Coming in under the wire - could you expect anything better from all the troubles I've been having with this family? I'm not even going to bother with goingovertheirbackstoryagain. For latest update and a short recap, Tom is into sports, he's at the top of his track and both him and little Danny's OTH is sports. Sarah is into country deco which got twisted into Nature being her OTH and is also an Ecological Guru now. Since they took their own sweet time falling in love, their careers skyrocketed and they have money coming out of their ears. Which is a good thing because Sarah and Tom want another kid or two and the house they just moved into is already too small. I'd love to tell you that Sarah is already pregnant with twins, but I'm honestly too scared to try for it yet - knowing their past troubles. They purchased this cute cottage because it's near hiking trails for Sarah and they are testing out the new neighborhood. Their small one bedroom rowhouse apartment was in Desdirata and they've moved out to Bluewater to join the rest of the contest's families. They are still shopping around for that perfect large house. I'm thinking that Pleasantview Bin farm house perhaps?
Sarah's take on 'country' is contemporary country. She doesn't care for the old grannie look because she isn't one yet. She likes things simple and bright and even sometimes a bit mismatched. While Tom is seriously into sports, he doesn't really care much about decorating. Little Daniel is the one with the most noticeable taste here. His take on 'country' is 'King and Country' so his room is a kingdom where he fights dragons. He latched on to dragons early - before he could talk, so his word for 'dragon' and 'giraffe' is 'dira'. He hasn't really figured out they aren't the same animal, so his giraffes say 'rar'. Mom and Dad thought it was adorable, so they haven't discouraged it. The best parts of this house have to be all the fantastic toddler details. They love that he loves orange, Dad's favorite color. Mom likes teal, so their wedding colors were orange and teal.
Tom and Daniel like to play castle out in the sandbox. Sometimes they are building castles, other times Daniel rides his 'dira' and lays siege to the fort (flags actually wave). The racecar was a gift from Santa during Tom's lonely winter.
Sarah is thrilled to try her hand at gardening. She loves her little greenhouse and (actually spinning!) windmill.
Inside Tom and Sarah can entertain guests while watching over Daniel in his playpen. All of his toys are accessible to him and he can't escape! On the bookcase is a secret map they found on their honeymoon and next to it is Tom's NanoWrimo book 'The Perils of Skiing'. It tanked, but he likes it. On the other side of the chair are wedding photos and their wedding album. The seashells are from their honeymoon.
In the kitchen Sarah has a small ledge for keeping track of the family's schedule or setting a pie to cool.
This is my favorite part of the house, Daniel's room! I had this done days ago but had to rearrange some things during playtesting to make sure that Danny can get in and out of his crib, play with his castle, ride his trusty stead, and that Mom or Dad can get in to change his clothes. He finished potty training yesterday; Dad was so proud!
Again, you can see more of little Daniel's 'dira' collection of dragons and giraffes. He (and mom and dad) can get him into bed even with the nightstand so close. The lamp is just his size! Books are kept up high because he hasn't yet learned not to rip, chew, or color on them yet.
And it's bath time for Sarah's two favorite redheads. No 'diras' in here, just lots of duckies!
And the top down shot. I'm sad to say that you can't see all the great photographs I worked for days to get set up, the wall near the front door has their two hobby plaques (sports and nature) a phone, my calendar that I saw Liv using (cept, I have a cooler unreleased version that tells me when it's a holiday and auto-updates the pages), and three engagement photos. The hidden wall of the dining room has little Danny still in Mommy's tummy, and two with him as an infant. The wall you can see in the dinning room are more wedding photos, similar to the ones in the living room. The photos in the master bedroom are from their engagement set and Tom has himself a little retreat to watch the game away from the rest of the noise of the house. He'll sit in the chair to watch, and if Sarah comes in, she will watch from her side of the bed.