Our House

Other than being in the state of Arizona, our new house feels like it has everything we need and want. By building new we were able to make some customizations that work better for our family, and for the use of a wheelchair in the house. We not only picked the school district and the neighborhood, but the street and lot. It was pretty fun to start from scratch. Here are a few photos of the house in progress, beginning in Nov/Dec with paperwork and finishing construction in June. We closed escrow on June 18, 2008.

Before they broke ground.

Foundation is in. The portion closest to the camera is the third car garage which enters into the house. We had them slope it up to the entry rather than have a step up.

Framing is up and we can start to visualize the interior. Here the girls sit in the door from the patio to the kitchen.

Seeing the house on the lot, I start to wonder if choosing the lot with the biggest back yard in the neighborhood was really the wisest idea. How much will it cost to landscape this thing? I know I want grass, I am not a desert rock kinda girl, so how much will our water bill be??? Glad we have space between us and the neighbors though.

It was fun picking out the paint scheme, cabinets, floor tiles, carpet, lighting, faucets, even the door handles. Here is Tessa in front of a slab of our granite. She looks so little!

Drywall is up so we can see the floorplan now. We visit often and tell Tessa which room is hers, Phoebes, etc. She recognizes the pecan groves we drive past on our way here, and knows which one is the new house and which one is the old house. We had a picnic here one day.

Tessa likes to play in the dirt in the yard, collecting nails and throwing rocks. She has a fit if I stop by the house and she doesn't get to leave the car. We decide to add on a large paver patio in the back to help cut down on the mud during monsoon season.

Sure enough, just a couple weeks after moving in, the rain begins and seemingly never ends...

Summer Hair

My neighbor Kibby has a salon in her house and I figured she would do a better job cutting Phoebe's hair than I usually do. I was right. I asked for the very trendy Asymmetrical bob and it turned out so cute! Phoebe has perfect hair for it. It curls under, shows all the angles and I don't even have to point out her incredible highlights. She has the hair that every curly headed person I know would love to have!

Tessa's natural curls are enough to make Shirley Temple fans go nuts. This photo is post-pool so it's a little shaggy, but I took it because her curls air dried and that's when they look the best. Perfect little corkscrews.

My other neighbor Margaret used to do hair and did these fishtails on Tessa one day when she went over there to play. I had told her that I wanted to have Tessa's hair braided but couldn't find anyone who knew how, and my carpal tunnel hands would never last! Having only two braids made it fall out by the end of the day (I'm hoping that having multiple braids will make it last longer). But boy was it cute for a day!

L.Y.L.A.S. (Love Ya Like a Sista!)

It's fun to watch Tessa growing into a little girl, as she shows us more and more imagination, mimicking, and interest in those around her. As the mother of these two beautiful girls I have often wondered what their relationship will be like, knowing that no matter what it will be unique. Yesterday we watched as Tessa initiated a game with Phoebe. She would shake Phoebe's chair and Phoebe would laugh, she'd shake it again and Phoebe would laugh some more. (Phoebe has always found Tessa's antics amusing, but this was one of the first times we've noticed Tessa very obviously doing something to entertain Phoebe) When we play outside she likes riding her tricycle (she's a pro now) and I chase her with Phoebe. She gets a huge kick out of it and will say "gonna getchoo" as she pedals off away from us, but then she will slow down and let Phoebe grab the bar on the back of her tike. She has also recently become very concerned when she hears Phoebe crying when she wakes up and runs in to see her. Then today, another act of sweet, sisterly kindness was displayed by Tessa giving Phoebe some dog kibble to snack on. I let them into the garage and told them to play there for a minute (after which I ran back into the house to vacuum the family room since I can't do it when Phoebe is in earshot). When I returned to the garage all seemed well until I heard a crunch, crunch and knew that I had not sent them out there with any snacks. Tessa had put some kibble on the tray of Phoebe's chair and Phoebe naively trusted her sister's gift. Ah, it brings back memories...