Cue song: "I'm a big kid now"

Ava is now the proud new owner of her big-girl carseat! She is uber pleased about the upgrade. She is also very fond of her new view... she can now watch me drive, look out the window, etc. We went this morning to the Clarendon Hills Fire Dept to have it installed by a very nice man. He's lived here his whole life and told me we made a wise decision by moving here. I liked hearing that. :) When I put her in the new seat, she was looking around and smiling. I snapped a few pics of her during our morning errands. Such a happy girl. Although... now that she can see me up front, I suppose I'll need to cut down on all those "gestures" I make at other drivers. Probably should get my road rage in check, too. Oops. 

"For real?  This is how I get to sit from now on?!"

"Mom!!  This is the COOOOLEST!" 

So. Tired. Can't.  Keep.  Eyes.  Open.

Carseat 1- Ava 0

Dance party with Mom

Holy yardwork, Batman!

I think we bit off more than we could chew.  Wow!  We worked ALL DAY in our yard... raking, mowing, sweeping, etc.  I am so happy though... the house looks great and we got a ton of things accomplished.  Here are some pics taken from the weekend:

Running to join "the boys" 

 "The boys" are getting all of their kissing in...

Sweet little nose.... 

 Love this girl

 Supervising Dad's skills

 So happy to be running free

 Painting by Mom... AMAZING!!!

And another... SO TALENTED! 

El bistro de people that like decent/ better than gas station food.

Sledding in November!!!!

Just call me Pearl

The Landlord from Will Ferrell

Progress: Family Room, Dining & Kitchen

... and the painting continues!!! Walter (our hungarian-retired police officer- professional painter-friend) has been here all week... painting from top to bottom. He's also repainting all the doors/ molding. It's amazing how a coat of white paint can make everything look clean and new. I just love it. I feel like we're putting our own stamp on it.

We have soooo far to go until it's complete though... and if I'm anything like my own Mother- it will NEVER be finished because she's always redecorating something or another. Here are a few before and after pics of the rooms mentioned:

BEFORE (PICS TAKEN DURING INSPECTION):

AFTER:

We still have a ton of art/ pics to hang... which should add a lot of color to the rooms... which means I've been stalking Homegoods for the perfect mirrors/ pictures to fill the walls. I've been 3 times this week... and left with an empty cart each time (and that, my friend- is no easy task!)     

Progress: Master Suite

The master bedroom was painted today!!! We went with the color Silver Sage (from Restoration Hardware). I LOVE IT. Here are a few pics. We are still missing some furniture that is on backorder (a chest/ mirror, decorative "stuff" and a chair/ ottoman in one of the corners). But we are sooooo in love with how the color turned out thus far. Here are a few before pics (when the house was on the market with the previous owner's decor) and after pics (with OUR stuff & new paint).

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Halloween 2010

This is the first time I can say that I actually gave out candy for Halloween. In the city, people don’t buzz your condo. And before that, I was probably out until dawn with friends and not home to answer the door.

So this year, I bought candy! I was so excited. I even bought an ensemble of accessories to wear to the door.. Bunny ears, bunny nose, tail, etc... And no... No fishnets. I wasn’t trying to be a Playboy bunny... Just a sweet, clothed, non-provocative bunny. We had about 6 groups of kids come by... Which means I bought WAY too much candy... Which means, I will need to purchase some bigger pants in the upcoming weeks. I tried to be as animated as possible... Asking what they were and telling them how spooky / snazzy/ pretty their costumes were... While also telling them to take as much candy as their little hands could grab. A few kids looked at me like I was Santa. I was like.. “No, seriously, take as much as you want!” One poor kid looked around like there was a hidden camera somewhere with his mom behind it.. And he tentatively took an extra pack of skittles... And then ran for the hedges. Little freak. He is probably being raised by some organic-only-feeding-Mom that won’t give their kid sweets. Well... Not in this house kiddo! Something else I found weird... the kids stopped coming to the house by 6:00pm. So strange... I remember ringing doorbells up until like 9:00 pm...?

Ava has been under the weather & teething for the past few days. She was a trooper today, though. We had some friends out to see the house... I made my homemade chili and we all had a good time... Watching Ava play in the yard (in her costume) with the boys (dogs).

Here are some pics from today... And yes, my Mom made her beautiful Halloween bow! The gals at the grocery went goo-goo-ga-ga over it/ her! They even gave her a free cookie. They used to do that at Randall’s grocery in Quincy when I was little... Made me feel like I was 6 again. It’s cute to think she’ll get to experience some of the things I did when I was little. I mean, who wouldn’t go to the grocery store if they knew they were promised a cookie? :)

Unfinished visit

A few weeks back, I wrote a post about "The house that built me"... based on the song by Miranda Lambert (playing in the background of my blog).

My Mother was so moved by this post... considering our family's story. We lost Dad in February of 98 and the "house that built me" was sold, less than a year later. There was so much going on that there was very little time for goodbye.

She and I spoke today... mostly about how Ava handled her 2nd annual Halloween, and some other family stuff.

During our conversation Mom let me in on one of my xmas presents.

I am literally crying as I write this.

My Mother went to the door of the home on Kimberly Drive (where I grew up)... walked up... rang the bell... and explained to the current owners, my longing for one last walk-through of the house "that built me". The owners happily obliged and said that we are welcome to come back during out trip back home over Christmas.

I'm so speechless. All I can do is cry. I don't know if it's because I'm going to finally say goodbye... or if it's because I'm afraid of remembering all of the wonderful memories.

Either way. My Mom is one in a million. I cannot believe she did this for me. I am truly speechless. All I have are tears. Just tears.

I love you to the moon and back, Mom. Thank you for this most precious gift. I will never forget.

I WANNT GO FAST!! I WANNA GO FAST!!

Try not to smile... I dare ya.

FOR RENT!

We made a decision... at least for the immediate future.  We are going to rent our condo in the city, rather than sell.  So... I am officially now adding the title of Landlord to my list of job titles (others include... Stay-at-home-Mom, Cleaning Lady, Chef, Interior Decorator, Accounts Payable Director, etc,).  I'm not worried about it... but am looking out for any grenades (license requirements, fees, certifications, etc) that we need to hurdle.  Google has been a great resource thus far.


Here are some pics of the condo... tell your friends!

Seriously.  Tell your friends.  I'm a fan of offering a "finders fee".  Get to work.. whoever is reading this garbage.  ;-)

So much progress was done on the house today!  Well... by Ken, anyway.  I was far too hungover to accomplish hardly anything.  My sister came in on Friday (left this morning) and let's just say, we had a GREAT time last night.  She loved the house... and we literally laughed ourselves to death on Saturday.  She got her fill of Ava.... and eventually, we got our fill of drinkies.  I've been paying for it all day.  I literally don't even think I recall the first few hours of the morning because I was still buzzed.  So pathetic.  But in the end, I'm laughing it off because it was worth it... doesn't happen that often... and because it was "off the muggin-stink-eye's-hinges" (she will be the only person to understand this).  And to top off a great weekend, the Tigers whooped-up on Oklahoma, landing at #6 in the BCS.  A-MAZING.  I'm so proud to be a TIGER!!!  I will post pics of my glory days of MU... tomorrow.  Need some shuteye for now.  G'night!