New house photos - main floor

Y'all, I'm so proud of myself - I actually remembered to take "before" pictures of the house (before any work other than electrical had been done), and now I'm blogging about it. See how I'm patting myself on the back here? Ha!

Anyhow, since there are a ton of pictures, I'm only going to put up ones of the main floor right now.

Oh, are y'all familiar with split levels? I wasn't very well versed on them until I moved to Raleigh. Growing up in Wilmington, there weren't many split levels because we were right at sea level. (It's hard to build a split level at sea level because part of it is almost basement-y, and you don't want it to flood.) The first time I went in one, I wasn't in love. The floor plans are a little different, but I think it's going to be very functional for us! 

So...here's the main floor!

Entryway/front door when you walk in. (Notice the kitchen straight ahead.)

If you turn left from the entryway, you'll be in the living room. (I got tired of meeting with painters, fence people, electricians, security system guys and everyone having to sit on the floor, so I brought over my nice chairs.)

Turning right from the living room, we have the dining room.

A close of of the wallpaper; it's staying! We're painting underneath the chair rail molding.

Turning right from the dining room, we have the kitchen (which you can also access by walking straight through the entryway).

Kitchen from the entry doorway.

 So, I hope y'all enjoyed that! Bellie just woke up, so I'm going to go tend to her - and take her to Lowe's to pick out some ceiling fans! I'll post more pictures later today!

We're buying a house!

So in my last post, I mentioned we had big news coming and that was why I wasn't going to update the bachelor pad. The big news: we're FINALLY buying a new house!!!

Mike and I first toured this house in August - and we went under contract for it! But the inspection revealed a few problems, and we needed the seller to come down on her price a smidge in order for the house to be affordable for us. She wouldn't lower her price in August, so we backed out of the contract.

We had been in contact with the seller a few times since then - she wanted to know if we were still interested - which we were, but she still wasn't willing to lower her price. About a month ago, I asked Mike not to even tell me if she called anymore. I was so emotionally invested in the house, I just couldn't handle the yo-yoing. About that time, The seller called our realtor and said she was ready to play ball. Mike, as I asked, didn't tell me he was negotiating again. He negotiated for about two weeks, and on Dec. 13 he got the phone call that we were going under contract! And closing in two weeks!!

So, when he told me on Dec. 13 that we were buying the house, I had Bellie's birthday party, Christmas, and needed to pack our current house - in a 16 day time span!

Needless to say, our house isn't packed. Haha. Oops!

We close today at noon - the electricians are coming at 1:30 to re-wire the house, and we're meeting with painters at 2 to get prices on painting the entire inside of the house and scraping the ceilings (pray that's cheap - otherwise, I'm going to have to paint myself - and live with popcorn ceilings!).

Anyhoo - here's a picture of the outside of the house. I'll post inside pictures later on.

One year ago...

One year ago,our family did this:

Mike and I spent our last morning as the two of us relaxing, and around 11, we headed to the hospital! There, we were met by: my brothers (top center), my parents (top right), my sister (middle row, left), and Mikey's parents (second from the left, bottom row - see the BLAZE orange hat? Yes, that really happened.)

It was a busy morning, and shortly after, we were joined by the reason for everyone's excitement!

See the cupcakes above? We had a second dozen too! And more than 20 friends and family in the room to help us eat them the night she was born! (We also had champagne, but I don't know where those pictures are!)

What? You didn't have cupcakes and champagne for your guests in the hospital room the night your first born arrived? Psssshhhhh!

I can't believe it's been a whole year! Happy, happy birthday, my sweet Julie Bell!

Also, we're taking a break from home-ifying the bachelor pad. Hopefully I'll be able to explain why soon! And we're having a very hungry caterpillar birthday this weekend, so I'll have pictures next week!

My red-headed temper flares up!

We have a running joke in our house that Mike and I both have red hair. My hair is normally strawberry-blonde in the fall (depending on how much beach time I get in the summer), and Mike's is auburn. I love red hair, I think it's gorgeous, so it's just become a joke around here.

What I do have from time-to-time that is truly red-headed is a temper. Not when I don't get my way, but when I think someone is being unfair, it totally comes out. So now that you have the background, here's the story.

We have season tickets to NC State football. This year, football season was...challenging to say the least. We have great babysitters, but it is really, really hard to get babysitters for football games.

This past weekend our babysitters were all at home for Thanksgiving, and I really, really wanted to go to the game. So I did the unthinkable - I brought the baby. I thought I did everything right. We skipped tailgating so she could get her first nap. I brought baby food. I brought formula and water. I had the pack 'n play in the back of my Jeep - along with the stroller - in case the second half was unbearable. (Our friends keep a TV in the parking lot, so I knew I could tune in from there.)

We got into the stands in time for kickoff. She was hungry, so we had some banana applesauce. Then we had more. Then I tried to give her a bottle (which she wouldn't drink because there was so much going on). At this point, we're a few minutes into the second quarter, and she is ready for her nap. So, in an effort to be nice to our neighbors and to let my husband enjoy the game (after all, it is his alma mater), I grabbed the baby and high-tailed it to the nearest exit.

I had a great plan. By getting to the parking lot this early, I could put her down for a cat nap, and be back in the stadium in time for a good portion of the second half.

I got to the gate, and they told me I couldn't get a re-entry ticket if I left then. Whaaat? Apparently they won't give you a re-entry ticket until there are 5 minutes left in the second quarter. No one could tell me why.

I stood at the gate for about 10 minutes with her squirming like a snake in my arms. Finally I went to a sheriff's deputy who was standing there and told him I needed to leave to feed the baby and put her down for a short nap.  He walked over to the stadium's security guy and asked for a re-entry ticket. The man crossed his arms, cocked his head back, and said, "No."

Y'all, I kid you not. He said "no" to a sheriff! I was so mad. The deputy walked back over to me and told me to find him when I got back, and he'd let me in.

So I went to the car, fuming the whole way. We got there, and I decided to put Bellie in her stroller and go visit some friends who were missing the game because their baby was asleep in their car at the tailgate.

At halftime, we strolled back over to the stadium where we met Mike, and I re-hashed what had happened. He thought it sounded strange, so he suggested we talk to the sheriff. Here's how that conversation went down:

Sherriff: Oh, I had no problem with her leaving. I don't know why he wouldn't give me a ticket. Let's talk to him.
Mike: Sir, is there any reason you wouldn't give my wife a re-entry ticket? If there sheriff wasn't here, she wouldn't be able to get back in.

Stadium staffer: Sir, she didn't tell me why she needed it.

Me (temper a'flare): You didn't ask why I needed it. I told the sheriff what was going on, and he asked you for the ticket.

Ma'am, if you had just explained why you needed it, I'd have given you one...if I deemed it appropriate.

You never indicated you wanted a reason, you just said "No."

Ma'am, you should have told me why you needed to leave.

If the sheriff told you to "duck," would you say "No"? And later tell him it was because he didn't "give you a reason"?

Ma'am, if you need to change your child's diaper, there's a family restroom.

Her diaper is fine.

(He cuts me off.)

If you need to breastfeed, there's a family restroom.

Sir, where did you eat your lunch today?

I beg your pardon?

Where did you eat your lunch today?

I don't understand...

I'm guessing you didn't eat in the bathroom, sir. Please don't recommend that I feed my child in one. She needs a nap though, that's why I was trying to leave.

Okay, that might have been a little embellished, but at that point, Mike practically pushed me away, and said to the man, "If I could offer a little bit of constructive feedback..."

As much as I love football, I'm glad the season is over. That man left such a bad taste in my mouth!

I still live in a bachelor pad.

It's been two weeks since I last posted, and I still live in a bachelor pad. My walls are still builder's beige. The ridiculous sofas are still here (and always will be, I just need to get over that). The mantle is still undecorated.

But I have made some progress. In the last two weeks, I have:

• made four butternut squash pies
• vacuumed the house five times
• made 1/2 of an ornament wreath
• ordered, addressed and mailed Bellie's first birthday invites
• convinced my husband not to decorate for Christmas until Saturday
• been to three quarters of two different NC State football games
• argued with one dumbassed EventOne football staff person (that's a whole 'nother blog post)
• walked a gazillion miles
• spent a trillion dollars at Target (that place needs to be banned)
• organized the garage
• put little baby items in garage...since we no longer have a little baby :(

I keep trying to think, "What will give me the push I need to get this stuff done?" And I know the answer. Some adderall and a few Dt. Cokes. Weak? Maybe. Will it help my ADD brain get the job done? Hell to the yes!

I live in a bachelor pad

Most girls who have blogs show photos of their houses, and I think, "Gosh! That is so beautiful! I can't wait until I can have a home like that." So, I've decided to show y'all why I think that.

I live in a bachelor pad.

True story. It's a real. live. bachelor. pad.

In my living room, we have a couch that reclines - aaaand the matching love seat.

Isn't Mr. Business' undershirt hotttt?

Not only does it recline, but it has a "center console." And y'all, not just any center console. Ours has cupholders! And a speaker phone! (what??? Who even has a home phone anymore??) Wait, it gets better. It also has built-in massagers! You know, so when you come home from a rough day at work, your couch can knead out those stress spots!

Anyhow, the point of showing y'all a photo our bachelor pad is to say I'm going to turn the bachelor pad into a home! Okay, maybe not a home-home, but I'm going to organize it. (We have to keep the sofas.) I'm going to hang photos (we have three up right now). I'm going to make our mantle pretty, and decorate for Christmas. And - the best part - I'm going to blog about it! So come along for the ride - and please don't judge me on our messiness!

(In all fairness to Mr. Business, it's a great house. He bought it right after he'd turned 25 and got the furniture then too, and I know he never thought he'd be living here eight years later with a wife and a baby! And while we're looking for a new home, there isn't much on the market, so I'm making do with what we've got!)

A full week at the new jay-oh-be

So, I've officially been a stay-at-home mom for a week, and so far, so good! (There was a solid hour last Thursday I would have gone to work for McDonalds, but we won't discuss that...)

Bellie (yes, that's actually what we call Small Biz IRL, judge away) has gotten on a good schedule. The house has been vacuumed twice, and the dogs are happy to roam the townhouse during the day.

I have quickly realized that we don't have enough baby toys, if you're going to spend your days playing on the floor, pajama pants are the most comfortable clothes to wear, and Target can become on obsession!

Mike has left the house a few minutes earlier each day - and today he was out the door before 7am! He says he'll be home by 4 this afternoon to take a walk with us, but we'll see!

In other news, an old co-worker of mine had her baby last week! Reed is a precious little boy, but his mom is really sick. Erica had some serious abdominal surgeries in college, so they wanted to avoid giving her a c-section. She ended up having to have one, and lost a lot of blood. She's in the ICU at UNC Hospitals, but is getting better. If you're the praying type, please send one up for this darling family.

Ok, I hear Bellie waking up from her nap. I'll leave you with a picture from this weekend!