house closing and Jacob’s toes

We closed on our house in February, it was very exciting… and terrifying, to close on our first house.  We knew we didn’t know what we were getting into, we were definitely right!  Home ownership is no joke man!!

Here’s Jacob modeling the wood floor color when we bought the house.  And here’s a picture of the condition by the back door, no bueno.

 

We decided to get the floors refinished before we moved in so we didn’t have to deal with the mess, plus the way our house is set up, it would be near impossible to live there without stepping on the wood floors.  I assumed we’d do it ourselves, since that’s what my dad always did.  But Dan talked me into paying someone else to do it for us, and we found someone on short notice that could do it the weekend before we needed to move. I think it was a good call, because they did an exceptional job!  I am certain I could not have made them look anywhere near as good.

  

I love the dark wood floors that are so popular right now, but I was scared to do them in my house because what if they are too trendy and make my house dated in a couple years?  In the end I did them dark, why would I stain them a color I don’t like?  I’m so happy I did. I didn’t go crazy, they’re not black, just a mix of medium brown and a splash of red mahogany to keep them rich.  I didn’t want them to be red at all, but plain brown is kind of flat I think.  So they whipped me up a custom mix while I watched and stained wood pieces with it until we had it tweaked just right. I really love them, took me a long time to put down any rugs because I just want to see the beautiful floor all the time!

The girls wanted to nap in their new room, but the sander was really loud, you can see Tessa plugging her ears.

 

So they played instead.

  

I realize now as I write this post that I should have been cleaning the house during this time.  But I wasn’t, I was just sitting around amazed that we really owned this house and watching the girls enjoy the space while Dan and my dad worked on the back of the house. Jacob tried to take a nap on the floor… didn’t work out.

 

Sophie has THE BEST imagination, I love watching her play with toys!  Notice that Piglet and Pooh are tied together with a belt on the stairs.

 

The first picture is what the back looked like when we bought the house, not so good.  The previous owner had just stuck a bunch of caulk in the cracks and it was all peeling.  We didn’t know what was going on because they wouldn’t let us take off any siding before the house was ours.  Then Dan and Dad took off the siding, YIKES!  Not better looking down there.  But my dad came to the rescue and between both of their hard work and my dad’s expertise, they took out all the bad stuff and replaced it with new, plus they removed the window and flashed it properly (which it hadn’t been flashed at all!).  We are in the slow process of flashing all the house windows this summer.

 

Here’s some pictures of my Dad from his visit, ironically, I didn’t get any of him working on the house, which is what he did the majority of the time he was here.  I love the 2nd picture because he’s talking on his cell phone while giving a horsey ride, impressive Dad!

  

Also in February, little Jacob discovered his toes.  This was a skill he was little late on, and always one I enjoy anyway, but I was extra excited when he started doing it because the Dr had me all worried about his development, she had suggested I get him therapy and all that.  Who knew that babies grabbing their toes was developmentally necessary?  Being the level headed 3rd time mom, I just waited a couple weeks and he did it on his own! Phew.

 

Next up: Sophie’s birthday!