Big Day?!?!?

Today could be a very big day. We were told last week that if everything that was on back order came in as expected this week, we may get a closing day set today.

One might think this doesn't call for a separate blog post but so far in this process, as soon as I take the time to blog about nothing going on or to complain, something happens that day. So I am trying that logic today in hopes that this blog some how causes a miracle to happen and we hear that our closing date has been set.

A prime example is my blog earlier this week. I hadn't blog for over 2 weeks and then I decided to finally blog about the missing cabinet and other hold ups. Low and behold, we swing by the house after work that day and Ben sees Matt wandering through the yard looking in windows and lets us in the house. Guess what we found! A cabinet! and the counter top installed, and the missing counter in the kitchen, as well as door knobs, brackets for closet shelving, the hand rail being stained for the stairs, and found out the stove isn't missing, it just gets delivered at the 11th hour on purpose since it isn't attached and can just be plugged in.

So one has to think we are REALLY close now. When trying to think of the few things still left to do, we couldn't even come up with 10. This gives me so much hope that we will get some sort of news of a set closing today. 

Fingers crossed!!

Our bathroom since December with the missing cabinet.

Finally a whole piece!

The Waiting Game...

In case you don't know me well, I am not a patient person. Marrying Matt and having kids has forced me to become a lot more patient that I was in the past, but the house project has really been testing my limits lately. Or maybe it is just the unknown that is driving me crazy. I am a planner by heart and by profession. I like to have everything lined up and ready to go. So not knowing an exact closing date is driving me crazy. I can call the utility companies, I can set up mail forwarding, I can't book movers and painters, etc. So you might be wondering why we don't know. Here is a basic break down:

Our set closing date is February 25th. This is the date we were given on the final contract in July. This would be fine except in November and December we were told repeatedly that we were ahead of schedule and should close around the teens of February.

Then the luck of the Coles hit. When everything we needed to finalize the house goes on back order - columns, stove, cabinet, counter top, etc.

It all started with one little cabinet. When our cabinets were installed in December, our realtor was so excited because he said they tend to be the most common item to be on back order and cause delays. So I immediately started panicking because one of the cabinets in our master bathroom was incorrect and I just knew that would come back to haunt us. Sure enough, as of yesterday that cabinet was still not in and therefore a closing date could not be set.

I finally broke down and emailed Jamie, our project coordinator, last week to get an update. It went something like this:

Jamie: My paper work says closing on February 26th.
(Which is a day later than the set closing of the 25 which Ben said would not change unless it was earlier, so the madness continues)

Me: So can I book movers for that weekend?

Jamie: No I wouldn't.

Me: (beating my head against the wall) So we still think it might be earlier?

Jamie: Not sure.

Me: (still beating my head against the wall) Do you know when we might have an idea

Jamie: All back ordered items should be in by the middle of next week and if they are, we should have a good idea on where we stand at our meeting on Thursday.

Me: (Jumping up and down to finally have some sort of answer) Great! I will anxiously await to hear from you on Thursday.


So if all goes well this week we should know something Thursday. So far we have seen hope - the counter top is in as well as the columns. The house was locked so we couldn't see if the cabinet came in for upstairs but we know the counter top for that bathroom is in the garage waiting for it.

Fingers crossed!!

More Finishing Touches!

I will start with the exciting things first. Here are the latest updates:

January 10th: Concrete for the Driveway and Back Patio!

Huge back patio, huh?

We all added our thumb prints in the concrete but sadly it was before they had finished smoothing it out so they are gone now. We will just have to do it again when we have the full back patio poured.

January 21: Painters
We met with our painters and I gave them my crazy amount of colors and color coded floor plan (below). They also stained the hand rail and painted the front door that day. Alex was thrilled to actually get to see the "mens" working on the house.

Yes I know I am OCD but I like to keep things organized! And no, our living room isn't going to be yellow.

January 27: Columns!
One of the back ordered items arrived yesterday and it made the outside of the house really looked finished with the exception of the crazy yard.

Just a few more small touches and we will have a finished home. More about that in the next post.

Little Changes, Big Excitement at the House...

We didn't think they would work on the house much over the holidays but we did see a few things happen. As we near the finish line, changes are much smaller but just as exciting to see.

On New Years Eve we saw the first part of the flooring installed, the vinyl.

Kitchen

Front foyer

Yesterday we stopped by to see a few more additions:

We have all our toilets! Never thought I would be so excited about toilets.

Microwave installed. Dishwasher is there but not installed.

 

A Quiet New Year's Eve...

For the first time since we have been together, Matt and I just stayed home with the kids for New Year's Eve and it was fantastic. We fixed dinner, played, watched Despicable Me 2 for the first time, and celebrated the new year together. Well at least 3 of us did. Alex almost made it. He crashed at 11:40. He just couldn't hang in there any longer. 

The best people I could ever ask to spend NYE with!

Champagne toast at about 9 since we knew we would be going to bed right after the ball fell.

Fun with noise makers!

Christmas Craziness...

Christmas time is always a very crazy time for us and this year was no different! We stay on the move with barely enough time to grab some sleep at night before we are up the next morning and hitting the ground running.

Here was our schedule:
Sunday: Christmas dinner at the China Buffet with my family and then gifts at mom's house

Monday: 8 a.m. drop the kids off with Kathy to go to a Christmas thing at Brittany's work
12 - Christmas lunch with Debbers and gingerbread house decorating
5 - Christmas dinner with the Whittakers

Tuesday (Christmas Eve): Matt had to go into work for half the day :(
11:30 - Lunch at Kathy's and chaos with presents there
5 - Dinner at the Queens with Matt's mom, step-dad and brother and sister in law (the calm celebration)
Drop Reagan off at her mom's for the night
Head home and "help" Santa set up

Wednesday (Christmas Day): Up bright and early at 6 with Alex
10 - Reagan comes home to do family Christmas
12 - Lunch at Matt's dad's (chaos #2)

It may not look like much but it keeps us on our toes, completely screws with naps and wears us all out. When we left Dick's on Christmas Day about 3, I said "we are done!" and Reagan said "Yes!". That coming from a 10 year old tells you how nuts all the celebrations are.

Here are some pictures from all the chaos (in totally random order):

Lucy's Christmas peeps.

Finished gingerbread house.

Santa's loot. Yes that train table is as big as our tv!

At GQ's. When you get new socks, you should put all 6 pairs on at the same time!

Doing some light reading in the car. New book from Debbers.

This was the Christmas of tools! He got new tools everywhere he went and loved every one!

So worn out he crashed during lunch on Christmas and completely slept through all the present opening.

Still checking out his tools.

Artist at work.

Saying goodbye to Hermes.

Using his new tools to help daddy put his art easel together.

Hard at work. Notice his new tool belt he put on himself.

Pretty sure the chair and laptop were a hit. This is all she has done since Christmas.

Hanging out at Mamaw's.

Showing off his new trains.

Mommy's gift from Nana - a dirt devil. Perfect for cleaning crumbs off the little monster!

So excited about his very own vacuum!

Lots of fun with all the Potato Head pieces from Uncle Mike and Aunt Kimmy!