The Doors Have Arrived

The doors have arrived. However, they have yet to be installed. Maybe tomorrow! There are just a couple of things to clear up before the framer is done. He had hoped to be finished by this afternoon, but obviously that isn't the case. So long as it is done right...we don't mind a day or two off schedule.

I took some pictures while we were out there this evening. The first is taken from the back of the property looking towards the house. It was recently mowed, so I didn't mind walking back that far. We have about 100 feet of solid trees and brush behind where I am standing. (Not in the picture)

The second picture is of the bonus room inside the house. They added a doorway (which you can see in the picture) to allow access to the ac in the attic.

The third picture is of the bonus room above the garage. It has eight foot ceilings that slope to 4 feet. It will be a neat room. It will have a half bath when all is said and done.

As mentioned before, the doors arrived. My front door is absolutely beautiful! I can't wait to see it completed.

I am currently working on shutter design and brick design. The brick is already there and ready to put up. We were told it was going to take up to 8 weeks to deliver, and well...it was sitting out there in 5 days! At least it doesn't rot or warp!

Maddie and Ashlyn

I took the girls out to the golf course, Monday night, to have their pictures taken together. The ones of Maddie turned out really cute. You can see them all at Ashlyn Ann Photography. There was only really one of Ashlyn that I liked. I tried to play with her hair, and I don't think I liked what I did. Here are a couple of them.

Playing Ring around the Rosie

If you let the house go...They will come!

I received a phone call today from a realtor saying they would be here tomorrow morning. I am so thankful they gave us more than just an hours notice.

Today, Aunt Jenn drove in to play with the girls for a bit. We took her out to the property so Ashlyn could show her, her room. We then headed to Cheddars for lunch. It's been a long time since I have been there. I forgot how much I enjoy that place.

After lunch, the girls went down for their nap. When they woke up, Johnathan took Ashlyn to Mr. Bill's pool, and I took Jadie to Candace's to try to get some more pictures of her. (I have so many of Ashlyn...I'm just trying to balance it out a little!) Jennifer left shortly after John and Ashlyn left for Bill's.

It was very much a "lazy day". I honestly can't remember the last time I had one of those!

Here are a couple of the pictures I took of Jadie.

Jadyn Used a Big Girl Fork

Jadyn used her own fork at lunch today. It took her about 30 minutes to eat just a little bit. But she enjoyed every minute of it. She wouldn't have anything to do with me helping her either. (She was so tired, that we had to stop her and get her cleaned up before nap.)

Just Playing Again

Another Busy Day

Tomorrow, as soon as the girls wake us up, Johnathan is going to head out to the property to talk to our framer. Then John is going to swing by the house, pick us up, and head to the insurance agency. After that, we are headed to Orange to talk to our Cabinet maker. At some point Johnathan has to stop at ACME brick to place our order. (It is supposed to be delivered 2 weeks from order date!) Then at 6:30pm we are supposed to head back to the property to meet with our builder to discuss it's progress and do an informal walk-through.

And at some point...MAYBE...someone will come and look at the house!!!

Delayed Again

I am delayed again with posting pictures of the house. We have a virus on our computer. I am pretty sure Johnathan has fixed it, however, I want to make sure before I stick my memory card in to download the pictures.

We went out to the property tonight. (We were looking at low voltage wiring and it's placement.) Of course it poured here pretty much the entire day. Johnathan says the house is dried in, however, it had quite a few leaks!

The plumbers had been out today, they finished cutting holes in the roof for the vents, and did all the connections for the washer and dryer. I don't know how long they stayed, however, Johnathan thinks our framer didn't even show up! I know he will be looking into that first thing tomorrow morning.

Jadyn is in the process of cutting a top tooth. So she hasn't been quite herself lately. A little more cranky and tired than usual.

Ashlyn has been a sweetie. She is excited because I told her we would make cupcakes for our neighbor Candace tomorrow. (Her dog has been at the vet for the last couple of evenings, due to severe arthritis.)

I have a gut feeling that tomorrow someone will want to come to look at the house. Why? Because today, I let the house go! I watched the neighbor's boys (3 of them). They were so good, and really didn't make a mess at all. However, I have fallen behind on the laundry the dishes, and Johnathan and I dragged out all the plans, files, granite and tile samples, paperwork, etc. so we could sit down and prepare to meet with the cabinet guy on Friday morning, and the low voltage person, tomorrow evening. In other words, the house is deep cleaned...but extremely cluttered.

I gave away two business cards today while at McDonalds. One of the ladies I spoke with got really excited and started asking me a whole bunch of questions. (She actually caught me off guard a little with all her questions. Mental note: Next time I'll be ready for anything!) Anyway, she makes little girl's boutique clothes for a local boutique and also has an ebay store. She has been interested in having a professional photographer take pictures of her clothing. That would be really neat and her two little girls are adorable!

I talked to my mom today, and she seemed to be doing well...just exhausted. Yesterday she had a long day, leaving for MDAnderson at 10am and not leaving until after 10pm that evening. The doctor said her blood work looked good and that it is okay that she is still feeling some "tugging" in her abdominal area. So that is all good news!

I better wrap this up, it is 12:44am. And of course if you know our girls...noone gets to sleep in tomorrow! Hope this finds everyone doing well.

Plumbing and AC

The plumbers must have come out yesterday or today. They fixed the boo-boo the framers made. (Where they shot 3 nails into 3 pipes!) In addition, they ran the plumbing up the walls (I guess that is for the vents, etc.) We also noticed that they have run some of the duct work for the AC and put in a couple of vents. I really can't believe it is going this fast.

I have had two hits from my photography ad that I listed a week or so ago. One wants me to come out to her house and take pictures of her family and their horses. I know I can do that. I just never thought of the safety issue.

Anyways...I'm excited.

Tomorrow, I am watching "the boys", as Ashlyn says. Their grandma, (who usually cares for them during the day.) is out of town for the week. So, Jennifer asked me to keep them one day. I know Ashlyn is super excited. If the weather holds up, we are planning a trip to the spray park, and then to McDonald's for lunch. After lunch, we will head back to the house for the boys to watch a movie while the girls take their afternoon nap. I am assuming they will all want to go outside and play after the movie is over. I'm just hoping tomorrow isn't a complete wash-out!

My mom had her second round of chemo tonight. She said it went alot smoother than last time. I think it is because she knew what to expect. Hopefully, the next few days will be easy on her.

Miss Maddie

I took pictures of a little girl today here at the country club. It is typically closed on Monday's. Here is my favorite shot. You can take a look at a few of my other favorites if you look to the right and click the link "More Pictures". Let me know what you think.

Windows have been Installed

Yesterday, Grandma and Grandpa W. drove into town and met us at the property to take a tour. I took inside pictures as the exterior looks the same, except they have installed windows. The bonus room in the house is now floored and measures 22 x 20 with a 10 foot ceiling. The stairway is complete, so I climbed up there and took some pictures. (Which will come a little later today or tomorrow.) They also put up the wall between Ashlyn's room and the master bedroom, which had been missing all along. Now Ashlyn has a better idea of where her room actually is in the house. She even did the tour for Grandpa pointing spaces out to him and telling what they would be. She is so excited. She even said the other day something along the lines of let's hurry up and sell our house so we can move into the "Great Big Giant House" faster.

After touring the property the boys went to Pizza Hut (Yum!) to pick up pizza and the girls and I headed back to the house. We had a nice visit with the grandparents. I forgot to take pictures of Ashlyn and Jadyn with them while they were here!

Jadie's eye is healing quite well. I still have been doctoring it 3-4 times a day. So I'm praying there won't be much of a scar.

I forgot to mention why I took all the pictures and posted them below. I have been doing some research and found a new "eye" technique. Everyone seems to be hush hush about how to do it. It gives the eye...a pretty glass effect. Anyway, so I have been practicing and on a couple I got really close on two of them. (The one of Jadyn alone looking to the right and the one of Ashlyn sitting in the grass with her legs crossed.) I'll keep playing...and of course I'll show you the results.

Hope this finds everyone doing well. Please continue to keep my mom in your prayers as she goes for her second round of chemo on Tuesday. (She has almost completely recovered from her extensive surgery and has already started losing her hair.) Hopefully, on Tuesday her doctor will give her clearance to do all the things she hasn't been able to do: drive, vacuum, and of course...pick up her grandkids!

Our Angels

Jadyn's New Trick

Jadyn has mastered climbing. Yesterday, she spent the majority of her waking moments, climbing on the couches. She would climb up...sit back, acting all proud...and then climb down. She would then walk to another couch and do the same thing. Later in the evening, she discovered she could climb onto the kitchen chairs, and sit at the table like a big girl! I wander how much longer before she climbs onto the kitchen table!

Pictures at Candace's

Connor

Laura drove in town today to take baby Elizabeth to the doctor. She left Connor here to play with Ashlyn while she went with Elizabeth. The kids had a good time. They played a Caillou computer game, they played Dora and Diego Candy Land. They colored pictures, played the piano, and had fun trying on different shoes. When Elizabeth's appt. was over we met at Chick-Fil-A. I don't know why I didn't take any pictures. Sorry! Ashlyn and Jadyn are both down for their afternoon naps...they went down with no complaints. They are both tuckered out! Thanks Laura for driving all this way to visit us!

All the Possibilities for Under the Stairs

We are planning on creating a media closet, and now have the capability to create a nook in one of the bedrooms for a bed, or a little play area, for the girls.

Jadie Playing in the Shower.

Daddy left the door open while he was getting a towel...and Jadie snuck in while he had his back turned. (She was in her Pj's ready for bed...) Of course she came out soaked....and was EXTREMELY upset when Daddy took her out. So we stripped her down and let her play in the water for a bit.

More House Pics

Front View

If you look really close, you can see Ashlyn walking towards me.

Back View

It's a Done Deal.

We will have a 400 square foot bonus room above the living room. This means we lose 3-4 feet of our living room. Pictured below is the beginnings of the stairwell.

Here is a picture I took while standing at the edge of the foyer and the living room. This is looking into the kitchen/breakfast room/gameroom areas.

Here is another picture. This time I am standing at the hallway to the master looking through the living room towards the kitchen.

Here is a picture of our Master bedroom. Just past Ashlyn is the master bath/closet entrance.

And finally we have Johnathan's Favorite Part. The GARAGE! It gets bigger everytime I go into it I think.

Stitches or No Stitches

Well, this morning Ashlyn was playing with one of Jadie's belts. I am assuming Ashlyn was spinning or swinging it...When down Jadyn went. I picked her up and held her for a minute or two, then tried to look at where the belt got her. To my surprise. All I saw was blood. I don't really remember what happened after that. I did call my friend Courtni over, for a second opinion. She suggested that I take her to the doctor instead of the ER. When I arrived, they took us right back, because the nurse was sure she would need at least one stitch.

A few moments later, her Dr. came in and cleaned it up. He said that it was border line and that since he didn't see any fatty tissue that he recommended no stitching as it would cause further scarring. He would have liked to put a butterfly bandage on it, however, due to it's location, he said it wouldn't stay. So he suggested a peroxide treatment, followed by, neosporin multiple times per day. After it is all healed he said to apply vitamin e to the area to decrease scar appearance. He said it would definitely leave a scar. He said she may look like she had early crows feet on that eye. Our poor baby!

Pictures

Finding her Bubba (Belly Button) for Daddy.

Daddy left the room!

Tired Girls!

Busy

Today was supposed to be a busy day...and well...the threat of bad weather pretty much kept us indoors.

Yesterday, I had scheduled a playdate for this morning, with one of Ashlyn's school buddies, Cora. It was not until around 11pm last night that I remembered that Ashlyn had a dentist appointment for the same time! So we called this morning, apologizing, and rescheduled for Wednesday.

Ashlyn did great at the dentist. Last time I took her it was "all drama". She cried the whole time, (they wouldn't let me back there.) This time, I made a request to go back with her, and they permitted it since she was so uncooperative last time. She was a trooper. It took her a minute to warm up to Amanda (the hygienist.) But before long, Ashlyn was trying to run the show.

I'm going to steal someone's line....(I don't remember who said this one time.) "Good thing she is smart, so she can grow up and be the boss!"

Tomorrow morning, I am supposed to take pictures of Maddie and Ashlyn in matching outfits. Tomorrow night, I am supposed to take pictures of Cora and her family! So I will have a lot of computer time in front of me!

Tomorrow night, our friend Mike is coming to stay the night. He has to work in Orange on Wednesday. Ashlyn has always been fond of Mike, so I know she is excited.

Then on Thursday, Mike's wife, Laura, and their two little ones will be her during the day. Baby Elizabeth has her wellness check with her doctor. (They recently moved to Kingwood, and are still working on finding a doctor there.)

This weekend, I am trying to arrange for me to be in Kingwood. I have a family that wants me to take pictures of them. I don't know if it will happen. It depends on Johnathan's schedule. So things are still up in the air.

As far as the couple who came to look at our house...No News! Bummer.

400 Extra Square Feet

Johnathan and I went out to the property last night. Chad (our framer) had mentioned to John a couple of days ago that we had an extra 400-800 feet upstairs. So we went out there to take a look.

Sure enough we do. Johnathan and Chad are going to take a look at it Monday morning, to see how much extra it would cost to "subfloor" it. (I think that is the term he used.) It of course wouldn't be finished, we would do that ourselves after a year or two.

The house itself is coming along fast. Here is a picture I took last night. With the tall ceilings inside....it's HUGE.

Inconvenient Timing

When the realtor called Thursday night, she asked to show the house the next morning. She gave me a two hour window, from 9-11. So the girls and I loaded up the next morning and went to run errands. I was thinking something wasn't quite right with Jadie since she didn't touch her milk for breakfast. At about 10:15 (while driving to get an inspection sticker for the car) Jadyn threw-up. It was everywhere! So I pulled over and tried to clean her up the best I could. I arrived back home at 10:26 to find the realtor still there. I didn't know what to do.

I couldn't go inside the house, because I too was covered. Therefore, I couldn't go in and get the neighbors house keys to clean up at their house. So, I drove to James and Courtni's house, unfortunately, they weren't home. I then drove to Matt and Liz's, and they weren't home. I was out of options. I drove back to my neighbors Jennifer and Jason's house. Fortunately, they have a garden hose right next to their driveway. I got Jadie and Ashlyn out and hosed them down. I let the hose sit on Jadie's seat for about 10 minutes to try to get the germs off and the smell out.


Finally, at 11:30...I saw the realtor and her clients load into their seperate vehicles. I was glad they stayed for as long as they did. However, at the same time, I needed to get my girls home and cleaned up!


The realtor did wave me down as she was leaving, (I guess she knew it was me, since I was "hovering".) She said she appreciated my patience and that she was sorry it took so long, but they were serious buyers.


We haven't heard anything as of yet. But it's the weekend.


As for Jadyn. She is finally feeling better. 2 days of not eating much, and running a high fever 102-103! I'm glad she is on the up side of whatever it is she had. Now we are watching Ashlyn to make sure she doesn't get a fever or worse...start her vomitting spell!!!

Finally...Someone is Coming

Tomorrow morning, a realtor is supposed to be bringing a client through! I'm interested in seeing what the feedback is. On Wednesday we had a caravan of Realtors come through. All left positive comments, and said that the house was very well priced. I guess the market is just really SLOW! (It's crazy...because last year, this same time...the houses were being sold left and right in our neighborhood!)

Almost Dried In

Take a look at the little dark spot on the garage! That's a man! Talk about BIG!!!