Merry Christmas!

Christmas has come and gone and so has the move. Yay! Six of Jesse's (very generous) friends and co-workers came to help on the 23rd. They had five trucks and Jesse's flatbed trailer and they unloaded our storage unit in one trip! since then we have made several trips to Mom and Dad's to pick up our odds and ends over there and I'm excited to say we are ALMOST done. Just a few more trips and they should be rid of our stuff (junk, stuff, what's the difference).
We managed to unpack the kitchen and get a lot of things in order by the afternoon of the 24th, so by that evening we were in Christmas mode, relaxing and having much needed family time to prepare for Santa's big visit. I even put up a little tree and our stockings for Chase.

Chase dictated a letter for the big guy and even added a drawing himself to be sure Santa would know who the cookies were from.

Bailey has enjoyed being inside a lot. At Mom and Dad's house she spent all her time outside with their dog. We are now adjusting to her being inside more, which requires letting her outside frequently. Since we don't have grass yet, keeping her from tracking dirt in the house has been a challenge. Jesse thought trying baby socks would help so here she is.  (Sorry about the glowing eyes.)
It worked well until she ran around and the socks came off, which I'm sure was part of her plan. We hear they make dog shoes...maybe that's something to look into. I'll be sure to post a picture of THAT!

Chase is enjoying his new room and was especially excited about his new bed. This bed came from my Grandparent's house and has been used by several generations, but still in excellent condition.  Here he is all smiles.  :)

Mr. Freckles made one final appearance on Christmas day before heading back to the North Pole.  This rooster has a story...it's not just a strange-looking figurine in my house.  We actually call him the "orange chicken" for some reason, but that's beside the point.  He's been in the family for about 20 or so years and every year, an un-suspecting family member receives him for a gift and must hang on to him until the next Christmas.  This year, he was disguised as a "housewarming" gift from my Aunt Sarah.  I should have known, since she received him in the White Elephant gift exchange last year. Thanks Aunt Sarah!  He even has the $20 bill folded into a bow-tie from last year.  Let's see how long the $20 sticks around.    Here he is on our mantle for a short while....until next year's victim.....

We have come a long way in four days but still have a lot to do. At least we have satellite service and internet should be up by Thursday.
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We Have Keys!!

The house was finished Tuesday we've been gearing up to move. Happy moving to us and Merry Christmas to you all!

Welcome Charlotte!

My cousin and her husband, Emily and Dan, had their beautiful daughter late Thursday evening.  Charlotte Rose came into this world much to Emily's releif at 10:06 PM weighing 7 lbs 15 oz and is 20-1/2 inches long.  Emily and Charlotte are both doing perfectly.  We couldn't be more excited for them!!  Meet beautiful Charlotte:

On another note the  Hunter houseold is PATIENTLY waiting for our house to be completed.  All inspections have been completed and we had our final walkthrough yesterday.  The punch list should be finished by middle to end of next week.  So it sounds like we'll be moving next weekend as planned.  This weekend will consist of packing up our stuff we have at Mom and Dad's house and getting ready to start moving!  As excited as we are about the move, we are also dreading it as everyone knows...moving is NOT fun. 

Chase has been busy hunting Mr. Freckles these days and discovering all the mischeif he gets into.  Here he is this week after playing with Chase's Army men all night.  When Chase found him, he said in a very concerned voice: "Mr. Freckles made a mess, he is in trouble."  Haha.  Maybe Mr. Freckles can be a permanent resident at our house.

Christmas Magic

Last night, Chase helped my Mom and sister make a Gingerbread house.  Here he is, so proud of it. 

When we woke up this morning, we found our Elf on a Shelf (Mr. Freckles) trying to sneak a bite of a gumdrop!  I'm sure he was starving after his long trip to the North Pole to visit Santa last night.  For those of you who do not have one of these Christmas elves, they come to visit during the holiday season and report back to Santa each night, telling him if the child(ren) he's assigned to were naughty or nice that day.  When he comes home, sometimes we find him in different places.  If you have small children around, I definitely recommend asking the Big Guy to send one to visit you if you don't have one.  :)

I wonder where he will appear next? 

Almost there...

Yes, it's been a while since my last update.  I'm having a hard time keeping up with all the excitement we have going on these days. 

The house is almost finished.  It seems like every week they accomplish something more exciting.  Trim is up, walls are painted, cabinets are installed and stained, countertops, tile, and fixutres are in, driveway is poured....we are getting SO close.  If you go to the house with us, Chase will show you where his room is and discuss things like "duct work".... Yes, our child has been exposed to a lot at 3 years old... haha.  He has "helped" Jesse build a shed, or shop (what to call it has been under recent debate) out back and enjoys playing outside at the new place.  Chase will also show you his baby sister's room... for those of you who have not heard (or seen me recently for that matter), we are expecting Chases baby sister in March!  I was suprised recently when a few people have approached me at work that I haven't seen in a few months that had no idea!  I thought news traveled faster, but I guess this one has been a well kept secret!  Not a bad thing necessarily!  I am about 22 weeks now and everything is going well so far.  We are just excited to get into the house so we can prepare for this baby girl! 

Unfortunately for Jesse, I will be pretty worthless when it comes to moving this time, but he says he (and some VERY generous friends) will take care of it and not to worry.  The builder has given us a move-in date of December 23rd.  Merry Christmas to us!!

I am just trying to prepare for the annual holiday hustle as early as possible so we can move right in the  middle of it. 

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

 This is some of that "helping" I mentioned...

 Yep, that's Jesse up there....When he finished it he said if anyone needs help with a roofing job, don't call him.

And here's our little slugger.  Chase was a Texas Ranger for Halloween.  Josh Hamilton to be more specific, but we aren't holding it against him after his recent performance.  :)

Summer Catch-Up and progress on the home-front!

So it's been a busy summer and I haven't had a chance to download pictures, much less sit at the computer. Since we moved out of the house in June, we've been busy adjusting to shared living space and trying to enjoy this HOT summer. Chase is not a big fan of going to the pool or the beach so we've just stayed inside as much as possible this year. The way I look at it, is if you have to be outside in this heat, you have to be in or near water. I did manage to get him to run through the sprinklers a few times, but still not much interest. This makes a July birthday a little challenging but his party was a success no less.

Our big 3 year old!

Chase's birthday parties are never complete without a life-sized cardboard creation made by his Aunt Jess!

Jesse and I celebrated our 6th anniversary in August and decided on a last minute road trip to Oklahoma.  We took Chase with us and stopped at Arbuckle Wilderness which was a success!  Again, it was so hot and the animals were not very active, but we did have a few up-close and personal experiences! 

The Zebra were definitely the most friendly.  They walked from one car to the next, right up to the window looking for their next snack I'm sure. 

The Ostrich's were a little aggressive though, they really creeped me out. 

After visiting with the animals we went over to the amusement area where Jesse took Chase on his first go-cart ride.  He LOVED it! 

Now, for the most exciting news...the house progress.  They started dirtwork and foundation prep in early August and the foundation was poured this week.  Framing is next and we are looking forward to watching the progress!

Looking forward to Fall and COOLER weather!

SOLD!

Well we didn't think this day would come, but our house has finally sold. For those of you that don't already know, we put our house on the market in January 2010 with the intent to sell and build a house on our land. With the economy the way it is, we knew what we were up against, but decided to give it a try anyway. Man, was our patience tested! We received an offer early in April this year (14 months later), signed a sales contract and cautiously packed and moved over the next two months until we closed last Friday. What a releif!

We have relocated to Denton temporarily while we build our new house. We are excited about our new adventure and Chase is adjusting to the new place better than expected...next project: potty-training. Wish us luck!

Recent Adventures

It has been almost 5 months since my last post.  WOOPS!  Sorry everyone.  Times flies when you're having fun, right??

Jesse and his brother, Stacy, recently participated in the MS150 in Houston.  (April 16 & 17)  The ride consists of approximatly 150 miles from Houston to Austin in two days.  Chase and I dropped them off at the starting line on Saturday and headed to Austin to hang out with my sister for the weekend.  We met the guys at the finish line on Sunday afternoon.



Here is Chase helping Uncle Stacy get ready.





and here he is helping Jesse...



Ready to go



 When we met upwith my sister we spent the afternoon at Zilcher Park.  What fun! 

Waiting at the finish line.

At the end of the ride in Austin.  Two tired guys. 

happy easter!

The Easter Bunny was good to us this year and Chase really got into hunting eggs.  We enjoyed spending the day with family.  Chase has officially figured out that the Easter Bunny brings treats.  Jesse worked Saturday night, so Chase and I woke up early to have breakfast with Jesse early Easter morning...and then hunt his eggs.  While we were still waiting for Jesse to return home, Chase said: "Mommy, when the bunny comes I get to have some cay-un-dee."  Ha ha.  I guess there is no denying our Texas roots! 

Chase sat his basket down at the bottom of the steps and started tossing them into the basket.  I guess I can't blame him, I wouldn't want to carry a heavy basket around either!