On July 28, James and I drove to Austin to get ready for the movers to come early the next day. We had the house cleaned and took our first of many, many trips to Home Depot to get supplies. Maurilio and Julio, our house painters who came down from Dallas (my parents knew them), were still living in the house after having finished the inside and were working on the outside paint job. After they had about half the house done we actually changed our mind on the color (oops) so they started over again. Our movers came on Thursday (the wonderful, trustworthy Delancey Street movers -- also a nonprofit social enterprise) and stayed from 10AM until about 9:30PM. It was a long day -- fortunately it went so slowly that James and I actually unpacked quite a lot as they brought our things in so we were never completely boxed in. By the time dad arrived on Friday with the two kids (all alone! poor mom got sick and couldn't come) we had Rosemary and Louis's room in pretty good shape, which felt great.We spent the weekend adjusting and then Rosemary started her new preschool summer camp on Monday (see her with her new backpack above) -- it was a little aggressive, given all the changes, but it turned out that she LOVED it. She cried the first two days but then told us she didn't want to go home. Its a very cute little preschool about 1/2 a mile down the road -- she had a week of summer camp and then will start 3 days a week in the fall. In fact, just this past weekend, James and I AND mom and dad all worked at "Parent Work Day" at the preschool to get the classroom and playground ready for the school year (which involved lots of mulch-spreading and weekend in the heat for dad and James while mom and I cleaned toys).
A little over two weeks later, we've unpacked the last box. It was a LOT of work -- not just the unpacking but mostly the organizing, repairs, improvements, figuring out curtains/blinds, art hanging, shopping (literally I know half the people at the local Home Depot)... fortunately James has now a full set of tools and is proving to be surprisingly handy. He made built-in shelves from scratch (real ones, not bracket shelves) over our new washing machine and fixed the ones that were in the office that fell down. We have also managed to get our UT IDs and hire a sitter for when we start school ... this week!
Between nine and ten months, Louis has been able to pull himself up to the standing position. He is really taken by the windows between our sitting room and the sunroom and I am hoping he won't fall headfirst through them.
Louis's first wagon ride (picture is seconds before Rosemary "accidentally" pat him on the head so hard that he toppled off the side of the wagon). Rosemary was really overjoyed to find all her things that had been in storage for the past five months, and after just two weeks seems to feel completely at home here in our new house. Her new favorite activity is spraying the outside windows with water and cleaning them. We're pretty happy with what we've been able to accomplish so far in terms of house improvements -- we now have new paint inside and out (and I must say, I absolutely love the colors we chose), new doors where they were broken/missing, new ceiling fans and track lighting, and various and sundry small-to-large repairs (including a leaky outside pipe, new sprinkler system controller, etc.). Monday the tree trimmers come, and in a few weeks we will be getting curtains and all new energy efficient windows with wood interior trim!
Front of 1804 Cresthaven with new paint job and orange doors
Front entryway with my "new" Art Deco wash stand (I REALLY took advantage of the incredible consignment and antique stores in Dallas -- they had just the most amazing things).
Backyard (the turf is not doing so well since there is too much shade -- the outside landscaping is a whole big project for the fall). 
Guest room/office/piano room (attached to sunroom). With Aunt Gale's green color (or the Sherman Williams equivalent -- "Coastal Plain") -- thank you Aunt Gale for painting a color swatch for me.
Living room
Our sitting room (on other side of fireplace-- its really all one big room), including my incredibly cool new Austrian 1930s chair and mantle (hung by Dev and Travis) which is an antique walnut shelf from Belgium, which might have been a front entry coat hanger or even in a stable, but is the absolute perfect size for our fireplace!
Sunroom with more "Coastal Plain" (and bistro table and chairs I found that match the exact color!)
Dining room to kitchen
Master bedroom
Louis's room
Rosemary's room, with her two new mahogany twin beds (one will be Louis's one day, but for now its good for when her friends visit like Henry or Sadie!). Curtains are on the way.For some "before" pictures see the link below:
http://www.trulia.com/property/1063497135-1804-Cresthaven-Dr-Austin-TX-78704
