Merry Christmas!

The Proctor's celebrate Christmas in style with the Three Days of Christmas.  Up first is Christmas with my immediate family on Christmas Eve.  My parents, brothers and significant others gather at my parents and open lots of great gifts.  While all were thoughtful and great, my favorite happened to be the seltzer maker.  Genius.  We've already given it a go and will save a ton of money as all we drink is seltzer water.

A contraption that blows balls and of course Abby's hair.

Up second is the Legere Family Christmas party on Christmas Eve.  Where Aunts and crew toast with shots to the holiday.  I think this year they topped it at three.  The food is always fabulous, the company crazy, and the laughter merry.

eating blackberries before heading home

Thirdly, was our Christmas at our NEW HOME!  Technically, the house is our gift to each other.  Although it's certainly the biggest present we'll ever buy each other, we did exchange stockings.  With one addition to the house (my brother Chris) without a stocking we made do :-)  

Abby has a blast opening gifts and Santa was obviously pleased on how wonderful she behaved all year.

Santa had animal crackers and Sierra Nevada at our house!

Fourth, was a trip down to Woburn on Christmas day to celebrate with the Proctor side.  Just missing Gwen, we all celebrated the holiday with more fabulous food, a great Yankee Swap, and a million more lovely gifts!

The Burlingame's minus Greg.  Thanks for hosting!

Last up is the Dee Family Christmas in Turner.  Always a favorite with the Christmas Auction, we celebrate with Grampy's steak recipe, baked eggs, bacon and home fries.  The auction is one of my favorite holiday traditions where folks contribute goodies to Santa's sack and we all bid pennies or candies on the items.  We start off with 50 (this year it as 40) pennies and always end up with items we are psyched to take home.  A bottle of wine for $.20?  yes, please!  Beef jerky for $.12?? Duct tape, flashlights, chocolate, baby rattles, etc!! It's true!

What a wonderful holiday season!!

Abby visits with Santa!

We braved the mall today and visited Santa before he takes off with his reindeer and sleigh.  The wait wasn't too bad and Abby and I hung out near the snowmobile on display.  I think she was a bit shocked by seeing the real deal.  Last year she was asleep the whole time :-)

13 months

1 month old

How fast they grow :-) 

As I bent down to help Abby on Santa's lap,  Santa told me today that the first Christmas is always special for the child, but each and every Christmas after, it is special for the "big" kids.  How so very true.  As we share in the spirit of Christmas and celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Proctors wish each of you a very Merry Christmas. 

Master Bedroom After

Considering our room was PINK before, this is a huge enhancement.  I  love, love, love the color we choose.  It's Benjamin Moore, Mediterranean Blue. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures before.  However, the color in the kitchen was the same, so visualize with me.  :-)

The existing sconces were brass and I spray painted them black, added new shades, and viola!  The paneling will go away at some point, but at this time I think it adds to the charm. 

The front pillows are made from the scarf to my wedding dress.  My crafty Mom made them into our ring bearer pillows. 

All in all, it's a very cozy room. Abby loves to snuggle in the morning in our bed.  Eventually,  we'll add more pictures, and other stuff, (like matching furniture) but for now, it's just perfect.

House Remodel - Abby's Room

Ok, things are starting to settle down and we're putting the finishing touches on most of the rooms. Including finding and hanging some of our pictures and paintings.  Hopefully in the next few weeks we'll post lots of before and after pictures of all the rooms.  Let's start with Abby's Bedroom!

This room has had the most problems because of the big moldy hole in the wall.  Remember that?

Here's the transformation!

at the building inspection

at the start of the problem

working the sledge hammer

taking out the rotten, moldy boards

all patched up and ready for paint.

And the FINISHED PRODUCT!

Just the window sill to fix.  It may wait a bit :-)

This is a needle point started by Tim's Mom and finished by Tim's sister, Erin.  Obviously the connection to me working at Teddy Bear, but more importantly, it's a piece of scripture read at our wedding.

I'm happy with the way Abby's room came out.  It functions well, is mostly Abby proof, and is a constantly being played in.  Abby moves between the living room and her room freely and is generally found "reading" her books.  I'm hoping to add some vinyl pieces to the one spare wall.  I found some at Michael's that are pink and green and have flowers, butterflies, etc.  It would be absolutely perfect! It's even 50% off right now!

Abby, Slow Down!

It's official - we have a walker.  She certainly is walking more than crawling and she's enjoying learning the new talent.  Walking means she's taller and can reach higher, which means we've had to baby proof more.  The first (and only task) for Tim last weekend was to get the latches on the kitchen cabinets. 

Here's a quick video of our giant marshmallow

Birthday Girl Part III

Abby had her One Year check up with her pediatrician today!  All is well in the health department, and I must say good things come in small packages. Our little Abster is growing like a weed!  We did place bets on her weight and both were not even close.

Height: 29.25 inches =  50%
Weight: 16.9 pounds (HOLY SHNIKES!)  She only gained 1.5 pounds!  = 1.6%
Head Circumference: 18"  = 66%
****Edited****

I'm guessing a a bit and will edit when I find the print out.  Dr. M is not worried about her weigh at all since she's very tall.  We did talk about making sure she eats a lot of meats (meatballs, taco's, etc) and even adding olive oil and avocado to her diet.  I can't say that Abby like's her avocado, but we'll try again.  Abby is also in her convertible car seat, still rear facing, but now more room to clip her in with bulky clothing.  Her height was getting in the way!

Dr. M had a good taste of why Abby might be skinny as she was walking all over the place and getting into everything.  They don't even child proof their cabinets?  Tim just got back from a business trip and is amazed how much she is walking - definitely more walking than crawling these days.  Makes for a tired Momma. I'll post a video later :-)

Here are a couple of snap shots at Thanksgiving.

Showing off for the camera with Auntie Kelly and wearing her adorable dress from
her friend Miss Ridley, who has great taste!

we were showing off how we move in circles

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving at The Proctor Residence in Belmont, VT.  Jim and Gwen hosted us all and cooked a marvelous turkey breast with all the fixings.  Unfortunately, my helping didn't stay in me for too long as I had a bit of a stomach bug.  We made it back to Maine late Friday night and enjoyed Saturday recuperating.  Fortunately there were lots of willing hands to hang out with Abby.  Her cousins adore her and I think Auntie Kelly and Auntie Erin are a bit smitten.  We had a great time with the family and are looking forward to Christmas.

We're hoping to start the decorating festivities and have hung our wreath and put up candles in the window. I am currently working at LL Bean almost every evening and needed lots of helping hands (thanks Mom and Chris!) to watch Abby while Tim was away. Little down time is cramping my decorating wants.  Hopefully the rest and tree decorating will start this weekend.

May the holidays be bright, merry and filled with Christmas cheer!  Tim and I are both excited to keep family traditions going with Abby.

House Celebration

For our wedding shower (way back when) we received a very sentimental gift that really lasts for a few years.  In our case, 3 1/2 years.  Our friends Sarah and Jessie put together a basket of wines each labeled with a special occasion including Wedding Night, First New Year, First Married Fight (we still have this one!),  New Baby, and New House.  We finally have opened the second to last bottle of wine and really the one we worked the hardest for.  We drank each sip reflecting on the past four weeks of choosing paint colors, sanding every corner, painting, fixing a hole in the wall, ripping up carpet, sanding and polying hard wood floors, hanging closet organizers, moving boxes, hauling loads of trash and recyclables to the dump, etc.  Yes, it was all worth it.....and this Cabernet tasted good.

Now, the last bottle of wine is the "First Married Fight" and we haven't even come close to opening.  Did I jinx myself?

Birthday Girl Part II

Our birthday girl, one day later....

Happy 1st Birthday, Abby!

One year old. What happens in one year?  A lot.  This past year has been one amazing journey with so many significant changes.  As of this moment, my darling little Abby is sound asleep with her butt in the air and my husband is snoring beside me.  I grew to love both of them more than my heart can sometimes handle.  The overwhelming emotion of thinking of where we have been and where we are going is so strong, it brings tears to my eyes. 

As I reflect on yesterday, the most fun birthday party ever, I realized we are right where we are suppose to be.  Home.  Abby celebrated her first birthday as she should - with all her family and friends.  A few key players were missing mostly because of distance, but with 60+ attendees we did it up in style.  The food was tasty, the company fantastic, and the mound of brightly colored presents was astonishing. Abby was a rockstar the whole day, taking in the hugs, kisses, the "happy birthday's", eating the cake, and opening the gifts all in stride. 








I took one picture on my camera the whole day.  Luckily I know cameras were out and pictures were taken - I just need to hunt them down. 



And wouldn't you know, the most important picture was never taken.  Which one is that?  Well, you know the one with the teddy and bright green chair?  We'll get to that one tomorrow.  For now, here are a couple taken by my friend Nicole. 

This many presents should be illegal. 

Happy Birthday, Sweet Abby Jean!

Timing is everything

Well, we're finally in the house. After almost three wweeks of a lot of sweat, and a little blood and tears we're home. I asked Tim last night if it felt like home yet and we both agreed that it was. While we are very grateful for my parent's hospitality, we are so happy to be filling our home with love and memories of our own.

The last 2 months have been a whirlwind and thankfully timing has been on our side. I'm probably jinxing myself when I say this, but life has been moving like a well oiled machine. Rarely any kinks and generally no stopping. We've worked hard to stick with timeline and we'll be celebrating Abby's birthday with very few boxes on the floor. Like I said, I hope I didn't jinx myself. :-)

Sneak Peak

We took a break from house work to take Abby's first birthday, holiday and family portraits.  The fabulous photographer, Tess Johnson, posted sneak peak's on her FB page :-)  Since some of you don't have FB (Mimi!!) here they are!

Painting lesson 101

I have never been a great painter. I like doing it, but even with painter's tape, I could never get a straight line.  My brother is the professional painter and I am forever grateful for his loads of his time and advice to us novices.

In case you are ever in need of painting a room here are a few words of advice.  

1.  Start with the putty and sand the shit out of the room, and then do it again.  Vacuum.  I swear he said that to us 20 times and there are still spots we could have done better.
2.  Paint the ceilings, trim, walls, baseboards - in that order.....  Really -it's amazing!  Work smarter, not harder!
3.  No need for painters tape!  You read that right, we did not waste any money on painters tape.  Just hold your brush at an angle and like a pencil and take your time.  Now don't think my cut lines turned out like my brothers, but they're pretty comparable to tape!
4.  Don't ask your brother to help unless you want to be scrutinized all day long. 

In all honesty, he is the best painter out there.  I was in Sherwin Williams picking up a gallon of paint (that I had picked up the day before, but asked for the wrong color.  There's the $ we saved on tape...) and the store manager and two guys who I think were his bosses were complimenting Rob's work.  Considering home owners in Cape Elizabeth, Falmouth, and so on hire him and his crew to do work, I'd say I'm getting a heck of a deal.  So, I'll deal with the scrutinizing....

Update

Well, everyone in the blogging world, we have officially closed!  It wasn't actually a smooth process and it was pretty anti climatic since we didn't even get keys.

First, the closing was delayed from Monday to Wednesday because the title insurance was delayed. We technically don't have a clean title, but an insurable one.  The company who is insuring the title will insure ours and if anyone buys it - like we're going to sell it anytime soon.  It should sort itself out with a couple of banks talking to each other over a cup of coffee and passing the title on through.  :-)

The top floor is almost ALL DONE.  The master, 3rd bedroom, kitchen, and living room are completely done.  The bathroom we're saving for a complete overhaul and Abby's room is in need of a new wall and paint.  When we started her trim work, we realized there was rot in the sill.  As we started digging, we found that the whole wall was rotten.  Awesome.  We called a few contractors because we were definitely getting in over our head.  Turns out there's lots of rot and mold.  Good news it's only a few hundred bucks to repair and the cause of the problem was most likely the window that has already been replaced.  Not the roof like we had feared.  We're hoping to get a few more years out of the roof!

Floors are being sanded and polyed this weekend and Abby's room will be finished on Tuesday or Wednesday.  In the mean time we'll get started on the down stairs.  We're hoping a new boiler and fuel tank will be installed November 11th and the carpet is going down November 12th.  So far we're either ahead of schedule or right on target.  I think I may have just jinxed myself.


I promise I will post more pictures later, but for those not on facebook.  Here's a doozy...

Closing tomorrow!

We got the call late Monday indicating our closing is set up for tomorrow at 11am!  We made the decision to start the prep and paint on Monday, hoping to get a good start on the work.  We had already lined up day care and time off from work, so it made sense to continue with the plan.  I will fully admit we hemmed and hawed about this right up until Sunday night.  It paid off because in two days we have vacuumed, puttied, sanded the "piss out of the walls", painted all the trim on the first floor, painted the ceilings and finally tonight, the first coat of new color.  I absolutely LOVE it.  It's a very light blue in the kitchen that makes the black appliances, sink, and counters really pop.  The rest of the color should be on tomorrow and we'll get a good start on ripping out some lovely wallpaper from the closets.  I should also mention that our fist snag in the house remodel is a unsightly rotten wall in Abby's Room.  I'm not sure what the heck happened, but we'll be ripping out some wall to figure it out if it was the roof, window, or gutters.  Who knows, but the joys of home ownership have begun!  Thankfully, I have two awesome brothers who know what they are doing and rock my world by helping.

We'll be home owners in MAINE as of 11am tomorrow!

Happy 11 Months, Abby!

Is this really the last monthly birthday? Yes, I understand the next one she'll be one.  One?  ONE!!?  I get a little teary eyed just thinking about it.  There is a lot going on, and I have faith we'll be celebrating at the new house.  A new house full of wonderfully people celebrating a year of transition, growth, and love. 

Our little Abby!!!  Who's not so little and getting a few more teeth, sassy, and developing quite the attitude. Her babbles are starting to sound like words - juice, book, mama, dada....and I love everything about it!

I asked her to kiss Teddy - awwww!

More teeth :-(

We finally have more teeth!  Her top tooth broke through last week and it's clear we've got more on the way.  I *think* two more are coming in at the same time!  She's been very, very cranky and whimpering all day long. The long, sad whimpers with no tears just kill me.  She also has quite the rash almost instantly on her bum.  We may need to use disposables for a few days for this to clear up.  Slathering on major diaper cream while we're at it. 

Our mortgage broker also sent us the "we have approval" email, so I'm crossing fingers the closing will still happen on Monday.  We have a very strict time line in order to get the painting and floor done prior to November 5th.  We would love to be somewhat moved in to stay in the house that weekend. It's brew fest and we have friends coming up from Vermont.  All we need is beds and some Gatorade for the day after, right?

As I was looking for a good picture to post, I realized I have very few from her last photo session.  This one is actually after bath and she has learned to "kiss Abby" when she sees herself in the mirrors.  Seriously, how cute...too bad you can't see her adorable bum!

house pics

Here are a few pictures of the house.  WARNING: There's lots of pink.

Bedroom downstairs

family room downstairs

Kitchen

Living Room

If you look closely at the pillows, that is going to be the color scheme of the top floor.  Fresh, nice blues, greens, and a yellow for Abby's room.  

fireplace in the living room

Dining room - open to the kitchen

built in desk downstairs

The other three bedrooms are pretty standard and only one bathroom is worth showing.  :-)  That's one project we'll have to save pennies for.  Unfortunately, that's one place we'll have to live with pink and black with for awhile.  

First projects up are to paint and sand/poly the floors.  I'm hoping to redo the carpet in the family room as it is NASTY.  I'll let you know how that goes :-)  I'm excited to post before and after pics!