Under Construction

The Amonetts love a challenging project, especially the male half of the Amonetts. You can imagine the non-stop fun in our home as my construction guru hubby cannot get his fill of replacing the old with the new, upgrading power sources, creating masterpieces out of leftover materials, drawing plans of remodel in his sleep. Often I refer to him as the Tim Taylor of the 21st century, minus all the grunting, electrical mishaps and self-inflicted wounds. Anyone who knows Thaus will not be surprised to learn he has a myriad of home improvement and construction projects simultaneously underway. And me, well, I go along for the ride and follow behind with a sponge roller just in case of drips. As is the case in our house, when one room is finished, another room comes calling, as my husband continues to dream up new and more efficient fixes to our home. When he asks me why we are always so busy and never have a moment to sit down, I remind him it is because he is never satisfied with an accomplishment and must immediately move on to the next task. With his ADD and my flair for decorating reborn walls, I guess you could say we are driven by the intoxicating odor of fresh cut lumber, the endorphin-releasing high of shooting loaded nail guns, and the fresh look of three coats of semi-gloss paint, not to mention the thrill of crossing off a line on that ever-growing project list that neither rests nor hides from my roller ball pen.

Amidst all our scheduled scribbles on the cow-embossed lined paper adorning our Frigidaire, there was one project which unexpectedly popped up in the spring of this year, surprising us and demanding our full attention. We never thought this undertaking would a possibility for our family, yet with a blessing from above, and with a little outside help, we were able to immediately move this project to the top of the list. We are particularly excited and engaged in our work, so we thought we would share a sneak peak of the progress from the inside. Here are a few photos of our newest and most anticipated home improvement project of 2010:


These photos were captured on October 13, twenty-five weeks into construction.
Early estimates forecast a completed project by mid-January.



Wave "hi" to your visitors, Baby Boy Amonett!



Baby A: Can't a kid get any privacy around here? Why is everyone always trying to look at my junk? This is the third photo shoot in six weeks!

Don't mind him, friends. Baby A is a little sensitive about his first public press conference.

Moving on to the exterior:



Xavier is all smiles as he shows off baby brother. I frequently inquire of X what we should name baby. Usually he answers "Cicle". Today, he thought "Brother" was a good choice. Have I mentioned he has been watching the Berenstain Bears a lot this week?



Gestation: 27 weeks
Weight Surplus: ???
I haven't weighed myself since my last doctor's visit at 24 weeks. I was up 25 lbs. (gaining 7 in a four-week period). From here on out, weights are something I lift free hand and not something I measure on a scale. So, if anyone asks, I am holding steady at 25 lbs. And you can rest assured I'll remind the doctor of that little tidbit when he wants to weigh me again on November 3.