House Progress and Home Study Update

So building a house is work, but it's also fun. And I know that sometimes my complaining about packing, and picking things out, and everything else that goes along with it makes me sound ungrateful. But y'all, I promise I'm extremely grateful. We've been so blessed, and the way things haved worked out have been amazing.

We actually have a contract on our current home. The buyers have been awesome to work with, and we're set to close on June 27th. Our new house should be finished right before that, and the timing works out perfectly. So while the next few weeks are guaranteed to be stressful, in the midst of that I know we are extremely blessed.

Here's a couple pics of the latest progress. The cabinets are set to go in and be stained this weekend and early next week. After that it's the countertops and fixtures, and we’re almost done!

Yes, the fireplace is off-center. I have no clue why, but it's not fixable at this point so I'll suppress my OCD and deal.

The bottom of the bar looking into the kitchen.

And that's it for the house today. 

Before I go, I have a couple of prayer requests. First, our home study, which should've been done last week at the latest, still isn't done, and our contact at the home study agency isn't very prompt at getting back to me. As of right now our home study is expired, and while that's not a huge issue at the moment, we do need it back. Second, we're right at the six week mark for our FBI fingerprints. We really need them to come back approved very soon. And as always thanks for your prayers.

Happenings . . . Sort Of

Sorry I've been MIA.

I should, could, would do a real post, but I have no brain cells left.

Between building a house . . . y'all it's work . . . lots of work, and if I never pick out a faucet or a light fixture again, I'll be fine with that . . . and packing up a house . . . pure torture . . . and finishing up school . . . plus adoption stuff . . . Dear FBI, Please send my fingerprint approval . . . and our home study? I have no clue why it's not done . . . well I'm over it . . . ALL!

So in case you're wondering, I haven't deserted y'all, but I do need to sleep and eat. Once we get through the next month my sanity should return . . . I hope so anyway.

But in the meantime, Andrew lost his first tooth yesterday. It was a big day in the Davis household.

Preschool Graduation

Andrew's preschool graduation was Friday Night. It was, of course, extremely adorable. I managed to keep my emotions under control. Although, I did have a couple of moments when I started to tear up. I cannot begin to tell y'all how extremely thankful I am for Andrew's preschool. Not being able to stay home with Andrew was extremely hard for me, but we've been blessed to have wonderful ladies take care of Andrew since he was three months old. He started with a babysitter and then moved on to a daycare and eventually his preschool, and in each place he's had absolutely amazing caretakers and teachers. And now he'll go to kindergarten. Right now we don't know who his teacher is going to be, but I have no doubt that God will provide exactly the right person for that position.

And now for the picture overload . . .

Waiting to say his rhyme. His shirt would not stay tucked in.

Saying his rhyme. . . 

The memory card on my camera was too full, and I couldn't record. I thought Patrick recorded it, but he didn't. You would think that with two iPhones and two different cameras, one of us would have gotten a recording of him saying his rhyme. Oh well . . . 

Just for posterity his rhyme was:

"V is for vegetables which we should always eat.

Ms. Herbert serves us plenty with meals that we eat."

Waiting to get his diploma.

Preschool Rhyme

Click above to watch the whole group saying their preschool rhyme (for some reason blogger won't connect to my youtube account). 

And because you won't even remotely understand them:

"Get ready get set 'cause here we go.

We have already shown you all we know.

We graduated preschool and now we're done.

We laughed and we learned and it's been fun.

Get ready kindergarten 'cause we're on our way.

We graduated preschool - hip, hip hooray!"

Tired of waiting . . . 

The things kids do when they know their parents can't get to them.

I love this picture. Andrew's little friend Noli (short for Magnolia) is behind him. She and her brother were adopted from China a while back, and it's been so amazing to see them grow and learn. I love her smile. It really does light up her entire face. 

Andrew and Saylor, friends for life. I'm so glad they're going to kinder together. 

Andrew with Mrs. Larkin

Andrew with Ms. Miles

Andrew with Ms. Almaguer

Andrew with Ms. Herbert

Andrew with Mrs. Salinas

Andrew with Mr. and Mrs. Cheatham, his preschool sponsors. Every year various members of the church that is over the preschool sponsor students. They pray for them, give them their field trip shirts, and send them little notes and cards throughout the year. The Cheathams have been Andrew's sponsors for both years he was at the preschool, and the really cool thing is that I've known Mr. Cheatham for a long time. When I was in high school and college I worked in my family's oilfield supply store. He would always come in and aggravate me and make me laugh. I'm so thankful they've been Andrew's sponsors for both years he was in school.

With Cami and Cari.

Andrew and Chloe having an intense conversation following his graduation.

In two weeks Andrew will be done with preschool forever. It's hard to believe how quickly the last five and a half years have gone by. And as much as I'd like to make time stand still, I know that the future holds so many wonderful things for him . . . my sweet, crazy, funny little boy. I look forward to all that's ahead of us.

The Kind of Mom I Am (And I'm Not) . . . A Mother's Day Post

*I wrote this post right before Mother's Day. The point was to make a point. We're not all the same. We weren't created to be. This blog met with both wholehearted agreement and some contention. Either way, I stand by what I said. I'm not perfect. Neither are you. None of us are. I love my kid(s). I'd do anything for them. That's not up for debate.*

I'm not a crafty mom. I'm not a "pinteresty" mom. You'll never find me making home made gifts, or sewing my kids' clothes, or having preschool at home. I won't do art projects at the kitchen or the dining room tables, because let's face it, I'm terrified my kids will glue something to my beautiful tables. I cook because I love to cook, but I cook "grown up" food, and well, I expect my kids to eat it (unless it's spicy then pb&j will have to suffice). I only scrapbook and do photo albums because I do enjoy the memories, but y'all I hate the process. I don't play with toys on the floor, and I don't color in coloring books (I hate coloring). I like my house to be clean and picked up, and while I don't mind a toy here and there, I don't want to look like I live in a toy box. I refuse to give up having nice things just because I have kids.

And you know what? All of this used to make me feel guilty. Isn't this who I'm supposed to be? Isn't this who you become when you give birth to a child? Shouldn't I put those stupid little rubber things on the corners of my entertainment center and paste pictures of my kid's drawings all over my walls? Isn't there some unspoken law that says that I should want to do all of these things? Am I selfish?

I used to think I was, but recently, I've come to the realization that I am who God made me to be. You see we're all different, and comparison, especially between mothers, is a very dangerous thing. Some of us are crafty moms. Some of us are "pinteresty" moms (confession: I really don't like pinterest . . . at all :/). Some of us are the preschool everyday, art project loving, clothes sewing, scrapbooking, coloring book coloring kind of moms. And y'all, if you are, then more power to you (I really do applaud you), but some of us aren't, and that's okay too.

Here's what I am. I am an affectionate mom. I love my son and my future daughter with all my heart. I hate leaving my kid, even for one night. I'm protective to the point of being over protective. I'm like crazy protective . . . I don't think there's a doubt about that. I am a mom who loves to cook elaborate meals for her family. Cooking for others makes me happy even if it is "grown up" food. I am a mom who keeps a clean, safe, calm, and comfortable home. I am a mom who loves to read a good book with her child(ren) and is always up for a good movie. I will build lego creations even if I won't play with them. And I'll listen to my kids read all the live long day. I will take my children for bike rides and walks around the block. I will listen to them sing and dance all day long. I will talk to them about everything under the sun and love it. I will take them to beautiful places they've never seen and expose them to art, and history, and culture. I will teach their Sunday School classes and read them Bible stories, and tell them about Jesus and how He absolutely loves them more than anything else. I'll go swimming, and hiking, and take them out in the waves in the ocean. Because y'all I ain't afraid of no sharks. I'll go on dates with them, because they should get to feel special from time to time. And I'll deal with the fact that even though I'd rather not live in a toybox, it's somewhat inevitable, because that's what happens when you have have kids.

So no, I may not be the June Cleaver, or maybe I am June Cleaver (I mean she never made crafts at the dining room table), but I am the kind of mom that God wants me to be. I'm not perfect, but that's okay. I'm not expected to be, and neither are you. On this Mother's Day weekend, I think it would do us all good to stop comparing ourselves to this picture perfect idea of what we think we should be and just let ourselves be. Be whoever God created you to be as a person and a mother. I have a feeling that your children and your family will be much happier because of it.

Happy Mother's Day!

House Progress

The house is coming along really well. The brick is on and the sheet rock is going up. We picked out granite and possible paint colors today. We won't make any final decisions on interior paint until we've tested it on the walls. Whatever we get we have to live with for a long while so we had better like it.

At the risk of boring you to death, I'm going to try to explain (with the help of pictures) the layout of the house (since I'm not allowed to post the floor plan). If you feel like this might make you pull your eyelashes out please feel free not to read further. This is for those of you who, like me, are nosy curious about other people's houses.

This is not the house plan we were originally going to use. After a lot of contemplation, we realized that not only was our first set of plans too costly, but we would be over building for our neighborhood. So we adjusted, and still found a plan that we absolutely love.

Anyway here goes.

When you walk in from the garage you go straight into the laundry room. From there you go through a butler's pantry. To the right of the butler's pantry is the formal dining room. Straight through the butler's pantry is the kitchen.

This is the kitchen and breakfast area as seen from the butler's pantry. There will be an island in the middle of the kitchen, and the breakfast area overlooks the back yard. 

If you turn to the right after you enter the kitchen, you see a bar and the living room. On the far wall of the living room you can see a doorway. That leads into a hallway for three of the four bedrooms. Andrew's room is to the left as you enter the hall (I accidentally deleted that pic). Just to the right you'll find the two front rooms, and the second bath.

Allison's future bedroom. It looks out over the front yard, and is the biggest of the three extra bedrooms. Doesn't every girl need a big bedroom?

The front bedroom which will actually be an office/exercise room.

Back into the living room. This is facing the entryway. Don't you love the the dummy door? Just to the right and out of sight is the kitchen and the bar. And ahead to the right is the dining room which has two big openings into both the entry and the living area. 

The dining room also connects to the butler's pantry which gives easy access to the kitchen. And yes, I already told you that.

This is just outside the hallway that leads to the three extra bedrooms. Patrick is standing in the entry to the master suite. 

This is the master suite. To the left is a door leading to the back porch and to the right is the door into the bathroom.

These are both master bath pics. To the left will be my closet, my sink and vanity, and the shower, and straight ahead and to the right will be the (jetted) tub (glorious), Patrick's sink, and Patrick's closet. Two walk in closets . . . heavenly. Oh and the toilet . . . there will be a toilet in that little spot at the end of the tub.

This is from the living room looking onto the back porch/yard. The fireplace is just to the right of those windows and the breakfast area/kitchen just to the left. 

So there you have it. I'm sure you're all incredibly confused now since I seem to explain floor plans about like I give directions . . . horribly bad. Once the final product is done, I may give you a video tour. That's if I can stand to hear my voice on the video. ;)

Tidbits

We haven't heard anything about our FBI fingerprints yet. I'm hoping and praying that whoever has to "read" my fingerprints doesn't find them unreadable. So basically, I'm hoping and praying for a miracle. Not out of the realm of possibility, but it sure would help if my fingerprints were better.

The house is coming along. The brick is on. I was kind of worried because we didn't get to see a large sample of it beforehand, but we love the way it turned out. (And you'll have to trust me it looks good because I don't have a picture to show you.)The floors are also done. We planned from the beginning to stain the concrete and ended up doing it ourselves to save a large chunk of money. When I say "ourselves" I should clarify that my part in that was minimal. Patrick had to buff the floors before they were stained. Patrick had to wash and shop vac all the soap off the floors. Patrick stained and sealed the floors, and then put down paper so the sheet rockers and painters don't destroy them. I mopped on one of the cleaners and gave instructions, and . . . yeah, well that's about it. I'm great out giving direction, but I'm somewhat worthless when it comes to manual labor. And if ever any of you out there decide to stain your floors with your spouse, well, you had better think long and hard about the strength of your marriage. Because y'all it will try your patience with each other. But it's all good, and we survived.

Grocery store rage . . . it's the equivalent of road rage, and I have it. I really hate going to the grocery store. Generally, I have to do my grocery shopping after work or on a weekend when every person within a 30 mile radius has also decided to do theirs. And y'all there need to be some grocery store etiquette classes, because the lack of consideration is giving me grocery store rage. Some of the things that come to the tip of my tongue when I'm shopping are far from Christlike. I'm working on it, but in the meantime here's an example of the commentary that I keep up in my head while shopping. Must you wander aimlessly down the middle of the aisle so that no one else can get around? Must you then park your basket in the middle of said aisle while your children run from one end of the store to the other knocking people over and shoving baskets from side-to-side? Must you plant yourself in front of four of the doors to the milk coolers and then act oblivious as a line of people back up behind you while you try to decide which brand of chocolate milk you want? Must you come barreling out of the aisles going approximately 80 mph and then act shocked as you collide with two other baskets? (I'd hate to see some of these people drive.) My list of "must yous" could go on for quite a while, but I'll stop there. You get the point. I. Hate. The. Grocery. Store. That's all.

On a more serious note, there are some big changes going on in our lives right now. I still don't feel like I'm at liberty to discuss them all with all of you on the world wide web, but I'd greatly appreciate your prayers as we go through a time of major change and transition. Change is a good thing, but even when it's what you want, it can still be a bit stressful.

Well, I think that's about all the tidbits I have for tonight. Hope everyone's Monday was fantabulastic.