Baby preps being rushed to completion

About a month or so to go until baby arrives! Everything lately, outside of the normal day-to-day school/work routine, has been focused on getting the house ready for her. We have been here four years, and with the changes we have been making to house, we keep asking ourselves “Why didn’t we do this years ago?” I guess a baby really brings out the nesting instinct in all of us (i.e. getting the nest ready).

So far:
-Kitchen de-bordered and painted in new colors.
-Master bedroom redecorated and painted.
-Evan moved in w/ Autumn; new bunk beds for the kids. Evan’s former room now nursery.
-Nursery re-carpeted and painted. Crib/changing table/rocking chair all set.
-Our miscellaneous room downstairs now has Autumn’s old queen size bed, ready for guests.

In progress:
-Living room and hallway being de-bordered/prepped. Painting to take place during next 1-2 weeks.
-Kids’ bedroom “personalized” with painting of designs on walls; finishing touches to room underway.

Our “someday” list:
-Repaint bathrooms
-Repaint stairwell

Also in progress: Picking out a name! We were overwhelmed with our list, which had grown to about 18 possible names. We very democratically narrowed it down from 18 names to 4… final name, and spelling, still TBA: Krista/Christa/Krysta, Emilia, Karina/Carena/Karena, and Savannah. For those of you who didn't see the video on Facebook, you can view it by clicking here or accessing it on the top-right.

Last week, Autumn and Evan attended “Big Sib Class” at Cabell-Huntington Hospital, where we will be having the baby. They brought stuffed animals and used them to learn how to change diapers, swaddle, and hold an infant. Very cute! They also toured with us to see the rooms for labor/delivery/waiting/etc. Through a window, they even got to see a newborn wrapped up in a blanket!

Labor Day weekend, Mark took the kids to Hawk’s Nest State Park, so they could enjoy one last day trip before our lives become totally baby-dominated. This included an awesome boatride down the New River, with a gorgeous view of the New River Gorge Bridge. This is that famous bridge on back of the WV State quarter.

Hope y’all are having a good transition into Fall! Let us know if you would like to use the guest bed downstairs sometime! :)

-Mark, Marisa, Autumn, Evan, and Baby-to-be

P.S. The other recent big news: Autumn finally lost her first two teeth... a year and three months after Evan's first tooth. However, they had to be ushered out by the dentist! Her new ones were growing in BEHIND (not under) her baby teeth, so they weren't pushing the old ones out. We were hoping the Tooth Fairy would leave some help $$ for Mom and Dad because of the extraction fee, but no luck!