Home, Sweet Home!

We have been in our new home for almost two weeks and are loving it! We have met six of our neighbors -- three times the amount we met in five years at our old house! These people are so kind and friendly! We are looking forward to future Friday night happy hours on our block. =)


Doubling our living space has been somewhat scary...we moved all of our furniture in and realized we needed more...lots more! HA! My mom and sister have been nice enough to watch the little guy over the last two weekends so we could look for furniture and run errands kid free. We have some things ordered...now we wait for it to be delivered and to decorate. We have a ton to unpack still, but it is beginning to feel like home! As the wise Mrs. J said, "You have all your life to finish unpacking!" It literally took six hours to unpack the kitchen! That was the first room that was completed--less than 24 hours after we had moved in. I wish I had taken a picture of the moving boxes which filled the kitchen! 


The second room to be settled was Jackson's...of course. We still have some little things to do but he's happy with his big boy truck theme. Jack has had a viral infection for 10 days and counting but feels fine minus the potty issues associated with viral infections (I will spare you the details). Not sure if it is the infection or the new house excitement, but this Big Boy has been so HYPER the last few nights at bedtime...so our routine has been delayed by an hour or more...and then he is waking up at 5:30 a.m. to get ready with us for a new day. Luckily he naps 3-4 hours at daycare and with Auntie Aud. I hope to nip this in the bud next week when I'm on spring break! YAY!


Speaking of moving...OMG if you are moving soon, I highly recommend a moving company! We used Two Men Who Move You and they sent three guys who moved us...and packed us, too! A-mazing! In six hours they had packed and moved our house! I only found one broken thing so far -- and of course I had packed that box!


Here are a few photos from our first few days. I was so busy moving that I didn't capture some of the highlights like I had wanted to...from the movers, to the delivery people lugging our new washer and dryer up the stairs ("please, no pictures, Mrs. Izzard!") and the mass amounts of boxes...but if you want to sneak a peek, come visit our garage...aka storage.



P.S. Biscuit and Abby love their new house, too! They finally went outside last weekend but decided they are more indoor cats after all. Too scary with coyotes, bobcats, and other wildlife nearby! Plus, every neighbor has a dog it seems. Cats end up as...food. :/

Jackson and Dada read before bed in the Big Boy Bed

Dining Room

Family room

I HEART my kitchen!!!

My old kitchen--I wanted to give it some love in this post, too!

45 days later...

Escrow has closed!  We're moving!

The Izzards...so happy!!!

We signed the last of the mountain of papers for our new home last week, waited for the renters in our new house to pack up their things (and leave a tidy house!), took a final inspection over the weekend (so clean!), and picked up the keys to our new home today! 


We are SO excited to be moving to our dream house...we will start moving little things this week and do our big move next weekend!  Sierra and I just celebrated our 4  year wedding anniversary--what a GREAT gift, honey! 




Jackson has been really eager to move because he gets a playroom. He took his firetruck there tonight. Sierra dropped off his golf clubs. Oh, boys--they never change! 
We have been busy around Chez Dubois packing, holding a Craigslist/moving/garage sale, and getting ready for our renter who moves in on April 1st. No joke! 


We feel so blessed to be able to rent our current home to a nice single guy and buy a bigger place for us to live in with excellent schools, nearby parks,  friendly neighbors with young kids, and tons of space! We are doubling our current size and moving into a 4 bedroom, 3 1/2 bath house with everything that was on our "new house wish list"...really! 




Thank you, John Parks, for spending your nights and weekends with us as we searched for the perfect new place! If you need a home loan or refinance, check Integrity. John is about to be a new daddy so good thing we are moving in before his little girl moves in...to his life!

So here it is--our new home!

...all the bedrooms are upstairs

I loved my kitchen before,
 but I LOVE my new kitchen even more!

Jack's new bedroom!

Such a cool park for kids of all ages!

Bye, bye old home!

...hello new home!

Four years of marriage flew by!

...It all happened so fast! I feel like Sierra and I just met, fell in love, and started our life together...I can't wait to see what the next four+ years have in store for us because the last four years of marriage have been amazing! 

The proposal--Christmas Eve Day, 2005

Engagement photos, 2006

Our wedding day!
March 10, 2007

from bride to...

Mom to Be! 20 weeks pregnant--finally a bump!

20 week ultrasound...some of Jack's first photos!

3 days before Jackson was born
(I was induced on the eve of 41 weeks)

February 2, 2009

7 lbs., 13 oz. of LOVE!

Love him more and more...1 year birthday!

...and more...2nd birthday 

Sierra, 

Can you believe all this has happened to a Techno Boy and Princess Kitty? I love you Sierra. Thank you for being my best friend and giving me the son I never dreamed could be as absolutely fantastic as he truly is. Your love for us is so strong and your ambition and patience (yes, really!) have really stood out during our marriage. I hope that our love for each other and the communication we share becomes even stronger as we spend the rest of our lives together. Love you, honey! Meow! I am glad you still share your techno music with me and I wear my princess crown!


xoxo
Kitty

future blogger

Jackson watching his cousin Georgia in New Orleans give her Daddy Rick kisses. 
This was his 7th viewing. 

Toddler Time!

Jackson's latest playtime has been focused on firefighters, skateboards, motorcycles, and his kitchen. Here's a quick snapshot of a half hour of playtime tonight...

Simon Says

Firetrucks

Skateboarding

Motorcycle Ride

...hilarious when he zooms around the corner on this bike!

Cooking up something yummy!

Dear Jackson,

Did you know that Mama and Dada were married four years ago this week? It seems like only yesterday we said, "I do" and now you are telling us, "I do!" 

I know I have said it before, but this stage is so much fun! Really all the "stages" are fun, but the toddler stage has been REALLY fun as you are learning and growing each day of your Terrific Twos! 

I love how you imitate what Dada and I do...from cleaning up after you make a mess, to putting your sockies away in your sock basket. You are such a good boy and we love you more than you will ever guess. Your smiles and laughter are the best thing to wake up to and we are so proud of your accomplishments already at two! You are respectful, kind, humble, funny, smart, and of course, the best boy in the world! When you accidentally knock me with your big head, you say, "You ok, Mama?" with a genuine concern in your big eyes. It always melts my heart. You enjoy going to "Chinese School" on Saturdays even when I'm ready to ditch because it's raining outside. All of your friends love to play and spend time with you. Your favorite thing to do is read with us and you have such a great imagination! You impress me constantly.

Love,

Mama 

New Bed...

Sierra and I NEED a new bed...don't they say that you should have a comfy bed so that you can sleep well after a long day? We went last weekend to check out a new bed for Jackson instead and bought it...we will assemble it in a few weeks for our Big Boy but basically it's a twin bed. He enjoys his current Big Boy Bed (the crib that converts to a toddler bed), but I don't like how I can't sit on it when we read at night. So we chose a twin bed he could really grow into...and our own bed will have to wait. 

Actually, I've never seen Sierra jump so fast when he heard the price of the bed he loved (the Ergo Tempurpedic--amazing bed, but not amazing price). LOL!

Tonight I showed Jackson his new bedding (click here for a video). We just had to go with a transportation theme seeing as he is two and such a Big Boy...and he said, "I love my firetruck blanket!" He didn't want me to wash it but I finally convinced him we had to if he was going to sleep with it tonight. It will be sad to pack up his fish nursery theme...but hopefully we can unpack it for another little fish in the future. 

...Sweet dreams!

P.S. Here's Jack pretending to be a firefighter (click here).