Thanksgiving - Part 1

Brian took last Wednesday off from work and we spent the day driving from Nashville to Raleigh. We left early (5:50 am, central time) and stopped in Knoxville so that Brian could have his annual physical with the doctor we love there. While Brian was at the doctor, the boys, dog, and I got the tires rotated on my car (we get free rotations at the place I bought my tires) and then drove by our old house. I was surprised by the amount of remaining unrepaired damage in our old neighborhood from the hail storm in April. There were still lots of broken windows and a few tarps on roofs.

We got in to Raleigh around 5:30 pm (eastern time) . We decided to keep the boys up an extra hour in order to try to keep them on central time. It was weird putting them to bed so late but at least they weren't getting up at 4 am then.

On Thursday the rest of my family drove to Raleigh, including my mom, dad, Jan, Karey, Mike, and their dog, Bella.

It was beautiful outside so we spent a lot of time out there playing while frying the turkey.







We had our meal around 2 pm. Unfortunately Carter crashed right before and asked to go to sleep. We didn't know it then, but he was getting sick (he had a fever all the next day but was back to his normal self by Saturday morning).


We had a wonderful meal and then Rylan and Brian crashed ...


Normally we would have put Rylan down for a nap in his playyard but we put both boys in the same room this trip and Carter was still sleeping (and we didn't want to wake him up). The boys did really well sharing a room (they were both in playyards). They both went to sleep at night quickly (Rylan did his normal few minutes of crying) and didn't wake each other up in the middle of the night. They slept in one morning but once one started making a little noise, they were both up early. It was okay though and we were happy not to have Rylan in our room.

After Carter got up from his nap, we celebrated his belated birthday. He got a ton of presents from his grandparents and aunt and uncle. Some of his favorites are a Mobigo, a giant stuffed shark, a remote-controlled helicopter (actually, that's Brian's favorite), a car that you can drive using a laser gun, and a HEXBUG.

Then we had cupcakes from Gigi's Cupcakes. They were really good. There was more icing than cupcake. Carter ate ALL the icing off his cupcake and not one bite of the cupcake.




That evening Carter started complaining of a headache but didn't seem warm yet. He didn't have much of an appetite either. After a dose of Tylenol and bathes, the boys watched the Ice Age Christmas special and then were off to bed.


We had a fun and filling Thanksgiving!

House Update

I'm too tired to get my Thanksgiving posts finished, so here's a short house update instead!

The boys and I drove by the house today just to see the progress outside. Railings had been installed on the front porch. I'm so glad they aren't wood or plastic. I really like the black - it goes well with the door. And you'll be able to see the furniture on the porch.


The screened porch and deck had been built. There were some guys working on the screens in the garage when we drove by.





The screened porch and deck are huge. I can't wait to spend time in our backyard in the spring!

First Snow

After reaching the mid-70s this weekend, it is snowing today. Not much but there are plenty of snow flakes mixed in with the drizzle we are still getting (it hasn't stopped precipitating since we got back to Tennessee on Sunday). Brian and I finally managed to unpack the car last night in the cold mist but we still haven't taken the box off the top of the car. Besides it being wet, we don't have anywhere to put it since our leaking garage still hasn't been fixed (unless we want to put it under the dripping water). I think we should get a discount on our rent since we can't use half our garage and there has been no attempt to fix the leak yet!

We're Home!

We got back yesterday from Raleigh where we spent Thanksgiving. I have lots of pictures to post but am trying to unpack and catch up on things we need to do with the new house and apartment. Hopefully I'll have a post finished tomorrow.

Today (after getting Carter's hair cut), we went to Missy's house for a playdate. A friend of hers who nannies for a pair of boys also came over. Here's a picture of all the boys before lunch.

On the Table

You can't take your eyes off this one for a second lately!

Garage Leak

We don't use our garage much. We have some things stored in there like our kayaks and bikes, some of the kids' outdoor toys, our boxes for moving, and strollers. Usually we only go in there a few times a week to change out strollers.

I had used the vacuum down there yesterday to clean something and left it down there. I went down his morning to get it and discovered we had some pretty big leaks in the ceiling. They are along two of the drywall seams. I'm so glad a went down there this morning!





Not that I love that our strollers got wet, but the puddle was a mere two inches away from our dozens of moving boxes.


The double BOB got the worst of it with puddles in the seats ...


And a puddle in the basket ...


Even though we are supposed to continue to get rain on and off through tomorrow, the maintenance guy wasn't too concerned. He seemed to think that the leak was at the flashing on our porch. However, it's not wet there so I doubt it. He told me he'd have someone out to look at it today or tomorrow, then let it dry out, and fix and paint the ceiling. To me, the drywall looks like it may fall down if we get too much more rain and that piece of drywall is pretty damaged (it's bowed in the center and one edge is almost an inch lower than the piece it meets up with). Hopefully I don't here a big crash soon!

Whistlestop Weekend

Last weekend the Adventure Science Center had Whistlestop Weekend where they had several model trains and you could control some of them or parts of the displays. I took the kids on Friday and luckily it wasn't too crowded.

One exhibit showed all the different sizes of model trains. The kids got to push a button for each train to make it move around the track.


There was a snowy scene and the kids got to control the trains as well as ice skaters, sledders, and more.


"Look Rylan!"


This was one of the larger displays ...


After viewing the trains, we went through the rest of the museum. Rylan is looking so old!


"Here's a fish, mom!"


We spent a lot of time running around the solar system area ...


Lot's of fun!

House Update

The house is starting to look much more complete after this past week. Appliances, lights, bathroom faucets, tile, showers, the kitchen counters, electrical outlets, cable outlets, and more were installed this week. Also, there was a lot of exterior painting completed and the HVAC was installed outside.

I am loving the kitchen. So far I really like how all our choices are coming together.


Tile was installed around the fireplace ...


This is the master bath ...



The kids' bathroom has a tiled shower ...


The front door and porch were painted ...


I really like how the ceiling of the porch looks ...


Since our closing date of December 23rd is only about a month away, we've been looking at refrigerators all week. Lowe's had some really awesome sales this week so we went ahead and purchased a Samsung french door refrigerator. It was 40% off and then we had a coupon for another 10% off.


I'm not sure what is being done this week other than the first coat is going on the hardwood tomorrow. The builder has been calling us on Tuesdays the last couple of weeks to give us updates so hopefully we'll find out in a couple of days.

Christmas Card Pictures

Over the last couple of weeks, I've taken the boys over to Crockett Park 3 or 4 times to try to get a good Christmas card picture. Life is going to get crazy here with the holidays, Christmas activities, and moving (we have a close date - December 23rd), so I wanted to go ahead and get our card done.

It is not easy to get a 1 1/2 year old and barely 3 year old to both look at the camera and smile at the same time (especially when their are leaves to play with and trees to run around). Also, when I'm taking his picture, Rylan has this funny smile where he squishes his face up and says "cheese". I finally have a photo I'm happy enough with.

Here are some of the pictures that didn't make the cut but at least one kid is still cute in.






Rylan had a little belly chub hanging out in this one!