Pumpkin Patch

After our meeting with the builder on Monday we had just enough time to squeeze in a visit to a local pumpkin patch to do the corn maze.

The theme this year was Alice in Wonderland, which was extra-fun since we just watched the movie recently as a family.

The girls checking out the map

Entering the tunnel that represents the hole Alice fell down

They had lots of different doors to choose from, including this little tiny one

It was fun watching the kids run around the maze

Our goal was to find six different mailboxes throughout the maze. If you punch your map at all the mailboxes you get a prize at the end.

I'm amazed at the detail they put into the maze

Once again we missed the animals - does this cow count?

The kids (and Justin) also had fun racing rubber duckies down these chutes.

We wish we would have had more time to look around but these days we are lucky we found time to go at all. Fun memories.

6 Months

Rolled over from her back to her tummy for the first time on the day she turned 6-months old

Doesn't mind tummy time as long as someone is there cheering her on

This past month I've been trying to get Katie on more if a napping schedule which hasn't always been easy. There were days she cried so hard that her voice was raspy for days afterward. It's also hard to be consistent when our schedule doesn't always make it possible to give her a nap in the morning and another in the afternoon.

Is very interested in what we are eating. I've been dragging my feet on introducing real foods, but she was ready. Friday night Katie had her first meal - pureed squash. She thought it was fabulous and gobbled up the whole container. I suppose there's no turning back now.

Probably the comment I hear most about Katie is on her chubby cheeks. They are adorable and I can hardly keep myself from kissing them all day (I also can't resist squeezing her squishy little thighs). I have a thing for chubby babies.

Oh, and yes, she does slobber quite a bit

Going outside is the sure fix to keeping Katie content

When she smiles you can see Katie’s adorable little dimple on her right cheek

Our infant tub clearly states it is to be used for babies up to 6-months old. We broke the rules and used it for the last time on 6-months+1-day. Katie has always enjoyed taking baths and has no problem getting a little water in her face.

For the most part Katie wants nothing to do with strangers. If you are one of the few adults she tolerates consider yourself lucky.

Recently moved up to the larger size binkie. She doesn't use it much during the day though, it's more of a soothing to sleep thing.

You'd think I would have learned my lesson by now, but no, I have slacked off on giving her a bottle regularly and when I introduced it during our builder meeting on Monday she wanted nothing to do with it... This could be bad news

Is getting close to sitting up, she can balance for a few seconds but then usually finds her toes too irresistible and topples forward as she reaches out for them.

Katie had her 6-month check-up yesterday and here are her stats:

Height: 27.75 inches (90th percentile)

Weight: 18 pounds, 7.6 ounces (90th percentile)

What a joy these past 6 months have been. We adore this girl!

It's Possible

We had our first meeting with the builder rep for the new house today and we were asked to make some very big decisions:

• Exterior paint colors
• Exterior stonework style & color
• Garage door style
• Front door size, style, and finish
• Interior paint color (millwork & walls)
• Granite for kitchen
• Countertop for master bathroom
• Countertop for downstairs bathroom
• Finish of kitchen cabinets
• Placement of microwave (needed to be moved to make room for a double oven)
• Stonework on fireplace

It was awesome! We know enough now what we like and don't like and thankfully Justin and I pretty much share the same opinions. So instead of being a stressful experience it was fun and overall really easy.

Still tons of decisions to make, but it's a huge relief to know that we are actually capable of making them.

Here are a few snapshots of some of our choices:

This is the exterior of the home. The paint color on the far right is the main body color. The color in the middle is the trim and the color on the far left is the darker contrasting color used in here and there on the front of the house. We are getting a different door style than pictured which we are really excited about – dark wood, 8 feet high – beautiful.

This is an idea of the color scheme in the kitchen although the coloring in the photo is a little off. The granite we choose is called Giallo St. Cecillia. The color sample to the right of it is the color of the millwork in the house (antique white) and the color on the far right is the paint color for the entire house (it’s not this yellow in real life). Justin will eventually paint the kids rooms a different color, but they wanted $400 per room to do anything differently - yikes. The cabinet pictured is the stain we are going with although this is not the door style – ours is more similar to the door front in the picture below this one.

This is the marble being used in both the main floor bathroom and the master bathroom – I really dislike tile countertops so solid surface countertops was an upgrade we asked for in our contract. The cabinet sample was the only option for the downstairs bath, but thankfully we LOVE it and would have chosen it anyhow.

We also received news that they started working on the foundation this morning. Construction has finally begun and we are so excited to see everything come together over the next several months.

Crazy Hair Day

Tomorrow is crazy hair day at school and the girls were up for doing something fun. Since we don’t have any extra time in the mornings we decided we would do their hair tonight. If it gets all messed up while they are sleeping then it will be all the more crazy.

We thought Abigail’s hair ended up looking like two big elephant ears, but now I’m thinking it looks more monkeyish.

UPDATE: this morning Carly decided to go kinky. (I'm liking the little fans we made with her bangs sticking out of her ponytails?)

Our Tree

We got a phone call last week from our builder rep asking us to come up with some color ideas for the exterior of our home as well as asking us to select the type of stonework we want. We were very surprised that we already needed to start making decisions when they haven't even started the foundation yet.

We decided to drive up to Snoqualmie Sunday afternoon to look at houses in the area and get some ideas about what we like. Gone are the days of light boring colors schemes. These new neighborhoods are bold and colorful. Even with so many possibilities, it likely won't surprise anyone that we found ourselves drawn more to the more neutral browns and grays. Anyhow, I'm sure I'll be posting pictures for your opinions when the designer puts together some options based on our preferences so stayed tuned.

This was my first time back in the neighborhood since we put an offer on the house back in the middle of August. It was fun to see the progress being made, although the only thing different on our property is that we now have a tree and a little strip of grass along the sidewalk.

From what we hear the builder has all the permits they need to get things going. We are getting so excited! If only we could install a live webcam across the street so we could watch the progress…