Monday's with Amanda

My sister-in-law, Amanda Hein (Nick's wife) and I have more recently been meeting for dinner on Monday nights while Nick and Aaron are in class. It is truly a pleasure! All of the "Hein women" have known each other for a while now (due to the years of dating it takes the "Hein men" to commit to marriage) but we rarely hang out outside of family gatherings/holidays. Amanda and I have eaten at several different restaurants and had some great home cooked meals. Their is usually not a moment to breathe during our conversations! Good Times! :)

Prep for Baby Hein

This Saturday night, Aaron and I began to clean out the closet the the "yellow" room (future nursery). No cleaning is ever a quick task when I'm involved, even if there are only a few items to be concerned with. The closet didn't have many things in it, but we started there and it turned into cleaning out the office closet and riding several books that Aaron was reluctant to dispose of (engineering books). But, everything is now settled and we plan on eventually moving the office into the common area just off the upstairs living room, so we can use the "gray" room (current office) into a play room or third bedroom. Oh, the exciting life we lead in our mid 20's.

Crazy Woman!

So, lately, I have been very up and down with my emotions. Not like I am crying uncontrollably for no reason, just frustration levels seem to rise at various times and for trivial reasons. I have no excuse for it at all, I just think the pregnancy is causing it. But poor Aaron, I think he is regretting ever participating in the conception of a child at this point.
AND speaking of being naive....We were in Kohl's the night and I was checking the prices on maternity pants (not quiet there yet, but give it another month :) and Aaron was flabbergasted by the giant stretch band that is at the belly portion of the pants. I couldn't help but be tickled by his reaction!!

Grill Tribute

Before you scroll down and see the new backyard reveal, you must stop and pay tribute to the history of our grill. 5 years ago, Aaron and I spotted the grill out with someones trash on July 4th. In need of a decent grill, we scooped it up and replaced our tiny charcoal webber. We definitely put our beloved green grilt though the ringer and 5 moves later, it was time we departed with it to complete out backyard remdel. We placed it on the curb Saturday night and within 30 minutes another desperate soul had again scooped up the "green machine." Farwell old friend, may you continue to burn many more burgers!

Backyard Oasis

Our cappy backyard has been an eyesore for 2 years and i have finally nagged Aaron long enough to get something done. We deliberated several ideas and they all seemed to be financially out of our range, so we went with 10,000 lbs of gravel and free granite slabs from Aaron's dad, John Hein. "Crazyman-worker" Aaron tackled the job with some help from me and my dad, Chris de Wolfe and completed it within 2 nights and 2 afternoons. We have a fire pit with some chairs, dining table and chairs, new grill, and new plants. Check it out!! We sat outside this evening and ate dinner and read....AWESOME!! Be anticipating a barbeque invitation sometime in April :)

Baby Hein

Similar Situation to Jennifer de Wolfe.....
Aaron and I have seriously contemplated not finding out the gender of the baby until it arrives. We have spoken to several people who all agree it is by far the most exciting experience they have ever had. It will certainly be difficult considering this is our first child, but as we would eventually like to have more, keeping things neutral is what we had planned to begin with. We are obviously still in the preliminary stages of our decision making process, but we are certainly geared towards something thrilling!

Staircase Make-Over Pics

I have wanted to tear down the the wall to our staircase and replace it with balusters and a handrail since we first looked at the house. I finally got my wish, sort of?!? 2 weekends ago we tore the wall down and reframed it in preparation of the transformation! We visited the only Home Depot in the area that carries balusters and handrails and bought the balusters, long story short, we went back the following weekend to purchase more necessary items and were told that all materials were sold back to the manufacturer and can not longer be purchased; special order only. Needless to say we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the remaining materials in order to complete of newest and most outrageous project yet. Here is what we have done thus far. The project is projected to be completed by Sunday, March 29th!!!

Chandalier is Done!

We have had a chandalier purchased for our 19 foot entryway since we bought the house 2 years ago. We finally found a reasonably priced quote for installation, unfortunately last Sunday, the man called and cancelled for the second time. Bummer :( So Aaron and I decided to rent a scaffold ladder and install it ourselves and YEAHHHHHHHH, we are finished!!!! It was certainly a dramatic production with Aaron being pretty frightened of heights. The scaffold ladder was very wobbly and with me being preggo, Aaron refused to allow me to participate. Luckily, we rented it for 2 days and finished within that same night, so we only spent $25.00 on the rental. I guess its all worth it in the end.