8am: Day 2 of being a Mom of 2 Kids...

I'm just sitting here blogging... waiting for them to bring Hudson back from his baby check. And waiting for breakfast.

We had a decent sleep last night. The nurses took Hudson from about 10pm to 3:30am and Ryan and I both got some good sleep. I had them bring him back at 3:30 and I snuggled/half slept with him for awhile and then tucked him into his little cradle thing and we both slept until nearly 7am when they came to take him for his baby check.

I'm still feeling pretty good... I want to take a shower, and I think I'll attempt that after breakfast. My upper back/neck hurts a tad like the beginnings of a headache/migraine (shit)... but I'm hoping that its just from the way I slept last night and maybe after getting up and moving around and taking a warm shower I'll feel better.

I'm surprisingly keeping up on blogs... insane, yeah. I was just sitting here and I love that we have wifi here in the hospital because, honestly, what else is there to do in a hospital room with a newborn who pretty much just sleeps?

To update on Hudson: he isn't taking his bottle as well as I thought he would. They want him eating every 4 hours, but by 8pm last night he'd only had a whole half an ounce. They did get him to eat about 30cc around 3am I think. He doesn't seem to have figured out the suck/swallow deal yet, but he's getting better. I haven't had a chance to feed him this morning (he's with the nurses, remember?) so hopefully once he is back he'll eat for me. Unless they've fed him.

I think Ryan is going to go get Porter today and let him hang out with us at the hospital and then take him home to put him down for a nap. I'm hoping they'll let us go home this evening, but not sure... when I had Porter (which was a Tuesday at 5:30pm) they kept us until Thursday morning.

Thank you...

Thank you for all the support. You made my day and I'm thankful for all the encouragement! I was obviously a rambling, psychotic pregnant woman early this morning. I survived delivery, and surprisingly feel great! We are now a family of four, and so far, so good! I will be updating with pictures on Hudson's Blog in just a bit... waiting for my card to upload.

Crazy, pre-delivery woman ramblings

I'm freaking out. I have less than an hour to be at the hospital. 6:15-6:30. I just got out of the shower and I'm in tears thinking about having another baby.

Not happy tears either.

Like, depressed, my life is going to end tears, why did I want another baby tears, what if I don't love Hudson like I love Porter tears. I don't want to go through delivery and be in pain and deal with the after delivery pain and agony and depression and drama tears.

And then I keep thinking... even though I WANTED to be induced, I'm freaking out now that what if today isn't supposed to be the day? What if I'm being crazy by choosing to be induced? Should I have just waited until I went into labor? Is it selfish to want to hurry and get this pregnancy over so we can concentrate on the house and moving and all that stress? What if something goes wrong? What if I die, what if Hudson is sick? What if by choosing to be induced I end up having a c-section or what if something happens during delivery because my body wasn't ready to go into labor naturally? OMG I'm losing my mind.

I hope to freaking hell this is normal. It probably isn't. I'm so nervous and dreading having this baby. How awful is this? I've been so excited to meet him, but all of a sudden I"m just like "What the hell... why wasn't I just happy with Porter? Why add more chaos? I don't want to do delivery again. I don't want to be in pain again."

I hope this doesn't make me a rotten mother. I'll definitely not be including this post in my Blurb Book for my 2008 Blog. "Sorry Hudson, I was kind of dreading your arrival." Wow what a slap in the face for my poor child. I probably should have saved this post for my secret blog... its not very nice. (Please don't get me wrong.... we both COMPLETELY wanted a second child, and Hudson was fully wanted and wished for, so its not a "oh crap I got pregnant and don't want another baby" type thing.)

Anyhow, I'll update as soon as I can. You know I"m addicted to the computer... it'll be up there with me.

Wish me luck. Wish me some good drugs... maybe some good ones after delivery too?

Recycle Jackson

I found a new site tonight and I thought I'd share, since I know I have a lot of readers in the Jackson area.

The site is called Recycle Jackson. They also have a blog called Recycling Jackson Reporter which has lot of interesting links to articles etc.

• Find a recycling site in Jackson near you. There are a lot to choose from!
• Recycling Guidelines: How to prepare your materials
  
• Are you a trash burner? We're guilty of burning our papers, thinking its 'better' for the environment than recycling. Not so.
  
• Clever ways to reuse disposable items.

And... some interesting recycling facts I found:

Recycling Facts

• Recycling a ton of paper saves 17 trees, two barrels of oil (enough to run the average car for 1,260 miles), 4,100 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for six months), 3.2 cubic yards of landfill space and 60 pounds of air pollution.

• If every U.S. household replaced just one roll of 1,000-sheet virgin fiber bathroom tissues with 100 percent recycled ones, it could save 373,000 trees, 1.48 million cubic feet of landfill space and 155 million gallons of water.

• Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial fleet of airplanes every three months.

• Recycling creates six times as many jobs as landfilling.

• Recycling glass instead of making it from silica sand reduces mining waste by 70 percent, water use by 50 percent and air pollution by 20 percent.

• Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to operate a TV for three hours.

• The energy saved each year by steel recycling is equal to the electrical power used by 18 million homes each year — or enough energy to last Los Angeles residents for eight years.

Last Monday before D-Day!!

I've been trying to enjoy the last Monday with Porter as an only child. He woke up at the butt crack of dawn- 6am- and came into my room announcing "Hi Mommy, I waked up!" I attempted to get him back to sleep by laying with him, but all that bought me was an extra half hour of 'rest' while Porter poked at my eyes and played with my hair.

By 9:30 we'd had breakfast, taken a shower and folded laundry. The day seemed too long. I didn't want to drive anywhere as I really had nowhere I needed to be, and with gas around here at $3.99/gal I really didn't want to drive just to drive. We did need to go to the grocery store to get butter and oranges, so I decided to combat the high gas prices and walk to the nearby grocery store for those items. Its only about 4 or 5 blocks away (well, a few blocks north, a few blocks west), so it was a nice little walk for Porter and I.

I'm now sitting here seething because Porter is now down for a nap but keeps dinking around with his mini blinds in his window. His bed is along the wall with the window and he keeps going underneath them to stare outside. I've warned him numerous times and finally went in and cracked him on the butt. He laid down and kept repeating "I saw a birdy outside! I saw a birdy outside!" as if the spank was worth seeing the flipping bird.

Yesterday we signed counteroffer papers on the H house. They should be submitted to the bank today, and I'm hoping they give us a quick answer (and hopefully a GOOD, sure we'll take your offer answer) before tomorrow. The last time they counter offered they only gave us about 18 hours to respond to their counteroffer or it was void. Nothing like being in labor and having to make house decisions on the fly, huh?

Speaking of the H house... I'm falling more and more in love with this house. That and the idea of having a big house, with real "rooms" and practically a blank slate to decorate. (although, this summer money is going to be super tight, so there probably won't be much decorating going on until I start back working this fall). I've been browsing dining rooms and bathrooms on Rate My Space and saving ideas. We've never had a real dining room, so I can't wait to have money to shop for a table and decor. I have looked around online at tables to get ideas, and of course I'd fall in love with one from Pottery Barn that is, ohh... $1200 for the table alone. And all the bathroom vanities I like are around that same price. Yeouch. I'll definitely be bargain hunting throughout the next year for furniture.

Anyhow... that's about it for updates. I'm getting off this stupid laptop... its being extremely slow and isn't able to keep up with my typing. I type and the sentence doesn't appear for another second or two. Queer ass Dell laptop.

Sunday Sunday

Ryan's parents took Porter for the night last night. If you read the baby's blog, we had thought we'd end up in L&D sometime throughout the night. Not so.

Anyhow, it was nice to get a good nights sleep. Porter has been waking up lately around midnight, and up for the day around 6:30am. I went to bed last night at 10pm and even though I woke a few times to pee or having a contraction, I was able to sleep in until 9am and get a good 11 hours of sleep caught up on! Definitely needed!

This morning we've been busy packing and Ryan just took a car-load of boxes over to his dads barber shop to the empty office space out front. Guess how many boxes we fit in the Pacifica- with just one of the seats folded down (we kept Porter's carseat installed, but took out the infant base).

SIXTEEN! We fit 16 boxes in that car, as well as 2 underbed storage totes and a wicker basket. Can you believe that? I had thought we'd fit oh, maybe 6 or so and then Ryan would have to go get his dads truck to pack up more. Nope. He kept taking out more and more boxes and I couldn't believe he was still putting them in the car.

Reason #48 why I love my car. :)

Nolan Huff

I posted a few pictures of Katie's little guy on my photography blog. Nolan Jeffrey Huff was born on May 7th, 2008. I don't think they've had a chance to update their blog with any pictures of him, so I thought I'd share!

Counteroffer

Well, good news and bad.

The Good: We received a counter offer last night. Pretty quick, which is nice.

The Bad: The counteroffer isn't so hot. They basically jacked the price of the house up above asking price to compensate our closing costs and fees (that we're asking them to pay b/c we're losing money on our house and have nothing to put down).

So... we're in a bit of a dilemma. I think we'll try to counteroffer again, and see if we can get back down to the asking price and still get our closing costs/down payment fees etc covered.

If not, we are going to have to decide if the house is worth us paying an additional $8,000. I, personally, think in the long run it is. The SEV price on the house is nearly $70,000 more than the asking price on the house, although at this moment the house needs a bit of clean up work and new bathrooms. I guess its just the though of paying MORE than the listing price of the house that has us making faces. However... the more I look at it, its a LOT of house for the money (2800sq ft including the finished part of the basement, and that doesn't include the full apartment above the garage). We aren't likely to find another house this size for this price with new windows, siding, roof, kitchen. The big money items.

And so it goes. I hope these decisions can be made easily over the next week, especially considering I'll be having Hudson on Tuesday. Nothing like throwing house bargaining in on the week of delivery.

Irritated

I'm in a stinky mood today.

Porter woke up before 6:30. Made for an exhausting morning for the two of us. Ryan had to work, so we were on our own today.

I was able to pack about 7 huge boxes this morning. My closet is pretty bare.

Porter was a maniac all morning... seems like the more tired the kid is, the more energy he has.

The phone has been ringing off the flipping hook all day.

Porter and I laid down for a nap around 11:30. Sweet sleep. Only... I've been woken up by the phone ringing about 4 times and decided to just give in and get the hell up.

I had the slider open because its nice outside... now the neighbor on that side of the house is mowing his lawn and its so freaking loud.

And the Ghetto-Billy neighbors across the road have their dogs tied up outside and they bark like the world is ending. I swear, if I had some antifreeze and the neighbors didn't watch every damn thing going on on this road, I'd go over there and end their barking.

Here's to hoping Porter sleeps for a LONG time today.

Flashback Photos!

So, how do you play? In the comments, match up the letter and number of the photos that you think are the same bloggers. I have linked to everyone's blogs at the end of this post. Have fun!


Who are these girls? Want links to their blogs?

1. Mandi Haney
2. Me!
3. Danette Schellhous
4. Jenny Cook
5. Carrie Cole
6. Tracy Olson
7. Kasey Laughlin
8. Leslie Collins
9. Cass Comerford

From Kasey's blog

What Nicole Means

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life. You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you. At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Offer update...

We haven't heard anything for sure, but our realtor emailed me today and said this about the listing agent:

"His comments today, were that we were 'miles apart' on the price. He was referring to the price along with the seller concessions, so we'll see what they come back with..."

Hmm. I didn't think we were being THAT unreasonable, especially considering the market. I hope that they at least counter offer us and not just shoot down our offer. I'm hoping we'll hear something tomorrow.

As far as the inspections and all that, I made a few phone calls today (as did Ryan's dad) and I think the inspections and restoring the electricity will fall into place easily. I'm just hoping our offer falls into place soon.

I'm starting to freak out about moving. Its the 16th (well, tomorrow is). Our closing on our house is June 2nd... just 18 days away. This weekend is pretty much the only weekend we'll have to pack as more than likely I'll be induced next Friday. GAH! I'm freaking out. I'm feeling huge and uncomfortable and Hudson practically feels like he's falling out. I can barely move comfortably, let alone pack up an entire house.

Sorry for the boring posts. I'm going to work on the "Flashback Teen Pics" post tonight I think. Does anyone else want to join in??

Flashback Photos..

Anyone else? Send in a teenage photo to nic073 (AT) sbcglobal (DOT) net ..... ASAP!

Still here... Still no sign of baby in sight.

I swear... EVERYONE around me is having their babies.

A co-worker had her little girl a couple weeks ago. She wasn't due until June 1st.

Kim and Katie both had their babies last week.

Monday, another co-worker had a new granddaughter, and another co-worker's wife delivered their first baby.

BABIES EVERYWHERE. Except here.

Any. Day. Now. Hear that, Hudson?

*HOUSE UPDATES*
We had our house inspections last Saturday and those went great. We also had the appraisal done on Tuesday and according to the realtors, they think everything went well. So, looks like things so far are going smoothly on the "selling" front.

On the "buying" front... we put an offer in on the "H" house today. We're holding our breath and praying that the bank accepts. I was able to convince Ryan that we needed to turn in a decent offer if we wanted to be somewhat guaranteed to get this house. Our bottom line is still about $18,000 less than the listing price, so there is still room for the bank to reject it.

Even if they do accept, we're still not out of the woods. Being a foreclosure, most of the inspection costs will fall on us (more than likely). Which wouldn't be such a big deal... except the house has the baseboard/hot water heating and has been winterized (aka no power or water to the house). Meaning... it might be costly to get that up and running just to make sure it works. And, there is no meter for the power/gas on the house so we will need to contact Consumers to have that put on so that we can check the electricity and have that inspected. I'm hoping those costs aren't too high, and I'm also hoping that once we pay that stuff that the inspections are ok. I'll be ticked if we get in there after turning all that on and find out the whole heating system is shot or something.

So... we are nowhere out of the woods, but I just have a good feeling about this house being so perfect for us. As long as there is no underlying major problems with it.

Happy Mother's Day!

To all the mom's and moms-to-be out there... I hope you're all having a very special and enjoyable day!

OMFG OMFG

I was browsing the Web Nursery to see if pictures of Nolan (Katie's little guy!) were on there, and decided to browse the other babies born in May.

I found this one. Cute little bugger. Check out the SECOND picture of her.

You have GOT to be kidding me.

Knock Knock Blog World....

Anyone home? It seems like Blog World has been pretty slow lately. I know I've been quite boring... but its not just my blog I'm noticing is slowing down. My Google Reader is never very full... TFT posts are winding down, comments on other blogs are dwindling. What is going on?

Well... I have something fun I'd like to do. Leslie gave me this idea last night at scrapbooking... I was talking about the post I promised you about a month ago... the post with my old hair-do pictures. I was teasing Leslie about how I had an old picture from Junior High of her to post, and she came up with this fabulous idea!

Here's how it'll go. Email to me (1) a picture of yourself in Junior High (ok... lets say young teen... 11-15 years old?), (2) a recent picture of yourself and (3) also a link to your blog. I will do a post with all the pictures, along with a link to all the participants blogs and we'll hold a contest to see who can match up the bloggers with their junior high pictures! Won't that be SO fun? HAHA! Junior high pictures... oooh these are going to be hilarious.

So... email me at nic073(AT)sbcglobal(DOT)net by hmm... Wednesday at midnight. Is that enough time? I'm kind of running out of time here in incubation mode... and I'd like to get the post up before Hudson is born :)

I hate titles.

I hate coming up with a title. Especially when I really have nothing much to say but a rundown of my day.

I'm sitting here procrastinating putting Porter down for a nap. I had a doctor's appointment today and then we ran to Target to pick up a few baby items. Then my brain started to overflow with the amount of gifts we need to purchase (Mother's Day, birthdays etc...). I've put things off this year, and now its the last minute and quite honestly I forgot Mother's Day was even this weekend... until someone in the lounge mentioned it and I realized I needed to get my ass in gear and get my class' Mother's Day projects done to be sent home Thursday. GAH!

My grandma is coming over at 1:30 to sit with Porter until Ryan comes home. Tonight I'm going to my last scrapbook night before Hudson is born. I honestly really have no ambition to scrapbook but I really, really just need a night out of the house and away from Porter and our clutter here. I feel like Ryan hasn't been home much in the past few weeks... he is taking classes 3 nights a week (although he recently dropped one last week in the middle of the semester... not smart) and he also joined a golf league on Thursday nights. He needs down time too, but then the more I think about it I think oooh.. that'd be like me planning a once a week scrapbook night and I'd personally feel so guilty about being gone on a "me" night every single week.

Anyhow... I guess my gist is that I've been home and lonely for four nights a week, on top of being 9 months pregnant and freaking tired and achy as hell, chasing after an in-the-middle-of-terrible-twos-toddler, and stressed about if our house is really, truly going to sell and if the house we want will still be available and trying to keep our house clean and somewhat organized. So, even though I really don't have any ambition to scrapbook, I'm going anyway. I need to just get away and de-stress. I might have to re-think the once a week scrapbook night if Ryan keeps up with his golf every week. If he can be gone, why can't I?

Why???

I didn't think the "WHY" stage started this early... but man, Porter has been in a major "Why?" stage for the past month or so.

It goes a bit like this...

(driving in the car)
P: What doing mama?
Me: Driving
P: Why?
Me: So we can go home.
P: Why going home?
Me: Because that's where we need to go.
P: Why not? (that's new too... Why not??)

And sometimes I'll try to stump him and say "Why do you think?" And he'll answer back in this funny, adult like answer... "Hmm... maybe... (insert answer here)" For example:

P: Where daddy's bullet car?
Me: Its at work with daddy.
P: Why?
Me: Because daddy needed to go to work and he has to drive the car there.
P: Why?
Me: Why do you think?
P: Hmm... maybe... daddy makin' monies at work. I dotta go to work make monies.
Me: What are you going to buy with your monies?
P: Buy daddy shoes. Buy LeeAnn blue shoes (I guess he thinks you need blue shoes, LeeAnn?! HAHA!)

I need to write down some of our conversations. I swear this kid says some of the funniest things. I always think I'll remember them later but I never do.

Making decisions...

We looked at 3 houses today...

1) House was nice- needed some updating, but to get to the basement you had to go through the garage. Scratch that one.

2) House was nice, kitchen was kind of awkward. Gorgeous living room. But... no yard. Literally... it was a 5ft section along the back and side of the house. Scratch that one.

3) Went back to "H" house again. Took my mom and Ry's parents. They all gave it their approval and kept saying how perfect it would be for us. I took a ton of pictures and by the time we left, Ryan and I were in love and mentally moving in. We want to make an offer on the house but we have to wait for the appraisal and inspections to go through on our house. We're so nervous that someone else will put an offer in on "H" house. UGH! I'm hoping in the next week or so we'll be able to write an offer. Ry, my mom and grandpa think we should lowball the bank (thinking.. $30k less than the list price) but I'm so in love with the house I'm thinking... screw it, its already a good deal let's not take any chances! I don't know how all this will pan out. I hate all this stress. I guess all I can do is hope and pray that whatever the outcome is that I will be able to see that it is what is supposed to be.

So, I'm probably totally jinxing ourselves by posting this. I just can see how nice this house would be with some cleaning, some nice warm neutral paint colors and decorating! I know its been foreclosed for a few months... there was a note that it had been winterized in November (all water shut off etc), but I just got an email from the realtor on this house about a week ago... so it might be new on the market. Stress. Stress. Stress.

Cross your fingers for us.

boring.crazy.hectic.messy.LIFE

Sorry my posts have been so boring. Thank you if you've stuck around this far LOL!

I had a half day of work today... left Porter at LeeAnn's to nap so I could get some things done around the house since he is often a punk with laying down for a nap at home and by the time I get him to bed I'm ready for a nap myself.

I was able to get a clients order sent in to the lab to be shipped to them, another clients order packaged and ready to ship, and an eBay purchase packaged and ready to ship.

Then I found a bill for my business credit card and realized the payment was due TODAY! I don't keep a balance on that (I pay it off every month, but use it to earn cash back) and luckily I had 1hr and 15 minutes to make the payment online or else I'd have been charged $39!

Then I realized how grossly behind I was on bookwork for my business... reconciling accounts, entering in purchases and deposits etc... boring stuff that takes up time and brain cells. So, I was able to get my business account all caught up too! YAY!

I want/need to make a list of things to get ready to take to the hospital when I have Hudson. With Porter I packed up everything but the kitchen sink and realized on our way home from the hospital that I used about 1% of the things I brought. So, I'm really not rushed to pack anything at all. I do want to make sure my camera batteries are charged and that I have a list of "must have" things to take (ie... cameras, laptop, outfit for Hudson, clothes for me to wear home, my bathroom stuff etc...)

I also have a few sewing projects I really need to get started on today.

AND we're supposed to go see some houses tonight. None are in "the perfect" area for us, but the houses seem to be what we're looking for. As far as the houses we looked at the other day... I've crossed off "T"... the insufficient house in the PERFECT neighborhood, although Ryan is still trying to sell me on it. Bathrooms and kitchen are too small. I don't want to bathe my kids scrunched between the wall and the toilet.

"H" house... however... I'm really, really growing to love. I'm picturing Thanksgiving this year.... with both of our families ALL TOGETHER in one home and on ONE DAY and it being just.... perfect (ok, other than having to cook for 15 people HAHA!). There is plenty of room for everyone. No, its not in the school district I *want* to live in... but sheesh... Porter is 2. By the time he's in kindergarten who knows where I'll be teaching... if I'm at my current school then I'll just do school of choice and take him to work with me. If not, well, he can spend a few years in the local district and maybe by then the market will have flipped and at that point we can sell and move out to my "desired" district. Or, maybe we'll just stick around there if we end up loving the house and send our kids to that school district. I've heard nothing but good things about it lately.

The thing is... houses in my current school/work district are more expensive for the size you get. Everyone at work has told me that... that you get a slightly smaller house for the same price as a slightly larger home in other areas. So, maybe in 5-7 years we can make money on the "H" house (because for its size, and condition and layout... and the price its listed at...we should make money on it in the long run!) and then afford to get a house that is the size we want in the district we want. I am not concerned with Porter starting school in one district and moving to another in 1st or 2nd grade. And, really, we still have the school of choice option as long as there is a way to get him to school each day.

Anyway... this is just a bunch of rambling. Journaling for my future reference, really. I need to get off here and keep moving on my "to do list" before I have to leave and pick Porter up.

Houses

Well, here is my little rundown of the houses today. Ry had to leave for class after the last house, so we really haven't had time to discuss our "pros" and "cons" to each one. But... here is my take.

House #1: "H"... Repo, and needs lots of cleaning up but would probalby be decent with some wallpaper stripped, floors cleaned, carpet in living room ripped up (wood floor underneath). Bonus... has an apartment built above the garage. With its own entrance... kitchen and bath as well. It needs finishing, but Ry keeps rambling about renting it out to some guy he works with.

PROS:

• Huge house, plenty of room for us to grow into (2300sq ft plus 500sq foot apartment).
  
• I LOVE the layout.
  
• New windows. New siding.
  
• Priced PERFECTLY.
  
• Wood floors throughout,
  
• 4 bedrooms, 2 bath.
  

CONS:

• 2 car garage was converted to one car garage. Where did the other space go? Turned it into a stairway to the apartment upstairs (again, it has its own entrance separate from the main house), and a mudroom from the now-one-car-garage into the main house. We more than likely wouldn't use the apartment... wasted space, IMO. I'd rather have a 2 car garage and no apartment. However its there so whatever.
  
• Its not really in a "neighborhood" but it is on a decent street, although not one I'd necessarily have picked out to live on, but it is a decent street- pretty decent houses on the road. Its across the road from a high school. In a school district that I have never really thought of sending my children. Its across town from our "preferred" school... so commute would be bleh... although doable if I was working in the district (we want to send the kids to the school district I currently work in). HOWEVER.... I have a friend who teaches in the district where "H" House is... and he loves it- says the teachers/admin is great.
• Has hot water heating... meaning... no forced air. No central air. Meaning... lots of window a/c units in a large home. Eww.
  

House 2: "D"
Typical tri-level with an additional family room built on. We vetoed it because it only had 3 bedrooms and the "basement" is really only a family room and utility room... so no major storage or space to use as a home office.

House 3: "T"
The house I've been stalking... the house I really really wanted to walk into and love. The house where I can see us taking walks in the neighborhood with our kids and waving at our neighbors as they water their lawns.

I love love love the area. LOVE it. I love the idea of the house. But... I just don't know. I have hesitations about it and I think thats a sign. Although I don't want it to be a sign.

PROS:

• Love the neighborhood
• Has 2 car garage with door to back yard... perfect for dogs to enter to "dry off/de-mud"
• Has full unfinished basement with tall ceilings... perfect for us to make into a family room, laundry room, an office and a 4th bedroom in the future. Plenty of space.
• Lots of windows, lots of light (newer windows as well)
• Has central air
  

CONS:

• The house is basically the size our home now (900sq ft) PLUS a dining room and additional bathroom... with a better layout, 2 car garage and full basement. So, lots of extras, but as far as basic, finished living space at move-in... its not that big of a step up (total sq foot is almost 1400)
  
• Has wood siding... you know the dark stained "lodge" looking siding? Meaning: maintenance. Or would need to be sided in the near future.
• Kitchen is small
• Bedrooms are not that large... third bedroom is as small as the boys' rooms now (9x11) and the other two rooms aren't all that huge.
• We would have to put money into the basement to make that living space useful for us... and we'd eventually really need that additional living space. Although... Ry swears it wouldn't be THAT much to do.
  

SOOO.... I'm a bit depressed after our house hunting today. I'm just feeling like we aren't going to find a house in our price range in an "acceptable" neighborhood. I love the "H" house... but its not really in a neighborhood... kind of just on a road. Does that really matter? I mean, do we HAVE to be living in a neighborhood? I guess because growing up I never did... I always lived on a busy road and I just think itd be so fun to be in a neighborhood with other kids and our kids could ride their bikes with their friends.

What is more important... the house and how it fits your family or the area its in?

Or... maybe we just haven't found the right place. But oh lord I feel pressure and like the clock is ticking. Hudson will be here soon... hopefully the inspections and appraisal on our house will be done within the next week, and closing will be around the first of June. GAH!

Weekend of house hunting

We spent the weekend looking at houses. Fun, but frustrating. Its so different house hunting this time. We're more particular about the neighborhood not just the actual house. And we're weighing options with school districts because we're assuming we'll be in this next house for at least 5 years. (hoping that by that time we'll have the boys in school and not be paying daycare, and Ry will be out of school with a better job... and hopefully I'll have a full time position. All meaning... hopefully we'll be able to afford to upgrade houses again).

Anyhow... we are/were really hoping to find a larger home (1800-2000sq ft) that needs updating/minor remodeling. Things that we can cosmetically change on our own. You know... flooring... kitchen... bathrooms... etc. However, all the homes we've found in "desirable" neighborhoods, with the right square footage, are already remodeled and priced about $20-$30k too much for us.

We have found two homes that are in a great neighborhood, although they are right on the edge of that district we want (not in the school district), but it wouldn't be hard to just do school of choice.

We have one house we're really leaning toward, and we love the neighborhood. We'll basically be buying the bad house in a great neighborhood (most of the homes are brand new... this one is about 15 yrs old), but that's a good thing as we can update it and make it nicer and increase its value (especially once the market turns around... if it ever does!).

Its a foreclosure and so far we've only peeked in the windows, but we have a showing set up tomorrow to check it out from the inside. The carpet is trashed... totally stained. It needs paint and decorating. The back of the house is practically ALL windows. The master bedroom, living room and dining room. OHHH the photography light I'd have in this house.... :) On Saturday the neighbor behind it was out digging up dandelions with a little trowel out of his yard. Good sign. LOL!

The only downfall is that this house isn't quite as large as we were hoping to move into. The floorplan is much, much, much nicer than our current home, and that'll make a huge difference, and it will fit us great right now. I'm just nervous about outgrowing it too soon. Its only 3 bedrooms, and we were really wanting 4 bedrooms or at least a family room or den to use as an office/playroom. It has a 2 car garage and a full, unfinished basement which we've only seen one picture online of it so I'm interested to see it in person. I suppose if we keep the thought in our head that this is a "5 year home" then the square footage won't matter in the long run because the size of it right now should be perfect for us for the next 4-5 years. And at that point hopefully we'll be able to afford something larger/newer.

So... I guess I'll have more to update tomorrow after we see the house. I'm hoping we like it from the inside as much as we like it from the outside.

I could be stalking you...

I found this site... Virtual Earth... and I'm addicted! I have tried Google Earth before but it seemed like you couldn't see much detail. Check out Virtual Earth. SO fun to look at houses of everyone you know! LOL! Beware... you'll be addicted.

The realtor calls.....

WE HAVE AN ACCEPTED OFFER!!!

So... as long as the appraisal and inspections go well.... it looks like we'll be moving.

Who would have ever thought that after 2 years of being on the market our house would sell in the single most inconvenient month possible?

We're going this weekend to check out some houses to get a feel for what is out there, although we aren't wanting to rush into just buying the first house we lay eyes on. There are so so so many houses for sale and we want to make sure we make a good decision.

Wish us luck on the appraisal and inspections.

So so sick of it

I'm so freaking sick of drama.... sick of every two hours something new and stressful comes up.

I'm sick of
big decisions
feeling like my mind is racing in 50 directions
being so tired
waiting
my dramatic family
money
student loans
decisions about going back to college this fall
with this effing housing market
being so pregnant
and not knowing what is going to be happening with our house and Hudson being born in the next 4 weeks.

Can I skip to next fall, please?

C'mon... pile on a few more things... maybe I'll just end up in a mental ward.

Porter's phone conversation

P likes to pretend to talk to.... who knows who.... on the phone.

This morning he picked up the phone, put it to his ear and in a weird, "Problem Child" type voice he says... "Hello? OH! Saaarrrrrrryyyy... I sayin' bad words!"

"LABELS! They need to be LABELED!" she screams

I'm having extreme anxiety thinking about the prospect of moving. Not just moving... but moving in the midst of having a baby as well as moving into someone else's house and not being able to have all of our stuff unpacked. Essentially... moving and living out of boxes.

I'm a control freak. I am terrified I'll have this baby and be in the hospital during the time we need to be packing. No. NO. NO. I NEED to be in charge of the packing. I tossed and turned all morning, (I woke up early) with anxious thoughts running through my head about how I can best organize all of our stuff.

I kept thinking... "Ok, we pack up three types of boxes. One type for storage... color code it.... say, blue and label it with the room its from as well as what stuff is in the box. One type box for garage sale... no color coding, but it needs to go to my mom's and be stuffed in a garage near our other garage sale stuff (her neighborhood has a large sale every summer). One type for stuff we need and that will go to my mom's... color code it orange. Label it with its contents as well as room."

And I'm picturing me going into labor just as we begin packing up my house. And I picture me freaking out and yelling at anyone and everyone for not labeling my boxes or putting the color coded tape on the top. And I picture me spazzing out that I'm going to not know where, say... my box with my sewing stuff is (because I'm going to have tons of time to sew, right? HAHA!).

This whole moving thing is stressing me out. I guess I shouldn't... because we still have some contingencies that might keep things from happening (the lady backs out of the offer, or our house doesn't appraise, or something comes back bad on the inspections).

But, see... as of now, we already have our crap stored in three different places as it is. Our house is small and we have very very little storage. So, we have some things stored at Ry's dad's barber shop in the apartment upstairs. And we have some things (mostly baby things) stored at my grandma's in her basement, and we have a few things at my mom's somewhere... mostly garage sale stuff for this summer. I have no idea what is where.... it took us three trips to these places to find our infant carseat. I thought we were going to have to buy a new one! So... the thought of ALL of our stuff being kept... who knows where (we'll probably have to rent a storage thingy to keep our furniture and the boxes of things we don't need for a few months) just freaks me out. What if something IMPORTANT gets put in one of the "Storage Labeled Blue Boxes"? What if something gets lost? What if... what if... what if....??

So, I keep thinking... maybe Hudson needs to come soon. That way I can get home and attempt to get back to "normal life" and be here when we have to start packing the house up. But then I think... maybe he should just hang out longer, like at least my due date or later and that way the inspections and appraisals will be out of the way and we'll know for sure if we're moving or not, and I can pack up this house and color code and label before he gets here.

Of course, nothing is going to work out the way it should... that's how it always goes. I'm sure something will go haywire with our offer, or the appraisal or the inspection. And if all goes well with that I'm sure I'll end up in labor in the hospital when we need to be closing and packing and moving.....

I need to stop thinking about this.

Waiting game

So... we kind of accepted their offer. We're attempting to get $500 more out of them as our realtor made it sound like she'd budge just a tad more. We sent a measly counter offer back for $500 less. We'll just be waiting to see if they accept, and after that we have to get past the appraisal and inspections. I'm nervous that our house won't appraise for enough with the market being so crappy. Cross your fingers for us, or pray or meditate or whatever your thought of choice might be.

We've both put a lot of thought into this decision and after pondering and weighing options and contemplating pros and cons... we, or at least I, feel very happy with the decision to basically PAY someone to buy our house HAHA! In the long run... it'll be in our favor. I just hope that everything goes smooth with them accepting, with the appraisal and inspections.

ella ella ella

Is it queer that I'm burning a cd for my son... of the song "Umbrella"..... HAHA!

He loves that song, and heard it on the radio the other day after a long bout of not hearing it. Since then every time we get in the car he asks "Turn radio up... put on ella ella ella song!" So, I downloaded it for the obsessed dude. He gets so excited when he hears it come on. Oh boy....

Update on the house offer....

They've countered again. Basically, without giving you all the inside scoop on all our exact numbers and details... their offer leaves us about $2200 short of paying off our mortgage. Our realtor has pretty much said that we probably won't see an offer this "good" (isn't that ironic and terrible at the same time) in the next few years and if we are gung ho on moving, we should take it and eat the cost. (but, she also said she doesn't want us to think she's pushing us, and if we're ok staying where we're at for a few more years then we shouldn't take the offer... but with the market being so bad she's surprised we even HAVE an offer on the table).

So... we're trying to figure out where we'll come up with the money and if it'll be worth it. Basically, we're nervous that if we turn it down and stay that our neighborhood will continue to deteriorate and we'll get even less out of our house in a few years. Already we've had ghett0-billies move across the road, the other house across the road has been abandoned for months, an elderly couple moved in next door (to a "fixer upper" in which I know will never get fixed up) and the two houses behind us... one is dilapidated and the other is sitting empty, for sale.

I guess it almost makes sense to eat the loss on the house and move on. More than likely we'll move into my mom's house for a few months to a) save some money and pay off some bills and b) to give us time to really find the right house and not rush into buying something that we won't be happy with in the long run. However... Ugh. I hate the thought of moving back in with a parent (no offense, mom!). Its just hard to be on your own for the past 8 years and then go back to living with a parent. That and having all of our stuff packed away as there won't be room for all our stuff there. GAH!

Anyhow... that's the update. I'm super stressed. I can tell Hudson can tell... he's been moving and going crazy since this afternoon. Watch me go into labor early from all this. I'm not sure if that'd be a bad thing or good... I'm almost hoping Hudson could stay put for oh... say a few more months? HAHA!

One year ago...

I was in the midst of collecting yard toy climbers to entertain Porter for the summer. Picked up three of them in one weekend. Yeiks!

This summer I'd really like to find a used playhouse and maybe a used PowerWheels. Cheap, that is. Cheap.

Can this weekend get ANY more stressful?

I swear, I'm going to be kick started into labor after this weekend.

Let's see...
1) we bought a new car
2) we just signed a counter offer on our house.

YES... WE GOT AN OFFER ON OUR HOUSE!

However, she asked nearly $10k less than our asking price, as well as asked for $7500 for closing costs. Yikes. It'd be a different story if our house was a $300,000 house... but unfortunately it is nowhere near that so the amount she's asking is A LOT off our bottom line. We countered and if she accepts it we'll pretty much walk away making zero, zilch on this house. BUT... the market is so bad we'd be happy to do that, as we really want to be able to buy into this market... to get a larger home for less and stay in it for awhile and once the market turns around (hopefully eventually...) we'll make a decent profit.

Another little glitch.... the closing is on or before June 2nd. And its immediate possession for her or we pay her rent. Meaning... I'm having a baby like, oh... in 3 or 4 weeks ALONG WITH possibly closing on a house, trying to find a new home to buy, getting that all settled, packing and moving. HOLY EFFING HELL!

I'm freaking out. I'm totally losing my mind thinking... OMG not only is all that happening at once but what if we can't find a house. What if something goes wrong with our financing. What if my position at the school gets cut next year and I have no job? What about me not working this summer... how will a new house and a larger payment fit into that?

Yikes.

Anyhow... I'm not really holding my breath on her accepting our offer. And honestly, I might just be ok if she doesn't as this is the absolute worst time to be closing on a house and moving. We should know something by Tuesday night, I think.

BPA: Hype or Concern?

I keep reading all these articles on the risks of BPA in our plastics. And on the iVillage expecting board many many moms are switching over their previously used bottles for BPA free or glass bottles.

What is Bisphenol A?
Bisphenol A is a hormone-mimicking chemical used in polycarbonate plastics (PC or identified as #7 recycling code) and resins commonly used for items such as shatterproof baby bottles. Bisphenol has estrogenic properties which, in animal tests has shown to cause a bevy of health problems such as an increase in prostate and breast cancer, uro-genital abnormalities in male babies, a decline in semen quality in men, early onset of puberty in girls, metabolic disorders including insulin-resistant (Type 2) diabetes and obesity and neurobehavioral problems such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Research is showing that when plastic containers, mostly those used to hold liquids and foods, are leeching Bisphenol into the foods and liquids they are holding. Heating food and liquids with these plastics is shown to increase the leeching of this contaminate.

Many companies use this chemical in their packaging including cans, soda cans, and plastic food containers. There is a risk of absorbing this chemical through the use of containing foods and liquids but can also leech into our water systems through landfills.

Many leading experts argue that the use of Bisphenol is safe to the human public but research may begin to further prove otherwise.

If you're unfamiliar with what is being said about BPA and bottles... here is a "Crash Course" from the Safemama.com website:

• What is BPA? BPA or Bisphenol-a is a chemical used mostly in polycarbonate plastics (PC), which are used in: baby bottles, sippy cups, sports bottles, canned food / formula lining, and jar food lids. Greeeat. (feel my thick sarcasm?)
• How do I know if something is made with PC? Flip the item over and look for a recycling symbol on the bottom. It looks like a triangle of arrows with a number between 1 - 7 in the center. Polycarbonate plastic is usually marked with a 7. It might sometimes have a PC next to it indicating polycarbonate.
• 
• Why should I avoid BPA? Bisphenol-a is a known endocrine disruptor. Meaning it has estrogenic properties which, in recent animal tests has shown to cause a bevy of health problems such as;
  • precancerous tumors
  • uro-genital abnormalities in male babies,
  • a decline in semen quality in males,
  • early onset of puberty in females,

Research is showing that when plastic containers, mostly those used to hold liquids and foods, are leeching Bisphenol into the foods and liquids they are holding. Heating food and liquids with these plastics is shown to increase the leeching of this contaminate. Bottom line: It’s icky and if you don’t want to chance it on your precious kids, there are ways to avoid it.

• So, do my Avent / Dr. Browns baby bottles have BPA? If they are the traditional hard clear plastic ones that millions of people use? Most likely, YES. Want to check which bottles are not made with polycarbonate plastic (PC)? We have a growing list of bottles, sippy cups, milk storage and other items available:
  • BPA Free Bottles, Cups and Milk / Food Storage Cheat Sheet
  • BPA Free Teethers & Pacifiers Cheat Sheet
• What if my item has no recycling code on it? Welcome to our hell! There is no way of knowing unless you a) Find it on the “BPA Free lists” or call the company the product is made by and ask them what kind of plastic it is. We wish it was easier than that, believe us.

I'm really at a loss as to what to think. When I first read about BPA I was concerned... and I looked into it and contemplated tossing all the Avent bottles that I used with Porter (they do contain BPA... Avent has released a materials chart, although they will be going BPA free by the end of 2008) . But then I started to think... Porter drank from those bottles and he's fine (so far)... and honestly, our world is laced in toxins and we can't shelter our children from everything. So, I figured I'd keep them. Well, now I'm reading more and more about how Canada is banning all BPA products, and by the end of 2008 Toys R Us and Walmart will sell only BPA free products. Its making me wonder...

I mean... these kinds of plastics are everywhere: Bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers, shampoo bottles, lotion bottles (all sorts of kids skincare products), food storage, water bottles etc etc etc... the list goes on. Is it really a concern? Or is it just a bunch of hype? I mean, we weren't concerned with this 20 years ago... but then again its scary to think of all the young and middle aged people with terrible diseases like cancer and the like and there are no surefire "causes" to cancer. Maybe there is some truth to the BPA scare?

Here is one link that was interesting: BPA Timeline: from invention to phase out

What do you think? I'd love to hear all your opinions, and especially if there are any readers out there that know more about plastics and the effects on the body.


For those interested, or concerned with BPA... here are a few articles I've bookmarked "just in case" I decide to take caution and go BPA free..

• EWG's Guide to Baby-Safe Bottles and Formula
• Z-Report on BPA in Children's Feeding Products
• BPA Free Bottle and Sippy Cup Cheat Sheet
• BPA Free Pacifiers and Teethers Cheat Sheet
• BPA Free Baby SkinCare Products Cheat Sheet
• The Green Guide to safe food storage containers
• 
  

I love you...

Porter and I have a little saying that we often do when I leave him somewhere or at bedtime/naptime.

I will say to him "I love you" in which he repeats.
And then I say "I love you more" (he repeats).
I say "I love you the most" (he repeats)
I say "I love you to the moon and back" (he repeats)
"I love you to the bottom of the ocean" (he repeats)

(and I often mix it up and add in silly things like "I love you around the world" or "I love you to heaven")

Well, tonight at bedtime he was having a rough time going to bed. Every once in awhile he gets way overtired and just melts down about e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. Tonight he cried and cried and I finally went in to see what the hell the problem was. I told him I'd lay down with him for awhile. He asked for Rocky and we searched his bed for him. No Rocky. I turned on the light and Porter looked at me, his lip began to quiver and it stuck out like 3 inches from his face, tears began to stream down his face and he mumbled "My Rocky in my bag. At..... Niiiiiiinaaaaa's hoooouuuuuse!" (insert pathetic, dramatic bawling here).

Rocky was, indeed, in his bag but he was here at our house. Ryan retrieved him and Porter was so happy. We both laid down all tucked in and I whispered to him....

"I love you"
Porter whispered back "Love you more"
I said "I love you most"
Porter whispered "Love you the moon and back"

Oh melt my freaking heart. He didn't repeat me... but continued on our little "I love you" ritual.

So darn sweet.