Reality

The house is coming along quickly.  

Only 2.5 more months until move in time.

Every weekend I am becoming more and more anxious to go see the house.   Its a 45 minute drive from where we currently live so once a week is about all we can do...If it was closer I would probably be there every other day!

I think the next steps are dry walling, but then comes all the fun stuff!  Flooring, cabinets, lighting, Oh my!

We have decided on a plan of action to get us to this house.... now we just need to get the ball rolling. I will save the details of our plan for another post.... just know we have AMAZING people in our lives.

I cant wait to get moved in and settled.   I feel like the past year our lives have been put on hold hoping we could make this happen and now we are so close to the end.    I am ready to start relaxing and making this house our forever home.   The home we will hopefully bring more children home too and watch them grow as Eureka Wildcats!  

I. Can. Not. Wait!

Wordless Wednesday

Leah's first Cardinals game

21 Months

2 years old is right around the corner.   I can barely believe it.

Leah's baby qualities are quickly fading as the little girl, with a big personality, is appearing.

Just looking at Leah, the long legs and long hair have taken over.   The only physical evidence of her babyhood is her diapers and chubby cheeks.

 The other day someone again commented on how she looks like a real life cabbage patch kid.  I have already proven this theory. 

People frequently ask her questions, expecting a response... "What is your name?"  "How old are you?"  Easy question for someone maybe a little older...When she doesnt respond I have to let people know that "She's only a year and a half."  .... but now I guess I can say "Shes almost 2.".... Or "She's not yet 2".

Other Leah facts:

• She is wearing size 2T clothing, but even some 3T.   She is currently in size 9 shoes.   
• She has finally discovered the TV and LOVES to watch Barney and Elmo.   I dont think Brian and I will ever get to watch regular TV ever again. 
• She is still going to sleep at 9 pm and its exhausting for Brian and I... We have been trying to get it back to 8 but its a real struggle. 
• She can drink out of a regular cup like a big girl! ... but it still makes me nervous.   Its also a struggle with her to keep the lid on her cups.   
• She fights us to get dressed in the morning or put on PJs, yet she seems to have a new obsession with her clothes where she likes to fold them and try to put them on herself.   She still hasnt completely realized that shirts go over your head and not on your legs.   As for pants, she can get her legs in the holes, but cant pull them all the way up. 
• She fights us to get in the bathtub... but once she is in she is in it, it lasts for atleast 30-45 minutes.   She thinks its a pool and just swims around. 
• Getting in the carseat is another struggle as she wants to do all the buckling herself.   Its OK if we are not in a hurry bc I can sit and work with her until she gets everything buckled, but in the mornings when we are in a hurry, its a fight. 

So have you noticed how many times I said things are a fight or struggle?   She is definitely testing her boundaries with us.    Many of these things lead to tantrums.... which I am just getting used to at the moment... I know I have plenty of them ahead of me with this strong willed little girl! 

I Don't Think We Can Let It Go..

I know I said I would stop talking about the house situation but I just cannot.   It is something MAJOR going on in our life right now and I need to vent.

Every time we have been out to see the new house we realize even more how we need to do everything in our ability to get this house.  

I know we say we will be OK staying in this house... but I know we will feel like we lost a loved one... like we are giving up on a dream... just waiting for something to happen.   I dont want to live the next 5 years feeling like that.  

This is OUR house....

Main entry way

 From left to right: breakfast area with doors to the future deck, family room, and the master bedroom.

Looking back down the entry way to the front door and loft area upstairs.

From the back... there are 2 extra windows that we were not aware of so it makes the house even more amazing and hard to let go... 

We currently are looking into renting...   We are very risk adverse people, but we might just be willing to take on this risk.   Its scary to think of all the horrible things that could go wrong, but at the same time it could work out amazingly at the same time... 

We hope to figure things out this week.... If we want to rent we should get moving on it as soon as possible...

I am trying to remember a few new quotes...

Progress always involves risks.  You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first.  ~Frederick B. Wilcox

This nation was built by men who took risks - pioneers who were not afraid of the wilderness, business men who were not afraid of failure, scientists who were not afraid of the truth, thinkers who were not afraid of progress, dreamers who were not afraid of action.  ~Brooks Atkinson

“If you wait to do everything until you're sure it's right, you'll probably never do much of anything.”

They know us!

Leah and I stopped by Target tonight to pick up a few things.

Leah was recognized in the store by an employee.

I know Leah is probably the most adorable little girl anyone has ever seen, but to be honest it was all because of these new shoes....

The light up and are pretty awesome.

And yes, it was our 2nd visit to Target in 72 hrs...

Our Target is getting groceries in October. I seriously will have no reason what so ever to go anywhere else ever again!!   ... but I think my average time in the store might double.... oh well, its my happy place. ... and Leah's too!

Scratchy throat and runny nose in 100 degree heat?!

Yeah it sucks!  

I think its a mix of little sleep, stress, and Leah's new daycare germs that has me feeling so crappy...

Id love to write more but Miss Leah does not go to sleep before 9 pm anymore and sleep really has priority over  quality writing...

Good Night!

Whatever Will Be Will Be

First order of business.... a house update.

The couple who came by Sunday told us Wednesday that they are really interested, thought it is priced great, but it is a little more than they hoped to spend.  We decided to have our Realtor tell them what our bottom line is... (about 5% less than the current price) They came back with the comment that its still outside of their possible loan range, but "she will try to put her boyfriend on the loan to see if they can get more money".

We stopped holding our breath right there.     No one should buy a house together unless they are married, especially a house that is outside their means.  I know we just want our house sold, but I don't want to see our house in foreclosure down the road...  

Where are all the normal, happy little families, with stable finances, that want to buy our house!? I am beginning to realize that our family is not that norm...

R-O-L-L-E-R-C-O-A-S-T-E-R!

We had another showing today, and tomorrow we are meeting with our builder to talk about things...

My new life motto is "whatever will be will be".  I need to just sit back and let things happen...

Of course that is easier said than done... Neither Brian or I are sleeping well at night.   I know our stress level is at an all time high.... and neither Brian or I handle stress well.

I just cant wait till this is all over!

Now I promise to no longer write about house stuff until we have something more concrete occur.... and I will get back to writing about my baby girl and mothering an almost 2 year old!

Update

The family yesterday is looking at some other houses before they make a final decision.  

Our house is still at the top of their list!

Hopefully we hear something soon!!!

I totally suck at this waiting thing!

I want off!

Going with the “moving is an emotional rollercoaster”, we are currently stuck midway heading down a big steep hill.

 

Let me explain….

 

Yesterday morning we were just riding along…. The house is back on the market, we only had 1 showing all week, we were becoming more and more OK with the fact that we would be staying in the house.   Brian even made the comment that we could each have $1500 for Christmas to do whatever we wanted to do to the house.  Brian of course was only thinking about a new projector, but my mind was beginning to think of all the marvelous ways I could spend $1500!   Knocking down the half wall, new light fixture in the kitchen, new curtains, lots of fun new décor, … I was SO excited!  I was all over Pinterest looking for ideas!

 

We had an open house scheduled for 2-4.  We did the usual cleaning, then left, heading over to my parents to get a few items, like my crockpot and spices so I could make some fun new recipes I found on that awesome site, Pinterest.     We left my parents house at 2:45 and Brian received a phone call from our agent.  

 

Agent:  “A couple just came thru that loved the house.   As they were leaving they told me they were going to head to their agents office and write a contract tonight!” 

 

All of a sudden Brian and I found ourselves flying down the hill of excitement as images of moving to Eureka crept back into our heads.    The house has only been on the market for a week! Could we really get an offer so soon!?

 

At 4 oclock we returned home to chat with our realtor.   The showing went great. 5 couples came by and everyone had great comments on the house.    That is the best open house we have ever had.   

 

As I was trying to wrangle Leah and get her back into the house and out of the heat, a car pulled up.   The women in the front asked:

 

“This couple really wanted to come and see the house again.   We tried to call Marsha (our realtor) but we couldn’t get an answer.   Would it be OK if we came in now to see it? You don’t need to leave.”

 

It was the couple we heard about!! … and so we let them in.  

 

They are a couple relocating from Chicago for the wife’s job.    Relocating! – That means they need to move quickly!    They have a young teenage boy, who we are sure loves the basement and projector, and the wife is pregnant.   She loves that we already have a baby room!   We got this in the bag right!?

 

Wrong… 

 

They left after about 20 minutes…. And we realized that we think we also saw them at the house around the corner… the same house that looks IDENTICAL to ours from the outside, has the same layout, and is a foreclosure…. 40,000 less than our house!   This other house does not have the upgrades that we have, appliances, or the finished basement… is that worth 40,000 to them!? 

 

We did not hear anything last night…. And nothing yet today….

 

I feel so stuck.   Last night we were on cloud 9… checking our email and phones constantly….

 

Did they go with the other house!?   Are they just thinking it over? 

 

I HATE THIS!  

 

I cant take the highs and lows… the waiting…

 

I want to get off this rollercoaster!