Showered in Omaha.

Cat's good friends and sister Laura threw her a shower in Omaha Memorial Day weekend. It was beautiful, and made even more so by some Riehles who were there for the occasion.

 

Baby room progress

The future baby room was CatMatt's music / craft / catch all room. They painted it deep dark blue, put up velvet red curtains, and filled it with furniture and stuff ... lots of stuff. After cleaning out, John visited (thanks, John!), and the boys painted walls and installed an attic fan. Then, time for furniture furniture. Now, time for baby stuff and decorating.

Halfway already? Oh my.

So, this is getting pretty real, as evidenced by Cat's growing belly (see, below), and this:

Wowza! It's a baby. At 19 weeks 3 days. Today, at 21 weeks, baby's supposedly about the length of a banana (why do all pregnancy info sites compare to fruit by the way?) and capable of thumb-sucking and swallowing, among other things. At this amazing ultrasound less than two weeks ago, CatMatt's little baby crossed arms and legs through the whole thing - a modest little one, no doubt.

Cat, Matt, 18 weeks:

Cat, Matt, 20 weeks:

Some photos from a few recent adventures: a quick, relatively last-minute St. Louis meetup (Frasers! Amighetti's! And baby's first onesie - from Ted Drewes); gardening and enjoying springtime; and a special celebration and rendezvous / last childless "hurrah" with the Callicoats, who are also expecting their first kiddo, in June. Good times:

"It's getting all E.T. up in here."

When's the perfect time for a major renovation project? So-called "nesting" time? Right, that's it.

This story begins months ago, when Matt (brave, resourceful) attempted to investigate a frustrating feature of CatMatt's house, which is that it is, on average, 15 degrees warmer upstairs (think: master bedroom and future baby room) than downstairs during the summer. This means it's not at all rare for CatMatt to return home from work on a toasty summer evening and enter a master bedroom that's approaching 90 degrees. Not cool. Anyways, upon realizing that cold air was blowing out of recessed lights in the kitchen ceiling, Matt (correctly) assumed duct issues, removed some cabinets, and cut a hole in the kitchen ceiling to check it out. Less than 20 minutes later, he emerged from a rectangle of plastic sheeting and drywall dust to bury himself in a laptop ... to research, what he (correctly) assumed was asbestos tape, frayed, and wrapped around a leaking duct. Uh oh.

At this point, the project came to a temporary but screeching halt, because a) overwhelm, and b) the unfortunate fact that not a single asbestos abatement contractor resides in Lafayette, Indiana. So-called local "environmental consultants" didn't return calls. Bummer. Eventually, a contractor in Indianapolis was found to tackle the job, which (like most projects in CatMatt's house) really turned into three jobs: 1) environmental contractors removing the entire "infected" duct, 2) HVAC contractors replacing said duct with new, asbestos-free duct, and 3) painting contractors patching hole in kitchen ceiling and subsequent hole in future baby room upstairs that was created when asbestos abatement contractors removed the duct, which necessitated plaster removal around existing vent. Sigh.

Asbestos abatement is sort of cool, by the way:

Shiny new duct work:

Painting contractors are patching this week, which means this project will soon end (hallelujah), and project: nursery can begin.Onward.

Ch-ch-ch-changes.

CatMatt emerge from winter with some big news: their little family will be expanding in August!

Cat, Matt, 4 weeks:

Cat, Matt, 10 weeks:

Cat, Matt, 12 weeks:

Cat, Matt, 14 weeks:

Cat, Matt, 16 weeks:

(giggle.)

Fall is good. Really good.

It smells good, like burning wood and crisp fresh air. It sounds good, like crunching leaves and school marching bands. It feels good, like soft woolen scarves and sweaters that have been in the closet tucked away.

Also, related: Matt grew a beard.

CatMatt have been celebrating fall like it's going out of style. Photos below document a couple particularly festive fall outings. The first, a day trip to Bridgeton, Indiana for the Covered Bridge Festival. Second, a weekend getaway to Brown County.

Bridgeton's about as cute as it gets when it comes to this sprawling Indiana festival. Amazing food, fun shopping, interesting scenery, and beautiful strolling. Absolutely delightful.



A recent Brown County trip commemorated CatMatt's 5th wedding anniversary. They stayed in a cute little inn, wandered around Nashville, enjoyed food and drink at some excellent local establishments, and hiked around in Indiana's largest state park. A gorgeous weekend (November or anytime), and a relaxing getaway.