Take me out to the ball game....

I forgot to take a picture of our house when we were there last night..the landscaping is finished!!(Although probably fried from our 4 days of HARD FREEZING in Phoenix!). 

So instead of house information.....you get a little baseball!

After a very harsh winter in Phoenix...we are talking almost 2 weeks of cold temps with freezing temps at night we are back where we should be,  it is a sunny 76 degree day!

I had to catch Tay on video, we might need to skip tee-ball...this girl can bat!

http://youtu.be/5amFWQDomKU

100%

A special guided tour...

The driveway has been poured, window treatments hung and the house is looking almost complete!  The only other thing I can think of that needs to be done other than minor fixes and a nice clean job is the front landscaping. 

Here is an updated picture of the front......almost done!

And now for a special, personally guided tour with Taylor!



















http://youtu.be/VyLJ7wgmDDE

Closing in on the finish line.....

 We are so close I can taste it.  It almost feels like it is real!  Our carpet is in, all of the fixtures, hardware, etc!  Our driveway will be poured on Tuesday and I am guessing landscaping shortly after! 
For some reason Blogger is out to get me and I can't get it to function correctly!  Totally not user error, I'm sure haha. Please excuse this blog and the mess it is!!  There is crazy talk below about underlining...please dismiss.  I am telling you, this blog is a mess and I can't change anything other than this paragraph!

Kaitlyn's First time in her room!

Taylor had to pose with EVERY wall in her room :) I think it is becoming real for her too!

Another picture from IN.  Blogger is still being crazy, or maybe it is me...but I couldn't do the pictures like normal and I can't get this stinkin' underline off!  Anyways...here is Taylor at Cookies and Canvas with Cole.  I was so proud of the kids and their adorable snowmen!  I can't wait for next Christmas to hang it up!

Completed Tile and Countertops!

We were in Indiana last week enjoying the snow and of course being with family...sooo Bob and Bonnie did our weekly visit!  We were so excited to get the pictures and see the progress when we weren't able to be there.

                                  


We are hoping to stop out there tomorrow and see what progress has been done this week!! We are getting close...just under the 3 week mark!

Blogger is being crazy today and not making the picture upload process easy....therefore you will have ONE picture from Indiana of our little family to enjoy! 

We had a great time being with everyone and playing in the snow!  We were even able to have lunch with my good friends Jill and Elizabeth from Chicago, despite a heavy snowstorm on the way to our meeting spot!

Back to the grind this week and slowly getting ready for our regular school and life routine on Monday! 

 

 

 

 

 

Cabinets, Tile and Doors... OH MY!

We went to do one last check of the house before we leave for Indiana.  We were suprised to see workers in there laying tile!  That was pretty exciting, and then we turned the corner and saw we have cabinets!!  That was even better!

 

A look at the entry way, going back to the kitchen/family room...

 

Our bathroom

 

We have our stair railing!

 

And as always, Taylor's room...she has a door!

 

Bob and Bonnie are going to check on it while we are gone, next should be the exterior paint and countertops!!  Getting closer!

EEEKKKKKK!!!

EEEKKKKKK Is the only title I could think of to express how excited we were tonight at the house!  It was fun to see the framing go up and the walls...but tonight we found out we have....CLOSET DOORS! 

 

We thought we would pop up to check out the stucco and interior texture being complete, but were super excited to see we have closet doors.  It is the little things in life, I know!  We also have the shelves in the closets and pantry, OH and a front door!!  We have to start getting a key to go inside, which is kind of fun!

Next week they will start painting and laying the roof tiles.  I have to admit, I am pretty excited to see this part as I have NO idea what colors we chose!  I can't remember what our color scheme looks like or even our roof tiles, so it will be a big surprise haha.

For those who like construction pictures, i've included a few below...

                                                                  The Pantry

 

Our Bathroom, tub and part of the shower

 

Part of our closet...we have shelves!!

 

Taylor's closet

 

We also met two neighbors tonight.  It is getting real!!!

Stucco and A few Pics of the Girls

We were told they would start stuccoing our house Monday or Tuesday...I happened to be in the area on Tuesday so I figured I would make sure they are on schedule!  Early afternoon Tuesday they had 3 or 4 sides stuccoed.  We are actually expected to get rain this week so hopefully the stucco cures fast and they can get it painted without too much delay!

 

 

 

 

The girls love to look at Grandma's ornaments and really enjoy being around the tree when the lights are on.  Taylor is sure to remind Grandma and Grandpa EVERY night to turn the tree on as well as the outdoor lights.  Here are a few cute pics I took while they were just checking out the tree.

 

One of the girls favorite perks of living with Grandma...extra snuggle time!  Taylor was snuggling with Grandma and Kaitlyn had to get up there too!!

We have walls!!

We stopped by to see the house tonight and we have walls!!!  The drywall is almost complete and they will start the stucco on the outside of the house early next week.

We were finally able to take Taylor inside, which hasn't been allowed.  She was THRILLED to check it all out and most of all see her room! 

Hardhats are still required so we get to look SUPER cool while checking it out.

 

This week was exciting as we finally got our closing date....it wasn't mid or late December as they had initially talked about....but January 23rd!  So if you are bored and have nothing scheduled that day, come on over...our PODS will be there ready for you to help unload them!!

7 Months Old!

Today is Kaitlyn's 7 month birthday!  She is full of curiosity and can't sit still!  I can't believe how much she has accomplished in the last month!

She is crawling, sitting, pulling to standing, lightly cruising, eating all kinds of solids!  She loves to be where the people are and is quick to get there. 

Taylor continues to be such a great big sister and loves playing with her.  Although we had to stop Kaitlyn from trying to steal Taylor's lunch today...I don't think big sis was too pleased with that!!


She LOVES Grandma Bonnie's tree...specifically this angel and a cow.  The cow had to be moved due to over touching :)  This picture is so fun because she knows she shouldn't touch it so she is ever so lightly touching it haha.

 

Love my girls!!

 

Such a big girl!

 

House update:  Drywall started today!!  We should have a closing date by Monday!!  That means the stucco should start next week so we'll head out to take pictures, that should be the next exciting picture to see!!

A Video of the Model Home

Our house is coming along!  We went on Friday for our framing walk through.  They have completed the framing process and will begin drywall...hopefully tomorrow!  While we were out there I was going to take a video of our house, but figured it might be more fun to see the model.  You will just need to visualize our old furniture in there...not the fancy model home stuff! 

I went with a youtube video instead of trying to upload it on here:

http://youtu.be/kP6P7rgQ2tM

Here is an updated picture:

 

While we were chatting before we left the model we noticed a few hot air balloons.  The sales lady told us they take off from right on the other side of our neighborhood!  She said they look amazing going up in front of the mountain that is next to our neighborhood.  I grabbed this shot of the balloons going up on the street next to ours!  The girls are going to LOVE watching them take off!  I am sure this won't be the last balloon picture I share!

Kaitlyn is growing TOOO fast!

Kaitlyn started her version of crawling a few weeks ago...it was more of a worm maneuver, but it was her mode of transportation.  In the last couple of days she has started her actual chest off the ground crawl.  After an accomplishment like that who needs to wait for the next one?  Tonight while we were playing in the playroom she crawled over to Taylor's bed (also known as a mattress on the floor right now..) and pulled herself up to standing.  I was floored.  I left the room for a minute and Bonnie called out "You are kidding me"....from the other room I yelled back..."WHAT NOW!"  She went ahead and climbed onto Taylor's bed.  She is moving a little too fast for me!  Here is a link to the video...it takes a while and isn't the best as this was her last attempt and was getting awfully tired of performing for us!  It is SO nice to have another set of eyes on her to keep catching her new tricks!

Here is the link to the video...again it is pretty long!  Due to the length I did a youtube clip instead of uploading it directly on here!

http://youtu.be/ZhGH9ddrKJA

Oh, How Time Flies!!

Derek and I are celebrating our 7th Anniversary today!  It has been such a fun 7 years so far and I can't wait to see what the next 70 have in store!

With our anniversary being on a Monday we decided to have a nice kid-free dinner out on Friday night.  Bob and Bonnie watched the girls for us and we headed out for sushi.  An hour later we returned...we are such wild and crazy people!  We ended the night playing cards with Bob and Bonnie and it was just fine by me!  We had a great time and really appreciated the time to go out to eat and talk!  Thanks Bob and Bonnie!

All day today Taylor has been going CRAZY about our anniversary...she gets it from Derek, he was just as excited, I am sure you all believe that. :)  Taylor and Bonnie made a yummy dessert that Taylor said was for the wedding tonight.  We were told before we ate the "wedding cake" dessert we had to kiss and it had to be on the "wedding blanket" she set out.  It was hilarious.  Derek and I played along and she took our hands and gave us her version of our vows to say.  So lucky for us Bonnie was there to capture the moment. 

I love how our life has changed in the last 7 years.....

 I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband and father to our daughters.  Everyday I am in awe of his patience, love and the hardwork he does for our family.  I am just as happy as the girl in the next picture....happier actually, if that is possible!

6 Month Check-Up

Wow...two blogs in two days, pretty special, huh!!

We had Kaitlyn's 6 month check-up today, which I honestly can't believe is already here.  Making her 9 month appointment felt so silly as I don't really believe it is only 3 months away!

Regardless, our little lady is 6 months and here are her stats for those keeping score:

Weight 14lbs 5 oz which puts her in the 15th percentile

Height 25 1/2 inches which is the 26th %

She is doing her own version of crawling, with some actual chest up crawling mixed in.  She is also doing some sort of bear crawl/walk with two hands and feet on the ground.  Food favorites are apples, sweet potatoes and carrots.  Peas are tolerated but much preferred mixed in with the carrots or sweet potatoes.

Catch Up Post and our New House!

I thought it might be an easier way to keep everyone informed of our new house happenings if I re-up the blog!  I suppose I can also update you with pictures of the girls since that was the original intent! :)

As most of you know we sold our house and are living with Derek's parents until our house is finished being built sometime late December/early January.  We are pretty lucky someone wanted to take in the 4 of us for 2 months!

We went out to the house last night and were actually able to walk around inside our own house!  While it is fun to see the model home and walk around in there imaging things in our home...it was even better walking into OUR house!

This is a view of the back...with Derek and Bob:

This week's big excitement is our WINDOWS!  From what I understand the next step will be dry wall...the scaffolding on the side is prepping for that.

The view from the front:

 

Here is a view from the inside...standing in the family room looking into the kitchen.  You can see in the back right corner the pantry.  I liked this view because you can kind of see where the stairs go up for a feeling of the flow of the house.

 

So much excitement, I'll keep you all posted as I get more.  Maybe next time we go out I'll take a video and post it so you can see all of the progress.

 

How about a little added bonus for the first blog back...some pictures of our little angels!

 

Tay at her Fall Festival at School

 

I am in love with this pouty face!

 

Katilyn's new trick...a bear crawl/walk

 

And finally my little 50's girls in their poodle skirts!

 

That is probably long enough of an update for now...don't want to lose you on the first post because it was too long haha!  I will try to keep up on it this time!!

 

 

 

 

Disneyland Trip

We just got back from a fun weekend in California. We started our vacation with dinner at Downtown Disney. After dinner Taylor was drawn to the music from all of the street performers, we watched one band for quite awhile while Taylor danced and danced!

We headed to Disneyland on Friday and had a blast. Taylor is quite the dare-devil and was all for riding even the big roller coasters. A few more inches and she'll be able to do them all. The biggest highlight for her was obviously meeting Mickey and Minnie. When we got in to see Mickey she ran right up there and hugged him....and hugged....and hugged.....and hugged!




We spent Saturday at Laguna Beach playing in the sand and braving the freezing cold ocean! Taylor loved running in and out of the water...or as she calls it "slip sliding in the ocean". The current was pretty strong so she had to hold daddy's hand to keep her steady.

We went to dinner on Saturday night with the Goods. Taylor had a blast being a big girl and sitting with Annie, Sydney and Grace. They were such good helpers with her! After dinner we were standing around outside talking, Sydney and Grace were doing cute hand claps, and in true Taylor fashion she had to join right in. I wish I would have taken a later video, she had caught on to some of the words and has been reciting them since we left!