La Casa

The Backyard

The bowling-alley sized garage

The new paint job

The new fridge and paint job

Here are a few pictures of our new lil' house. We are happy that it meets all of our needs and that it is in a very good location. Mom spent all day Friday (in very cold temperatures until the gas guy arrived) and Saturday prepping and painting for us. I was with her on Friday, after I left work, and all day Saturday. It was fun to learn from her and spend some time together. The house is looking great and should be done just in time for Adalyn Ann(e) Payne... that's right we settled on Adalyn. We wanted to make sure that all the girlies: Ellie, Natalee, Addie all had the same ending. We are hopy that Ryan and Sara will follow suit by going with Ruby.

Krystal is in the last stages of pregnancy and is retaining a lot of water. If she is on her feet for just a few minutes, they start to swell. I have only called her "Frodo Foot" a couple of times. She keeps plugging along, but if they continue to swell badly this week, she will have to be put on bedrest until the baby comes (in less than 3 weeks).

I promised more posts and this is a good start. I better finish this one so that I can get some sleep. I will get some shots of Krystal before and after having the baby.

I got to kiss her first!

Well, here is Krystal's belly. It has grown quite a bit since the last post. I was kissing the baby the other day and it was leaving the "pucker" marks, so we decided to take a picture. The mark above the lips is my nose... like any good Payne, I couldn't keep my schnauz out of the way.

We have been preparing like mad for the arrival of Baby Payne (ETA, April 19th). Half of the big room is now full of her stuff. We are very grateful to the many family members and friends that have given us such great gifts. She seems to have a pretty funny personality already. She kicks almost whenever someone puts their hands on Krystal's belly... so we know she will be an entertainer, and she responds well to my recorder playing - which shows her love for "fine" music. Momma is doing well. Her feet are swollen everyday, but she keeps plugging along. We are thinking of naming the little one either Adalyn (Addie) Anne Payne or Gracie Lyn Payne. If you have any preferences feel free to comment.

We are closing on our house in Clinton tomorrow. To fit in, we bought a gun rack, some overall's, and a chicken. We are hoping that the neighbors will embrace us even more as we try to fit in to the Clinton culture. The house is great. It fits all of our needs perfectly and we can afford it. We are happy to now be the youngest Paynes, but own the newest house (2002), although the smokey smell may add a few years to it.

I just started my new job at ThomasARTS. I am very happy there and I really like the people that I work with. This has been a great opportunity for me to learn more about the advertising world. Right now I am working on the United Health Care account. It is our biggest account (they make over 90 billion a year) so I am making sure that I don't screw things up.

Krystal is ready for the baby to come, but she is still working. She has been great during this pregnancy. She is optimistic and I can already see how much she loves her little girl. She is happy that I am finally the sugar daddy, and not just dependent on her income now. We are excited for all of the changes that are happening in our lives... even though we are doing 4 things on the "top twenty most stressful things in life" list.

Since we purchased a new camera, many more blogs should be on their way... but I seem to have said that before, so who knows.