Splish, Splash, Bath

Supplies, Check

Now we just need to get them installed and we will have working bathrooms again :-)

Abby has been into trouble all day - chewing on lotion bottles and things she isn't supposed to, running like a mad woman at the hardware store, unpacking boxes at the wrong house... Hopefully she will decide to be a better helper this evening and tomorrow, when we've got major work to do.

But, she did sleep 11 hours straight in her own bed so that Steve and I got a full night's sleep, and boy did we need it!

More Surprises!

New surprises to add to the fun:

Our oven is a convection oven! Oh the cookies we will make with that baby :-)

We have an even bigger yard than we thought and a nice 2nd shed. Lots of room to play dog chasing games!

So Much Work, So Little Motivation!

We have a lot to do, but it is yucky and gray and I have so little motivation! Abby and I did one big load this morning and got it all put away. I also mowed the back yard at the rental house (which was a jungle). I am never letting the grass go to seed again - that was back breaking work! Abby and her dad even found time to break in the new couch a little bit and read some stories at our new house.Here's a sneak peak at our hardwood from the living room. It is much better than the yucky carpet. It is super dried out though, and I've already had to mop it twice. I'll have a few more mopping sessions and hopefully we will get it back in shape. You can see where I've put down the floor cleaner because the wood sucked the stuff right in. So I'm hoping that if I mop again and again and again I can get it all shining and nice. Hard work...

And now... Abby and I have to move the food over to the new house. The dishes are already there and so are the rest of the kitchen supplies, so we've got to get the food there too so we can start eating at home instead of having fast food for every meal (which got old after the 2nd day).

Oh... and on the Abby news front she is learning more and more words. She can say Abby now and also knows that saying up and pointing to the stairs will probably get her carried up to the top. What a brainiac!

Surprises!

I need to shower, so I'm keeping this very short. Abby, Steve and I ripped up the carpet in our new living room and had a great surprise - beautiful hardwood floors in great condition. We also had some neat floors under the carpet in the half bathroom. It's vintage honeycomb tile from 1926, just like the entryway. Some of the tiles were damaged from the tack strips, but I think we are going to try and leave them at least for now. Maybe I can even get some replacement tiles to fill in the broken ones.

Abby was a good helper again today. We've got a lot left to move, but we made a good dent. We also bought the new toilet, new vanity and sink set, and a new set for the shower. Now we just have to figure out how to get them installed... that could be the tricky part. But we have leaks in the bathtub faucet, leaks in the half bath sink, and leaks in the kitchen sprayer, so they all have to be fixed. Otherwise the water will have to stay off because I am refusing to pay the huge water bill they will cause!

Watch tomorrow (or the next day) for pictures of the awesome floor we found :-)

Treed

Working Girls

Abby and I spent all day yesterday working. We packed at the rental house in the morning and unpacked and cleaned the new house in the afternoon. We even let Maize come to the new house to check it out. She, of course, instantly peed on the carpet. Luckily the carpet is all coming out, so a little dog pee won't hurt it.

We moved the garage sale sofa in last night with some help from friends. It is just as nice as our current sofa, so it will work out great. We also hosted our first dinner party at the new house last night for the friend who carried in the sofa. We found a few more little things that we needed to fix by having company over and using the bathrooms.

Abby and I ran some errands this morning and worked on some additional packing. I think it is going to be a very busy weekend for us. We stopped in the local florist and greenhouse and remembered how spoiled we are having Grandma Jennie and Delton Floral in the family. The flowers and baskets at our greenhouse up here were almost double the price and not nearly as nice. I was definitely disappointed in the selection! We also stopped in Goodwill and found a great little picture for Aunt Carol (it's a whole row of Raggedy Ann's and Andy's). I love the half price tags - we got the picture for $1.99 and a winter weight infant car seat cover for $2.49. THIS DOES NOT MEAN WE ARE HAVING ANOTHER BABY - I just figured for such a great price there was bound to be someone who could use it and it is the fancy, normally $40 or $50 dollar kind.

This afternoon has more packing, moving, and cleaning in store. I am waiting for the last load of curtains to finish washing so that we can see how they cleaned up and decide whether they are moving back into the house or moving down the street to Goodwill. There may be a few in there that would be bad enough that no curtains would be better than re-hanging them.

Official Homeowners

We signed all the paperwork and have the keys... we are now officially homeowners. Yippee! Abby and I have even done some major cleaning in the cabinets. We only have a few left to clean before we can start moving our dishes in.

Other than the big closing we've had an uneventful day. Abby was wonderful for her babysitter Kitty and even smiled and laughed while playing with her. She also had a play date this morning while I was at a local United Way function. It was a very eventful day for her. And tomorrow she has another play date planned while I sneak out to my first official lawyerly function in the U.P. - the local bar association luncheon. Hopefully she continues to be a well behaved lady.

We have lots of gardening to do, lots of cleaning to do, and lots of moving to do. It's going to be a monumental task, but hopefully it will be the last big move we make. That's what we keep telling ourselves.

Closing Time

We are closing on our new house tomorrow - we hope. We are still waiting on USAA (our bank) to get the closing documents to the title company, but we are on the books to close at 3 pm tomorrow. What an exciting afternoon and a huge relief to have this all behind us. And I personally can't wait to get into the house and start making it ours.

Abby learned a new trick in the last day or two. She can now nod yes and knows when to use it. We are constantly cracking up at this little girl, she is so full of character. Here's one great shot from the last week's adventures. You'll have to check flickr to see the rest.

One Very Busy Week

Well, I guess we can say we survived the last week. Unfortunately this week will be just as busy, if not more! But we managed to squeeze in the Toledo Zoo, a trip to Rustic Glen (Grandpa Harley & Uncle Greg's golf course), a trip to Zeeland to visit new baby kittens at Aunt Sue's house, a rehearsal dinner, a wedding, and a stop at Hartwick Pines on the way home. It makes me tired just thinking about it!

We had hundreds and hundreds of pictures on the camera - too many to share here. To see them you'll just have to click on the flickr link in the right column. I'm putting the best photos there as we speak. There will probably be 150 or more there by the end of the week.

Our little girl was exceptionally well behaved the whole week. She was great at the zoo, althought she was pretty sure she wanted to walk the entire way. Not just walk, mind you, but also walk without any adult touching her or holding her hands. She only cried at one pen of animals (the baby orangatans, who were fighting). She was on best behavior. We were kind of disappointed that the petting zoo was closed for renovations, but it was still really fun.

The wedding was lovely - it was beautiful and Abby was very good during the wedding, did lots of visists at the reception, and was super cute in her beautiful dress. We are really excited for the new sister we gained and can't wait for many happy years for Nathaniel and Courtnie. And... we have only 3 sibilings left to marry off - half way there :-)