We’re now less than 2 weeks from due date, and the most common question these days is, “Are you ready?” 

Ready? Is it possible to be ready for such a moment like this?

 

On a physical level, perhaps. We’ve installed a car seat (that’s not for a child I nanny!), packed a hospital bag, and prepared a nursery to bring our little one home to—overwhelmed with gratitude as we recognize that every single thing in this room has been given to us. THANK YOU.

But does this make us ready?

We’re certainly excited… growing daily in anticipation to meet the little one who will soon be a part of our family!

But, to be honest, we’re also terrified… terrified of the massive change that’s about to take place, the unknowns, the end of one season and the beginning of another so new and so… permanent.

I was recently thinking back on my life and realized that I have grieved at every major turning point—bawled my eyes out at high school graduation; called my mom shortly after college sobbing, “Is it all downhill from here?!”; wept before India; wept after India; even grieved the end of singleness before Danny & I were married—not knowing the JOY that awaited around every corner, a joy that would quickly make all those tears seem unnecessary and make me wonder, “What in the world was I so afraid of?!”

I trust that this new season will be no different. And while it doesn’t necessarily eradicate all fear, I do look forward with great anticipation to the JOY that awaits around this corner and to the day when I will hold our sweet child and wonder, “What in the world was I so afraid of?”

In the mean time, grateful to be held by the steadfast love of the Lord—a perfect love that casts out fear (1 John 4:18)—and for the promised ultimate joy of dwelling with Him forever (Ps. 23:6).

Ready or not, here we come!

Recent Developments...

"Many hands make light work!" --or so my beloved mother-in-law often says-- and our new, fixer-upper house has certainly proven this to be true. After two solid months of renovations and many, MANY helping hands, we are now moved in & (mostly) settled!

Here are a few before & afters...

Living Room

Tore down wood paneling - replaced with drywall. 

Ripped up linoleum - refinished original hardwoods.

Busted down top half of fireplace - built bookshelves and mantle.

A close up of the gorgeous fireplace bookshelves, whipped up in one weekend by the most talented wood-working/engineering duo I know-- my husband and my father!

Special thanks to my parents who exchanged their "Gatlinburg vacation" for 12-hour work days with us. Dad was especially helpful with those gorgeous bookshelves, while Mom painted trim and washed sawdust off every square inch of the house.

Dining Room/Kitchen

 Busted down walls. 

Ripped up linoleum - refinished original hardwoods.

Gutted old cabinets - installed new kitchen.

This is by far our favorite transformation of the house! We love the open space for hosting, and the brand new kitchen feels like a dream. HUGE thanks to the team at Counter Dimensions for their amazing work on our kitchen remodel! We couldn't be happier with how it all turned out.

A close up of the original butler's pantry, laboriously stripped and restored (layer, by layer, by layer, by layer...) by my determined mother-in-law, Martha.

Kitchen

One more look at the kitchen from the other direction...

Hallway

Guest Room

Mainly, I just want to show off the bed that MY HUSBAND BUILT in a week and a half's time... since we had guests coming, you know. :)

A big thanks to the many other hands that helped along the way... especially my father-in-law, who single-handedly primed every wall and ceiling, and our small group & friends, who had the whole house painted, taped, and cleaned in just one day!

We certainly couldn't have done it without you all!

We feel so blessed to live here and have enjoyed watching "one man's trash" turn into a home that we are truly proud to call our own. To me, these renovations reflect the creativity & imagination of our God, who made us from dust and daily turns ashes into things of beauty. I'm so glad He's not intimidated to take on such "fixer-uppers" like us.

Meanwhile, the house is not the only thing that's been changing these days...

We are now less than 3 weeks from due date (Jan. 23rd). Daily growing in anticipation to meet this little one! Nursery pictures to come. :)

Merry Christmas!

One Man's Trash...

So, I’ve got a knack for finding trash. It runs in the family, I guess. I blame my father entirely who, on my oldest sister's 16th birthday, bought a junk yard for our new home and claimed it had “potential” if we could just look beyond what things are and envision what they could be.

This kind of wild perspective is often met with skepticism or disbelief (“Dad, I can't believe you bought a dump for my birthday!" -16-year-old Adrienne) and, to be sure, sometimes ends in failure. But such is the risk of a fixer-upper. Sometimes it just doesn’t fix-up.

And yet, sometimes, you get to watch beauty emerge from such an unlikely source, and the result is truly satisfying.

The family junk yard, now.

Danny & I just bought our first house (woohoo!)—not a junk yard, but a fixer-upper for sure—a vintage 1920’s home, owned for the past 50 years by an elderly couple who recently passed away. Their children were now looking to get rid of the house… and so, one man’s trash became our treasure. It has ugly linoleum floors and chipped plaster ceilings and so much potential. We can’t wait to make it our own!

The best way I can describe this house, though, is that from the moment I walked in the door, it reminded me of my wedding dress…

I’d watched Say Yes to the Dress. I’d seen friends and sisters light up as they tried on “The Dress” made just for them. I knew how this whole thing worked and was looking forward to my own magical day of wedding dress shopping… surrounded by my mom and sisters and fancy white lace. A halo of light! A perfect fit! Squeals and hugs and tears of joy…

Instead, that day was canceled by a snowstorm. Take-Two landed on a “fat day” (you know exactly what I’m talking about, ladies), where nothing fit my body or my price range, and I left in hopeless tears, convinced that I’d be the only bride in the history of the world who never found “The Dress.” My 8-year-old niece Emma reassured me, “I just know you’ll find something, Aunt Amanda, because I’ve been to a lot of weddings and I’ve never seen a bride in plain clothes!”

And she was right. I did find something, the very next week on a normal Wednesday morning walk with 2-year-old George and his cup of Cheerios. We happened upon a charming little thrift store, I peeked inside, and behold! A halo of light! A perfect fit! Squeals from George and Cheerios on the dressing room floor. I’d found “The Dress.”

Sure, it had a hideous collar and poofy sleeves. But, with a little fairy-godmother-magic from Diana Clark and Kim Griffey, we watched that trash transform into this treasure…

And walking into that 1920’s fixer-upper house, I knew it was just another treasure hiding behind a hideous collar and some poofy sleeves. 

It certainly wasn’t how we expected to find our first house… in fact, since we were living in Texas at the time, Danny never even saw the house until the night before closing. (Now that’s trust!) :) I just happened to be in Birmingham for a doctor’s appointment, happened to drive past a few houses and give our Realtor a call (who happened to be on her way back from vacation), and we happened to walk through eight houses and find one on the last morning, hours before my flight out, that was just perfect. Danny’s parents graciously checked it out later that night for a second opinion and gave us a thumbs up.

So we made an offer...

…and became HOME OWNERS.

All of the fears I once had about those oh-so-daunting words—the financial commitment, the sense of permanency, the feeling of being “stuck” to one place—are now gone. This one just seems so right. And with the bargain we got, we’re hopeful that a little fixing-up will make for a good resale, should that time come.

We’re thrilled about the location—the most international part of Birmingham (we've already met neighbors from Lebanon and Nepal!). Thrilled to be living just a stone’s throw away from some of our best friends, Joel & Kristen. Thrilled to have a place of our own to call home as we grow our little family.

It’s so much more than we deserve, and we’re simply thankful.

Renovation is well under way... stay tuned for photos to come! :)

P.S. Apparently 16-year-old Adrienne caught this "trash-to-treasure" vision as well. For a sneak peak at her family's recent fixer-upper house project (AMAZING, and so much more ambitious than our own!), check out her blog here!

Home Owners!

10 Takeaways from a Temporary Texan

TOMORROW we pack up our bags and leave...

THURSDAY we'll be back in...

FRIDAY we close on a house (which Danny has yet to see-- that's some serious trust!).

Exciting days ahead!

These past 3 months have flown by (probably due to those 60 hour work weeks...), and while we are very ready to go home, I'm thankful for this season & all that we have learned. So, in no particular order, here are 10 Takeaways from a Temporary Texan.

(Disclaimer to any True Texans: I do not submit this to be an accurate representation of your Great State-- I spent 90% of my time on a pipeline constructions site, after all. Nor do several of these points even have anything to do with Texas-- just random things I've learned in the past few months!) :)

1. If I ever go into marketing, I will slap "Texas" on everything. Apparently it's effective.

2. "Ain't" IS a word, despite what your teacher told you. So is "might-could" and "fixin-to" and a host of other words I can't write on this blog.

3. I was wrong-- flip phones are never coming back in style. When the airline steward told me I was "going to just LOVE when the microwave comes out," I knew it was time to get with the 21st century. And as much as I arrogantly resisted, I must admit, iPhones are pretty great.

4. It's a fine line, but Southerners, Rednecks, and White Trash are not the same. Learn the difference, y'all.

5. I married a Southerner... who now happens to drive trucks through the mud and wear cowboy boots to church. Fine line, fine line... ;)

6. There's no such thing as too much salt on a mayo & peanut butter sandwich.

7. When it comes to work, "it's not what you have done, but what they think you have done..." and other such motivational Words of Wisdom from our office trailer.

8. TV gets old... real fast. But Shark Tank is awesome. And it's on every night this week! :)

9. People are hurting all around you. Show them you care, and point them to Jesus. To be honest, I regret not taking more time to love the people around me in this season. I have missed out on so many opportunities to love people well, and I pray that this feeling of remorse will cause change in the future.

10. Make new friends, even if you're just passing through. We have been so blessed by the community of friends at Southside Church that welcomed us right in, knowing that we'd be out the door just as quick as we came. They invited us to their homes, to their birthday parties, and into their lives. We felt accepted and so loved. For sure the highlight of our time here.

And so, this brings us to the end of another (unexpected) chapter in The Seibert Story. Stay tuned for more adventures to come!

19 weeks

Finally got my hard hat! It's not pink, but it'll do.

Living the dream in South Texas... :) for another month or so, anyway, and then back to Sweet Home Alabama and, if all goes as planned, a new house! But more on that later...!

Life Lately...

I suppose we're due for an update considering that, since my last post, a LOT has changed. Turns out the "anonymous speculations" were true—we just didn't know it yet! :)

In May we found out this fun news...

A baby! 

In January! 

It's both thrilling and terrifying to think of becoming parents, but we are grateful for so many wonderful examples to follow and are looking forward to learning and growing together in this new season.

We're a little nervous, however, about our child's internet-predicted appearance, but our mothers have already promised to love him/her no matter what. ;)

First trimester took us adventuring to the Smoky Mountains, Alaska, and Colorado. I have a feeling we might have trouble topping that for these next two! :)

A special highlight (literally :)) for me was summiting Longs Peak with my dad and Audra (along with Danny, Austin, LT, Jeff & Clayton as well). Had I known how difficult and dangerous those 14,259 ft would be, I might have stayed home. But all said and done, it was absolutely worth it, and I feel quite accomplished to be counted among the few pregnant women who have reached the top!

July brought another unexpected twist and a two-weeks-notice move to Corpus Christi, TX.

For the past year, Danny has been overseeing (from his air-conditioned office in Birmingham, AL) the construction of a natural gas pipeline in South Texas. In late June, he was "voluntold" to move on site for the remaining three months of the project. So, off to Texas we went!

And before we knew it, this had become our new normal—Danny in his cowboy boots and pick-up truck (which got stuck in the mud last week)...

...and me in this office trailer. Yes, I'm pregnant and working on a trailer in Texas. You know, just living the dream. ;)

But we're counting our blessings. Working alongside Danny and seeing firsthand all the responsibility he carries has made my respect for him grow tremendously. Plus, we're enjoying unlimited "quality time"—shared truck rides and lunch breaks and date nights by the ocean—all of which we know will change dramatically come January! At the same time, we're definitely looking forward to getting back to Birmingham (hopefully late September or early October), reconnecting with friends, moving into a new home (TBD), and preparing for parenthood. 

Wow. Maybe these next two trimesters will be just as adventurous after all. :)