Updates

1. Congrats go to Bret's sister and brother-in-law as they welcome beautiful Natalie Reese into the world. She is so beautiful. We got to see them for a bit at the hospital last night, and we were simply amazed at how alert little Natalie was. She was so small too! We're excited that baby #3 will have a cousin so close in age!

2. We've owned the new house for less than a week, and we are already seeing big improvements. We've taken up 80% of the nasty carpets, pulled down wallpaper, taken down all the window fixtures, painted two ceilings, painted two rooms, and unpacked a handful of boxes. Here is a before picture of one of the rooms; we'll get you some after pictures soon. We had hoped to put all of our extra money toward renovations inside the house, but it looks like we might have to walk around on cement and subfloor for a bit, as we are having to tackle more outside work than we had hoped! Nothing like having your septic tank under your deck! Argh.

3. Baby #3. We continue the countdown to baby 3 (less than 3 weeks). The relationship with the birthmom continues to go well, and we are so excited to be parents to this little girl. There are some small hiccups in the legal end of it all, which leaves us with a bit more risk than we'd like, but we are confidant that the birthmom is steady in her choice.

As far as names, we continue to narrow the list. We know the baby's middle name will be Sierra, as that is her birthmom's name. Sierra is a very beautiful name, but it isn't the easiest to match with a first name. Several names that were early forerunners are falling behind (I hate to say goodbye to Eve, but I think Bret has put the nail in the coffin on that one for now). If you have any ideas, don't hesitate.

We will pack our bags this weekend, as we expect a "get your butts to Massachusetts now" phone call at any point. Now, if only I could find a suitcase and some clothes (not to mention baby things) in all of this mess!