It is finished and it is beginning...

As I write my first blog, we are sleeping in our newly finished house for the fifth night while awaiting the impending arrival of our third son, due tomorrow. Early labor began a couple weeks ago, settled down and has seen some advancement in recent days.

I'm tired of being pregnant, but I'm tired in general and I really want more nights' rest before bringing a newborn home. But, as I write this, it is 12:36 am- and I'm not exactly falling asleep. I'm keeping my husband company as he installs a vessel faucet into our new master bath. He wouldn't be installing it so late, but we have an appraiser coming Monday, so that we might close on this loan soon.

Loan...arghhh!

One important thing to note about me, and my husband...we hate debt. We paid our first house off, after seven years, last April on tax day 2009. Just four days before, we found our dream property, which we named "Thousand Hills Farm." Two weeks later, we won it at auction! Two weeks after that, we screamed "we're debt free" live and in person on the radio to Dave Ramsey. Ten days later, we closed on the loan for our farm. Four months later, we sold our paid-for house to my mom who planned to retire here. We were almost debt free again, but soon watched a loan rise as our house went up. A month later (we're in October 2009), we realized our third child was on the way.

No problem- we'd be wayyyy done with the house by then!

With my mom still working in Alabama, we were blessed enough to stay in our old house during the entire build. Fast forward nine months. May 29th I went to labor hall but was sent home. That week we had a trim guy, painters and flooring folks finishing their work. Mom retired June 1st. We moved our furniture June 5th. Polyurethane and paint fumes had subsided enough for us to sleep in our new house June 8th. We just barely beat the baby, but the boxes are still packed and I'm tired.

Friday was my last day of work for maternity leave. And today, after much suggestion from others, I started a blog...about it all.

That's me. That's this year. Did I say I was tired? We're all tired...including my oldest son, the three-year old, who broke his leg Memorial Day and scoots himself around quite well, leaving a trail of cast scuff marks on my new floors...

Elizabeth