The House

Tonight we had a family gathering and my brothers told Tom that we should send out an email before every family gathering to update everyone on our house so he doesn't have to tell the same story so many times.

So here it is. Not much has changed with the new deadline of November. We're still on track as of right now for a Nov. 6 move. Front stairs leading up to the house are almost complete. You can see the stairs now with brick on the side. The garage has siding. The drywall is in and primed. They poured the driveway. It's starting to definitely look more like a house. 

My favorite parts so far are probably the deck, kitchen/family room and my closet! I better love that closet because my bedroom is much smaller because of it! I do like the detail of the barrel ceiling in our butler pantry too. Here are some photos from yesterday. 

The front - check out new stairs leading up to front. Still needs shutters, columns, siding on some dormers and front walk and a little more trim at the top. 

This is the dining room with a tray ceiling and nice arch leading into it.

The barrel vault ceiling leading into butler's pantry.

 Looking at family room from kitchen. A nice open floor plan.

Baby's bedroom into jack and jill bath and other kid's bedroom (tbd - once we know sex).

Part of our long driveway into our backyard. Luckily I won't have to back down this long drive!

Three car garage and on top, our big deck off the kitchen. I am sure we will have many great get togethers and memories on this deck!

Sibling Love

Lately, Austen has shown more of an interest in reading. Probably because they are doing it every day at school and then he has to come home and practice too for 15 minutes every day.

When Austen was little, he was never one to really like books to be read to him before bedtime. He preferred a game or for you to play with him. Peyton on the other hand has loved her bedtime ritual of having books read to her.  She is growing more like me every day! I love to read (when I have time) and I fondly remember my aunt taking me to many bookstores and libraries so I would have books to read when I visited her.

Anyway, Austen has taken more of an interest in reading and now he is reading to Peyton at bedtime! Check out how cute they are together reading in Peyton's bed. And, Austen doesn't even mind that she requests Pinkalicious or other girlie books to read! He's just happy to be able to read to her.

Austen Starts His Soccer Season

Austen started his new soccer season last weekend in our new suburban town, playing with and against a lot of his new classmates.  It's great to see he's making friends on and off the field.

He really loved his old city team "Maroon 6" and was a little disappointed that he wasn't going to be playing with them again this fall/spring but he quickly got over that when he saw his cool new blue uniform and friendly faces from school. The sharks, as they are called, won both their first two games. Austen scored one goal in his first game which I believe was a 4-2 victory. He was a little hesitant as he usually is the first time he plays with a new team but by the second game you really saw the old Austen with even new skills and speed.

He loves to play defense but he certainly wasn't afraid to take the ball away from someone in the back and then take it all the way up the side beating a number of opposing players and then taking a nice shot on goal. He did this a number of times and the result was four goals by Austen on Saturday.  So many they took him out of the game to give other kids a chance. I think the final score was 7-3 or 7-4. At this age, he's a good passer too, earning an assist and kicking the ball to another teammate who had a breakaway but ended up missing.

He's working on his throw ins which are getting much better and controlling the ball with his body if it is kicked up in the air. He's still a bit afraid of headers but we are still working on them and none of the kids are really doing them yet.

Peyton can't wait to play next year when she turns 4. She's told me she wants a pink or purple shirt. I hope she's not disappointed if she doesn't get those cool girl colors! After all it's about playing, not about the color of the uniform, Peyton!

House Update

So here's the big news on the house. It's not going to be done in time for the baby to be born. Heck it's not even going to be done in time for Halloween or my 40th birthday. So much for trying to plan anything these days. All I can say is good thing that I am having my third kid and not my first because I think I would be a basket case because I really have absolutely nothing ready for this kid.

At any rate, the brick is on the front and sides. The siding went up on the back. The inspections for electrical, plumbing, etc. are all passed and the drywall should begin this week. New schedule anticipates a Nov. 6 move in date. Great. Three weeks post giving birth and the thing that I will be doing is unpacking with a newborn and a 3 1/2 year old by my side. I'm sure people do this. In fact, I know they do but seriously, it's not my idea of enjoying my maternity leave! I'd rather be out shopping for new things for my baby and my house! Not getting it organized. Maybe I can hire someone to do it for me. I'll have to look into it.

With this big shift in the timeline for the new house, it looks like we won't be revealing the gender of the baby until he/she is born. In fact, according to the new schedule, painting, etc. won't even need to be done before the birth so looks like there's no need to open and reveal the gender. So you'll all just have to wait to find out until the baby is born!

On a positive note, through all this craziness we have some great things to look forward to - a new house and a new baby. We haven't lost sight of how blessed we are to have both.

My Two Weeks as a Stay at Home Mom

For about that last two weeks I've been playing the role of the stay at home mom. I say playing only because it's a short-lived role since I go back to work tomorrow.  However, after our beach trip to Michigan, it was important for me to make sure that Austen transitioned well into his new school and that Peyton did as well.

Austen is still doing great. He loves PE (not gym, as he nicely corrects me) and recess. His teacher said that he and the boy who sits next to him are sometimes too silly but overall it seems he has adjusted well to his new school and made some new friends.  He starts soccer this week so I'm sure he's bound to make even more since most of them are in the first grade at his new school.

Last week for Peyton was starting new activities out in the suburbs like ballet and gymnastics in the mornings and then visiting her new school for about 90 minutes without mom or dad. She did great in all activities and in her short visits to school.  Tomorrow begins the real deal though, she'll be going there for lunch starting at 11:15 a.m. and we won't be picking her up until 4 p.m.  She has proven me wrong so far in her transition. I thought she wouldn't want to go to her new school without Austen but she adjusted just fine. Didn't even seem to miss him. Maybe this separation will be good for the both of them.

It seems that everyone is going to be just fine in their new places. That's all I could have asked. As for me, I'm exhausted from being 33 weeks pregnant and commuting back and forth. I hope the house gets finished soon and that we move in before I give birth! These days, I don't know if that's going to be a reality though.  Hopefully, next week I'll have more to show on the house. It's all bricked up so that's good. Drywall going in soon too I hope.

Peyton getting ready for her first visit to her new school.

Peyton at ballet on the barre (she's the last one closest to the camera).

Our little ballerina with attitude!