Monday, March 5, 2012

SOLD!

We made an offer on a house back in November, and (much to our surprise) it was accepted.  Wow!  We got our house listed ASAP with our awesome realtor Judy Simpson.  Thanksgiving and Christmas were dead for the real estate market.  We were sure hoping the New Year would bring us good luck.  We ate our black eyed peas and greens (thanks Mommaw!).  We got an offer on our house on January 9, after the first "real" showing, and had a contract on January 11.

Ginger's packing service.  No, I do not hire out!  Eva Brooke was my assistant, and she helped by decorating the boxes.  She was not a fan of all the new decor.

Packing went a little rough at times...


We did end up hiring a mover since we were in such a crunch.  We were actually supposed to be out of our old house before we could move in the new house.  Ahh, the joys of closing on both houses the same day.  The new house was empty, however, and the nice sellers allowed us to move in that morning.

Our closings were at 3 PM and 4 PM on February 3.  We were completely out and the old house cleaned beforehand!  All cleaning credit goes to Andrew.  I directed traffic at the new house, and Andrew directed the movers at the old house.

A pic of the house a few days ago.  A little bittersweet!  We'll miss you guys on Champions Cove!

And now for the moving in...  Thanks Andrew for getting all of our boxes and some bubble wrap from the hospital.  A big thanks to Aunt Deb and Momma Lin for supplying much of our packing materials.

Eva Brooke was not such a fan of the empty new house, but after her things were moved in and set up, she was fine.  Also thank you, Angie, for babysitting on moving day, and to Momma Lin for taking her to her house so she could nap as usual.  Mimi stayed with us the first night to babysit and allowed us to get a lot done.  Brad and Angie were so helpful in cleaning up and getting those initial projects done.

The front of our house before...

...and after we painted the shutters a dark brown.  I must tell you of the disaster on closing day.  As we were sitting at the closing table, we received a text from Andrew's dad, saying we had a leak in our master bedroom.  The sellers had agreed to fix a gutter problem that had rotted some boards underneath them.  That problem ended up needing flashing work.  What happens when it rains in the middle of fixing all of this???  Yep, leaks.  In the master bedroom and Eva Brooke's bathroom.  As the story usually goes, there was more to it than gutters/flashing.  The pitch of the roof was not quite right in two spots where the rooflines meet.  We had to take off some shingles and have some water shield put down, and then put down more shingles.  Did I mention the sheetrock and painting work inside?  People were in or around our house for weeks.  THANKFULLY, the work has all been completed and looks great.

The back of our house.


Eva Brooke helping Daddy rake.  Daddy Don and Momma Lin have helped tremendously with our yard.  We all raked about three years worth of leaves.  They have brought two huge loads of pinestraw for our beds.  It will be a surprise to see what kind of plants we have!

Eva Brooke's muddy clothes after falling in a puddle.  She loves all the room to run!

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

January 2012

Eva Brooke is putting on her makeup like Mommy.

These sweet grins melt me every time.

Her vocabulary is growing by the day!   My favorites are "peeease" and "tank you."  She is also beginning to put noun and verb together, like "Daddy go?" and "juice peeease."

Cotton really puts up with a lot.

She can't pick her up yet, but the day is coming soon!

Bathtime fun

Boxes are the best choo-choos.

Dinelli's Pizza!  If you are in or around Hamilton, Alabama, you have to stop.  You can't beat it!

Eva Brooke is not intimidated at all by the iPad, and has actually shown me several features I didn't know existed.

Do you ever just want to stare at your baby for a while??

Always on the move.  Always.  It is getting much harder to snap pictures that aren't blurry.



A music star, maybe?

Eva Brooke has been into bubbles lately, so we thought she would love bubbles in the bathtub...

Nope.  (She does now, though.)

Now very interested in coloring.

These moments are so rare!

Loves to write and scribble.  We believe she is right handed, although she still uses both at times.

PJ days are the best!


Cooking in her kitchen.

This girl loves shoes!

Eva Brooke and Hunter at Emily's 4th birthday party.  Wish I would have snapped more!  What a cute, cute party!

Celebrating Mimi's birthday

Eva Brooke with my "Me-baby"


Mimi got an iPad, too.  We are able to Facetime, which is so cool!

Happy birthday!  You are loved and appreciated!

She is really becoming a Daddy's girl!

Mommaw, Deb, and Momma Lin came to see us on Mommaw's birthday.  Eva Brooke was really showing out for them!  She runs and then plops down on her little bottom.  Who knows?!

Reading to her babies

Boxes, boxes, boxes.  Eva Brooke stayed busy helping Mommy label and color them.


Love this girl!

At the mall playground for a little fun.



I got so tickled watching herself press her face against the glass.

Laughing like Mimi!

Putting on her makeup.


Enjoying these warm winter days!

Giving Elmo kisses in one of her favorite reading spots.  One of the last snaps we have in our old house!