Moving In

On Saturday we moved in. Well, we moved our stuff in. We are still a few weeks away from actually living there since we don't have a kitchen yet. In either case it is nice to have access to all of our stuff again and see how it looks in the new house.

Moving out of our last house was painful and tedious. I expected a similar experience moving in here, but it was a breeze! Seven of us unpacked the four storage units in an amazing 75 minutes.

Even though we still have a lot of unpacking to do, we don't have a time crunch so we relaxed most of the rest of the day. We watched Michigan football (great win!),

and we of course watched Evie.

Here a few good Evie shots from September. Evie loves new tastes, and when we spray her off in the tub (sink) she always wants a taste of that strange clear liquid. Mmmm...water.

She also loves her bath time duck. Mmmm...plastic and soap.

Our new house has some unique built-ins. This little cubby hole is perfect size for Evie.

Painter's High

On Saturday morning we finished the last of our major painting! Thanks to lots of help and lots of hard work we basically repainted the whole house in 2 weeks. Erin (and others) did a very good job picking out colors and I'm sure we'll be happy for years to come.

Our biggest battles were the master bedroom and Evie's bedroom. I thought the master bedroom looked fine with the tan/blue/white combo but Erin wanted just blue and white. I wanted Evie's room to be pink but Erin wanted yellow. When Erin was pregnant with Evie she admitted that it would be nice to know Evie's gender before birth just so she could properly decorate the bedroom. It's a girl! The room needs to be pink! So we compromised, I get pink for baby's room and Erin gets white for our room.

Here is before and after for the master bedroom.

Here is before and after for Evie's bedroom.

Here is before and after for the spare bedroom.

Final painting stats:

• 1 gallon of primer
• 15 gallons of paint
• 9 rollers
• 4 brushes
• 125 hours
  

Mobile Baby

Evie has become much more mobile. She easily rolls over in either direction. Sometimes we'll lay her down on her play mat only to come back 60 seconds later to see her 5 feet away.

Her mobility has also affected her sleeping position. We moved her out of the cradle because she would squirm sideways and end up with a leg sticking though the posts and get upset. Now she's in a pack 'n play with mesh siding. For some reason she must be comforted by touching the side because every night she squirms over until is leaning against it.
Sometimes she puts her forehead against it. Sometimes she is on her back with her head at a 45 degree angle and her cheek against it.

RBD Tour: Season 4

This weekend was the 4th year of the Randy-Ben-Derek away Michigan football game (Year 1, Year 2, Year 3). Our plan is to go to Big Ten games, but this year Michigan played Notre Dame on the road and it is also (likely) the last year my good friend Eric will attend Notre Dame Grad School. With him there we could stay at his house and tailgate with his department. Also, Notre Dame is as close to a Big Ten team as you can get without actually being one.

This year we thought it would be fun to each eat an entire pizza on Friday night. Unfortunately it wasn't that exciting. A whole pizza isn't that much for 3 energetic guys, and we all ate another piece and lots of snacks after that.

On Saturday we woke up to a total downpour. It looked like hard rain all day so we decided not to leave as early for tailgating. At 11:00 we drove to campus with bikes packed in my van and started tailgating with Eric's department, which involved some fun games and lots of political discussions. Fortunately the rain stopped for a few hours.

Shortly before game time Eric drove home and we biked around campus seeing Notre Dame's famous landmarks. Their cathedral, the Golden Dome,

and Touchdown Jesus.

As a group we were 3-0 heading into this game, but this year is a rebuilding year for Michigan. The offense showed some improvement over their first two games this year but they stumbled to an embarrassing 35-17 loss. It poured for the second half and I got soaked since I didn' t bring a poncho.
Besides the loss, we really enjoyed Notre Dame. The campus was the best we've been to so far and the fans were tolerable. I still hate Notre Dame, but at least I didn't fear for my life like we did in Illinois. GO BLUE!

Progress on the Home Front

Our first weekend as Zeeland home owners went well and I only made 6 trips to Lowe's/Menard's/Home Depot. Thanks to the help of many, we successfully:

• Turned on the plumbing and made necessary repairs
• Removed all the carpet

• Cleaned the floors
• Replaced all the light bulbs (energy efficiency baby)
• Ordered cabinets
• Picked out carpet


• Cleaned inside and out
• Painted the family room/kitchen
• Painted the master bedroom

I like painting. It is one project that you can really see your progress. The kitchen and family room were transformed from a tan to a green. We had some great help from grandmazilla and auntzilla (my mom and Lindsay). They tried hard not to reach for Evie all day long.

The master bedroom was converted from a tan to a blue/tan combo. The debate now is whether the tan should stay or change into white. What do you think?

Cindy and Carissa cleaned and kept Evie away from the zillas. When the fumes were overpowering, the baby got to play outside.

After long hours of housework, few things sound better than a pizza. Thanks all for the help! Progress feels good.

Vagabond No More

Our family of 3 has been without a home since May 19. The first 3 months of house shopping in Zeeland were frustrating and fruitless. We made low offers on 5 different homes, but weren't excited about any of them. We only made offers because we knew it would be a good investment if we got it for the right price.

Finally in late July we saw a house that seemed perfect. It was our #1 neighborhood choice, a ridiculously good price, and a layout we loved. The only problem...it was repossessed and buying from a bank is notoriously bad.

After more than a month of delays and a lot of angry phone calls we finally closed yesterday and are no longer homeless!!

But...we can't exactly move in. The previous owners took EVERYTHING, hence the ridiculously good price. We need new utilities - furnace, water heater, AC - the carpet needs replacement,

and oh yeah, the kitchen is missing a few things.

I always said I wasn't the "fixer upper" type of guy, but I guess I am now. So no big adventures for us in the next 2 months. We'll be working hard. I look forward to posting the picture progression.