All the small things.....and some big

Hello again, more updates on the house. Surprised? I didn't think so. So there are a few little things that I neglected to mention but still took a lot of time or caused us some heartache. The first little item being this heater vent thing. The previous owners had the vent for their dryer come out of their window so since we got new windows that really wasn't an option anymore. So one Saturday Danny, his dad and his brother Dean drilled a hole through the concrete to make this vent hole. They had some cement left over from laying the tile so Danny just threw it around the hole. It doesn't look super fancy but it will do the job. This took them quite a while. A small thing but still deserves to be mentioned b/c it is yet another thing we had to do to this beautiful home we'eve purchased. :-)

Another small thing that we of course didn't plan on was replacing these taps outside of the home. They had so much lime and rust on them that they would leak and the water would just go right into the foundation of the home. Not a good thing to be happening right? So, we had to call our plumber to replace them. Our sheetrock had just barely been finished in the basement and our plumber had to put a hole in the ceiling to get one of these taps replaced. Such a pain!! Yet another expense we weren't planning on. But the list is endless so I don't know why I am surprised. Isn't it a beauty now though? I know, I know, small things but if we ever go to sell this house I am going to print all of these blog posts for the potential buyer to read so they know how much of this home has been replaced. Yes, that's right almost the entire house. Wow, are you sensing bitterness here?  I'm not really bitter just done with working on the home and wanting to move in. I know that we will still have a really long list of things that need to be fixed as long as we own a home but I just need to vent sometimes okay?

The next small thing on the list really isn't that small but it was something that Danny was planning on doing until he started figuring out how much work and time it was going to be. So, add this expense to the 'unexpected expense' list, rain gutters!! Aren't they beautiful? I know, you really can't see them all that well but we are glad that they finally got on. It wasn't pretty when it would rain and there weren't any rain gutters on.

I can hardly stand to even look at this picture b/c of the hard water stains. Next spring that is going to be my big project. But you can see the beautiful downspouts that were installed with the rain gutters. Oh the things that bring me joy these days. It is just so nice to see things getting done.

We did finally get the blinds installed and I love them. Unfortunately for some reason the guy didn't have the blinds for the big window in front. LAME!! That is the one we want it on the most so that we aren't living in a fish bowl. Oh well, I just hope they come before we live there. That would really drive me crazy. For some reason the dining room blinds were measured wrong so they are short and there are blinds for the basement missing. Great news, I know! There is actually metal around the windows in the basement so before we get the blinds installed in the basement we have to add some wood there so it's not metal and looks like the wall. I really do love the blind though. I couldn't get the best picture. But you get the idea they are just your standard while, wood blinds.

Since I can't do much in the house right now I have been working on the yard. I don't know if I have ever taken a picture of the huge tree in front of our house but it is huge and produced a lot of leaves. So, one of my work slaves came down and helped me to clean up the leaves and mow the lawn. Thanks Mom!! It took about 8 bags full of grass and leaves to get it all cleaned up.

I love this picture of Sam toddling behind my mom. I also got all of my tulips planted so it was nice to get that done. Hopefully it will result in some beautiful flowers come spring time. The weather this week has been ridiculously beautiful. I took a couple pictures of the little Sam man in the leaves. I know I say this all the time but he really is so funny. His shirt is a little bit big b/c he is such a shrimp. I am sure that he will hit a growth spurt as some point. I buy 12 month pants and still have to roll them. He is only 14 months so it's not like he's really is a midget or anything I guess I just expect him to be bigger. One of these days. I love this kid!!

He is really trying hard to talk. He almost has dog down but kind of says it backwards. It is quite cute. He really tries hard though. He is also signing really well now. He signs the words: more, milk, all done, food and a couple more I can't think of at the moment. He has his own little unique way of doing it that is so cute. I did manage to get a couple signs on video so I will try to get that posted. It is really nice to be able to understand each other a little bit better. He understands soooo much it amazes me. I underestimate these little kids.

I keep thinking that I can just let Sam play at the house while I try to get something done. It is still pretty much impossible to get anything done with him there. I don't care how much I think the place is cleaned up he will find something dangerous or dirty to get into GUARANTEED!! I am amazed every day at the things he finds and does. He is such a boy and I love it!

And I couldn't leave out a picture of his signature face.

Danny is at the house tonight working on the tile. Tyler and Dean were there helping again tonight. We are so thankful for willing family and friends to come help. I know I've said it many time before but it deserves to be repeated. They got the main bathroom grouted (including the shower, yippee!) and they also got the entire kitchen/dining room grouted. Dean finished laying the tile in the small half bath and the entry way so the tile is almost done. I am sooo excited. Now Danny can stay home at night and I can go finish the painting. We are going to get in this house soon enough. Okay, I better go to bed. Sammy hasn't gotten the memo that it was daylight saving time. He has been waking up at 5:45 and it is killing me. I refuse to get him out of his crib before 6 but still it is killing me. I am hoping he will be back to his waking up at 7-7:15 time schedule soon. Stupid daylight savings time.