the last straw

I've been filling some of you in on our floor saga. To make an extremely long story short, we have had tile disaster since we tore up our kitchen and dining room floor in September. From contractors who didn't show at all, to one who disappeared in the middle of the job, to Justin and Matt learning how to cut tile and getting covered head to foot in slate mud, to the grout not coming off the tiles, to me being pregnant and incapable of helping, to Justin throwing out his back... who thought it could get worse. As I was coming home Friday at noon, Justin called to tell me not to park in the driveway so that there was room for the ambulance. Apparently Matt, our resident hazmat technician, got a nice whiff of the hydrochloric acid in the grout remover, passed out when he tried to stand up, and made a very impressive hole with his forehead in the kitchen wall. (Which he now thinks is "sweet.") Yes he is OK, but we all had a fun time in the ER on Friday afternoon. AND, to boot, the grout remover didn't even remotely work.

I REALLY think we could make it on to some HGTV show at this point. "DIY Disasters" or "Ghetto Grouting" or something like that. Oy vey!

frozen

Just had to say as my car very reluctantly started this morning I noticed that the thermometer said -5. We are definitely paying for 60 in December.

Jackson Pics

Here are some brand new family photos thanks to Kadee. Matt and Jill are proud parents!

Welcome Jackson!

I am happy to be the first to report that Jackson Matthew Cobb was born this morning at 4AM, weighing in at 7 lbs. 8 oz. and measuring 20.3" long. Jill had to have a C-section and will be in the hospital until Monday. I'm so excited to welcome the firstborn of Immanuel's newest 2007 generation baby boom! I'm sure the proud parents will have photos up ASAP - check out the Cobb Family blogs for updates. More soon.

the inevitable

So Justin and I went to our first of 6 childbirth classes last night. I didn't realize it was his first time seeing a video of a live birth. I guess in Oklahoma it's illegal to show that kind of thing in public school, or at least it was in the 80s. He did very well! No leaving the room or turning pale or barfing, even when the nurse gave the poor guys in the room a vivid analogy about the pain of labor, comparing it to having a blood pressure cuff wrapped around their um... nether regions and having it set to go off every 2 minutes! I'm actually more squeamish than he is when it comes to that stuff. I know I won't be able to watch OR listen when they talk about epidurals... the very thought of a big old needle anywhere near my spine makes me want to pass out!

It's been a busy week and the time seems like it's both flying and dragging endlessly until the baby comes. I have lots to do at work before my leave and the house is coming along really nicely. It looks like there are going to be 3 showers planned, which will be great fun. Winter has also finally decided to show up here - a few weeks ago the temperature dropped and it's been nice, frigid, and snowy ever since. I didn't realize how much I missed the sparkling, breathtakingly cold "real" winter! I just hope it doesn't last till June this year. ugh.

return of the man-pit

I am so excited, our basement, otherwise known as the man-pit, is almost done. Justin painted a very manly stripe along the wall the other night and we're getting ready to have the new carpet put down tomorrow. The men will be able to return to their lair of TV, movies, and snacking soon, and Justin's new office/storage will be ready too. We'll even have a new table for studying and space for the baby to play. While I don't recommend taking on a house renovation project during pregnancy due to the stress levels incurred and unreliability of contractors, I am going to be SO happy with the new room. Sighs of relief have been coming out of me for days. Finishing the basement means I'll finally be able to get the nursery done and our kitchen/dining room will follow soon after. There is finally a glimmer of hope that I will have a complete house again soon. Justin and Matt have been working their respective bootys off... i will need to send them on a vacation.

Our Winter "Vacation!"

We had a very unexpected extra four days in Oklahoma. The gorgeous, 68 degree weather which we enjoyed on Thursday turned into a much more Michigan-like setting an hour before our flight was scheduled to leave from Tulsa on Friday. Justin's parents lost power first, then phone, then water... you can see why in this photo! Luckily we had a propane heater to keep us warm. With the house being at the bottom of a long, steep hill with a gate right in the middle, it took us two days to actually get out to town. We spent the time reading, playing cards, sleeping, and doing crosswords. Click here for a bunch more of my storm photos.

Our flight was supposed to leave on Friday and was cancelled an hour before we got to the airport. Then it was Sunday... then Tuesday... finally we managed to make it back to Lansing last night. I was never so happy to see Lansing from the plane! Meanwhile, the Millers probably won't have power for at least another week. Luckily they were able to make it to a friend's house to stay for the time being.

We had a good rest of the trip, getting to see both grandmothers and a whole bunch of other family. Justin got to have his favorite Hot Hamburger (the world's nastiest food) at Murphy's Steak House in Bartlesville, where we also saw Kevin, Kara, and their adorable daughter Grace. We also went baby shopping in Muskogee and visited Oklahoma City where we got to see Stephen Wright, Bill and Lori Hicks, and David & Amy Sparks. Stephen took this shot of Justin and me enjoying the last of the gorgeous weather.

week of calm... sorta

We've returned from a New England Christmas - although snow and sleigh bells were replaced by all this warm weather it was still nice to be home. The grand tour took us to Niantic, Pawcatuck, and Boston, with a stop at the Mystic Seaport for a lantern light tour - one of those cool things I haven't done since I was kid. It was like a live version of the History Channel. Good to see family as always... and who knows when we will get out there again with the little one coming.

This week we're playing catchup with the house projects. The nursery is coming along and I now have a dresser in which to put all the vintage 1970s baby clothes that my mom brought out of the attic. The scary thing is that I actually remember wearing those plaid corduroy bell bottoms to nursery school! Denise and I ventured down to Ikea yesterday and picked up some extra things. We also got the travel system stroller/car seat combo that we've been eyeing. It really seems like there is a baby coming soon...

On the 1st, Jill put up our new web stie for church - immanuellive.com. Check it out! We will have pics for the photo gallery soon. She did an awesome job in getting all that info up there. We have now entered the 21st century... at least technologically speaking!

On Monday we're headed out to Oklahoma to see the in-laws. We're hopefully going to get to see family and grandparents and also meet up with some friends in OKC. Our much-anticipated Sonic trips may have to be limited due to the fact that I've developed a mild case of gestational diabetes... so no cherry limeaides for me this trip... the sugar-free ones just don't cut it. ugh.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. I'll write again upon our return from the OK state.

holiday ramblings

I'm getting just as bad as the guys thinking explosions are cool. :) Here is yet another video of a bridge blowing up from cnn.com.

The rush is on! Counting down the days till Christmas. We've had quite the packed December so far. We had our church staff dinner at the English Inn earlier this month and had a fantastic time talking to our waiter for almost an hour. He heard us talking about "church stuff" and struck up a conversation. It was pretty awesome. We've also had Jill's baby shower (photos here). She is having a little boy in February, about two months before our girl is due. Tonight we're having our church Christmas party, and Sunday evening we're off to Connecticut for the week. After that, we're home for another week and then heading to Oklahoma. Then I'm not traveling for a good long time!

I'm on week 24 of my pregnancy.. 6 months along now. Last night Justin felt the baby move for the first time. She's finally starting to kick hard enough to feel on the outside. I've felt her doing gymnastics in there for about a month now. She likes to act up when I lie down for bed at night. I also had my first "preg-nesia" experience this morning. I couldn't find my glasses on my night table when I got up, and went stumbling into the bathroom when it dawned on me that I could see. I completely forgot to take my contacts out before I went to bed last night. Oy vey.

Things at church are great. I am enjoying worship so much and am so thankful that the Cobbs have come. God is already blessing us a ton through their ministry and it's so exciting to see Him working. I have been in and out of jaded-ness for far too long and it's great to have a fresh reminder of His working and to see our formerly stagnant church growing and transforming. Also, if you remember, please pray for Kadee whose grandmother passed away this weekend. It's been a tough one.

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone.

a flight of fancy?

Sorry I just had to post this one... from abcnews.com

Flatulence Forces Plane to Land
Plane Forced to Land After Passenger Passes Gas, Lights Match to Cover Scent

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Dec 6, 2006 (AP) - An American Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing Monday morning after a passenger lit a match to disguise the scent of flatulence, authorities said.

The Dallas-bound flight was diverted to Nashville after several passengers reported smelling burning sulfur from the matches, said Lynne Lowrance, spokeswoman for the Nashville International Airport Authority. All 99 passengers and five crew members were taken off and screened while the plane was searched and luggage was screened.

The FBI questioned a passenger who admitted she struck the matches in an attempt to conceal a "body odor," Lowrance said. She had an unspecified medical condition, authorities said.

"It's humorous in a way but you feel sorry for the individual, as well," she said. "It's unusual that someone would go to those measures to cover it up."

The flight took off again, but the woman was not allowed back on the plane. The woman, who was not identified, was not charged in the incident.

thanksgiving

We didn't get to travel for Thanksgiving this year, but the weather was gorgeous and we made the rounds first to Nelia's house and then to Marie's. We had plenty of turkey and stuffing and all the fxins...but we did have to miss out on the festivities in Providence. Here are Ariana and Alison posing at the Rodrigues family gathering, photo courtesy of Mom. Can't wait to see everyone at Christmas.

Justin, bless his heart, has taken it upon himself to finish tiling our floor. I came home last night rejoicing to find several more rows laid. The fridge will be back in its rightful spot eventually!

We did venture down to Canton on Black Friday to do some baby shopping at Ikea. We got a crib and some other necessities, and I'll be going back with Denise in a few weeks to pick up a changing table and rug. Today I'm starting to feel the baby moving around more persistently... she's starting to kick, no question about that!

she's coming!

So I had my 20-week ultrasound yesterday, and... send in the pink, it's a girl! It was so cool seeing her little hands and feet squirming around. She has all her fingers and toes and is healthy, praise God, currently weighing in at just 12 ounces. Justin is particularly excited as he was hoping for a girl. Stephen W. has already offered to buy him a shotgun for when she starts dating. :-) Now Auntie Alison will have a human niece in addition to her canine one, and Uncle Pork Chop will have yet ANOTHER princess to spoil!

Seeing her in there made me realize that she is going to have to come out sooner or later. Now that I'm halfway through the pregnancy I guess it's time to start thinking about the end of it. I'm getting more and more excited all the time.

I'll post an ultrasound photo as soon as I get them scanned.

weekend houseguests

On Friday night, as we opened the garage door on our way over to church, we heard the smallest little meow and in ran a tiny little orange and white kitten! It couldn't have been more than eight or so weeks old.I scooped it up and it was purring like crazy and so, so cute. We decided to leave her in the garage until we could run to Meijer for some kitten food. As we shut the door, we heard another meow... and her brother ran out from behind the bushes! We scooped him up too and brought him inside, where he and his sister promptly snuggled up with me. We eventually made it out, and looked for any more siblings, but it seemed like those two were the only ones.

Eventually we made it back, armed with kitty food and a litter box. They were quite happy to get that chow. Even Matt thought they were cute when he walked in, which is saying a lot for someone who is definitely not a "cat person." Anyhow, we couldn't leave them in the cold garage, so we put Chelsea in her kennel and brought them down to the basement where they had their own little room for the night. They snuggled up together in Scrappy's castoff bed.

The next morning I went around the neighborhood trying to figure out if they belonged to anyone, but with no luck. By this point Justin and I had been playing with them and of course decided that we wanted to keep them... Chelsea and all. Of course that was wishful thinking, especially when we decided to "introduce" them to Chelsea who promptly started shaking - from fear or self control I'm not sure - and then bolted after the brother (thank goodness I had her on the leash.) Being too small to fend her off, we knew they didn't have a chance in the house. So... on Sunday afternoon we sent them off with Gerritt and Marcy to a nice new home with two other kitties to keep them company... sigh...

a breather

The last few weeks have been some of the busiest I think I've ever had. This week the pace should slow a bit, thank goodness - it will be very nice when holiday breaks come around.

I made my bass debut last night for evening church! Garrett lent me his formerly closet-bound bass and I spent a few hours practicing yesterday afternoon. Nothing funky yet, I assure you, but I did manage to produce extremely sore fingers and the ability to play a very basic bass line in the keys of G, E, and D major by the time I was done. Yay! I'm on my way to becoming the new Immanuel Baptist queen of funk! right... We did have another very exciting addition to worship last night. We have a new family at church and it turns out that Karl, the dad, is a really great guitarist. He brought his electric and jammed with us last night at practice. It's amazing... we prayed for musicians for so long and had none, and now they are coming out of the woodwork! His wife Leanne is also learning bass too. In addition to all of that, due to a really generous gift, we were able to buy a basic electric drumset for Mattie to play, finally! He wasn't able to play last night due to some incident with cutting down a tree, but he is so excited as we all are. All of a sudden we're going to have a real band, it's like God just dropped it right into our laps! Leave it to Him to put together the impossible. Of course the band will play just on Sunday nights initially as we had a few suspicious stares at the drumset Sunday morning, but gradual is good. I'm just so excited I can hardly stand it!

I couldn't resist...

I've been at work since 8:30 AM and am running on fumes at this point... so for my last hour at the desk I've decided to see for myself why Justin is so addicted to YouTube. And I think I found my answer... this is the most incredible tornado video I have ever seen!