All a Bustle

I don’t even know where to begin. As expected, life has been going 200 miles an hour and we are doing the best to just hold on.. Imagine a cartoon squirrel holding on to the front of a car to keep from getting thrown under the wheel.. THAT’S US! We closed on our new home this past Wednesday and since then we have had the entire interior painted, the guest house re-carpeted, ordered our couches, ordered our bedroom furniture, ordered our dining room furniture, and moved in. I know that doesn’t sound like a lot, and maybe it isn’t, but speaking as a 6 month pregnant girl, I can say that decisions like these can seem life changing.. right up there with making the decision to have a kid.. Well maybe not RIGHT up there but I was stressing for sure.

The night before I HAD to have the colors to our painter I had Jorde sit down with me to finalize my selections. Mind you, I had already sent the “final” colors to the painter twice and then chickened out last minute sending him an “abort” text message. (Thank God for men who have dealt with crazy pregnant women before!) Anyways, we were sitting there and I was stressing over the colors and said something along the lines of “I guess if I don’t like it I can always change it” trying to calm my nerves. Jorde’s response was “yeah, in like 7 years.” At that, I had my first breakdown of my pregnancy (this would not be the last in a 48 hour span.) I looked at him and said “if you are telling me I have to make a decision TONIGHT that I will have to live with for 7 years, you can’t just sit there and agree with everything I say.” that was the jest of it anyways.. There was much more to my breakdown but it woke him up to the realization that his wife was no longer the composed pregnant lady that was breezing through this entire process and he needed to take the reins. Thank goodness he did! I am thrilled with our color choices. We ended up using the color I was going to put in the study throughout the entire downstairs living area and dropped the colors I had picked for the downstairs and upstairs hallway completely. Additionally, I am loving our furniture choices, even though the only thing to arrive so far has been the dining room furniture. I feel really good about the pieces and can’t wait to have it all come together sometime next week!

(pictures from the house after the paint was on. More to come once all the furniture is in)

The day of our closing I was really excited to have everything finalized and the keys in my hand. The only problem was we were dealing with lenders that are less than ideal so things kept getting messed up. When we finally made it up to the title company I was sitting on the couch in the reception area waiting for Jorde to arrive so we could get this thing over with. I was reminding myself of just how blessed I am and that I need not worry about the little things. I was enjoying Sloan’s constant reminders that she was there, when in walked our broker. At the site of him I broke down and started bawling.. He looked at me with the saddest eyes and said “is it the beard??? I can shave it…” I laughed and told him I had no idea why I was crying, and I liked the beard, and it was just so good to see him. Horribly embarrassed I continued to cry and laugh all at the same time. Breakdown #2!

Other things are happening right now that I am just thrilled about. My father-in-law and brother-in-law took first and second place in the 65 mile bike ride for Cystic Fibrosis. They were also ranked in the top 5 (I think) of fundraisers!! We are so blessed to have the support from our family and friends. Sloan is a lucky lucky girl!! Also, Jorde and I are on the board for the Cystic Fibrosis “Taste and Toast” wine Mixer that will be held on December 1st, 2011 at the Bank of America Building. Again, we have been so lucky to have connected with some of the people we have right out of the gates. They have asked us to talk about our journey and where we are going from here. It should be interesting as neither one of us are public speakers but we feel so fortunate for the opportunity to share our experience and journey with people that are really making a difference by their donations. We are a little nervous and would love to see some familiar faces in the crowd. If you are interested in purchasing tickets to the event, they are only 50 dollars (most of that is tax deductible), you can go to http://www.cff.org/Chapters/netx/index.cfm?id=17921&event=17921

(brother and father in law after their bike race)

The Foster Force (as I am calling them these days), which involves the women on my mom’s side of the family are coming in this weekend to help me get all settled in because my mom is terrified of me “overdoing it.” The day of our move my mom was on the phone with Jorde and the side of the conversation that I heard went something like this… “I will do my best…… You know how she is; I might have to sit on top of her to make her rest….. She is drinking water now….. Every two hours for 30 minutes, got it!” they were teaming up to ensure I took the proper amount of rest I needed to. I am glad they did because I just don’t know if I could have slowed down if I wasn’t reminded to do so. I love these type changes and just wanted to see it all come together. A new chapter in our new home.

I have so much swirling around in my head right now it is hard to keep focused but the one thing I can always focus on is our little girl. She has certainly made her presence known in the last month and she continues to amaze me. I truly believe she already has a personality and she is strong willed, persistent, and silly. Her life is such a blessing and every day I am reminded of the miracle of life as she continues to take over my stomach. The little boy down the street from me told me “JJ, I know why you are kinda fat… you have a BABY inside of you” .. I was tickled and said, “So, I’m just kinda fat” and his answer was “yeah, but it’s ok” so cute! The truth of it is I love being pregnant. I feel beautiful and comfortable in my skin. I have never felt so “ME” before. I can’t explain the transformation but my center has shifted.

Another reason I love being pregnant is the jeans! I may never go back to non-maternity jeans. A tip to all the soon to be mommy’s out there.. buy your maternity clothes early (before you need them) so as you grow you don’t have to stuff yourself into clothes that make you feel gross. Have your clothes ready to go so when that time comes you can just grab them, put them on, and feel great about yourself!!

(24 weeks)



Being thankful is something I keep to myself too often. I think we all do. As we enter into the week of Thanksgiving I am overcome with thankfulness to my family, husband, doctors, friends, faith, pumpkin pie, great jobs, our new neighbors, and the next chapter of our life. I just can’t wait to see what I am thankful for next year!