Phone dump

Happy hump day!

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for the weekend already! It could be because we had such an awesome weekend last weekend that I wasn't ready for it to end :) the weekend was all about catching up, with friends and family, and it was perfect.  We got the chance to see a few friends we haven't seen in a while and we had so much fun! Sunday was the first Sunday in almost a month that we hung out in New Canaan with my family. The usual lazy Sunday - feet up, hanging by the fire, yummy food, laughs, and wine - my fave! Here are a few pictures from our week! Madelyn has since come down with strep throat and has been battling a fever (up to 104!).  Her first time on meds, it is so hard to watch your baby be so sick! I just want to spend all day cuddling and hanging with her. I guess that's why I'm looking forward to the weekend so much this week :) 

Big girl pony tail!

 

the master cuddler

 

love those cheeks!

 

our special valentine!

 

 

Timing, and such

Timing is everything.... More on that later

We (I) have been spending a lot of time thinking about our next house.  I have a must-have list and a like-to-have list of things that I hope we are able to get in our next house.  While talking about it recently, I admitted to Brian that I'm scared we wont find a house that we fall in love with like this house.  We had seen about 15 houses when we were house hunting the first time and the minute this listing came online, I was all over it. Sure enough, we loved it the same in person. It just felt like us, and felt like home. We looked past the aesthetics and things that needed updating and just loved it for what it was.

So as we look ahead and look at houses, these are our next house must haves:
More space, incl 2 living spaces (family room + playroom)
At least 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths
Decent yard/lot
Central air
Good flow (doesnt need to be open floor plan)
Close to work, my parents and daycare

Like to have
Cul de sac
Master bath
Finished basement
Hardwood floors

The reason we are consumed with all of this? We have accepted an offer on our house and are currently signing the contracts! I dont want to jinx anything but the inspection went well and we are moving forward. We are planning to close mid April. So, as far as timing... we thought we had it all planned out and the timing would work out. We'd sell our house, find a house and maybe live with my parents for a few months if time overlapped. As I've mentioned our main objective is to finda larger  home, closer to work to cut down on the time we spend commuting. We narrowed our search to Wilton but are open to New Canaan and Darien. Most anyone could tell you that real estare in the later two towns comes at a pretty penny, so we are realistic about looking there.

A few weeks ago, our realtor tipped us off that there was a new house coming on the market in NC that we may like. I must have driven by 5 times before we finally got the ok to tour the house on Tuesday.  I went into it expecting the worst. There are essentially no houses in New Canaan in our price range so I just assumed this would be forgettable. From what I know now, the only negative is that the wooded 1 acre lot, backs up to the merrit parkway. For some, thats a huge deal breaker, but for us, it puts the house in our range.  What I wasn't ready for was the abundance of charm and character.  The house hits every mark on my list and then some. It is perfect, and it felt like home, to both of us.

Take a look at this amazing living room that must be 4x the size of our current space.  The opposite wall has a beautiful mantle and fireplace surrounded by built ins. This screams cozy family time and I can't stop thinking about it:

These ceilings continue through the ranch home, including the large master. I mean.... The house isn't even on the market yet.  The owners knew my grandfather well and were excited we were the first to see it.  Trouble is, our timing couldn't be more off.  Its like the tease of all teases.  We literally can't do anything for at least a month! So, when the house goes on the market this weekend, and with each passing day, I'll have my fingers crossed that this house waits for us ;) wishful thinking but I know what I like, and this house is amazing! If its meant to be, it will be....

Cozy blizzard weekend!

We're going on 48 hours in our house, essentially trapped because the storm dumped so much snow in our area! The snow is beautiful, fluffy and there sure is a lot of it. Our little town just can't keep up with the plowing and restoring roads. The last time a plow came up/down our street was about 5pm on Friday night. Now, our front yards seem to link together as you look across at one big blanket of snow! Originally, I thought we got about 22 or 24 inches, although it seemed like a lot more. I think the official count was more like 30 or 32 inches.  The Fairfield Police Department announced yesterday that there are 380 cul de sacs in town and they dont expect to get to those until Monday. We're not necessarily on a cul de sac, but side roads like ours aren't top on their list. We're hoping we may see a plow today, but the reality is, we may not be able to get to work tomorrow either!

Hey, I am not complaining :) I love a reason to stay in and hang with my hubby, little girl and doggie. We've had so much fun, playing, listening to music, watching Barney (and my fav - Law & Order SVU) and baking, all in our sweats! I think the one that's the most restless is Quigley. Usually by Sunday he's a ball full of energy and he spends Sunday afternoons running in circles with his cousin Sophie. He probably wont have the chance to do that today, just more playing solo in the snow in our yard. 

I was supposed to be in NYC today at the Javits Center for the Toy Fair. In the toy business, it's like the World Series and Melissa & Doug goes all out. The whole company attends, to lend a hand in the biggest booth at the event. I was looking forward to seeing the whole operation, meeting the customers I chat with on the phone, and helping out. I woke up at 1am, 3am and again at 5am to look outside and see a clean road. Unfortunately, I had to call my boss and tell her I couldn't make it. It's like I'm literally trapped. Unless you see our street/neighborhood, it's probably hard to imagine, but we are really stuck!

I've snapped some pictures during the last few days and wanted to share them. Hope you are having a great weekend!!



Friday afternoon snow

Daddy-daughter cuddles

Friday night - Q scoping it out

Madelyn and "buddy" 

Saturday morning - buried

Quigs not sure how to get outside :)

 

Our cars, also buried

 

the hubby - the pro shoveler

M's attitude face - captured!

almost done - but notice the wall at the end of our driveway? ha!



awwwww

15 months!!

We are long overdue for an update on our sweet, little girl! Pictures, update, etc.  As her parents, obviously we are biased, but she sure seems to be developing quickly! She's like a sponge absorbing everything she hears and sees. She understands her routine - asking for a bottle after dinner and saying ni-night when she's ready for bed and the other day when we were leaving my parents, she said for the first time "home?" ha :) I smiled in shock and said, "yes, my sweet girl, time to go home"

The most amazing thing to me right now is her budding personality. She has a little spunk to her! She knows just what she wants and she'll tell you, loud and clear.  She's started to throw her hands up and swing 'em, only at me though :) She loves to yank Brian and my glasses right off our faces, and I can't believe how quickly she can do it! And how can I forget.... Madelyn is the epitome of a Daddy's girl! "Daddy? Daddy? Daddy? all.day.long! If it weren't so darn cute, I might be a little jealous but its just the sweetest thing ever!

I count down the minutes until I can see her every day. We are having so much fun with our little munchkin, watching her grow and helping her learn! I certainly don't want to rush anything, but I look forward to what each day will bring!

Some of her favorite....
* words - hello, num-num, no!, buddy (Quigley), apple, ni-nigh, baby
* toys - monkey (of course), dancing valentines teddy bear, baby doll and her little people farm
* foods - pasta, cheese, spinach, bananas, chicken nuggets, applesauce

 

She's on!

Our first home, our labor of love, is on the market! It's kind of surreal actually, and it's been completely consuming this far.  The listing went up on Wednesday at about 11am and since then, we have had 7 showings with 2 more scheduled over the next few days.  Being new at this, we had no idea what to expect. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I left the house on Wednesday morning and didn't make our bed and left dishes in the sink. Well, that was dumb. We got an email around 1pm asking if a realtor could preview the house for a client at 2:30 that afternoon!  Poor Brian raced home from work, quickly tidied and grabbed the dog from the house and brought him back to the office with him!  Being a working person, I sort of expected our evenings to be hectic with last minute showings, for other working people that only had a chance to view houses at night. But we had mid-day showings each day. This morning we had two showings, another at 3:30pm, one tomorrow morning and again on Monday at 1pm. Tuesday is the brokers open house, and next Sunday will be the public open house. Craziness. My family has been awesome and flexible with our tornado that keeps swooping in, dog, baby, etc, its been nutty for everyone, and it's just the beginning! Being 1st time sellers, we really have no idea what to expect and we certainly don't want to get too optimistic.  We are just so proud of our home, we truly love it... Hopefully, someone will appreciate it as we do :)

Our home sweet home

We're really doing it!

There is an echo in the living room as I type this. That's because we're down to one couch and a lot less stuff.  I didn't realize how many pictures and personal things we had out in our little 1200 square foot house. We brought 4 bags of clothes to goodwill and tossed about 4 bags of trash from our basement and garage. Then we packed up 4 large boxes of picture frames and personal items. I am loving how big and minimalistic our house looks right now! The echo, is weird, but now you really notice our nice big countertop, our big fireplace, our long bright hallway, all of it.

We're really doing it! Our house is going on the market on Wednesday. We already have a lockbox on our door and by Wednesday, we'll have a sign in our front yard and the listing will be online. Eeek! I have been looking forward to this for a while, and what moving will do for our family. Now that we're really doing it, I am already getting sad. We got married in this house, had some great parties, lots of lazy quiet nights, Quigley had lots of playdates, this is Madelyn's first house, etc, etc. We love this house, have always loved this house, from our first visit, this was home.

Now that we're living in here though, it's a little weird and it already feels like we've moved on. We're already slightly detached since we've taken every personal item down and it doesn't feel totally ours anymore. So, as we get ready to share our home with lots of strangers, brokers, open houses, etc., I'm terrified and excited for what's next. That's all to say someone loves our house too, and we sell it :) Wish us luck!

what I'm loving

Happy Monday! All I have for you is a random brain dump of what I'm loving these days :)

* my little girl's voice - I love every minute with Madelyn, but talking with her really is one of my favorites. Her words and the few times she puts together "hel-lo mommy" while pretending to talk on my cell, just melts my heart! The.best.

* my 30 minute commute to work - amazing, enough said.

* new Cole Haan Air Tali wedges - most comfortable shoes ever, super cute too!

* new Michael Kohrs bag - obsessed! I love cute bags, especially big ones however I don't carry a lot of stuff. I always end up with cute, large bags that I have to dig through to find things and it drives me nuts. My new bag, is a small-medium hobo in eggplant and I can't get enough.

* purging - dont worry, I'm referring to purging stuff! We had a stager come over the weekend to help us get ready to sell our house and the result, a lot less stuff. We cleaned our basement, our garage, our closets, and PACKED every single picture in the house. It's a bit barren, however the house looks clean and big. Note to self, keep it simple!

* chaos - it's official, I like when life is crazy. I've always enjoyed when my work days are crazy-busy and stress levels are high. I realized the other day, when everything was happening over a two day period and my adrenaline was through the roof, that I function well at times like this. A glass of wine at night and my awesome laid-back hubby help me stay sane, but crazy times keep me on my toes!

What are you loving? Have a great week!!