A new house for our growing tribe

I didn't want to say anything until we knew for sure - because we've gotten our hopes up in the past and had them fall through - but this is it, we signed the contract and are just awaiting final approval for all the paperwork. We close April 26th! :)

The house is on a cul de sac, has a 3 car garage, and a finished basement. The front porch has room for a swing.

Inside on the main floor is laminate flooring in the living and dining room. There is a brick, woodburning fireplace in the living room.


The dining room is HUGE and has grapevine wallpaper along the chair rail and has columns that separate it from the living room.


The kitchen has the new composite "ceramic" flooring that doesn't crack on impact, double ovens with a flat cooktop, double porcelain sink, an island, and a small "bar" countertop area that connects to the dining room.




The walls are all painted with lots of color - some turquoise, lime, yellow, red. It's nice.

The backyard is beautiful, with lush green grass and a wood (Rainbow brand, maybe?) play structure on mulch. It's huge! The fence is privacy height (8'?) and made of cedar. It has a brick patio with a pergola overhead for some shade, and two beautiful flowering trees that are still small, but established.

There's a three car garage with built-in cabinets. The basement is finished with a family room and a full suite - bedroom and full bath on the lower level.

Upstairs there is brand new frise carpeting throughout. There's a master suite with whirlpool tub and an enormous (bedroom sized) walk-in closet. There are two small bedrooms near us, and 2nd floor laundry (YAY!). Down the hall from us is this ENORMOUS suite for the older two girls. It has dual closets and a finished area that's sort of a reading nook or small "living room" that's built in. Turns out that was attic space above the garage and it was finished (presumably when they first built the home).

It's a bit older than we originally wanted, going on 11 years, but they are paying for a warranty for us and it has a new hot water heater. The furnace and A/C are covered by the warranty, if they should go out.

I think that's it! :)

We're so excited and can't wait for you to see it!!!

My little hooligan

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

My crazy boy is all over the place - across the living room and going down the hall in a minute, flat! He's so much fun, and such a handful. He's got an inquisitive spirit and would rather be pushing the vacuum down the hall than playing with his toys. He loves to be in the middle of things and is already pulling up on the cubes and the djembe drums in our living room. It's amazing how quickly life changes.

Evening Son

With the blessing of an extra hour of sun in the evenings, we managed to find time to play outside tonight. Despite three rather large mosquitos, we had a nice evening and managed to capture some nice shots of the kids.

And He'll Have Fun, Fun, Fun...

Back from California. Jackson had his first trip on an airplane and did wonderfully! He slept most of the way there and only seemed to be uncomfortable during the landing when we got home. His stroller ended up being too big, so we had to buy another one out there at Target. He did great in the hotel, sleeping in the Travel Lite crib and was a stellar baby the entire time. If only his sisters were so well-behaved.

Mom - I'm ready for take-off



Kisses from Daddy in the Princess Fantasy Faire



Smoochy boy



Sea World Day :)


SO warm and flushed! (We lost the jacket right after this)


Developmentally, this week has been a huge leap for Jack - he cut through his last two of eight teeth (four on top, four on bottom now!) and figured out how to kick one leg underneath himself to flip up to sitting. Yesterday, he was sitting on the couch by me and pulled himself up to standing, and today he learned to crawl in rhythm and can get around SO fast! He's off the rug in seconds now. He's also started the diaper change fight - but he doesn't wiggle when sissy changes him, she's happy to report. He's really getting interested in toys and will hug and hold onto his little Anne Geddes bear from the boutique in Downtown Disney(land). If you put it out of his reach, he'll crawl over to the baby right away.