Updates

Maybe it's time for an update post - here goes:

1. Madison is adjusting well to her new daycare. She cried when I left on the second day and said she missed her Dianne. According to Dawn, she was laughing and playing with the dog a few minutes later. Madison does enjoy the puppy and likes to play on the many toys outside.

2. Hail damage. This is still a nightmare. We have estimates and checks for both the car and the truck. We are at about $4200 in damage between the two, but our body shop believes there is more damage than our insurance company estimated. They are scheduled for repairs at the end of August and at the end of September. Mike had my car in for a few minor repairs last week and the guy at the garage went to take down the mileage. When he came back he says to Mike, "Uh, do you know you have a lot of hail damage?" Mike was like "No kidding? I didn't notice...." Haha.

The house is proving to be a battle. Our homeowner's insurance said that the roof on the garage is a total loss but only half the roof on the house is damaged. They also say the holes in the siding can be repaired. When they sent us a check, the depreciated the value of the roof, even though we have full replacement coverage. Nice. Our contractor says the roof on the house is a total loss and the siding needs to be replaced. So, we are waiting for the insurance company and the contractor to duke it out on our behalf. Meanwhile, we have baseball sized holes in all the vents on the roof. They are currently covered in duct tape and Mike has to climb up there every time the wind blows to put new tape on. I keep praying that I don't start to see water spots on my vaulted ceilings.

There are lots of contruction companies and roofers in the neighborhood. I would say nearly every house is getting a new roof and a lot are getting siding too. It's hard to get any peace and quiet if you go home for lunch - all you hear is hammers and air guns putting new shingles on!

3. Baby. Things are going well. My belly seems to have suddenly popped! With the exception of some awful headaches (nearly every day), I feel well. I can't believe I'm already at 16 weeks, the baby is almost half done! ;) YES, we are finding out the gender and YES we will be announcing the gender. We plan to keep the name a secret until the big day on (or maybe before???) December 22. The anatomy and gender ultrasound is scheduled for Thursday August, 7. We're praying for a healthy anatomy.

4. Summer. Can you believe it's already half over? Or do we have half left? We have been on a few camping trips and went to the lake last weekend. We have only had the boat out a few times - the weather and busy schedules are making it tougher to get out this year. Since Mom and Dad have two boats at the lake, we didn't bring the old Glastron last weekend. I hope to share more stories and a few pictures from our trip to the lake in the near future.

5. MBA. I'm still working on my MBA. It's been just over a year and I will be half done at Thanksgiving. I am spreading my program out over about 3.5 years - so it doesn't feel like I'm constantly in school. The program fits perfectly in to my life and I don't feel like all I do is work and study. I am still maintaining a 4.0 GPA, which feels really really good. It wasn't a goal of mine, but now that I have that 4.0, I really hope to maintain it. I guess I won't be heartbroken if it doesn't happen though. I just started a new class last week. I have one more after that and then I'll be done for the Holidays and birth of the baby. I actually do plan to take a class while on maternity leave. I figure I should be able to get my daily studying done while the baby takes a morning nap (lets hope I don't have a crier!) and I'll read while nursing. So, I do not plan to let the birth of another child interupt my graduation plans and with this program, I don't think it will be a problem at all.

6. What's coming up? The next few weekends are busy with a cousin's bridal shower, a wedding, a Twin's game, a possible trip to the zoo with my nephews, and Mike is going to his first NASCAR race in Michigan next month. While he is in Michigan, my friend Jodi and I will take Madison and the twins to the lake for a girl's weekend.

We still have one or two open weekends left that I am sure will have to be filled with something like getting Madison's new bedroom ready and/or digging out the baby stuff!