It has been a long time!

Just over a year since my last post.  Yikes!  Sorry about that.  Life got the better of us :) We have had some major changes in our life, most notably the birth of our 3rd baby last spring.  Needless to say, I've had my hands full raising 3 kids ages 5 and under!  I also quit my full time job so I could stay home and take care of my kids.

I thought I had updated on our tub - clearly I did not!  We got our tub and tile.  It was installed in August 2011.  Of course that couldn't go smoothly.  At this point, I just say it with a smile because what's done is done.  We had picked out our tile and on the day of installation - it was NOT the tile we had picked.  So, my husband and the PM had to run to Lowe's and buy something else.  It sort of stinks because we had the main tile and then an accent and they coordinated with each other and what we have is just a tad off.  No one else would notice, but I can tell.  Oh well.

We are excited to be getting a patio this spring, so I can't wait to see how that turns out.

Our grass is getting better thanks to the help of a lawn care service.  I highly, highly recommend getting one if you want your grass to come in nicely.

There is only one lot left in our neighborhood - yay!  Hoping that this is the last summer of construction.  I'm absolutely overwhelmed by the number of people who live in our neighborhood now.  And there are a TON of kids.  I fear for us all in about 10 years.

We did recently have the radon levels tested in our basement.  For those of you who don't know, Radon is the 2nd leading cause of lung cancer in this country.  Our levels were slightly above the recommended safe levels, so we are going to have to pay someone to come in with a vent system.  It will be around $1000-$1500.  I'm disappointed.  There is another builder who has built homes in our neighborhood and all of those houses came with the vents.  That builder knew radon was an issue and put the vents in the houses.  I have a hard time believing Ryan Homes didn't know that as a potential issue.  Especially because since I started doing more research on the topic, I have found that our area of NY has a higher rate of radon.  It really doesn't sit well with me that we weren't even given it as an option for an upgrade to our home.  I have a few other neighbors that were flat out LIED to by their sales reps.  The reps told them radon wasn't an issue here.  There are some houses that are 10x higher than the "safe" zone.  Other neighbors asked to have the vent put in and they were told "it wasn't necessary, it isn't code."  Part of it is just stupidity on the part of NY state and local building laws/codes.  I mean, WHY wouldn't it be required for new builds to have these vent systems put in their basements? Just as a precaution?  Common sense to me.  Especially when people who are selling their houses have to disclose radon levels if they are known.  And if a potential buyer does a radon test, the seller has to take care of it.  It is just really, really disappointing.  I don't even know if we will bring anything up to Ryan homes at this point - I'm sick of arguing and pushing and drama.  Not really in my nature or my cup of tea.

We have learned so much throughout the building process and now that we've been in our house a little over 2 years now.

I hope to be able to post a little more often :)