Water, Power, and Driveway. Oh my . . .

  This past month has been the busiest, most productive, and stressful month of our lives. A few tears (Me, I'm sure the pregnancy had something to do with it. Right?) and canker soars (Jordan) later, but we powered through it like champs! We are coming along pretty well on the house stuff. We got a well put in, and our power ran, and a driveway and house pad made. Feels so good to see some progress being made. It has amazed me on the amount of unexpected costs that have already popped up. But we expected that to happen. I've already learned so much. As soon as we finish the financing and get our permits from the county  (which should be in the next couple weeks) we are ready to start building.

This is our Power pole. I know it's not too exciting

but we are pumped about it.

This is our Power meter. One day a shop will be where 

the pile of dirt is.

This is Jordan and the well guys deciding where to put

the well.

  Lone Pine came to an end this last weekend. I'm going to miss it, but I'm sure the rest of my family WILL NOT! They put in so many long hard hours there, that they are ready to relax and do nothing for a while. I don't blame them. Austyn and I just have so much fun there. We will have to find something else to do now, like build a house:)
  Austyn is doing great. She is so amazing, the joy of my life. This is the best age ever. I keep telling everyone I don't want her to grow up. She is so cute and funny. And she is such a good girl. I absolutely love how innocent she is. I have never been a fan of sleeping with your kids when they are young (not saying it's bad, I just choose not to do it), but I started letting Austyn sleep with me when Jordan would work at Lone Pine on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. I knew he would come home in two or three hours and move her to her own bed anyways. I never get to see her sleep anymore and she is so sweet. I think that's the part I'll miss most about Lone Pine. And seeing her run around scaring the crowd in her Jason mask and mini chainsaw.

She really got into the Haunted Corn Maze

Austyn all dressed up

A few pictures I snapped of her

at Lone Pine.

This one made me laugh. I have been told

she looks just like me when I was her age in this picture.

I was thinking pouty, my family was thinking sassy.

  Baby brother is baking away quite nicely. He is always moving around in there, letting me know he's there. We haven't decided on any names yet. But now that things are slowing down a bit maybe we can start really realizing that I'm pregnant and come up with a name. Sometimes I think Jordan has been so busy with everything that he doesn't really get that I'm pregnant. And we will have a baby in less than 4 months. Ready or NOT Jordan! Ha ha, that will be quite a wake up call.
  My back has gotten better. I don't have to wear my brace all the time anymore. But I still avoid doing anything extra. If I do clean the house or do anything extra, I definitely pay for it for the rest of the day and the next. But I'm not in a constant pain like I was. I still haven't been working, but am thinking about going back and doing lunch relief for a few hours and seeing how that goes. We'll see.
  Jordan has been spending his time studying, working at the Fire station, and working at Lone Pine. Unfortunately Austyn and I took a spot on his back burner for a while, but that's just what had to be done. If he wasn't working at the Fire station, he would eat breakfast with us, go study, eat lunch with us, go study, and then come home about 6 pm or 7 pm. He also squeezed in 12 mock interviews to prepare for the interview section. I'm so proud of him and how hard he has worked to prepare for this promotion. I think I heard 30 people are applying for the same promotion. So we are crossing our fingers that he gets good scores and a lot of people retire to create openings. And I guess if people aren't retiring fast enough, I might have to take matters into my own hands (Ha ha ha). We will know how he placed by the 9th of November I think.
  That's our busy little life for the past month. We have become so accustomed to this busy life, I'm not sure what we will do when it slows down in a few weeks. I know, build a house!!!!!!! As you can tell, we don't slow down for long. I'm so excited. Can't wait to post about that. Hope all is well as we enter the Holiday Season. WooHoo!

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   O.K. O.K. O.K., I know I said we decided to wait, BUT WE DIDN'T!!!!! We're having a boy. Can you believe it?! I left the decision up to Jordan and the night before we had agreed we would probably find out. So when we were walking to the Ultrasound room we told the tech yes we wanted to know and went on with our appointment. She put the probe on my belly and immediately the view of the goods came up. When she said "you're having a boy" Jordan just about jumped through the roof. He was so excited. He kept asking the tech  "Are you positive?" "Like 100% sure it's a boy?". That was my favorite part. It really means a lot to me when Jordan gets that excited over something. And of course I was ecstatic. I did tear up (not unusual at the moment for me), I was so sure we were having a girl I was not expecting the news. The poor tech, we kept asking the entire hour appointment "how does this look?", "how does that look?". And everything measured perfect and we have a healthy baby boy growing inside my belly (which is also growing quite well). They said he is measuring 3 days bigger. Anyways, we are so delighted to be having a HEALTHY baby BOY! Now it's time to try and switch clothes with someone. Let us know if anyone is willing.
(We got a CD with all the pictures on it, but we can't get it to work. Sorry no pictures)

  Quick update on the rest of us. Jordan is still studying like a crazy man (literally, it makes him a little crazy) while working the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Lone Pine. I miss my husband. Austyn is great! Amazes us with what comes out of her mouth daily. She definitely gets it. And I am plugging along. I haven't been working for a couple of weeks now because of my back. Which seems to be helping it, which is good. I did have an MRI and there is not a herniated disc. So now I am going to try acupuncture and a brace. The back surgeon told me it was hormones and I probably shouldn't gain a bunch of weight and it would get better. My response in my head: "Really, you're going to tell a pregnant person to not gain weight! And that my hormones are causing me to be in this much pain. I can show you what my hormones are doing and it's not hurting my back. Just ask my poor husband!" I was so pissed when he told me that. Once he saw that he couldn't do surgery he literally wrote us off. He didn't answer any of our questions and left the room in less than five minutes. So it's good that there is no structural problem, but still need to find something for a little relief.
  There is the latest on the Petersen's! Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying a little cooler weather.