And The Building Process Begins...

As many of you know, we bought a lot about 5 years ago with the intention of building our "forever house" (aka where we plan to live for a LONG time...possibly forever) sometime in the near future.  After lots of prayer we feel like that time is NOW!  (Or at least in the next couple of months).  We have been working with our builder for a couple of months now and things are really progressing!  

About two weeks ago our builders came over with our plans.  They were all rolled up and when they unrolled them I got a little giddy and told everyone I had to take a picture!  The boys were all laughing at me!

I know this will probably bore most of you, but I just want to document/remember every part of the process.  We've been warned that building a house can be super stressful, and I know there are/will be those frustrating times...BUT...we are ready to take on the challenge and can't wait!  Here's what has happened so far...

December - For the last three or four years I've off and on looked at house plans.  I've drug my cousin Erika along to every model house in Dallas anytime we visit them.  =) I've had ideas but never found that "perfect" plan.  It's something we've prayed about for a long time.  (We wanted the plan to be something that would work for our growing family now, and also be something that will work well when our kids are older and we are empty-nesters).  God answered that prayer in a crazy way...back in December my sister called me and said she and Curt had been having fun looking at house plans online.  She said "I'm sending you a link.  I think you are going to like this.  I think it has all the things you want." Well, I'll admit that I'm pretty picky so I didn't have super high hopes (sorry Linz) but when I looked at the plan I started crying.  I seriously felt like God was saying "here is your house."  It was like a mixture of being so excited at finally seeing a plan where EVERYTHING came together, and also just knowing that God totally provided that.  I wouldn't probably ever have found that.  HE DID.  (Through Linz).

January - We had been thinking about which builder to go with and ultimately decided on our "team."  It is a father/son team and I actually went to high-school with their son (he was a year ahead of me).  The dad lives across from Ryan's parents and they have done work for Pam and Rick and several people we know.  They have a great reputation and we are so excited to work with them!

February - We called them and set up an initial meeting.  We showed them the online plan and talked about budget.  We asked them to change a few things on the plan (actually, they FLAT-OUT TOLD me I had to change some things on the plan to stay within budget...HA!) and they said they would draw up the plans and we would meet in the next couple of months.

April - We felt like it was time to really get the ball rolling.  We talked to the bank.  We set up another meeting with the builders...and this was the exciting one.  They brought the plans (see above picture) and we looked over every little thing.  We knew there were still tweaks to be made (after they left and we had a week or so to "mull" it over, we talked to them about like 10 more little things to change...push a wall out here, change the closet doors to pocket doors here, etc...and asked them to not throw darts at our pictures!  HA!  They assured us this was a normal part of the planning process, thank the Lord).

As of right now, they are making those last few changes, working on the elevation drawings, and working up a pretty detailed bid/estimate.  We will meet with them in the next couple of weeks to discuss their bid and then go from there.  We are thinking they will break ground possibly in late summer.

It is definitely an exciting time.  When we bought our lot several years ago, we drove out there all the time.  We DREAMED about the future.  It seemed SO FAR AWAY.  We still drive out there all the time, and are excited about what is coming up.  (I have to admit, one of the things I am so excited about is having a pantry to put things like canned goods and bags of chips...not having chip bags fall on my head when I open my cabinet drawers is going to be exciting!  HA!)

From the very beginning we have tried to pray that, more than anything, our future home would be a place where people can come and tell that our family loves the Lord, that our ultimate goal is to love Him and honor Him with our lives.  We pray that we would honor Him through this whole crazy process, and we are excited that the process is BEGINNING!

18 Week Bump

I can't believe I'm already 18 weeks!  Time has definitely flown by much quicker this time around.  I have been feeling some little movements and flutters for a couple of weeks now, which is so exciting.  I finally have a lot more energy (sometimes a little too much and I can't go to sleep at night!  HA!)  We have our big ultrasound in less than two weeks, so please say a prayer that everything will go smoothly, and that no matter what happens we would praise the Lord.  I'm just really trying to give any anxieties and worries over to the Lord...HE IS IN CONTROL!  

I can't believe I'm almost halfway through this pregnancy...WHOA!  And yes, in these pictures I have on my sweatpants!!!

The Girl Dad...

We find out the gender of our baby in less than TWO WEEKS.  I really have no idea or inkling either way as to whether it's a boy or a girl.  Way more people have said they think we are having another girl, which makes me think maybe it's a boy...HA!  I also didn't feel nearly as sick this time around, just more tired, which also makes me think boy.  But then I think girl too.  WHO KNOWS??!!  (Well, God of course!)

But whether or not we have another girl, or have a little Ryan Jr. running around (no, we aren't going to name a boy Ryan Jr. but you get the idea) Ryan is still a GIRL DAD for another few months.  And let me tell you, he is a good one!  The other day at the park we had a pink princess ball, a pink wiffle bat, and a kite with Snow White and Ariel all over it.  I kept laughing to Ryan and saying "did you ever imagine yourself playing with this stuff?"  And he always says "I wouldn't have it any other way."  (Okay...cue the pregnancy hormones, that makes me want to tear up.)  I am sure Ryan would LOVE a boy someday, but he sure makes a great "girl dad!"

Exhibit A - Tonight he let Brynn "paint" his toe-nails (using some princess lip-gloss)

Exhibit B - Kisses before church this past Sunday...

These two are pretty smitten with each other..and being such a daddy's girl myself, I can only imagine these two in a few years.  I better enjoy all the mama time she allows me now!!

Ryan didn't want me to post this picture because he clearly looks a little funny, but still...LOVE THEM!

I am so blessed that our children have this guy as their DADDY!  WE LOVE YOU!

I think we are POTTY TRAINED!

I know everyone is loving my potty training updates...NOT!  But I just think I'll want to look back on how things went because I'll forget if I don't write it down.  Well...Brynn has now made it over two straight weeks without an accident!  WHOA!  I think that might mean I can officially say that she is potty trained??  (I probably need to prepare myself for an accident today, don't I?) 

I am FOR SURE still putting her in pull-ups at night, and usually at naps (at Nonna's she only will wear panties like the other big girls, and hasn't had any accidents during nap yet).  I really could care less how long she wears those during naps and night...that doesn't change the fact that she is pretty much "potty trained" right?

My main concerns were that she would go potty at Nonna's (remember when she held it for 9 hours!)  YIKES!  Thankfully that was only one day, and she has done well ever since.  Nonna sent me a text the other day and said she had gone probably ten times!  HA!  (She also said Brynn wants to look at everyone's poo poo in the potty, which is gross, but she is really into "poop" right now...hoping that's a phase!)  She also didn't really want to go at church, with people she isn't super comfortable with, but this week at church she went potty during both hours, so maybe she is getting over that too!

We are getting way more casual about asking her...she usually either tells us she needs to go ("pee pee mommy") or just walks into the bathroom and pulls her pants down and sits on her little pink potty.  I'm also not freaking out if it's been an hour or more...she seems to be fine with going every couple of hours.

Overall, I'm pretty surprised by how well she's done.  I'm sure the next time around will be so different, and I'll want to pull my hair out and it will be crazy hard, but I'm just going to try to enjoy that this child was pretty easy! 

YAY BRYNN! 

GO CARDS!

Last week Ryan's dad got tickets to the Cardinals second home game of the season.  His work had a suite, so Ryan, Jason, Rick, and our niece Ansley made the trip to St. Louis to enjoy the game.  Ryan said the view was AWESOME and they got tons of free food (so if you know Ryan, he was in heaven!  HA!)  Ryan took the camera and I told him I would blog his pics, IF he promised not to take a billion pictures of the field...which he is known to do! =)

I'd say they had pretty nice seats...=)

What a VIEW!

Jason and Ansley after the game...I can't believe she is almost FOUR!

 GO CARDS!  I can't wait to head up to a game sometime soon!  I"m hoping Rick gets some more tickets to the company suite!  HA!

One of the Best Days...

Last Tuesday was a BEAUTIFUL day.  Since Ryan is off on Tuesdays, we ran some errands together and then decided to have a picnic.  We loaded up lunch and headed to a local park.  We took along Brynn's new princess kite, a kickball, and even a wiffle ball and bat.  We had lunch outside and played and played and played.  It was just one of those days that was near perfect...wonderful weather, lots of fun, and just making memories as a little family.  

She LOVED helping unpack all the food...I think she wanted to get to the bottom where the
cookies were!

We took Brynn's princess ball thinking it would be fun to kick it around...well, it was so windy that it blew all the way over to some trees.  Brynn and Ryan went to get it, and that's when Brynn decided she needed to go potty.  I couldn't resist snapping a picture of Ryan helping Brynn crouch down and potty near the woods! HA!  Ryan said he was really proud because she could be a "country girl" if she can do that!  And this is probably TMI, but about 30 minutes later when we were flying kites, she came up to me and says "mommy, poo poo!"  Since there wasn't a potty close by, we had to strip her AGAIN, and she pooped in the field!  AHHH!  It was quite hilarious, but hey...whatever it takes to not have an accident!  And I'm proud to say she didn't have ONE accident all day...it just took several times of peeing and pooping in the woods!

She came back with NO BOTTOMS ON...kicking the ball with Daddy!  

Getting the kite ready...

Then Brynn wanted to try to fly it all by herself.

After she would swing it, it would ALWAYS fly out of her hands...we laughed so hard!

Taking a little walk...

It was such a wonderful day...I hope we have many more in the future!

Birds, Birds, Feed Birds!

This post is a couple of weeks old and I just found it in my drafts...that explains the heavy winter coat!

Brynn has really been into birds lately.  Anytime she sees them in the sky she shouts out about them, and since we've been outside quite a bit at the "playhouse" she hears them chirping and sees them walking around in people's yards.  I decided maybe it would be fun to make bird feeders...I used to do that every year with my kindergarten students and figured why not try it with Brynn.  We got some pine-cones and spread peanut butter on them and then stirred some bird seed on them.  We were going to have Ryan help us hang them up but we forgot...more on that later.  After we made the bird-feeders we walked around the yard and Brynn sprinkled bird seed everywhere.  She was yelling "here birds...eat food!"  

CHEESE!

So we accidentally left this dish outside over a couple of nights, and when Ryan went out there he said "how many pine-cones did you guys make?"  I said "oh I don't know, six or seven."  He was like "they are ALL GONE...even the pine-cones!"  I'm like "oh cool, Brynn, the birds loved your food."  He says "Whitney, I'm sure some animal ate those...birds wouldn't eat the pine-cone!  You CANNOT leave peanut butter outside!"  He must have even told Brynn it was an animal because when I asked her if the birds ate the food she said 'no, an-mal!"  HAHA!  Lesson learned...I don't want some cyote or weird animal coming up to my back patio in the middle of the night...we will HANG UP our bird feeders next time!  =)

I'm almost afraid to post these pictures now...surely it's fine to leave birdseed outside, right?  We just sprinkled it on the ground!  =)  I'm probably going to have nightmares about killer birds coming to get me!  HA!

Potty Training - Week 2 - PROGRESS

I think Brynn is really catching on!

Last Sunday - She did okay at church...she didn't really want to pee pee for anyone else, and my friend Jennilee (one of her teachers in there) said she had a little dribble, but nothing too bad.  But then we had lunch at my moms, and she had an accident.  The rest of the day was good.

Monday - I subbed and Brynn went to Nonna's.  She wouldn't pee when Nonna sat her on the potty, and then went in her pull-up twice!  AHHH!  When I picked her up, I told Nonna "should I even be doing this?"  She said...just give her a few more days...you will know.  When we were home she was fine the rest of the evening (no accidents)...but I also let her run around with her panties on with just her bare bottom.  I thought to myself "maybe we will quit with the pull-ups and just take our chances with real panties."

Tuesday through Thursday - NO ACCIDENTS!  I think the panties are helping...she even peed and pooped at the park, we went to the gym, had stuff at church, etc. and she was accident free!  SO EXCITING...I am starting to feel pretty good about this.

Friday - I subbed and she went to Nonna's.  CRAZY STORY - Nonna and I are texting throughout the day and Brynn WOULD NOT PEE AT NONNA'S....weird thing...she was wearing panties and wouldn't pee in those either.   She held it ALL DAY...from about 7:30 until I got there at 4.  She wouldn't even go in her pull-up during naptime.  When I got there Nonna was like "take your child to the potty before her bladder explodes!"  HA!  As soon as Brynn saw me she was like "mommy, pee pee."  She started dribbling in her panties and I sat her on the potty and let me tell you, I have NEVER seen her pee that much EVER.  LOL!  The rest of Friday was good too!  And today (Saturday) has been good.

Lessons learned this week - never use pull-ups AGAIN (HA!) and keep her in panties (although we still use a diaper at nap and nighttime.)  I am also starting to feel more comfortable that she will tell me when she has to go, although if it gets to be more than an hour I usually take her or remind her, especially if we are out somewhere.  If we are home, she is usually running around without pants or even panties, and I am feeling pretty good about her telling me when she needs to go.

I am in NO HURRY for her to be dry during nap or nighttime, but I DO want her to start going at Nonna's house when I'm not there!  That is a bit of a concern...=)

Millie-Time

A week or so ago my friend turned 30 and we had a special lunch for her.  It happened to be on a Tuesday, so Ryan was off work and could watch Brynn while I went to the lunch.  My friend Jennilee's husband had a work meeting over lunch that day, so Ryan agreed to watch her little girl she could go to lunch too!  WOOHOO!  Millie is one of Brynn's besties, so it couldn't have worked out better!  Ryan said they played really good together and that it was pretty "easy."  On one hand I was glad it went smoothly for him, on the other hand, Jennilee and I decided maybe we should go do something every Tuesday and let him keep the girls so he realizes it's not always "so easy" playing Mr. Mom!  HA!  When I got back I realized he had taken some pictures of the girls playing together and they were so cute!

PRECIOUS!

I will give Ryan some brownie points for fixing lunch for the girls!

And maybe a couple more points for helping them both put on princess dresses...
I bet he couldn't picture himself doing that five years ago!

The girls are only about three months apart so they are in Sunday School together at church,
go to the same library story-time, etc.  I hope they are GREAT FRIENDS for YEARS TO COME!

Thanks Ryan for letting us have a fun girl's lunch out!  And for taking these pics!

SEMO Relays

On Saturday, after we went to Messy Morning, we headed over to SEMO's track to watch some of their annual home track meet.  When I was little, or actually I guess from the time I was probably 3 to 13 (and started running track myself), my dad would take me to this meet and we would watch.  I have vivid memories of us watching all the "big college kids" doing their warm-ups, and me standing by my dad and trying to "warm-up" just like they did.  It was just something fun we always did together...in fact, two years ago when Brynn was probably about three weeks old, my dad and I went for a couple of hours to the meet. It was one of the first things I did away from Brynn, just to have a little "me" time.  Fast forward two years, and we are taking our little two-year old to the meet.  She had a BLAST!  

It was SUCH a beautiful day...we got hot dogs and nachos, my mom packed a cooler FULL of snacks, and we had a big ole' time watching the runners and eating lunch.

We took lawn chairs and plopped down right next to the track...it was GREAT!  

When the runners would come by she would yell "GO SEMO!"  It was hilarious!

She wanted to start running on the track too, and she would yell "ready, set, gooooo!"  And then she'd take off!!

My dad got brave and let her run around on the track...while there were no events of course!
The girl in the background was cooling down after her race...she wasn't competing.  And seriously,
this girl's "cool down" was WAY faster than my normal running pace!  HA!

We were watching the long-jump and then the hurdles...which she called "turtles."

 I think it was about his point that she peed a little in her pull-up (I guess we all were having too much fun to remember about going to the bathroom) and told us "change panties."  I guess we didn't hear her quick enough because she started pulling her pants and pull-up down IN FRONT OF EVERYONE...like we could see her bare butt!  AHHH!

I think I was showing her the guy getting ready to long jump...we stood right by the end of the pit.

We had a BLAST (well...so much fun that we had the crying child who didn't want to leave...that wasn't really a fun part) but overall she LOVED watching everything and I definitely think this is something we will have to make a yearly tradition!!  Next year I'll just bribe her with candy before we leave, right?