Just Four Words...

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!!! 
(Thanks to my hubs, the master negotiator!)

1121 Drake Cove N.

The Foyer!

 The Formal Dining Room that will be a new and improved play space for the girls right off the kitchen!

The Great Room

Master!

 

 Master bathroom with soaker tub, separate shower, his & hers vanities

 My closet!

Nick's closet!!

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Laundry Room/Molly & Darla's Room

Garage!! We get to keep the cabinets AND the extra fridge!!

Downstairs bedroom #2

 GIANT closet

 Downstairs full bathroom #2

 Eat-in kitchen

My favorite room in the house :) LOVE!!!

Loft area

 bonus room

 Attic for storage space off the bonus

Full bathroom #3 upstairs

 Bedroom #3 upstairs (you can see Emmy was helping herself to someone else's toys)

 Bedroom #4 upstairs

 The view from the back deck!!

The giant deck that Nick hopes to screen in :)

 Lots of pictures of the yard...

 The perfect space for a swing set!

Hoping for the best

I understand why there are many television shows devoted to buying a house.  Oh the drama!  Lately, I've been the star in my own real estate soap opera, with Nick as my unwilling co-star.  Hopefully, we are coming up on our happy ending; although I am a little wary to say so.

I will give a brief summary of my HGTV show plot:  We saw "Dream House #1" on Mother's Day and it left lots to be desired.  I tried REALLY hard to like it, but there was a whole lot that I couldn't fix with paint.  Like, the layout, the kitchen and the tile flooring.  We would have hit the very top of our budget just neutralizing the place, before we even touched the basement.  Nick was really disappointed, because he was romanced by the acreage and basement space.  Back to the drawing board I went, to continue to scrutinize over the same listings that I have spent tens and tens of hours memorizing.  A couple of days later, the house next door to Dream House #1 was listed.  The price was within our budget, albeit at the very top (but negotiable as far as I'm concerned,) and the pictures revealed a move-in ready space.  Not to mention, it had the same acreage as Dream House #1 and a nearly as large of an unfinished basement space.  We scheduled a showing that night so that we didn't miss out.  I was so hopeful that this was the one...It had everything both Nick and I were looking for, which I can say is damn near impossible to find because I've tried.

Let's just say, we had a tearful (me) drive home and Nick questioned if we were looking at the same house.  The interior had basic builder-grade everything, but, in my opinion, could be lived with.  Nick thought we'd need to knock $75,000 off the asking price to make it a viable option.  Needless to say, that one didn't work out either.

I just so happened to have a few more walk-throughs scheduled during Emmy's last day of Mom's Day Out, the following morning.  The list of homes to be seen were considered a stretch, because I'd exhausted all of my initial favorites, that included most everything we were looking for within our price range (and there weren't many!)  The "D" team of house options, if you will.  The first house was one that looked nice, but didn't have a basement for Nick, and was therefore pretty forgettable upon viewing it over the past month of looking.

I pulled into a small subdivision from a wooded country road, just a mile and a half or so from a main street.  The house at the address where I was to meet my realtor seemed nice and well-kept.  It wasn't until I walked inside that I realized what a treat I was in for...

I was so impressed with this house, that I dragged a very sick Nick back with me the following morning.  That afternoon we mulled it over, reviewed the comps and made an offer, tens of thousands of dollars below their asking price....And the counter offers ensued...

Hannah's 4 month stats!

The stats are in after Hannah Banana's 4 month well-check yesterday:

Weight: 13 pounds, 3 ounces (30th percentile)
Height: 24.5 inches (45 percentile)
Head Circumference: 40 1/2 centimeters (22nd percentile)

Also of note, the hemangioma on her lower back is beginning to fade and she is right on her developmental markers (tracking objects with her eyes, grabbing onto anything and everything within her sight, then putting those objects in her mouth, neck control, pulling herself to a push-up position while on her belly.)  She's not rolling over past her side quite yet (which is Mommy's fault because I have been MISERABLE about tummy time.)

In summary, we have one healthy baby girl on our hands, thank you Lord!

Mother's Day 2012!

Mother's Day started early for me this year.  4 o'clock in the morning, Hannah wanted my company.  After a good feeding, and about an hour more of sleep, Emmy was calling my name!  I think it was just to see my smiling face, because all she needed was her bobby and to be re-tucked in.  About an hour after that, she must've realized that our visit was too short, because she decided to wake up for the day!  Her timing was good, though, because we needed to start pulling ourselves together to get to church for sweet Hannah's Baby Dedication (which bears it's own blog post.)  After church, I made my way to the kitchen to begin preparing a dish for my dear friend, Marin's surprise going away party that afternoon.  I took a break from mincing water chestnuts when I realized that my house was eerily quiet.  I decided to check it out...

Obviously, their love for me is all-encompassing. ;)

P.S. They spoiled me rotten with some delicious sushi take-out and chocolate fondue the night before, as well as three red roses, one from each of my loves.  The Lord has blessed me richly to be so loved by my family.

4 months old!

Our sweet Hannah is 4 months old!  She is a smiley, raspberry-blowing, cooing little goofball.  Her sense of humor is developed well beyond her months.  She adores holding onto my fingers and pulling up to a sitting position and then pushing up to a stand.  She gets the most accomplished look on her face when she is standing up tall like a big girl.  She is still infatuated with her activity mat, batting at all of the little creatures suspended over her head.  She is very grabby, pulling on anything she can get her hands on.  Like her big sis, she also enjoys looking at herself in the mirror. I figured that it was time that we have the conversation about it being okay to be a little bit vain.  (Although I am hardly the right one to give the talk, considering I am the antithesis of vain these days.  Having a year's worth of hair growth from my last coloring, being four months out from a Cost-Cutters haircut from a woman who didn't know how to hold her scissors, and a wardrobe consisting of nursing tanks and warm-up suits, albeit velour, are only a few examples of my current prideless existence.)

She is a distracted little eater, our feedings take way longer because she is constantly stopping to grin at me.  I love it.  She is still sleeping through the night like a champ, but her daytime sleep leaves a lot to be desired.  I am having to remind myself of all the rules I followed religiously with Emmy.  Most important being that sleep begets sleep and to put her down in her crib as soon as she rubs her eyes or yawns.  It is too easy to get caught up with everything else going on, losing track of time and missing the golden window of quality sleep.  Her happy little disposition hides her sleepiness all too well (until it's too late, of course!)

We have another week or so until her 4 month check-up, but it's clear that she is growing well.  She is true to size and still fits in a number of her 0-3 month outfits, but is mostly wearing 3-6 month clothes now.  Nick adoringly refers to her as his "little meatball" because of her squishy little cheeks.  He has promised me that that nickname will not last past her infancy.  I can only imagine the psychological ramifications of a pre-teen whose parents refer to as "meatball."  There is no denying just how kissable her precious little face is.  We can't get enough of it, and everything else about her...

Just Three Words...

LONG, LONG NIGHT

I was amazed that it was two and a half years into parenthood before we experienced our first sleepless night with a sick baby.  Our Emmy looked a little pale on Friday, her eyes were sunken in and red, and her energy level waned throughout the day.  We knew she wasn't feeling well.  She woke up throwing  up at around one.  Nick cleaned up after the first episode before calling in reinforcements.  It didn't take long for her to blow through most of our bed linens. :(  At around three, Emmy and I moved to the couch and cat-napped, head to foot, between throw ups.  I couldn't help but stare at her sweet little face as she slept, thinking how much I hate for her to be sick; but also how very grateful I was to be able to reach over to hold her, to calm her discomfort, even if temporarily.  I know there will be a time when I would give anything to have that ability back.  So I embraced every moment of our long night together.

Soapbox Rant

I have an undeniable pull towards my soapbox.  I pouted for a solid two days this week.  I'm pretty sure it was justified: I learned a few hours after viewing my second dream home that it turned out to be under contract, the owners of our initial dream home have been exceedingly difficult to communicate with, and our second house showing, which was scheduled with only an hour lead time, was cancelled halfway through the designated appointment.  There should be a law against people wasting your time.

On a slightly more positive note, our first showing of the house went well last Tuesday.  The appointment was made with nearly 24 hours lead time, which enabled Nick to mow and me to sterilize our house yet again.  My "go-time" plan would have worked seamlessly had Hannah spent more time sleeping and less time crying so that I could have focused completely on cleaning up after my little shadow.  Sweaty and red, I pulled out of the driveway with my two children, two dogs and all of the homeless clutter within my house, just four minutes shy of the appointment time.  We headed straight for Sonic for milkshakes because I promised Emmy (and myself) a treat for good behavior.  After going for a drive in all of our favorite neighborhoods, we returned home to find an unfamiliar car still in the driveway.   Half an hour later, we were back home and unloaded from the car.  I felt sure that the prolonged showing was a good sign!  The next day, we learned that the buyers liked our home so much that it ended up on their short list.  However, they decided to place an offer on a home with more mature trees in the backyard.  Not much I can do about that, but know that there is hope!

Things that make me smile:

Emmy's first heart drawing!  I don't think she set out to draw a heart, but it sure is beautiful!

Hannah and Dada getting their snuggles on.

Strawberry picking! Funny story: I was only half listening when Emmy declared that she wanted to count her strawberries.  She grabbed my full attention as soon as I heard her say: "Uno, dos, tres, wampo, cinqo, says, siete, ocho."  I was shocked and amazed!  I have a new-found respect for Dora for teaching my baby to count to 8 in spanish, considering neither Nick or I have ever practiced with her.  It's both exciting and scary just how much of a sponge she is.

That's the view from the deck of the dream home that I loved and lost.  Dagger through my heart!!!!!!