Instagram Photos {November}

final walk-through of house//playing dentist at Ikea

new haircut//packing woes

signing day//official homeowners

more packing woes//water damage

Michael putting together our new table//decorating the Christmas tree

making pie for Thanksgiving

National Aquarium in Baltimore

Did you know? We are having a baby!

It's true... and one of the reasons I am so behind on our blog. I found out at the end of July and I knew Michael would be traveling a lot during August, so I decided to keep it a secret until I went to see the doctor for the first time. I thought I was keeping a pretty good secret. However, once I told Michael he said he knew almost the whole time. We decided to send the kids on a treasure hunt to tell them. Miriam is very excited and Simon still has no idea that the baby we are talking about will one day be real. I have tried to take belly pictures, but most of them are mirror selfies.

15 weeks

16 weeks

17 weeks

18 weeks

 19 weeks

We found out the day before Thanksgiving that we are having a boy. Miriam was hoping for a little sister and told us not to worry because maybe next time we can have a girl. Let's just get through this one Miriam! The girls will be outnumbered, but I am not worried... we can take them. 

23 weeks

We are so excited to be adding to our family.

Christmas 2013: decorating the tree

You definitely have to get your priorities straight when unpacking a new house. So one of the first things we did was put up the Christmas tree. It was actually easier this way. Even though it was still the Monday before Thanksgiving we went ahead and got the Christmas decorations out. We had the people that helped us move-in go ahead and take the Christmas stuff to the living room, so it was already right where we needed it. Decorating for Christmas was just part of the unpacking process.

the kids wanted to play a game while we put together the tree... made for a bit of chaos

I didn't realize until I looked at all these pictures that Miriam took the camera for a while. I ended up with pictures like this:

Now back to the tree decorating. The kids we so excited to have something fun to do. After all the time we spent ignoring them (too much TV and iPad) during the packing and moving, it was great to make our first memories in our home decorating our Christmas tree together. Simon and Miriam both keep saying how beautiful the tree looks.

Now will someone please tell me how to take good indoor pictures?

Did you know? We bought a house!

We officially closed on our first house on November 7th. We are all grown up... Homeowners! Way back in April we heard about a program that helps first time home buyers purchase a home. Not knowing exactly how the program worked we went ahead and signed up right away. We spent the summer looking at places and wondering if we would find something that would work for our family. Selection is limited and there are no upgrades etc. However, we knew we would be able to actually save on our monthly bill in this program versus continuing to rent. When August came around we were losing hope and began looking at places to rent. Michael had to begin traveling and so we figured we would continue the search we he returned. That week I got a call that the floor plan we wanted was available and we had three days to decide or it would go to someone else. Even though I knew what Michael would say I called him to confirm that we should go ahead. We called and verbally told them we wanted to sign. Unfortunately they couldn't wait until Michael was back in town so I had to go sign the initial paperwork without him (luckily Michael's Dad accompanied me to make sure I knew what was going on).

We were so excited to find something we wanted. Now we just had to wait for it to be built. They told us it would be before Thanksgiving so we told our landlord that we would live out the rest of our contract (that happened to end in November).

house progress

as soon as Michael finished the pre-drywall walk-through they started putting up the drywall

Miriam and Simon at our final walk-through

got the keys

opening the door for the first time

Then the work began... We wanted to install some overhead lighting in the bedrooms. We also installed lighting on the main floor. Michael was excited to work beside his Dad and learn a bit of electrical work. (Thanks Mom and Dad for taking a couple of Saturdays to help out!) Simon always wanted to help too... and by help I mean climb the ladders. Michael took two weeks off the get the house ready to move into.

Here are some pictures before paint, but after Michael and his Dad put in light fixtures:

Miriam and Simon's room with new light fixture

new baby's room with new light fixture

master bedroom with new ceiling fan

we also put a ceiling fan in the living room (not pictured)

kitchen (we put a light fixture in the dining room next to the kitchen... not pictured)

I still need to take more before pictures of the downstairs and outside. I will post after pictures when I feel that the room is ready to show. I am excited to decorate a place of my own. We are so excited to have more space for the kids... Did I mention a garage and backyard? We look forward to the memories we will make here.

Instagram Photos {October}

garage sales and bagels//fountains

picking apples//Miriam watching TV

date night to Melt burgers//Michael watching 2 games

playing outside//pretty princess winner

new vacuum//new lipstick

Simon hiding//Miriam's beautiful pointed toe

brushing teeth//Costco trip in Halloween costumes

doing hair//time to trick-or-treat

October Videos