Same post, different title, and amendments:

I don't have a picture of the van. I'm such a slacker, sorry! We got it last Thursday. David and Melanie came over to watch Emma so we could drive to Denton (same dealership we got the Element at so we like them) and finish crossing the t's and dotting the i's. We got a good trade in value for the Element and where there is usually no wiggle room on honda odyssey's, we got $2000 off the price and we got exactly everything we wanted on it. They've dealt with Adam and I before (they definitely remember us. . . ahhh, my husband, god love him.) :-) And so they didn't put any dealership paraphernalia on the car and we got it right off the truck.

It is a white 2011 honda odyssey (exl?) I think that's the correct model. It has tan leather seats and we got that model because we wanted no entertainment system or navigation.

It. . . is. . . awesome!!! I lurrrrvvvveee the remote doors. I love getting Emma in and out of it. I love that Emma is a little cold when getting her out instead of sweating her little tush off. I love that it drives like a car. I have a hard time remembering that I've got a big caboose back there! I haven't stuck Hans in yet but we've just kept the third row down this whole time for stroller, etc junk. Oh my god, I love it. Love it, love it, love it. Can't say enough good things about it!

Things Adam and I have done in the last month:

Had master bedroom painted

Had dining room painted

Converted dining room from Hans' room to play room with carpet installed over the existing wood (This is good wood. Not like in our living room.)

Changed on knobs on shutter doors from brass to bronze matching the light fixtures

Had new carpet installed in master bedroom and closet

New furniture in the master bedroom. Very grown up looking :-)

Replaced all window blinds in those rooms. Much better looking now.

Bought a minivan

We've had a really busy four weeks, to say the least. I'm 50% more in love with our house now that we've done these things. I love that we have a bedroom now. It's so much more grown up. We still have to get bedside lamps and decorations and curtains. . . and bedding but we're getting there!

Things still left to do till we feel that sense of "ahhh, we're where we want to be with the house"

-Fix foundation on west side of house

-New fence

-Storage shed in backyard

-Rip up back porch. Get rid of odd plants that don't get sunlight under said porch and redo all of it with new back porch, possibly slate. Extend porch out two or three feet to cover area of grass that never gets sunlight and so doesn't grow grass. (Get backyard funiture. Heck, I'll settle for achair).

-Kitchen: counter tops, backsplash, stove, sink, lighting

-New sidewalk. We're trying to wait and see if the plumbing will mess up in front of our house so the city will come fix it and then give us a new sidewalk. It's happened to the three houses to the left of us. Come on plumbing! Burst! Mama wants a new sidewalk!

We had what I thought was going to be our 20 week appointment today with the doctor. Apparently, I'm only 19 weeks. And doc wants to do a sono well after 20 weeks so that he can see heart, spine, brain really well. He made me feel better about getting the sono, so I think I will. Adam gets on to me when I don't ask all my questions but here's my deal: I've been analyzing myself all afternoon to figure out why I go in with a list of questions but leave only asking a few: I'm a nurse. He's a doctor. I've been working with cardiovascular/thoracic surgeons for five years. If you do not speak clearly, concisely and with a purpose then you lose your audience VERY quickly. You don't get what you want and you don't get what you need for the patient. So when I go into appointments I'm quick, to the point, and I literally feel like I have to do this to not upset the doctor. Is it rational? No. Does the doctor want me to feel that way? Of course not. But it's how I've been trained for five years. It's probably not this way on other uints. Say, on a med/surg unit, it's not so high stress. But in my particular line of work, you just have to be on top of it, think quickly, talk quickly, advocate. . . . This is a really hard spot for me. I want to be the on top of it nurse but I'm the patient in this situation. I should be advocating for myself. Asking every single question I have. I'm telling myself that I have to tell him this at the next appointment. I need to tell Adam how I feel even though he may not understand so that he can help me to be strong in the next appointment and WASTE THE DOCTOR'S TIME by asking my questions. lol. Sad that that's how we're bread, eh? Oh well. Sorry for the long post! Thanks for sticking it through to the end!

Amendment 1: Things we've done in the last four weeks:

Um, Duh! Went on vacation! We went to Dripping Springs, Tx with John, Sharon, their two girls and Mimi. Highlights of the trip: The backdoor that wouldn't close. The gorgeous views. The awesome porch breezeway. The cheating that occurred during a tipsy game of Spades but I allowed because 1. I was sober and 2. It usually benefited me! The horrible Austin Zoo. I can appreciate what they do there but I wouldn't call myself a zoo. Call yourself the Austin Refuge and tell people to be prepared to hoof it and live on the wild side. Going into Austin, we went to Zilker Park and had a great time and Emma took one little step on her own. Still waiting for that baby to get a fire lit under her!!

Amendment 2: Things left to do to the house:

Of course, baby room! Got to get rid of the ikea furniture in there, clear it out and start thinking about baby furniture.

John, I don't know how to delete comments, so I deleted the post and reposted it. Hope that works! Hope that's what you were asking for? I dunno. It's 7 AM.