Birthday Fun

This year we held a double birthday party for Trent and Avery, since their birthdays are so close together. We were happy that we could share this fun day with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and many, many cousins!

Trent especially had a lot of fun with his cousin Shay. They were so cute chasing and being chased, with lots of wild giggling involved! It's so wonderful to see him starting to be able to really socially interact with other kids. And little Shay was so great with him. I got video of it, but no pictures!

And of course, much food was had by all. That's mostly the point of a party, isn't it?


There was a cupcake tower. It was cute and scrumptious. They tasted like an orange and vanilla dream bar.



Avery enjoyed hers. Well, the frosting anyway.




And soon I'll post some four-year-old portraits of Trent... as soon as he gets a haircut!

Happy Bithday Avery!

Our sweet baby girl...


is growing up!


Here are some fun facts about 1 year old Avery: She is very smiley, playful and busy. Constantly on the move! If there is a blanket spread out on the bed or floor, she'll start rolling all over it. She likes to bulldoze things with her head while crawling, especially balls and people. She likes to point at pictures in books and say, "da"! Absolutely loves playing and splashing in the bath. She'll sit and watch the entire movie "Elf".

She's such a fun little sweetie and we love her more every day!

Construction - Day 96

The progress on the house is beginning to be less and less noticeable. The big item this time was that the tile was completed. It's amazing how many options you have for tile, and then they give you just as many options for detail work within the tile. We opted to have a little bit of special work done in the entry hallway as an accent. It turned out very nice.


They also finished painting the outside of the house, including the doors, eaves, and accents around windows.


The entryway is pretty nice, with a 12-foot circular recessed ceiling.


Our lone coach light is just outside the front door. We opted to not get them on either side of the main garage since we're on a corner, and there is a street light right next to us.

Construction - Day 89

The tile started this week, so it's really starting to feel more like a home. The tile color and the kitchen cabinets really look good together - now to select a paint that goes well with both.


They also poured the driveway and walkways in the front. As of now, our plan is to remove the walkways and replace them with other landscaping. Unfortunately, they wouldn't just leave them out for us from the beginning.



The stone detail on the front of the house is a nice accent. We may try to incorporate the same stone on other parts of the landscaping - we'll see...

Construction - Day 82

They put the cabinets in the house this week. All the doors and hardware are up. The light fixtures have been installed throughout. Tile will be laid in about a week. We went and signed off on the granite slabs that they will be using for our kitchen countertops this week, too.




The stone work is also done on the front of the house, and some of the exterior walls have been painted. The garage doors are installed, and they'll pour the driveway sometime this week.

It's starting to feel like a home to us. We've been trying to go out there on a weekly basis so Trent can get used to the new place. Won't be long now...

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

It seemed uncharacteristically quiet in the family room. I walked in to find this scene... I was dying of the cuteness.

Construction - Day 61

A lot of big steps were taken on the house over the past week or so. I had a walkthrough with the superintendent to look at the electrical options we had chosen about a week and a half ago. The day after, they put all the drywall up. Two days after that, all the stucco was up on the outside. They say that all the new things done to the house from now on will not seem as big of a deal since all the large-scale stuff is done.

Either way, it seems a lot more real to us now. We can envision where we want to put furniture, how we will paint the walls, and what we will do with the landscaping. It took me a year to put in the back yard in our current house. I can't wait to get started on the new one...


There is an area between the front door and the covered portal that we will make into a small courtyard. We'll build a wall between the two walls shown on the sides of the photo, and put a gate in the portal. It'll be a nice little private area that separates the house from the street.


Doors will be installed next, so we'll need to stop by the sales office and pick up a key next time we go to check it out. We also set up our final walkthroughs. We are scheduled to have the keys delivered on April 20. Good times...