Our New House

Three weeks ago Matt & I traveled to NWA to look at housing for our move. We'd been thinking that we'd probably move into a rent house or apartment until we decided where we wanted to live. Well, during the many, MANY hours of driving around looking, we happened on a subdivision that we both just instantly loved! It was in Farmington, on a golf course and nestled at the foot of the mountains. Of course, we pretty much figured that there was NO WAY we were going to be able to find something there. We saw a sign for a foreclosure & called about it. It was a great house, but needed A LOT of work! However, through talking to the realtor, we found out that the owner of the house next door was desperate to sell. We went back this weekend to check out the house and we just loved it! It's absolutely perfect for our family! It has 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, an office/playroom, formal dining and is almost 1000 square feet bigger than what we have now. We're so excited to move in and have some extra space. :)



For those of you that are interested (all 3 of you) I've kept the pics big, so you can click on them for a larger view. :)

Front of house

Living room

Formal dining

Kitchen

Master bedroom


Madeleine's room


View from M's windows




Back of house


View from the porch

I cannot wait to see the house this fall! The view from our backyard is going to be spectacular! Now we're just hoping that everything falls into place. We're sooooo excited about having SO MUCH more room to spread out........now we'll even have room for company (hint, hint).

One other great thing about this house is the location. We're only 5 miles from the freeway/Fayetteville, but we're also only 3 miles from Prairie Grove -- which is a great little town! One of the things I'm most excited about is that Prairie Grove has the only freestanding children's library in the state! It's right next to this tiny little park & has a wonderful new playground right behind it! It seems like there's going to be SO MUCH to do when we finally get settled in!

Children's Library

Only 4 days to go......

I can't believe our move has gotten here so quickly! We still have so much to do -- packing, wrapping, saying last good-byes. It's strange to think that this time next week so much will be different and we'll be starting to settle into our new home. :) I'm so excited about our new house & I think we're going to love it there!

Here are a couple of pictures I took at the park this week. I don't have time to post the entire event now but it's coming!

This guy loves life!

Pretty girl.

Madeleine's Birthday

This post is long overdue, since Madeleine's birthday was a week ago! She had such a wonderful day this year, one that she's been looking forward to for WEEKS! It's been fun to see the anticipation building (wonder what the Christmas anticipation will be like????) and I've been so looking forward to seeing her face when she wakes up on her birthday to this:

She got up, went into the living room, saw the house & gifts, ran to me......"oh, mommy, thank you!".....ran to Matt....."oh, daddy, thank you!" Isn't that sweet?! Since Matt was home for the morning, she got to open her presents right then! I grew up opening gifts on the morning of my birthday which means you get to play ALL DAY with the new toys! :) And, did we have some new toys.....
Harrison wasn't too thrilled he didn't get to help! I love this face! It's his new, "I'm just not happy about this" face. :)
Madeleine got some new Dora Legos, a little piano, a cash register (which is so cool -- it even comes with bar codes that you can scan & ring up prices!), dress up clothes, princess playset, food playset and new PJs. And the Rose Petal Cottage was a huge hit! I'd highly recommend it. They get in there and play for hours and I can peak in the chimney and see them giggling and playing in their own little world.

Modeleing her new Belle Dress with Fancy Nancy Red Shoes!
That night, we had a family party at our house. As usual, Madeleine was spoiled by her grandparents with presents! Madeleine wanted a princess cake, so I gave it my best shot. Here's what the cake looked like.....
She loved it! All day long, she kept going to the fridge and opening the door just to look at the cake. I was thrilled she like it and had such a fun time doing that for her. We also had little crown and glass slipper cookies to go with the cake.

My little superstars the next morning.......gorgeous!

Catching Up

The past few weeks have been crazy around here getting ready to move. I'm amazed at all the STUFF it seems we've gotten since moving into this house. I think it's the second kid that makes the "stuff" start to multiply on it's own. :)

Even though we've been busy, we've still found time to have some fun......stay tuned for Madeleine's birthday pics from earlier this week......but here are a few pictures I've taken recently.

Hanging out at mimi's house. Harrison LOVES to be pushed in this stroller and they have the perfect looooooong hall with wood floors so that you can really get going. Check out that belly -- it almost covers his diaper. hehehe. I don't think he'll be fitting in this stroller much longer.

We've been getting out some a night for ice cream (maybe that's where Harrison's big belly came from???). Now BOTH kids have to have some. Harrison wised-up a few weeks ago & began demanding his own cup; however, he's not quite figured out how to get all of it into his mouth just yet.
Check out the spill on his shirt & pants!
After this trip, the entire car seat had to be washed as well as Harrison getting a second bath.......learned that lesson: Ice Cream Before Bath!!!

This year Madeleine was very excited about watching the fireworks. We have a church just a couple of streets away that puts on a fabulous show. We were able to see it from our porch -- and unbelievably Harrison slept through the whole show! He's just tuckered out at night!

Four

Four. Four? FOUR!!!!! I'm having such a hard time believing that my little girl is 4 years old today! I think this birthday is bittersweet......I've been excited to see her face when she opens her presents and then experience the joys of the day with her, but it also feels like my "baby" is gone for good. She's growing into such a sweet little girl, and she really is getting so big. She listens to EVERYTHING we say & then duplicates it. She "play-acts" what we do......cooking, mothering (poor Harrison, he's got 2 moms!) making lists, etc. She's extremely independent, but still needs so much encouragement to know that she can do it.

I have enjoyed every single moment with my little girl. She is pure joy to me. I love that she wants to help me do anything from laundry to cooking to changing Harrison. :) She is such a sweet big sister & constantly looks out for Harrison. She includes him in her play & takes the time to show him what she's doing. She's a natural caregiver.

She's also got some amazing athletic talent (which did NOT come from me) and today she even hit a golf ball over the fence! She's also good at soccer and baseball. :) Got those from her dad.

Outside of the athletic talent, I see so much of myself in her. She loves to read. She is quite a talker (yes, I know I deserve that mom & dad!) and will literally talk to me ALL DAY LONG. She's basically a running commentary on our daily life......which I LOVE. :) Poor Harrison's never gonna get a word in. She's inquisitive and very smart. She can write and spell her name. She will sit and write words and color or draw for hours. She can draw a mean lookin' horse as well as daisies.

And, she's growing up too fast. When I was pregnant it seemed like she'd NEVER get here......

But she came, right on time! Madeleine was born on her due date after just a few hours of labor. I really couldn't believe that she was really ours. It seemed like a dream at first. All I wanted to do was hold her.
I love this face.
She was so tiny & we had to go out and buy preemie clothes for her.....nothing we had would fit!
Her daddy fell in love with her at first sight.
Giving Daddy kisses.

The first year flew by......here she is on her 1st birthday. (and yes, she & Harrison look SO MUCH alike!)

Celebrating birthday number 2.

Turning 3....and finally getting some hair! Hurray!

Getting ready for FOUR! Yep, we got 2 years out of the birthday dress. :)
Sweet girl.