Kate, 33 weeks pregnantSwim-up Bars. Pool Volleyball. Mai Tais. Daqueries. Golf. Sun-n-Sand. Fantastic Food. Sounds like the ideal vacation, right? Sounds to me more like the business trip I just came back from in Tucson, Arizona. I had a fantastic time and it was only possible because our client’s conference went so smoothly. It was hard being away from Kate for a week, but she’s one tough cookie and made-do just fine without me. It’s great to be home with her again though. We had some fun working in the nursery tonight and so I got the camera out and snapped a few “holy cow, she’s really getting big” shots. I just realized that I’m a dead man once she reads that last sentence tomorrow morning. She can’t stay mad at me too long, right? I love you hun-nee!!! 🙂

Kenny and Levi napping.Our friends, Jason and Allison, had their baby boy on Friday morning! 8 lbs, 8 ounces. Levi Fraley Isbell. Unfortunately I was still on my trip, but Kate called me right away to share the good news. Levi is a real cutie. We went over to visit him on Monday and I ended up taking a nice nap with Levi also napping on my chest. It was such a nice reminder of what is just around the corner for Kate and I. It made me want to meet my little girl so much more than I already do.

I had a little shelf debacle in the nursery. It was my first full-day back at work since my trip and I’m still very much on Arizona time. I got home and quickly spent my remaining energy hanging curtain rods and curtains in the nursery. I then pulled out the three shelves we bought for the wall. These aren’t your normal, everyday shelving. These are big, heavy, solid, S E R I O U S shelves. I read the cryptic instructions for hanging and decided it seemed easy enough to tackle that night. Then my eyes drifted to the top of the page (which apparently I had skipped right over on the first read) where it read in big bold lettering: Shelves must be mounted into studs or joists. If this is not possible, shelves should be hung by professional installers only. Crap. All of a sudden the layers and layers of fatigue came rushing to the surface and I got real frustrated real quick. We spent more money on these shelves than we had planned but we were able to justify the price with the quality, look and ease…wait…suddenly this wasn’t so easy anymore. We had just finished holding them up to the wall where we want them to be. Now, how was I going to know if studs existed where I wanted them? I don’t own an electronic stud finder and didn’t want to rely on the ever-so-untrustworthy “knock on the wall until it’s a less hollow sound than the hollow sound” technique. I called it a night.

Today, Kate went to her parents house and borrowed her dad’s electronic stud finder. It all worked out fine and I hung the shelves with ease. I’m quickly realizing how crappy I can be when I’m exhausted. This is something I really need to work on. Both my girls deserve better than that.