La Casa del Grieves

Because having a baby isn't enough change/chaos/craziness in one year, R and I are also in the process of building our first house.  Though we've been making daily weekly trips to the lot for about two months, we've only had photo worthy trips for about the last two weeks.  When we moved a year ago, we knew we wanted to buy a house eventually, but never in a million years did we think we'd be building a house.  I mean, we can't even decide where to go to dinner on a Friday night; how are we supposed to make all the decisions necessary to build a house?!?  Ha!  Needless to say there is a bit of a story to how this Casa Del Grieves came to be....

R and I began our internet search of homes well before we ever left KC.  That 'dream search' continued through last December when we actually started thinking seriously about buying a house.  After lots of looking we found one we loved and put an offer on it   However, it wasn't meant to be.

After a bit more looking with no luck, we decided 'why not just call the builder of the first house and ask him to build another one like it??'  And, that's what we did. 

So off we went on our venture to build a house.  We already knew we loved the floors, cabinets, countertops, fixtures and everything else I didn't want to have to make decisions about.  After meeting with the builder and making a few minor changes, we were set!

 Our lot sits up on a hill with a cul-de-sac at each end of the street.  Perfect for riding bikes?  I think so!  Though we are in an established neighborhood, our road was not actually in.  How long does it take a city to pour a road?  Way too long if you ask me. 

 After weeks of waiting, the road is finally in!  We can now see our lot....and measure boundaries and easements for future reference :)  I'm not kidding when I say there is a geometric diagram to accompany these pictures.  It has labelled hypotenuses (hypoteni??) and everything.  And, I'm pretty sure we used the Pythagorean theorem at some point. 

 After another wait, we finally, finally have a basement!!  It's funny how excited you can get about a giant hole in the ground.  I told R if I wasn't 8 months pregnant, we would have brought a tent out here and 'camped' in our new house.  Haha. 

 Though this entire city seems to be windy ALL of the time, I think we'll get some especially strong winds up on our hill.  That's okay.  Like I said, this city is windy no matter where you are.  We are also in the direct flight path to the airport so many of our 'field trips' have included R staring up at the sky watching planes come in.   

 Last week they poured the footings and then the walls.  It's actually starting to look like a house!  Hopefully by the beginning of next week they'll be ready to frame.  They seem to be making good progress and the weather has been very cooperative (knock on wood).  We'll keep our fingers crossed that the process continues to go smoothly.  We are expected to close at the end of September or beginning of October.  And, oh yeah, our current lease is up September 28th.  Awesome :)

This will be our evening view from the rocking chairs on our front porch.  Along with the wind, this city has the most beautiful sunsets ever.  This one doesn't even begin to compare with some of the evening skies we've seen in the last year.  I love it. 

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It's Thursday, so we can't have a post without a baby update...Here you go!

How far along: 38 weeks

Size of Baby G:  Big enough.  

Body changes:  My hips are starting to hurt at night.  How do you have a charlie-horse in your hip?  

Sleep: Excellento. 
Best moment this week every day:  Going to the pool to swim laps float.  
Movement: Last week when I said he was slowing down a little bit, he was just tricking me.  He still kicks and flips and flops all over the place.  I think maybe he's turning a bit because he can now reach all of my ribs - not just my right side.   
Food Cravings Aversions:  Anything hot. 
What I miss: Sleeping on my stomach and wearing my normal clothes. 
Milestones:  Baby is progressing - cervix is thinning out and we've passed 2 centimeters.  We have also passed the two week countdown to the due date! 

Thank you for all of the texts, emails and prayers as we enter the final stretch.  We keep telling Baby G that he is very, very loved by lots and lots of people!