day 53

Merry Christmas, everyone!  The lack of posting lately is due to (1) the littlest dude in our family being sick and out of daycare for a full week (!!), (2) traveling for the holidays and (3) not a whole lot of new progress to report.  I'm glad to have survived and am already in need of a few more days off.  Ha!  Thankfully, we have no plans for New Years and I'm looking forward to some quiet time at home before work gets crazy with year-end.

[sick boy]

After battling a fever Monday through Friday, we were thankful E woke up on Saturday morning feeling mostly better.  Since we were traveling Sunday through Wednesday, Santa came to our house on Friday night and we were able to spend Saturday unwrapping gifts, playing with new toys and getting ready for our trip.  I just love seeing the excitement and magic of Christmas through the eyes of a little one!

[Santa came to visit!]

[unwrapping gifts]

[trains!!]

[peek-a-boo!]

[breakfast break for Christmas Tree waffles]

[play time]

[trains with Daddy]

We were also able to run by the lot on Saturday afternoon and I grabbed a few shots of the completed roof and interior progress.  When we arrived, we were surprised to discover that the house was officially locked up.  Luckily, our Construction Manager quickly responded to our "Umm - what's the code?" text and we were able to head inside for a little exploring.  Not much had changed other than some duct work being run and some bathroom insulation hung.  The plumbing work had also progressed a bit.  Warning - I hadn't been out in the daylight recently, so I took a few too many pictures.

[snow-covered house!]

[sunny morning]

[who needs a trampoline when there is spare plywood to jump on?!]

[insulated fireplace and finished archways]

[bedroom - bathroom - bedroom]

[duct work started!]

[Where's E?!]

[master bedroom and walk-in-closet]

[master suite - basement stairs - powder room - laundry room]

[kitchen and flex room]

[flex room - front foyer]

[bathroom insulation]

[E's self-proclaimed bedroom]

The biggest surprise, however, was seeing our port-o-potty chilling in the road.  Apparently the little snow/ice/wind we got was enough to push it off the curb.  I'm just glad it didn't tip over in the process!  Not exactly the way we want to make our first impression in the neighborhood.  "Hi, we're your new neighbors!  Yes, the ones with the poo and blue ice all over the front yard."  Um, ewwww.

[runaway potty]

We headed out of town first thing Sunday morning and made stops at four different family Christmas gatherings over the next three days.  Our family was beyond generous this Christmas, but our favorite part of the trip was spending time with family that we don't get to see every day.  I didn't do a great job documenting the trip on my camera, but I'll definitely cherish the memories.  Please tell me that I'm not the only one completely overwhelmed by balancing picture-taking and being present in the moment.  It's a constant conflict for me - I enjoy putting the camera down and just enjoying the company but then I always regret that I don't have enough pictures.  Ugh.

[E and his Cousins on Christmas Eve]

[Auntie and E on Christmas morning]

We got back to Cheese Country last night and hurriedly had to unpack and put stuff away, since our house cleaner came this morning.  I didn't exactly leave our Condo in the best condition (read: it was a disaster), so it was a pretty late night trying to find a home for all of our new Christmas treasures.  I am happy to report, however, that I think almost everything found a spot.  Just don't remind me that I need to pack it all up again in about two months.

We did run by the lot on our way into town last night, but the only noticeable difference was that our siding and trim had been delivered.  Hubby quickly explored the inside using the ever-handy iPhone flashlight, but said he didn't see that anything had been done.  Today was a different story, however.  We now have a basement floor!  The front and back porches, as well as the garage, have been sealed off with insulated material, but Hubby said he wasn't sure if they'd actually gotten the floors poured.  Either way, it's exciting to see progress again.

I have to work tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to heading out on Saturday morning to check everything out myself!  Exciting stuff!!

 On a completely unrelated note, I used a bit of down time over Christmas to finally finish editing some photos I took back in May.  Ridiculous, I know.  But, isn't this little guy just precious?!  I can't help but share. I have one more little guy to finish up and then maybe I'll start going through our vacation photos...also from May.  Eeek.