How could you not love this face?

Our Baby Boy Has Arrived!

It has been really crazy since I have been in the hospital, but I wanted to officially make the annoucement that our baby is here. He arrived on Thursday, September 23rd at 12:53 am, weighing 7 lb. 14 oz. and at a length of 20 1/2 inches. After laboring for about 24 hours, I was happy for the labor to be over, but another set of concerns arose. Jack swallowed some meconium during delivery which was a concern and he was whisked away to the nursery. Unfortunately he has had to be under an oxygen hood ever since to help with his lungs and x-rays have shown some pneumonia. Thankfully the doctors and nurses have been treating him well and he is slowly getting better. Hopefully I will be able to hold him before I am discharged tonight. On a good note though, I have started pumping so it won't be long before he gets some breast milk! He is the cutest baby ever, which the most adorable cries and whimpers. And he looks just like his daddy! I just want to hold him forever. I love him already!

Welcome to the world
Jack Muir DeGaetano

My Life Will Change Forever This Month!

It is mid-September and I was thinking this morning...I can't believe September is already here. Actually the last six weeks has really gone by slow. I keep thinking about experiencing labor and I'm freaked out by the idea that life is going to change. I have continued to grow more in love with my husband and now I will be sharing my love with another little bundle. Don't get me wrong, I'm so excited to finally see my baby. I can't wait to see what he looks like, find out what he personality is like, and experience all the firsts of parenthood. Yet, I also think about how life is going change.

I'm having a hard time sleeping now, but just wait until the baby is finally here. It is also scary to think about being responsible for another individual. FOR. THE. REST. OF. MY. LIFE. Doesn't that thought just sound so scary? I just want to do a good job. I want my relationship with my husband to continue to grow stronger and I know that we will be so busy with our baby.

I'm sure I am sounding awful, but it is just some of the things I am thinking about right now. And lets not get started with labor. I'm scared to push a baby out! It is going to hurt and I want so badly to be tough and be able to say that I did it without any help from drugs! I don't know how I will take the pain, so I will just have to wait and see. I guess the idea of this baby arriving is just all so surreal.

Every day I am asked when the baby is due. As a teacher, the students are constantly asking me, "When is the baby coming?" or "You haven't popped that baby out yet?" I have one more week until the due date. However, I have a feeling he won't be ready just yet. I'll do what I can to prepare. The car seat has been installed, the hospital bag is packed, and I'm halfway through my lesson plans for a sub. So little by little I'm getting things together. Our house projects are almost complete...we just need to finish up some touch-ups with paint and add the last bit of trimwork in the hallway. It is a crazy thought to realize life is about to change forever. I'm excited and nervous.

The Last Big Project Before the Baby Arrives

So we continue to work on the house this summer and I have to admit, we have done some serious damage on the place. I can't believe we haven't even been here for a year, because it feels like we have done a lot of projects. Of course, I'm not doing much this time around with the preggo belly, but I did help my mom and grandma clean windows and baseboards. Plus, this project has taken on a life of its own and grown...into three big projects! I can't believe we will get it all done before the baby is here. I just hope we can get the walls painted before baby Jack arrives.We were originally just planning to drywall the hallway upstairs with hopes to get the downstairs hallway too...which we are doing! Plus, we opened up the entryway into our dining room for better movement (it was really narrow between the hallway and stairway railing). And then Joe decided to also redo the walls in the dining room since we were working partially on that room! SO, we are have a lot of painting to do...it is madness! I'm a bit grumpy, and I'm sorry to all my family for having to deal with my moodiness. I really have appreciated their help in the past week. I just can't wait to show some more pictures and updates and hopefully a finished project!

We also celebrated our second anniversary with a super delicious dinner with family and a blizzard between the two of us! I'm constantly impressed with my husband and I feel so blessed to be with him!
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This video is not great...I always forget that I cannot turn the camera. Oh well! You can see how my house has been for the last week.

House renovation Updates

I can't remember the last time I updated about the changes going on in our WV house. Of course we painted the baby room and started setting that space up, but since we moved in last November we have done quite a bit to improve on the space. Here is a list of things we have done so far (and when I say we...I mostly mean my husband because he has done a lot of work):

• Renovated the bathroom
• removed ugly tile from entry hallway to discover hardwood flooring underneath
• Painted our bedroom
• Painted Guest/Baby room
• Put together furniture for baby room
• Installed a ceiling fan in our bedroom
• Built closet doors for our room
  
• Built a dining room table
• Built a bookshelf
• Built a coffee table
• Planted a garden
• Releveled upstairs hallway flooring
• Installed new upstairs hallway flooring

It is a good start for not having even been here for one year. Not to mention there is a lot of things that needed to be done to fix things. We don't just live in a normal house. Ours is over 100 years old and has been wired, added on, and built by those that probably did not have to follow any regulations. So every step is that much harder once you really see what is behind the walls.

Our next project is to finish the upstairs hallway by putting drywall in the ceiling and finish off the walls while hopefully also finishing up the walls into the downstairs hallway. We are going to be working on this next month with the help of my dad and grandfather. It will be the last project before the baby arrives. Then it will be a little of a break until next spring. Then we are going to get started on the downstairs renovations! One step at a time! So hopefully the next time you see the hallway and stairs it will not look like this!

Baby Shower

About a month ago I went home to Northern VA to visit with family and friends for a baby shower. I was excited to see everyone and eat some yummy cake. My sister, mom, mother-in-law, and sisters-in-law all worked together to make food and get the shower together. We decorated onesies and enoyed each other's compnay. Below are some pictures of the cute cake my sister bought from the same person who made our wedding cupcakes and some of the decorated onesies! I'm thankful for everyone's kindness and and getting more and more excited for baby Jack to make his debut.

Starting the Nursery

I started working on the baby room the first week I finished school. First step was to pick out the room colors. I knew that I wanted a neutral color for most of the walls, but have one accent wall with a bright green color. After checking out a few sample colors, I found my picks, bought the paint, and prepped the room. It took me two days to paint (by myself) because my husband was building our dining room table at the time. Don't worry, most paints today are safe for pregnant women with no odors!

After our baby shower last weekend (which I need to post about) Joe started to put together furniture for the baby room. The dresser, which we put on our registry probably took the longest (and sadly, it is a pretty cheap piece of furniture for a lot of money). We also got our crib from my parents and thankfully that went together nicely and looks good too, for half the money of the dresser!

I have also started washing the new clothing and fabrics in vinegar to eliminate any chemicals. Then today I made a crib skirt, and lined the dresser shelves with cute paper. This room will be officially put together by the end of July. I still need to attach the wall decal, assembly the IKEA chair, put pictures on the wall, and read the manual for the baby monitor. Then I guess I should make some room for baby bottles in the kitchen, get the car seat in our car, and all the rest of the stuff that I should be thinking about with a baby on the way. So at least here is a start to our preparation for baby Jack!