The House is Complete...Almost

Last night we had our walk through with the builder. The house is pretty much complete. The are installing the appliances today and after a few touch ups we will be done!!! We should close on our house next week!!!

We had so much with the blue tape marking little things here and there that need to be touched up. Em even joined in. Although towards the end she was pulling tape off of the walls.

Living Room

My Kitchen!!! In case you can't tell, this is my favorite room.

Another shot of the kitchen. Check out my back splash!

View of the breakfast nook.

Em testing out the stairs. This is the first time she has climbed stairs and she climbed them all the way to the top.

Em and Aunt Renee checking out the backyard and our grass. It is too dark right now to see the fence but, they are only in the middle of the backyard. We are so excited!!!

I will post pictures one more time before we move all of our furniture in and then again after I have everything setup. I just can't believe that our house is done and we are a week from owning it!

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we stayed in Dallas. My Uncle Sonny came in town and we went over to my Aunt Vicki's for Thanksgiving dinner.

Em watching football with PawPaw. It looks like she is crying but, she is actually laughing.

I was so excited about this outfit and her little curl-ponytail on top of her head.

After dinner, Em went shopping. Here Aunt Vicki is going through her basket with her. Aunt Vicki, the constant teacher, was showing Em the correct pronunciation for each item.

And, she is off.

Friday morning after Thanksgiving we did meet up with Uncle Drew and Aunt Erin before the heading back to Houston. They were in town visiting Erin's family. We joined them for breakfast. I didn't get any pictures but, Em loved getting to see them again.

The Friday after Thanksgiving we went to the new Mexican restaurant in Frisco. Aggie owned and operated, Tupy's became an instant favorite of Em. They put us in this half table-half booth set-up, so Em and the men sat on one side and mom and I sat on the other. I guess this is the first time she has sat next to PawPaw during dinner. Every now and then she would reach over touch his arm and lean her head in. It just melted my heart. Oh, and in case you didn't know Mexican food is Em's favorite. While at Tupy's she ate probably 3 corn tortillas, beef fajitas, rice and two scoops of guacamole. And, she got to try sopapillas. Poor little girl was so full but, she still had a few bites. I mean who can turn down sopapillas???

This past Thanksgiving week, Houston-College Station-Dallas, really put on my heart what we are thankful for. We, are so blessed to have family and friends that love us and the opportunity to spend time with them. There are family and friends out there we haven't seen in awhile and I just want to send love to them. We miss you all and hope to see you soon. I am also very thankful for Em to have grandparents that love and dote on her.

A busy weekend...

The weekend of the 20th we drove all over the state of Texas; well, it felt like it. On Friday night, we drove to Houston to have dinner with Pops, Uncle Drew and Aunt Erin.


After dinner, we drove to College Station. This was Em's first time in Aggieland so you would think I would take tons of pictures. Nope, I took just a couple. Here is one. This is Em and Mark watching the Ags beat the Cornhuskers. We did take Em on campus. We went up to tailgate with friends before the game. The atmosphere was amazing!!! 90,000 plus in the stands and probably at least another 10,000 outside enjoying. We love Aggie Football! Em enjoyed running around following Caden (our friend's 2 year old). She did so well with all the noise and people.

Mr. Mark.

While in CS we stayed with Eryn and Clint. They were so nice to let us stay and let Em terrorize their house. Em was completely in love with their dog Molly, a yellow lab. Molly and Em would play and chase each other it was so cute!!! Thanks again to Eryn and Clint for letting us stay. On Sunday morning, we drove back to Houston after breakfast. This time we went to Grandma's (Em's great-grandma's house). While there we got to hang out with Mimi, Grandma, Aunt Erin and Uncle Drew. She had so much fun with everyone.

Visiting after lunch.

Playing with Grandma.

Em loves to clap other people's hands together. Of course Grandma obliged her. There are three generations in this picture!!! We are so blessed that Em has had the opportunity to get to spend time with Grandma.

House Update

It has been awhile since I posted the last house update. The house is about 3 weeks from being complete. The cabinets are in, walls are textured and painted and the brick is done as you can see in the pictures below. Justin and I are getting excited; we are so close!!! These pictures are a week old and they did get some more done the week of Thanksgiving. The front door is in (not stained), fence posts are up, tile floors are in and the drive way has been poured. They should install the counters and carpet this week.

I have started getting quotes on blinds and shutters for the house. My mom and I are going to make the valances and window seat cushion for the living room and breakfast nook. Justin and I are still picking out the fabric for these.

View of the front. I love this brick; it has so much texture.

My front porch!!!

View of the back of the house.

My bay window looking into the backyard.

View standing in the breakfast nook looking into the kitchen. Look at all those cabinets. I am going to have tons of counter space. I see many a get together and cooking in this kitchen.

As I said before, we are about three weeks away from getting our house. The bad news if you do the math that is the week before Christmas. This of course means that we will be moving over the holidays; something I said I would never do. I guess the good news is that Em is still too young to know what is going on and she is getting to experience all the holiday cheer at my mom's house. For those of you that know my mom, Christmas is in full effect at Gram's house complete with lit trees, stockings and presents wrapped.

1 Year Portraits

I have been meaning to post these for a week now. I have just been busy keeping up with Miss Priss and working. That's right, I said working. I have found a part time job that I can do from home. Basically, I am preparing work-out packages and I love it!!! I am truly blessed to get to do two things that I a love; underwriting and stay at home mom.

Back to the pictures! Once again, Chelsi out did her self. I love the pictures! Check out her website if you are in need of pictures! Surely Sweet Here are a few of my favorites.

I didn't even know that Chelsi took this picture and it is by far my favorite. I don't know why. I just love her curls. Every day they become more prominent. Poor little girl she got my hair.

House Update

On Monday, Justin had to run by the house to drop some paperwork off. He called me in amazement that there was a house sitting on our lot; we hadn't been out in about 2 weeks. So, today Em, my dad and I went out to take a look. Yes, there was a house sitting there. Below are some pictures. Most of the pictures that I took were of the wiring to keep in case there is ever a question of where a wire is ran once the house is complete.

Oh, and timeline update. Troy our builder was out there and he and I visited on timeline. He said that we are waiting on the city to inspect the work to date then they will begin sheet rock. Once they start sheet rock we are 30 days out. Enjoy the pictures!

View of the front of the house and the brick!

View of the back of the house.
View of the wiring in the living room. If you look closely you will see surround sound and two CAT 5 boxes for multiple tvs in the living room.

This is the garage. That web of black tubes on the wall is the water manifold. Not quite sure why we need this but, it allows us to control the amount of hot or cold water that goes to certain faucets.

Em peaking at me through the breakfast bar. Eventually, that side will have high top chairs and this side will be my sink and dishwasher. She enjoyed walking around and playing peek-a-boo.

Smash Cake Video

Here is the video from Em's smash cake. As you will notice she really liked the icing. Dada (Justin) had to help her get into the cake. We are very proud of our little girl. She wasn't near the mess I thought she would be.

Em's 1st Birthday!!!

Yes, she made it to a year! Maybe I can do this mom thing. She had a very busy birthday weekend. It started with a trip to the doctor Friday morning for her 1 year well visit. The doctor said she looked very healthy and the ear infection had cleared up. Her stats were weight 27 lbs 13 oz and height 32 1/4 inches. This keeps her in the upper 95th percentile. It was funny looking at her chart her curve completely mirrored the curve for an average baby's first year of life. It was just 1 inch higher on the scale.

Friday afternoon while waiting on our family from Houston to drive up we went to Double Dip in Frisco for Em to have a birthday custard. They have a baby cup (little dixie cup with two little scoops in it) but, Em was much more interested in Gram's cone.

Big girl using her spoon.Well, maybe it is easier with my hands.

Nope, the cone is where it is at.

On Saturday, we had Em's party. We had lots of family and friends attend. Below are a few pics from the party.

A few watching the Ranger game.

Em making her rounds saying hi to everyone. Notice the Ranger dress. Go Rangers!!!

Time for cake.

A few bits in. She really liked it.

Milk break.

Misha and Whitt.

Present time.

She had no problem finding the goodies inside the bags.

Coming back after one of her many escapes. Her guests were playing with her toys while she unwrapped her presents and she thought she should join them.

She was a very blessed little girl.

I have video of her smash cake. I am in the process of uploading it to youtube. Once it is loaded I will post it here.

This year has flown by. Em is such a big girl now. She is talking, saying "all done, bye bye, dada, hi, ball, uh-oh, and pawpaw." She is walking but, not all the time and is in either 2T to 3T clothes. Although, they are long on her. She is our little blessing and while she has her moments is as sweet as can be. We love this little girl and cherish every moment we have with her. Mommy and Daddy love you Emeline Kay.

We are Vertical!!!

Last Friday night Em and I meet Justin at the house after he got off of work. We were very excited to see that the slab had been poured and we were vertical! They had started framing and from the looks were pretty far along with the first floor. Yay!

View of the front.

View of the back.

Another view of the back.