Shawn Says...Part 5

 "Framing will be completed by Monday. My crew is cleaning up odds and ends. Shingles installed today. Windows and exterior doors are on schedule for Monday. Trades will begin rough ins at the end of the week. 

I hope you and your family have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Front view from the end of the driveway

Kitchen island

Nook between the Kitchen and Screened Porch

View into the living room and fireplace

Jack in Ge-Ge's room

Demonstrating how Ge-Ge will climb 
out her window

Up the Stairs

Down the stairs

Kate's room

A heart cut into the window of the
master bathroom

Master bedroom/owner's retreat

Middle of the upper floor looking into 
the master bedroom

Sam's Room

Jack's room

Shawn Says...Part 4

 "We are framing your new home! My crew began framing Monday. We have had a rough week with all the rain. Walls for the first floor are up and the crew is working on the second floor I joists today. I believe my crew is going to work tomorrow due to lost time with all the rain this week."

First floor is framed and the I joists are in for the second.

View from the street

A view of the front from the base of the driveway.

Inside the garage

Inside the screened porch which is off the main living
area and breakfast nook.

Screened porch

Looking in the window from the screened porch into the 
main living area

Looking through the window into Ge-Ge's room

Ge-Ge's room and the window she plans to jump out

We are won't be back to see further until after the new year, but can only imagine how much will change!

Shawn Says...Part 3

This is where I will do weekly updates from our builder, Shawn. Dave and I go by on Sundays (and sometimes during the week) to check on the progress. We like Sundays because the builders aren't working then and we can roam around. 

"Foundation block has been completed. Garage slab has been poured. Framing lumber dropped today and framers are all over it! Open floor and foundation inspection will take place on Monday. It will take my crew about two weeks to frame your new home. Please do not go inside the home if you visit in the next two weeks. It is much too dangerous and we don’t want anyone to get hurt. Once framing has been completed you will be able to go inside and check it out."

Foundation block from the front.
Check out all that lumber ready to be placed!

Foundation block from the rear.

 

Long Time - No See!

Hey there, stranger! It's been a few years...

Previously on Mulley Musings, we were pregnant with our third child and sweet three-year-old Jack announced that we were going to name her Kate Nicole. On May 20, 2014 Kate joined the world and life has been quite a bit more interesting ever since!

I guess now would be great time to catch you up on the AmeriMulleys and what everyone has been up to for the past seven years.

Kate, 6.5 years

Kate is funny, charming, snuggly, smart, and a bit dramatic. She dances ballet with one of the local dance studios. She is in first grade and loves to read, draw, play pretend and make messes. Kate wants to be a pet groomer and own her own pet salon when she grows up.

Sam, 8 years

Sam is smart, sensitive, an overachiever in all things, athletic, and compasionate. He does TaeKwonDo and is working toward his Black Belt. Sam is in second grade and has better handwriting that most adults I know. He loves animals, dinosaurs, playing video games, and wants to be a zoologist when he grows up.

Jack, almost 10 years

Jack is helpful, kind, a problem solver, and almost always happy! He plays the piano and is looking forward to writing his own music one day. Jack is in the fourth grade and his favorite subjects are reading, art, and performing arts. He loves clocks (making, fixings, rebuilding, and just admiring), video games (playing and designing), and helping everyone. Jack wants to be a clockmaker when he grows up.

Elizabeth & Dave 

Elizabeth is sarcastic, funny (at least she thinks so), and a self-proclaimed expert cartwheeler. She has an inability to say "no" and therefore spends any spare time she has volunteering or substitute teaching at the kids' school.

Dave is kind, generous, and level-headed. He is on his 21st year with IBM and before COVID, he was traveling globally accruing the airline miles and hotel points that allow the family to travel on fun adventures! 

So that was a quick and dirty update on the AmeriMulleys. And now on to the reason for the blog resurrection. NO - we aren't having another baby...but we are moving! 

Last month, Dave and I invited my mom to move in with us. Mom was happy to accept our offer and within a week of the invitation she was moved in! A few days after that, we found a new home that is a bit bigger and has a ground floor bedroom and bathroom for Mom to call her own. This huge change is proving to be as much a gift to our kids as it is to Mom. We are able to help her out with the menial tasks that often cause her discomfort as well as provide an endless stream of snuggles and company that she was sorely missing - especially during the pandemic.

Our new house will be in Wake Forest and was just a measly pile of dirt when we chose it. It is now under construction with an anticipated completion date of May 2021. We will use this platform to document the building of our home as well as other family shenanigans.

Right after we signed the paperwork!

So without further ado, here is our first house updates from our builder, Shawn:

November 21st:

"We have started working on your new home. Footings have been dug and inspected. Footings are getting poured today! Brick points will be installed next Tuesday. I have my mason on schedule to begin the block foundation Wednesday."

Footings have been poured!

December 4th:

"Brick points are down! I set the block heights on Wednesday and my mason began the foundation on Thursday. The foundation takes about five days. We will then backfill and waterproof the foundation. The garage slab will then be poured and we will be ready for framing materials to be delivered. Framers will be onsite once all lumber as been dropped!"

The front steps

A view of the crawl space

How's that for a massive AmeriMulley update. I promise the next post won't take me another seven years!

What's in a Name?

We were so overwhelmed with all of the love when we announced we were adding a baby girl to our crazy little family and we wanted to thank everyone that showed their love and support.  While Dave was not shocked at all to hear that the baby was a girl, I am still in shock.  After the ultrasound tech told us "girl", I had the doctor confirm when he came in.  I'm actually still thinking of boy names because I just can't believe I'm having a girl.  All of this to say that I'm not disappointed, just shocked!

We've had our girl name for as long as I can remember...long before we ever had Jack.  It's not really a secret as we've told so many people over the years.  We've usually kept our baby names quiet until the little one is out in the real world, but this time we have a little motor mouth in our midst.  It has been decided that we will share our baby girls name well before her estimated due date.




For those of you who can't understand what Jack said, here is a transcript:

Mommy: "Hey, what's your name?"
Jack: "Jack"
Mommy: "What's your brother's name?"
Jack: "Sam"
Mommy: "What's your baby sister's name?"
Jack: "Baby Kate"
Mommy: "I love you!"
Jack: "Love you!"

Baby Mulley #3 will be Kate Nicole Mulley

Kate is a name that both Dave and I love, both say the same, and we are pretty sure everyone can spell it (just like Jack and Sam).  Nicole is for my cousin whose life was tragically taken from her last February at the age of 33.  I contacted my aunt and uncle to ask for their blessing to use Nicole's name as our baby girl's middle name and they said that they were honored and that it would mean the world to them.

Nicole and I (along with a few other cousins) practically grew up together at our grandparents' beach house.  As we got older, we didn't see each other as much as our interests were different, but she will always hold a very special place in my heart. I have always understood that losing a child is devastating, but now that I am a parent-that fact really hits so much closer to home. Nicole is included in some of my fondest memories and Dave and I wanted to do something that would contribute to her legacy.

So there you have it!  Baby Kate has an official name and we are happy to share with all of you!

The Penis Situation

We woke up at six o'clock this morning so that we could be out the door by half past in order to get to the doctors office for my Level II Ultrasound appointment at seven o'clock. Shwew! Did you get all of that? Yes, I had a doctors appointment at seven in the morning on Christmas Eve. I didn't even try to get a babysitter, we just planned on taking the boys. Jack was really excited to see Baby Alexander (what he has named the baby) on the television. The first thing he said when he got up this morning was, "Everybody ready!?! It's time to go to the doctor and watch tv!"

We loaded the car with testosterone and snacks and were on our way. When we arrived at the doctors office, I went up to the receptionist and began the check-in process. Jack walked up the receptionist and said, "Hello! I'm Jack. This is my mommy and this is Baby Alexander!" It's really a shame that Jack is so shy!

The ultrasound technician looked at all of Baby's parts (brain, heart, spine, kidneys, arms, legs, feet, hands, yaddayaddayadda) and everything looked fantastic. Luckily, we didn't use up all of our healthy baby genes on Jack and Sam. Then came time for the big reveal. Was I carrying a boy or was I carrying a girl? Wouldn't you know it, Baby had the legs shut tight and the umbilical cord was right in between them. I explained that we could not have another stubborn child, that role was already filled by Sam. She continued to poke and jiggle me hoping to get Baby to cooperate and then she finally made an educated guess.

Oh? You thought I was just going to come out and tell you the sex of Baby #3. Ha!

Watch to find out:

Father Christmas

Today, we headed to Chapel Hill for brunch with Santa (or Father Christmas as Jack calls him--we're fancy in the Mulley house!).  This is, by far, one of my favorite Christmas traditions that we have in our house.  It will be a sad day when the kids are too cool to have brunch with Father Christmas--let's all take a moment to hope that time never comes.  This year, Ghee-Ghee came along on our adventure.  Jack has been talking about having brunch with Father Christmas for weeks and he was very excited about seeing him. 

After I got the boys dressed, I snapped a picture of them together because I didn't know how things would go once we saw the big guy in the red suit.

When we got to brunch I got the boys and myself some food and then sat down to start eating.  All of a sudden, we hear sleigh bells and a hearty Ho Ho Ho!  We look up and see Santa!  The look on Jack's face was pure love and excitement.

He spotted Santa

Santa making the rounds

I've learned from previous years that it's best to not have Jack wait in line for long so I quickly got in line to wait for our chance to talk to Santa.  We were third in line, but Santa likes to take time to talk to everyone (and I really appreciate that) so the line doesn't move as fast as it does at the mall.  

Jack came to join me in line and was getting more and more excited as his turn came.

We're next!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Once it was our turn, Jack got a case of the "bashfuls".

He insisted on Mommy joining him

Father Christmas sharing his sleigh bells with Jack

Then we decided to add Sam to the mix.  He got a case of the "don't leave me with that stranger dude". 

At least Father Christmas and I are enjoying ourselves

Of course, we had to get Daddy in the picture, too.  We do that every year.

The Mulleys and Father Christmas

Then Jack told Santa that he wanted a train for Christmas and that Sam wanted one, too.  We asked Santa if he wanted to hold the littlest baby and he said, "Where is the littlest baby?" and Jack replied, "In Mommy's tummy!"

The "Littlest Mulley" in Santa's lap.

So the "Littlest Mulley" sat in Santa's lap and he said that was probably the youngest child he'd ever held.

*Oh, you didn't know we were expecting Mulley #3?  We blogged about it at the beginning of November, but in a very subtle manner.  SURPRISE!  Not many people picked up on our announcement so we just enjoyed our little secret a little longer.*

Back to story already in progress:

 After being terrorized by (and terrorizing) Father Christmas, we finished eating and then Jack was ready to get his face painted and get a balloon animal.

Checking out the action

Trying his very hardest to sit still

It's so hard to not smile

Admiring the finished product

Father Christmas and his reindeer

On the way out the door, we stopped to get one more family picture in front of the gorgeous Christmas tree.

The Mulleys, Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas from the Mulleys!