Our House In Progress

We are finally uploading photos of our house to the blog.  For anyone who doesn't know, we've been renovating this house since we bought it in February.  We still live in a cabin right now, but we'll be in the house by May (hooray!).  Even though we have a ways to go, we've gotten a lot done and we wanted to show some pics of our progress.

You can't tell from this pic, but our backyard is pretty big and it backs up to a farm.  The sun also sets behind our house, and we look forward to many nights out on the deck enjoying the sunset over the farm

The blue tape you see is where windows will eventually be.  (We are enclosing the garage.)

This is the before picture of our living room.  Nice blinds, I know.

Same room, in progress!  New blinds, white trim, green walls, and no carpet.  We are putting in hardwoods in here.

Old kitchen area (the washer and dryer will go behind those closet doors)

Kitchen area in progress.  The hardwood floors will continue in here (this is just opposite the fireplace).  We are getting new kitchen cabinets and countertops, all new appliances, and new closet doors to the washer and dryer area (they will be white).  Ryan knocked out the sophet and we will have 3 pendant lights hanging down over a bar area (obviously different than the light bulbs hanging there now).  Also, we switched the placement of the sink and stove, so the sink will now face out into the living room.

This used to just be a plain wall with a door to the garage on the right side.  We put in these french doors that will open up into our new family room.

Guest Room Before

Guest Room now.  This room is totally done except for putting in new baseboards.  We got ride of the brown closet doors that are opposite the window and are painting new ones white.

Master Bedroom before.

Master Bedroom in progress.  New blinds, white trim, 1st coat of paint up, and we will put in new white baseboards.  This carpet (along with the rest of the carpet in the house) is brand new too.  

Ryan painting one of our new doors.

Mom getting off the oh so lovely border in the guest bathroom.

Dad pressure washing the whole house, including the deck.  It's amazing the difference!

We've had a lot of other people help us along the way too, so thanks to everyone who's already helped out!  We are so grateful for all the help!  

Also, once we get Jackson's room all finished, we will put up a pic.  At this point, we are still deciding on what paint color.

Fun Baby Facts for the Week

Here are some cool things to know about Jackson and his development this week (at 26 weeks along):

-  He weighs between 1.5 - 2 pounds.
-  He's the length of a small pineapple.
-  His eyebrows and eyelashes are well formed.
-  His eyes are fully developed and he will start to open and close them in a couple weeks.
-  The (probably blonde) hair on his head grows and thickens.
-  Little footprints and fingerprints form.
-  He starts using his lungs to mimic breathing.
-  Essential fats accumulate under the skin.

We've also read that he can sense light now, so we shined a flashlight at my belly the other night and he visibly kicked right at it!  On that note, he moves around a lot these days, and it's so funny because we are beginning to be able to see my stomach move as he does...a little kick here, a little punch there.  It's so fun!

We are LOVING the Spring!

Here are some beautiful pics of the scenery just outside our neighborhood.  It refreshes my soul to live so close to nature!

If you can picture these next 2 pictures together, that gives you an idea of the panoramic view.

Baby G Has A Name!

Ryan and I had a great day today, beginning with a gorgeous hike in the Smokies.  We've been talking about what to name our son for a while now, and decided today was the perfect day to make it official.  His name is...

Jackson David to be exact...but the shadows were moving too fast to write out the whole thing!!

We love the name Jackson David for lots of reasons, but mainly because Jackson, other than meaning "Son of Jack," also means "Gracious Gift of God."  When we found out we were pregnant, one of the first things we said was how gracious God was to allow us to be able to get pregnant with one of His precious children.  David means "Beloved" and King David was a man after God's own heart...one of our prayers for him.  And on a more superficial note, we just think Jackson Gray is a good, strong name.  :)

Here are a few more pics from our hike...

It was 85 degrees today, but Mt. LaConte still has snow on top! We are loving that this is our backyard!!