Making Serious Progress

As I wrote in the last post, our house reno project has come a long way and I honestly forget about how rough it has been. I can remember the winter of 2010 when I was pregnant and the house was freezing with only half being heated. It honestly felt colder inside than out.
Now the entire house is heated and cooking in our kitchen is a pleasure...imagine that!
Here are some pics of the kitchen, which is about 90% complete. It's gorgeous with under floor heating and great amenities. The only mistake we made is our glossy black floor tiles. When you have a long-haired GOLDEN retriever, best not to have black tiles.

Here is a pic of our old kitchen which is still here but will eventually be our office

I can't believe that I was actually able to operate in here.

Now we get to the "pleasure of cooking" kitchen designed with the plan of hosting lovely parties and cooking 5-star meals. First are some pics of the "work in progress:"

The kitchen is still a work in progress. We need the wall tiles (in between the cabinets and the counter), the backsplash and the extractor above the stove top *Hob in England*

But as you would most likely agree....we have come a long way!

2011 Renovations in Pictures

I have to start out by saying that my husband is absolutely amazing. I think most times, my eyes glaze over when he is talking to me about the electrics, plumbing, etc. but when I can actually see the progress, then I know how much work has been done. I think that making something out of nothing is a gift and it is the definition of creativity. I used to think that renovation and building was black and white but now I know that it is more than that - it takes an eye that can visualize something before it exists and a heart and mind that can actually get it done.
For our little family, 2011 was mainly centered around the house and getting it to a point where we not only live comfortably, but where we enjoy being "home." I can't say that I've enjoyed every step but I can say that I have learned a lot not only about myself, but more importantly, about my husband. Our house in pictures from 2011: these are work in progress pictures. We have finished rooms now including a fab kitchen and will show those pics in the next few posts. Just wanted to show where we started from. I think that it's important to have these pictures and to look at them from time to time to see how far we have come and how blessed we are. And of course, I had to add in some pictures of our other 2011 blessing!

Pumpkin Carving night at Witter HQ!

Well, it's been awhile since I have updated my blog. So much has happened, obviously with our little bundle of joy. Isaac is growing so fast, the house project is moving on and I feel like we are always planning something big every time I turn around. We had a lovely trip home to America in September and we are now preparing for the US Embassy in London trip so Isaac can have dual citizenship...see, always something!
Yesterday was a wonderful day full of pumpkins. The English don't celebrate Halloween as massively as we do in the states, so pumpkins of a good size are hard to find. We actually found a pumpkin farm where pumpkins were up to my standards for good ole carving! I mean, Steve has never carved a pumpkin before so it was extra special. Steve asked if I would make pumpkin pie with our leftovers...well, now I am on a mission to find canned pumpkin in this country...he'll never know!!!
Here are some pics of just the start of our pumpkin extravaganza!

Each Day A New

Wow. Each day is such a new day with a 3 month old. He surprises us and enlightens us everyday. I have to say with my new experience as a mother, that these past few weeks have been an amazing development phase for Isaac. He is wonderful and makes me smile all the time. I miss him when he is having his nap times and love being around him when he is awake. Morning times are the best. After his long, long sleep, he wakes up with a smile that will change the world.
I talk to him all the time. I tell him to change the world a bit, to be passionate about something, to be good at a lot of things but to be great at one thing. To pick one thing and do it the best he can. I tell him to love people, to have a good heart and to love God. I tell him that he can do anything he wants to do. It's so funny...I talk to him like he's an adult. I know that Isaac is going to change the world a little and touch people's heart. He's changed my world and he touches my heart everyday.
We have had such a lovely last few weeks. The first few were so difficult but we have finally gotten the hang of this parenting thing...well, at least for now. Things are constantly changing so I know there will be more hurdles to overcome.
We have already started teething. He has a side molar coming in...whoops...seems to be doing things a little backwards. Looking online (what we ever did before Google, I will never know) at the order of teeth appearances and it says that molars come in at around 13 months. That the front bottom teeth should be the first to come in. With the new teething, Isaac is constantly chewing his hand and I am surprised that he doesn't drown in the amount of slobber. I thought that we would have a few months to relax before teething but we are not that lucky.
The smiles are contagious, the laughter is so wonderful and each day is new. We love our son more everyday. Each day is a new day. There is light at the end of that first few weeks tunnel.

The Miracle of Life

My last entry was titled "The Best is Yet to Come," but I had no idea! I was 29 weeks pregnant in my last entry with work to be done on the house and especially the nursery and my baby still kicking away inside of me. Needless to say, with time comes change and we have had a lot of it. The nursery is finished and the house...well...almost finished.
Isaac Paul Witter arrived a week early...he just couldn't wait to meet us. Steve and I were happily playing a game of scrabble (I was winning with words like "byliner") when I started having contractions. No bags packed and totally not ready for this at all. As my contractions started getting more frequent and increasingly intense, we decided to start packing our bags. Steve started doing laundry (yes, laundry) and I was putting on MAKEUP!!! Really??? I had no clue but I wanted to look good for the pictures afterwards. What was I thinking? We laugh about it now but we were totally out of our minds. This was it...this is what we had been waiting for.
My labor was very difficult but was very fast and my midwife was brilliant. She was from Ireland so made it difficult to understand her but she knew what she was doing and I was happy just to follow her instructions. The only problem was I couldn't understand if she was saying "push" or if she was saying "pant." I still don't exactly know what "pant" means but I think it means don't push. Another thing that we laugh about today.
And at 6:15am on May 15th, Isaac Paul was born and he was born perfect. Steve putting diapers on backwards and me dazed and confused made for an interesting few hours. I will just skip over the other not-so-nice things that happened in the hospital and right to being at home with our sweet boy.
There is nothing on earth like labor but nothing, I mean,  nothing like being at home with a new baby the first few nights for your first baby. We were clueless and at one point, laughing hysterically at 3am after being up all night for 3 nights in a row. It's either laugh or cry...Steve laughed a lot and well, I did a lot of both. It was so hard and nothing prepares you for it...nothing. Three weeks later and we're still not sleeping. I am still breastfeeding every hour, Steve is laughing still and at this point, I am not laughing anymore. I struggled a lot with breastfeeding as Isaac was feeding every hour for almost an hour. This makes for loooong nights and really difficult days.  I was physically healing but mentally and emotionally exhausted....we had to make a change.
A great book was recommended and it has made a world of difference. "The Sensational Baby Sleep Plan" really put things in to perspective and helped us get in to a routine. After a lot of hard work and perseverance, Isaac is sleeping 12 hours a night...10 weeks old and sleeping 12 hours!!! What more could we ask for?? The days are still a little difficult as Isaac can't seem to get the hang of nap times but I am not complaining at all...at least now, I get to sleep and feel human again!
I think that the whole thing changes you...being pregnant, labor and the first few weeks of being a new mommy. It changes you as a person from the inside out. It's the miracle of life which is just that. It's a miracle. It's perfection at it's finest few hours. I feel stronger, and I have grown as a person - mentally, emotionally, physically and most of all, spiritually. It's hard not to. I am still amazed at the miracle of life and always will be.