Happy Halloween!

It is our favorite time of the year. A time to decorate the house, carve the pumpkins, sip on some warm cider (we hear Kevin likes cider) and enjoy a little trick-or-treating with the kids. It's been a little different being in the apartment this year, but we definitely have the best decorated balcony in the building! We have our lights up and our usual Halloween decor' hanging up. It makes it feel like 'home'....well, as much as it possibly can. We even decorated the outside of our door with a yellow caution tape that reads "Caution - Enter at your own risk" and a hanging skeleton...which we seem to keep finding in some fairly suggestive positions every morning. The kids get a kick out of it anyway (it is kind of funny).

The best part of Halloween for the Nester Family this year is getting our first round of trick-or-treating in the new neighborhood. The kids are in heaven over the whole idea, it almost seems too good to be true to them. They even have a costume parade for the kids. After spending some time with our new neighbors at the Fall Party, we already feel like we are home. So tonight, we kicked off our Halloween celebration with our pumpkin carving contest..well, it's a contest to me. Everyone else does it for "fun." I'm kidding. Brad has come a lonnnnng way with his pumpkin carving skills. I remember the first year (1999) in our new home in Redford, I brought home the pumpkins to carve and I had to actually scoop the guts out for him. He now does it himself. I'm so proud. The kids had a blast and poor Little B was still feeling a little under the weather and was in bed, so I carved my pumpkin in honor of him. As for the contest......Owen won this year.

Happy Halloween Everyone!! May the Force Be With You!

It's official

It is official. Brad got the call today from the secretary at the office that we'll be having our final walk-through on the 17th of November....and closing for sure on the 20th. So that leaves us with 28 days in this apartment. The first thing we did when we got the news was print off a countdown calendar and taped it up on the wall by the pictures of the house. I had the opportunity yesterday to walk through with the 'nice' Canzano Brother. He showed me around and told me what they did and what was going to be done soon. It's amazing. It is way above what we imagined and is really going to be the perfect place for us to be for the next 30+ years. Brad and I are both super excited to have everyone over to celebrate with us! We're thinking we can maybe squeak a little party in between Thanksgiving and Christmas? Let us know who is in!

I foresee this scenario in our near future......We'll have lots of room and sofa sleepers. Bring your sleeping bag!! We'll have 'Waffle Bar Sunday'....

It's almost here.

Not too much to say. Just counting down the days 'till we are in the New Nest. We got a little insider info that tells us the closing day will be November 20th. It's almost here......

(insert ear-to-ear-grin here)

Moving right along.

The move-in date appears to be upon the horizon. This whole apartment thing is near the end. It hasn't really been all that horrible but it is definitely something we don't want to do again. I mean, our bedroom is bigger in this apartment than it was in the Redford house...and we have a master bath to boot....but we're done. This one-floor-living-plan is for the birds.

The mortgage app is already rolling and into place, the only thing we are waiting on is an exact closing date. One of the neighbors that just moved in last week actually closed a week earlier than they had planned. That would be dandy. Brad and I still feel that we have to pinch ourselves when we see what we have to look forward to. It's been so amazing for the kids, especially Owen. He is now riding the bus to and from the neighborhood with the Percy and Whalen kids. That 'gang' is going to be so much fun to watch grow up together. Brad said the other day they all got off the bus singing Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' and sang it all the way down the sidewalk to the Percy's. I guess the bus driver has been playing them music on the way home (Kidz Bop, etc.). The Percy's also built a stage in their basement, so that they have a place to perform. I'm sure we'll get some great footage to embarrass them with when they get older.

So brace yourself friends and family, the 'The Nester Nest Party' is coming soon. I can't wait to cook for everyone and Brad can't wait to serve all the frosty, adult beverages.

The driveway, sidewalk and porch are all poured and ready to go.

They've started to install the railing....

and the kitchen cabinets are in.

There are so many more pics to post but our computer is still acting goofy. Sorry these are so small...can't figure out why right now. Hope you can see them OK.

...more to come

The Beezer...

Well, it just occurred to me this morning that Mr. B is 18 months old today. Wow..where has the time gone? It's easy in the day-to-day grind to remember that he is still a baby. I know that sounds weird, but he just goes with the flow so it's easy to lose sight of that.

Not much has changed as far as his fascination with Cars...the Pixar Cars, any cars. He LOVES cars. He also got his first look at Thomas the Tank Engine. Guess it's time to send Daddy into the storage unit to dig out Owen's old Thomas stuff. Brendan still isn't saying a whole lot but is very good at shooting out random words. The other day I went through Tim Horton's to grab a coffee and he yelled out from the backseat "DONUT!!" I guess that's really kind of bad that he can already make that association. If Avery would have been with us, there would have been a 10-pack of Timbits in the car with us. Brendan knows what the box looks like. Oh well, could be worse things. He has also started to recently run around the house saying "Mommyyyy, Mommmyyyy!" It sounds so cute and I just melt. He's been running around saying the same thing with Daddy and I was starting to get a bit jealous. What's up with that?

We are really getting a kick out of him and his babbling. He has so much to say and is literally having a conversation with us..but we just can't totally get what he is saying. There is so much emotion and his voice changes in excitement....but it definitely doesn't sound like English. Brad is convinced that he'll just start talking in full sentences one day. Brendan also loves to try and sing along with us. He sings the Alphabet song which sounds like "A-E, A-E, A-E, AAAA", but he has the tune down to a tee. He also loves the Beatles song "Here Comes the Sun" and hums along with me when I sing it to him at night.

In a nutshell, these past 18 months with him have been wonderful. He was a special gift that was sent to us and made us complete. Brad and I were just talking the other night about how in the midst of all the things we had to go through....we have truly been blessed. My Mom has always told me that "Nothing worthwhile ever comes easy" and I believe that to be 100% true. Even with all of the sadness and uncertainty that we experienced, we wouldn't change the way things went. Brendan has made a lot of those old wounds heal......

It's a Brick....Houuuussse!!

One and a half days worth of work and the brick guys finished their job. Unbelievable!! It looks absolutely amazing and both Brad and I were brought to tears by seeing it nearly completed. I went by the house three times today. Once to drop Owen off at the bus stop, once to get out of the house for a few because all I could think about was the house and then to pick Owen up from the bus stop. It really feels so amazing...

The Brick Guys still hard at work...winding down on a job well done!!

LOVE the brick around the daylight windows. Did we say that this is just amazing??!?

...more to come.

Back to the grind.......

The First Day of School. What does that make you think of? To me it means the shortest night of sleep ever, butterflies in my stomach and a hurried morning getting back into the grind. I know it means the same to the kids, too.

This first morning was a pretty smooth one. We arrived early, found Owen's class and started getting him settled into his locker. I walked him into his classroom and met his new teacher. She welcomed him to the school, let him know that she was new to the school this year and that they would be learning together. That was comforting to both Owen and I. We walked around to find his desk and as we did, I could see a few teary eyes in the classroom. Kids that had taken the bus to school this first day and I'm sure had the shortest night of sleep ever, butterflies, and a hurried morning. I couldn't help it, but 'Mother Bear Mode' kicked in and I wanted to just hug them. I know that if their Mom saw them sitting there teary-eyed, they'd fall to pieces themselves. I felt blessed that I was able to accompany Owen to school on this first day...even though he made me go back out in the hall with him to give him a hug and a kiss before we left. He wouldn't let me do that in the classroom.

Avery's first day was great, too. It was hectic but

she was very excited and sat quietly in the back seat as we made the long trek to Livonia. Familiarity is comforting to her, it was nice to see her face light up when we pulled into the parking lot of the school. She has a fantastic teacher, the same one she had last year, and it is amazing to see all of the kids in her class after just a few short months. It's amazing how fast they grow up. I find myself remembering back to when Owen was 4 years old when I see Avery doing the things he did in the same program. The first day they read the Gingerbread Man story and get to make cookies. They put the cookies in the oven and when they come back to check...the gingerbread cookies are gone! They spend the class time looking all over the school and the church, trying to figure out where they went. When they return to the classroom after a long search, they find the Gingerbread Man cookies sitting there on their plates. Avery talked about this the entire ride home...the entire ride. I just turned the radio off and listened to her excitement. At that moment I realized that the first day of 4 year old preschool is gone, next year she'll be in Kindergarten. It's amazing how fast time has gone by...

As for Brendan and I...well, we went to the park after we dropped Avery off. I had the big idea that I could get a good walk in at the park, however Brendan had other ideas. I ended up pushing him on the swing, riding on the slide with him and chasing him along the path....of course, pushing the empty stroller after him. It'll be nice to have this time with each week. We don't get much 'alone time' together. I'm bound to get in my exercise too, whether it's taking him for a nice walk in the stroller....or him taking me for a walk while pushing his stroller. Either way, it'll be fun.