Buidling Update- Drywall and Concrete

Last week they finished hanging all of the drywall and this week they are working on mudding and sanding the walls.  I love walking through our home with the drywall up.  It is really starting to take shape and I am ready to make this our home and watch our children grow up here.  Miss Ava is excited about her new house as well and as we walked through each room she told us how each room was her new bedroom, so sweet.

 The foyer

 Master Bathroom, our soaking tub will go here.

 Kitchen

 Living Room

 The kids television room.

 Ava's bedroom

 The kids playroom

 Downstairs den with wet bar.

 Guest room

Last Saturday after an eight hour day, Travis and my father finished the attic storage area.  They did a fantastic job and it will be great having all of this space in our attic.

Yesterday the concrete was poured for the front porch and lower back deck.  I stopped by today to check it out and when I opened the front door, the first thing I noticed was a footprint in the cement.  It is very faint but it is bare foot and the heel and toes are clearly visible.  I called our contractor who went by and looked at it.  Based on the size it looks like a child's foot and he thinks it might have been one of the neighborhood kids.  The concrete company is coming to look at it tomorrow and I think the only way to fix it will be to tear it out and redo the entire porch.

Next week the hardwood and tile is scheduled to start!  So excited!

Last week of maternity leave and Ava's "Big Girl Bed"

This is my last week at home with just Britt.  Next week Ava's school is closed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and then both Ava and Britt will start the summer session at Calvary.  I love that I will have my last couple of days at home before going back to work with both of my babies.  Ava will be moving up to the Honeybee room and Britt will be starting in the Panda room.  I stopped and met Britt's teachers this morning and asked a lot of questions about him starting next week.  We have had a great experience at Calvary with Ava and I know that Britt will be in good hands as well. 

While I am happy with their school, I started crying in the grocery store this morning at the thought of having to leave Britt.  The longest I have been away from him was a six hour stretch so I do not know how I am going to manage going back and working an eight hour day.  My time at home has helped me to put my life back into perspective.  At the end of last year I was a hot mess stressing over my job and I would work every night after Ava went to bed and I found that I was burned out.  I love that I have been given the blessing to be a mommy again and am going back to work with my family in mind and that they always come first.  I plan on working my day but as soon as I leave I am going to leave my work there and concentrate on my family when I am at home.  Life is too short not to enjoy my time raising my beautiful children.

In preparation of going back to work I am still working very hard at getting Britt to sleep during the night.  I have tried lots of different methods including giving him some water to calm him down in the night.  He had been going for stretches between 7-9 hours but the last week he has been waking every 2-4 hours and I feel like he is a newborn again.  He could just be going through a growth spurt but when I woke up yesterday morning I decided it was time to make a big change and move him out of our room.  There are a lot of distractions in our room and moving him out made the most sense.  The problem is he does not have a room in our rental so it meant moving Ava as well.  We had not moved Ava to a big girl bed yet since we did not want to have to change out the furniture before we move.  Ava was able to climb in her crib by herself and is really too big for her crib.  Since I needed her crib and glider for Britt, we set up a small toddler blowup mattress in our office which also serves as her playroom.  We got her really excited about her big girl bed and gave her a present for moving into her new room.  We gave her the Cloud B Ladybug Nightlight which projects stars on the walls and ceilings and can change colors.  Ava was immediately excited about her gift and wanted to take a nap.  She did great taking a nap and we set up a video monitor so when I saw her trying to get out of bed to play with her toys, I talked to her through the monitor and asked her to get back in bed and she listened and went right to sleep.  Britt did great as well and took a long nap in the crib and went 6.5 hours last night before we woke up.  I was worried that Ava would be upset seeing Britt sleeping in her crib but when I took her in this morning to change her, she looked at the crib and told me it was Britt's bed and that was that!

I am hoping that this bed transition will continue to go well and that Britt starts sleeping through the night soon.  Our condo gets smaller by the day and I am so looking forward to August and moving into our new home!

My Best Friends Baby

I am overjoyed and excited that my best friend welcomed her first child to the world on Wednesday!  Being a parent is the hardest job but also the most rewarding and I am excited for our children to grow up together.  We are already planning a family getaway with them to the mountains in the fall and a beach trip next summer!  I am so in love with this precious baby girl and I have not even met her yet. 

Welcome Baby Emmeline Blake!

Britt James- 14 weeks

Last week Britt took his first big trip and flew to Florida where we spent the week.  I planned our flight there where he would nap on the plane for the first part and then he would need to nurse prior to landing.  Well that morning he was a little off his schedule so he slept from the minute we arrived to the airport and woke up once we took off.  He was an unbelievably good baby and did not cry the entire time but instead sat up and looked around and I successfully was able to nurse him without any issues.  

He was a great baby for the week and the heat would have been too much for him so he stayed at home with Aunt Karen, Aunt Ann, and Uncle George on the day that we went to Animal Kingdom.  He did come to the character breakfast at The Grand Floridian, took a boat ride around Disney, and enjoyed napping in the shade while we were at the pool.  Our flight home was in the evening at the kids bedtime but again both Ava and Britt were wide awake and did great.  There were other crying babies on the plane and I was so thankful that mine were not fussy.

All of my family enjoyed getting to spend time with Ava and Britt and they were definitely loved on all week.  

Building Update- 90 Days Out

Today the dry wall is being delivered and installation will start and from this point our builders are telling us that we are 90 days out from moving in.  This seems like a dream and while it has almost been a year since we have moved out of our home, I cannot believe how soon it will be before moving into our new home.

While we were in Florida last week the majority of the bricking was completed and I am so happy with the color that we chose.  I am excited for the trim work to be painted because the dark trim will pop against the light brick.  

Hardboard and trim will be added to the areas not bricked shown in blue below.  The columns and railings still need to be added to the front porch and arca stone detail will be added over the archway.   Brick steps will be added to the front and the cedar timbers will get another coat of stain.

 The brick wall has been started along the perimeter of the lower back  deck.  I cannot wait to spend time out on this deck and enjoying our beautiful views.

Inside the plumbing, wiring, and insulation are completed and we are ready to dry wall!

My handy husband and father worked on a project over the weekend in the attic.  This is a large attic space that we have and while the project plans mentioned this in the blue prints, we did not realize that the builder did not plan on finishing this space out and was going to charge us a small fortune to lay a floor for us so it could be usable space.  We have learned so much already by building a home and if we are crazy enough to do this again, we know what questions to ask up front so that we do not get taken advantage of again once the contract is signed and the building starts.  So instead of paying the builder to finish our attic, my husband and father are finishing this.  After six hour of work last Saturday they have the majority of the ground work finished and will just need to go back and nail down the plywood this weekend.

While we have butted heads with the builders on some things, I am really happy with the attention to detail that they have and cannot wait to move into our new home in August!

Florida Vacation

Last week we spent a fun and relaxing week in Florida.  My mother and I took the two kids down to stay at my aunt and uncles home in Davenport.  My Aunt Ann flew down as well from Pennsylvania and we had a great time enjoying the Florida sunshine.

We tried to have an activity planned each day and the day after we arrived we spent the afternoon at Downtown Disney.  Ava enjoyed the rides and the highlight for me was having a mother and daughter silhouette done.  I had one done with my mother at Disney when I was close to Ava's age so when I saw the stand I had to have one done.

Two days later we went to the Grand Floridian for a character breakfast.  Ava was in awe of Pooh and Tigger and her little head was on a swivel the entire time looking around and watching for them.  I dressed her up in her Princess Elsa dress and from the moment that we arrived until we left, all of the staff was addressing her as Princess Elsa and was bowing to her.  She even walked around singing "Do You Want to Build a Snowman, " it was so sweet!

Going  to Disney is a long day, especially with a two year old, so we decided to only spend one day at the park.  We decided to go to Animal Kingdom since we went to Magic Kingdom in the Fall and with 100 degree temperatures, it was nice to be in a more shaded park.  We spent about six hours there and Ava even skipped her nap and she was such a trooper.  We rented a stroller in the park and went from one side to the other and she was so happy and loved every minute of it.  I planned out the rides that we would go on and were able to Fast Pass most of them so we did not have to worry about standing in line.  I was not sure about taking her to a Bug's Life and it turned out to be a mistake as parts of it scared her and she spent the last part of it with her little head buried in my chest.  I felt like a horrible mom for taking her to it but afterwards she kept asking to go back to see the scary bugs.  The highlight of her day was meeting Minnie and Mickey and that alone make the trip to Florida worth it.  My mother had never been to Animal Kingdom so it was fun getting to watch her experience and the three of us had a great day together!

The rest of the vacation was spent in the pool and enjoying family time.  Ava is a little water bug and enjoyed spending time at the pool every day.  We had a great week and I am happy that we were able to take this trip before I go back to work.