turns into a professional hockey player. chris and i spent the majority of our childhood years together writing literary masterpieces, organizing extravagant carnivals for our siblings, fighting for what we believed in (which came in the form of chants and protests when we thought we deserved to go to the mall or disney) and making plans to start businesses like "come and eat a fajita" and "241 sports". so in memory of the good old days we spent our 24 hours together talking about chris' real business plans, carving pumpkins, and winning a nintendo wii. if i weren't already a member of my family, i would definitely pay to join.

sassy cat and moon cricket (the pumpkins, not chris and i)

i am almost positive that my mom is looking at this and cringing at the open cabinet in the background.

i just boarded the plane and got kicked out of the exit row seat for being pregnant...i have yet to experience the benefits that come along with carrying a human in your belly. at least i still have three more months. i'll be in tampa in about an hour, just in time to catch rob bell on his "drops like stars" tour. super excited.