A look on the inside.

I am late posting these, as they were taken almost two weeks ago.  Now the sheet rock is about half done & I would have taken pictures today but it was pouring down rain (which we needed so bad!).

This is standing in the living room looking towards front door and into dining room.  You can see where part of the hardwood floor had been laid.

Looking from living room into foyer...it will be arched later.

This is standing in living room looking into kitchen.  Mallory seemed to sneak into every picture almost...she is like Where's Waldo!

Standing in kitchen looking into living room with built-ins and stone fireplace.

Master bedroom

Kitchen again

 & just because she isn't feeling well tonight and I couldn't resist, here is the princess in action.

Wednesday will be a big day...they will start putting on the vinyl.  We just finalized the color today.  After going back and forth a million times we finally made a decision...the winner is called sage.  I am also taking off work Wednesday to go with Jamie's wife to make lots of decisions about the inside.  Jamie says she can accomplish a lot in one day so we will see!  Hopefully, I will have lots more pics to post and everything will be coming together soon!

Sunday in review.

Another busy week is gone.  Mallory had bible school all week at the church that Patrick grew up in.  It was Monday through Friday 6:30-8:30.  It would have been more hectic if one of us would have had to stay there with her but Granny was there every night so we just dropped her off and picked her up.  It was a struggle though to get home, get Mal to eat some dinner and get to the church by 6:30.  We managed though and Mallory loved bible school much more than I thought she would.  I had a chance to get some things done while she was in bible school every night, mostly with the house and her birthday party.  They had a program Friday night along with a supper.  All the kids were so cute and they had a lot of fun.

This was during the program...she was a little out of place :) 

Mallory did really good singing & dancing, she was just had a little trouble standing where she was supposed to!

This past week was much better with the sleeping.  It wasn't great or perfect, but it was better.  She even slept through the night one night!!  I think that is about the second time ever, ha!  & she has stopped playing with my hair, praise the Lord!  After one night of pulling on it until my head was sore, I told her she had to start playing with her own hair.  I just keep my hair up & keep telling her she can't play with it & it has gone really well. 

One thing that has helped me this week with understanding accepting Mallory's sleeping habits, is talking to three different moms who have one child who refuses to sleep well (like Mallory), and they all have second children who are great sleepers!!  & they all said they did nothing different with the second than the first.  It makes me feel better knowing it is not something I did wrong, it just goes to show that all babies are different and sometimes no matter what you do, you are going to have a bad sleeper here and there.  We still love Mallory just as much and since she is so cute & sweet it doesn't make it so bad to get out of bed several times a night and look at that pretty face :)

Last night, Grandmother & Grandaddy came over to pick Mallory up and Patrick & I went to a fish fry at Ashley & Megan's house.  Chris & Trish were also there & all the fish we ate were caught by Ashley.  They also cooked homemade chips with homemade ranch dressing, slaw, pasta salad, tomatoes & cucumbers in vinegar and a brownie trifle dessert.  It was SOOO good!!     

I thought Mallory's outfit was really cute, but the first thing my mom said to Mallory was, "What has your mama got on you?!"  Haha!  Oh well, not Grandmothers taste. 

Now, everyone else in the house is enjoying a Sunday afternoon nap so I think I will too!

I haven't been blogging much...

because I have been so busy planning all this Minnie Mouse fun.



When I ask Mallory what kind of party she is having, her response is 'Minnie, two!!!'  She knows she is having a Minnie Mouse party and she knows she will be two years old. 

We have also succumbed to the large blow-up bouncy things.  Yes, I will be one of those parents in three weeks with that monstrosity in our backyard. 

But, ya know...it's all for the kids.

Happy Father's Day!

We've had a good day...especially after last night.  The weekend has been full.  Patrick's mom and Peaches came to visit us Friday and spent the night.  It was nice having them here.  I love his mom's style so we spent Saturday browsing for furniture and getting ideas.  She had lots of good ideas and suggestions for me.  They left Saturday evening.  My Uncle Floyd and Aunt Judy were also in town this weekend visiting my parents from Georgia.  Uncle Floyd has been in construction for YEARS and has built many, many houses.  I was nervous about him coming to see ours!!  Thank goodness, he approved and said everything looked great.  He even said the construction reminded him of his work so I was happy about that!  We had been on the go nonstop so this morning Patrick decided he wanted to skip church and spend some together with just Mallory and me.  Since it is Father's Day, he got his wish and we enjoyed our morning as a family of three.

We had lunch with Patrick's family at Granny Pat's house.  Deborah's cousins kids were there and Mallory had so much fun playing with them.  They see each other a few times a year but today is the first time they actually played together.  Mallory crawled in Christina's lap with Lila while they reading.  She really seems to be overcoming some of her shyness.

After lunch, we went to visit my parents and have dinner there.  I made photo books of Mallory for Patrick and both grandfathers.  They were a hit.  Can't you tell how much my dad loved his??  Who wouldn't love something with that face on it :)

 Our {blurry} family photo.



 I got Mallory to take an early nap before lunch because I knew she wouldn't have time this afternoon and she was WIDE OPEN from lunch on.  This picture shows basically how she was all afternoon long.  However, I had NO problem getting her to sleep by 9 tonight which was my plan!

And lastly this is kind of cheesy, but the view down my parents road was so pretty after the rain.  Joseph & Ashley held hands & took a walk.  Isn't it pretty and aren't they cute?!

 
I hope my husband and dad have enjoyed the day as much as I did.  They both are amazing fathers and they deserve it!!

Frustrated.

I had planned on blogging tonight about the house and showing some pictures of the inside but it has been a rough night few nights and I'm at a loss as to what to do. 

Mallory has gone backwards with her sleeping this week.  Not that she was ever doing spectacular sleeping in her own bed, but I did feel we were making progress at one time.  That has all changed now.  She is usually in bed around 8:30 and asleep by 9.  She wakes up by 12 calling for me and whining a little.  Up until this week, it wasn't SO bad because I could go in there, let her play with my hair for a minute and she would go right back to sleep within five minutes.  She was doing this 3-4 times a night and Patrick and I would alternate getting up. 

Earlier this week, she woke up more times than usual and we were sick of getting up.  I suggested to Patrick that maybe we should just let her call for us/whine for a while without us going in there to see what would happen.  I was hoping that some miracle would occur and she would go back to sleep on her own.  Well, my miracle didn't happen.  Instead, she got out of bed and came to our room and she has been doing this ever since.  And a lot more often.  She just went to sleep for about 20 minutes and then came in the living room whining for us.  Patrick is now back in her room trying to get her to sleep again and I want to scream.

She is almost two years old.  I feel like we should all be sleeping through the night peacefully, at least most nights.  I might as well have a newborn with the number of times that I get up every single night.  I am at a total loss as to what to do at this point.  We tried to let her cry it out one night...Patrick raised his voice at her to stay in bed and go to sleep.  She bawled saying, "I'm sorry mommy, I'm sorry daddy."  My heart couldn't stand it after one minute of hearing that.  It is coming to a point though, that I feel this could be our only resort as bad as it breaks my heart. 

Chatty Cathy.

That's a nickname that I call Patrick because obviously, he likes to talk.  A lot. 

Now I have two chatty cathys. 

That's right, I have spent the last 24 months urging Mallory to talk and tonight I said "shhhh" more times than I care to remember.  This is her side of the conversation while I was trying to get her to go to sleep tonight:

What you doing mama?

I want daddy.

What's that noise outside?

It's an airplane!

What you doing mama?

I want some juice.

Rub my leg.

Dog's are barking!

What you doing mama?

Take blanket off.

I want my blanket.

What you doing mama?

Mama washing clothes?

Mama washing mama's clothes?

What you doing mama?

Rub my leg.

Play with mama's hair.

What you doing mama?

& Repeat.  Over & over.  My side of the conversation was a lot of "shhh's" and "let's go night night, it's time to go night night now."  Shew!!  She has always talked a lot, but never that much nonstop!  Guess I better get used to it!   

Larken turns 3 & appliance shopping.

Last Saturday, we went to Mallory's cousin Larken's birthday party in Wilson.  Mom & dad picked up Mallory & I, and the ride to and from Wilson with my parents will be a whole other post for another time. 

When we got to the party, dad picked Mallory up out of her car seat and noticed she was wet.  The back of her entire outfit & car seat were soaked.  Dang Huggies...they do not work on Mallory!  She didn't get to wear her cute outfit, we had to put on the backup from her bag. 

Here is the birthday girl.  She is so stinkin cute!

Larken's party was in her backyard.  There were so many toys, Mallory would just look around like she couldn't decide what to play with next.  She liked this little grill because it had her favorite food on it - hotdogs!

Lined up to go in the bouncy house

Weeeeee down the slide

I think she is going to have to have one of these when she turns 2

Lots of presents

Grandmother & the princess

Dan & Brenda always do great party favors.  When we got home Mallory had lots of fun with the sidewalk chalk that was in her favor bag.

When we got home Saturday, shingles were going on the house.  Patrick & I went to look for appliances & furniture yesterday.  We went to Sears in Jacksonville.  We joked when we walked out of the mall that the only thing we learned was that they sold really good pretzels in the mall.  Seriously, we just confused ourselves with all the different brands they had & the sales people were about to scrap with each other so they were NO help to us at all.  Patrick liked a Samsung refrigerator, I liked a GE Profile cooktop and oven & we both agreed on a KitchenAid dishwasher.  No bueno.  I do not want my new kitchen full of mix matched appliances.

We ended up meeting at lunch today & looking somewhere else & I think we have decided on all KitchenAid.  I also put a deposit down on our first furniture today!!  I have been eyeing a bedroom set for months that has been on sale at a store near my work.  The set has a Queen bed, but has been discontinued so they can't order it in a King.  I finally decided to buy all the pieces except the bed & just get an upholstered bed to go with it, because I am loving those right now.  I hope I don't regret that decision!  & today when I got home, the tubs had been put in the bathrooms :)

Easy night.

Everyday at work, around 3 or 4 o'clock, we start discussing what everyone is going to cook that night.  To me, the hardest thing about cooking is figuring out what to cook.  Patrick always says it doesn't matter & Mallory is very picky. 

One of my co-workers, who has two little boys, told me that she cooks smoked sausage with macaroni and cheese for her kids a lot because they love it so much.  So since then, it has become a popular meal in the Heath household as well!  It's quick, it's easy, all three of us will eat it and after a busy week like this has been, it's the perfect meal!  It's not the most healthy meal, so we do try to limit it to only once a month or so.

Another reason it was an easy night, was because Mallory had taken a bath at her sitter's house before coming home & managed to stay clean before bed.  That was a nice break!

& I should have posted this last night, but I didn't think about it until today.  Here is our kitchen faucet!  Is it sad, that I am so excited about something like this??

I'm so ready to see it on the kitchen counter!!

What we've been up to

I tried to take some pictures of Mallory before church last Sunday because I thought she looked SO pretty.  She was having a good hair day...perfect little waves :)  I'm jealous of her wavy hair since mine is stick straight.  However, as usual, she was NOT into having her picture made.  I never could get her to look at the camera to get a decent pic so the following is the best I could do.  Loved her little dress too!

 Sunday was also Grandma Jean's 77th birthday.  Mom & Dad cooked dinner - BBQ chicken, squash, onions, zucchini, peppers and asparagus (all cooked on the grill), broccoli casserole, new potatoes, rolls and Italian cream cake for dessert.  It was all SO good!!

This woman though is the BEST cook ever in my opinion.  Next time she cooks fried chicken, she is supposed to be calling me so I can go & (hopefully) learn from her.  Once I master that, I need to learn her biscuits.

The work week has been CRAZY.  Bunco was Monday night, so that was a late night and then last night and tonight we have met with Jamie to go over house stuff.  There is so much going on right now with the house.  The electricians and plumbers finished today.  Heating and AC will be finished tomorrow and shingles will be starting tomorrow or Friday.  After an inspection, sheet rock will start next week.  We picked out all plumbing fixtures yesterday.  I went with all oil rubbed bronze...love it.  Today, we finalized shingle color and shutter color and got the go ahead to pick out appliances.  Don't get me wrong, I wanted this house to go up fast, but I feel like it is FLYING!  Every little decision is stressful and Jamie has already told me that I'm over-thinking everything, but it's such a big deal to me...I don't want to mess anything up! 

Our day in vignette demo

One of my favorite bloggers (& one of the first blogs I followed), Kelly, shows how she spends her day in iPhone pics sometimes.  I'm kind of addicted to this vignette demo app so I decided to document my Saturday from my phone.  Here goes.

Started the morning with coffee as usual.  This creamer is the bomb.  If you like coffee, try it.  You're welcome.

 We took our time this morning & relaxed while eating breakfast & watching tv.  Mallory sat still for me to fix her hair - pigtails.

It's so unusual for us to not have any plans that I didn't really know what to do with myself today!  I broke my New Year's resolution & went to Target.  I didn't do so bad though...got some things for Mal's b-day party, some clothes for her, a toy for her, toddler necessities & one pair of shoes for myself.

On the way home, we got lunch to go from Bojangles & stopped by to visit Grandma, Grandaddy & Aunt B.

Grandaddy has had a rough week & spent a few days in the hospital, but seemed to be doing much better today!

 It was naptime as soon as we got home!

& all this laundry was waiting for me :/

After waking from her nap, Mallory played with her new toy & Grandma & Grandaddy came to get a tour of the new house.

& tonight, Patrick and I did something we haven't done in YEARS.  Went to the movies!  We dropped Mal off at the in-laws & went to see Hangover II.  It was hilarious & really good for a sequel.  I won't go as far to say it was as good as the first one, but still so funny.

Now we are all home & everyone's in bed except me.  Its been a good day, good night!

Comparison

It worries me a little bit that Mallory hasn't gained any weight in the past year.  She has grown taller, but seems so skinny to me.  I call her my little beanpole.  Unlike her mommy & daddy, eating is definitely not a priority for her.

One plus to this is, she can wear the same bathing suits & shorts she wore last year.  That's great news especially when one of those bathing suits is an overpriced Kelly's Kids :)

Mallory on the beach last year & this year:

(Same bathing suit, but def new camera)

Building: 8 weeks into it.

We had a meeting with Jamie tonight.  It lasted 2 and a half hours.  The electricians & plumbers will be coming in tomorrow, so we went through the entire house to make every decision regarding those two things.  Where phone jacks will go, where tv's will go, where light switches will go & which lights the switches will go to, which way doors will open so we know where the switch needs to go, which side of the showers & tubs the faucets need to be on, etc, etc.  My brain is fried.  I'm ready for the fun stuff. 

Here we are 8 weeks after breaking ground:

Close-up of the front door.

It's hard to see but the detail is wrought iron.

It will be a stained Walnut.

Back view:

Thanks to great weather, we are right on schedule so far!  Shingles will be going on by week after next & then I'm sure things will seem to slow down because I won't be able to see changes going on everyday.  Ok, I can't even think of a decent closing, I'm done for today.  Goodnight!