I promised a photo of me pregnant to a few followers. I have one (that is SO sad). I told Byron he had to take some of me this weekend. Which we forgot to do. So- we'll have to be more diligent this week! Here is one sample of me two weeks ago at 29 weeks. It's not a maternity dress, but only in the last two week has that really become necessary. I've been able to wear most of my clothes up until a week or two ago. (with the exception of pants. I needed the elastic waist much earlier). 9 weeks to go!




This pregnancy has been relatively easy on me so far. But last week- o my the reflux started. The doctor says its just because the baby is taking up more room and my stomach and lungs are being scrunched up. She also says it's very normal. She also says - this will probably last for the rest of the pregnancy. Yuck. I have now started (trying) sleeping sitting up. Which is impossible. And uncomfortable. Which means no sleep, and let's just say - sub par brain functioning the following day during class/lab. These last two months might be a little rough in the academic department- but I'm not aiming for perfect scores people. Passing will do just fine. I just hope to finish the semester before this baby comes! Dec. 16th is the end. Baby Branch can come anytime after that! (And preferably before the end of the year!)



In other news- one of our neighbors had her little guy about a month ago. He is just so precious. Byron and Johnny were roommates at A&M and we coincidentally ended up living in the same city- same neighborhood- one street away from each other. They are great friends and it will be awesome watching both Byron and Johnny 'grow' into this new phase of life with kids! (It'll sure be different from the all nighter video game expeditions. I hope.) I just love this picture of Byron holding a newborn. I've never actually witnessed Byron hold a baby. (Besides Wyatt Sidden and he was screaming at the time so Byron only lasted for about 10 seconds before passing him over. He wasn't smiling at all like in this picture.) It makes me excited to see the man I love become a father.

Dear Baby Branch

Dear Little Branch:

Someone told me I needed to keep a journal of our little journey together so far. And- just like with other journalling endeavors- I've been bad at this one too.

But- just to have something on record:

1. You are good to your Momma. You never made me throw up, or gave me any real trouble during the beginning months. Things didn't smell so great from time to time (I think broccoli is your least favorite food because Momma STILL can't stand the smell of it), but never once did you make me cross the line and run for a barf bag. Thank you. I hate throwing up.

2. You made me sleepy in the first few months. very very sleepy. By the end of the work day, I was in desperate need of a nap before starting dinner or whatever the evening entailed.

3. I felt you "kick" for the very first time on August 2nd, 2011. It was very distinct and I've felt you move or kick every single day since then.

4. You move all the time now, but your favorite times to move are: during class, right after meals and right before sleep. You have your own little party in there right when I'm trying to fall asleep. You're also up with sun at around 5 AM (ok- maybe not with the sun), but you tend to wake me up before the alarm.

But- I'll tell you a secret: I like it. Waking up to you moving always makes me happy. Def. happier than the alarm clock makes me.

5. Your dad can feel you move now too- but he isn't as enthusiastic about it as I am. It's ok though. He loves you in his own way. He's already thinking about how to pay for all the things you'll need. I tell him we don't have to worry about having your education paid for at this moment in time. We'll have some time to figure that out. He's such a worrier- but I think it's his way of saying he loves you.

6. Walking isn't your favorite thing to do and you like to protest going up hills by sitting down as low as possible. Hopefully-I can teach you to love walks when you're outside in the world here with me!

7. You must have a sweet tooth because all I want to eat is candy. And Fruit. Veggies- NO THANK YOU. I hope this doesn't become a habit.

That's all I can think of right now- But I'll try to add little tid bits about your personality as I remember them.

Most importantly- We love you so much already. I was watching a show the other day in which the teenager left for college. I wanted to cry just thinking that someday- that'll be you. You're not even here yet! People say you have no idea what love is- until you have a child. I'm starting to think that statement holds water.

We can't wait to meet you in just 10 more weeks!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Opening day

Labor day marked the first official dove hunt of the year for Byron. I think the official start date was actually September 1st, but due to work schedules etc. he couldn't get out there for a few days. It was killing him to have to wait.

Tradition has it that the Branch's and the McCauley's host a fish fry/ dove hunt on Labor day every year. As always- there was LOTS of delicious food and great company. I only spent a few hours up there before heading back to town to study. (Man...graduate school is hard! Too much reading. And test taking. And everything else!)

Byron stayed up there until dark with some of his buddies and everyone shot their limit. I don't know that's ever happened before.

What a great weekend!

Let it begin

So after a 6 month hiatus from blogging, I'm attempting a return to keep loved ones abreast of all the changes going on with the Branch crew. So- to give a quick summary of what's going on/what went on in the last few months...

1. Byron and I are expecting a baby in December. (the 28th to be exact. Let's hope it doesn't arrive on Christmas. That would just be so sad. But let's also hope that it arrives before Jan 1. Tax break people. Don't think we're shallow. (sorry for the bad photos- it's a pic of a pic)




2. I started graduate school at the Health Science Center. This is going to be a crazy few months. But- school will keep me occupied and busy as we await our new addition.

3. Byron is now on his pediatric NS rotation and the hours are AWESOME. for now. He still gets called in, but the hours and general pace of things are much much better.

4. We had a family reunion up in Boston to celebrate my great grandmother's 100th birthday! Five generations were present. Amazing. (Great Grandma= generation 1 and generation 4 (me) and 5 (baby); for some reason I don't have a copy of the whole one with my mom and grandma.)




5. Taryn got married and the wedding was awesome. So wonderful to see my friends marry such wonderful people and be truly happy.



6. We had our counter tops redone. They are no longer bright yellow! (excuse the mess on the counters. it's no the best pic but you get the idea). They are a tan color now. We also had our bathroom counters redone. Pics to come soon.





That pretty much covers the major events of the summer. I hope to update more often, especially once baby branch comes!

The Most Wonderful time of year....

MARCH MADNESS! I loooooovvveeee this time of year. Even more so now that we live in Texas. I don't think this much basketball has been aired ALL season. I've had the tv on all day- watched four games all the while cleaning the house. March madness makes housework a million times more enjoyable!

It has been a great Saturday. Normally- there are millions of errands to run and things to do. But- I was able to run most of errands after work this week so all that was left was a little light cleaning at home. And Laundry (that never ends). But- Byron finally had off! So- we slept in, went to breakfast with friends, drank coffee, played on our computers, and watched basketball all day. Glorious!

Last weekend I played in a volleyball tournament that about killed me. I'm just not that limber anymore. I really enjoyed being competitive again- even if I payed for it in pain the next day. Byron took the boards. Ewww. One of his Attending's had everyone over for dinner after the boards which was fun but I had to call it a night at about 9. I just couldn't keep my eyes open after all that volleyball!

Last Sunday we went out with most of the residents to a famous (somewhat) restaurant here in SA called "The Magic Time Machine".


It was interesting. Food was overpriced, but I guess you're really paying for the atmosphere. We had the joker for a waiter. He was crazy. I know the little girls at our table were soooo hoping for a Cinderella or Tinkerbell or anything less frightening than that Joker. They were troopers though and the residents got some good laughs!

More updates on the house to come. We tore up the backyard and laid a bunch of sod. It looks much bigger now. I just don't have the green thumb the old owner did. SIgh.

Kitchen Transformation

Well- I promised some before and after pictures and figured that going room by room would be the easiest way to accomplish this. As I mentioned in a previous post- we took 6 weeks before moving in...and flipped this house. Every inch of it has something new: flooring, paint, carpet etc. The result was a nice sharp, clean, fresh- not so 70's looking house.


So- because it's the most drastic change- let's start in the kitchen.

Before: (note...if you're on any medication that could make you hallucinate...do not look at these "before" pictures.)








And During:










And after:









Future plans:

While the kitchen still seems very yellow- we have a long range plan in mind. We are planning (aka: saving) to put in butcher block countertops. We hope the light yellow walls will go nicely with the butcher block accented periodically by all my lovely polish pottery! We also plan to change the hardware for the cabinets and update the appliances at some point. All in good time- when our bank account recovers!

A few other things you might not be able to tell from the pictures:
1. we stripped the ceiling completely of popcorn, retextured it, and repainted it.
2. We (and by we...I mean Justus, Jake, Alisha, Byron and myself....thanks Yocum clan!) took down, primed, and painted all the cabinet doors and base frames by hand.
3. Replaced a damaged wall (near front windows). This will be a whole separate post!
4. Added bead board and trim
5. Replaced the front windows with energy efficient brushed bronze single hung windows. Beautiful!

So....we bought a house!

This post is about 4 months overdue, but to sum up....Byron and I bought our first house back in October. We'd been eyeing the neighborhood it was in for more than 6 months. Finally this gem popped up! The former owner kept excellent care of the lawn (which I managed to let die in about 6 weeks. but hey...it's winter anyway right?!?!). She also took great care of the inside of the house. It was just MAJORLY outdated. We're talking funky psychodelic wallpaper, olive green and brown shag carpet, and disco bar in the living room outdated. See the sample pics below. Yikes. I'm sad to say I didn't snap some pics of the carpet before we ripped it up, but trust me: it was awful. The wallpaper and carpet were the first things to go and I promise to post pictures of the progress and final product!






After 6 weeks of hard labor, we flipped our outdated house and successfully spent all of our savings! There are many many things still of the list of changes we'd like to make- but the major issues have been knocked out.

Just a sample of the things we accomplished:

1. Ripped out all carpet.
2. Remove all wallpaper (kitchen, two bathrooms, and laundry room)
3. strip ceilings of popcorn in whole house (save hte master bedroom- we got tired out by then) This is WAY more work than you'd ever thing
4. Spackle and prime ceilings
5. Repaint all ceilings
6. Paint all walls (we painted a fresh coat in the entire house which gave the house a fresh, new, and CLEAN feel.
7. Chisel out tile in hallway
8. Lay wood floors
9. Laid baseboards
10. Fixed small problem areas on Roof (flashing and water diverters etc)
11. Installed carpet (we didn't do this one...it wasn't too expensive to have someone else come in)
12. prime and repaint kitchen cabinets. (Thanks Yocum family!)
13. replace all windows in front area with energy efficient models.
14. Repaired damage in Kitchen and bathroom area walls (this involved taking out an ENTIRE section of wall and studs.
15. Removed sliding glass door in bedroom and converted the area into windows. This also involved taking out a whole wall and having another rebuilt.

Thanks to all of our friends and family for the blood sweat and occasional tears you put in! we couldn't have finished it without you!