Outside Progress

Today they are working on the stone!  The stucco is finished and painted, as is the exterior trim.  The interior trim is being installed today, so hopefully I will have some pictures with actual doors to show soon!
It is very hard to tell in this picture, but where the guys are working the sides of the stone will taper out a bit instead of being straight up and down.  (I realize that makes no sense, better pictures to follow of this).  We are getting pretty excited now because everytime we go over to the house (which is every day) there is some new development.

More House Pics

We just left the house so I wanted to upload a few (dozen) house pics as of where it is today.  We should finish drywall and stucco the early part of this week, and start stone the end of the week.  Cabinets will be installed next Saturday, so I can't wait to see what it looks like then.   Some pictures, in no particular order.

The kids bath shower/ tub and what will be a built in on the left

 playroom with storage closet

 kitchen where the vent hood/ cook top (left cutout) and refrigerator (right cutout).  Greg is standing in the "hallway" to the master bedroom

 Master bath-walk in shower  

 Master

 Another view of the kitchen, eating area to the right

 View from the kitchen into the living room

 Living room-the cedar beams on the ceiling will be stained a dark brown

 Living room looking into the dining area

Front porch-again the cedar/ pine will be stained a dark brown as will the front door 

 Study

Exterior-the gray looking areas will be where the stucco is and the rest will be stone

Jake and His New 'Do

Yesterday I left to go get my hair cut and when I came back, my little buddy (and hubby) had freshly buzzed heads.  At first I was sad to see all of that sweet baby blonde hair gone, but now that I am used to Jake and his big boy cut, I do think it is pretty cute.
 When I came home from getting my hair cut, Olivia said while pouting, "When can I get my hair cut?  I wanna get my hair cut."  Since she was overdue for a trim anyway, we decided to take her up on her plea.  Here are a few random pictures I took this week and last during our overnight trip to Dallas (Greg decided to tackle some of the work on our rental house himself, so the kids and I decided to tag along).  You can see how badly my buddy needed his hair cut!

Checking out the Train Stop

 Jake keeping himself amused

 "Mom you'd better not tell anyone I was playing house"

 "And please don't say anything about my new infatuation with sticking my fingers up my nose"

 Helmet head

 New cut!

More Progress!

Today we officially have a roof, windows, a fireplace and the air conditioning duct work!  We are getting so excited-Greg thinks we could be done in as early as six weeks, but we aren't banking on that date as we got a little behind today.  Here are a few pictures of the progress:

Fireplace and vaulted ceilings in living room

 My view from the kitchen-overlooking the living room and thru the archway is the playroom (with the big window!), and kids rooms/ bathroom.  The half wall will be where the sink is.

 Olivia in her new room!

 Front Elevation

 Kind of hard to tell, but these are the cedar beams on our living room ceiling that will eventually be stained a darker brown

Christmas Pictures...Finally!

These are a tad overdue, but here are a few pictures from our various Christmas celebrations.  We enjoyed Christmas Eve at my sisters house with my side of the family, Christmas morning here with my parents and Christmas Day with the Barbers. 

For Christmas Eve we decided to do something completely different and we made lasagna, salad, and garlic bread.  It was so good!  I made the Pioneer Woman's Vegetable Lasagna and if you haven't been introduced, let me be the one to enlighten you.  Everything I have made has been nothing short of yummy!  Lindsay made a traditional lasagna and it was also delish! 

 Jake tried to stand up using his present and he fell "thru" the paper ) : 

A Little Progress

Just a quick picture/ update on the house.  We are having a little rain today, so I am sure things will be delayed just a bit.  As of right now, they are finishing the frame, then will install the windows and the roof (hopefully all by the end of the week, but more likely into next week.  It is so fun to be able to walk thru the floorplan that we have agonized over for the last several months ( : 
Olivia was so excited about her new room and us asking her where her things would go.  Then we showed her the kids bathroom, playroom and Jake's room and we could see the wheels start to turn.  She asked where Mommy and Daddy's room was, and when Greg showed her she asked, "Is this where my sleeping bag goes?"  See, in an effort for us all to sleep a little bit better at night, we lay out her sleeping bag on our floor so if/ when she has a bad dream or wakes up in the middle of the night, she can come sleep in our room.  Sometimes she wakes us up or is upset, other times she just crawls in her sleeping bag and we see her sleeping soundly in the morning. 
Here is the one picture that I have taken (from my phone because I keep forgetting to take my camera!).  More to come soon, I'm sure.

Santa!

We cheated.  Don't let those camo gloves fool you.  We didn't visit Santa at the mall.  Instead, we traded the crazy lines and crowded mall parking lot for Cabela's.  (Soooo doing this again next year.)  Not only did we see Santa after just a few minutes of waiting in line, they gave us the picture for free!  Olivia told Santa she wanted a bicyle and a Christmas treat. (tree).  We hadn't put one up because. let's face it, there is really no room for one in our apartment.  As guilt driven parents will do, we immediately went to Walmart and let Olivia pick out the most beautiful pink Christmas treat you've ever seen...or at least that she has ever seen.  (I mean, what 3 year old asks Santa for a tree?).  We are looking forward to Christmas this year with two kiddos! 
A few funny things that have been overheard:

As soon as Greg walks in the door, Olivia starts, "Daddy can I have your iPad?" 
Greg:  Not right now we have to eat dinner first, then you can look at it."
O:  Daddy, can I have your iPad?" 
Greg:  "No, after dinner."
O:  "Daddy, just say yes."

O:  "Would you believe it?  My camera is out of batteries!  Now, I need to run to the store to get some batteries, you little monkeys behave, okay?"

I'm sure there are more, but that is all that I can remember right now.  She is such a mess!  Jake is crawling all over and starting to take some steps (assisted of course).  He is also loving his solid foods!  He will eat just about anything we give him, as long as he can feed himself.  He loves green beans and bananas!