The Pate Place: From the Ground Up

Truth be told, I had pretty much written off ever being able to build a home of our own.  Maybe I'm a bit of a 'pessimist' like that, but the financial side of building a home seemed out of reach and I just thought we'd never go down that road.  When it became clear that this was the path we were going to go down, we all became really excited!

We spent a lot of time driving through the neighborhood, looking at the lots, the progress of the model homes, etc.  We made it part of our Friday Family Fun Night tradition - after our Friday activity, we headed to the neighborhood, usually with the kids already in their pajamas, and explored.  I loved those Friday evenings at the site of our future home.  Around Easter, the kids even took eggs and hid them in the grass to find.  We definitely made some amazing memories during the time of our house being built.

  

I definitely won't lie though....  building our house was full of excitement and stress.  We were the second contract in this neighborhood.  It was all new to everyone, and it was quickly becoming popular, so they became busy, quickly.  

The biggest stressor of the house building process was the lack of communication about how they were going to build our lot up before starting the slab.  I could never get a clear vision of what our yard was going to end up looking like, but they kept telling me fill would be brought in and there would be a very gradual slope in the backyard.  

Before drywall went up, the kids 'claimed' their rooms by writing their names on the plywood.  They thought that was pretty cool.  Just more ways to make memories through this whole process. 

Look at the beautiful roof line!  :)

On the day we did our pre-dry wall walk thru, we had Jacob, the superintendent at the time, take our first family photo in front of our house.  I love it!  Soon after, the drywall was complete and the kids were so excited to see their rooms.  

It was an exciting day when we saw the brick going up.  I'm in love with our brick!  The designer may not have been a fan of our kitchen choices, but she did a great job when she recommended Arkansas Rose to us.  It's gorgeous!

Slowly but surely, it all came together.  We had some bumps along the way, but we didn't have any maker issues until the weeks prior to closing.  I was so upset with how the yard was turning out.  It wasn't as gradual of a slope as they made it seem, and it sounded like the drainage ditch running behind the house was going to be inside our fence line.  It was a rough couple of weeks, and at one point, we thought we were going to have to walk away from it all.  But, in the end, it all worked out pretty well.  Yes, the yard is still sloped - not ideal, but it's doable.  The drainage ditch isn't inside our fence line after all, and the size of the yard is great. In a neighborhood full of small lots, we are really fortunate to have such a great sized yard.

Unfortunately, we've heard that having issues with the building process has been pretty common in the neighborhood, so again, we feel pretty fortunate that most of the process was pretty enjoyable.  We did close on the house with quite the punch list, and we actually just got everything 100% in the last week, five months after moving in.  But, we're still so happy in this home, and absolutely love it.  It's been perfect for us, and we're enjoying all the projects we've done.  Next up...a home tour!

That was a long three and a half months....

They say you don't know what you've got until it's gone.  Sadly, the Pates learned that the hard way when we moved into our new home.  We'd been waiting for months, eagerly watching as our house became a home, and that October weekend finally arrived when we were allowed to move into the home we built for our family.  As we got closer to the home being completed, we learned that the neighborhood didn't have internet, but were told that they were working on it and getting closer.  It wasn't until after we moved in when we learned that there was still a lot to be done to make internet a reality.  While we were told we'd have internet by the end of November, Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went, 2016 tuned to 2017, and we were still waiting, clueless as to who was really to blame and what to even do next.  

But....finally, we were able to connect to our very own wifi this weekend and it's been glorious!  It seems so petty how much we complained without having home internet.  But, it wasn't just not being able to stream Netflix and sign on to the computer to check Facebook or our emails.  I couldn't pay our bills because our mobile banking app didn't work properly.  The kids couldn't do their homework using the apps and websites the teachers wanted.  We couldn't print anything off that we needed.  I couldn't upload photos, or blog, or write.  It was a wakeup call.  

For exciting family nights, we'd pack up the electronics and head to Starbucks, order some hot drinks and connect to public wifi.  The kids could play on Prodigy, read books on Raz Kids, and watch You Tube Kids videos while we synced our Garmin watches, paid bills and browsed Pinterest without the guilt of using up our data.  Thrilling, huh?

But, it's all in the past now!  I hate that I'll need to spend hours, days probably, catching up, but at least I can now.  I need to upload photos, organize folders, blog and blog and blog.  I'm dreaming of getting a Cameo Silhouette and spending days creating.  I'm so happy to be  able to catch up.  
  

Riley Turned FIVE!

Yes, we're two months into her being five, but it's a fact!  Riley is a WHOLE HAND!  This year, we started a new tradition of celebrating a ten day countdown to their birthday, so she got a lot of extra attention.  She decided that she should get her birthday pancakes on the day of her party this year since she chose breakfast for dinner for her actual birthday dinner.  So, mama obliged.  :)

We celebrated Riley's special day this year at Aspire since she was finishing up her gymnastics lessons.  She really loved that place!  It was a fun afternoon with some of her friends, and of course, cake!

On her actual birthday, we surprised Riley with a brand new bike.  She got her first bike for her third birthday, but, of course, she is getting bigger by the minute and it was time for a new bike for sure.  She loves the basket and streamers.  Gavin thought it was pretty fun, too.  Haha!

Despite being 6:15 am, she had to take it on a test ride, complete in her pajamas!  

She definitely LOVES riding her bike!

I took the goofballs to Chickfila for her birthday lunch, and the silly girl thought she was too big for the kids' menu.  She chose a Chickfila sandwich, ate about half, and then decided that it wasn't her favorite and that she'd stick to the kids' menu next time.

After lunch, we headed to Target for her to spend some of her birthday money.  I kinda loved that she picked out a Playdough set that Megan and I used to play with when we were kids.  

And for her birthday finale, our family dinner was her pick -- pancakes with chocolate chips and bacon.  :)  I think she enjoyed her birthday celebration!

 Happy birthday, sweet girl.  It seems like Daddy and I blinked and you went from baby to big girl.  We love your personality, your sense of humor, your fashion sense, and your imagination.  We love listening to you sing Riley originals, seeing your art work adorn your walls, and finding sweet notes you leave for us all the time on our pillows.  We love your snuggles and how you still sneak into our room to sleep in our bed from time to time.  You bring us so much joy, and that will never change.  Love you, Riley Savannah!