Our house, in the middle of our street!!

We are finally moved in to our new house, and even though most have already seen them on facebook, I figured I'd post some pics on here to commemorate the occasion. 

Front view

Part of the backyard

Kitchen

Kitchen/dining

My cute chairs, and fun collage wall.

Decorating shelf

Formal living

Formal living coffer

Main bath

Griff's room

Master

Master bath

Shower shelf built by Ty

Entry

Cute bench with wainscot built by Ty

Laundry room

Pantry

Fireplace that we designed :)

 We still have some things to do - like putting up valances, painting bar stools, and hanging a few pictures, not to mention de-cluttering the basement, but we are pretty much settled!  We are so happy to be here, and be done, and we are planning to stay here for a long time!

Bear, Bee, and Bo...

Griffin has two stuffed animals in his crib - a white bear, named Bear, and a colorful hippo named Bo.  He also likes to fish his binky, which he calls Bee, out of his crib.  Sometimes if I leave things too close to the edge of the crib, I will find him like this:

 

He loves his "guys," as he calls them, and will often cuddle them like this:

 

I sure love this tenderhearted guy :)

About my DAD, by Griffin Fellows...

My dad is a pretty cool dude.  Him and me do fun stuff together.  I like to play with my toys, and my dad plays with me a lot.

 

My dad and me, we are guys...so we sometimes play outside in the dirt and get dirty.  My dad plays trucks with me and makes the best truck noises.

 

Sometimes I need to help my dad eat his dinner.  After I'm done with my own dinner, I come get on his lap and we eat his dinner together.  When he's not chewing fast enough, I help him out by giving him more food.

 

My dad knows how to do lots of stuff.  He drives big machines, and I help him out sometimes.  

 

A lot of times I just need a good place to hang out, so my dad comes in handy for that.

 

My dad takes me to cool places, and comes with me inside the kid spots so I don't have to be lonely.

 

My dad understands that sometimes I need to impress the ladies (Mama), so he helps me put my sunglasses on.

 

My dad is the best dad in the whole world, and I love him a lot!!!

 

18 Month Smartie.

Here's our guy at 18 months.  This picture was taken by my friend Megan Hess, who did an awesome job.  More of those to come.  Anyway, here's what's been going on:

• Griffin is talking A LOT.  He knows tons of words, including: Mama, Dada, ball, Timbre, no, sippy, cracker, sauce, bean(ie)s, potty, truck, car, boat, amen, bye, hi, hello, please, more, shoes, shirt, pants, socks, eyes, nose, mouth, toes, teeth, me, bed, light, brush, mama's, outside, guys, bear, hippo (sounds like bo), bus, mine, go, nana (banana), cheese, cado (avocado), and a few more, I'm sure.
• He's more picky with eating, but will still try new things.  Breakfast is usually either a banana, eggs, or oeatmeal, with fruit or kix.  Lunch is usually a combination of pb&j, avocado, cheese, fruit, sweet potato wedges, green beans, or whatever else I think of.  Dinner is some of whatever we are having, plus whatever he'll eat to top him off.  Favorites have been broccoli, green beans, black beans, avocado, pasta, and fruit, of course.
• He still sleeps pretty great.
• He goes and goes and never stops going.  Ever.
• He's obsessed with cars, trucks, and anything related to those things.  The only books he will let us read are usually his truck and road building books.
• He loves nursery and doesn't like to leave when we go to pick  him up.
• He folds his arms for prayers every night and mealtime, and says "amen" at the end.
• Griffin adores his grandma and papa, and has eyes only for them when they are around.

He's such a fun boy - we love him.

17 month goober!!

I'm really far behind now, so instead of trying to remember everything that was going on back then, I'll just leave this with a picture of the boy at 17 months.  Griffin's 17th month basically consisted of us going to the park, taking walks, visiting our house, running errands, and pretty much just enjoying summer.  I remember he got much better about drinking a sippy, he was still a champion sleeper, and his favorite foods were avocados, cheese, and yogurt.  Also fruit - always fruit.  Love that guy.

Cuddles...

Every once and awhile, Griffin will cuddle with me.  He is a pretty cuddly guy in general, as long as he's drinking a bottle or having us read books to him, but he rarely cuddles beyond that.  I love to drink in the moments when they come, so this post is for me to remind myself later.  There's nothing like a little one lying on your chest...love it.

16 month monster!!

Technically Griffin is now 17 months old, but I like to wait until the month is over to give updates, so I'll get all the fun things he did during the month.  This month, Griffin has been:

• Giving kisses to everyone!  He even puckers up and says "muah!"  It's so cute that we make him do it all the time.
• Learning tons of words: Pa Pa (Grandpa), Kay Kay (Aunt Kathy and/or Katie), Yake (Jake), Clock, knock knock, ding dong, keys, ball, ba ba (bottle), bubbles, all done, car, truck, and so many more.  He can also repeat pretty much anything we say, including beat boxing, which is really funny.
• Learning that saying please gets him things, so he says it all the time before asking for anything, probably 50 times a day.  He also screams it really loudly - sometimes I will hear him screaming "please!" from the other room, and then I walk in and he wants me to do something.
• Still being a little more picky with food, although he has his days where he'll eat pretty much anything.  This month we learned that he likes the mini foster farms corn dogs, and the taco soup that I make from my friend Tatia's recipe (Thanks Tatia!!!).  He also still loves fruit - all day, all the time.  Also, his favorite snack is goldfish crackers.
• Drinking more out of his sippy cup!  He finally learned how to hold the straw-less sippy up, so he can drink it by himself without us holding it for him.  Before, he would only drink from the straw ones, but he doesn't like them as much.
• Wearing 12-18 month clothes, though some are still too big for him.  I think he will be wearing bigger tops than bottoms soon.
• Still sleeping 12 hours at night, with a 3 hour nap around 1:00.  I love it :)

This little monster is the best thing in our lives, and we adore him :)

New House: drywall, exterior

Our house is coming along!  In fact, it's flying along.  We are supposed to close on August 23rd, but it looks like it might be sooner if everything continues to stay on schedule.  This week the exterior stone is going up, and the finish carpenter is coming.  In a few weeks the mantel and cabinets will be going in, and I'm so excited to see how it all looks together!  Here are some pics of the progress:

Exterior - the hardy board, stucco and trim are done, and so are the soffit and facia, except for the ridge caps.

Ty and Randy made custom shelves in the garage, and they'll be painted along with the rest.  Also, the small bench will be attached to the wall and will have bead board and hooks above it for everyone to hang things on.

Most of the tile in the house is this type - this is the entry.

Ty has almost finished board and batten in Griffin's room.  It will be painted similarly to our last house.

Coffered ceiling in the master bedroom.

Master bath with tile tub surround.

The shower is getting there - the trim is granite, the same that the counter tops will be. 

HUGE decorating shelf - I can't even think of what I'll put up there to fill it all.

So that's the house so far.  I can't believe that in a month and a half it will be done, and we'll be moving again!

New House: Framing

Our house is coming along!  We've been picking things right and left - everything is completely custom, so we have to pick colors and materials for things you'd never imagine, even things no one really sees!  That's been keeping us busy.  Last weekend we picked granite, lighting (chandeliers all over!), and the mantel, and we're starting to get a handle on paint.  The framing is almost finished, and so is the heating.  This week I think they're doing the roof!

This house has a lot of new things compared to our previous house:  There's more square footage, a third car garage, granite throughout the whole house, a barrel ceiling into the master, double sinks, coffered ceilings in the living room and master, and Griffin's room will have a 10 foot ceiling.  We're doing tile tub and shower surrounds and a tile back splash in the kitchen, and I finally get my big walk-in closet :)  Also, the outside of the home will be mostly hardy board and stone.  We're doing a dog room (I know, we're crazy, but we have a big dog and she needs her own space instead of having to put her kennel in the dining room), and the house has 3 bedrooms upstairs, and potential for 4 more and a HUGE family room and a bathroom downstairs.  We're planning to finish the space downstairs ourselves again, and will be finishing some pretty soon after we move in.

Just in case you think we won the lottery, let me set the record straight - thanks to much better interest rates, a great sale on our old home, more money down, and having a builder dad who gets stellar deals, our mortgage will be less than we paid in our old house.  However, it will come out to be around the same, since we have an HoA, which I hate...you win some, you lose some.

Here's a sneak peek:

Here's a front view - you can see all the gables and get a feel for the shape.

Here is a more side-view, where you can see the rock wall in the front.

Daddy and Griff in the garage entry.

There are arches all over the house - I love them!

Mommy and Griff checking things out :)

We are so excited to see things coming along, and we can't wait to see the finished product!