New House-Week 3

Well not many updates really for this week.  We had our final decisions meeting on Wednesday.  We officially decided on all of the pictures you saw last week plus the exterior of the house.  We ended up with Silver Mist siding, black shudders, and a red door, plus bright white trim and garage door.  The roof will be a 3 tone color of blacks and browns mixed.  We also selected the stone which was the one I initially shared a few posts back.  Landon wasn't being great through out meeting so Logan mostly handled it.  I guess I need to sit down and find a sitter to watch Landon when we have future meetings.  He is just at a tough age for sitting still!

I have been day dreaming about various piece of furniture and lights that we need to select for the house.

In the kitchen I need to select pendant lights for over the island and then a chandelier for the morning room.   My Mom informed me that they have lighting collections which then helped me narrow down my search.  Of course I fell in love with a more expensive light collection, so we will have to see what Logan thinks of it!  Here are two pictures of the chandelier and the pendent lights:

 This is another light I am considering-cheaper, but don't love it as much!

Now picture these lights with something similar to this look in the kitchen.  We are staying with the brushed nickle since that is standard throughout the house. This is an espresso cabinet and Giallo Ornamental granite.  Also, I kind of like the back splash! That is something I plan to put up eventually as well.

The other room that I is on the top of the decorating and new furniture list is our bedroom!  We are aiming for crisp, clean, and simple.  I have been eying up furniture that will go with our current nightstands since we paid a pretty penny for those in Hawaii.   Here are a few pictures of my vision for the room!

Sleigh style bed-the only one Logan and I can agree on.

Simple dresser and mirror

Entertainment stand/more drawers-can't decide where we will put the second TV.

Love the bedding and wall color

Totally plan on having a giant stand up mirror-already found one for a reasonable price at Home Depot!

Like the rustic decor and the colors again!

 Until July, there won't be any new pictures of the actual house since they won't break ground until then.  I was thinking of maybe doing a decorating/inspiration type idea for each room since that will give me something to post each week!  So stay tuned for those posts each week and then of course the other house information as we receive it!

Until next week =).

63 Weeks!

I am beginning to notice a theme over the past 3 weeks-tantrums! We had yet another rough week around these parts with Landon trying to gain some independence and Logan and I trying to assert some basic rules and discipline.  So far-it isn't going well.  Our toddler Terrorist is a strong willed little man and doesn't like the word no or any rules we try to keep in place.  He pushes and pushes until he gets what he wants or wears us down! My goal over the next few days is to read a few books regarding discipline techniques at this age and see what works.  I am taking wise words of wisdom to help with early discipline at this age so we can ward off the epic screaming tantrums that have been occurring since last week!

Some of the more amusing reasons he has thrown tantrums lately include: Rusty not giving Landon his bone to give back to him, Lola not coming close enough to pet, not being able to open his toy box, the dump truck not 'rolling' properly, and me showing him the wrong flash card.  I am not sure what is going on in his little mind right now, but apparently it is overloaded with new ideas and him not being able to express what he wants in words or signs are a challenge.  We have FINALLY got him to sign more instead of screeching for more food; this has just been a major break through in the last few days with Logan not giving in until he does the sign.  He just seems to get frustrated very quickly and I am hoping that once he gets a few more words he will figure out he doesn't need to get so angry if he doesn't get what he wants or do what he wants the first time!    

In addition to tantrums, we can throw getting one year old molars into the mix! I can feel the top right molar for Landon, but it is just the corner.  I am guessing teething pain has been bothering him as well and also contributing to his foul mood.  We are still missing the two bottom teeth, all of his canine teeth, and molars.  We have a long way to go with teeth...we only have 6 and a little corner!

Landon is in this hulk phase where he lifts and carries everything around.  The other day he pushed his high chair all around the kitchen and that thing isn't light! He also carries large toys and lifts them up to me on the couch, it is rather amazing that he is so strong.  As you can imagine they occasionally get dropped on his foot or he falls over trying to move it.

He is also getting into a climbing phase.  He tries to climb on almost anything, so I know it will only be a matter of time before he learns to climb on the couches. So far he hasn't tried to climb out of his crib yet!  He also knows how to open doors-lord help us.  The other day at the model house in Wellington he just reached up opened the door and tried to go outside! So we always need to make sure that the door is locked!

We have been fairly busy, despite the tantrum throwing out in public.  We have been doing our usual weekly music class, although next week is our last week until next fall! We also have joined Busch Gardens, tried out the beach, and went to the Circus over the weekend! Landon REALLY enjoyed the circus to my surprise and was content to just sit there, eat his snacks, and watch.  He really liked all the dancing, lights, and music.  He even made his dog sound when he saw the dogs!

Speaking of animal sounds-Landon can now do three animals.  Dog sounds like uhh uhh sound, but not quite  woof, but always consistent.  We have a sheep sound-baaaah and also a snake sound-sssssthssssth.  All very cute.  We are also working on cat meowing and cows mooing.  He can also touch his head, ears, nose, belly, and show us his tongue.  We are now working on bottom, eyes, and toes! The number of things he learns in a week are amazing.

Landon has suddenly become very interested in reading books lately.  Every night we read the same two books in his bath and lately he will continually bring me his same superhero book upstairs.  No matter where I put his superhero book he will find it and bring it to me.  Then we must read it no less than 5 times before we can MAYBE read another book.  

Ok this is long enough-now time for all the pictures!

Talking to the other baby in the bath.

At the beach eating sand

Watching Ashley and Piper in the water

Car naps are amazing this week I guess

Watching the circus!

Landon and Wyatt-best buddies at the circus

Making plans about how to get back inside...

Everyone at the circus!

 I also have an extra special video this week-Landon and his 'words'.

Until next week =). Don't forget to read the Week 2 house post!

New House-Week 2

Well we had to make ALOT of decisions for the house today.  We had both our wiring and flooring appointments today.

We had to be at the wiring place at 9 and had to discuss cable jack location, alarm systems, in home vacuum, and any other theater wiring we wanted.  We had an easy time choosing the location for the cable jacks and one home phone jack.  We then moved on to the security system which they can hard wire in the home for.  We haven't decided to do this yet since we need to talk with ADT (our old company) and see if they can do it for cheaper or compete with the price.  Then Logan ventured into the home theater talk.  They offer to basically completely install an entire theater, which thankfully Logan said no to.  We did agree to let them prewire the bonus room for surround sound.  I think they also talked about doing something with the projector as well, but I wasn't listening to that part ha! 

Logan went to talk with our loan officer today.  He put in the official loan application and was there for just over 2 hours talking about everything we need and all the money we have to bring to closing and for our down payment.  All I can say is thank goodness for Logan's amazing bonus and that he is wanting to put it towards our amazing house.  I told him after all of this, I am not sure we will ever be moving out of it! 

We also went to flooring today.  We had to select cabinets, granite, kitchen and morning room floors, carpet, vinyl in the bathrooms and laundry room, tile for the bathrooms in the showers, and tile for our floor in the bathroom, and the banister color! TALK ABOUT TOO MANY OPTIONS!  We ended up upgrading our wood floors to match our cabinets better, upgrading our carpet so we could get a thicker pad, and upgrading our master bathroom flooring and adding a nice design to our shower.  We easily had 8 vinyl options to pick from, 10 wood flooring options and color, 10 carpet colors and styles, and 7 wood colors for a banister.  I even had to pick grout for our tile in bathroom! Way too many options.  I think that what we picked though we will really like and it will flow well room to room.

I only took pictures at our flooring meeting.  Landon was a TODDLER TERRORIST (T2) at both meetings.  We are lucky he even made it home with us after what he put us through at the flooring meeting.  Those poor people is all I can say!

Vinly (top left), carpet, wood flooring, granite, and banister.

The top right small tile is the tile color for our master bathroom, it is called Bone. It will look pretty with our dark dark cabinets.

White tile for the shower with this design running through the shower.

The espresso cabinets, wood floors, banister, and granite

Our two options for granite-we are going with the one on the right since the one on the left turns yellow over time we found out.  The colors really aren't very true in these pictures, so take these with a grain of salt.

As I said above, the coloring is kind of lost in translation with the camera flash/non flash.  It is really hard to get an accurate picture.  I am hoping we like it!

Wednesday we have our final meeting with the Ryan Homes Rep to finalize all our options. I am excited! I am not excited about the waiting that also starts from here on out! I can't wait for ground breaking in July!!

Until next week =).

62 Weeks!

Week 62 has been another rough one.  Despite feeling mostly better, Landon is still a bit cranky pants.  We have been busy none-the-less.  As usual, Landon does much better out in public...well until I tell him no and he screams like I am killing him! Ah the joys of a toddler.  I think everyone forgot to tell us what a challenge they become once they turn one. 

We are officially on to one nap this week.  So far it is going pretty well and I love having the mornings open to do activities and run errands.  Today we went to the base to get Landon's eye checked out, got our year long pass to Busch Gardens, and ran to Trader Joe's, and still had time for lunch and playing when we got home! He usually goes down around 12:15-12:30 and sleeps until just after 2.  I am lucky if we get 2 hours.  By the time bed time rolls around he is ready for bed instead of playing around for 30 minutes like he used to once we put him in his crib. 

I am happy to say we are mostly over the sickness, except Landon having some lingering eye nastiness issues.   The Dr. said there isn't much we can do but wait for the body to get rid of it.  So nasty eye it is and just keep wiping it out when it is gross. 

We have been busy this week with house stuff, music, walks, play dates, etc.  Today we plan to try to make it to Yorktown Beach if we can after nap.  Tomorrow we are going to try to make it to Busch Garden's Sesame Street Place Splash Pad with some friends.  I am excited now that we have a season pass to Busch Gardens we can go as frequently as we want with no charge for parking or visiting the park!  I plan to bring our own food so we can avoid that cost as well.  I guess there are even rides that I can go on with Landon that he will hopefully like!  The best thing for his age is definitely the splash pad though, which I am hoping he will like!

This weekend we are trying to go to a local farm to enjoy their free activities and petting zoo.  Landon has totally been into animal sounds and looking at animals.  At Colonial Williamsburg we have to look at the sheep, horses, and cows each time.  Landon will now even say 'Baaaa' when you ask him what a sheep says.  So I am hoping he will like the petting zoo!  On Sunday we are going to the Circus! It is during the new nap time, so I am hoping Landon will want to nap a bit early that day so we can make sure we get some kind of nap in.  I will plan to take alot of pictures!

Here are a few pictures from the week:

Rere made Landon some crib rail covers to discourage his beaver like ways! We have little teeth marks all over the wood! Love that they match all his bedding =)

Landon and Logan playing with his helicopter. Landon knows exactly what a helicopter is and we are working on the sign for it.

Daddy bonding time after dinner.  He loves to be outside!

Landon and Wyatt playing at CW

Enjoying our amazing warm weather before it cools back down next week.

Until next week =).  Make sure you are reading our house blog posts as well! Week 1 was posted last Monday.

New house-week 1!

Hello everyone! So this weeks mark the start of a new weekly blog post chronicling our experience of building our first home with Ryan Homes!  I am hoping to keep a weekly post about our journey from start to finish of building our first house.  So far, it has been stressful, but exciting. 

On Sunday, April 14th 2013, we put in our official purchase contract with Ryan Homes!  We put in a contract on  Palermo floor plan and added in a morning and bonus room above the garage.  With those two extra rooms, our house will be about 2800 sq. ft, 4 bedrooms, and 2.5 baths.  We plan on keeping this house for the next 10-15 years and wanted it to be big enough to grow into, which I think we accomplished.

Here are two pictures of the floor plan:

 
We plan to use the home office as an office/play room for Landon and myself.  The dining room will be one of the rooms to sit empty the longest until we eventually find a nice table in there (years down the line =)).  Upstairs, the bonus room will be turned back into Logan's man cave, until Landon is old enough to want to use it as well.  We designed our dream master bathroom with a shower only, with a seat and two shower heads and a double vanity.  The closet in the owner's suite is huge and we are very excited we will get alot of storage in there.  Landon's room will be the bedroom in the back left corner.  It is the largest of the bedrooms and will be a perfect room for him to grow up in.  The middle bedroom next to the bonus room will be the guest room, and the last bedroom will be for future baby Brokaw.   We absolutely love this floor plan and think it will be a great fit for our family.

During the process of putting in a purchase contract, we had the challenging task of deciding on various upgrades throughout the house.  This is everything from flooring, cabinets, lighting packages, extra rooms, knob finishes, etc! From what we have learned, everything can be upgraded for a price!  I have had many sleepless nights over trying to decide what to upgrade vs. leave standard to eventually replace later once we are settled for a few years.  We upgraded most structural things that could not be added later and then added a fireplace, upgraded cabinets, a large kitchen island, morning room, bonus room, spindles on the stairs, and windows in the office!  We have two weeks to make any changes that we want to before everything is set in stone with our contract. 

Over the next few weeks we will visit a flooring/tile specialist to help us make our final decisions for all the flooring insides the house.  We also need to decide on tile colors for the master bathroom and Landon's bathroom.   Additionally, we will see a separate wiring specialist to decide where to place all the outlets and random other plugs in the house.  This is somewhere where we need to be careful not to spend extra money since they will wire for surround sound, alarm systems, etc.  It can add up quickly! 

So stay tuned in the coming week to see some of the coloring options we end up selecting for the interior and exterior! 

Finally, I wanted to share some pictures of the model of the Palermo we walked through and our coloring choices as of now. 

Our official lot!

Logan standing on the property line in the back

What our front of the house will look like with the stone

Stone on the front of the house

The great room with a fire place and going into the office/play room

Looking from the great room into the kitchen

Looking from the hallway into the morning room/kitchen

We are going for this color combination in our home-this is the model home.  Tahoe Cherry Cabinets, Saint Cecelia granite, and oak colored wood floors.

Not the best picture-but for now silver mist siding, black shutters, and red door, with black roofing. 

Stay tuned for the update next week!

61 Weeks!

The wee little dude is 61 weeks or 14 months old now! It has been a ROUGH week around here.  We have been battling a stomach bug that started on Monday and is still holding strong through today.  So we have been doing alot of sitting around and cuddling at home in between screaming and just feeling sick.  Poor Landon has had a rough two weeks!

We did get out to a park one day this week in Toano.  It is about 10 minutes from our new house.  There is an awesome reservoir where you can rent canoes and fishing boats.  There is also a park and trails to go on with the stroller.  Landon had a pretty good time, despite not feeling his best! Rusty even got some brief swimming in! I am not sure if he is technically allowed in the lake, so I need to find that out!

  We have been enjoying the AMAZING weather this week.  It has been in the low to high 80's all week and even hit 92 on Wednesday!  We have enjoyed the shorts and t-shirt weather, but sadly, this means the summer is going to be blazing hot if we have this kind of weather already.  I think it is supposed to cool back down into the low 70s this weekend, which I believe is more usual for this time of year.  I got out Landon's water table from his Nana and he loved splashing around in it! It is going to be great for this summer!

The rest of our week has been spent thinking of houses! We have officially decided on the Palermo by Ryan Homes in Windsor Ridge at Wellington.  We are soooooooooooo excited!  Here is a picture of what the house will look similar to when it is done!

We go Sunday to do another walk through the model, finalize all the options we want, and then sign a contract if everything looks great!  It should be built and completed in early December!  Now we have the fun and tiring part of picking out all the outside colors and inside flooring choices!  I am thinking I will also do a weekly post of a house update on the blog as well now that we are starting this exciting process.  Hopefully that will help keep my level of impatientness (yes, I made that word up) at bay! So stay tuned starting next week for an update on the house! Thinking maybe every Monday! 

Ok until next week =).