Widgets, comparisons and clothes

I did my annual creating of the widget countdowns last night.  There are different ones than what I normally do year to year.  There will be no Mitchell Halloween Party this year.  Boo hoo.  We've been going since 2006 and it will be missed (the party and the countdown).  But there is the House Closing countdown.  Pretty excited about that.  And brand new for this year is the countdown to Elliott's birthday party.  His actual birthday is the next day, so just add 1 to that countdown to countdown to the big #1.

 

I can't believe that today is the second to last day of September.  January to May seriously took like 18 months to complete.  June to September went by in the blink of an eye.  I guess that is the difference between a newborn and an older baby and also a sick baby versus a healthy baby.

 

At this time last year I was about 23 or 24 weeks pregnant.  Elliott would have been just barely viable in the outside world. 

 

This year he's sitting on my bed sucking on apple slices while I get ready.

 

And his big brother is all up in his face.

 

At this time last year Spencer got his school picture taken.  He was a handsome little barely 4 year old.

 

This year he is some strange big kid that I don't even recognize.

 

Seriously.  Who gave him permission to be 14 years old?

 

At this time last year Ginger was a ridiculous dog spending 99.2% of her day sleeping on the furniture.

 

This year, well, nothing has changed.

 

I used my gymbucks at Gymboree today.  I bought this onesie for Elliott.

 

And these pants. 

 

Spencer has been wearing the same Halloween shirt for the last 3 years.

 

 2 years old

 

3 years old 

 

4 years old 

 

 

It's still in his closet and it most likely still fits.  I think it's time we get something new for him too.  I'd like them to wear their Halloween clothes to a pumpkin patch and we'll take some adorable photos.  I envision a cool crisp breeze and spiced cider.  In reality it will be 94 degrees and we'll take cold showers after to cool off.  Happens every year.

 

I also bought each of them a dinosaur sweatshirt.  Spencer and I are still way into T-rexes.  We'll tolerate the pterodactyl and triceratops (not a stegosaurus- thanks for catching that Sherry!) .  

 

Happy Weekend and almost October everybody!

Antsy

We went to see the house today. There is a 10 day inspection period that started on Tuesday.  We're hiring a person to do the real, formal inspection.  He will look at the pool, the roof, the plumbing, wiring, etc, etc.  That will take place on Monday.  Today was all about the dad inspection.  My parents were in town, so we took them over and my dad inspected the entire place.  He used a flashlight to check every nook and cranny.  He pulled on wires.  He stood on the diving board and bounced a few times (really).  We have the daddy official seal of approval.  There was also a termite inspection done today that was A-OK.

 

The last time I was there I was viewing the house as a potential home-buyer competing against many, many other potential home-buyers.  Today I was viewing it as my soon to be home.  I noticed things I didn't notice before.  Like how the awesome patio is tile, not concrete.  And how there is a HUGE attic space above the garage for storage.  And how the kitchen counters and kitchen sink are just gorgeous.  I am even more in love with the house than before.

 

And it makes me antsy.  Antsy to get going.  To move.  To live in our home and raise our children and get on with our lives.  We have never regretted foreclosing and getting out of our previous house, but it did put us in a state of limbo for the last three years.  How long would we be in this rental house?  Where would we go next?  Would our landlord decide to sell before we were ready to leave?  Would we move several times before buying again?  How would Spencer react to that?  Where would Spencer start kindergarten if we weren't in a home we owned yet?  Would he have to change schools several times before we were really settled?  Michael tends to be pretty cool about such issues, but I have stayed up many a night unable to sleep because I worried about these things.

 

And now that worry is over.  And I want out of this house and into my new one!  A.S.A.P.

 

Now that we've been back and seen the house again, knowing that it is ours, my mind is flipping out with planning and dreaming and scheming.   

 

In no particular order, this is what I'm thinking (obsessing) about:

ELLIOTT"S BIRTHDAY PARTY

It's a snowman theme.  I picked it when he was in the hospital with sepsis and I didn't know if he would have a 1st birthday.  It got me through the first couple of really difficult days before we knew he would be OK.

 

I'm already mapping out in my head where the food buffet will be and where I can set up the hot cocoa bar and what crafts we can do for the kids and if we could afford to bring in one of those companies that make fake snow. 

PAINT

These are the colors we had in our our previous house:

Bradstreet Beige

 

Jackson Tan

 

I really loved our paint.  My aunt is an Interior Designer and she helped pick our color palate.  Should we go with the same colors?  I need her to come visit to help me decide.  We picked those colors based on the cabinetry.  We had cherry cabinets before and the Bradstreet Beige has a red undertone.  Maybe it won't even work in the new house.

 

PATIO FURNITURE

 

Our new patio is lovely.  And it's on the south side of the house, so maybe we can actually be out there without roasting in the afternoons like our previous two houses with their west facing back yards.

 

I'd LOVE to get some outdoor living room furniture, like this:

 

or this:

 

To go along with it, we definitely need a fire pit.

 

I've wanted this copper one from Target for, oh, five years.  It's time.

 

But I also very much enjoy this square one.

 

PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT

 

  Our old house had a neighborhood park three houses away.  In our current house there is a city park one block away. There is no little park right in our new neighborhood, but it's OK, because now we'll have an awesome backyard. 

 

So we toally need to buy this:

 

Or this:

 

Or this:

 

Or, realistically, for our budget, this:

 

THE DINING ROOM

 

One of the many things that I love about the new house is that the dining room is actually a separate room from the formal living room.  It also has a tray ceiling.  My dad said it would be really easy to remove the track lighting:

 

And replace it with a chandelier.  I enjoy this one very much.

 

This one too (yes, they are actually different)

 

I'd also love to add some color and visual excitement to the tray ceiling.  Like this:

 

Or this:

 

 One thing that was on my list of plans, but that I don't need to worry about anymore is buying a bench for the front porch.  Wanna know why? 

 

The current owners are giving us theirs.  How sweet is that?  They want to keep the cushions so we'll need to replace those, but still.

 

They left this note on the fridge too.  I feel kindness and good things to come just oozing out of this house. 

2012- A 3 months too early review

2012 started with high hopes.  I was no longer on lockdown at the hospital. Elliott was 15 days old and, although he was born 5 weeks prematurely, he was healthy and home. My grandmother had fallen and broken her hip three days after he was born, but her surgery was successful and she was recovering.  Life was OK.

 

Then Elliott got sepsis and almost died.  Then we found out that a very good friend had died completely suddenly on Christmas Eve.  Then Elliott battled a liver disorder that for a long time we believed would take his life or require a liver transplant, and we became hermits in our own home.  Then my grandma's recovery faltered and she died.  She was my last remaining grandparent and I miss her pretty much every day.

 

And 2012 went on the record books as being the shittiest year (I'm sorry about the language, mom) of our entire marriage.

 

But in late May Elliott was deemed healthy and recovered.  And in June my dad told us that my grandma had left all of her money to her 5 grandchildren.  And in July we found out that with some of that money as a down payment we were eligible to apply for a mortgage.  And on September 25th our offer on the home of our dreams was accepted!

 

We close on October 30th!!!

 

This is our backyard.  That's Doug, our realtor extraordinaire.  Seriously, he went above and beyond anything we could have ever imagined.  If you need a realtor, let me know.  He is the guy for you.

 

This is our pool.  Michael would like to include the raft in the offer.

 

This is our raised garden.  We're totally going to plant herbs and vegetables. 

 

This is our shed.  It's very sheddy. 

 

This is our 3 car garage. 

 

And these are the built in cabinets in said garage. 

 

This is our heater.  I think.  It might not be.  It may be some sort of compressor for the heater.

 

This is for sure our hot water heater. 

 

And this is our garage sink.

Here's my laundry room.  The washer and dryer do not stay, which is totally cool, because we have our own.

 

Hello kitchen.  I'm going to cook up a storm in you.  Starting with Elliott's first birthday party. 

 

Three words.  Walk. In. Pantry.

 

The family room.  Isn't it lovely?  We're going to trash it with toys in 2.7 seconds flat. 

 

A gas fireplace?  Yes, ma'am.  We plan on opening all of the windows in the middle of the night in January so we can cool the house down enough to use it. 

 

This is our bedroom hallway.  Pictures of Spencer and Elliott will soon take up residence here and stay for 30 something years until Michael and I retire to Sun City West. (Kidding.  That will never happen, because you will never find me living in the West Valley.  Which means we'll have to retire to Leisure World in Mesa.)

 

Hallway bathroom.  It's going to look so good with all of our animal print accessories.

Bedroom 1.  We told Spencer he could pick his own room.  I'm leaning towards persuading him to this one.

 

Bedroom 2.  The creeper, life-size Santa is not part of the deal.  I'm thinking this will be Elliott's room. 

 

Bedroom 3.  Guest room, perhaps. 

 

The master.  Ahhh.  Serenity now.

Michael and I have had his and her closets for the past 3 years.  I think we'll be just fine sharing this.  As long as he realizes it will be divided 20-80.

 

The entry. Kitchen and family room to the left.  Bedrooms to the right.

 

Formal living room 

Den/office/dining room.  When we live here it's going to be a dining room.  Please come over.  I'll roast a chicken for you and give you a glass of fine red wine.  There will probably be brownies too.

 

 We are SO, SO, SO, SO excited.  This house seriously has every single thing we are looking for.  I told Michael that if I were forced, at gunpoint, to come up with a single "con" for the house, it would be that the oven is gas.  He looked at me stangely and asked if that was a big deal.  I said, "exactly".  An electric oven is much more precise for baking but never in a million years would I say no to this house because of that.

 

I feel like the luckiest lady in the world right now.  And it's all because of her: