Time for a Patio Partay!

Our patio is finished and I love it!  I can't wait to have cook-outs, roast marshmallows and soak up summer.  The patio is such a nice addition to our back yard because we are currently having trouble growing grass.  I love the look of the stamped concrete and the fire pit with wall really adds character to an otherwise boring concrete patio.  

Our first fire in the pit

Cobblestone stamping around the fire pit and seating wall.

Happy Summer!

Settling In

Leila will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. We have settled in to our new family of 5. I know I say this with each addition to our family but I cannot imagine not having Leila in our lives. She is such a sweet girl and one of the best babies ever. Other than her normal witching hour between 8-9 PM, she is seriously a dream baby. I have enjoyed getting to know her over these last few weeks and I can't believe I will be back at work within a month. Marissa and Dylan adore her to pieces. They never stop giving her kisses throughout the day. Leila has the sweetest smile and I love hearing her voice when she coos at us.

We have a lot going on at the house. We are currently getting our patio put in and waiting on the sidewalk to be installed. We will be ordering a shed soon and we have plants that need to be planted. I have been getting back into crafting when I have some free time. Leila is stretching out her feedings a little more which makes life easier. I can't wait to get some curb appeal here at the new house. We finally have some grass coming up and I redid our wooden rocking chairs to spruce up the front porch. I also painted the garage door going into the mud room. I LOVE how it turned out. So much better than boring old white. I also made a wreath for the door and the kids helped paint the letter for me. I am still in love with my kitchen, it is truly the heart of our home!

Cherry java cabinets with granite

House Update - All Moved In!

We are mostly settled into the new house.  We closed on February 25th.  We had started moving in the weekend prior to the 25th and spent our first night in the house on the 25th.  Danny carried me over the threshold for our first night.

It took some adjusting for Marissa the first week or so, but she is all settled in to her new room and new big girl bed.  Dylan switched from a crib to a toddler bed when we moved in and you never would have known the difference!

I am in love with our new house.  It feels just like home.  It is everything I could have imagined.  I am so thankful for everything we have worked hard for.  Though it was a long 10 months, it was well worth the wait since this will (hopefully) be our 30+ year home.

Our oasis

Marissa's big girl bed.  Uncle Fuzz gave her money for Christmas to put towards her new room and I was able to find this at IKEA!  It is so big and she looks so little in it, you can barely find her.  Thanks, Uncle Fuzz!

One morning we did have a tiny visitor.  This is a rare occurrence. 

The nursery. This is the first time I haven't had a theme!

The foyer.

Our "formal living room" AKA the play room. :)

Formal Dining Room

My other oasis. I've vowed that I will take a relaxing bath at least once a week. And in a few weeks there will be mandatory wine involved. ;)

Dylan's first night in his big boy bed. Getting tucked in by Sissa.  He looks SO happy! And he loves having her tuck him in every night.

Slacker 101

Where do I even begin?  To say I have been slacking on the blog front would be an understatement.  It's a good thing my New Year's resolution wasn't to blog more; because I would have failed miserably so far.

Life has just been busy.  We've had ups and downs with the new year.  We are getting so close to closing on our house.  And as we get closer to closing on the house, we get closer to welcoming baby #3.  The fact that we are not settled has me feeling all kinds of anxious.  I feel like a rubber band that is about to snap!  I feel like I've reached the end of my rope.  Someone the other day told me to tie a knot and hang on.  Easier said than done!  

I just need to get my home in order before chaos consumes us.  I will be a complete basket case if I am not ready to bring the baby home.  Who am I kidding?  I'm a basket case postpartum anyway, I don't need additional help.  I'm not looking forward to the crazy hormones the first few weeks after bringing the baby home.  As much as I know people want to help and see the baby, sometimes I just need some breathing room.  

Last night Danny played video games and I just shut off the TV; settled down with some chips and salsa (note, not a good bedtime snack at 33 weeks pregnant; I needed a few tums) and just enjoyed the quiet.  Dylan was up at 5 AM yesterday; neither kid napped and I was just feeling run down and exhausted.  It was nice to just sit and hear nothing!  I know our time of putting the kids to bed and (mostly) sleeping through the night is dwindling down; so I am trying to enjoy it.

So since I have been slacking on documenting the house progress and pregnancy; here's a quick re-cap of what the new year has entailed...

Baby #3:

• I am currently 33w2d along.
• We are still team green!
• I have absolutely no idea what we are having.  At first I was sure it was a boy. But lately I've been thinking it could be a girl.  Hopefully it is one or the other. ;) 
• I've had a sweet tooth lately; whereas the beginning of my pregnancy I was craving more meat.
• I have a new love of Arby's Reuben sandwiches.  Hmm...maybe if it is a boy we will name him Reuben.  Mmm...I've decided what I am having for lunch today!
• For the first time in 3 pregnancies, I failed my 1 hour glucose test.  I had a Reuben that day.  
• I passed the 3 hour glucose test with flying colors.  My fasting sugar level was 76.  I was not happy that I had to go through that!
• I'm currently measuring a week behind but my midwife is not concerned.
• I've gained approximately 16 pounds so far this pregnancy which is the least amount of weight between the 3 pregnancies but everyone says I look bigger. Gee, thanks!
• My sciatic nerve pain is flaring up again and it is near impossible to get comfortable at night.  I keep wanting to sleep on my back which of course is a no-no.
• I'm still wearing my wedding rings but my hands have been swelling at night.  I really have to watch my sodium intake and drink lots of water.  
• Danny was nice enough to take some maternity pictures for me for Valentine's day. I still want to get a few of us together, though.  He's quite the photographer! :o)

House Update:

• We should be closing no later than February 26th.  Which puts us at 10 months since we sold our house last April.  Such a long process!
• The house is looking really good. I am so happy with our color choices.  It feels like home already.  I can't wait to get settled in.
• I am in love with my kitchen (yes, I get to say my kitchen because Danny doesn't cook). ;)  It is the heart of the home and it is everything I imagined it would be.  
• We had a few set backs with weather, the loan and just getting the small details finished.  Our first appraisal with Bank of America came back low; which really put us in a bind.  So we had to get a second opinion which came back much better.  I was really stressing about the appraisal and it was a huge sigh of relief to get the second opinion back.  I officially would not recommend Bank of America to anyone.  Their customer service is terrible!
• We should be doing our final walk through soon.  I feel like I have a mile long list of small touch ups and things that need to be completed.  I just know that it is best for the builder to fix these things before closing because from what I've heard, it is hard to get them back out after you've closed.

They need to take out the two dead trees on the left. They still have to do the final grade and put in the front sidewalk, but we have to wait for this weather to break first.  The columns and the trim on the front door need to be painted white.  Lots of little details that still need to come together, but it's looking good!  I love the bay window; it lets in so much light.

Family Room off of the kitchen.  I'm hoping Danny can get the built in bookshelves on either side of the fireplace built before the baby comes, but that might be asking too much of him. 

::Swoon::

His and Hers Master Shower 

Bringing in the New Year with Third Tri Exhaustion!

If anyone is wondering where I've been, it is obvious to say I have not been in the blogger world.  Life is absolutely crazy and hectic for us right now.  And we're adding in another baby in approximately 3 months...what were we thinking?! ;)

Christmas has come and gone.  To say we were busy is an understatement.  We traveled 6 hours south to visit my brother in law.  Then traveled to my parent's house on Christmas Eve-Eve and stayed until Christmas day.  Then we headed back home to have lots of family (5 nephews!) come to visit for Dylan's birthday and our family Christmas celebrations.  Last night when everyone had gone home and the kids were in bed I felt like I had been hit by a ton of bricks.  I think all of the travel, excitement, cooking, cleaning, wrapping presents, lack of sleep, opening presents, more cleaning, colds for the kids, birthday parties and Christmas celebrations caught up to me.  I am coming into the third trimester next week and I can definitely tell that the baby is growing and I am getting tired more easily.  I know I am going to need energy for when we move into the new house, but right now it just feels so far away.

Other than exhaustion, I have been feeling pretty good.  My sciatic nerve pain has flared back up again, though.  I think from sleeping on different beds, being in the car too long, on my feet for too long and just not taking my normal precautions has caused it to start hurting again.  Hopefully things can settle down for a few weeks and I can get it under control before moving.  The baby feels like he/she is sitting so low already; I am hoping the little one decides to move up soon.  I am still getting lots of movement, though Danny hasn't really felt the baby much.  I am still leaning towards it being a boy.  We haven't even really discussed names yet, we should probably get on that soon!  I'm officially down to the double digits; 96 days until my EDD! Eeeek!

In other news, the house is slowly coming along.  Things were really rolling there for awhile but due to the holidays it seems like things have really slowed down.  It is kind of disappointing, as it feels like they've forgotten about us, but hopefully by the end of January we will be new home owner's.  It has been such a headache and just one thing after another from getting the home loan, to staying on top of the builder, to finalizing everything from cabinets, floors, paint colors, etc.  I will be happy to put this behind us and start 2014 in a new home with our new family.  The 120 days from "start to finish" has almost come and gone and it is a little disappointing to not be in our house yet.  I know it will all come in due time.

Danny and I are going to go check things out today, but last we saw the dry wall was up and primed, the trim was done and the interior doors were in.  Floors will start on the 2nd and they said they should be done by the 9th.  Then they will install all of the electrical outlets, lights and fixtures.  Cabinets will go in once the floors are complete, plumbing has to be finished and then we will be almost ready to call it home!  The siding still needs to be finished on the front of the house and the garage doors need to be installed.  I know there is still a lot left to do, but it should be coming together soon.

I have tons of pictures to share from the last few weeks!

The birthday boy! Dylan turns 2.

Christmas morning at MiMi and PupPups

Making Christmas cookies for Santa. 

 Fun at Bristol Raceway

Visiting Santa

Christmas parade with friends 

No updated house pictures...hopefully once the siding is done. :)