The Big Gender Reveal

Finally we decided it was time to share the sex of the baby with our friends.  Long awaited it was by many, others knew because we're simply bad keepers of secrets.  What can I say? Slip ups happen... 

Along with the invitation, we included a little poem that read: 

We're having a baby,

Little dude or lovely lady, 

There'll be a keg so come thirsty, 

And bring along diapers cuz babies are dirty!

Thanks you to everyone who brought diapers!  We were able to start a nice little stock pile that will definitely get us through the beginning stages of size 3. The keg was a big hit, as it was a Sunday night and you can't buy booze on Sundays in Indiana (which means we got to pick it up on Saturday).  The Sunday night was a good night for yours truly to throw a party, since I've been tired earlier and earlier these days, folks didn't want to stay until wee hours of the morning with a Monday work day looming.  The only thing I would've changed is that it was May 5th- Cinco de Mayo.  A few of our friends had committed to cinco parties and couldn't make it because of the party competition! Alas, we had a good turn out of about 20 give or take.

The dessert spread. MMM, sweets!

There were lots of clever ideas regarding how we should make the big announcement: we could have a wrapped box of balloons the color of the gender, opening the box as a present with the balloons releasing up into the sky (not very environmentally friendly); we could cut into a cake and have the color of the cake indicate boy or girl; OR we could feature a HUGE cake, and have a male stripper pop out for a girl or a female stripper pop out for a boy... We decided to try to keep things tasteful and went with a big gender neutral orange balloon with confetti inside.  We popped the balloon and the color of the confetti indicated the gender of the baby.

Chalk art by Mrs. Lindsey, who also helped with those darling invites!  Thanks Linds!

Blue and pink soda, along with peanut brittle in doilly cones. The tulip is from our 4 year old nephew, Kellen.

Squirrel shaped sugar cookies- I made the cookie cutter myself! For the late comers, the flecks in the cupcakes were gender significant since they missed the balloon poppin fun'.

Me at the end of the night with a basket ball under my dress.

 No worries for any out-of-towners that couldn't make it to the party- we're going to do another gender reveal at the baby shower up north in early June.  Because I'd like a big family, I'm trying to keep most items on our registry gender neutral. 

MINT: Don't wash the floors on a rainy day, even before company comes over.

Fairwell Good Friend

This past Friday a gray pickup came barreling down our side-street. The driver hit my cat, a people and pup loving short hair domestic orange tabby by the name of Poster. The person never stopped.

Immediately after I received a phone call from our next door neighbor who witnessed the whole thing.  She rushed him to the Vet ER where I met them within 20 minutes.  He was a lucky kitty, still being so sweet- loving on the happy nose and my presence. The Dr. diagnosed him with a fractured pelvis- explaining why he couldn't use his hind legs.  The x-rays cleared our minds of any worry of fluid in the lungs or internal bleeding. His treatment included injected fluids, antibiotics, and a time released pain med that would last for 72 hours.  My instructions were to leave him crated for the next 6 weeks.  Plenty of water and a bit of food, some anti inflammatory pills and a restricted environment free of any temptations to jump up or down.

I slept on the living room floor that first night right next his crate, soothing him when he moved and meowed in pain. The next morning I moved him to a slightly larger crate, cuddling him on my lap while in transition. Man, am I glad we did that.  The second night we moved his crate next to our bed so I would be by his side again.  He started purring before we hit the sack and drank a lot of water. I checked on him three more time throughout the night and early morning. 

I awoke to find him struggling for air.  I used my pinky to clear his airway and when he stopped breathing I did chest compressions. We did everything we could for him. Poster was a great cat and said goodbye to us right there on our bedroom floor.  We're going to miss him. He was everyone's friend, even the dogs. He appreciated the warm house and good meals. His favorite food was lamb bacon, sneaky kitty.

They say bad things happen in threes. I think I may have to believe them: with Logan's unexpected flat tire and dented rim to kick things off, followed by my stolen iphone, (which by the way, had all our best Poster photos on there), and finally Poster's death.  The strangest thing about my karma though is that I've gotten four thank-you cards this week alone.  Thank-yous poured in from friends, neighbors, and organizations that I've gifted to, helped out, or volunteered for recently.

I really had to struggle to come up with a mint today. MINT:  I have some damn great karma coming my way. I think I'm going to buy a scratch off on my way home tonight. Everyone please manifest or envision my big win, thanks.

Cucumber Water Revamp

After a few years of thinking interesting thoughts, then concluding, 'That would make a great blog post,' I've decided to revamp Cucumber Water.  While the concept will still most certainly apply- refreshing realizations- I want to get  back to it all around.  Things are always more fun when you're not required to do them.

Often I thought of creating a gardening themed blog. I intend to garden blog right on here rather than creating anew.  I kept starting multiple 'themed' blogs that ended up having only a few posts rather than a solid, all encompassing one. The fact is, my blog is about my life, which includes a lot of gardening, plenty of cooking & cleaning, some dog training, traveling, home brewing, remodeling, real-estate, and soon: parenting. Pregnancy has been consuming me lately.

Trimester one is just about over!  It has been, well, tough. I've been sick, really sick for awhile (ginger helped, but peppermint worked).  I have been reading more books cover to cover than I have in a long time.  Yesterday was the first day I woke up before 9 and didn't loose my biscuits in months. I'm finally feeling better, things are looking up, and I'm happily starting to get a bit rounder.

Husband Logan didn't believe it when I showed him that first faint positive line.  After waiting and taking another, and another, the lines slowly got darker and darker.  A friend picked up a digital test for me to take at another friend's house to surprise her with the good news.  With that, I was able to bring him that clear "positive" test to drive the point home to husband.  We wasted no time in telling our closest friends.  Family was another matter.  They live further away.

For his mama's birthday, we surprised my MIL with a gift of good news.  Her reaction to becoming a grams for the first time was priceless.  We celebrated with a big dinner at our favorite italian joint: Iria's Italian Restaurant.  They loved joking about what we would name the baby- the favorite name of the night: Enis.  

I will NOT be naming my baby Enis.

My ma and pop were expecting the news.  My big sister saw my sick face and knew right away.  At Christmas, we were late and walked in as the whole big extended maternal side of my family had just sat down for dinner and were attentively looking at my uncle to make a speech.  The door swung open and all eyes were suddenly on me, "I'm sorry we're late everyone, but we had to visit my parents before we came here today- to tell them we're expecting so we could tell all of you"! A big hoot & holler with applause and my uncle insisted there was no way he could follow that news with even the best of speeches.  I knew I had to tell them right away because they would guess the surprise the second I turned down a glass of wine!

I really tried to improve my tardiness last new year's, I did better for awhile.  MINT: I learned that Christmas something great- with baby comes an awesome excuse to be late.

Set Backs and Hydrogen Tanks

When we put our offer in on the short-sale house, we knew it could take a long time for the bank to approve our offer (even though our offer was for the asking price in full), so we took some extra precautions. We wrote into the contract that if April 17th comes and we still had not heard acceptance from the bank, then the contract could be void (unless otherwise extended by us). Needless to say, April 17th came and went, with no word from the bank. We terminated the contract.

Not only could we not take the waiting any longer, we really want a place of our own around the time of the wedding (June 10th... 43 days)! So we started the hunt again. Just as discouragement was about to set in after raising our budget and still not finding what we wanted, we found something.

A two bedroom one bath (quite the difference compaired to the 5 bed 3 bath short-sale) with a partially finished basement, covered porch and big backyard (1/3 an acre in the city)! There's even a doggie door for the girls, and Rob too if he wants to go outside, which he will. The location, which was our favorite part about the short sale, is just as good, even better! This new property is right across the street from the Monon paved trail and actually only two blocks from the short-sale. Still within walking distance from Broadripple Ave.

The timing was great. Had we not offered and waited on the short-sale to fall through, I bet we would've gotten discouraged and either a) settled for something we didnt really love or b) stretched our budget to a stressful point. All that waiting allowed this home to come onto the market (just listed April 6th)! They say everything happens for a reason, right?!

You can tell that the sellers love the property by how well it has been taken care of. They remodeled every room, and did a great job on the kitchen and the bath. They had plans of finishing the basement and putting up a garage when they got sidetracked with a bouncing baby boy. Then came another- but without the space to put him or her, they decided to move. This means we have the opportunity to earn some equity by finishing the basement with an extra bath and bed, and by putting up that garage. Also far less stress as we don't have to worry about things that have to be done, only things we want to do (unlike the short-sale).

One last thing- it's 6k less than the short sale, and there's a seller to cover the closing costs. We sent our paperwork in today and accepted their counter offer. Looks like we'll be moving mid June.

MINT: Everything happens for a reason!

Who is That Girl?

Do you instantly know who I'm referring to? Just to our right of that man? The one with the sass, with her hand on her hip. She is an inspiration, she is a smile in a sea of frowns, she is what I strive to imitate!

This photo was taken during the depression, about 30 minutes from where I live. Everyone is waiting in line at a soup kitchen.

I think I want to make her the 2009 cucumberwater mascot! But, she will need a name- and I'm open for suggestions! (Unless of course, you happen to know who this girl really is, which in that case, she will go by her real name). Hazel is already taken.

MINT: There is always a bright side!

Hopefully, We Found a Place!

Built in 1920, an arts and crafts style home in Broadripple three blocks from the Monon Trail! 2,700 square feet with plenty of charm.
Condition wise, she needs lots and lots of work... new kitchen, bath and windows are priority. The yard is fenced for the girls, and large. 5 beds, 3 baths... we put in an offer and are waiting to hear if the bank accepted. It's a short sale, so we may be waiting for a long, long time.
Then comes the inspection when we really need to cross our fingers! Please keep us in your thoughts! Thx.

Pre-Approval!

FH and I were pre-approved for our first home loan on Tuesday! A modest amount, but approval was on my salary alone.
Let the home buying process begin! Here we come BroadRipple. I hope Indianapolis will be good to us.