1440 McClaren Drive

Monday we sign papers to make 1440 McClaren Drive our new house! After months of searching, we were happy to find a house we both like. We constantly get updates about houses for sale in the neighborhoods we considered as great areas for us to live. A few weeks ago we received an email about a house just on the market on McClaren Drive. We have a tendency to not even like the outside of houses (I need that curb appeal!), so we decided to drive by first and then attend the open house later that afternoon if we liked it. We drove by and liked the outside so we headed back over that afternoon to see the inside. The house was built in 1968 and hasn't been updated since except for minimal changes in the kitchen. We have gotten very good at seeing beyond the wood paneling, crazy wallpaper, and bad lighting options. The house has a living room, dining room, kitchen with eating area, family room, large laundry room, three bedrooms, and three full bathrooms. The yard is a third of an acre with a pool, grass, and a large area with fruit trees and remnants of a garden. The best part is the gate in the backyard that opens to Goethe Park. It's perfect for us with access to the trail basically in our backyard!

Our current house is for sale and we are sad to have to leave it. We put a lot of ourselves in to making the house just the way we wanted it. This was our first home as a family and we'll always have a special place in our hearts for 417 32nd Street. We will also miss the proximity to great restaurants downtown and of course, McKinley Park.

I mentioned the house needs updating- a lot of it! We most likely won't move in until the end of January in order to get some work done. All three bathrooms will be updated (no carpet in bathrooms allowed!), the kitchen will be re-done, new flooring will be put in, walls will be painted, popcorn ceiling removed, wood paneling gone, and new lighting fixtures installed. There are many other smaller projects- stay tuned for pictures (before and after)!

Los Angeles

Uncle Justin and Auntie Adrianne's wedding took place in Los Angeles this past weekend. Jason was the best man and Rya and I were excited to attend. Jason drove down Friday morning in order to attend bachelor events that evening and Rya and I flew to L.A. the next morning. I was a bit scared of how Rya would be on the plane since this was her first time on a plane as a walking kid. It was also the first time I didn't have Jason with me to help. We flew early in the morning which meant Rya was tired. She was so cute and cuddly- I wish she was like that more often.

After Jason picked us up, we headed to our temporary home. Thanks to Auntie Shannon and Uncle Jamie for letting us stay at their cute house in South Pasadena. There is a great park right across the street with play equipment that Rya loved. We went to the rehearsal that afternoon and then went to the Gurnee's for dinner that night. We hadn't seen Hunter in months. Even though he's a month younger than Rya, he was always bigger. We were shocked to see that Rya was actually taller than Hunter. Hunter was very friendly with Rya, Jason, and me. We loved seeing them and hope we can see them more often.

Jason went to help Justin set up for the wedding, so Rya and I had to find something to do. I met a mom at a park who told me about a few things to do around Pasadena. Rya was asleep when we dropped off Jason, so I took a drive around Pasadena and admired the magnificent homes. I kept wondering what on earth these people do for a living. The houses made the Fabulous Forties seem like no big deal. After Rya woke up, we went to the Kidspace museum right next to the Rose Bowl. I was a bit worried that the museum wouldn't have anything for Rya to do being so young, but they had two great areas for kids under 4. She loved the indoor play gym and the outdoor water area. If you are in the area, it's worth the 10 dollars entry fee.

The wedding was beautiful. It was hard to keep Rya entertained during the ceremony, but she did a great job. She burped loudly twice which was pretty funny. She ran all over during the reception and seemed to be having a grand time. We love Rya, but we also would have loved to have stayed longer at the wedding and danced. Unfortunately, Rya was tired and needed to head home.

Monday we had family time. There is a large park, Lacey Park, a few miles from Shannon's house. It's a gorgeous park surrounded by houses even more glamorous than the ones in Pasadena. Owning a Bugaboo stroller in Sacramento is pretty rare. Not so much the case in L.A. Everywhere we went moms had Bugaboo strollers. The park was no exception. There was a parking lot full of Bugaboos at the edge or the playground. Rya made a bunch of little friends and had a ball at the park.

That night we were able to see Jason's old friend, Emily. We saw her cute house and then went to dinner. Michael, her husband, joined us at the restaurant. Emily is five months pregnant and looks great. We had a wonderful time catching up with them. We can't wait to visit next year and meet the baby!

Tuesday we saw another friend...Alma and Baby Domenic. Domenic slept the whole time and was so precious. I was impressed that he slept through Rya's noises. It was so good to meet Domenic and see Alma. She looks great for just having a baby!

Wednesday we headed back to Modesto and Rya was amazing in the car! We had a great time in L.A. and we are thankful for family and friends we got to see in the last few days.

Rya with Baby Domenic in the background.

Baby Domenic.
Rya watching Daddy eat breakfast in Auntie Shannon's kitchen. Pajama time!
Pictures from the Kidspace museum in Pasadena:






Rya and Hunter- friends!

Rya loves her new Ugg boots!
Rya "helping" with the recycling.

Halloween

I realize it's been almost a month since Halloween, but we've been busy! This was Rya's second Halloween, but the first one she didn't sleep through. I really wanted her to be Dorothy because she has these red patent shoes she LOVES. I couldn't find any costumes in her size that weren't outrageously priced, so we changed from Dorothy to a ladybug. She was still able to wear her red shoes which made us all happy.

Last year we joined the Holmes and Kopica families for trick-or-treating, so we did it again this year! It was so much more enjoyable with Rya walking around. She doesn't understand asking for candy, but she did like petting all of the dogs and cats. Plus, any house that had steps up to the front was extra fun! At one point she did accept a box of Milk Duds which she thought made a great shaker. Rya is not interested in candy, cake, or pretty much anything with too much sugar in it (lucky!) so we ate her few pieces of candy.

Rya wasn't scared at all by this creepy, headless guy.

New House?

Our house saga is just that... a saga. It started back in April when we realized that with interest rates being so low, now might be a better time to move than a few years down the road. We had two main reasons for moving: more space and better schools for Rya. We love our little house and our location, but it's definitely lacking in the aforementioned areas. After researching schools and the surrounding neighborhoods, we narrowed our search to Sierra Oaks and the Del Dayo area.

The first house we found was on American River Drive. The first problem was its location- AR Drive is a very busy street. Other problems included the fact that it had no flooring and needed a lot of work. Little did we know at the time, we would eventually see more houses that needed far more work. Neither one of us believed this was our dream house, but we thought we could make it work. It was over 2000 square feet, it had a large yard for a pool, and it was around the corner from Sierra Oaks Elementary. We put our offer in low because there hadn't been other offers. Just our luck they received an offer the same day we submitted ours! We heard from the realtor that they deliberated quite awhile because they really liked our personal letter (who wouldn't want a cute family of three moving into their house?), but we were a contingent offer and the other offer was not. Ultimately, they chose to go with the other offer. We were bummed for a few weeks, but vowed to keep looking.

We saw more houses, but none of them were going to work for us for various reasons. I kept seeing the listing for a large house on Del Dayo and asked my realtor to look into it. She did and found that the price was so low because it had a 65,000 dollar pest report of section 1 items that needed to be fixed. We decided to take a look anyway. It was a huge lot- over half an acre. The house itself was in terrible condition. I was very concerned that someone had been living in such filth. I should add that this house was being sold by two daughters after their mother (the owner) had passed away. We knew this house needed a lot of work and we didn't have the cash to pay for the pest report and all the remodeling. Then we learned about construction loans. With a construction loan we could afford the house and have it remodeled all before we moved in. It sounded like a grand plan and there were no other offers! Once again we submitted a contingent offer. As luck would have it, they received another offer the same day through another realtor. The house was originally listed by a realtor, but she had been removed by the owners and another realtor hired. We were working with the second realtor, but the other offer went through the original realtor (supposedly because they had submitted an offer previously and it had been declined). The situation went from good to bad quickly and over the course of a stressful few days we realized we were going to lose out once again because of our contingent offer. Jason especially was upset and irritated by this whole situation and both of us were disappointed. I had my reservations about this house. It had what we called the "stupid" room. It seemed like the garage was originally detached and they added a room between the house and the garage to close the gap. It had no insulation, funky linoleum, and a door on each wall (one out to the side of the house, out to the garage, to the backyard, and into the house). Stupid and pointless. My gut wasn't saying this was the house for us.

Our house hunt continued and has led us to 1401 Mipaty Lane just blocks away from the house in the above paragraph. This house is in slightly better condition than the Del Dayo house, but not by much. An older couple has lived in this house since it was built in 1957. They have updated nothing except the heater and air conditioner. I'm not exaggerating. The carpet is so thin you can see through to the subfloor because the carpet pad no longer exists. The oven and dishwasher look like the front of a '57 Chevy- round and with a lot of chrome. I think maybe five dishes will fit in the dishwasher it's so small. I don't even know if you could fit a regular size cookie sheet in the oven. Most of you know my- I hate germs. Bathrooms are germ havens. This house has two and a half of them. I would rather use a public toilet than these colorful toilets (one is pink, one is blue, and the last is surprisingly a normal white color). I'm not sure who took the photos of this house, but when I first saw them I thought the photos were not doing the house justice. Then we saw the house. There isn't much to actually photograph to make this house look good. It's pathetic that the below pictures are the "good" parts of the house. Despite its current condition, we love this house. We put in an offer and knew it was going to be complicated because it's part of a conservatorship. What we didn't see coming was one of the people firing his/her trustee. Without a trustee for each owner, the house cannot be sold. So, our offer sits there waiting for a trustee to be appointed. Even then, it will be a waiting game to see if the court approves our offer. We want this house. We want this neighborhood. Please keep your fingers crossed!


This is the front of the house. We would get rid of the lovely antenna, replace the bay window with a regular window, take out a lot of the bushes, and paint the house. Can't you picture this house with a cute red or navy door and dark shutters?

This is the formal living room. The drapes stay. Just kidding! See the carpet? Yeah...

Described as a "park-like backyard". Goodbye, trees and ivy. Hello, pool!

I wish you could see the dishwasher clearly. If we get the house we will rip out the whole kitchen- thank goodness!

Ah, the dining room. Who would get rid of such a lovely mural? I would! Yucky. Sorry 1980's, but we're giving the bay window back.

October Happenings- Apple Hill & Modesto

October was full of exciting events like Melanie's birthday, the birth of Baby Chloe, an outing to Apple Hill with the Matulich family, and a trip to Modesto. Halloween will be a separate post later when the pictures have been put on the computer.

The Chapman family was so gracious and had a small group of friends over for a soup night on Melanie's 31st birthday. It was a relaxing evening and great for all of the kids who loved running around the giant house. Blair made chili and Sam made a vegetable soup- both very yummy! Dagny made a delicious salad and we had ice cream for dessert. Thanks, friends, for a lovely evening.

Baby Chloe Isabelle Chapman was born on October 17th and she is beautiful. We saw her and at the hospital and again at her house last week. Rya can't wait until she can play with her and Avery.

We met some new friends at Gymboree, the Matulichs. Rya and Addison are three weeks apart, so it makes it fun to hang out with them. Plus, they have good taste in cars (they bought the exact same Subaru a few months after us so we have matching cars!). We joined the Matulichs for breakfast in Folsom and then headed up to Apple Hill. It was a pretty warm day and it didn't feel like fall. Rya just wanted to walk around everywhere which didn't go so well with the crowds. We cut our time short so Rya could have a proper nap and we could see Baby Chloe later that day at the hospital. We had fun while we were there and hope Rya will enjoy it more next year.

During the month we made a trek to Modesto to visit with the Hollis side of the family. Linda made some rockin' lasagna and we had fun hanging out with Emily and Grace. Rya really likes Emily. She also really likes the stairs at Grandma Linda's. Luckily, she follows directions well and was sliding down backward on her tummy.

Family photo at Apple Hill!
Gentle, Rya, gentle! Addison is only three weeks younger, but so tiny.
Rya tried to pick up all of the pumpkins. Maybe in a few years, Rya.

Emily and Rya (who didn't want to put her skirt on after a diaper change).

Rya's 1st Birthday!

Rya's first birthday did not go as planned. It was the end of September and very warm. It didn't hit 100, but it was in the high 90's. We had the party outdoors to accommodate all of Rya's friends and family. The weather was a minor concern, but as of 3:00 on her birthday we were ready for the 5:00 party!

Rya and Mommy went to Safeway to pick up the ice and the balloons. As we were driving down the street we noticed fire engines in front of La Fiesta. This was not a good sign and even worse since we were having the party catered by said restaurant. With fingers crossed, we parked and walked to the restaurant. As soon as we saw the car inside the restaurant, we were pretty sure our food was not going to be ready at 5:00. Yes, a car had somehow driven into the building and stopped as the cash register. Perhaps they thought making La Fiesta a drive thru was a good idea. While we were ecstatic to find out that everyone was going to be fine, we were panicking about our dinner options. After a discussion with Jason, we decided Costco pizzas would have to suffice. It certainly wasn't our first (or second) choice, but what could we do?

We aren't sure what was going on with Rya, but she was being a rather impossible child. She seemed less than interested in her party. We enjoyed the company of our friends and family and were glad they were there to celebrate the first year of precious Rya's life. She received some very cool gifts!

Rya wasn't very interested in the cake. She ate some icing, but that was it.

Rya opened gifts with the help of her two cousins, Emily and Grace.
Rya's birthday dress! She had to take it off because it was SO hot outside!

Long Time No Blog

Wow, it's been almost two whole months since the last blog entry. Our apologies! We both started school and as always, Rya has been keeping us on our toes.

Rya is growing everyday it seems. She walks with help from us or a toy she can push. She is so close to walking! Rya imitates words to the best of her ability, but they aren't quite "real" words yet. She tries to say "shoes" and "get it". A few months ago she hated her shoes and now she loves them because they are the best indication that she will soon be out of the house. Rya loves to be outside either pushing around her little singing scooter or riding on the back of a bike. She lets us know exactly what she wants by walking towards the scooter or the bike. She bangs on the garage door until it opens.

We went to the California State Fair last week. Rya was too young to enjoy most of the exhibits, but she did seem to like the petting zoo. The three of us got in a photo booth and now have our first family photos from the fair on our refrigerator.

I was gone to Vermont for a wedding this past weekend. Jason and Rya had a great time hanging out together. I knew that she would be well taken care of in my absence. Thanks to both grandmas for helping out as well! I really missed Jason and Rya and was glad to be reunited with them after five long days!

Below are some pictures of our recent happenings:

Baby's first lemonade!

In the saddle with Mama!
Petting Zoo fun!


I want that!



Walking around the park with my scooter!
Cool new Converse!

July- 10 months old!

We enjoyed our two and a half weeks off together. Melanie goes back to work on Monday and Jason still has another month off before he starts his two days a week. Here are some highlights from the month:

Rya LOVES this Curious George stuffed animal that Jason has had since he was a kid. Poor George has a hernia, but Rya loves him nonetheless. I got tired of paying for bows, so I started making them myself. They are less than a dollar to make and about four dollars in the store.

We went to Santa Rosa to visit our friends! Pearl is about 6 months older than Rya. This is Rya and Jason on the carousel. She loved it!

Pearl was not as excited about the carousel.
Posing on a statue at the park in Santa Rosa. Very cool park with a lake. Next time we're going out on a paddle boat!
Pearl gave Rya a lot of love!
Pearl, Holly, Rya and Jason!
Rya enjoyed cruising around the play area at the Roseville Galleria (mall).