Beckett signs and sits.

Beckett has really picked up on signs. He is very food motivated. He signs "Food" and "More" and "All Done". He is also a screamer. When I am not feeding him fast enough, or I put the spoon down, he will shriek like a banshee. We have been trying to ignore the screaming, but it is really hard because he is relentless. I finally turned to him and very sternly said "That is not how you get food. How do you ask?" He frantically started signing "More". I was caught off guard at his response. He repeated it again today. He just turned 10 months, and is showing a good grasp of language.

Beckett is 10 months now, but can only sit for short periods of time before falling over. He fatigues very easily and is not able to remain sitting once he begins to fall over. Carter had the same problem, but I never had him sit on the hardwood floor when I left him to sit for long periods of time. So, when he fell, it was on a soft surface. I didn't think much of it - he reached all the appropriate milestones, just a little slower than his peers.

Because of his delayed gross motor skills, Beckett qualifies for services in our county's early intervention program. He is seeing a physical therapist weekly to strengthen his muscles. We had our second appointment today and he is doing well. He is able to sit up, and hold himself standing now - where he couldn't before. However, he is still not staying up for any longer amount of time. Hopefully, that will come soon.

We moved

We moved. I know that is a horrible excuse for not updating my blog sooner. A couple of things that have slowed me down: Lack of reliable internet, and the movement of Beckett into the office to sleep not in my room. As soon as he's sleeping through the night, we'll move him in with Carter. 

Pros and Cons of the new house:

+ Space. The new house is just over 3200 Square Feet. (Well over twice our Kent house)
+ Basement - a requirement for David
+ Cool spiral staircase
+ Granite slab counter tops
+ 3 Bathrooms
+ 5 bedrooms
+ Storage Space
+ Large Garage
+ Good sized lot (shy third of an acre, just a bit smaller than what we had)
+ Nice neighborhood
+ Close to the lake
+ Covered play area for the boys to play outside
+ The opportunity to make it our own
+ Hardwood floors throughout

+ Not having to change congregations at church

- Not having everything finished

- No sidewalks (Which I am actually wondering if that is a bad thing. Walking 2 dogs, pushing a stroller, and keeping a little boy on a bike on the 4 feet you get on a sidewalk is proving to be quite difficult)

- Smaller kitchen

- Walk through kitchen (We wanted to avoid the racetrack layout, where the kids run through the kitchen and around the living room while you're making dinner)

- 3 Bathrooms to clean

- Stairs

- Close to the lake

- The hardwood they put in is really nice, but REALLY hard to keep clean!!

- The work that it has needed and will need

- Not being in the school district we wanted

- Having a second kitchen/wet bar in the basement can get a little boy in trouble frequently

- Sliding glass doors!! And having 4 of them!!
- Not on a cul-de-sac

- Losing the best neighbor anyone could ever have

Kitchen

Kitchen again

 Dining Room

Living Room

The boy's room 

The office

The Master

My new bedroom colors - of course I didn't get a picture of the finished project. I found these on my phone from when I was painting. (it is brown and teal, not neon blue - I promise)

Media Room

Lovely purple bathroom

Last time we ditched the pink. We are so keeping the purple...

We all wanted to live on a cul-de-sac, but it didn't work out. Carter calls this 400 Square-Foot covered porch his "Quarter Sack"

We have had our share of catastrophes since we moved in. There was a major gas leak at the fire place. The gas company came and shut the gas off, leaving us without heat until we could get it fixed. That was a challenge!

The down spouts are clogged, so the water from the roof was not able to drain properly. It was flowing over our foundation and into the basement. David redirected them away from the house, but I need to get someone out to fix them.

The roof leaked (I still have a leak in the front porch, but that is not a priority), right into my living room. David had to take a couple days off work to fix the roof.

The florescent lights in the kitchen broke while on - filling the house with noxious gas and smoke. Luckily it was after the boys went to bed. I had to open all the doors and windows and turn the fan on. With no heat, that proved to be not so fun, but not deadly!

The bathrooms haven't been used in quite a while, so the seals are bad in many fixtures. The toilets are all fine, but the faucets all leak. We are currently going to the basement to shower. So, if I am stinky it is because I was too cold to hike myself down stairs for a shower. I have become very used to having a bathroom in my bedroom!! Hopefully we will get the master bath fixed soon!!

So excited to have our forever home. I still hope we can continue to add rentals - as that is the only way I can see us having money for retirement!!

Keep following for updated pictures of how we have improved.