It has begun...

For those of you that read this post awhile back, you know that toward the end (yes, you had to read alllllll the way to the end to get this part) we talked about our living situation and what's next. These were my exact words "We have decided to build a small, probably close to 1,000 square feet, two bedroom, 1 bath house and live in it for a year or so. We are actually able to pay cash for this with the equity from our home that we sold, so we will be mortgage free during this time. In February of 2018 we will be able to qualify for a loan, so we will start the build of our dream home then. Or not, if we decided we like living mortgage free!!!" In all honesty, when I wrote that, there was definitely a part of me that was totally joking. We have plans already drawn up for our dream home; there was no way Trevor was going to talk me out of building my dream home! Well...it happened. The more we talked about permanently staying in this smaller home and adding on as we need, paying cash for each part as we go, the better and better it started to sound. No, I won't get my dream home, but we have found a way to work in those dream home features that I loved. Plus, it will be a DREAM HOME because we won't have a mortgage! That is a dream home! That will be an extra $1,000+ a month that we either won't have to make or we can put toward vacations, college, making memories, etc!

We have drawn up plans ourselves and plan to do the majority of the work ourselves, which will be so neat to be a part of. This has already been a process in itself. Ha! We had plans drawn up and we kept changing things around and relocating different rooms and we just couldn't finalize them. Well, just the other day we scrapped all those plans and started over. I think we are both really happy with these updated plans and I can't wait to share them once we have them totally finalized.

So, the first step has been accomplished---clearing the land where we plan to build. We picked a place that is completely covered with trees and you actually can't drive a car back there because of how built up it is. You can park and walk to it, but you still get attacked by thorn trees and different pokey sticks. lol. So, we had a lot of work to do before we could actually start the build process. Trevor's grandma is having a ton of dirt being dumped on her property from the muskogee turnpike construction, so there are several workers on her land every day. The project manager agreed to help us clear the property where we want to build, which means we didn't have to pay someone. We were obviously at the mercy of him though and since this was the first step, not much could happen until the land was cleared. 

I know this doesn't look like much...but it's the first step to getting started! WAHOO!!

The top picture was taken right after Christmas and the bottom picture is now. So you can see how much the bulldozer guy helped us! 

Here are some more pictures of the progress. 

Our driveway "before"

Our driveway "after" the trees were cleared. We couldn't even walk where we wanted our driveway to be located, so this was neat to see and get to walk. 

This is the "before" picture of where our house will sit. 

This is after the bulldozer cleared everything. So cool to actually see a clean slate.

"before"

"after" - we had to clear this area for the power line.

Part of our driveway

Some action pictures

I'm so excited to get this thing started!! 

Brooks is 7 Months!

I have a 7 month old....we are closer to being 1 year old than being a newborn. That is crazy! This was a BIG month for Brooks; we had a lot of really neat changes. With that came a few more cranky days than normal, but I know that he is just learning and growing, so those days are going to happen. However, week 29 and 30 were rough!!! I feel like today, as I am typing this, we are finally back to normal!

*We started sitting up REALLY well! It is a whole new world when they are able to sit up. He doesn't really care for his play mat anymore because he is done being on his back. He always wants to be sitting up! SO COOL! 

*We moved up to a size 3 diaper. 

*We started rolling over to our tummy while sleeping. This was so crazy to see! He has always hated being on his tummy. He won't do this during playtime, but he does it every night.

*We transitioned out of Merlin's Magic Sleep Suit! The sleep suit is designed to keep babies on their back. Since Brooks found a way to roll on his tummy, he wasn't able to roll back over since the sleep suit is kind of a bulky material. It actually wasn't a hard transition. We went back and forth deciding if we should use any type of swaddle or just put him down in his PJ's. After a couple nights trying both, we decided he was fine in just his PJ's, so that's what we are doing. 

*We love to walk while holding onto mom or dad's hands. It's so crazy to see him do this! He may walk before he crawls! Haha!

*We LOVE food! He tried solids last month, but he will now eat about anything we have on our plate. 

*We babble and say "dadadadadada." He obviously has no idea what he's saying, but I love hearing his voice.

*We have also started a new scream that mom and dad are NOT that fond of.

Like I said, this past month was huge! I absolutely LOVE seeing him develop these new skills and try new things. 

At our 6 Month appointment we were:

*27 in tall (58 percentile)

*18 lb 6 oz (62 percentile)

Here are our weekly photos:

27 Weeks

28 Weeks

29 Weeks

30 Weeks

Here is our life in pictures...

Melt My Heart!!! 6 Months 3 Days

6 Months 4 Days

Poor guy was having trouble napping, so I took advantage of a couple extra snuggles that day. 

January 6th - SNOW DAY!!! 

Not much snow came down that day, but we still enjoyed it.

<3

Winston still finds ways to let me know he was number 1. :)

These towel pictures are the BEST! 

Sitting up like a boss! 6 Months 11 Days

Whiskey doesn't mind the attention 

6 Months 12 Days

<3

6 Months 13 Days

6 Months 15 Days

He has the cutest facial expressions! Usually in the morning we'll go downstairs and I'll make breakfast while Brooks plays with some toys on the couch. 

bubbles...

Rocking his new shoes from his Aunt Katy! This kid has the fattest feet! :) 

Playtime with friends!

CHASE: 3 Years 10 Months
CHARLIE: 8 Months 29 Days
GRAHAM: 6 Months 3 Days
BROOKS: 6 Months 18 Days

So cute!!! 

Thank goodness we have a big dog for back support! :)

I know I posted our 29 week photo above, but I thought this was too cute! Seriously, Whiskey is so sweet with him. 

Grabbing everything...

6 Months 19 Days - It's been so cold out that we haven't taken many walks. However, the weather has been beautiful so we had to get out of the house. This was the first time we were big enough to sit in the stroller and not in the carseat in the stroller. He LOVED it! We have made this part of our daily routine when the weather is nice.

6 Months 20 Days - We did some work on our property and sweet baby Brooks tuckered out pretty quickly. :)

Ahhhh...I have a tummy sleeper!!! 

We love hanging out outside

6 Months 21 Days

Little guy is getting some rolls! <3 <3 <3

Loving my new shirt.

Loving his new Cowboys towel! 6 Months 25 Days

Playtime with dad

Sweet giggles

Brooks loves to be worn. We usually carry him in the front, but he is old enough to be carried on the back now and it's wonderful!!! 

Some days that's all we need for a nap! 6 Months 29 Days

We love swinging! I'm pretty sure we love anything outside, but swinging is our new favorite thing. 

Trevor even got his tree swing hung on our property! Cool story- my grandpa made this swing for Brooks for Christmas! I know it will get a lot of use! :)

This was definitely the craziest, most eventful month (other than the month he was born) yet. We are loving the neat changes Brooks is making and we are so excited to see what the next few months bring. I love you so much Brooks Gabriel!!!