Family Time. . .

  It's been amazing having Jordan back (physically and mentally). We missed him so much while he was working so hard towards his promotional tests. He is still trying to wind down from all the studying though. He finds himself going over all the material in his head and then remembers that he's done and doesn't need to be thinking about it anymore. Or if he sees a fire hydrant or a certain street sign it will spark his mind to start rambling off information about that certain color of hydrant and the specific laws regarding the street signs we pass. So in the process of all this, I have learned quite a bit from his random thoughts as we are driving. I'm still so proud of his huge accomplishment. I'm interested to see what's next for him. Because you know Jordan, he doesn't sit still for long.

  We got to go to the coast one day and ride. It was a beautiful day. I had so much fun playing and riding with Austyn. She absolutely loved it. After we were done riding, my parents took Austyn home and Jordan and I drove to Lincoln City and stayed the night. It was so nice and relaxing. We stayed at an ocean front motel so we could hear the ocean all night. Very cool.

Jordan thought that since we didn't have Austyn it would be a 

good idea to HIKE (need I say more) down to see the Devil's

Churn. Why after 10 years of being with the man do I not know

 better by now? Needless to say, it was quite a hike out for a 

7 month prego lady who isn't and wasn't in any kind of shape 

to begin with.Yes, it was pretty to see. Would I do it again? NO!

(This might be your one and only belly shot)

This was before the hike out :)

  Still waiting on permits and financing. But we aren't being impatient, because we are continuing to save money in the while we are waiting. Hope everyone is doing great. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

 

The Results are in . . .

  Jordan successfully completed all of his tests for his promotional. He ranked #1 out of #24. I am so proud of him and how hard he worked at this. You wouldn't believe how much time and effort he put into studying for this. This is so unbelievable that he got #1 (not that he isn't capable). It's such a big deal. It is so nice to see him be himself again. There for awhile he was a total different person. What a load off. At the end we were both having many sleepless nights and nightmares about the tests. It's finally over! WooHoo. Now all we need is someone to retire.

  We are still waiting for the wonderful county to take their sweet time reviewing our permits. And the wonderful bank to figure out how to actually give us a loan since we are owner/builder. Something that particular bank is capable of, just not the employees apparently. Sometimes I wonder what this world is coming to.

  I'm hoping to keep up the quantity of pictures through the whole building process. I have pictures of the bare land and will try and take pictures from the same spot at each stage of the build. Here are a few pictures of some of the progress that's been made:

Our well being drilled

Our road being built

Austyn was having a blast playing in the rain, while

we watched the road being built

This is our house pad. Jordan parked his truck

on his side of the garage.

  Jordan was so nice that he spent 3 hours measuring out each room and painting it, clear down to the closets, for me to see on our new house pad. It is so cool to see each room in the actual size. I love it so much. I just want to move in right now. I asked if we could get a different color paint and paint where the furniture will go! He didn't answer, but I think he was thinking "NO". 

  Austyn had a wonderful time Trick-Or-Treating. It was so much fun. Started out at my Aunt and Uncles house, then to a fun neighborhood with a bunch of our friends. It was so much fun to see all the kids running around. Austyn got pretty into it at the end. She went as Tinker Bell this year. She LOVES Tinker Bell! It's fun to see her prefer certain things over others. She would probably watch the Lion King 10 times a day if I'd let her. But if you try to put any other movie in, she will protest intensely. One evening Jordan wanted to watch Cinderella and Austyn wanted to watch the Lion King (again). I was trying to work on the computer and for some reason I found myself in the middle of  Jordan trying to talk Austyn in to watching Cinderella and Austyn crying because she wanted to watch the Lion King. They were both looking to me to convince the other one to have it their way. Finally I told them both to figure it out themselves and went back to my paperwork. Wow, I swear to God it was a flash forward of how it's going to be in a few years with two kids (but I'll really have three).

My little Tinker Bell

Here they are blowing the leaves. Clever Daddy!

That's quite the load he has. Can you imagine little

brother in a front pack too.

  I finally had my second opinion for my back problems. Nothing like a month later. This doctor was awesome. He explained everything so well and took his time with us. He showed us the actual images from the MRI which really helped understand what he was saying. He said it isn't my SI joint giving me the problems, it's still the nerves from my herniated disc that I had fixed. He said that when I herniated my disc, since I was pregnant and had to wait so long to have surgery and the weight that I gained while I was pregnant, the pinched nerve is still trying to recover. It might be 2 to 5 more years before I have no symptoms. So when I got pregnant this time the hormone flux that happens in the first trimester aggravated the nerve so much that it was causing me all that pain. And he said that the reason it has gotten better is because the hormones tend to level out towards the end of the pregnancy and because I have been taking it easy. So the first doctor was right that when he said "It's just hormones and try not to gain weight". But this doctor was a little more sensitive about it and he actually explained and showed us what is going on in there. He said to expect it to get worse again towards the end and after delivery. But at my age another surgery isn't recommended. He wants to see me control the pain by exerciser and stretches. Jordan said he's going to make me start the Insanity workouts after I have this baby. What a nice guy he is! So it's good that it's not my SI joint, because there is nothing they can ever do for that. But still bad that I continue to have break through pain. Hopefully if I get into some kind of shape, I will be able to control most of the pain that way. I asked him about work and he said if he were me, he would not go back because of all the standing I'd have to be doing. But he left it up to me. I'll have to think on that one for awhile (maybe I'll think about it for another three months :) )

  Hope all is well with everyone. Hopefully my next post will be us starting on our house!?