Playing together

Sharing some toys and playing together nicely!

Clearing land and kitchen choices

Some major clearing took place on our lot this week, so for the first time, we had a better sense of the full scope of our land.  Our lot is long and narrow (500+ft of frontage) and much of it was covered in small trees and shrubs.  To make more of a yard and to give space for our septic system, it had to be cleared.

This was the first good view of the side of the house I've been able to get.

This is our side yard.  Hopefully, once graded, it will be a little flatter.  There is a gentle grade down from the apple orchard that is behind our house.

In other house news, we picked out our kitchen this week.  Our cabinets are maple and the color is Sedona.  http://www.merillat.com/our-products/product-types/cabinetry/classic/spring-valley/maple/square/index.html?drilldown=True#sedona

We will have brushed nickle hardware and our countertop is Venetian Gold http://www.vtindustries.com/images/laminate-countertops/vtcountertops-colors-laminate-formica-6223_venetiangoldgranite_58.jpg?Status=Master

We stuck with most of the standard items and didn't do many upgrades (i.e., standard doors, laminate countertops, standard hardware) but did choose to upgrade to 36" cabinets instead of the standard 30" cabinets.  We will get more storage space and the aesthetic will be better with a smaller gap between the ceiling and the top of the cabinet.

On the Move

Lainey is all over the place, crawling, pulling up to standing, even standing for a second here and there...I spend my day keeping her out of trouble!

Happy Kids

Lainey sized pool

Siding!

The house is sided and looks great.  So it is all interior work and further excavation/landscaping from here on out.  We go to the kitchen design center next week to finalize our selections and then our choices should be complete.  Latest update from the builder says closing will be in mid to late September...later than we had hoped but it will be here soon enough!

Happy 80th Birthday Grandma!

Besides fun at the Shore, our NJ trip was spent visiting family and especially celebrating Grandma Eileen's 80th birthday.  We had so much fun seeing family and celebrating such a wonderful woman.

Stacey and Lainey.

Granny and her babies.

Shawn and Lainey.

 All the grandkids and great grandkids.

Family portraits

Trying to get a family portrait is hard! 

Fun on the Boardwalk

We hit up the boardwalk at Point Pleasant.  After some fun, snacks and even the arcade, Colin was pretty wiped out!

Jersey Shore

Livin' it up on the Jersey Shore!

Finish at the 50

I got back into running this spring after a very long hiatus and ran my first race on July 3rd. It was at Gillette stadium and the race ended on the 50 yard line of the field. There were lots of family activities set up so it was a fun night out for us.

Here is Colin marching about in the sand pit the set up for the little ones to play in. 

There were lots of free samples to try, which is always fun.

Lainey loved all the people watching.

Part of the race was up the ramps to the top of the stadium (you can see some runners on the top deck) and the finish line was displayed on the big screen!

On your way to the finish line, you got to run through the giant inflated football helmet, just like the Patriots do on game day!

Here I am post race, demonstrating my winning stride (ha ha!)

Trying to walk

Windows and Doors!

The windows and doors went in very quickly, just one afternoon.  The heating company was there at the same time, as well.  Siding and trim should be next, along with insulation and drywall!

Convoy Race, the Sequel

Colin got to choose one ride at the pier each day and his favorite was this ride, which was also the very first ride Colin ever went on.

Here is the first time Colin went on this ride: http://www.babypag.blogspot.com/2010/08/convoy-race.html Colin was 17 months old. Look how much my baby has grown in less than 2 years!

Playing in the sand

For a brief, wonderful moment, both kiddos played in the sand, together. Lainey didn't like how it tasted, so she didn't eat much of it and Colin was willing to share his toys.

9 Months Old!

And a squirmy wormy girl she is!

House updates

There were lots of happenings with the house this week.   We were able to do our first "walk through" with the builder and the electrician.  We chose our electrical options (a few upgrades and the placement of our cable and phone jacks) and talked with the builder about a few changes to the specs and chose our siding color (Granite Gray).  The house was wired and rough plumbing was installed. 

This is looking through where the sliders will be in the kitchen/eating area into the living room. 

Here you can see some of the recessed lighting cans we added.

This is the living room wall where we had the cable boxes installed.

This is looking from the garage into the mudroom and the half bath.  You can see some rough plumbing.

We also made a number of choices this week, such as selecting our appliances and flooring.  We will meet with the kitchen designer in the next few weeks to finalize our cabinet and countertop choices.  Then, we just need to finalize our paint and lighting fixture choices and we should be done making our selections.