Home Selections

We got to pick out all the details of our new house today. And we managed to do it in 2 1/2 hours. The designer we were working with said we were one of her fastest clients. That may of had something to do with 2 toddlers wanting a lot of attention and a need to be decisive instead of taking our time. Luckily no one broke anything and we are happy with most of our selections.

The showroom wasn't very large but there were several kitchens and bathrooms set up and samples of everything else.

The brick color we liked is already on the house next door to our lot. So we had to pick another color. We went to go see a house that uses that color after our appointment and aren't sure we like it. We have the weekend to think about our decisions so we may go back on Monday to pick out a new color.

I took pictures of some of our selections but the true colors are hard to see in the photos. Here are the brick and roof colors. The black metal square on the left is the color of some metal roofing we have over some front window, the tan square is the color of all our trim and garage doors, and the black rectangle is the color of our front door. The window casings are tan (like the one at the bottom of the picture).


This picture has tons of our choices in it. One of the hardest things for us to pick out was grout color. Luckily our designer was very helpful. We decided to go with brown cabinets except for the island which will be black (those are the two cabinet doors at the bottom of the photo). The granite countertop is at the bottom right with the tile for the backsplash behind it.


The larger tile in the middle right is for around the fireplace. Above that is sand and finish hardwood. The color we chose is actually the little square of hardwood. The paint color for the entire house is the paper on top of the hardwood. We chose a frieze carpet (center). The tile on top of the carpet is for the bathrooms and the tile on the left is for the laundry room. At the top of the photo are the bathroom cabinets and countertops. Everything looks a lot more yellow in this picture than it actually is.

For cabinet and drawer hardware we chose the top set in this photo for the bathrooms and the bottom set for the kitchen.


We picked out so much more stuff too. Including light fixtures and doorknobs and faucets and carpet pad thickness and more and more. We even got to go over the plans for the house and decide where cable and phone outlets should go.

By the end of the appointment we were worn out. But I feel good about our decisions.

Our realtor came by for a little while too and reviewed our selections and then watched the kids for awhile. Both boys really liked her. Rylan kept crawling up to her and asking to be picked up and Carter was pulling her around showing her things.

The builder is scheduled to start on our house on September 9th. Before that we'll meet with him at the lot and go over where the house will be located and review the plans one more time. Once they begin, it should take 3 to 4 months to complete. There is a chance we'll be in the house before the end of the year!

Nashville Zoo

I took the boys to the Nashville Zoo today. I went ahead and got a membership for $85. It's good for me, the kids, and one guest.

We stayed about 2 1/2 hours and saw 80% of the zoo. We walked a lot and everyone was getting grumpy by the end. Rylan never took a morning nap so he'd had all he could take.

The first animals we saw were 2 gibbons. The gibbons were our favorite at the Knoxville Zoo and they may be our favorite here too. We saw 2 black ones swinging high up in the trees.

There is one sort of in the center of this picture ...


Rylan was a big fan of the meerkats. He kept pointing them out and grunting. Carter took a picture of Rylan and me while we looked at them ...


Here's Carter pointing out some alligators (they are in the back) ...


One of the clouded leopards walked by the window ...


We liked the lemurs sitting in a row ...


Carter had a snack while we checked out the flamingos ...


The boys both liked the Critter Encounters area where you can pet and brush goats ...




It doesn't look like it in this picture but the elephants were really close considering they have so much room to roam ...


Carter and me taking a break while watching the giraffes ...


I liked this zoo. The paths were shaded in most areas and the animals seemed to have large enclosures. We had been to the zoo in Knoxville so many times that it was just really nice to go to a different zoo!

Brentwood Library

We went to the storytime at the Brentwood Library today. Even though it is in Williamson County (which is the county we live in), it's part of Brentwood city so we can't check out books there (we live in Franklin).

This was the most beautiful library I've ever been in. The children's area was amazing.




Storytime consisted of singing several nursery rhymes, reading a book, and doing a craft that went along with the book.


I liked this storytime the best of all the ones we've been to this week.

Earlier this morning we visited the preschool that Carter will be going to starting September 1st. We took a quick tour and asked some questions but we'll be finding out a lot more at orientation in a couple of weeks.


Then we went to Brentwood River Park across from the library to play a little before storytime began. It was really hot and I'm glad we didn't have too much time to kill.

Soccer

Brian has been playing soccer on Tuesday nights for the last few months. His league started their summer tournament last night. The boys and I went out to watch him (we also went last week).


Carter took this picture of Rylan and me ...


The boys were obsessed with a soccer ball they found and barely watched any of the game.



They did a good job of rolling it back and forth to each other for awhile ...




I can't wait until Carter is old enough to join a team. I think he'll really enjoy playing!

Suncatchers

I picked up a new arts and crafts project for Carter yesterday - he painted suncatchers. He had a really long attention span for it and painted all four of them in one sitting.



We hung them up this morning on the sliding glass door ...

Dragon Park

It was overcast this morning and not so hot so I took the boys to Fannie Mae Dees Park, also known as Dragon Park. There is a giant tiled dragon in the park next to the playground equipment.










Carter had fun scaling this wall ...


As soon as Rylan spotted the swings, he starting grunting like a monkey (ooh-ooh-ooh) and pointing at them.


It took a little courage but Carter conquered this swinging bridge ...


The park is adjacent to Vanderbilt University and isn't super close to us, but it was worth the drive. Afterwards we went to Green Hills Mall to do the storytime at Pottery Barn Kids. It was crammed in the middle of the store and not very well organized. I'm not sure if we'll go back unless we are already in the area. Carter did listen to the two books and Rylan wasn't too distracting. Carter had the most fun playing with this while we waited for the storytime to begin ...

Storytime and Pooltime

I met almost all our friends in Knoxville at the Farragut Library storytimes. So over the next couple of weeks we're going to try out a bunch of storytimes in the Franklin and Brentwood areas to find our favorites and hopefully meet some new friends.

Today we went to the storytime at Barnes and Noble in Franklin. Three books were read and we did a craft. It wasn't very crowded but the boys seemed to enjoy it. Rylan, the one who will not listen to a book for us, sat on my lap quietly and looked up at the lady reading the books the entire time.

This weeks theme was "Going to School" ...


Carter did a good job of waiting patiently for things to begin ...


Last night we went to dinner with friends (Jason and Dawn and their kids Will and Matt). They moved here from Knoxville a few years ago (Jason is actually Brian's boss now). Matt taught Carter some new silly faces that he was showing to me while we waited ...


The craft wasn't much but Carter liked coloring and did a good job of getting the paper off the back of his letters that he then made me put on the paper. Rylan just liked holding the crayons and was very upset about having to give them back.


After storytime we had a quick lunch and then headed to the pool in our apartment complex. This was the first time we've been over there. It wasn't very crowded and the boys both had fun. Rylan loved splashing today and loved having water poured on his head from the watering can. If I was pouring it in front of him, he'd lean forward so he could put his face in it!

Carter looks so silly in these goggles but he insisted on wearing them. I think they are too big for him which makes them look extra silly.


Enjoying the water ...