The latest and greatest.

So last week was a great week here. At the beginning of the week I had a sonogram. My dad baby sat while my mom went to the appointment with me, and we got to see the baby. After the appointment, she and I were the first to find out that baby crane 2 is a healthy baby boy. It's pretty amazing, this non-invasive blood test screens for a bunch or different trisomes/chromosomal abnormalities. All the results came back with the lowest risk possible. The added bonus is the test detects Y chromosomes so you get an extremely accurate read on the sex of the baby. 

They also saw my bleed was gone but since I had to wait a few days to find out that my pelvic rest was lifted, my parents helped a lot that week. 

That Monday we all laid low, played with Hartley and ordered pizza for lunch. 

Tuesday Brian worked from home due to the weather. But he did break for lunch and took us out to Clyde's. Hartley ate off the kids menu from the first time, and she loved it. I just loved getting out of the house and spending time with our little family. 

Wednesday and Thursday my mom came to spend time with Hartley and I. She's been really helpful, and we loved having her with us during the day. We can't wait until she retires! Our day Thursday was particularly fun. We went out to lunch at Cheesecake Factory and then my mom took us shopping. She bought lots of clothes for BOTH of the babies and a sweet woobie for Hartley. It was a lot of fun. 

Friday I was sad that my mom wasn't coming but my dad was here. Which leads to the new tidbit of Crane's Nest news: we're remodeling our master bathroom. 

Current photos:

Our master bathroom is very small, so this isn't going to be some insane makeover. But our shower was disgusting, no matter how well it was cleaned. It's an almost 30 year old builder's grade bathroom that has been treated with little love and care. Before we purchased our house it was an income property and it was treated like one. So my dad is redoing the entire bathroom. We're taking it relatively slow with the project as my dad has a job outside just renovating his kids' houses. So Brian, Hartley and I are sharing Hartley's bathroom, which was beautifully done by my dad as well. 

We are also in the process of emptying out the lady cave and moving its contents into the basement. 

So the house is very much "in flux" currently. 

I haven't had the energy to match my level of nesting instincts but the urge to nest is much stronger this pregnancy. I think that's probably because having a family of 4 in a 3 bedroom townhome is more of a squeeze; this addition is requiring us to purge and donate more crap. It was extremely daunting at first but this past Saturday during Hartley's nap Brian and I just started. We had to start somewhere so we took a big trash bag and some moving boxes into the lady cave. It's moving into the basement, and we will have a more functional basement that holds all family members' overflow. 

The kids bedrooms are very small, which isn't a problem with young children as long as we use the basement to store their excess books, toys, miscellaneous. The basement will house my desk, which I'll of course share with Brian. My crafting supplies will be down there. And there's still plenty of space for Brian's weights, TVs, DVDs and video game consoles. 

We are also currently price shopping for getting our windows replaced. Not only are our windows drafty but half of them don't open, and having the babies in rooms with windows that don't open scares the hell out of me. (We were advised to replace them when the home inspector walked through 2.5 years ago so at least we're finally getting to it!)

So while life is good, our house has become a total work in progress again. But let's be real, tweaking the house and putting in a little work is a million times easier than moving. Plus, it's been kind of nice going through and purging what we don't need. I love that feeling of simplifying, even if the cancer in me has trouble parting with all the old Christmas cards! 

I'm also excited to "put together" the kids' rooms. Paint and furniture obviously will stay the same but doing a few smaller tweaks with the organization and decor will be fun. 

In Hartley news, she's loving taking baths in the big tub now and learning to love new foods. Bananas, cheerios and watermelon are pretty much the major loves of her life but we're trying to push some meats and vegetables. She loves story time, dancing and Sesame Street. Oh, and she runs now. Yep, just runs around the first floor like a maniac. It's adorable. 

In Page news, I've become religious with my medicine, and it makes me feel almost as good as my normal self. Yay! Thank you, modern medicine. 

In Brian news, work is really, really busy. 

And that's all there is. There isn't anymore. (Yep, Madeline is big around here, too.)