A Delay of Mere Weeks

To say we've been busy for the last few weeks is somewhat of an understatement. The real culprit for the lack of updates has been the existence of our internet service, or rather the lack thereof. I truly loathe Time Warner Cable - seriously a pack of the least helpful people on the planet - but we are finally back in the electronic saddle. So it's time to catch up on the happenings of the past few weeks.

Starting with Easter! We were still residing in the Stallis house for Easter but we told GG that the bunny would definitely know where her new house was. Matt went ahead first to hide eggs and when we pulled up the big bunny present was waiting on the driveway. The funny thing about this basketball hoop is that GG totally busted me buying it. I had navigated through all of Target without her noticing this enormous box and was feeling very smug when I arrived in the parking lot to discover that I had Matt's car that day. And that the trunk was full of boxes. Cargo super fail. I got GG in her seat first and it's no exaggeration to say it took me a solid 12-15 minutes to figure out how I was going to get all of my purchases in the Camry. So I tried to downplay it and say it was just a silly box, and when we got back to Stallis I threw it in a corner of the garage (correction: I moved Kenny's crap out of the way to make room in a corner of the garage) and hoped that it would be out of sight, out of mind. Matt took it to the EG house the next day but the day after that I was confronted with a very mad GG saying, "Mommy, what did you do with my basketball hoop? WHERE did you put it?" Let me tell you, she meant business. So she was all smiles when it magically arrived at the new house, ready for dunking adventures. We also went to Grandma & Grandpa Maio's house, where the bunny had conveniently visited as well. Score!

Mandatory ear shot. Doesn't she look thrilled?


The furry kid cooperated a lot better


She shoots, she....can't get it in to save her life. Looking forward to the practice this summer!


Dora? Candy? Sidewalk chalk? Love the bunny.


Busting into the good stuff


On the hunt and screaming, "THERE'S ONE OVER THERE!!!". Hi neighbors, we're here.


ANOTHER ONE!


Even more loot

The weekend after Easter we officially moved into the Elm Grove house. GG hung out with G&G Maio for the weekend while Matt and I repacked AGAIN and moved everything AGAIN. I hired movers once again and, although our stuff all arrived in one piece, I would honestly not be surprised if one or both of their names exists on some official government registry somewhere. Yowza! In any case they finally wrapped up around 7:30 that night and we were left with pure, unavoidable chaos.

Oh. Dear. Lord.

Sunday morning Matt had a baseball game and as G was still away I took that opportunity to haul a$$ on her bedroom and bathroom and make at least those two spaces appear as put together as possible. I still need to sew drapes for her room and we need to paint the bed frame and side table, but so far it has turned out really cute. The big news is that we took this last move as a chance to cut ties with all things baby and get GG a big girl bed. We talked it up BIG TIME before the move so she would be ready, and when Karl & Kathy brought her back to the house Sunday afternoon, she was super, super excited to jump right in. A week and a half in she has done brilliantly. I'm pretty sure she has no idea she can get in and out on her own, which I will enjoy while it lasts.

Super excited to go in and check it out


Love this shot


She loves it! Praise the heavens

Then last weekend my parents came for a visit and to help us clear out our storage unit. By Saturday afternoon, all of our crap was finally under the same roof. Still a complete tornado of a mess, but all under one roof.

Sunday was of course Mother's Day, and we inaugurated the dining room with a little brunch with us and all four grandparents. Super low key and a nice break from the madness of the weeks prior. GG and Grandma Heidi also got busy with the annuals, making it look like someone actually lives in this house. Geeg also discovered the little princess bike we have for her and was bound and determined to ride. Sure there were no training wheels and the tires were basically flat, but Pop Pop was there to help get rolling.

Mother's Day 2011


Water, water, water. Although today she stuck the nozzle of her watering can directly into the dirt, then directly into her mouth. Delish.


Let's roll!


Moms and kids

The other bit hit as of late has been the discovery of tea parties. Karl & Kathy have a mini tea set at their house that she likes to play with, and then Grandma Heidi brought along a tea set that she honestly bought 3 years ago, so we've been having long, drawn out tea parties every day. It's awesome to see her little imagination at work (for example, today was Red Teddy's birthday so we had to sing to him and eat birthday cake), but an adult sized rump can only handle those tiny chairs for so long. And no one is immune from being invited.

Daddy, you want one or two sugars?

Then today I got out of the shower to find her in this charming tea party ensemble:

Two hats, wand, fairy skirt, and boudoir sandals. Outstanding.

All in all things in the new house are going well. We are box-free in the kitchen and there are toys spread everywhere, so we're all getting accustomed quickly. Ralphie has chosen to completely ignore the boundaries of the yard (hello, can't he see those lot line flags?), so the lovely people of Invisible Fence are coming in about a week, and we are having other projects being bid out by contractors. There is truly enough work in this house to keep us busy for the next decade but, as I watched the garbage men come up my driveway for doorside service today, we know we're super lucky and feeling really excited to be here. Exhausting tea parties and all.

Hiya!

The House!

After more than a year of practically begging people to take our hundreds of thousands of dollars, we finally found and bought a fantastic home in Elm Grove. Yahoo! I actually saw this property at an open house five or six months ago, but at the time we weren't really considering 3-bedroom homes and it was *way* overpriced. Fast forward to another open house in March plus a mega price drop and the three of us walked into the place and immediately had 'the feelings'. We had our agent schedule a private showing for the next day and wrote an offer the day after that. We lowballed the sellers but the property has been on the market since June of '09 (can you imagine?) so like a World Series of Poker team, we played our trump card of being able to close practically overnight. Voila! They took our offer without any negotiation and as of April 14 we were officially property tax payers again.

We have some minor and some major plans in mind for this place but the layout allows for lots of flexibility and space which is the most important thing. There also isn't anything that needs to be fixed like, yesterday, which is a nice change of pace from every other property we had seen.

The first floor has an entryway, formal living room, formal dining room, family room, kitchen, and one of the least attractive half baths you've ever seen. There is also a screened-in porch (which will one day fulfill its destiny of becoming a mud room) and a two and a half car attached garage. Attached! This will surely be the little luxury of my life.

The second floor has a cute little Dutch door and airing porch, two bedrooms, a guest/kid full bathroom, and a master bedroom and en suite full bath. The lot a lot larger than we're used to and Matt is super excited about slogging it out with the push mower for another year.

The basement is a huge blank slate and will one day house a sweet rec room and probably another bedroom. It's also roughed in for another full bath so I'm sure we'll add that too...someday.

After we closed we had our first family dinner at the house, and about an hour later the decorating and remodeling commenced.

She is crazy for this bench in the breakfast nook. We're assuming it's buh bye high chair.


Cheers!

We're painting our room, GG's room, and the family room right away. Surely you realize in Maio-land that does not mean just slapping a roller on the wall. Oh no, it means two coats on the ceiling, primer + final on the walls, and all windows and trim. Not an insignificant task. Thank goodness we've got our Crackerjack decorator on the scene!!

KJM Painting, rockin' the house

Here's a little photo-tour of the rest of the place:

From the street

Ginormous garage. Lurve it.

Darn right accepted offer

Entryway looking upstairs


Formal living room, to the right of the entry way


Formal dining room to the left of the entry way (staging furniture has since been moved)


Close up of the molding original from 1938. So cool.


Dining room and family room - view from the entry way


Family room built ins. The right one is storage, the left one is a wet bar.

More family room, with a door to the deck and backyard


Little view of the kitchen from the breakfast nook


Top of the stairs - Dutch door and airing porch


Spare room


GG's room (we couldn't get Ralphie out of there the first few visits due to terror of the hardwood floors. Brilliant as always)


Upstairs bath #1


Master en suite bath


Starting construction to install new fixtures and fans


Dad, I make these safety glasses look good


Buh??

We're officially moving in next weekend and the weekend after that will be spent getting any last boxes out of the Stallis house and all of the stuff out of storage. It'll be like a treasure hunt unearthing the stuff we haven't seen in months. Our goal is to have the house looking semi-lived in by the time the first mortgage payment is due June 1. Having already made about 75 trips to Target, I know we're well on our way. Home sweet home!