With our famly scheduled to move in our new home just 3 weeks from now, I catch myself thinking of new issues to consider as we will be moving in. I suppose radon is something I need to learn more about. So to get started and inspired, I’m sharing this infographic:
![RadonIsReal.org [Infographic]](https://i0.wp.com/www.radonisreal.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/RadonInfographic-1000.png)
Courtesy of RadonIsReal.org
4 years, 1 month.
Dear Jack,
With our closing date just 3 and a half weeks away (January 29th), when we go to visit the progress on our house now, it’s not so much “oh look what they put in!” as much as it is “what else do they need to do before our closing date?”
At this rate, we’re mainly just lacking carpet, sod for the yard, and the fence!
So now our new home has the dark brown hardwood floors we chose (currently covered with cardboard for protection), shelves in the closets, the toilets, the microwave (which we’ll never use but we know would help the resale value should we ever move, though we never plan to), the dishwasher, and the oven.
As for the washer and dryer, those are our responsibilities, but as I recently mentioned, Mommy and I bought those during Christmas break.
And as a family, we bought our refrigerator at Lowe’s, using the 10% off coupon we received when we moved out of our town home.
(I’m still not ready to write to you about that because we’re still unclear how much money we made off the deal… I feel that story is yet unsettled.)
You talked Mommy and me into buying you a plastic candy cane on clearance for 50 cents, there at Lowe’s.
After we left Lowe’s, you had way too much fun with that thing when we stopped at Whole Foods to buy groceries.
You created a wagon by attaching the candy cane to a grocery basket. While Mommy did the shopping, I ushered you to emptier aisles so that you wouldn’t run into anyone.
For the record, the “emptier aisles” at Whole Foods were the soda/beverage one and the one with dog food.
I admit, there’s a certain amount of stress and anxiety in Mommy and me having to orchestrate the move and all the details that must come together the weekend of January 29th.
Like, for example, I’m in the midst of asking around who I should get Internet through, in Spring Hill.
We used AT&T at our townhome in Nashville and we had no problems at all, but I do wonder if we could save some money there?
What we’re used to paying is $50 a month for just Internet, since we only watch Netflix on our TV.
While the big day approaching will be exciting for our family, I’ll be glad once we get all these loose ends tied and I can know for sure we actually get to move in the weekend of January 29th; and our appliances are installed and working along with the Internet.
Love,
Daddy
4 years, 1 month.
Dear Jack,
With our firm closing date on January 29th, we are just about 6 weeks away from moving in to our much anticipated new home.
I would have to imagine that each remaining week leading up to our closing date is going to bring substantial new revelations; like this week, for example…
Our new house now has electricity! It’s alive!
So that means we now have a working thermostat on both the main floor and the upstairs. Plus, we have working light fixtures and ceiling fans.
Our front door is now installed as well; with a working doorbell.
Oh yeah, and the tile is in! It hasn’t been grouted yet, but it’s now laid down. Somehow I either forgot or just never realized that we have tile in both full bathrooms, as well as our laundry room. (I thought it was just one room.)
We attempted to take a few legitimate family pictures in our house, but there just must be something about a Ninja Turtle lovin’ 4 year-old boy that keeps him from making normal pictures.
Therefore, the whole family ends up taking a lot of silly pictures instead. We’ll take what we can get, I guess. It’s real life for us, so I’m not going to deny it!
As is our tradition, we of course drove over to the model house and visited the in-house agent. If for no other reason than checking in with her, to let you play with the snowman (your “baby”) and to check in on your “pizza parlor” (a piece of orange foam) underneath the Christmas tree.
As I mentioned in my previous letter, we visited the main 2 preschools we are considering enrolling you in once we move.
We also took another look at the swimming pool of the brand-new rec center, right around the corner from our new home.
Of course, we had the luxury of driving the sporty new 2015 Hyundai Sonata, equipped with Mommy’s favorite: seat warmers. It also came with a panaramic sunroof. We even got to see a rare migration of birds overhead that was so real it looked fake, like CGI or something!
You enjoyed singing your renditions of some holiday classics in the back seat…
We finished off the weekend with a trip to Big Lots to check out some furniture. After all, we’ll slowly be furnishing our new home as we go.
With us spending Christmas week with Nonna and Papa in Alabama, it will be 2 weeks before we see our house again.
I wonder what will be update on it by then… maybe the hardwood floors?
Love,
Daddy
Catch up on the entire series of the 2015 Hyundai Sonata Weekend. A lot of exiciting things happened!
2015 Hyundai Sonata Sport 2.0T: Family Friendly Review
Dear Jack: Our New House Now Has Electricity & Tile (2015 Hyundai Sonata Weekend)
Dear Jack: Primrose Vs. Rainbow- Finding A Preschool Near Our New House
Dear Jack: Listening to Radio Hanukkah (SiriusXM Channel 68)
4 years, 1 month.
Dear Jack,
This past weekend, in between going to Marvel Universe Live, seeing Santa with Sophie, and going to Jacob’s birthday party, we also penciled in some to visit our new house that we are building.
We started off with lunch at Whole Foods, of course.
You and Mommy had some good times playing around in the back as I enjoyed driving what I have referred to as the “Super Mario cloud,” the Lexus RX 450h, around Nashville.
We arrived to see some subtle changes that helped make our new home seem even more like a real house and not simply a construction project.
There is now a mailbox in front of our house! As long as we’ve lived in our townhouse, nearly 7 years, we’ve never had an actual mailbox.
But now we will. You can help Mommy and me check the mail. That’ll be fun!
I also noticed that they were actually finishing up the curb there as well. It wasn’t until we pulled away in the Lexus RX 450h that I realized the workers were actually waiting on us to leave so we’d be out of the way to finish the job.
As we stepped into the driveway, we were able to see our new wooden shutters, which I assume may be stained darker by the time the house is finished. I love them!
We saw in the garage that our ceiling fans have arrived and will likely be installed in the next couple of weeks.
Inside our house, we noticed the interior doors are now all installed.
And… the walls are now painted! They are the shade of crème that we chose, contrasted against the white base boards. Eventually, we will probably paint some of the downstairs that willow green color that we used in our townhome.
We drove back over to the model home and checked in with the in-house agent. You insisted on showing her your new sword from Marvel Universe Live. She was very impressed.
Then you had to check in on the snowman doll, as well as your “pizza parlor” that you hid under the Christmas tree last time we were there.
Linda, the agent, told us that she’s had many visitors curiously ask about that piece of foam under the tree so she has explained that you were behind it being there.
She also told us that one of the next major changes on our house will be that the hardwood floors and carpet will be put in.
Our closing date is January 29, just about a month and a half from now. It won’t be long until we’re in our new house… as long as everything goes according to schedule.
We finished off our visit by driving by preschools in the area. I wonder where you’ll go…
Love,
Daddy
Catch up on the entire series of the Lexus RX 450h Weekend. A lot of exiciting things happened!
2014 Lexus RX 450h 5-DR SUV (DVD Player Equipped): Family Friendly Review
Dear Jack: Marvel Universe Live- Family Friendly Review (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)
Dear Jack: Meeting Santa With Sophie At Bass Pro Shop (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)
Dear Jack: Jacob’s 5th Birthday Party In A Tractor Store (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)
Dear Jack: The Old Abandoned Silo Tower On Main Street in Spring Hill, TN (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)
Dear Jack: Our New House’s Shutters, Mailbox, & Interior Paint (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)
4 years.
Dear Jack,
We had not seen the progress on our new home since your 4th birthday two weeks ago. So it was really exciting to see our driveway has now been poured, along with the sidewalk in front of our house; as well as leading up to the front door.
But the bigger surprise was seeing that a back porch has been added on to our house!
Built into the price we are paying was supposed to be a 5×5 foot concrete slab to put patio furniture on.
Instead, they built us a 12×12 back porch.
I suppose it had something to do with the land not being level enough for the originally intended patio. Granted, we’d rather have a back porch anyway.
The way I see it, it’s technically like having a 5th bedroom, or a 2nd bonus room!
Mommy and I are planning on buying a fire pit for the backyard. We truly want to have bonfires on a regular basis, especially in the summer and fall.
Now, we will have a back porch to add to the fun!
Our marble countertops for our bathrooms are now in, which I am proud to see are made in America.
While I carried you around the house, Mommy measured for the Roman Shades we are considering putting up in the windows.
Other points of progress we noticed include the trim being painted and the automatic garage door opener being installed.
In the meantime, our family has officially been moved out of our townhome for a week now, as we’ve begun living with some friends for the next couple of months until our new house is finished.
And I plan to have more exciting news about all this within the week, but we’ll have to see how things go…
Love,
Daddy
Family Friendly Daddy Blog 