Impulse Purchase

So I keep alluding to a crazy undertaking that we've been working on in the background.  I'm sure many of you have just assumed that meant I was with child again.  (Some of you have basically asked me that...)  I can confirm that my mid section is round sheerly thanks to my love of Chinese food.  No baby in the Inn.  So, what is it that we're up to?  Well- we kind of bought a house.  True story.

How did this happen?  For a while now Ryan and I have gone back and forth as to whether we would ever move.  We love, love our current house.  We love our neighborhood.  We, ok, really only I, love our oak trees.  However, as the girls get bigger, their toys do also.  We don't really have a proper playroom in our current house.  Our plan was to turn the third bedroom upstairs into a space for them at the end of the summer.  Buuuut... plans don't preclude you from having the HAR app on your phone, do they?

It goes without saying as HGTV's biggest fan that I peruse HAR on the regular.  Like- daily.  I always have just because I love looking at houses.  So you would probably assume that I was responsible for this veering off course.  Au conraire mon frere.  On July 14th Ryan happened upon a house that needed some updating and was just a shade south of the boundary I usually set for myself .  He sent me the link.  We decided since we were childless (Camp Conroe) the coming weekend that we would check it out because- why not?

Upon walking through it we fell in love.  The neighborhood resonated with us.  The fact that it needed some updating and thus we could put our own stamp on it spoke to us.  It just felt like something we needed to go for.  We figured we would throw out an offer not really expecting to be lucky enough that it would hit- but then it did.  And we went into super drive because our offer was accepted right before we left for Florida.  Our option period ended before we returned - so we basically had 4 days to do 10 days worth of work.

Throughout the course of the process we have just been trusting that if it was meant to work out for us- it would.  Luckily it has because we feel like it's where our family belongs.  We closed on Friday August 21st.

Why is this post just about buying a house and not moving?  Because our plan is to try to get all of the renovations we want to undertake knocked out before we move in.  The idea of living in a reno zone at this stage in life brings to mind visions of Brynnie eating nails and Em bossing around grown men while eating goldfish from her snack catcher.  In other words- it gives me some heart palpitations.  So- we are currently in the process of getting bids from contractors.  We are hoping to be in it around the end of the year.  Fingers, toes and legs crossed.

Ta-da!  That's what's kept me distracted from blogging.  Am I forgiven?  So wish us luck with this endeavour.  Heaven knows we'll need it.  Rest assured that I'll be documenting the good, bad and ugly here so that we can all laugh at how much easier it looks on TV.  :c)

My cutesy idea was that I was going to take pictures of us before so I could do side by sides after things were done...

.... unfortunately kids don't really care about your cutesy ideas... (This is Brynnie in her room)

.... nor do they appreciate photoshoots that interrupt dinner time. (Em in her room)

What do you think they've gotten themselves into now, sis?  (The girls in the playroom)

Easter 2015

Why, hello there almost-May!  Same story, different month.  I had noble intentions of getting all April goings on captured in the actual month here on the ol' blog, but alas I have failed.  Let's start back at the beginning of April.  Perhaps you recall when a giant bunny and your body weight in candy came for a visit?  Let's walk through how the Martin clan celebrated.

The first event?  Emery's egg hunt at school on Thursday April 2nd.  I snuck out of work a bit early in order to witness her "hunt-a egg" in all her glory.  This was her first real egg hunt, so much prep in the form of verbal explanation took place beforehand.  She was pretty amped up to find these hidden eggs.  Knowing her the way I do, I expected other children to need padding to undertake this with her.  Girlfriend has been known to throw some 'bows when there's something she wants on the line.  However, much to this Mama's relief, she was much more preoccupied with my showing up unexpectedly than she was with egg retrieval.  We ended the hunt with no incident reports and that is the definition of success in my book!

Walk Hard: the Emmy Story.

By the time she clued into the egg hunting there were no eggs left.  I think she managed to find 2.  That happens to be her favorite number, so I don't think she was too bothered by it.

"I fin-a egg, Mommay!"

Love of post-game snacks is deeply embedded in this child's DNA.

Perhaps the most entertaining event of the Martin Easter holiday weekend took place on Good Friday, April 3rd.  Ryan and the girls both had the day off... but Mama did not.  Why is that entertaining?  Because it meant a Daddy-Daughter day.  As you might imagine, there are zero pictures from this occasion and the same number of stories.  I guess what happens on Daddy-Daughter day stays with Daddy-Daughter day.  To his credit, Daddy took care of the girls fantastically.  All members of the family may have still in pajamas when arrived home in the early afternoon but they were fed and alive.  Again- success!

After my arrival home on Good Friday we frantically packed the car and hit the road.  Destination: Conroe for some much needed family and relaxation time.  This trip not only did I remember to take some pictures, but my Dad also put on his paparazzi cap as well.  So buckle your seatbelt for a wild picture ride, my friends.

The first photo-worthy event was on Saturday morning when we decided to be ambitious enough to check out the Easter egg hunt at the Walden racket club.  As you can tell from my appearance below, we decided at the last minute to go which meant no time for things like... make up... general hygiene... changing Brynnie out of her jammies.  This is actually the case most days which is why you rarely see me on this blog.  Keep this in mind if you have the misfortune of seeing me in person any time in the next 18ish years.

I wasn't too concerned because I figured we would be one of about 20 people there.  I was so wrong.  Apparently this is quite the shindig.  There were different hunts for all the various age groups.  The pictures you see below are JUST for the 0-3 year olds.  There were hunts for bigger kids with even MORE kids.  It was quite the shindig.  

My little bunny.  (Shout out to Aunt Nitty for those awesome bunny ears!)

Julie and I pretending to be twins on accident.

Her egg-hunting skills improved drastically from Thursday to Saturday.  Just look at that form.

I think everyone in Conroe was here.

Hey!  Hey!  Are you watching me?!

The cheering section.  Unrelated note: none of us were cheerleaders in high school, clearly.

Nonnie, she's moving in on an egg I had my eye on.  Should I take her out?!

How cute are these two?

Em looking a looooot like her Nonnie!

We made the rookie parent mistake of letting Emery hang on to one of the eggs she found on the drive back home.  Shockingly, Ryan and I haven't let Emmy have much candy in her life.  In case you were ever curious how long it takes for a child to be hooked on sugar, the answer is about a 5 minute car ride.  It was  a good run, I suppose?

We spent the remainder of Saturday just hanging out, relaxing, and trying to avoid being manipulated into sharing candy with Emery.  She seriously became very adept at convincing people (namely my Dad or Uncle Matt) to set her down NEAR candy and then either sneaking her hand into the bowl or puppy dog-eyeing her way into being handed it.  Her manipulation game is STRONG guys.

OH!  And we were all treated to some ah-mazing food.  My parents made prime rib, green beans, rolls and potatoes.  That's basically candy for adults.  Just thinking about it makes me hungry.

I am 99.9% sure she's shoveling candy in her mouth here.

For weeks Emery had been telling us how she "kick-a sock-ah ball," after school.  Apparently the EB heard too because he brought her one of her own.

Soooo... when is it my turn to hunt eggs?!

Love this little Boo Boo!

Thank you Jimmy James for this adult engagement photo.

Is your heart a pile of mush?  No?  Just mine?

"C'mon Nonnie!"

On Sunday the Easter Bunny paid the girls a visit.  Thanks to the EB's fantastic GPS skills, the girls were treated to all kinds of goodies and we were all treated to a layer of stickers. 

Em's loot.

Brynnie's haul.

The Princess holding court.

Fancy pants.  I wonder if the EB is hoping that this deters her from ruining Mama's necklaces as much as I am?

One for you.  Two for you.  Okay... Fifty for you.

I wonder what stickers look like on a plate.

People usually only eat frog legs?  The whole body seems pretty tasty also.

Underwhelmed by her new links.

Comparing goods.

Poor second child.  Her Mama doesn't have it nearly together enough to remember to pack bows.  Luckily she's cute with or without them.

Is everyone ready for a little broken record action?  My first Easter with two bunnies was an absolutely fantastic holiday weekend full of food, laughs, love and lessons in what not to let children do (read: ever have anything that tastes better than vegetables.)  Thank you to all who participated- we love you far more than I could ever express!  

Merry Christmas!

Remember a while back when I told you that I'd been distracted by some other potentially exciting news?  That was a true story and not just an excuse I was feeding you all to ebb the hate mail.  You know, with all the readers I have it was getting overwhelming.** 

As of today, November 30th, Ryan and I are homeowners.  Those of you who have taken note of my fondness (read: unhealthy obsession) for HGTV probably realize that this is absolutely the greatest Christmas present in my life.  Unless I someday have a child on Christmas... and even then it might still be close.  (JK future child!  Also, eat your vegetables).

the Hulk of Home Ownership

We first visited the house on October 24th, we fell in love, we made an offer on October 26th and by October 28th we had reached an agreement.  Then came some incredibly stressful weeks figuring out insurance, finances, color coordination schemes (obviously this is a top priority), where Ryan can put his fictional jaeger machine (we have different priorities), etc.  Somehow we managed not to physically injure one another throughout the process... Future Martins: 1, Universe: 0.  Which brings us to today- November 30th, the day we became homeowners.  I won't go into sap mode on you guys, but I'm not going to lie- I'm pretty excited.

Because I'm sure you all are curious, and because I want to remember what it looks like in case Ryan destroys it during the 7 months before the wedding that he is the only tenant, here is our new abode:

Casa de Martin

Entry way

Formal Living Room

Dining Room

Family/Living Room

Kitchen

Kitchen, Part Two

Backyard

Backyard + Back of the house

We (we = me) plan to have a big housewarming sometime post-wedding.  Until then if you drop by you will likely find Ryan by himself, scantily clad, eating chili out of a can on a lawn chair.  So I recommend holding off on that for a while. 

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all who helped make this happen- that includes our wonderful friends who kept me sane, our terrific family who provided insight and help, our fantastic realtors and most especially my future hubby - who, to put it simply, put up with me.  :c)

** extreme sarcasm font