Drywall is Up!

We went through the house again yesterday to see the progress, and it appears that the drywall has all been hung! Is it July 31st yet???

Basement:

Basement Living Room

Basement Rec Room (Wet bar will be on the left wall)
Doorway in the back leads to storage.
Doorway to the right leads to a bathroom and 2 bedrooms.

I'm taking the picture from the rec room and I'm facing Thomas and Hudson in the basement living room.

Upstairs:

Laundry room (upstairs) then master closet through the doorway
which then connects to our master bedroom on the left

Master bathroom (tub and shower)

What will be the walk-in pantry!

The home for one of the tall toilets!

Living room - stairs to the basement are in that corner

Soon to be KITCHEN! (and that's the doorway to the pantry) 

Dining area - That cut-out on the left wall will be a wine cabinet/hutch

Living room and fireplace

We snuck into one of the houses down the road that has our same floor plan, and here is what our kitchen will soon look like! CAN'T WAIT!

Cancun Vacation

A while back, a couple of our friends invited us to go on a Cancun vacation with them in April. At that time, we just couldn't make the commitment. As their trip got closer, we were itching to go. So we decided to trick the couples… I told Amanda I was trying to convince Thomas that we should go. So she sent me all the info for the trip so I could get a package put together and present it to Thomas. I ended up telling her that my attempts failed, and that we would not be going on the trip after all. However, we actually had booked the exact same trip as them! Same airport hotel stay the night before departure, same flight there and back, and same room type! We literally couldn't wait to surprise them!

We talked about how and when we were going to surprise them the whole trip to St. Louis. Thomas was so sure the hotel would give us their room numbers and we cold simply go knock on their doors! Of course, the hotel couldn't just give out that kind of information! So they said they would call one of the rooms and tell them they have a package to pick up at the front desk!

First they called Mike and Amanda's room… They of course thought it was a bit odd for someone to send a package to the hotel when they were just staying there one night. Who knew what hotel they were staying at anyways?? They both came down together. We were hiding in the middle of the lobby as they walked up to the front desk. They stated they were supposed to pick up a package, and the lady pointed behind them as we jumped out and yelled, "surprise!" Ok maybe I'm the only one who jumped out and yelled, "surprise!" Needless to say they were both shocked! And we were soooo happy to see them!

After chatting for a while and explaining everything, we decided it was time to let Chris and Megan in on the secret. We did the same thing again… Except Chris came down on his own as Megan was in the shower. He was just as shocked as the other two! So we eventually headed upstairs to find Megan. She was actually peeking out her door into the hallway when we got off the elevator. We had been downstairs for a while and she was beginning to wonder what had happened to Chris!

Of course we were all pretty excited at this point but we had a VERY early morning ahead of us. We headed back to our rooms and tried to get some rest!

This was the first time we've done the direct flights to and from Mexico. And oh man, it's soooo worth it! I hate the travel time before and after vacation, and flying direct shortened that travel time like crazy.

We left Friday morning and got back Wednesday afternoon. It was a much needed trip, and it was such a blast! Can't wait to see where 2015 takes us...

Chris and Megan on our way to Cancun!

Snorkeling

Catamaran Cruise

Soaking up that sun!

The beautiful beach!

The boys enjoying the pool

Thomas… with a drink in his hand :)

View of one of the pools and the ocean when you walk out of the hotel.
It. Was. Gorgeous.

Naturally, something strange had to happen while we were in Mexico. One morning, the top of my forehead felt weird so I looked in the mirror. Sure enough, there was a big swollen area at the top of my forehead (felt like a fluid pocket). After googling it, this is a reaction to the sun that some people experience. My forehead was slightly pink, but I wasn't really burnt at all. I had used sunscreen non-stop and worn a hat almost every time I stepped foot in the sun! I read more into it… According to others who were lucky enough to have this reaction, the swelling would soon start to drift downwards from the top of my forehead to the bottom and eventually settle between the eyes. I was going to look like an Avatar. And that's exactly what it did!

The swelling is almost to the bottom of my forehead now...

To go along with the swollen forehead, I also broke out in a rash. It was
the worst on my hands and arms, and it itched like crazy! I had applied
sunscreen like a crazy person so I barely had any burnt areas at all, but I was
still lucky enough to get some sun poisoning!

Bali beds

Lounge area for nightly entertainment

Inside the middle of the resort

Sushi restaurant

While we were enjoying ourselves in Mexico, someone else was having quite the time of his life as well! Mr. Tuds had a blast exploring and playing outside!

Feeding the geese

Not a fan of grass...

Easter Egg Hunt! He wasn't sure why there were all of these colorful
odd-shaped "balls" spread throughout the living room! Ha!

But they sure were fun to play with!! :)

Got his squeakers on!

Discovery Play House

At the end of April, we took Hudson to Discovery Play House in Cape on a Sunday afternoon. As soon as we walked in, he was wide-eyed and ready to explore! He wanted to touch everything and play with everyone. Luckily, there weren't a ton of children there since they are only open for a few hours on Sundays.

He loves steering wheels so he thought he was pretty big stuff driving the huge firetruck!

There was one area with a maze of clear tubes on the ceiling. You insert a ball in the wall, and the vacuum system moves the ball through the maze and spits it out at the end. Thomas would stand where the balls would come flying out at the end, and Hudson thought it was hilarious when Daddy would get hit by the balls! It was a chore to get him away from all those colorful balls!

When walking by this toy station, Hudson saw a bowl on the little table. He immediately got that sneaky look on his face - he thought it was something he wasn't supposed to touch! Of course he went right for it anyways...

It didn't take him long to find the "boy toys." The table with the trucks, trains, equipment, and tracks was one of his favorites. There was an older boy playing at this table too. He was making a long track for his train. Hudson was following up right behind him… taking apart about every other piece that the poor kid had just put together!

They had a tunnel that Hudson thought was pretty cool too! As soon as he saw me on the other side, he went right through it (with some sort of truck in each hand, of course)!

There was a little sailboat built into the floor in the middle of one of the rooms. It was cushion pieces held together by velcro so you could easily break down and rebuild the boat. Hudson wanted to stay on the outside of the boat and try to pull the pieces apart.

When Daddy put him inside the boat to show him how to use the fishing pole, Hudson had a breakdown… It was nap time. Time to leave!

There were so many sections we didn't make it to, including the water area. They have little rubber cape/apron things to put on the kids so their clothes stay somewhat dry. I have a feeling Hudson still would have been drenched!

The Big Move to Kansas City

As most of you know, Thomas got a promotion with Cargill so we have relocated to Kansas City, MO.  Luckily, I was able to transfer within Target and avoid having to find a job in the midst of moving! My last day at the Cape Girardeau Target was a bittersweet one. I will forever miss that team!

Our 3-day house hunting trip occurred at the end of March. On the last day, we found the perfect house. We called the agent just to be told the house had sold a couple hours earlier that morning. Noooooo! And of course after seeing that house, none of the other "possibilities" even existed as possibilities anymore… We were set on that house. So somehow we lucked into having that same house built on the lot of our choosing. The house is on schedule to be completed on July 31st!

Tree line behind the house

Some of our soon to be neighbors! (All of the houses in this pic are sold except for 1.)

Basement is poured!

Grandma Sharon (and Aunt Linda and Grandma Hazel) came to help
us out with Hudson while we got moved into a temporary apartment!

Checking out the back yard

Front door

Driveway is poured

Master shower

Back of the house

Basement bedrooms with bathroom in the middle

Deck

Sliding door to the deck

Fireplace

Double trey ceiling in the master bedroom

Carriage doors (3-car garage was one of Thom's requirements)

Open concept living/dining areas

Shingles are on. Starting to look like a house!

Ready to drywall this week!

Storage Unit #1

Storage Unit #2

I'm not looking forward to moving AGAIN, but I'm sooo ready to get out of this little apartment and into a new home! We already met with the decorator to make all of our flooring, paint, granite, cabinet/hardware, etc. selections. Our realtor does interior design as well, so she was a big help at this meeting! Next we met with the lighting company to select all the lights for the entire house. We had been told by others that this would be a very loooong appointment (like 6 hours long). I don't have that kind of time to spend on lights, so I was determined to be out in a couple of hours. In just under 2 hours, we were out the door! And last up was the plumbing fixture appointment. That was the easiest one yet. (And of course Thomas gets his tall toilets!)

So now we just wait and wait and wait!