House Update

The new house is coming along & with a little over 2+ weeks left until move-in day things are starting to finally get done! The inspection & appraisal came in without any surprises on the old house so now it is a waiting game! We are crossing our fingers the buyers don't end up backing out for any reason!

Here are some pics of the new house & what has been done since the last time I posted. They were all taken with my cell phone so not the best pics but you will get an idea! Main thing is that all the tile & stone is set:

 Kitchen back splash

 Stone around fireplace

 Master bathroom - walk in shower

 Master bathroom - floor/jacuzzi tub

 Basement "Jack & Jill" bathroom

 Front door - stone on pillars

So as of today we are still scheduled to close on Monday May 18th & move in on the 19th. So we will be hoping that nothing happens from now until then to delay things!

Mama's Night Out

So there is a little group of mommies I know & they all have "littles" at Mason's daycare. I have gotten to know several mommy's in Mason's class quite well - especially since 2 of them live a block away from us. We often walk over to their house for play-dates & are kind of sad to be leaving the neighborhood now :(

So a few weeks ago one of the mommies suggested we leave the littles & the husbands at home & we should all have a "Mommy's Night Out". Let me just say you didn't have to ask any of us twice!! We all quickly agreed to make it happen & 2 weeks later here we are!

Now at first I was a little nervous about this "40-something" Mommy hanging with these young "30-something" Mommy's but by the end of the evening this old Mommy could hang with the best of them. 

We started with dinner at Jose Pepper's & filled our bellies with chips, salsa, margaritas & dinner. We all enjoyed getting to know each other, talking about our littles & the crazy things our hubby's do :) After we ate we headed to Fuel which is a bar that actually has 4 different types of bars in it & a huge outdoor patio that gives you access to each bar.

We started out with a cocktail, fun people watching, checking out each bar & then finally ended up out on the dance floor. We were out there for about an hour & then the clock struck midnight & we decided to call it a night. We all knew that we had to wake up as Mommys come 6am so we all agreed earlier in the evening that midnight would be our curfew.

The evening was a success & we had such a great time that we all agreed to get together & have another "Mommy's Night Out" again soon!

Uncle-time

Today I took Mase to get a much-needed haircut & then we met my brother Steve at Chili's for lunch! He has been super busy with the end stages of Nurse Anesthetist school so when he asked us if we could meet up for lunch we jumped at the chance to see him. Mason was SO excited to his "Uncle Teve" :)

It was great catching up with him & we are looking so very forward to having my family in town in a few weeks to celebrate Steve's graduation!

House Update

Lots has happened since I last gave an update on the new house. We now have paint on the walls, baseboards & crown molding! The tile should begin to be installed in the next couple of weeks. I really like the colors of the stain & wall colors thus far. Can't wait to see it all come together after tile & carpet!

The master bathroom

Front door & stairs to basement. Mason's bedroom is on the left.

Kitchen & living room on the left

Mason standing in his bedroom

Basement living room area

Can't believe in one short month we will be closing & moving in!! Hoping they have everything finished by then!

Farm Outing

Will all the hustle & bustle going on around us we thought it would be a perfect afternoon to get outside & go to Deanna Rose Farmstead for the first time since last fall. Mason could not wait to go see the cows, goats & ducks & talked about them all the way there.

Of course when we got there he first stop was the cows. We were surprised to see 2 baby calves in the pen & Mason was in awe to be standing so close to a "baby cow". We must have stood there for over a half hour! We could not get him to leave.

Next stop - the old tractor right outside the barn. Mason & Daddy stopped for a cute photo op!

Around the corner from the cows were the little pygmy goats. The line to purchase the bottle of milk for these little babies was ridiculously long so we skipped the feeding & just had fun petting each one.

Right next to the baby goats were the tractors. This is another fun thing to do & we can never get Mason off of these things! 

 After about an hour Mase was tired of walking & was thirsty so he took a little break in the wagon & we made our way over to the other side to check out the pigs, big goats, buffalo, birds, owls & play on the park equipment.

We spent a couple of hours walking around checking everything out & then headed on over to Jalapeno's for some mexican food - YUM!

We had such a great time together & are looking forward to many more afternoons spent at this fun place this summer!

Easter

"He is not here; he is risen, just as he said"   Matthew 28:6

Happy Easter everyone!!

What a beautiful morning we awoke to this morning! We got up, had breakfast, went to church & listened to a beautiful sermon by our amazing Pastor. I just LOVE our church, our Pastor & the people that go there.

The Easter Bunny had managed to come to the house while we were at church & hid a bunch of eggs throughout the backyard & Mason was SO excited to go on his "egg hunt"!

He searched for those eggs like a pro & upon finding one he would yell "found one" - over & over. So stinking cute! After finding many, many eggs he stumbled across his Easter basket:

We took all the eggs into the house, opened them all to find candy & money for his piggy bank & then he tore into his basket. He was most excited about the construction trucks:

 Ugh - I just love his little "cheeeeese" face.

Hope you all enjoyed your Easter with your loved ones just as much as we did!

Easter Eve

In preparation of the Easter bunny's arrival tomorrow morning, we all spent the evening dying eggs & had SO much fun. I remember when I was little how much fun it was to color eggs with my siblings so I was looking very forward to doing this with Mason this year. 

I was hoping that since he is 2 years old now that he would start to "get it" with all the holidays & let me tell you something - this kid gets it! 

I got all the cups ready to go while Mason & Daddy supervised & when it came time to dip his eggs he was so excited! He couldn't wait to scoop them out to see what color they were.

We ended up coloring 18 eggs & Mason was SO proud to show off his collection:

 Love his little "cheeeeese" smile :)

Before bed I read him his Easter story book that he got last year in his Easter basket & we talked about Jesus & why Easter is so very special. I know he is probably too young to understand but I really want him to know the religious importance behind Christmas & Easter & in my opinion it is never too early to start teaching your child about these values!

About 3 months ago I started to include praying into his bed-time routine & after we read our books we turn the light out, fold our hands together, pray & then I sing him a few songs while rocking him & then put him into his crib. 

The other night for some reason I had forgotten to pray with him & went right to singing. Mason immediately interrupted me, folded his little hands together & said "pay Mama" - which meant "pray Mama".

I was in tears.

I grabbed his little hands, we prayed together & I made sure to thank God for giving us such a sweet, precious little boy.

Even though he is only 2 years old, he is definitely getting it.

House update

Here is a pic of what the new house looks like:

The columns are going to be painted the same color as the garage doors/front door & the stone still needs to go on around the garage & under the columns. The little wooden accents at the peaks will also be painted the same color as the garage but for now this gives you an idea of what it looks like.

They just finished staining the kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinets/vanity & fireplace mantel/bookshelves:

We went with a dark stain for both the cabinets & the hard wood floors & love how it has turned out so far. 

They start painting next week so will take more pics then!

For Sale

So for the past few months we have been talking about putting our house up for sale & buying something new & bigger. All that talk became a reality a few weeks ago when we pulled the trigger, hired a realtor, signed all the paperwork, spent hours fixing up our house & finally put it up for sale.

New carpet was installed on Tuesday, the realtor came over Wednesday to "stage" the house & take professional pictures for the listing, on Friday the "for sale" sign was put in the front yard & was officially listed online & Saturday was our 1st open house along with 6 private showings.

By Saturday evening we had 4 offers - all above our listing price & we made a counter-offer on 3 of the 4 offers!

On Sunday we had two more private showings & one of our counter-offer's accepted. By Sunday evening our house was considered "SOLD"!

Talk about a whirlwind!! Our realtor told us our house would go fast but we had no idea it would be within 48 hours! Now we just have to get through the inspection & the appraisal. Crossing our fingers & toes that all goes well!

In the meantime, we are in the process of building a new house 2 blocks from the elementary school that Mason will be going to. It is a ranch style home, 4 bedrooms/3 bath with a finished basement. We are scheduled to close on the new house May 18th - less than 2 months away - yikes!!

Hopefully I will get over there to take some pictures of it & post them as we go. Such a crazy busy time right now but also super exciting!

3-21

 

"Getting into things she shouldn't - pulling all the clothes off the hangers just like any other 15 month old. 3-21 today - Happy Down Syndrome Awareness Day. More alike than different."                
                                                     ~Jen (Mom to Dana & also my sister) 

3-21 World Down Syndrome Day - chosen because of the numerical similarity to the medical name for Down syndrome (Trisomy 21, 3 copies of the 21^st chromosome), 3/21 each year is a day to celebrate those we love who have Down syndrome and to make others aware of the intrinsic value of individuals with Down syndrome. 

Today I am celebrating this little cutie :) Such a blessing to our family!

Girl's Night Out

About 8 months ago Maroon 5 tickets went on sale & since I had LOVED seeing them with Train a couple of years ago I was excited to get tickets & get to see them again! 

My friend Jilly was supposed to join me last time but ended up getting sick so she was unable to go :( SO as a surprise I ended up buying her a ticket to this concert for both her Christmas AND Birthday present & she was SO excited when I gave it to her.

I picked up Jilly from her house & we headed downtown to the P&L district to grab dinner & some drinks. It was super crowded down there but we ended up finding a couple of seats at The Flying Saucer & ordered burgers & a beer before the concert. 

After some much needed catching up, food & a beverage we headed into the Sprint Center to find our seats & join my friend Lori & her daughter.

The group Magic! opened up for Maroon 5 & they sing that popular song "Rude" which I really like. Surprisingly their whole act was really good & we all enjoyed the "island flare" sound that they played.

Next up was Maroon 5 & their opening act did not disappoint! They played for 2 1/2 hours straight & us 4 girls stood the whole time singing & dancing our little butt's off!

 

By the end of the show we were hot, sweaty & could barely talk! Had SO much fun with these girls & enjoyed the MUCH needed Girls Night Out!

Birthday Party

Today Mase & I headed to Miss Ava Jean's 2nd birthday party at Little Monkey Bizness in Shawnee. These 2 littles are 6 weeks apart & can't believe they have gone from this:

To this:

Ugh - what happened to our babies???

When we got there all the littles from the party were already playing on all the equipment & it didn't take Mason long to kick his shoes off & get down to business:

  

The little ones had a blast going down the slides, jumping on the inflatables & swinging like monkeys on the equipment. After about an hour of play-time we all headed into the party room for cake & ice cream.

Ava's Mama did an awesome job with the adorable monkey decorations, Ava Jean's birthday outfit & the cake/cupcakes. Everything was SO yummy & so cute!

Thanks Jen for letting us share Miss Ava Jean's 2nd birthday with you & your family :) We had tons of fun! Looking SO forward to sharing many more birthday milestones with these "littles"!