Hawkes is Here!

On Tuesday, January 14, 2014 we welcomed Hawkes Lee Powell to the world and to our family.  He arrived five days past his due date, but right on time.  Hawkes' official stats were 9 pounds, 21.25 inches and perfect in every way!  I delivered at Vanderbilt, like I did with Sophie, and I can't say enough great things about the OB team and labor and delivery teams.  We had a small scare when Hawkes was a few hours away from delivery, but it was well-explained to us and we felt reassured and confident that teams were in place to jump in as needed when he was born.  Thankfully, no intervention was necessary but we had quite an audience in the delivery room.  

Vanderbilt uses Bella Baby Photography to capture some of those sleepy and early newborn moments.  Here's one of the many photos taken of Hawkes:

We know Hawkes isn't a traditional name and lots of friends and strangers and even family have asked how we chose his name.  Jason's great-great grandfather was John Hawkes Mellard, an angus cattle farmer in Kansas.  We both love one of the stories about John Hawkes that has been passed down through the family about how he and his wife protected their homestead and cattle from neighboring ranchers who weren't too fond of this new breed of cattle and the fencing the Mellards constructed to keep them safe and secure.  After Jason's mother reminded us of some of these stories, we knew Hawkes was going to be the name.  His middle name, Lee, is both Jason's and Jason's late father's middle name.  Sophie is a name that goes back many generations in my family, although we didn't know that until after she was born.  Her middle name, Marcella, was my grandmother's middle name.  It feels good to know both Sophie and Hawkes have names that connect them to our families. 

Sophie is smitten with Hawkes and couldn't be sweeter with him.  We've had a few tough moments when she needed one of us and we couldn't be there for her like we would have before Hawkes, but we're figuring it out together.  I'm so grateful to her teachers, friends and parents of classmates who make Sophie feel special. Seeing her with her brother for the first time was truly one of the highlights of our lives and we've had lots of sweet moments since then, like this one.

In other news, things are finally moving along at the new house after a few weeks of delays due to wet weather that prevented the crew from digging footers for the addition.  We finally had a stretch of dry weather, so they're rocking and rolling again although now we have bitterly cold temperatures.  One more unexpected situation came up with the acoustic/popcorn ceilings throughout the original house.  The crews tried several methods of removal to no avail - it seems as though these ceilings were applied with a crazy process that makes them impossible to remove so we will have to cover them rather than scrape or sand them.  We made some progress just before Hawkes arrived with choosing cabinetry and some appliances and we have a great lead on tile and a powder room vanity through Costco of all places.  

I hope to have some new photos to post next week of the progress and some of the products we've found.  Until then, I'm happily holed up at home with Hawkes, getting to know him and sharing lots of snuggles.  I've gotta share one more newborn photo - I think this is Jason's and my favorite.  Somehow both Sophie and Hawkes inherited my crazy feet, so seeing that the photographer captured them was just perfect. 

Finally, I have to say it wasn't lost on us that Hawkes made his debut on the first day of the 2014 legislative session.  Sophie was born on the anniversary of the day Jason and I met at the polls on election day in 2002 so of course Hawkes had to have his own tie to politics in some way!  Until next time...

Last Post of the Year?

I think this will be my last post for 2013.  As soon as I typed those words, it's entirely possible I ensured I will deliver a baby in the next 36 hours and be forced to eat my words when we post a baby update. 

Speaking of baby updates, I don't have much to share except that I am in fact still pregnant!  I have about 10 days til my due date and all is well.  Strangers and near-strangers have generously peppered me with commentary on my size lately, with Jason's and my favorite being "you look like you could pop!"  What a way to describe a pregnant woman.  And how terrifying!  Also at the top of the list "you're really coming along now!" and "you can't get much bigger than that!"  Why, thank you!  

I've been terrible about taking bump pictures, but snapped this one in the pre-dawn hours today.  Huge shout-out to the makers of Puma and Asics running apparel for making ridiculously stretchy clothing that's gotten me through the last 39 weeks.  Although I jogged through my entire pregnancy with Sophie, I switched to walking at 37 weeks this time around when I was dilated to 2-3 cm and not quite ready to get the show on the road.  It's still nice to be able to exercise and work off some stress!

We had a fantastic Christmas and I had a great, happy birthday on 12/24.  Jason taught Sophie to sing Happy Birthday to me, so when I came downstairs (at 7:30, woohoo!) I got a lovely serenade, which we repeated over and over all day!

Sophie has had a lot of practice singing at school and especially thanks to a great program called Music U taught by the awesomely creative Jes Cleland.  Here's a video of the Older Toddler (Sophie's class), Young Preschool and Older Preschool classes singing carols on the McKendree UMC church steps:

I'm a terrible gift-giver.  I know this about myself and I've learned not to stress out about it as much over the years, but I do wish I were better at it! I'm married to a fantastic gift-giver, though.  Sophie and Jason gave me a really beautiful set of rings with all of our birthstones in them - November (Sophie), December (me) and January (Jason) plus Baby Powell, who will either have a December or January birthday.  They're stackable and made locally by a jewelry artist named Judith Bright and I absolutely love them!  Jason also found a really cool necklace by another local artist named Marrah Florita (M. Florita Jewelry) shaped like the State of Tennessee - how appropriate for us! I also received many thoughtful gifts from my parents, in-laws and friends and felt totally under-deserving of all of them but also really excited to feel the love!  

Sophie had a great holiday and received lots of fun gifts, including a new drag queen outfit (or Sleeping Beauty costume, whatever) that she wore until we finally had to force her to remove it and wash it.  

The new house is coming along, too.  Although we were set back a week or so after running into a 14-foot boulder, wet ground and special ordering equipment to break up the boulder, things are progressing!  We were able to move the 10x16 shed out of the way on Saturday to make room for the equipment that will break up the rock, making it possible to finally finish digging out the area where the addition will be constructed.  

View from the bonus room into the former living room / kitchen / sitting room / fireplace - no more wall!

New subfloor

View toward the back of the house - this exterior wall is next to come down

Exterior / future addition site

We were able to look at some finishes and products last week, including kitchen counter tops, cabinets, tile for the master bath and entry/mud room at the back of the house.  We gravitate toward granite companies that have both slab yards and do the fabrication as they're straightforward with pricing and there are no extra steps involved in hiring fabricators to install.  After shopping various solid surfaces, we're still in the granite camp simply because it's so durable, easy to maintain, cost-effective and we've found the look we want.  In the past we've used Brothers & Sons (a local Nashville company) and this time around have found most of what we like at a newer company called MC Granite in East Nashville. We may choose a quartz or marble surface (also available at MC Granite and Brothers & Sons) for our master bath both because we love the look and because it's more cost-effective in a smaller area that won't see as much abuse as our kitchen.  We'll see!  

Although we're leaving the vast majority of the work to professionals, we are doing a few things ourselves, such as removing the wallpaper in the bedroom hallway of the untouched portion of the original house and repainting the three existing bedrooms and two bathrooms.  Jason is off to score and peel wallpaper this week and I hope he's taking some good footage!

I haven't posted much about food lately, but we have really enjoyed the cooler weather and more soups and casseroles that are easy to make and even freeze.  One of my favorites is this tomato basil cheddar soup (can't find the source but I think it was Iowa Girl Eats!):

Tomato, Basil, and Cheddar Soup

• 2 28-oz. cans of diced tomatoes (I used one fire-roasted and one regular)
• 1 yellow onion, chopped (save time and use a bag of frozen chopped onion!)
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 cups of vegetable broth
• 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt (we used light sour cream last time)
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated (grate it fresh - so many fewer preservatives and tastes/melts better)
• 1/2 cup basil, chopped, loosely packed (reduce this amount by about 1/4 if using dried basil)
• 2 tsp of oregano
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:  Over medium heat, add the olive oil to a large pot. Add the chopped onion and allow to cook until tender, about three to four minutes. Add in chopped garlic and cook for an additional two minutes. Pour in the two cans of tomatoes (juice and all) and the vegetable stock. Stir in the basil, oregano, sugar, and salt and pepper. Place the lid back onto the pot and allow to simmer ten minutes. At the end, stir in the Greek yogurt and cheddar cheese until well blended. Use either an immersion blender or food processor to puree the soup if you prefer a smooth texture. Garnish with chopped basil and grated cheddar cheese if desired.
 
Enjoy!  Happy New Year to you!

Progress!

We closed on our new house a little more than two weeks ago and a lot of progress and demo work has been done already!  Here are some before and current shots of the kitchen, living room and bonus room.  All furnishings in the before photos were the previous owner's, photos taken before closing.  

Some of the demo work completed or in progress right now includes:  

• Removing all flooring in the living room/kitchen/sitting area and bonus room, half bath and laundry room
• Removing the brick plantar at the front door
• Replacing subflooring in the living room/kitchen/sitting area and repairing/reinforcing floor joists
• Scraping textured ceilings
• Removing the wall dividing the living room/kitchen/sitting area
• Removing the wall enclosing the half bath and laundry room in the bonus room
• Demolition of the existing kitchen, bath and laundry
• Demolition of the fireplace wall and chimney
• Demolition of the current patio area to make way for the addition

 Construction work will include:

• Laying hardwoods throughout the original house in all areas where the flooring was removed
• Building a new fireplace in the former sitting area 
• Old kitchen area becomes a dining room adjacent to a new sitting room and fireplace
• An entry way/drop-off area will be built in at the existing back door
• A half-bath will be constructed within the bonus room, accessible from the living/dining/kitchen, etc
• The existing back exterior wall will be pushed out to make way for an addition with a new kitchen, laundry room, hallway and master suite

Bonus Room Before:

Bonus room view into laundry - before

Bonus room view into half bath - before

Half bath in bonus room - before

Laundry room in bonus Room - before

Bonus room view into half bath - before

Bonus Room Now:

Wall enclosing the half bath and laundry room is gone! Half bath is demoed.  The layers of flooring have also been removed.

Laundry Room has been demoed and plumbing will be capped off.  Windows are exposed that were previously behind the wall!

The bonus room is now a staging area for all demoed appliances, cabinetry, fixtures, etc. (Hi, Aunt Nancy!)

Kitchen and Living Room Before:

Front door entry into living room - before

View into living room and plantar - before

Living room before

View of kitchen from fireplace wall before (hello Bill, home inspector extraordinaire!)

Diagonal fireplace wall - before (and Mary & Phil!)

Kitchen and Living Room Now:

Wall is coming down - it's now completely gone (pics to come) and no support beam will be needed!

Many, many layers of flooring were removed, along with wainscoting.  The heavy brick fireplace wall and chimney contributed to our need to replace the subflooring with 3/4" subfloor and reinforcing the joists below.

View from living room into former kitchen, which is demoed.  The exterior wall is the next to go!  The addition will be in this area, including the new kitchen, laundry, hallway and master suite.

Diagonal fireplace wall is gone!  Chimney is the next to go.  So much brick!

Like any home renovation or addition project, we'll run into challenges we didn't foresee.  We've had a few good news/bad news situations arise already, but it all balances out for the most part.  Great news was that we didn't need a support beam where the wall used to be diving the living room and old kitchen.  Not so great news was the need to replace the subflooring and work on the joists.  The big question mark in that area of the house was the diagonal fireplace wall.  We knew the wall had to go because we need to be able to square off the room and be able to build the addition and hallway to the master suite from that area.  What we didn't know was what we'd find behind the wall!  We didn't expect the massive, crazy chimney but that's what we got.  We planned on keeping the chimney and flute but in the end we'll demo what was there and build a new fireplace.

It's great to see things happening, and a little overwhelming to know how much is going to happen over the next few months.  Looking forward to sharing more as we continue!

A New House for the Powells!

After many, many (MANY!) months of searching for a new home for our family, we finally found the right one and closed on it this week!  Some might say we're crazy for choosing multiple life changes simultaneously (having another baby, buying a new house and doing some extensive renovations and additions on said new house!) but it works for us and we couldn't be happier. 

We won't move into the new house until sometime after the first of the year because of the work we're doing on it first (would I rather live through days of no heat, no plumbing and no electric with a newborn?!), but I'm excited to share the photos before, during and after and the craziness of the project.  We've been working with an architect for the past month or so to complete the design and a contractor who will be managing the project, the biggest we've taken on so far.  Work begins tomorrow, so we're wasting no time. 

Although we're not quite ready to share before pics, I have to share this one because one of my favorite things about this house is the amazing lot - look at all the green space!
 

 Finally closing on the house has been a great milestone after a challenging month.  Can't wait to share more as we go along, starting tomorrow!

Losing Someone

Robert Allen "Robbie" Corum Jr., 47, of Lebanon Junction, died on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013.
He was a production line worker for James B. Beam Distilling in Boston. He was a Baptist who loved fishing, ATV riding and his Dodge truck.
He was preceded in death by his father, Robert A. Corum Sr.; and grandparents, Dorothy and Hershel Ricketts and Lula and Ervin Corum.
He is survived by his mother, Sharon A. Ricketts Clark of Lebanon Junction; two sisters, Melissa Corum of Boston and Sara Beth (William) Brown of Lebanon Junction; several nephews, Corey Mathery, Sebastian and Christopher Brown, and Parker Grant; and a niece, Lydia (Squishy) Brown.
Funeral services will be at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at Kappel Funeral Home in Lebanon Junction with a private burial at a later time. Visitation will be after 1 p.m. on Wednesday. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/pioneernews/obituary.aspx?n=robert-allen-corum&pid=167668298#sthash.1BJrKuyk.dpuf

Robert Allen "Robbie" Corum Jr., 47, of Lebanon Junction, died on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013.
He was a production line worker for James B. Beam Distilling in Boston. He was a Baptist who loved fishing, ATV riding and his Dodge truck.
He was preceded in death by his father, Robert A. Corum Sr.; and grandparents, Dorothy and Hershel Ricketts and Lula and Ervin Corum.
He is survived by his mother, Sharon A. Ricketts Clark of Lebanon Junction; two sisters, Melissa Corum of Boston and Sara Beth (William) Brown of Lebanon Junction; several nephews, Corey Mathery, Sebastian and Christopher Brown, and Parker Grant; and a niece, Lydia (Squishy) Brown.
Funeral services will be at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at Kappel Funeral Home in Lebanon Junction with a private burial at a later time. Visitation will be after 1 p.m. on Wednesday. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/pioneernews/obituary.aspx?n=robert-allen-corum&pid=167668298#sthash.1BJrKuyk.dpuf

Robert Allen "Robbie" Corum Jr., 47, of Lebanon Junction, died on Monday, Oct. 21, 2013.
He was a production line worker for James B. Beam Distilling in Boston. He was a Baptist who loved fishing, ATV riding and his Dodge truck.
He was preceded in death by his father, Robert A. Corum Sr.; and grandparents, Dorothy and Hershel Ricketts and Lula and Ervin Corum.
He is survived by his mother, Sharon A. Ricketts Clark of Lebanon Junction; two sisters, Melissa Corum of Boston and Sara Beth (William) Brown of Lebanon Junction; several nephews, Corey Mathery, Sebastian and Christopher Brown, and Parker Grant; and a niece, Lydia (Squishy) Brown.
Funeral services will be at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at Kappel Funeral Home in Lebanon Junction with a private burial at a later time. Visitation will be after 1 p.m. on Wednesday. - See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/pioneernews/obituary.aspx?n=robert-allen-corum&pid=167668298#sthash.1BJrKuyk.dpuf

My half brother, Robbie, passed away this week after a battle with lung cancer.  We didn't know each other well and hadn't seen each other in probably 20 years.  However, he was my half brother and another connection to my dad, who also died of lung cancer at the age of 52 in 1998.  Most people who know me don't realize I'm not an only child; I also have a half sister, Melissa, in addition to Robbie.  She and Robbie are twins, and much older, from my dad's first marriage.  Suffice it to say that our family dynamic was not typical, but I always imagined we would find a way to reconnect one day.  I've talked before about reminders that we don't have all the time in the world for things, and this is yet another reminder. 

Robbie's obituary can be found here: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/pioneernews/obituary.aspx?n=robert-allen-corum&pid=167668298

We've struggled with sickness in our house this week - two cases of bronchitis (Jason and me), one probably cracked rib (me) and a bout of a stomach virus (Sophie) - and we're all more than ready to be healthy again!  I have no pictures to share this week, not because I didn't capture any moments, but because we laundered my phone with one of the many loads of laundry we did in the middle of the night when Sophie got sick.  There is not a bag of rice in the world that could bring it back to life!  Poor Sophie was really down for the count, but woke up feeling a little better today.  It's amazing how resilient kids can be.  

Even though this week has been challenging on many levels, it has also been filled with some great moments.  We're one step closer to finalizing plans for something that we're really excited about but not quite ready to share.  I (or at least my belly) also seem to have grown every day this week, and I'm beginning to wonder if this baby will outsize Sophie's 9 pound debut. Regardless, we're enjoying the kicks and punches and looking forward to meeting the little guy in just about 10 weeks.  We've also had a lot of fun talking to Sophie about Halloween, finding all the parts for her costume (Ariel - including a red wig that alternately makes her resemble a drag queen or a Troll doll), and making plans to dress up and head to the Zoo for Ghouls at Grassmere this weekend.

Like everyone out there, we're ready for a weekend and have our fingers crossed for all of my data to be safely stored in the Cloud and for everyone in our house to rebound, feel better and enjoy the weekend together.  Hope yours is great, too!

Something Moms Will Understand

It's here, and earlier than I remember last time.  That moment when your skin feels stretched as tight as it could possibly stretch, but you know how much bigger you're going to get.  So. Uncomfortable. That's really all I have to say today but please chime in with your own complaints or miserable memories because, despite all the joy and blessings and all the good stuff, sometimes it is just uncomfortable being pregnant!

However, Sophie is super cute in this photo and I felt pretty good yesterday.  Love this Old Navy dress that I bought for $20 this summer and Sophie loves her new rain boots!

Goodbye, Old Friend

Ok, I'm being a little melodramatic about saying goodbye to my old friend, my reliable, dependable, gas-efficient Honda.  But we had a lot of really great times together!  Like this one (above) when I was just four months pregnant with Sophie on the day we bought the car.  Or this one (below) when we were loading up the Honda with all the gifts from our family baby shower in Moline and stopped to take a quick family photo before jumping in to make the long drive back to Nashville - one of the last times we would be together with my grandparents when they were both healthy.  

That little car got us to all of our new parent classes at Vanderbilt, like this one where Jason and all of the other dads had a chance to wear the pregnant belly.

Although the Honda didn't bring us home as a family of three from the hospital, it got Sophie and me around town countless times over the past three years, provided an outlet for me to get out of the house with a newborn, gave me white noise to blast loudly as I drove a crying baby around town and carried us to all kinds of destinations near and far.  I think the car could navigate itself to Target, the Zoo and some of our favorite playgrounds because of all the miles burned between our house and those places over the past 35 months. 

Sophie cried last night when we told her that someone else had my car now, but we explained (again) that we needed a bigger car so she'd have room to share the backseat with her brother in just a couple of months and she's pretty excited about that, just as we are.  I'm not really sad about selling my car, but I am a little nostalgic thinking back on all the memories from the last three years since we bought it, because these have been the most eventful and monumental of my life so far. 

On another note, we won't be able to bring home our new car for another week or so and, in the meantime, my parents have graciously loaned us one of their cars.  It happens to be a sort of small, low muscle car with just two seats and I can't wait to see the looks I get when I try ever so mightily to gracefully get into and out of that car with my over-sized belly.  

I can't go a week without a picture of Sophie, so here's a shot from one of our many visits to see Boo, Sophie's favorite horse, at Ellington Ag Center.  

Boo was one of her first words, that's how much she loves visiting and talking about him.  This picture was taken just before another horse walked over and gave Sophie a big kiss on the head, so sloppy that we had to go home and give her a bath!  She loved it.  If you haven't been to the Ag Center, check it out sometime. This weekend is the Music & Molasses Festival on Saturday and Sunday, a great chance to see the trails, the stables, creeks and more.  Until next time!