The Lomax Lowdown

The Basement is Done!

>> Wednesday, September 1, 2010

I wrote this post a long time ago and forgot to hit post!! So here it is:

The other big change that in the Lomax house is the basement is now fully complete! It has been finished and inspected and is a full legal part of our house. Now we just need to update the insurance .. yikes!

The guys did such a great job with the drywall in the basement that we decided to have them come install the trim and paint. We picked out colors, bought all the trim, and David put up a few doors. Speaking of doors, bringing them home was quite the adventure. We rented a truck from Menards - well I should say it was little more than a bed on wheels but it did the job. However, always on cost saving measures we drove to every home improvement store to get the best door deals. So we actually took the very green Menards truck to Home Depot and Lowe's. Luckily the Home Depot guy didn't bat an eye, though I was highly embarrassed. The door buying adventure literally took all day so we were done after that! But now that they are up and painted, I have to say they look amazing and achieved exactly the look we wanted. We absolutely LOVE the french doors, and the full double doors on the closet really class up the joint. I am so proud of the job David has done. When we set out on this project, I never dreamed it would look this good. I am so happy with the finished product!

The wet bar pieces came mostly from IKEA which is a really good way to get the cabinets. Besides the cost savings they were a snap to put together and install. I never dreamed we would be able to install cabinets straight but we did it. And the countertop we found at Home Depot for $45!!!!
What a ride this project has been, but I really hope that we have increased the value of the house. The other big prayer is that with David doing most of the work we won't have to take a hit on the investment since we were able to keep it low. Lastly it's good to know that if Caterpillar doesn't work out, David could start doing construction!

When we bought he house, the basement looked like this:

Bonus Room Looking Towards Main Room

Looking at Bedroom

And now it's finished!!

Main Room Looking at Stairs

Main Room Looking from Stairs

Wet Bar in Main Room

Looking at Bonus Room (and a very pregnant Amy)

French Doors into Bedroom

Bedroom (closet has sliding door)

Bathroom

Vanity in Bathroom

The Nursery

>> Tuesday, July 27, 2010

There have been a lot of changes going on in the Lomax house and not just in the size of my belly! Although admittedly I have moved on to beached whale size. I guess it's getting close since random people keep trying to give me directions to the hospital. Honestly, I'm not sure whether to laugh, cry, or deck them. But, regardless, it is definitely getting close!!! We are beyond excited and can't wait for the big day, whenever that is. Jean is planning to get here tomorrow night and then we are waiting until we hear what the doctor has to say on Friday, then maybe my mom will fly up.

In the last couple of months, David has worked incredibly hard and finished the basement! It has been approved by the city and is completely finished. I am so proud of him and I, for one, think it's beautiful! I will post pictures of the basement later on this week, as I forgot to take them! Besides the basement (and 18 months of our lives) deserves a post of it's own.

The other big renovation project going on this month has been the nursery makeover! We decided on a pale green color and of course the Snug as a Bug collection! Since we don't know the sex of the baby we went very gender neutral in all the selections and then have certain details that we will fill in once the baby is born. For instance with the kites I made we aren't going to attach the bottom ribbon until we know to attach a pink or blue tail. I think I will put the baby's name on a door tag once we know it! Below are pictures of the details. The signs above the crib all say "Good Night." The top is Welsh, middle is Gaelic, and the bottom is Swedish representing at least one nationality from each of the grandparents. We left off the English because well ..it's English. Our friend Cherie painted them for the baby and we LOVE them. We think she did a fabulous job. Thank you so much Cherie!

I will take a second and say thank you sweetie for all of your hard work!

So finally the pictures:

The walls are painted!!!

The newly madeover closet. We decided to make it over
to make it more little friendly for little clothes.

David pulling the crib in the room.
Who knew that a bed for such a little person would be so heavy!?

Putting the crib together

Hi Daddy!

Crib fully assembled. The mobile is David's favorite.

The finished room. You can see the wall hangings, the blanket made by Great Grandma Miriam, the bookshelf, and the "camel" I got when I was born.

Chair from Papa and Grammy, the comforter from the bedding set, the dresser, and window treatments. The space above the chair will be taken up by the kites once we hang them up!

Bookshelf, closet, and, of course, George

The welcoming crew!

Jonah Reece Kruse

On June 25, 2010, the world welcomed Jonah Reece Kruse, my precious little nephew!!! He is now one month old and is adorable. He weighed in at 8 pounds and 7 ounces.

Here are some pictures of my favorite little guy:

Just after birth

Holding Mimi's hand

Sleepin' on Mommy

Aunt Doris

A few weeks ago, the world lost a wonderful woman. My Aunt Doris. She was such a fun soul. I loved her dearly. I know that she is sitting with my Grandma in Heaven and I wish her eternal peace. I pray for God's grace for my cousins and my Uncle Gerry during this time.

My Greatest Gift

>> Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Maybe it's the hormones or maybe it's the voice of God but I need to take some time to reflect on the blessing we have been given.

At Thanksgiving (what a time) we found out I was pregnant. It was against all odds that I got pregnant. Considering I have had little to no signs of being able to ovulate throughout my life and I have been told for the last 15 years that my body can’t produce a pregnancy, how do I randomly mature an egg and release it. Then, not only did I randomly produce said egg, I managed to time it perfectly with my work schedule where travel had me hardly ever in the same state as my husband and with a fluke mix-up between my cardiologist and my ObGyn. That is a miracle.

Not only am I pregnant it seems everything (other than a random skin rash) seems to be getting better. My diabetes has actually improved during pregnancy - apparently that makes me the one person on the planet with that anomaly. My arrhythmias seem to have simply vanished - again not the norm. And most importantly I have a perfectly healthy life growing rapidly inside of me.

How David and I created this little life I have only one answer - God's miracle to us. Until just the other day when Lydia (thank you) spoke the words herself, I haven't let myself think of this as my miracle baby. I have been so convinced something would go wrong. I know that I am not worthy of such a gift, so I knew something had to be wrong. I waited through all the tests, ultrasounds, and the echo to hear the news I knew was coming. I was convinced not feeling the kicks signaled the truth. I forced myself to start planning for the baby in case it did come home, but only in moments of weakness did I let myself get excited. Thankfully our wonderful parents were there to help me be excited and to go shopping with me. But I never really settled on the idea that a baby was actually coming. I have said to David several times "I guess we really are having a baby." But in truth a very large part of me never believed it.

I have never wanted to know the baby's sex - as I believe this is the way it’s supposed to be - but I have been so adamant because in a way that would make it much more real. The pain of knowing so much about my child when I inevitably lost it would be too much to bear. I would have made plans and dreams for the baby and every time I saw a girl or boy I would have to relive the pain of losing my child. I simply couldn't bear it. Maybe this explanation will help our families and friends understand our decision.

But through it all I have prayed. I have prayed that this little miracle is alive and well and healthy and now we know that God has spoken and Lola is well. Lola is something I never was, Lola is whole. God has placed this little person inside of me and made her/him healthy.

The last remaining thing that haunts my parents and us are the words my pediatric cardiologist said when they found my birth defect – she won't survive childbirth. But I know this isn't true. I know God has a plan and even if that plan isn’t our desire, I will live on in this little person. Also that statement was uttered 29 years ago and the advances in medicine are amazing – like the fact that I have a tiny piece of engineering lodged in my heart keeping me alive. If something were to go wrong the baby can be out in under a minute. Also my current cardiologist, who has been nothing but incredibly honest with me, assures me that my heart is completely competent to carry the baby to term and for full delivery. This is a very comforting thought for us. We have also chosen to deliver the baby at the same hospital where my heart surgery was performed since the doctors who know my case are all there and they will be prepared should something happen.

I am sorry if this post has seemed completely over-the-top drama but please try to understand. The full realm of the feelings may only be something that can be understood by someone who has mourned this child for over 15 years, but for me these have been very really very scary feelings.

The main message here is that my precious miracle is alive and kicking and loves to hear it's Daddy's voice. It’s a huge fan of eating and really really hates fetal monitors.

I have posted the 3D ultrasound picture on my computer screen, last night I felt overcome by the sight of it and I placed one hand on the picture and one hand on my stomach and prayed. Lola kicked twice right where my hand was placed which was an incredible moment for me. I am so incredibly blessed and in love with this child. This child has changed our world and the worlds of it's grandparents. Thank you God for this precious gift.

The Dust Bowl

>> Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Our house is covered in dust!!! It's so easy to tell where Charlie goes though :-) George is on vacation at doggie day care this week so he isn't experiencing this fun but yesterday was Day Two of the drywall. And it's all up and the first coat of mud is on! Today they are taking a break to let the mud fully dry. Below are the pictures from Day Two.

Main Room

Main Room Looking into Bonus Room

Main Room From Bonus Room

Bedroom

Bonus Room

Bathroom #1

Bathroom #2

The Other Big Monday News

The other big deal for Monday was our fetal Echo. While I haven't talked too much about it I have been in panic mode since I found out I am pregnant, because my heart defect raises the chances of my children having a heart birth defect. Due to this increased risk we have had a lot of tests done that other pregnancies wouldn't have, one of which is the fetal echo. They use a high-powered ultrasound machine and take detailed pictures of the heart, valves, major arteries, etc. But we passed! I am so happy that our little miracle baby won't have to go through what we went through. As far as anyone can tell at this point we have a perfectly healthy little person. This may be weird but I have loved this baby for a long long time but until that moment in that very moment in that office, I don't think I understood the depth of my feelings. Maybe that makes me a bad person, I don't know, but that's the honest truth. It became so real and so permanent. I now know that this really is God's plan and this is His desire. This little person is His perfect miracle and perfect gift. And I am truly blessed. Needless to say the relief in the room was palpable but I held it together until the doctor walked out at which point I completely broke down. It's been 20 weeks of shear torture not knowing one way or the other and I lost it. I am so glad David was there. We also got a chance to see our baby's precious face. It was an incredibly special moment. Below are the pictures from the test and a picture of my baby bump .. well my baby mountain.

Not looking my best! It's late at night!

Drywall Day One

Monday was Day One of the drywall project. The guys got there bright and early and started carrying in the drywall. I have to say I was uber-impressed. They did mess up one wall but David and I would have gouged and broke that wall, so to just mess up the paint - God love 'em! Below are some pictures of Day One.

From Stairs Looking at Main Room

Soffit in Bonus Room

Bedroom

Main Room Looking Towards Stairs

Wet Bar Area in Main Room

Stairs

Ready for Drywall

It has been a long time coming, but we are finally ready to have the drywall installed!!! YAY!!!! I am so very excited about this turn of events as it means soon we will be done with this massive project - just in time for Project Lola. (I have a feeling that project might just last even longer!) Here are some final pictures of the basement before the drywall goes up. When the inspector came to inspect the insulation, he said that it was a perfect job and that we should videotape it to teach others. Way to go honey - I love you and thank you for all your hard work!