Week 13: tile and cabinets

A lot was done this week in addition to the tile and cabinets: drain field and well, sidewalk, patio, metal roof, closet shelving, measuring for countertops, garage door & openers.




I went by TWICE this week because I was so excited about the cabinets! They arrived on Monday and Chris was school-girl giddy about them, lol. He asked me to go over after school on Tuesday to get pictures. He said that he was SO glad I pushed for the white kitchen. He picked the gray island, and I LOVE IT! I absolutely love the pulls that he picked, too. I am really looking forward to seeing the countertops and backsplash.






powder room


master bathroom


Anne's bathroom


Audrey & Abby's bathroom

On Tuesday he only had Abby so they spent the day together and he took her to see the house first thing. She got to see her room and she's so excited. He picked up Audrey early from school on Wednesday (she had a slight fever, wasn't feeling so great), and he took her by, too. She got to see everything plus how they dug the well. She was fascinated :) I hope the girls can appreciate how much work goes into building a home. We're the first house on our street. I'm excited for them to see the other houses being built over the next few months.


Thursday afternoon






Pocket office, easily one of my favorite features of the house!






Master shower

Next up is wood flooring, countertops, appliances, electrical and plumbing finals, and driveway. Whoa!! Chris is meeting with a landscaper this morning...I'm giving him free reign over that project! Busy week for sure!

Only 5 more weekends in this house after today! Mixed bag of emotions all up in here. Luckily I just don't have much time to dwell on being sad and sentimental. And "home" is wherever I am with Chris and our girls :)

Week 12: stone and paint

I'm in love with this house!

I took Wednesday off, we dropped off the kids at their respective places, and went to the house to measure windows. The trim was finished and they were getting ready to prep for paint. When Chris took Audrey by later that afternoon they were getting ready to do stone and they were beginning to paint.

Furniture shopping was so fun. We picked out living room stuff, master bedroom stuff, and a kitchen table set. We visited a bunch of places and it was pretty easy making decisions. We went to lunch for our 11 year anniversary :)

We had been struggling to find a bench for the mudroom. Down the road we want to do built-ins, but we needed something we could put in there immediately. There are a bunch of storage benches out there, but Chris was set on getting a longer bench since our mudroom is pretty long. On my way home from school I always pass a cute little antique/thrifted furniture place. They always have a ton of pieces outside and I always hope to get stopped at the red light so I can check it out :) I was driving by on Thursday I saw a big gray bench sitting out there. I ended up reaching out to them on FB and they posted a picture of it. On Friday I sent it to Chris. He stopped by, loved it, bought it. In fact, he raved about how awesome the whole store was..."When you go to pick up the bench, if you see something you like that will fit in our house, YOU BUY IT!" I went to pick it up and we're using it already, it's perfect.



mudroom


living room


playroom


kitchen




I think this is where we're putting the Christmas tree!


powder room




can't wait to see these finished!

The more I see the house coming together, the more anxious I get about packing this place up. Our closing is the Monday after Thanksgiving break. I do think that is great timing- we'll be able to do most of the packing over the break. We haven't decided what day we're moving in. It's just going by so quickly! Next week they're doing tile and cabinets. Yay!!

Week 10 & Week 11

Week 10: insulation & dry wall









So cool to see the drywall! I didn't go upstairs because they were working, but I did go into the basement for the first time. I am so glad that we're finishing it! We're putting the pool table, row machine, and our current living room furniture (and tv) down there. We're also putting our bedroom stuff in the den and finally upgrading to a King :)


Week 11: trim and prep for paint (inside) siding, board & batten (outside)





I have to give credit where credit is due: Chris picked out everything...the elevation, siding, stone, b & b...he knows his stuff! I could sort of imagine it in my head, but it is way more stunning in real life! This week they'll be doing the stone...I am so excited to see the exterior all finished.

Chris and I are excited about different things regarding the next few steps. I'm looking forward to seeing the kitchen and wood flooring. He's most excited about the landscaping (what?!) and our kitchen back splash. I am a little weary about our master bathroom...he changed the cabinets and I'm hoping it's not too dark overall. He is very skeptical about the carpet I picked for the upstairs & bedrooms. Apparently no one ever picks it...which makes me sort of nervous, but it was better than the alternatives in our budget (light carpet- never again! poop brown carpet- hideous.) I think it'll be great :)

I've been obsessed with the "fun" stuff now...looking at furniture and curtains. I just wish we didn't have to get so much. There are a gazillion windows that need coverings, we need all new living room stuff (including a tv), master bedroom set, a kitchen table & chairs, and area rugs. We're doing nothing to the dining room. It's just too much at once!

We're looking at a Nov. 30 closing date, which means we'll move the first week in December. The Christmas tree will be one of the first things set up :)

Anne Elizabeth is TWO!

And of course it's gone by too fast!

Anne is simply amazing. She is talking so much:

"I want that!"
"Mine!"
"Catch!"
"Please!"
"Thank you"
"Bless you!"
"Up! Down."
"I love you"
"Go night-night."
"What happened?"
"Where (did) ____ go?"
"Grandma's house?"

Also:
paci, milk, drink, tv, cookie, glasses, snack, cheese, outside, blanket (bee bee), van ("BAN!"), mermaid, bath, potty, counts to 3, says names of family & friends

She sings along to the radio, usually catching just the ends of each line. Loves to dance along and makes the funniest/dramatic facial expressions.

She goes to the living room window, gets behind the curtain, and looks out the window while she poops. Yeah.

She loves food and she's a great eater.

Interestingly, she doesn't like to be consoled by her sisters when she's upset. They try, she says, "NO!" and runs to me. If they try to give her something she doesn't want, she acts completely offended.

She's a wonderful listener and follows directions amazingly. When we tell her to do something she says, "OK!" and DOES IT. Every night she picks out a book, or two, and she sits and listens as I read. Our favorites are "I Love You Through and Through", "Mommy's Best Kisses" and "Ten in the Bed." She has started "reading" along and she can predict parts of the story where I stop to tickle or kiss her.

She LOVES Chris. Sometimes she'll just say, "I want Dad." She gets so excited when he walks in the door from work!

She hates the idea of taking a bath, but once you get her in she's great.

After we get her dressed she says, "I pretty!"

She loves to be chased and tickled. She's so fun, so loud, so full of energy.

I don't know when we'll take her off the paci (uses it in bed only.) I don't know when she'll move to a toddler bed. I don't know when we'll potty train. I don't even care #thirdchild .

She loves her daily routine...up around 6, nap around 11, bed by 7. She lays right down and falls asleep (sometimes she'll straight up ask to go night-night.) I love that she happily goes to bed!

She likes to bring us things...if we leave a phone/iPad/laptop/eye glasses (you know, the expensive stuff) on the coffee table she brings it to us and says, "Here you go!" or "Here, Mom/Here, Dad!"

Anne is just the best. She lights up our lives in a way only the baby of the family can. We love how her big sisters care for her and how she learns from them every day. She is our baby. She is two, and I know that she'll be way more of a "Terrific" than a "Terrible!"