Tuesday, September 27, 2011

DSM Visit - Loves to Gma!






Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Almost Moving Time!

Three weeks until we move in - can't wait!!! We close at 9am on 10/6 and then will be doing some heavy duty cleaning all day/night. Appliances are being delivered in the morning on 10/7 and having the carpet/tile professionally cleaned that afternoon so that it can dry overnight and we can officially move in that Saturday! Hoping to have everything moved into the garage on 10/8 and the big stuff in the right rooms that day while we have help, but won't be in a rush to unpack. I'm taking that Weds -Fri off work plus the following Mon & Tuesday so we can take our time settling in.

All the mortgage and title paperwork went through and the house clearned inspection so it's official official! The inspector was excellent but probably doubled our project list for the next year ;) The garbage disposal is shot so we'll replace in October. The water heater is in rough shape and the dishwasher is pretty beaten up so hoping both kick the bucket in the next year while under warranty. Here are a few additional house pics from the inspection of rooms/areas not included in my first house post with MLS pics:


The white door is the garage enterance into the mudroom. The kitchen is off to the left, the laundry room is on the right, and the powder room is the sliding pocket door on the left across from the lockers.


Powder Room - there is also a mirror and pedestal sink on the opposite wall out of sight. Tiny but centrally located.


Laundry Room - love the window and the room continues to the right so its a decent size. We got a great deal on a front loading Bosch washer & dryer set - excited to have the steam dry feature!


Office french doors and front entry - there is also a coat closet by the door.


Front Porch - love it! Have a feeling we'll spend lots of time here :)


Upstairs landing area. Kids bath to the left off the stairs, then master (w/fan), bonus room straight ahead, built in office nook, and then the two front bedrooms and linen closet are off to the right.


Kids bathtub/shower and toilet area that is separated by a sliding door


Master Bathtub - Brian is pretty excited to have the whirlpool jets. Luckily the former owners left the blinds for the this window.


Master Shower - it's not huge but I'm pretty excited for the bench/ledge seating - perfect footrest to make shaving my legs a little less annoying ;)


Glad the former owners left the towel bar/hardware etc in the master bath.

We're counting down till October 6th - can't wait!

Party Wagon

What's more fun than riding in a red wagon???


Throwing Monkey & Mr. Bear off the wagon!





Buddies

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

The Woods Fam + 1 Goes to the Zoo


We've been traveling or house hunting almost every weekend this summer so when we finally had a weekend at home and beautiful weather the 4th weekend in August I decided it was about time the 3 of us get out and do something together. We had a great time at Como Zoo - would highly recommend it for little ones if you haven't checked it out. If you're efficient like us (Brian: "The polar bear is sleeping behind the rock and E won't remember it anyway" you can get through in a couple hours plus it's free!


This one's for you Koeglers - "hiya hiya buffalo!"


This one's for for you Katie + Sam - the lemur was sleeping but looked like great fun!



The bears were his favorite - probably because they were big enough for him to track and were actually awake and moving!

This kitties were taking a nap


The highlight for me was taking E on his first carousel ride! It was a 1914 original hand painted beauty that actually spun pretty fast and he loved it! Said "ooooohhhh" and pointed the whole time.


Next year he'll be big enough to ride the horsey!

Reading with Daddy





***LOVE moments like this!***

Bottles Need to Go Bye Bye



Doctor + Daycare say bottles need to go stat! We're in the process of getting rid of formula first and then bottles are the next to go. We're at 1/2 whole milk, 1/2 formula right now and had hoped to kick the expensive habit over Labor Day weekend but he got sick and we're on straight formula until his tummy and appetite are stable again.

I spent last Friday "Daycare Shopping" up in Maple Grove and after extensive online research, phone calls, and tours I'm excited to have it figured out. Primrose was by far my favorite but as luck would have it they are booked until May of 2012. We're on the waiting list there and will enroll him at Maple Grove Academy in October until a spot opens up. It's super close to our new home, considerably less than what we pay downtown, and I liked the toddler teacher so it will work great until Spring.

In the toddler room they only take 1 nap and no bottles and pacifiers are allowed so we have our work cut out for us in September. I can't believe my baby is almost a toddler - wow!

Daddy's Little Helper - Lawn Mower





Someone is excited to have a yard to mow...

29



Finding it hard to believe there are 29 candles on the (vanilla) cupcakes this year as in my head we're still 21... oh wait we have a baby and careers and just bought a house... yep 29 sounds about accurate ;) The new house was the best present ever but besides that it was pretty much life as usual - the crazy celebrations of college are all but a distant memory. My mom made a lovely steak dinner the Sunday before to celebrate the trifecta bdays - Brian, Katie and I - so yummy! Loving that E can now participate in cheese portion of the the G&T, Wine, and Cheese happy hours in the tree house that have become a favorite memory of living in Burnsville this summer.



Um, aren't they adorable? Mr. Sam scored major brownie points by bringing the twin flowers on top of taking Katie on a rockstar birthday date - smart man!


My actual birthday was on a Tuesday (lame) and I worked late and Brian had golf league - boo. I wore sparkly heels to work to cheer me up and we had chips + quesso and champagne that evening while starting Season 3 of the Tudors (love that show) so it turned out to be a great night.


On the 31st we celebrated our birthdays jointly by sneaking in a hot 4:30pm date at Manny's Steakhouse. We even beat the old folks in as it was just us and the wait staff setting tables - too funny. Daycare is open till 6:30 so we were able to enjoy 2 hours as grown-ups before rushing over to pick up Baby Bear and relaxing the rest of the night.

We're heading down to Des Moines this weekend to see Brian's family and celebrate the July/August/Sept Woods Clan birthdays. Looking forward to seeing everyone and sending a special shout out to Brian's mom wishing her well in surgery tomorrow. We love you!

We've been blessed with an amazing 29 years - looking forward to the next 29+!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Chicago - Ring Bearer!









My cousins Chris & his fiance Amanda (love her!) asked Ethan & Caden to be their ring bearers for their September 2012 wedding. What an honor! They made the boys these super cute Ts - such a fun way to ask them! Please excuse E's crabbiness for these pics - will make sure he gets a long nap in prior to the ceremony next year ;) We're so excited for these guys and can't wait to celebrate with them on their big day! Now we just need to master this walking thing...