House Update - November 22nd ... and some :-)

Well after two weeks of not being out to the house, we went out to see the progress this past weekend, it's difficult in the pictures to see much that is different from the last update but I will let you in on some things that have been done.



On the outside, not too much other than the lights have been done and the doors have been finished off. Everything has just been cleaned up some so it's starting to look better :-)



Well we finally have our mailbox, it will be the end of January before we will start getting mail there, that being said, I am sure the junk mail will get started soon since the box is there and all ... We actually got our closing date this past week and it was for the 23rd of December, can you believe that, anyway we weren't going to rush and attempt to be in the house before Christmas so we have pushed it out till the 23rd of January, we will have the apartment a further two weeks so will have lots of time to do things at our own pace which these days is slow ... more on that later :-)



Here you can see the deck is done, my gosh has Dave got a job and a half to stain all that, it's a huge deck but I think they did a great job and we are very happy with it :-)



My kitchen is coming together too, they did the tile backsplash which I think came out well, we plan on changing out the switch plates for stainless steel ones to pretty it up more once we move into the house. My appliances are all in too, so far so good, now we just need a fridge which Dave and I are now shopping for, I think we have found a good Black Friday deal, let's hold thumbs we can get it :-) For those that don't know, all houses come with all appliances except the fridge which is why we are shopping for that and it wasn't in the pictures. All taps throughout the house are in too.



All floor tiling in the laundry, mud room and all bathrooms are done, also the shower and bath tiling was done too, so far so good on that note too. Thank Heavens all our choices seem to flow well, when you make these choices at the design center you never know for sure but again thank Heavens so far, I am happy with everything we chose.

That's pretty much it on the house side of things ...

Then a few week back I told you about Jades school report, her very first 'big' school report well, I didn't think back then that I could just scan it and put it on here so here you go :-) Let's hope all through her schooling that I will be proud enough to want to publish her reports here :-)

Just an update, she is coming along well with her reading skills and totally loves it, she is excited to read us the different books she brings home every day, it's so cute to see. My gran would have been so proud of her with how excited and motivated she is when it comes to reading.

As for the writing she is equally excited to write and thoroughly enjoys writing little notes to me every afternoon, I want to say most of it I can read but we are getting there, the way they teach them to write her isn't the way I would teach her if I had the patience but then I don't want to mess with their techniques either, as long as at the end of the day she can read and write, I am happy. I am just happy right now that she loves school as much as she does :-)





Then the big news for most of you that don't know, is that finally in my old age, I am once again pregnant ... many of you have been my support structure the past 3 years that Dave and I have been trying to give Jade a baby brother or sister so many of you know all the losses we have experienced during our battle. It has truly been an emotional roller coaster ride but we are hoping and praying that this is the one.

I am currently 13 weeks pregnant, I recently went through a bunch of genetic testing and thank God the results were all good. I have to endure further genetic testing now in December so please, we would appreciate all your prayers in the hope that they all go well. Hopefully by the end of December we can all relax just a little knowing that this little peanut is growing the way he / she should be. At this point, my due date is May 29th 2009.

That seems so far off when you are feeling as sick as I am right now, I realize that being sick is a very good sign but ok ... I read the sign, now can I feel better ? Like with Jade I am experiencing all day sickness, thankfully recently the doctor gave me some nausea tablets which hopefully or eventually will help, they have taken the edge off I think ... but that's about it.

We told Jade a week ago, we didn't really want to break the news to her only to disappoint her again later but from all the doctors reports, they seem confident that things are going well so we wanted to let Jade in on our little secret, in doing so at least now she knows why mommy is not feeling so well all the time. I can tell you that if anyone gives me the TLC that I need it's her, she is too cute in taking her of me and if she is half as good a big sister as she is in playing nurse to me, we are in for a treat.



Anyway for 13 weeks, this scan is pretty clear right ? The scans I get at the genetic testing are way clearer than the ones I get at my obgyn's office ... so I am excited for the next scan with them which will be the 29th of December. I have a scan at my obgyns office on the 8th of December but it won't be as clear as the one on the 29th, I will try and publish that scan too ... in the meantime, please just keep us in your prayers that this pregnancy continues on as it should.

Jade is only in school two days this week, she has off on Wednesday for Thanksgiving break. We are excited that we will be going to our friends Ria and Andries for a good old Thanksgiving this year, if it is like it was, I think two years ago, there were a few other SA'n families there too and it was just a wonderful afternoon. Friday is Black Friday here, the biggest sale day of the year, Daves favorite day of the year too, it's like Christmas for him. Anyway there are a few things we need for the house so hopefully we can get some good deals that day, we are holding thumbs !!!

That's pretty much it ... I know I went to the Christmas Show yesterday but because I didn't take pictures I really didn't say much about it, but as usual I had a wonderful afternoon, it blows my mind every year !!!

So last but not least, to all my American friends, Happy Thanksgiving !!!

Our Road Trip To Savannah

Ok before you read on ... I cannot get the spell check to work and I don't have to time to reread all this so I appoligize up front for all the errors !!!

This past weekend, thanks to my best girlfriend Tina, Dave and I were able to sneak away for a weekend alone to celebrate our latest wedding anniversary which was last week. Jade always has a ball at Tina's house so I never have to worry about her there which is such peace of mind when you are travelling 4 hours away for a vacation.

Anyway we got a late start Friday even though I got Jade out of school a little early, it was a slow drive down to Savannah, Georgia because almost the entire trip it poured cats and dogs but thankfully eventually we arrived there safely.

We stayed at the Country Inn in the heart of historical Savannah, what a great hotel, I knew it would be nice but I didn't realize how nice it would be considing the hotel was only opened 6 months ago, to say the least Dave and I were totally impressed with our stay there :-) I don't think I have ever stayed that comfortably at a hotel before, they had the best bed ever !!! Dave was impressed with the massaging shower heads and the nice big flat screen Tv and well we both enjoyed the hot buffet breakfast every morning.

Anyway after arriving there eary evening Friday, we got settled and then took a walk down to River Street which is the Savannah waterfront. What was really nice is it was amazing how warm it was, we could have worn t-shirts had I packed them but who would have thought it would have been warm there ? But really it was only for the Friday night. Dave and I had such a nice evening down there, walking through all the shops, watching all the big container ships come into port and listening to all the trumpet playing musicians that lined the streets :-) Eventually we started back up to the hotel but stopped half way when we found a live band playing outside a group of restuarants, we sat there a while and then called it a night :-)

Here is a view of the port and the beautiful bridge we come over to enter Savannah. You can see the river boats on the left there too, we wanted to take a trip on them on Sunday but it was so cold we passed on that for next time.



Here are the boats up close, one is just a tour ship and the other you can go out for lunch or dinner on it, I love these boats.



This was just a sailship that was parked at the waterfront, you could tour it if you liked, not sure why we didn't ... but it was pretty neat.



Just another view of the waterfront, there was one of the more modern hotels, not very historical like at all, you can see all the fancy boats out front too.



Here are all the shops along the waterfront, you can see that they all look very historical like, actually at a glance it looks like a run down dump but it actually is very pretty when you are walking in and out all the stores, all very well done if you ask me, I totally loved it there. There were also lots of restuarants and pubs along the waters edge too, expensive places but nice if you just want to either sit in one of the sports bars and watch a game or so or if you wanted to just sit back and enjoy some jazz in one of the other pubs, all really cute.





Ok this one I had to paste for my mom, this candy store would have blown her mind, it was awesome, we were in it late one evening but you could see if you were there during the day you could see all the candy being made, everything from ice cream to truffles and rock candy, we didn't buy a thing, can you believe that ? There are two of these kind of candy stores along the rivers edge.





Saturday we took the hop on hop off trolley tour which was a great idea, we first took the 90 minute tour in full which gave us an idea of what there was to see, then on the second loop we hopped off where there was stuff to see and then we would wait for the trolley to come by again and we would hop on until there was something else we wanted to see where we would hop off again, this was pretty cool, especially when late afternoon it started to storm so instead of getting sopping wet without an umbrella we just hopped back onto the trolley and did another loop in the dry comfort of the tolley.



One of our first stops was at the Cathedral of John The Baptist, wow what an amazing church, I can only imagine what it must be like to get married in a church like that, it was beautiful. Dave and I saw many churches when we travelled Spain and Portugal years back but this was was truly beautiful :-)







Throughout the historical Savannah you will see 21 squares, you know like we have circles or round abouts, they have squares, only the square isn't just this little square you go around, each one is a park with beautiful trees and plants and benches to sit on, they are amazing. They are so pretty that we even saw a wedding happening in one of them. Here are two pictures of just two of the squares, they are a lot bigger than my picture shows, but very well done.





What was also pretty is many of the trees are covered in this stuff called Spanish Moss, I have no idea what it is other than some air plant but it's everywhere, it's so very pretty but apparently that moss is full of crazy bugs so whenever people talk about it, they convince you not to mess with it or the bugs will itch you like mad ... so I wasn't going near it that was for sure but from a distance, it was beautiful.



I took many pictures of houses, but like Charleston it would probably just bore you to death but I wanted to quickly show you two pics, one of a pretty average house in the historical district and then the other which is the smallest house in Savannah, if I remember correctly it was only 500 square feet in size can you believe that and it is lived in ... also it just sold for a whopping $200 and something thousand dollars, come on it must be some rich guys play house for his kids or something, who would want to live there !!!





Last but not least, on the way out of Savannah we popped by the beach, it would have been nice to take a walk but it was so very cold we passed on that for next time too, here is a picture of the pier and the beach in the opposite direction. Savannah isn't really a place to take kids but we might one day, we could spend the day at the beach and do stuff walking around at night ... I don't know it was perfect for Dave and I though, it was one of the nicest weekends away we have had over here :-)





Thanks Dave for a great weekend and Tina to you and Lewis especially we obviously could not have enjoyed it as much as we did without your help, you are the best !!!

Happy Anniversary

Just wanted to drop a note to say thank you to everyone that called, sms'd us, emailed and even sent cards to wish Dave and I for our 13th wedding anniversary. 13 years might seem a good while but him and I have been together well over 20 years now, can you believe that, we are definitely like an old married couple :-) I cannot remember life before him, especially since we have been friends since I was 13ish, golly that's a long time, he must love me right, I mean he has stuck around this long (hehehe).

Since Jade was off school because of Veterans Day we all went out for a nice lunch which was a good treat, now we have the weekend to look forward to, I am not sure who is more excited, us to have a romantic childless weekend away or Jade to go spend the weekend with Ms Tina and her best friend Louis ... and his brother Tyler of course and sister Layla :-)

Anyway just wanted to say thanks, it meant a lot !!! Oh I wanted to especially mention my maid of honor Jackie Fitzgerald and Daves best man Louis Pretorius, we could not have chosen better people to stand up for us on our wedding day, in 13 years the two of them have never forgotten to make contact with us to wish us, we love you guys !!!

House Update - 8th November ...

Ok this is a very quick update ...

Saturday we quickly went to see what had been done on the house this week and it was quite a lot actually ... from this picture you can see our garage doors are now on but more so than that, our driveway had been done as well as the pathway in front of our house. Sadly the tree that we love in front of our house has been damaged by people laying cables and the builder is not sure whether it will survive, we are hoping it will survive and asked for them to leave the tree and not remove it in the hope it will be ok. They are going to try and doctor it some to save it, if it looks like it won't make it, they will come and remove it. We will have other small trees in our front garden but we were one of the lucky ones to have a big tree out front that they did not have to remove so we really hope it is a fighter and survives.



They also built our fireplace, hard to see the stonework from a distance but it looks good, Dave would have liked more variation in color but I think once it has all been cleaned up it will be fine :-)

They also installed all my granite counter tops, I didn't add a picture here as they are still covered and you cannot get the complete effect. The bathroom counter tops were also done.



Then they started our deck this week too and apparently it will be done on our next visit. It is a nice large deck, Dave and I are thrilled at our decision to extend it a little longer than we originally planned on. It's hard to see from this angle and I did take a picture from the top but it's hard to see from there too but you get the idea at least.



This picture is taken from the other side but here you can now get a better idea of how little our back yard is, ok our property line runs into the forest so it's not like we don't have land back there but here you can see the only area that will be grassed. Dave plans in time to clean out the forest area to make it look neater but we are in no rush to do that as there is tons of work to be done before then. We might even lay a slab under the deck in time ... but that's all in the far distant future :-) inside first right ?



Ok so that's the update on the house, this week Jade is excited about two things, Thursday she is getting to go see the stage production of Annie at school, I wish I could go with but it is only for the kids, she will love it and am sure she will come home wanting to now be an actress ...

Then Friday she is going to my girlfriend Tina's house for the weekend, tomorrow is Dave and my wedding anniversary so we are going to Savannah Georgia for a short get away, we will leave around lunch time on Friday and come back late Sunday afternoon, I hope we have good weather so we can enjoy our time away, lots to see there so ... hold thumbs.

I am sure I will have lots of pics after the weekend so hang in there and enjoy the week.

House Update - 2nd November 2008

Yesterday we went out to the house like usual on the weekend to see the progress over the last week and were we pleasantly surprised by how much was done ... golly they are working fast !!!

I am not sure if the photo's show it well enough but the hardy plank has now been painted and the color you see in this picture is now the color of the house, the color we chose, we were nervous about it since it had a tinge of green in it but it has turned out really well :-) Also we thought the house next door looked too similar color wise as well but on closer inspection theirs has more of a pink tinge so it does look different :-)

They had last week started putting up the shutters but I see this week they aren't much further with that but at least they finished the siding all round the house, also they have neatened up the entrance way so we could actually walk up the stairs into the house this week. We figure since they are moving so fast now, next week the house will probably start being locked up when the builders are not there and we will have to get the key from the agent on duty to go in ...



The railings have also been installed, now things are finally staring to come together and the house is starting to look like a house inside :-) The color of the oak on the stairs and the railings will be stained to match or hardwood floors eventually so it will look a bit different then but you can get an idea now :-) It's so good to finally see the stuff we chose in the design center come together and thank God everything looks ok so far :-) hold thumbs on the rest !!!



My kitchen is coming together too as you can see, the granite counter tops will probably come in the next week or so I would imagine. It's hard to see the entire kitchen from this angle but you can get an idea of what it will look like ... I hope :-)

They have also installed the cabinets in all 3 bathrooms as well as the laundry so things are coming together nicely. All the baths are installed as well.



This is the view at the back of the house, on Tuesday Dave and I have a meeting with the builder, they will be starting our deck shortly, then you will get a better idea of how the house will look at the back when it is done :-)



We didn't expect to see much change on our trip out there but as I said, we were pleasantly surprised :-) I think they are still aiming at being done before Christmas but we won't move in till mid January I am thinking, or we will start moving in around that time anyway !!!

On another note, today and tomorrow Jade has off school, they have two days of parent teacher conferences, today is ours and hold thumbs all is going well with Jade at school, I will give you an update later.

Have a good week.

Halloween 2008

Just three quick pictures, Jade was a pink fairy this year for Halloween, it was all inspired by the skirt when would light up when a button was pressed. I knew it was going to be hard to show you guys exactly what it looked like but here are the daytime pics and one night one that might give you an idea of how it looked !!!







Oh and I am still blowing pink stuff out my nose ... yuk, thankfully it was easier to was out than to spray on. It was a fun look though :-)

We went to our old neighborhood so Jade could Trick or Treat with her old friends, she really had a good time with them :-) I am so happy we decided to do that. Next year she will have a whole new neighborhood to check out, that too should be fun !!!

Tomorrow we will go through to the house again and see if there are any visual changes that we can take pics of for you guys. Until then enjoy the remainder of the weekend.