Finally - a chance to breathe...

The house in Prairie Village officially belongs to someone else! Everything went well on Thursday and we hope the new owners enjoy that house as much as we did.

Here is where we live now.

Downtown is about 10 miles south and that is Lake Michigan on the right. Here is a closer view of our building.

We are right on the outskirts of Northwestern's campus, just a couple of blocks from lots of shops and parks.

Most rooms aren't 100% finished. Everything is put away, but I haven't decided on decorations yet. I don't want to post pictures until they are done, but we are organized and functioning quite well. Andrew is riding the train into work everyday and Morgan and I can walk to almost everywhere we want to go. It is definitely a new way to live. We were able to get rid of Andrew's car because of all this too!

Morgan was a real trooper through the moving process and chaos that came with it. He did great on all the long car rides he took and has adjusted to his new home with flying colors. No problems or lost sleep whatsoever.

Sleepy baby.

We had a very short visit at Mimi's during the move. The Great Grams came to visit us and of course...brought me a Pizza King Pizza for lunch. You can't find that kind of pizza anywhere near Kansas City! It was a nice pause in our journey to Chicago. Morgan liked it too (the visit, not the pizza)...but not a big fan of grass on his toes.

Can't...touch...grass...with...feet...

We redecorated Morgan's room a bit when we arrived. We're all blue now! We also put a bed in there...so were ready for visitors.

I think he likes it! Thanks Mimi!

Now, we're learning our way around and ready to visit with old friends. It will be so nice to be close to family and friends again. We definitely missed that! Purdue football games anyone??

* * * * * * * * * * *

A few more pictures...

We're trying new foods now with all 6 of our teeth! mmm...bananas...

Fun in the Tub!

It's great being in Chicago!

Have a safe and happy Labor Day weekend everyone!

More Work!

The office has officially moved to the "sun room". It is really nice and Andrew likes working out here much better than in the other room.

We replaced the lighting fixture in the third bedroom. It was some cruddy old brass thing. With that, we have removed all traces of brass in this house. Looking good and yeah...the third bedroom is a bedroom!

Happy Fourth of July!

We hope everyone's holiday is happy and enjoyable!
Morgan sure is having a great time.

This book is hilarious!


Home Improvements

It's a hot one here in KC today, so indoor projects are on the list. We finally decided to get rid of those bi-fold doors that were on the entrance to the 3rd bedroom/office. We replaced them ourselves with some frosted glass front sliding doors. I have to say...it is a HUGE improvement! I would post a before picture, but the bi-fold doors were so ugly I never took a picture of them.

Much better - If you saw the previous doors...you'll understand why we're so happy with this.

We also went ahead and took down the vertical blinds that were on the sliding door leading to the backyard. After a little wall repair and hanging up some curtains, we were done. Again...a HUGE improvement. It made the room look twice as big! I like when the little things make a big difference.

Feels like a new house!

On a pleasant but unusual note, our kitchen sink "problems" seem to have fixed themselves. Apparently, we only had to talk about calling in a plumber and the sink whipped itself back into shape. Just thought I'd share...weird.

- Work, Work, Work -

Morgan was a great supervisor...it was a little chilly early this morning (hence the jacket)

Eric and Cynthia graciously came to Kansas City this weekend to help us do some work around the house. Andrew and I had a list that seemed to be a mile long and I was SURE we weren't going to get it all done in 1 weekend. I was wrong. It all got done and in record time!

First, Eric primed and painted all the trim on our new windows.

Then, after 2 trips to Home Depot, Andrew, Cynthia and Eric planted and mulched all the landscaping on the front of the house.

AND...After that, Eric and Andrew repaired all the little cracks in the foundation.

I cared for Morgan while all the work got done. I couldn't believe it! They were finished by 2:00pm - with a lunch break in there too! We all had time for a nice nap and then we went to the Plaza to walk around and have supper. We even got Eric to bowl on the Wii after we got home. It has been a GREAT Saturday! We couldn't have asked for nicer weather, and I am really happy with how everything has turned out. Andrew and I could never have got all this done in such a short amount of time without their help. We greatly appreciate it! OK, enough talk - here are some pictures.

Landscaping in progress...

Moving right along! We finished off a small side yard on the other side of the garage as well.

Ta Da! It might look a little sparse now, but with some time, it will fill in.

Lookin' good!

Morgan enjoyed people watching at the Plaza.

Time to bowl on the Wii. You can see a little bit of the new windows in the background here...

We plan on going to church tomorrow morning and then they'll be off to the airport to head back to Chicago. GOOD TIMES! Is there still time to get a milkshake from Sheridan's?

- This and That -

Installation of our windows is half way done. They are to finish up on Monday. Darn the rain!!!

Grandma Lewis comes to visit on Thursday and we are excited! Morgan has so many new talents to show her since the last time she was here. He has officially discovered his feet and boy are they funny. He looks and grabs at them and then lets out a good belly laugh. I haven't been able to catch that on film yet, but I'm working on it. He's started to "mmmmm...." with each bite of cereal. It makes us laugh, then he laughs...makes for fun meal times. We're still working on sitting up, and making progress each day. Lastly, he is teething! You can tell he's a little tender in the gum and he's chewing on everything, but no fever or seriously bad mood so we're considering ourselves lucky so far.

Now for some pictures...

My first trip to the farmer's market was last weekend.

Me and my buddy, Link, hang out together quite a bit.

I'm starting to fill out this high chair a bit more.

Is my cereal ready yet?

I love it when I get kisses!

Until next time!

Goings on...

Things are changing here in KC. Morgan will be starting a new daycare/school on Monday. We weren't unhappy with our current place at all...it's just that this new place is even better. I won't bore you with all the details, but Andrew and I are really excited about this.

Ha Ha!! If I don't want to do tummy time...I just roll over

In other news, the trials of home ownership have bared their teeth. The weather was nice the other day and I was wanting to open up the windows for some fresh air. Fifty year old house with 50 year old windows that have probably been painted 50 times = sticky windows that require a little muscle to open. Well, upon pushing it open...the glass broke. I was not injured at all because I was pushing on the frame, but it broke nonetheless. We got a couple of estimates for replacement and have decided to go ahead and replace all the windows in the house. It will be a messy couple of weeks here while they are working, but it will be worth it in the end. Goodbye single pane! Perhaps our energy bills will be a bit better too.

Now - for those of you wondering how the cats are adjusting to Morgan...

Patti thinks I'm too noisy, but Link and I are buddies...

Lake Witherspoon???

Not anymore! Every time it rained, water puddled dramatically in the middle of the driveway. We thought it was just poorly graded, but after we got someone at the house to redo the driveway, he found a foundation drain that had been overgrown with grass. It wasn't doing much good like that. The drain is operational now and the drive has a fresh coat of asphalt on top of the severely cracked concrete. Boring conversation for everyone but us??? Probably...but you're still reading it.

Anyway, we are really happy with the results and we just wanted to share. Now Jelly will be able to ride his bike on smooth asphalt one day...and we can wash our cars in the driveway without having to wear wading boots.

Ooohhh...pretty...

- a sense of completion -

So the bathroom has been 100% complete for about a week now. We are really enjoying it...and the fact that there isn't dust flying around anymore. Here's a little before and after...it doesn't do it justice though.

remember...oversized sunken tub, gross almond tile, clear glass window with mildewy mini blinds and NO water pressure! Those are shower supplies from the previous homeowner...YUCK!

Ta Da! All better!

The new project has become organizing the garage. Funny how that became such a dumping ground for stuff we didn't know what to do with. I think there is 25 years of old paint in the storage section of it! No real rush on this...Just one more thing to do with the house.

On an incredibly happy note, I've recently been able to reconnect with some wonderful friends. We all kind of wait for life to slow down a little bit to make that phone call. It doesn't happen...our lives don't seem to slow down enough and the next thing you know, it's been way too long! You do know though, that when you do make that call, or send that email, that your friendship will have survived. You will have missed joys and sorrows of their lives, but the support system of your friendships are as strong as ever. To those great friends...please know that I always thought of you and wondered about your lives and happiness. You were NEVER forgotten. I will be a better friend to you both. You are too important to me.

Plumbing...DONE!

Our contractor is the greatest. We only asked him to replace the plumbing for the bathtub, but once he got under the house he just replaced it all. "Well...I'll just take care of it" were his words. You'll all be happy to know that we have excellent water pressure everywhere in the house, not just in the tub. It is truly surprising how corroded a galvanized water pipe can get over the years. You probably couldn't even get 2 toothpicks into some of the pipe he replaced. YUCK! I just noticed how boring this must sound to most people.

Now he can start to rebuild things. We should start to see some real progress now. Less than 2 weeks until the move and we're ready for it!

Okay so this picture is so funny looking I couldn't resist...This is Eric and Andrew in their "gear" to enter the crawl space. You don't want to get dirty...

Making progress...

The bathroom saga continues, but we are making some real progress now! The enormous hole in the floor is gone, but now there is one through the wall straight outside. Obviously, it gets plugged up each night though. Our contractor is starting to update the plumbing next week so more visible progress might not be until after that. Lord knows I'm not crawling around the crawl space to see it. The new window has been delivered and it looks great in the box at least. We're going to pick out tile and fixtures this week so more is to come.

Officially, May 19 is our move-in date although we continue to take things over from the apartment. We'll be sending out change of address cards to keep you all up to date on our whereabouts.

In other happenings, there is a momma bird that insists on building her nest on our downspout. Probably not a big deal to many of you, but it is a pretty vicarious spot and her babies could fall onto the concrete driveway. We decided it would be best to remove the nest in hopes that she would rebuild in a different place...unfortunately, she didn't think there was a better spot and she rebuilt in the same place (bigger and better I might add). This picture is her work after 2.5 days. Amazing...

New Crawl Space Access...

We officially have a 15 square foot "hole" in our bathroom. The tub is out, with one serious surprise. We originally started this project just because the bath tub was ugly and let's face it...wierd. Once we got the tub out we understood the necessity for this undertaking. It turns out, this 500 pound, oversized tub was only supported 3/4 the way around! No wood...no nothing. Check out the picture...Could you imagine that tub full of water? Now imagine me getting out of the tub via the crawl space. Yikes! Mildly frightening, but fortunately it will be fixed. Still, there was no more water or bug damage than was expected and we are lucky for that. Our contractor is making progress and keeping us updated all the way.

So, we're shooting for a move date of May 15. We've started taking boxes of things over as we go, so maybe moving day won't be so miserable. The movers will be the judges of that I suppose. We'll be hoping for visitors this summer...

Now for your dose of Link and Patti...because they are krazy kitties!


Link, so proud of spilling his toy box all over the floor. This is a morning ritual while Andrew and I are making the bed.

Patti, changing the oil of the bed. She was sleeping like this! She certainly isn't very good at hiding...

There's no turning back now...

Construction has started in the bathroom. Walls are torn out and the 500 lb cast iron tub is next to go (in about 4 pieces). Luckily, there wasn't anything unexpected behind the walls - no more water/bug damage than we anticipated. insert sigh of relief here... With demolition almost done, we'll start to rebuild. The tub area is getting a complete redo. We will be updating some plumbing under the house; replacing the window in the shower with a frosted, vinyl one; replacing the oversized sunken tub with a standard tub at standard height; there will be a new tile tub surround with a 10" deck off the back (I'm really excited about that); new fixtures; new commode; new ventilation fan...it will be great when its done.

In other news about the house, we've painted two of the three bedrooms (thanks, Brian!), the kitchen is ready to move-in, and we have new bedroom furniture being delivered this Thursday. It's coming together and not a moment too soon. We are really ready to move. Better start packing!

Brian is coming to visit!

He flys in tomorrow morning and back out on Tuesday. It will be a nice long trip. Don't tell Brian but we're going to paint 2 bedrooms while he is here. Sshhhhh...we're keeping it a secret until he's here and can't run away. We won't work him too hard though...there is plenty to do in Kansas City. What? Quit laughing...there IS a lot to do in KC. If any of you would come to visit, we could show you...hint

This picture is of Brian this past New Year's Eve. He looked so handsome I couldn't resist posting it...

The "Home" stretch...

We're leaving this view for semi-suburbia soon...and we can't wait.

Well, we have a walk-through tomorrow afternoon and take possession at 5:00pm this coming Friday! A contractor is scheduled to come in on Saturday to see what he can do for us in the bathroom. Things just need changed... It's incredibly exciting for Andrew and I and something we can't believe we get to think about. We're going to learn so much about home improvement and we'll never be bored again with things to do around the house...AND...I can finally wash my car in the driveway! It's the little things...

We won't be offically moving right away because we want to get things just the way we want before moving all of our stuff inside. We're lucky enough to have a 3 month overlap with the apartment so we have time to change paint and locks do a little bit of construction. We'll send out notices of our new address when we are there for good. It won't be any later than the middle of May.

With our new house, we hope for plenty of visitors. We'll have 2 guest rooms - no more aerobeds - and we promise not to make you work...too much. Is that enough incentive??? Link and Patti love visitors...SEE??? Just think about when you all want to come...we do take reservations.

Love to all of you reading this...you all mean more to us than you know.

The Waiting Game is what we are playing now.

We got the inspection notice back and the seller agreed to fix all the things we requested of him. We are centainly happy about that. Now...we wait...for him to fix things, for appraisals, for walk throughs, for March 2 to roll around so we can take possession of our 1st home! Who knew this was such a drawn out process? Not all that satisfying for those who enjoy instant gratification...just kidding of course. As usual, we'll keep posting as things come about. Here's another picture of our future home. This is the dining area at the back of the house. It's right off of the kitchen.

We were graced with Grace Ann and her brother Matt's presence for a very short time late last week. They were just passing through on a cross-country drive from San Diego to Lafayette. If you've read Grace Ann's blog lately, you know, but Miss Grace was terribly sick for most of the trip. "You've never felt so far from home..." she says. I'm sure we all could relate to that in some degree. Speaking of "home", we will be traveling to Indiana for a long weekend in a couple of weeks. We'll be flying in late Thursday and back to Kansas City early the next Tuesday. A nice long trip and we can't wait to see everyone!

That's all for now!

First time buyers...

Wow, buying a home is truly a learning experience. We had the inspection on Monday and while there isn't anything that is a big problem, seeing all the little ones laid out on paper is an eye opener. Now we get to decide on what the current owner needs to fix before we sign on completely. What is too much to ask for? I suppose the ball is really in our court now...

Here's a picture of the living room. This is right after you enter the front door...


It is just so stressful thinking about all the things that come with a home. Our minds are reeling thinking about the things we want to do to the house to make it "ours"- improvements, and things we might need to do - repairing HVAC, hot water heaters, roof conditions...CHANGING AN AIR FILTER IN THE CRAWL SPACE!!! Sorry, I started hyperventilating there ;) No worries, we do know what we're getting into and are certainly ready for the leap into home ownership, it's just really becoming clear now.

For a real plus, there are tons of windows that our furbabies, Link and Patti, will enjoy. There is also a nice recessed area above the kitchen cabinets that we know Link will explore. If you've met Link, you know he loves heights. If you don't, let me illustrate...That's him on top of the wall there on the left.

Miss Patti is happy anywhere as long as she has access to food. Sweet Patti...on the right.

I've changed subjects completely and since Andrew thinks I probably should have named this blog "Our Cats and What They've Been Up To..." Here's one for good measure. Enjoy!

Awww...they love each other.

The Hunt...

So as everyone knows, we have been on the hunt for a home of our own. We "drafted" a realtor and she is wonderfully helpful to us as first time buyers. First, we found a darling neighborhood...Prairie Village, Kansas. It's an established area, very close to the city, only a few miles from downtown, and full of charming, established homes. We looked at a few homes in that area, and were lucky enough to find the perfect one rather quickly. Andrew found the house first on the internet, and when we saw it in person, we instantly fell in love with it. It is perfect for us! When we walked in the front door, we knew it was the home we wanted - a 1950's single story, completely updated with contemporary stylings. It already felt like home so we had to act...

The Capture...

We made an offer on Thursday, January 12. It was countered and we accepted it today! Pending inspections and appraisals, we close on March 2, 2006. It's hard to believe it happened so quickly. Here it is...


We couldn't be more excited!