House Update...Drywall is FINALLY Done!

 Finally the drywall is done. After weeks and weeks of being told it was almost done it really is. It hasn't come without its problems but Im glad we are done and can now move on. Matt and I have learned that we should have listened to ourselves when we decided we wouldn't do business with friends but I will include the rest of the story at the end of the post....for now moving on. With the drywall wrapping up Matt was able to start the doors, casing, and window sills. The guy we had originally hired was out of town for 2 weeks when we were ready to go so Matt decided to step up and do it. It also allowed us to complete the entire house with the same amount of money we would have paid just to do the upstairs.

Basement family/movie room

 movie room

 Craft Room

 Family Room

 Gracie's Bedroom

 Hallie's Bedroom

 Basement Bath

 Playroom

 Master

 Mastrer Bath

 Emery's Room-I showed Matt a picture and this is what he delivered. I love it

Family Room

 Kitchen/Dining

 Stairs before board/batton

 Laundry Room

 Half Bath

 They also were able to get the remainder of the driveway poured before they finished the drywall. I think we have decided to wait until spring to pour the circular driveway for so many reasons. When they formed it up its done crooked. Second now that we have decided to finish the basement we could save the money for now and just do it in the spring. Third it is now the end of November and we don't think we can get it fixed to our liking before we run out of good weather....basically it isn't very high priority.

 The house is finally completely wrapped now if we could only convince JJ to get his guys up to finish the siding and flashing so we could wrap up the exterior. We have be blessed thus far to not have winter set in.

 Stairs after board/batten...I really like this and the uniqueness it gives the stairs

 Back to the drama which is drywall. To back up we received a bid from Trav months ago and do to that and the fact that Trav asked Matt for the job since they could really use the money we decided to use him. Matt and I had the conversation that we shouldn't do business with friends but thought we had good enough communication with him to make it work. He told us it would take 3 weeks which was a week longer than the other timelines but it also was going to save us $400 dollars to go with them so we stuck with it. Once things got started it was very apparent that it was going to take longer than 3 weeks. Aside from the weather getting cooler(do to being behind since framing took a couple extra weeks) they were only working in the evenings and Trav seemed to have family stuff part of every weekend. Needless to say it quickly became pretty frustrating. Matt talked to Trav and they started working on Sundays and hired someone to do the garage. But still the progress was slow. We added the basement knowing it would slow us down more but they thought only a week. Well by the time we could see the light at the end of the tunnel we were in week 7("double our timeline). The night before finishing the garage Trav asked Matt is they could get paid. Matt said sure and Matt asked about splitting it up but when it came down to the numbers it wasn't adding up. The number Trav wanted Matt to write the checks for was about 2000 dollars more than our bid. Matt talked to Trav and went over the bid. His response was that his number was an estimate.(Sadly if houses were build on estimates we would have a huge problem). He didn't add tax and it had taken them longer than anticipated.  Matt expressed his concern to Trav and honestly we don't have money in the budget to do that. Trav was mad Matt was frustrated and we were stuck between a rock and a hard place. That night Matt came home and we talked about it, tried to see it from his point of view but ultimately it came down to what the bid said so that is what we paid them. Matt thought things were going to work out and be fine. Tuesday while Nic and I were at the house they came to finish the garage and acted fine. Wed morning Matt and I received a Facebook message stating that Trav had quit and felt like we had taken advantage of him and were dishonest with him. And that he would no longer be painting our house. To be honest we felt the same way.  At this point feelings have been hurt and there was really no middle ground to meet at. He felt under paid and I felt like he should honor his bid. He had been telling us for weeks that they were almost done but yet took days and even weekends off to do other stuff. Matt and I were bugged since we felt like when you commit to a job you make sacrifices to get it done when you said you would before doing "family"stuff. I really think this job was just way to big for them and when it came down to it it took way more time than they had anticipated. Trav does amazing work but he is not a business person. Really in the end it may be a blessing in disguise it may have taken him months to paint the house. To make matter worse his wife has been posting passive aggressive messages on Facebook(don't you love the maturity). And now the one thing we didn't want to happen has happened, We have lost friends over this house. After going back to the house later in the week the garage looks thrown together and the work is definitely not up to anyones standard little lone Trav's but what's done is done and Matt and I will work thru getting it right since it wouldn't do us any good to try to get him to come fix it. I feel badly that things have ended this way but I can only control how I feel and my actions. 

A Little Em Update

 This little girl is such a blessing in our lives. She is growing way to fast and I find myself frequently wishing time would slow down or even stop. She rarely falls asleep while being held anymore and if she does it is only for a few minutes. It makes me so sad I miss when she would cuddle and sleep her entire nap time. So when she does fall asleep I try to make the most of it

 She is such a happy and great baby. She is pretty straight forward...stick with her schedule and she is a dream child..lol. She doesn't like to sleep in her car seat anymore which can make those trips to the lot a little more difficult. She will sleep but not for very long before she is awake and ready to go again. She is super smiley and loves to laugh. You can't beat her little happy squeals.

 I love to dress the girls in cute stuff on a budget and these moccasins are no exception. They range from 10-40 a pair. I found them on a deal website for 4-5 a pair. I am not usually a shoe person for babies but this is my first baby that is out of sleepers but not yet walking. She kicks her socks off and then her feet are freezing so now she has shoes to keep her toesies warm this winter.

 She has decided she loves Mickey Cubhouse. Whe it comes on she squeals and flaps her arms its pretty cute. I have found myslef watching it with her even when we are the only 2 home.

 She also loves bath time. She splashes water everywhere. I have ordered her a bath seat but it isn't here yet. Its hard to be upset when she is just so dang cute and excited about tub time. Her sweet little face in her towel after and the way she smells is unmatched. Oh I love my babies

She is doing great with solids although she does not care for carrots. She gags and dribbles them out. But she has liked squash, sweet potatoes, and pears. She hasn't slowed down on her bottle though and still drinks 6 oz every 3 hours. She has been a great sleeper lately sleeping from about 8p-9a which is so awesome especially the days I don't have to be up with Hallie. 

Hair Dos, Tub Time, and Raffle Winner

With Hallie's hair getting longer we have started to try some different things and they have turned out pretty good. 

 The girls love when I put Em in the tub with them. They both want to hold her and help get her bathed. I can't wait for her tub chair to get here so I don't have to worry about her slipping so easily while getting her bathed.

 Last week Matt and I attended a charity event where we were asked to bring books for kids taken from their families during the holidays due to abuse. I was happy to take some and when we got there they gave un 2 raffle tickets for each book we brought as a thank you. Matt and I split the tickets and put them in the items we were interested in. I really wanted this Bath & Body Works card and I won it. $50 bucks worth of B&B stuff is coming our way and just in time to put stuff in the house.

I love our random and crazy life although Im ready to get settled into our new lives and the house.

Family Weekend

My mom and dad came up this past weekend. My dad came to do some hunting and help finalize some wiring and my mom was just along for the ride. They got here about 1 but first my mom had to get her shopping fix. About 6:30 she called and was at Nic's house so we headed that way to hang out. Nic's kids love Em and helping with her. Kinley was thrilled when I asked if she wanted to feed Em.  

 Saturday morning the girls and I got up and going and went to Home Depot to get some mud for the basement, a jigsaw, and some trim to do the board and baton. I thought it wouldn't be a big deal but I started to realize it was going to be a lot of work when I started lifting the mud boxes...they were so heavy! I had to have 2 carts to get everything on it and then it was almost to heavy to push but the girls were having a good time.

 By the time we got the 2nd cart full the girls were done. Em was asleep and the kids were ready for lunch.

 I asked for help to load the truck and the nice guy said I was a man's woman and that any guy would be lucky to have someone like me. AT that moment it made all of the struggle ok. I thanked him and went on my way. Later we headed up to the house to meet Nic and my mom. Kyle and my dad had gone up earlier to help Matt get things done on the house. When we got there we had lunch and did a few things that needed to be done. Grandma Harris and Aunt Jeanette drove up to check out our progress too. The kids really enjoyed playing in the back of the truck. 

 We had to leave to fill up the propane tanks  and of coarse everyone wanted a ride in the back of the truck. The kids said it was the coolest thing ever.

After the ride we cleaned up some of the dry wall in the front yard since they are coming to dump the dumpster on Monday and then it was getting cold so we called it a day. It was a fun day at the house. Hopefully next time they visit we are moved in and all settled. 

Dang Deer

On the way home from the house last Wednesday Matt hit a deer about 1 am. Many would think it was in the valley that he hit the deer but in fact it was next to the golf coarse at the bottom of the canyon. He said it just jumped down in front of him and he couldn't stop. Luckily he was going slow and he is completely fine. The truck can be fixed and/or replaced but not my hubby . He is one of a kind!

I ttok Matt's truck in to get some estimates since it was one last thing he had to do. I decided while I was doing that I would look into the grill he had been wanting to put on the front of the truck as a surprise. After talking to Justin at Old School Body Shop he said he thought we could do it and still fit within the estimate given by the insurance. I was pretty excited Matt was going to love it. After finding that out I decided to talk to Matt about it to make sure he got what he really wanted. I was on the right track and should have just tried to make it a surprise but he was still really excited and grateful that I had even thought about it. The truck was in the shop for about 4 days but is now good as new. I told Matt next time he wants a new grill Ill just buy him one and to just skip the deer part..lol. He is now in love with the new grill

A Little Girl & Her Daddy

Em loves to watch Matt when he is around she will track him around the house. I think  its so cute how apparent it is that she adores him

Hallie is the Student of the Month

I received a call from a Hallie's teacher Mrs Olsen early last week that Hallie had been nominated as student of the month and asked if we could attend an assembly where they would be surprising Hallie with this award that Friday. Of coarse we were going to be there. I immediately called Matt to make sure he could arrange his schedule so he could be there. So Friday I made up some story to take Hallie to school and once she was checked in we snuck to the gym to wait for her to notice we were all there. Hallie noticed once they got all settled and looked around. She seemed really excited to see us. ANd we were so excited and proud to be part of her day to receive this award.

Hallie was so shocked when they called her name. I love the big smile on her face.

The was nominated by her teacher for being a team player and working well as a leader in her class. Her teacher said she is always the first to finish and help someone else. Mrs. Olsen also said Hallie is the kids every teacher wants to have. We couldn't be more proud of the little girl she is

There was one student from each class was chosen but the team teachers. I thought that was really cool that Hallie was chosen as the first one

Hallie & Mrs. Olsen(her teacher)