Yep, I'm one of THOSE bloggers...but it's not my fault, I promise!

I so didn't mean to do it.
I really thought I would be a Good Blogger & continue to post & update as we started adjusting to life in our new house.

I really didn't account for how hectic things would get, how busy work would be and of course, how growing a small human would just zap anything resembling motivation.

But here we are, about 4.5 months from move-in date so here goes!

I can honestly say I love my house.  That's not to say there aren't a few things on the "wish we would've thought of that" list but overall it is exactly what we wanted and we wouldn't change a thing.  Well, except for more closet space.  The "closet" in the laundry room is just laughable and the bedrooms could have bigger/better designed closets.  I've seen the S&A homes on our street & I'm jealous!  Why couldn't we have cabinets in our laundry room to help?  I smell a future project...

It took about 6-7 weeks to have our "30-day" meeting bc our PM left to go be a Spanish teacher.  The new PM wants to make us happy.  It took a REALLY long time to get the plumber & granite guys to come fix stuff (like a total of 3 months) but they did a good job.  Now if I can get the front walk, steps & porch fixed we'll be in business.  There's an obvious mistake on the column/front walk & steps placement & the porch cracked right in front of the front door.  We were given some reason that made no sense - nice try but we're both civil engineers and understand a) how concrete works and b) what happens when it's not done correctly.

We actually have a decent yard now, although we've gone way past the 2 measly bags of seed that the landscapers donated.  J took the yard as a personal mission.  We're talking an assortment of hoses, manifolds, timers...it was elaborate.  Unfortunately, that water bill was sickening.

J & I have had an absolute blast furnishing the house.  Luckily we had saved for this - it was NOT cheap but we decided we would rather invest in quality that we would have for a long time rather than go on the cheap and replace every few years.  Here are some pictures of what we chose:

Our Bedroom...we're grownups now with REAL furniture!

Main room (looking from office).  LOVE how comfortable this is...
Total plug for La-Z-Boy design services here.

Morning Room (now we have fewer boxes and a mirror)

 See this fella?  He's...a challenge!  Super cute, which is obviously on purpose.  We decided that it was in EVERYONE'S best interest to go ahead and install a fence.  I'm fairly sure it'll be useful for small humans in the future.  Here's a picture of the installation process.  At this point, we still need to buy our shed (to free up that other garage bay...winter is coming!) but we have a fence!  Once the dirt settles we can stop using a leash when we take Harrison outside.  Which is all.the.time.  Someone likes to hear the bells on the door ring...

Harry Joe in Puppy Jail

HJ and his Daddy :)

That face!  Soooo much trouble wrapped in cuteness

He went as Chumpasaurus Rex for Halloween :)

Puppy Point Guard - UK's next blue chip recruit!

Harrison & Mommy on a Sheetz Run for donuts!

Harrison & Daddy chillin' on the chaise

Happy Day!  Harrison gets his fence!

Dignity is for suckers

We also are almost done with our other project, Stewart:  Generation 2.0.  I'm due in just over a month!  The nursery is almost done - apologies for the poor lighting but there was NO lighting until we installed the ceiling fan.  Another "why on earth does Ryan not do this" type thing.  I suppose we just had to show them the money!

Casa de Stew:  Nursery Edition

Baby Stew's crib :)

Millenium Park, Chicago:  Babymoon 2015
Labor Day Weekend - 24+ weeks

Like a Boss - Buckingham Fountain, Chicago
Babymoon, Labor Day Weekend 2015

When else can I go as the Wrecking Ball??

Finally, we begin work on our basement bar, "The Rickhouse" next week!  I'm hoping to post pictures of the finished area shortly but am making no promises :)

Really brave, really dumb or both...

Santa certainly DOES love Harrison!