The Countdown had begun!

T-minus 2 weeks until we move into our NEW house. It is not actually our NEW house, but when we move back in to our house it will feel like a brand new house to us. We have added on a second level and knocked out some walls on the main level, thank you insurance. So I have been calling it our "second" or "new" house. In cases you don't know a tree fell on our houses in April and we have been living at Michael's parent's house since then. (Read about it here).

Move in Day is Thursday October 8th. All painting will be finished today and carpet and the hard wood floor refinishing will be complete early next week. ahhhh, I mean, AHHHH!

Also, Michael worked all day in the yard yesterday planting. We will lay sod next weekend. It looks great and he is such a hard worker. Im so thankful for him.

Check out the progress in pics below- some walls only have one coat of paint so far.

Wade's Room - It is BRIGHT ! Color: Sweet Daphne - Benjamin Moore














Color Providence Olive - Benjamin Moore














Master Bath


















Master Bedroom - Night Mist- Benjamin Moore














Abdington Putty- Benjamin Moore














All ceilings, trim and rooms not shown are linen white.

Overall, Im really excited about the paint colors. I do wish I had tested them out like you are supposed to before finalizing a color. But, its just like me to go for it without testing them out. The only color I would have changed is Wade's room, but I do think it will look great once we get his furniture in there and I know Wade will be so excited to have a bright green room. The colors do look better in person than in the photos, I think so at least :)

Thank you, Michael, for working so hard on our house! And thank you Travelers Insurance for taking good care of us!

Superman for Halloween?

Atlanta is Flooding

Downtown Atlanta


















Keller's Basement Flooded...about 3 inches of water. A lot of Michael and my important personal items(artwork, musical instruments, new furniture we have bought) were being stored in the basement, I dont think anything got damaged, but we just got finished moving everything.


















The pool is also overflowing into the yard. It is going to be a mud tub instead of a pool soon.
Stay dry out there everyone!

Wade and Michael

Easy Peasy Weekend...Im ready for another

We had NOTHING to do last weekend. Actually, we had a lot to do, but no definite plans or schedule, which was so nice! Friday night Michael went to bed at 9:30. He has had a really long week between work and managing the construction on our house. He just got put on a job at the renovating a few exhibits at the Georgia Aquarium and has been working a lot to get everything in line there. He also has been making sure our house will be absolutely perfectly constructed upon completion. I can't wait to move back in! We think it will be about 3 weeks until move in day. I'm trying not to get too excited about move in day in the case that it has to be pushed back.
So, back to Friday night, Wade and I tucked our hard worker, Michael, into bed, then played hide and seek and went to bed ourselves. I don't know why I let Wade stay up so late?

Saturday we went and checked on the construction of our house, I should have taken pics of the progress. Then we went to Masterpiece Lighting downtown and selected a few last lighting pieces. Janet, Michael's younger sister, was with us(Michael's parents went to the UT vs. UCLA game). She is hilarious and so sweet. She really wanted this lamp shade at the lighting shop. She kept bugging Michael to buy it for her. She showed it to me, Wade and Michael about 10 times, then tried it on tons of lights in the shop. She was like " hmmmm, it looks great on these lights and would really look good in my room." She was a little upset when we left the shop without it....but she got over it quickly because we took her to horseback riding lessons, her favorite.

Saturday night Michael went to Whole Foods got some fatty steaks and potatoes to cook. Mmmmm. My bestie, Jenny, came over for dinner and we just watched football and Wade...he can be so entertaining.

It was the perfect weather for riding around with the windows down



















...and having a relaxing Sunday lunch.

Just another day at the office.

Go Jackets!

Football has begun. On Saturday, we packed up early to tailgate @ GT with our buddies. We watched all the players walk into the stadium and Wade gave a high five to about half of them. He loved it. He especially loved Buzz (I hope this means he will love Santa).

We had so much fun tailgating. Wade played corn hole and football with all the guys. Precious(my mom) and Kathleen came to tailgate with us, then took Wade home to play and take a nap while Michael and I went to the game.

Wade knows that Precious ALWAYS brings him a surprise, so right when he saw her at the tailgate he jumped in her arms and started digging through her purse looking for his surprise. He kept saying "prize?" I think Precious has spoiled him :)

GT plays Clemson on Thursday, should be a fun game.

Potty time!

We aren't in potty training mode yet, but Wade does like to test out the potty. I don't feel like I can commit before we move back into our house. I just thought this pic was funny and will definitely be taking it down when he gets older.

Lost Cat

Michael's parents, Cathy and Reed, took a trip to South of France with another couple this past week. They got back today and said they had a great time. I cant wait to see the pics!

Michael and I were was responsible for taking care of Janet, Michael's younger sister, and all the animals: 3 dogs, 2 cats and 11 baby chicks. Wade had fun helping me feed all the animals.

Everything went well except we I lost Janet's kitten, Freckles. Darn! I was so mad I let this happen. Freckles was playing in the back yard like she normally does and just disappeared. She was only outside for about 30 minutes. I felt horrible. We looked everywhere for her and made a big sign that we hung on the mailbox. Freckles did not return. Janet cried and cried, we talked about how much Janet loved freckles and that she probably found another home and was just fine. After crying for about 30 minutes, Janet said, "well, I guess I will just have to get another one." And I was like, that's the attitude Janet, we will just get another, case solved. I still feel bad though.

Freckles was a wild little cat, so Im sure she just took off and didn't look back.

First Day of Preschool

Whew! Im glad today is over. Preschool went really well, at least to my knowledge.

I was so emotional dropping Wade off at school this morning. On the drive to school, we talked about preschool and what Wade was going to do at school. Wade got very excited when he remembered all the puzzles they have. As I pulled to the front of the carpool line, Wade's teacher opened the door to get Wade out and he realized what was happening. I wasn't coming to school with him. His bottom lip turned up and I saw the saddest face I have ever seen, he cried. I was sooo close to bursting into tears too. I kinda wanted to say never mind, we aren't going to do school this year. I had so many things I wanted to tell the teacher, but all I could manage to get out was " his pacifier is in the bag, he may need it." And Wade was off to school.

So I drove off and was finally able to cry! I cried and cried and cried. By the time I got home, I was done crying. I paced around a lot, then settled down to work.

I left extra early to pick up Wade and was a little embarrassed because I thought I would be the first one in carpool line, but I wasn't. I guess other moms were anxious to pick up their little ones from their first day of school as well. I was so happy when I finally got my hands on Wade, I teared up a little again. The teacher said he did great, but got tired and cried at the end. I guess that is what they are supposed to say.

I asked Wade what he did at school and he said "potty." Im not sure what that means, but he is in a potty training class and they ask parents to send pull ups instead of diapers. He said that he had fun and he wants to go back. He also said he ate his snack and played with puzzles. He was crying a little when I picked him up and just heaved the whole way home. Im guessing there was a lot of crying today.

Overall, Im so happy that Wade is going to school mostly because I think he needs the social interaction with other kids his age. Yay for Wade, Im so proud of him. Tear tear.

So anxious!

Wade starts school tomorrow. I had no idea that I would be so anxious and emotional about it, but I totally am. Wade has hardly been away from me since he was born unless he was with one of his grandmas, Precious or Mimi. At this point we can't even send him to our church nursery without getting a phone call " come get your baby." The worst part about it is that he has no idea what's coming. I'm sure he will adjust eventually, but I know it will be really hard to leave him for a few weeks. Maybe it will just be hard on me, ha!

There are so many rules and things to do to prepare him for school and I dont want to miss anything. I have read the school handbook about 11 times.

Wade tried on his backpack today to practice for his first day. He looked so cute.

Oh! No "b's"(pacifiers) allowed at school! I feel like Im pushing Wade off a plank with his hands tied behind his back. He only has it during nap and night time now, but when family is not around he NEEDS it.

Will keep you posted on how the first day goes....I'm going to stay really busy while he is at school!

I dont know what to think about this

At least he isnt drawing on the floor or walls anymore.

Funny Picture

I was just looking through my photos and started laughing when I saw this pic. Wade mid - fall, tripping over the blanket. He looks happy in the picture. Im glad I didn't get the next shot of him falling flat on his face.

Fresh Eggs!

Fresh Eggs for the Kellers. Eleven, one day old chicks arrived on the doorstep via FedEx this week(@ Michael's parent's house).

Right when their egg shell cracks and the chicks are born, an expert determines their sex and the girls are shipped off. No roosters/males are allowed within the city limits of Atlanta, so the ones we recieved are all females. When the chickens are 4-5 months old, they start laying eggs. Since there isn't a rooster around to make a baby chick-a-dee , the chickens lay unfertilized eggs...and they lay about one per day! They sit on them and protect them even though they will never turn into baby chicks. So there's your chicken sex - education for the day.

We kept the chicks in a box in the house under a heat lamp for a few days and then moved them outside to the chicken coop. They are all different kinds of chickens, so their eggs will all look different. Some green, blue, brown and yellow eggs.

This is round 3 of chickens for the Kellers. I think Cathy Keller has started a trend in Buckhead. Lots of these buckhead moms now have chicken coops in their backyard...and even the Chattooga Club in Cashiers got chickens too!

Im not sure if I will be getting a chicken coop in my backyard anytime soon...but I sure am excited about the fresh eggs.

Oh! And Wade loves the chicks. Every morning he says "chicks?" So we walk out to the coop check on them.


































































Wade had to watch them while eating lunch.















Freckles loves the chicks too.

Whoops!

Wade Artwork# 3. This happened in about 30 seconds and I'm sure the whole time Wade was stamping away he was saying "no, no. " Mimi laughed when she saw it and wanted to save it for Michael to see. I'm just hoping Daddy Reed doesn't see it or we will all be in trouble :)

Stamps were all over the carpet and door as well. Happy cleaning to me.


















Wade artwork #1 - purple marker all over the Keller's stone floor in the mud room.
Wade artwork #2 - green crayon all over wooden table.

We need to get back into our house before we destroy the Keller's house.

Wade artwork #4 - Coming soon??

It may have been an accident...

but Wade went tee-tee in the potty. No joke. I couldn't believe it.

Mimi bought him two toddler toilets yesterday. I put him on it last night before bath time to let him give it a try. He made all the appropriate noises and wincing facial expressions without success. I think he may have been doing this for my entertainment.

Tonight I plopped him on the potty again with a book while I was turning on the bath water. A few seconds later he jumps up and yells "Yay!" I looked into his frog toilet and there it was. Tee-tee! I was shocked and so proud at the same time.

I think this may have been just good timing on my part...but I had to announce the good news.

Btw, I cant believe Im writing about my little one going tee-tee. It is partly because Im a proud mom and partly because I want to have a record of this funny/memorable incident.

I will spare you the pictures, although I did not actually take any.

Just a little tantrum

Wade will be two in October and is growing more and more independent. Every time I try to take a picture of him, he starts screaming crying and wanting to look at the picture I took of him on the camera. The problem is that he is screaming in every picture! So now, I just have to sneak around and take pictures of him or find something that interests him more than the camera.

Below are a few pictures of a tantrum caused by the camera.

Mad Face


















Uh oh! Here it comes...


















Wowsers. (this pic makes me laugh)


















Poor buddy, so upset.














And he lost it.














Now for a happy Wade picture. He is smiling because he thinks he is going to get the camera.