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.

...and wouldn't you know, it looks like a real house!

Without further adieu dear friends and family, The New Nest has a roof! It took them one whole day to git 'er done. We also had a chance to talk to one of the builders (one of the bosses) today. He said that we should be in by late November, first of December without a problem! Looks like we'll be spending our first Christmas in The New Nest in '09! Yeah!!!!! Santa now has a chimney to come down, instead of the 'special magic key' we used to hang on the door for him.

We will send some more updates mid-week, as the windows will be in TOMORROW!! After the windows go in and the shingles are put on, it won't look like much but 2x4's in pics we take inside...but you can bet we'll be taking some anyway. Thanks to all of our friends and family that have sent their well wishes and excitement our way! This is really a wonderful time for us and we look forward to having lots of gatherings and celebrations....yes, we plan on getting grass as soon as we can in the spring. If not, we'll just move the party across the street to the Percy's or the Whalen's...they won't mind ;)

...till next time.

Nest News

~Week of August 3rd - 7th~

The Rough Framing Commences!They are really plugging along on the house. We've been told that the exterior/interior framing and roof go up really fast...it's the interior that seems to take forever! Well, we can already see how easily it is to get excited at the progress, but then look to our neighbors and see that their house seems to be at a standstill....at least from the outside! We know that they have the plumbing in and that the electrical must be there too because the Percy's said they saw the heating/cooling guys there the other day. How wonderful it is to have our 'spies' in the neighborhood!

Garage --Brad LOVES the two big windows in his 3-car garage!

Back of garage and the back of the morning room, to the left. Below the morning room will be two windows, as well.

It's going to be rough looking through the window at this day-in and day-out ;)

Two story foyer -- nice big window up above and a great doorway.

Looking through the front window of the 'study'..front door is to the right. We will also have a front porch, just like the Redford house!

.....MORE PHOTOS TO COME!

**As soon as we get our computer fixed, we'll upload more pics. As of August 25th, we have a second floor and three walls! We're sure that we'll have a roof on by next week.*

Building the new nest...

Summer is flying by. The kids will be going back to school in a few weeks. There hasn't been time to keep everyone updated on our lives, because we can't keep up either!!

Owen played coach pitch baseball this summer...

Avery has been enjoying the summer sun...

And Beezer is about as cool as they come...

Stacey and Koo were married...

and our new nest is coming together fast...

The construction of our new home is exciting, scary, emotional, stressfull, exciting and exciting! Did we mention how exciting this is?

It all started as grass and dirt...

From the dirt footings rise...

Next thing you know, we have a basement....

....looking forward to more sunsets like this from our 'deck'.

The view from the back, before the backfill was completed. We discovered that our lot actually extends a lot wider than we had thought and there is a nice ravine between our house and the neighbor to our left.

...days later the lot was graded and backfilled. The kids are excited about having a real yard to play in! Owen, Avery, B and Daddy running up the future driveway.

....each day (which is literally every single day) that we check on the site, there is something new! We're certain that the builders have a nickname for me..."Crazy Lady, Minivan Stalker". Here, the first floor is completed! Not quite sure where I am standing, but we think it is the nook....although it could be a closet.

And all of this was completed in about two weeks...WOW!!!!

...MORE TO COME!

A New Chapter

A new chapter in our lives. In lieu of being able to sell our house right now, we decided to lease it out. It doesn't feel like a failure because we didn't sell, we just chose another direction...a 'detour', if you will. Like I have stated before, Brad and I have conquered many challenges in our lives together. It seems that no matter what is put before us we always find a way to bend, twist, and figure out how to make things happen. I guess they call that flexibility and I would think that is a positive attribute. So the papers were signed and two weeks later, off we were to the "Transitional Housing Unit." So far, so good.

Even though the move is something that we've dreamed of for a long time, it has been bittersweet. The Woodworth House was our beginning. We settled there as a couple looking to our future, returned to it after our honeymoon, started raising our family and held many family gatherings. It was our home and the only home that our kids have known. All three of our children celebrated their First Birthday's there, not to mention all of the other 'firsts' that have encircled their lives. First steps, first ice cream cone, first skinned knee. I honestly couldn't imagine having any of those 'firsts' anywhere else. That was our home, it always welcomed us and brought us comfort. Even some of the not so wonderful life events, the Woodworth House was a 'safe' place for us. And now it seems that the next chapter is beginning for us. We may have left behind the place where we once lived and began our life together, but the home that provided the foundation for our family will always be dear to us.

This year was the first year since Brad and I have been together that we didn't make it Up North (in some shape or form) for our 4th of July week-long vacation. In the past, even having a 2 week old baby hasn't even been able to stop us from going (although it was a long car ride as new parents, but so worth it). So it was a strange feeling to be home. We put Beezer down for bed and let Owen and Avery stay up with us on our last night in the house. Brad got a fire going in our 'city fire pit,' we had Hot Shmoes (S'Mores -- the kids call 'em Shmoes), and Mom and Dad had some beverages to take the edge off. It was really a great night. The kids talked about some of their favorite memories in the house, what they'll miss and what they are looking forward to. Brad and I sat back and watched as they caught fireflies for the last time in that backyard, something they've always loved to do. Later on, Brad broke out the 'big guns' and started with his fireworks display. I say that lightly because he purchased the fireworks from Kroger...good Michigan-safe fireworks. After he lit the first 'fountain-type' one Avery said, "That's it?? Those stink!" We couldn't help but laugh because all she has ever seen are the fireworks at the Livonia Spree and the fireworks display the Gonos' Family have each year at Higgins Lake. We got a good laugh out of it, as each time Brad lit the next one and it was over the response from both was "LAME!" A wonderful memory to have of our last night in the Woodworth House....
Brad's Fireworks Display -- OOOH, AHHHH!

HOT SHMOES!
Owen enjoying the "City Fire."