La familia Miguel: That's life.

We are finally moved into our house with most boxes unpacked! Actually, the only boxes that are still packed are filled with my books. And those boxes are so heavy we are just too lazy to move them. But we're working on it.

While it is a great feeling to have our own house, it is also stressful. For example, after we moved in, we've found all these little problems (that I think should not be here, since it is a BRAND NEW house after all). Want to know what we found? Here, I've listed it for you.
1. The window in our bedroom wasn't installed correctly, so when it was raining outside, the water was coming inside. Therefore, the brick work around the window had to be taken out so the window could get fixed. Then they had to repair the dry wall inside and repaint. It also happened that while they were trying to put the window blinds back up, the broke them. So we also had to get those replaced. Oh and while they were taking the brick off the house, they ended up having to repaint the garage as well because of the brick hitting and scratching it as it fell down to the ground.
2. We also had a leak in our bathroom because instead of them putting in a drain in the shower that would fit, they put one in that would look really good. And it did look good. But hmmm...a good looking drain cover that doesn't fit, or one that does? So many options. Anyway, since the drain cover thingy didn't fit, the water wasn't going into the drain pipe, therefore making it leak everywhere else outside the shower. How did the plumber first try to fix the problem? By warping and pounding in the cover until it was so jammed into the shower that it fit. And looked like crap. We had them come back out, because that kind of shoddy work just doesn't work with us. They finally figured out to put in a drain cover that fit and fixed the leak and voila! That problem is taken care of.
3. Next, the floor boards in the upstairs level were not completely nailed in. Resulting in loose and noisy floor boards. (We could actually feel them move when we walked on them because they weren't set correctly.) The framers came back out, had to remove the carpet, and fixed the problem.
4. There is a leak in our garage. However, the plumber can't figure out what its from, so he doesn't want to start cutting into the walls until he can see the water leaking for himself. I showed him the picture documentation that I have, showing the pool of water and leak, but since he can't see it with his own eyes, he is doubtful about the problem. Oh plumbers. You gotta love them. So we still have that problem.

This is a picture of our new house.

Two story, three bedroom, 2 1/2 bathrooms, and HUGE backyard!

On to better news....we have one lucky baby boy!! Want to know why? Well don't worry, I made a list for this also.
1. At our mid pregnancy ultrasound, the doctor found cysts in the brain. It's not a huge deal, it doesn't cause any learning defects, but it is a marker for genetic disorders. We had to go to a specialist and genetic counselor, but when they did their own ultrasound, all the cysts were amazingly gone. Thank you to everyone who kept us in their prayers!
2. We were in a car accident when I was 22 weeks along, with the other person's car hitting me on the passenger side. He didn't t-bone us or anything, it was a side swipe, from him illegally trying to pass us on the right hand shoulder. Idiot. Anyway, he ended up denting the car along my side and completely taking off the front. Nice. And of course this happened right after we got our taxes done, finding out that we owe the IRS over $1000. The paramedics were called out since my stomach was tight and the baby stopped moving. I ended up going to the hospital later that day because after 6 hours, I still hadn't felt him move. At the hospital the wonderful staff let us listen to his heartbeat for a while and then did an ultrasound. The baby was completely fine! The doctor said he was probably just scared from the jolt he felt in the car accident, and that he could feel all my anxiety, resulting in him not wanting to move so much. Thank you again to everyone who kept us in their prayers!
3. Of course this baby is super lucky, because after all, he has me and Jesus as his parents! Automatic winner!

Our poor car......it's nose is gone!

Everything else in our life is going great. I love my job, our car is fixed, and the insurance placed the blame 100% on the other guy (so he gets to pay for the car, paramedics, and hospital). We have really nice neighbors that live next door and our new ward is great. It is the best ward we have been in since moving to Texas. I am going to Fresno March 22-27 to visit family and have a baby shower. Family and presents...always a good combination!