Lucky 7

Is seven really lucky? I don't know. But I am due in 7 days - June 27. Does that mean I will have the baby by then? My prediction is no. I predict I will go into labor on July 2nd, but if I don't, I will be induced on July 4th most likely. Most people can't believe I am willing to wait an extra week but I have to say this pregnancy has been pretty easy. I am one of the lucky ones. I don't get most of the symptoms that everyone else does. After learning that the "comfy chair" was inherently evil I have even fewer aches and pains than I did with Braden. The baby herself is also so mild. She is calm and lets me sleep at night. When I push on her little feet she pulls them in. A pretty good house guest over all. Perhaps I will let her stay a bit longer. After all, I haven't finished washing the car seat yet!

Remodel

OK - so I haven't wanted to talk too much about the remodel we have been doing but I think I finally can because it is virtually over now. It started in March and now with one week left we finally have our house to ourselves with only a few projects left to do. (Aaron is installing a few new door knobs as I type.)

Most of the work was fixing flaws in the house: the ceiling crack that got worse when we added the garage roof, the many holes in the wall from places that mirrors had been removed and carpet had been taken off, black cracks in ceiling tiles in the basement .... the list goes on forever. Of the more noticeable changes: we removed the hot pink carpet from its last holdouts, all of the mirror tiles on the walls, replaced the case and base for a more updated look, painted almost the entire home, covered the strange black tile in the entry with travertine and completely gutted and redid our upstairs bath. Here are some photos of before and afters:

Upstairs bath before

Upstairs bath after

The color of the travertine in the photo is a bit dark. We used the same tile for the entry way.The stairs before - a great example of the mirrors, hot pink carpet and occasionally carpeted walls.

The stairs now - tan carpet with shaker beige walls, espresso doors and white trim

Braden's half of the room

The new baby's half of the room (this is the best photo of the wall color)

Air Show

Was it last weekend? I can't even keep the days straight anymore... we (and about 300,000 other people) went to the air show. Braden had a chance to crawl into some cockpits, stand on some wings and I had the chance to sit because my father in law actually bought me a chair :). So kind! It was fun watching the planed do acrobatics, eating ridiculously expensive hot dogs, and even fun taking the bus ride back to the car.

A terribly photoshopped picture with all of us together - Aaron, Natalie Braden, Grandpa and Grandma Christensen.

Van - Go

There are a lot of things to like about Aaron's job but the fact that we get to use a company car for a flat monthly fee has to be one of the best. When Aaron was hired on he didn't get a choice of vehicles - we were just assigned a silver van that someone else had ordered. Originally I was somewhat mortified, but its utility finally won me over. It was great to have so many seats to give everyone rides. I loved how the seats stowed away in seconds to create as much cargo room as we could posssibly want - even enough to transport our full sized couch without leaving the back open.

Well, as these perks come, they also go. The company decided that vans were too expensive (with gas prices and the constant maintenance) so Aaron was asked to turn his in. Now we have a new Dodge Journey. Cute, fun to drive, and even with a built in cooler/warner. But (and I really can't believe I am saying this) it isn't a van.

A Day with Thomas

Thomas the Train visited the Heber Valley Railroad this past weekend and we were lucky enough to find out about it in time to get tickets ! We went with Grandma and Grandpa Christensen (who had wanted to go the last several years.) The actual ride on Thomas was very leisurely and Braden enjoyed opening and closing the window shade and demanding that the rest of us "sleep" or "be awake" accordingly. We also had fun at a petting zoo (with a baby camel that tried to take a sip of my drink), a bubble area and at several train tables. Braden's only two disappointments were that he eventually had to e leave the gift shop and that he didn't get to meet diesel - the bad guy who is his favorite Thomas teh train engine. (Have I already screwed up his parenting?)

Braden with Sir Top M Hat

All of us (Grandpa and Grandma Christensen, Braden, Aaron and Natalie) after riding Thomas.

Aaron and Braden with Thomas and our fun conductor.

The DARK SIDE of our family

Star Wars, as a rite of passage, came to Aaron at age 5 (or so I am told). He loved the story and characters - but his favorite was always Darth Vader. When the Christensens gave him all of the Star Wars movies on DVD for his birthday in May, Aaron did some quick mathematical calculations and determined that Braden would be equivalenty ready for episode 4 at age 3.5 . I was a little nervous about the violence and scary scenes but if Braden was scared at all the first time he saw it, he is definitely over it now that he has chosen to watch it for our family movie night 3 weeks in a row.

When we went to the May Day festival and saw that Braden could get his picture with Star Wars characters we though he would jump at the chance. Instead he seemed a little afraid. Of course, when I thought about it- with all of those scary storm troopers and other masked villians - it made perfect sense. Except that I was totally wrong. When he finally warmed up, he ran straight for the sotrm troopers and hid from the Jedi! What is it with my family and the dark side???

Braden and Aaron with their Star Wars buddies. If Braden looks disturbed it is probably because a Jedi jumped into the picture at the last minute!

May Day

On May 16 Wheeler Farm had a May Day festival. It was fun to watch Braden old enough to really enjoy those giant bounce houses and blow up slides. We were thrilled he was finally able to climb the huge whale slide by himself - but a little surprised when he chose to dive off head first (he inherited his "no fear" attitude from Aaron). He seemed a little surprised by the result, too, and never tried it again - although he went up that slide probably 16 more times :). Braden rode a little train and got to meet several Star Wars characters 0 raising donations for "Toys for Tots." And after a nice lunch in the shade we took half a loaf of bread to feed the ducks and geese and their swarms of babies. It was a great family afternoon together!

Braden by himself in the bounce house obstacle course. It is so fun watching him grow up. Every age seems to be even more fun than the last!