So sorry

That seems to be a running theme in my posts lately – sorry! Actually this time it isn't my fault. We don't have internet, cable or phone yet at our new house. It is a long story, but the quick version is that it looks like the cable line to our house was cut at sometime, and now Comcast has to install a new line. Three people have been out to look at it so far, and we were told they could fix it, but it may take two weeks. So I am at Panera Bread right now using their internet connection to catch up a little a post a short little thing of what we have been up to!

Let me start back a week. Saturday May 24th – we were still in Baltimore for the morning. We had lunch at my friend Gina's house with her family and my friend Sara. I had a chance to see her BEAUTIFUL house. She and her husband have done a wonderful job fixing an old house they bought around 4-5 years ago. It looks amazing. I knew it would because Gina has a great eye for design. We had a nice cookout with them and at 1:30, we were on the road to Philadelphia. It only took about 2 ½ hours to get there, and we were staying with Mat's cousin, Jon and his family. It was nice to see them. They have three boys ages 9,7 and 3. The three year old and Finley are DOUBLES. Even in attitude, which isn't necessarily a good thing! But all 6 kids played so well together. Our kids were glad to finally have playmates after a long week on the road.

We stayed in Philadelphia until Monday morning. We had a nice weekend. Saturday we just relaxed and cooked out for dinner. Sunday we went to a park, the kids swam a little in the afternoon, and we had another cookout Sunday night. Very fun weekend. We were happy to be able to stay with them and get to know their kids better. They are in the process of moving to Pittsburgh, so we are excited we will be able to see them when we are home visiting family.

Monday morning May 26th we left around 10am and headed for our new home in Connecticut. Since we had to drive through New Jersey and New York, we hit some traffic so it took about 4 hours to get there. Not bad though. We were home around 2pm and the kids were excited to see their new home. We let them explore and look around for a few hours and then we went out to get some dinner. We settled on an Olive Garden which was close to our house because being a holiday, all of the local places were closing early! But that was fine. We also went to Target to get a few essentials to make us a few days until we could go grocery shopping. We didn't have our furniture yet, but had things with us for sleeping on. The kids were tired and went to bed early.

Tuesday the 27th – delivery day! This day started early for us, but the movers didn't get here until 9:30. That was fine. It started a little rough. The crew chief was a little upset about our narrow driveway, and they had to get a shuttle truck to bring our items from the 18 wheeler to our house. So the move didn't actually get started until 11am. But they prepped the house and got everything ready, and things got started. We live on a cul -de sac and the kids enjoyed playing outside while the moving truck went back and forth for our stuff. The move was complete around 4pm, and EVERY box was accounted for. That was a first for us. We were glad! There are a few dings, and it looks like we lost one of our TVs (it doesn't seem to be working), but all in all - a good move. I had spent the afternoon unpacking and by the time we went to bed Tuesday night, I had the kitchen complete. I was pretty proud of myself!

Wednesday the 28th – Mat's first day of work at Pfizer! He left bright and early for work and had a great first day. He got home around 5:30. It looks like his hours are going to be around 7:30-5 or 8-5, which is great. And NO weekends, which is AWESOME. But he is going to be busy at work. Academia in science is a much slower pace than industry. That is good, though – he needs focus! Ha! But his days are shorter and he gets actual vacation and holidays, so that is wonderful news.
On the home front on Wednesday – the kids and I unpacked in our new basement/playroom. Our basement is completely finished – drywall, carpet, ceiling, closets, etc. It is nice. So we made that the playroom. We even put a couch, TV and VCR down there, and that is working out great. Every toy they own is in that space with plenty of space left over. We even have the treadmill down there. IT is a great size. It isn't heated, but we are going to do that ourselves. Right now it is a little chilly down there, but thank goodness we are heading into summer.


Wednesday was also the day we found out we weren't getting cable for awhile. Bummer.

Thursday the 29th – this day, the kids now have a functional playroom, so while they play I was able to unload some more boxes. I got the girls room done this day. After putting everything away and organizing, the room is HUGE. They have so much space. There are two closets so they each have one and there is a ton of room to move around. This will be the first room we repaint, so I wanted to get it done. I did little odds and ends this day to in a couple other rooms.

Friday the 30th – this day I did Cainan's room and the master bedroom. Cainan has the smallest room, but a really big closet. So we will be using his closet for some storage. We set him up in his big boy bed, but he kept falling out of it, so we decided to keep him in his crib that we converted to a toddler bed for a little while. He did much better in that, and hasn't fallen out once.

Friday was also an exciting day!!!! Friday evening my new nephew was born!! He was born on Friday May 30th and weighed 6 pound 7 ounces. He was three weeks early! My sister in law had been dilated 3 cm, but her baby was breach. So they were going to do a C-section no matter what, so her water broke Friday afternoon, and a few hours later, he was here. They decided to name him Ethan Phillip. They had kept the name a secret for several months, which was fun! I can't wait to see him. This will be the only time I post his name, so feel lucky. :) This is my brother and his wife's first baby.

Saturday May 31st. - this day Mat and I were both home, so we moved it on the unpacking. We actually opened all the boxes that were in the house, got them emptied, and mostly put away. It was a big job, but it was raining outside, so not much else to do. So now the office, dining room, kitchen, girls room, Cainan's room, masterbedroom, and two upstairs bathrooms are put together. We have the family room all unpacked it just needs to be organized the way we want it, and we have the dreaded garage yet to do. We will do that another time, though. Right now we need to take a break. :)

Arlington and I also went to the library on this day. It is a cute little library. We were able to check out a few books and movies to bring home. It is only 3 miles from our house, so we will be going there often. I met a local mom and her kids and a local dad and his daughter while I was there. They over head me say that I was new in town and wanted to introduce themselves. Both Pfizer families, of course! Their little girls were Kindergarteners, so not much older than Arlington. We chatted for awhile and then Arlington and I headed home.

The excavator also came on this day to talk to us about our back yard project. We were disappointed to learn that we weren't going to be able to do exactly what we wanted, but I think it is going to be nice in the end. We are going to start small and go from there. We should hear from him either Monday or Tuesday about his proposed cost.

Today Mat and I are going to finish up inside the house with the little odds and ends we have left and he is going to mow the grass. (Gulp). It looks like it is going to be a nice day to get the yard done. Then after that is done, we are just going to relax for the rest of the day. We are tired and sore from working this week on the house, that we are going to take a break.

So a couple of odds and ends:

1.The people here and REALLY nice. All of them. Customer service people, locals, etc. Everyone talks to you where ever you go. People don't push and shove, no one is in a hurry. I will be standing in line and the people in front of me will strike up a conversation about whatever. They talk to our kids. Cainan, our family greeter, says hi to everyone, and guess what???? They say hi back and comment on how cute our kids are. We are blown away. After 4 years in ugly, miserable Florida, this is very refreshing.
2.The house is a little rough. It is fine for the most part, but a 12 year old house has 12 year old problems. The house was not these people's first priority. It was dirty and the walls are pretty banged up and scratched. But with a little love, new paint, and new light fixtures, it will be better in now time. It is just going to take time and one room at a time to get it the way we want. The size is perfect for us and the room layouts are perfect. That was the biggest deal. The cosmetic stuff, we can handle.
3.The gas is $4.27. Enough said.
4.We joined a wholesale club – BJ's. This will hopefully prevent us from having to go to the grocery store very often. The wholesale club and grocery store are only about 10 miles away, but with three kids, I find it hard to get out very often to do grocery shopping. So this will help. It was fun going in there.
5.We are without cable, internet, and phone. I am getting a lot done because of this, but it is still a pain!
6.We saw two deer in our backyard yesterday. I looked out the window and there they were – munching on grass. Right by our deck – so cool!
7.We have met two different neighbors. One has the other little girl in our neighborhood that is going to Kindergarten next year with Arlington. That was big one. They were very nice – they came out to meet us one day and we got to have a nice talk. The other, we met the dad and a little girl who was 4 years old. They were also very nice. Most of them have been in the neighborhood 5 or more years. There are a lot of families on our block from baby up to teenager. Every yard I see there is a play structure, so that is great.

I think that is about it. I don't think I am going to be able to post pictures until we get our internet at home. I don't want to be at Panera for hours waiting for them to upload. Sorry about that! I will try to post next weekend and maybe sooner if the cable comes this week. I promise once we are up and running here at home I will be back to my Tuesday and Saturday weekly posts.