Out of the Old and Into the New

We cleaned out the old (rental) townhouse and turned in the keys last Tuesday, and have successfully moved into our new home (thanks to all the moving help from church friends)! Lucas and Amber are sitting in the one habitable spot in the living room; everything else is BOXES everywhere! smiles. We will have more pictures to come as things get settled.

Finished Look of Carpet

The master bedroom, Amber's room, office, and basement with lovely new carpeting. At least to us owners, when you walk on the new carpet it feels like sand between your toes - warm and relaxing.

Carpet Installation

Pictures from the day the carpet was installed. Amber was just hanging out in her Pack 'n' Play for most of the time while the workers installed the carpet from 11am-5pm.

Evidence of Hard Work

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!!

Below, you can see what all Lucas has been working on: cutting and putting up molding in the basement, repairing the subflooring upstairs, etc. Lots of hard work!

The Painted Living Room

We got the living room painted just in time for the carpet installation and final move in. Currently part of our living room serves as the kitchenette until our actual kitchen remodel is
finished.

The Final Stages

It's been a busy week to say the least. But with the computer set up now, and the pictures
downloaded, we can finally post again. :-)

We moved into our new home just three days ago. But here are some pictures of the final preparations the week before. Lucas worked so hard to get the kitchen lighting installed, and then put the subflooring back together upstairs. And our friend Marisa (along with others) came over to help prime and paint the living room.

Daddy and Amber Chat

After long hours of work at the house, Amber and Daddy enjoy some time chatting.

Laughter and Babbles

Amber "talks," babbles, and giggles more each day. Sometimes she seems to shock herself with her own noises - so funny.

Progress

On Sunday it was off to church, eat lunch, and then head back to the house for more work. You can see more of the basement paint/colors below, and me standing in front of the "accent wall" as you walk down the stairwell to the basement. (That brown color behind me is what
will be in the living room upstairs).

Another special hat

Amber enjoys wearing her colorful beanie cap made by Lucas' Aunt Carol. The hat keeps her so nice and warm, and she looks so cut and ready to go sledding in WI or VT. :-)

Amber and G'pa Smith

Working on the Basement

This past weekend we made some great progress on the basement - thanks to G'pa Smith and our friend Jim again! We chose "sagey" green and "sandpoint"/peachy as our colors downstairs, and we're liking how it looks! Lucas is just about finished with the tile work by the basement door entrance, [I'm SO impressed with his abilities to do things like this!] It all looks amazing!

G'pa Smith Reads to Amber

Grandpa Smith came down for the weekend to visit, and to help us work on our house. He was such a blessing to us and to Amber, as she got to enjoy even more story time, love and attention. :-) (G'ma Smith was planning on coming down as well, but unfortunately got sick with the flu. We hope she is recovered very soon).

Amber Likes Books

We are discovering that Amber likes to look at the bright pages of storybooks. I think the storytelling tone of our voices as we read is entertainment for her as well. We try to read her at least one story a day now.

Pre-crawling Days

Amber is becoming more content to be on her tummy now, and she is getting so much stronger. In only a few shorts months I'm sure she will be crawling around our new house. :-)

An Experiment

Here I tried painting the kid's bathroom (old, gold) mirror bright pink, to go with the softer pink color in the room. But... It doesn't look so good. Well, nothing a little more paint can't fix. The plan is to repaint it white, so it will match the white sink and countertop in the bathroom.

A Work in Progress

This past weekend we again had some friends volunteer and help us paint the remainder of the upstairs and stairwell. Amber's room is "Lilac Tan," the office is blue/"Emminence," and the stairwell/hallway is a creamy-tan. We think it's looking really good - thanks to all the help!!

Amber in the New Room

I showed Amber the new colors in the master bedroom/bathroom. She likes them! Well, at least they definitely caught her attention, being such bright colors.

Master Bedroom complete!

After a week of taping, priming, painting the border, retaping, painting,... Our master bedroom and bathroom are completed! We really like the bold colors in the bedroom area. The closet and bathroom are a more neutral cream color.

Holding Her Head Up!

Though Amber does not like "tummy time" too much, she is getting better at holding her head up nonetheless. In the past two days she has started grabbing onto toys and things, and rolling onto her side as well. Our little precious Girl is growing big and strong!

I love Daddy