And So It Begins . . .

We did the final walk through of our house at 10:00 on Friday.  We closed around 11:30 (after FINALLY finding out the paper work was complete, and swinging by the bank to get a certified check).  My amazing friend Jessica kept Kaden for me all morning.  Thank goodness.  About half way through signing our lives away, I thought, "Thank goodness I am not trying to entertain Kaden right now."  It would have been a nightmare.  Seriously.  After we signed the papers we swung back by the house to pick up the extra keys (the seller was still moving things out . . . such a long story . . . but again, let me stress that I never want to purchase a short sale again).  I went back to Cary to pick up Kaden, then took him to the new house to nap in the pack-n-play while I started cleaning and prepping for painting.  The house is filthy.  Not dirty.  Filthy.  It terrifies me that people were living there before we bought it.  The pictures don't do the filth justice.  I am constantly telling Kaden not to touch anything, and trying to get him to stand on blankets I've spread on the floor instead of the carpet (we are going to be replacing all of the flooring, but are trying to get the painting completed first).  Here's a quick photo tour.  I brought the wrong lens, and quickly realized I couldn't get any wide angle shots, but it is what it is:

This is the outside of the front of the house.  I actually stole this one from the realtor's website, since I forgot to take any pictures of the outside of the house.  Woops.  The eventual plan is to replace the front door.  We are also going to paint all of the shutters black.  The landscaping, of course, will also go through some major changes.  We probably won't get to the outside of the house until fall, since so much work needs to be completed on the inside.  It is by far the roughest house on the block.  Our neighbors seem very friendly and very excited that we are doing work on the house.

I had already swept, shop vac-ed, and vacuumed before taking the photos downstairs, so it doesn't really showcase the state of things when we walked in.   Picture a lot more dead bugs (the exterminator came on Saturday afternoon . . . I set that appointment up the minute I knew we were getting the house).  I will try to get some close-ups of the carpet later.  These photos make it look so much better than it looks in person, which is saying a lot.  The downstairs has a really open floor plan.  This is the family room area, looking into the dining room.  The pass through window goes into the kitchen. We are planning on replacing all of the downstairs flooring with pre-finished hardwood.

There is a half bath to the right.

 This is looking the other direction.  The open door goes into the half bath.

 Here are some photos of the kitchen.  It's going to go through a major overhaul.  We're just not sure what that will entail yet.

 The sliding doors open to a two-tiered deck.  There is a fenced backyard.  It's a small yard, but it's a yard, and it's fenced.

 When you go upstairs . . .

 There is a bonus room over the garage.  This is going to be a guest room for now.  Eventually, when we add another baby to the family, this will also double as an office space.  (Notice I'd already started putting up potential paint samples on the walls.)

This room is going to be Kaden's spot:

This is the upstairs bathroom.  It has a tub/shower combo.

 This is our bedroom:

 And yes, that really is a pink bathroom attached to a brown bedroom.

Double vanity!!! YAY!!! (It's the little things, folks.)

 Garden tub (I am so excited for bubble baths, when I get it fully sanitized, of course).

 Shower, and door leading to walk in closet (YAY!  Not sure where Chad's stuff is going to go . . . just kidding . . . kind of).  The toilet is on the other side of the shower, before you get to the closet.

There's one more bedroom (which we will use as an office), but Kaden was sleeping in it when I took the pictures, and I forgot to get one later.  I'll have to remember to get one tomorrow.  It's a real gem.  All the walls are bright green, the ceiling is yellow, and the trim is bright blue.

Up close and personal with some of the filth (this is what Chad found when he changed the air filter upstairs.  Not sure it's ever been changed):

And now we get to the part where I brag about my in-laws, and you wish they were your in-laws.  They are awesome.  Amazing.  They drove to Raleigh on Friday evening just so they could help us get started on our renovations.  It gets better.  They brought a cooler.  With snacks.  And drinks.  Joy kept Kaden entertained after he woke up.  She even took him home and put him to bed, so we could keep working until after midnight.  The next day, she kept him all day again, and Bruce helped us work, work, and work some more.   Here are some shots of us working on Friday night:  

 I'm looking hot in my painting garb.  Also, after looking at this picture it makes complete sense why my back is in severe pain now.  What was I thinking with that posture?  

 It's amazing what a little paint can do.  It already started to feel TONS better with just one coat.

And because I can't resist, here are some pictures of Kaden "climbing the Daddy mountain" on Saturday before we went called it quits. (Have you read The Daddy Mountain? Super cute children's book.  Go read it to some little cub of your own.)

 My two best one boys:

Our beautiful ceiling fan that my in-laws bought us as a house-warming gift.  It's the same light fixture we had in our den in Kinston, and I LOVE it.  I didn't like anything better than the one we used to have, so we bought the same one.

Everything downstairs (except the kitchen--going to do that in one, big overhaul) has been painted.  We are going to install crown molding eventually, along with chair rail, and picture frame molding in the dining room.

We made a big dent, but there is still SO MUCH left to do.  I am freaking out.  Seriously.  I leave for Utah on the 24th of July, and I won't be back until August 28th.  Chad's going to be moving our stuff on his own.  Not to mention how much needs to be completed before I leave.  Luckily, I'm the only stress case in the family.  Chad seems pretty calm, so hopefully it will work out the way he is envisioning it, not the way I am.

We took a welcome rest today, since it is Sunday.  We went to our new ward (in our church we meet in congregations based on geographical regions, so we will be attending a new congregation) and loved it.  There were lots of friendly people, and lots of young families.  Kaden even stayed in nursery for the first hour without crying.  There were twelve kids in there, so lots of friends his age.  I still had to miss Relief Society (the meeting during the last hour of the three hour block), but one hour without a break down is progress.  We're excited to get to know people, and really put down some roots.

P.S.  Today, Kaden ate an apple whole, instead of having me cut it into slices.  It was a milestone.  He is such a sweet boy.  He has been a real trooper the last few days, especially considering he spent most of Friday and Saturday without any Mommy or Daddy time.  I love this little bean!