Year 3... Weeeeeee

Today marks Jarrod and I's 3 year wedding anniversary.  Rather than some lengthy post about what I've learned (trust me there's been a lot) and what I hope for the future (there's a lot of that too) I thought I'd just share some photos since last July.  Between house projects, family visits, getting pregnant and work, this year has been a whirlwind to say the least.  Summer time is a leisurely time... so let's just look at some pictures :)

Athena Turned 1in August!

We began to redo the kitchen. Starting with painting the cabinets.

Jarrod's parents visited in August and we went to Galveston... Ahoy! 

Saw Incubus and Linkin Park! 

I got to go on the field at a Texan's game! 

Got a new car in September... a Jeep Liberty

Got a kiddy pool for the dogs 

Ran our 2nd Hero's Run on 9/11

My phone screen cracked! Oh the horror! 

Finished the bar in October just in time for Halloween

 First Halloween in the new house... the dogs clearly could smell the candy!

 The high school I work for had a very eventful football season!

 This was my 2nd Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving... Jarrod's first since the year prior he was still working shift work.

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Merry Christmas 2012

Christmas 2012 in Maine

Happy New Year from VA! 

Happy 29th Birthday Jarrod

Celebrating Super Bowl at Casey's

Prepping an old bureau for a new use... 

Portland turned 3 in Feb.  in human years that's 21... obvs

In March we saw Bruno Mars at the Rodeo! OMG such a good concert! 

And some friends and I saw Mr. 305 himself! 

In March Jarrod enjoys REAL coffee with Caffeine since baby making finally ended in success! 

In April we were finally able to share the big news :) 

And I traveled to NYC to celebrate Nancie's 29th bday at a Mets game

While in NYC we traveled to Providence to see Alex, my mom and Nana! 

And in June (A month early) Jarrod and I celebrated a fabulous year in San Antonio before my 5 week trip to ME.

Happy Anniversary Jarrod! Can you even imagine the photos we'll have in the next year?! 

Bump Watch Summer 2013

Here in Maine for 5 weeks and thought I'd put together a little montage of bump photos for your viewing enjoyment.  I am about to enter 22 weeks, so a little more than half way there!  Things are looking fairly good too.  A little abnormality with the way the umbilical cord is connected to the placenta (yeah those photos have been fun online...) but other than a smaller baby it seems to not have affected much.  So the remedy is relaxation, puppy love and good eats from mom! Check, check and check!!!

Not all the weeks... but starting around 7 and going to 21

Fancy Bump Photo :) 

We Interrupt the interruption....

My last post was about Jarrod and I beginning the journey to adoption. After that post we got serious about finding the right agency for us, one that was bigger so that it had more options. We searched the depths of the Internet and finally came across an agency called Gladney.

Gladney seemed to be the perfect fit. They had multiple options both international and domestic and they were also a national agency which meant their birth mother data base was larger. This would make wait time less since a birth mother could choose us from pretty much any where in the United States.

We submitted the initial application and were selected to attend an all day orientation about Gladney's services. At the end of the orientation we would have the option to purchase an application and move forward in the process. Awesome! So we signed up for the April 12th orientation and patiently waited for the weekend to arrive. Weeks went by with much financial planning for the future and as the date got closer we found a hotel where even the dogs could join us. It was going to be a whole family affair!

About 2 months short of our orientation date we ran into a roadblock. A pretty huge roadblock at that... We learned that we were pregnant ourselves! A wonderful and amazing roadblock that left us speechless.

We contacted Gladney to see what this meant for our adoption process and though they were happy for us, they said we could no longer pursue adoption. At least not until our own child was around the age of 9 months. With our own pregnancy so new this information admittedly bummed us out because we were so ready and so eager to begin the adoption process. It was tough to take a step back and put that dream on hold even though we had the most amazing dream unfolding in front of us.

Please don't get me wrong, we are over the moon with excitement that we will begin to build our family by two legs (not 4 more this time) come the end of October. We also realize that everything happens for a reason and that even though we had to put our adoption plans on hold, it will not be forever. We fully plan to begin the process again as soon as the newest member turns 9 months. We feel so passionate about adopting that we don't see our minds ever changing or forgetting that dream.

I know what you're thinking... Enough about the adoption process, tell us about the about the baby on the way! Well since you asked, and the information is now public knowledge here are the answers to some commonly asked questions:
When are you due? October 30th (I'm hoping for the 31st so they have the same birthday as my late grandpa DiTommaso)
How are you feeling? Pretty good. Nausea has subsided for the most part. Though I'm still pretty tired.
How far along are you? We just hit 13 weeks so next week begins the 2nd trimester.
Will you find out if its a boy or girl? Yes.... But we're not telling!
Do you have names picked out? See above :)
How do the dogs feel about it(ok no one asks this, but they should...)? They are super excited to have another human to love and adore... And of course play with :)

Well I am sure that's enough information for now. Thank you for all the well wishes and words of encouragement. We are so excited to bring this child into the world to know the family we love and the friends we call family.

Playing Catch Up with Photos

Instead of trying to remember what has happen in our lives since my last post, I typically look through the photos on my phone as they are a good indication of what we have been up to.  So instead of a lengthy post of blah, blah blah, I thought I'd just post a bunch of pictures I've had since October and you can peruse our life at leisure :)

Allow me to begin with too much cuteness for one blog! Ever since we moved into the house, Portland makes it a habit of waiting at the top of the stairs for us when we go up for bed.  Precious...

Replacement Ref and his Penalty Flag

Penalty Flag, Walking Dead, Red Riding Hood and 50's Wife :)

Elvira & Cat Women join the mix! They were the hostest with the mostest 

Not sad....

Sad that not many trick-or-treaters came this year

Turkey Day 10K

High School Football Playoffs! Our school is going to State!!!

First year in Fantasy Football and I was #1... for a week :)

Festive decorations for Holidays 2012! My mom would be so proud of our door :)

Got to visit Tampa for a conference and see Mariana while I was there! While I was gone a shiny new stove arrived! Merry Christmas to us!!! Thank you Manzer Parents!







3rd Annual Ugly Sweater Party!!! Italian Feast Style :)

know that Meg loves children ;) she and Abby were simply discussing how unfair life is when you're 4 months old...

"You don't say Shug!" -Meg

Happy Holidays for Jarrod, Amy, Portland & Athena!!!! 

Every House Should Have a Bar

Every house should have a bar, correct? I'm pretty sure I saw that in the massive amount of paperwork Jarrod and I signed in April.  With all of the other projects in the house this requirement continued to get pushed back but I am here to announce (slightly later then when it really happened) that our house now has a real life bar!

The colors were absolutely perfect... and it was on
sale!

Rufferee Portland clearly approves

Before we get to the details allow me to show off the new rug we go a month ago...

Wide Retriever Athena agrees!

Ok back to the bar...
I did take photos during most of the steps so I will outline our process for you.  Know that we originally thought we could do this in one weekend. Know that we were very wrong. Know that we argued through a lot of this process, but the end result was so worth the toils.

Here's how we did it:
Materials-
20 Cinder blocks
1 sheet of MDF cut to size
1 sheet of plywood cut to size
1 huge board
1 not so huge board
6 pieces of felt
About 20 pieces of strapping (I think that's what the strips of wood are called)
1 can of grey wood stain
5-6 tubes of construction adhesive
1 very patient husband :)(I'm not sure about the availability of this item... it's not required, but sure does help)

Step One: Get the wood for the bar top and front stained so it has plenty of time to dry.  We only did one coat  so you could still see the grains of the wood.  We wanted it to look old, like we used pallets.  Oddly making new wood look old was easier than using old wood.

Step Two: Cover the bottom cinder blocks with felt so that they do not scratch the floors.  Technically this is not a permanent bar because it's not nailed into anything.  However we can't move it and it won't leave in 1 piece so I guess it's a bonus for whoever gets our house next!

 Step Three: Pile cinder blocks on top of each other with adhesive in between.  You can see we did 3 blocks high before the first shelf. We did this so a wine rack we had would fit under the shelf. Very important feature.

 Step Four: Add 2 more rows of blocks with a lot more adhesive and pretend that this ugly thing makes you happy.

Step Four and a 1/2: Pretend to be a bartender in order to be sure that this so far ugly thing will work.  Panic slightly when you realize you've gone too far to turn back.

 Step Five: Put back out trying to squeeze enough adhesive to attach wood to concrete.  Woah this is tough!
Then attach 2 huge boards that were stained to the top. 1 will hang over some to give it that authentic bar feel.

 Step Six: Attach plywood to the front of the cinder blocks so it's easier to attach strapping later on.  Don't forget to convince your dog that construction adhesive is not candy and though she means well, she really is no help at all.

Step Seven: Begin gluing and screwing (get your minds out of the gutter...) stained strapping boards to the front and side of the bar.  This will prove to be very difficult on the side because you will try to do it with out a piece of plywood at first only to have them all fall off.  Hence multi-weekend project....

 Step Eight: Attach L brackets under the hang over for security and to the corners for good looks.  Looks old right?

Step Nine: Desire glass for the top like every good bar has only to realize the cost would defeat the point of making the bar yourself.  Settle with plexiglass and put cool bar coasters underneath.














Step Ten: Fill the back side with glasses, liquor and other things you'd like to hind from guests.  Use bar for a catch all of mail, bags and junk and be happy you made it yourself :)