Wow oh WOW, has a lot been going on in our house! I don't even know where to begin! Let's see what I can remember:
*We are IN OUR NEW HOUSE!! It's messy and there are many, many projects still to be completed, but we're HERE! I'm trying to focus on the positive, we have a house and we're IN IT! Unfortunately, I tend to look at the boxes, messes, etc and focus on the stress of that instead. I'm trying to pace myself and only unpack a little at a time, because otherwise this pregnant mama gets tired! Our schedules are so off right now... It's okay. There's (obviously) no day that we HAVE to be completely moved in or packed by. (Okay, maybe by my due date...) But, I know that once the boxes are gone, I'll feel just a bit better.
*We were SO blessed by members of our church a couple of weeks back: A family (who happens to have 2 kids in our youth group) surprised us the night that we got the keys and told us she had arranged 2 afternoon work parties for our new house!!!! AMAZING!! God is so awesome. They got a TON accomplished and saved us a lot of time and money. The front yard is starting to look less like a jungle. The walls, ceilings and trim got painted. The hole in the living room got repaired. Plumbing stuff got done. It was GREAT!
*Labor Day weekend, we took a trip to the coast for a camping trip, just with the 3 of us. It started out fine, but ended up being a little more than we planned for. I need to do a whole blog about that, plus pictures. It was fun though!
*My brother has arrived home from Afghanistan for his mid-tour leave!! We are so grateful for all of the prayers these last 9 months and we're SO glad he's here safely. His daughter (Allie) is here to be with him, as well as my brother's girlfriend and her son. We're enjoying spending time all together, though I feel guilty, because I get torn between being with them and attempting to get this house in order. We've already had several get-togethers though and are going out of town together these next 2 weekends.
*Incase you didn't see my previous post, we're having a BOY!! I'm halfway through my pregnancy and feeling good! Read it, if you're more interested. : )
*It's been a crazy busy last couple of weeks, but it has been full of crazy busy blessings and fun!! It probably won't ever slow down again once this little guy arrives....but you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way!!
Showing posts with label ketchup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ketchup. Show all posts
Friday, September 16, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
Ketchup
Lots and lots going on lately (it's taken me about 4 days just to finish this post!!), not been motivated to post! Here's a run down:
*Had another midwife appointment yesterday and everything looked great! I got to hear the heartbeat and it was good and strong. I've gained 4 pounds total and am measuring right on schedule. Blood pressure was great as well. I'm about 15 1/2 weeks and am definitely showing. The first trimester symptoms seem to be fading away (knock on wood), so I'm feeling better. I definitely have more energy and my tummy has been feeling a lot better. Some foods are tasting normal again, but not all. We have our ultrasound to find out gender the 2nd week in September, very exciting!!
*Had a very, very up and down emotional last weekend. On the positive, went to a bridal shower and bachelorette party with college friends and had a really good time. However, it was soured by the stress I've been getting for the last week about my high school reunion. I AM SO SICK OF IT. Long story short, I was part of a committee last fall, they ALL bailed on me, I scrambled to plan something any way, with the help of one other person, came up with (what I thought) were 2 nice events, priced VERY reasonably, put down a large deposit, got negative feedback and not enough RSVPs, cancelled the evening reception because of it, kept the day time BBQ (this was about March-May) and have JUST NOW started getting people who 'wanted to come, but now all of this is too last minute'. ARE YOU FRICKIN KIDDING ME??? People have been posting really, really rude things on Facebook, which I'm trying to ignore, but it's been hard. Where these people were a year ago when we started planning.....I've kind of stopped caring. The good news is SO many people have said very nice things to me and been very grateful and understanding, so I feel much better.
* We are so, so close to getting the house!! Our offer was finally approved a couple of weeks ago and we are scheduled to close on the 26th, 2 weeks from today! It is not completely move in ready though. We will be hiring cleaners BIG TIME and then painting the inside. The family room carpet needs replacing too. The inspection turned out some minor repairs, including replacing the gutters, minor plumbing and electric and needing a new dishwasher, so we'll take care of those as well. Plus, there are some hornets nests to get rid of. Luckily, all of this is in our budget, which is thanks to how long we've been saving, living at my parents' house. The house is a 4 br, 1 1/2 bath, but we can probably to upgrade the 1/2 bath (in the Master br) right away, which is totally awesome! So, the house definitely qualifies in the 'fixer-upper' category, but I'm totally excited. We went to Home Depot on Saturday and it was the beginning of a whole new world for me!! I have always loathed, hated, DESPISED that store, but now? I could spend hours in there, looking for ideas and inspiration. More about plans as we get further along in the process. I'm trying to decide on paint colors currently and am completely overwhelmed!! The good news is that the house had a lot of the major things replaced 4 years ago (furnace, AC, yes, central air!!, all the windows, floors), so the 'bones' are in pretty good shape, which saves us a lot of money.
*At 2 years, 3 months, Miss Kalaya has been enjoying the sun and summer weather we've been having. On warm days, she has a her wading pool on back and we've taken several trips to local fountains to play. She will be starting swim lessons almost immediately after we get into the new house. (long story why we've waited, but the short story is that it's cheaper this way!!) One of the things I am most excited about for the new house is that potty training will kick into high gear. She is beyond more than ready, just a few days of the diaper-free method is going to finish this process up, I'm convinced. I've wanted to do this for longer than the last 6 months, but didn't for 2 main reasons. 1. My parents have carpet that is fairly new and 2. I have heard over and over again that you should wait until after a major change like a move.
Some other favorite things these days are coloring (she can finally make the crayons do what she wants them to do, more or less), being read to, longer and longer 'big kid' stories, take walks, run around and explore rocks and leaves in the back yard, practicing walking the dogs on their leashes, pretending to cook a wide variety of foods, but 'rice and grapes' seem to be the most popular (neither of which I make too often....), eating 'melon' (water melon was a big success on the 4th and cantaloupe is too), practicing letters and their sounds, dancing, singing LOTS of songs, kissing 'mommy's baby', going to the park, getting stickers at Trader Joe's and Target, riding in 'Oma's new car', 'talking on the compooter' with family and friends, visiting 'Elena's new house', playing night night with all her animals and toys, watching 'Pig' (aka, Word World) and practicing 'let's build a word!!' on Saturday mornings (she only gets to watch TV on Sat mornings and Word World and Elmo's World and VERY occasionally Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) and lots and lots and LOTS of other activities. She is a little sponge, learning and soaking up SO much new information every day!!
*Had another midwife appointment yesterday and everything looked great! I got to hear the heartbeat and it was good and strong. I've gained 4 pounds total and am measuring right on schedule. Blood pressure was great as well. I'm about 15 1/2 weeks and am definitely showing. The first trimester symptoms seem to be fading away (knock on wood), so I'm feeling better. I definitely have more energy and my tummy has been feeling a lot better. Some foods are tasting normal again, but not all. We have our ultrasound to find out gender the 2nd week in September, very exciting!!
*Had a very, very up and down emotional last weekend. On the positive, went to a bridal shower and bachelorette party with college friends and had a really good time. However, it was soured by the stress I've been getting for the last week about my high school reunion. I AM SO SICK OF IT. Long story short, I was part of a committee last fall, they ALL bailed on me, I scrambled to plan something any way, with the help of one other person, came up with (what I thought) were 2 nice events, priced VERY reasonably, put down a large deposit, got negative feedback and not enough RSVPs, cancelled the evening reception because of it, kept the day time BBQ (this was about March-May) and have JUST NOW started getting people who 'wanted to come, but now all of this is too last minute'. ARE YOU FRICKIN KIDDING ME??? People have been posting really, really rude things on Facebook, which I'm trying to ignore, but it's been hard. Where these people were a year ago when we started planning.....I've kind of stopped caring. The good news is SO many people have said very nice things to me and been very grateful and understanding, so I feel much better.
* We are so, so close to getting the house!! Our offer was finally approved a couple of weeks ago and we are scheduled to close on the 26th, 2 weeks from today! It is not completely move in ready though. We will be hiring cleaners BIG TIME and then painting the inside. The family room carpet needs replacing too. The inspection turned out some minor repairs, including replacing the gutters, minor plumbing and electric and needing a new dishwasher, so we'll take care of those as well. Plus, there are some hornets nests to get rid of. Luckily, all of this is in our budget, which is thanks to how long we've been saving, living at my parents' house. The house is a 4 br, 1 1/2 bath, but we can probably to upgrade the 1/2 bath (in the Master br) right away, which is totally awesome! So, the house definitely qualifies in the 'fixer-upper' category, but I'm totally excited. We went to Home Depot on Saturday and it was the beginning of a whole new world for me!! I have always loathed, hated, DESPISED that store, but now? I could spend hours in there, looking for ideas and inspiration. More about plans as we get further along in the process. I'm trying to decide on paint colors currently and am completely overwhelmed!! The good news is that the house had a lot of the major things replaced 4 years ago (furnace, AC, yes, central air!!, all the windows, floors), so the 'bones' are in pretty good shape, which saves us a lot of money.
*At 2 years, 3 months, Miss Kalaya has been enjoying the sun and summer weather we've been having. On warm days, she has a her wading pool on back and we've taken several trips to local fountains to play. She will be starting swim lessons almost immediately after we get into the new house. (long story why we've waited, but the short story is that it's cheaper this way!!) One of the things I am most excited about for the new house is that potty training will kick into high gear. She is beyond more than ready, just a few days of the diaper-free method is going to finish this process up, I'm convinced. I've wanted to do this for longer than the last 6 months, but didn't for 2 main reasons. 1. My parents have carpet that is fairly new and 2. I have heard over and over again that you should wait until after a major change like a move.
Some other favorite things these days are coloring (she can finally make the crayons do what she wants them to do, more or less), being read to, longer and longer 'big kid' stories, take walks, run around and explore rocks and leaves in the back yard, practicing walking the dogs on their leashes, pretending to cook a wide variety of foods, but 'rice and grapes' seem to be the most popular (neither of which I make too often....), eating 'melon' (water melon was a big success on the 4th and cantaloupe is too), practicing letters and their sounds, dancing, singing LOTS of songs, kissing 'mommy's baby', going to the park, getting stickers at Trader Joe's and Target, riding in 'Oma's new car', 'talking on the compooter' with family and friends, visiting 'Elena's new house', playing night night with all her animals and toys, watching 'Pig' (aka, Word World) and practicing 'let's build a word!!' on Saturday mornings (she only gets to watch TV on Sat mornings and Word World and Elmo's World and VERY occasionally Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) and lots and lots and LOTS of other activities. She is a little sponge, learning and soaking up SO much new information every day!!
Friday, July 1, 2011
July is here??
So, yeah, I have been really, really lazy about blogging lately. Not on purpose. So, here are some updates on our household:
*At 26 months, or 2 years 2 months if you'd prefer, Kalaya is busy busy busy. She is such a pleasant toddler! She plays so well independently and is so curious about everything in the world around her! Her vocabulary is so beyond what I ever expected it, I'm still blown away every day. She is playing so much more with her imagination ("Mommy! Petend seeping, petend baby eat", etc, etc.) She talks about everything she sees and she observes a lot!! Everything from birds and bikes to pointing out the letters and shapes she knows as we drive around. ("Mommy, octagon, right there! Mommy, G!! H!!!") She still loves reading her books, playing with learning toys, playing with her kitchen and play food, taking care of her babies and pets, playing with her Little People, dressing up, driving her cars and trucks and many, many other imaginary games. We are finally getting nicer and nicer weather, so she has been spending time outside with her sand and water table, her wading pool, Little Tyke slide ($15 on Craig's list!), t-ball set, golf clubs, and just running around exploring.
*Though most of the time she is very laid back and low key, we are definitely in the twos! We do have occasional temper tantrums and 'no!'s as well as kicking, screaming fits, but mostly she listens fairly well. She has tough days (as does Mommy!), but they're fairly predictable, aka if she's not eaten recently, misses nap or gets up or naps too early. All in all, compared to other stories of the twos I've seen, she seems to be doing really well.
*You will notice there haven't been any recent posts about the damn (sorry) house hunt. We are still at a stand still with the same two houses we have offers on. Short sales are CRAP, but unfortunately, that's our market. I know it will be worth the wait and I feel like we really can't complain, because my parents are so generous to let us keep living here (for FREE) and we're putting money in savings each month, but.....it's time to be in our own place again.
*I am no longer head of the committee for my high school reunion. Well, that's not true. I technically am. But, we had to cancel it, because no one was willing to pay to go. I am very disappointed, but it is what it is. I will say that it has taken a large stress away, which is nice.
HAPPY SUMMER!!!
*At 26 months, or 2 years 2 months if you'd prefer, Kalaya is busy busy busy. She is such a pleasant toddler! She plays so well independently and is so curious about everything in the world around her! Her vocabulary is so beyond what I ever expected it, I'm still blown away every day. She is playing so much more with her imagination ("Mommy! Petend seeping, petend baby eat", etc, etc.) She talks about everything she sees and she observes a lot!! Everything from birds and bikes to pointing out the letters and shapes she knows as we drive around. ("Mommy, octagon, right there! Mommy, G!! H!!!") She still loves reading her books, playing with learning toys, playing with her kitchen and play food, taking care of her babies and pets, playing with her Little People, dressing up, driving her cars and trucks and many, many other imaginary games. We are finally getting nicer and nicer weather, so she has been spending time outside with her sand and water table, her wading pool, Little Tyke slide ($15 on Craig's list!), t-ball set, golf clubs, and just running around exploring.
*Though most of the time she is very laid back and low key, we are definitely in the twos! We do have occasional temper tantrums and 'no!'s as well as kicking, screaming fits, but mostly she listens fairly well. She has tough days (as does Mommy!), but they're fairly predictable, aka if she's not eaten recently, misses nap or gets up or naps too early. All in all, compared to other stories of the twos I've seen, she seems to be doing really well.
*You will notice there haven't been any recent posts about the damn (sorry) house hunt. We are still at a stand still with the same two houses we have offers on. Short sales are CRAP, but unfortunately, that's our market. I know it will be worth the wait and I feel like we really can't complain, because my parents are so generous to let us keep living here (for FREE) and we're putting money in savings each month, but.....it's time to be in our own place again.
*I am no longer head of the committee for my high school reunion. Well, that's not true. I technically am. But, we had to cancel it, because no one was willing to pay to go. I am very disappointed, but it is what it is. I will say that it has taken a large stress away, which is nice.
HAPPY SUMMER!!!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Ketchup
It has been a VERY busy couple of weeks. We/I have been busy! Here are the main things going on:
*With only a month before summer, I suddenly found myself the only person (apparently) who was still interested in planning our 10 year high school reunion. Everyone else I had originally started planning with had backed out on me. And, we hadn't finalized anything yet. Since I still wanted it to happen (and I know others do too, even if they don't want to plan), I decided to take it on myself. I found one other stay at home mom to help, which is actually turning out much better than having a committee. One text or phone call and decisions are made. We have had to do deadlines and such to keep prices down and get people to RSVP, but it's still not working. It's a lot of work and people don't seem interested. I'm really disappointed that the high school reunion days may be over, thanks to Facebook..... I've also discovered that people are going to complain no matter what you plan, yet some how don't want to plan it themselves. And, because of this, people don't realize what it costs to even have a simple reception/get together. Or that one person from the class would have to pay a large deposit to get things going!!!
*Birthday plans are in full swing for Kalaya (mainly) and Nelson as well. Kalaya's party is coming up and I didn't realize how much the theme I chose would save us so much money!! Since Kalaya LOVES bunnies (though we have more than enough stuffed bunnies and books about them!), I decided on bunny decorations and to make a bunny shaped cake. (Even the not so skilled cake decorator that I am knows how!) It turns out that it is SUPER cheap, because I hit up the Dollar Tree and the after Easter sales for party favors and decorations and have hardly spent anything. AND, our church said we could have the party there for FREE, which is great and it's a perfect space for a bunch of toddlers to run around and play. I can't wait!
*The housing search is continuing. We took a break for a few days during Easter week, because we were really busy and I didn't want to ask our realtor to work Easter weekend. (though it turns out she did anyway) We went out the Tuesday after Easter and found a couple that we were interested in and actually ended up making 3 offers. Sounds totally crazy, I know, but it makes sense in our market. One of the properties was bank owned, but the other 2 are short sale. Basically, (this is all new to me) that means that it could take 2-3 months to hear back from the short sales, but we'd hear back from the bank owned within a few days. (short sales are still owned by the owners, but are being sold for less than the people owe on the house, likely because they are no longer able to make payments)
We heard back quickly from the bank owned house. We knew it was a long shot. We made an offer under asking price the afternoon that it had dropped almost $20k. Someone else had offered more and it was accepted. That was okay, the location was actually our third choice. However, the house needed next to no work and was a really nice property and house, so we decided to try. So, that one is out.
The next house is in an okay location, but will need some work. However, the lot size (especially for Oregon) is HUGE. It is seriously like 2 full back yards. It is a corner lot and they had turned half of the back yard into an RV space. We would remove the gravel and put in turf. It's 4 bedrooms and priced really low. (it's been on the market a long time) It's short sale, so we won't hear back for quite awhile, but we couldn't pass it up.
The house that we are trying not to get our hopes up on too much, but REALLY hope is in God's plan is a 3 bedroom 2 bath house in Tualatin. We lived there while I was pregnant with Kalaya and really liked the area. We hadn't even looked, because almost all of the houses are WAY out of our price range and it's more than we ever dreamed for. It has a formal living and dining room, family room, and eating area. The school district is FANTASTIC and it's a really good location for us. There is a bus stop Nelson could get to work from a block from the house, which means I could actually have a car during the day and we could put off trying to buy a car for a few more years. And, get this, it has a hot tub and a POOL. In Oregon it is almost unheard of. It's an above ground pool, but the previous owners (before the current) built a really nice deck up around it. It is fenced around the deck too and off to the side, so there is still plenty of yard left. The current owners haven't kept it up, but we sure would!!!! I am focusing on praying that I trust in God's plan... This is a short sale too, but something has happened that should let us know in the next couple of weeks!!!
*With only a month before summer, I suddenly found myself the only person (apparently) who was still interested in planning our 10 year high school reunion. Everyone else I had originally started planning with had backed out on me. And, we hadn't finalized anything yet. Since I still wanted it to happen (and I know others do too, even if they don't want to plan), I decided to take it on myself. I found one other stay at home mom to help, which is actually turning out much better than having a committee. One text or phone call and decisions are made. We have had to do deadlines and such to keep prices down and get people to RSVP, but it's still not working. It's a lot of work and people don't seem interested. I'm really disappointed that the high school reunion days may be over, thanks to Facebook..... I've also discovered that people are going to complain no matter what you plan, yet some how don't want to plan it themselves. And, because of this, people don't realize what it costs to even have a simple reception/get together. Or that one person from the class would have to pay a large deposit to get things going!!!
*Birthday plans are in full swing for Kalaya (mainly) and Nelson as well. Kalaya's party is coming up and I didn't realize how much the theme I chose would save us so much money!! Since Kalaya LOVES bunnies (though we have more than enough stuffed bunnies and books about them!), I decided on bunny decorations and to make a bunny shaped cake. (Even the not so skilled cake decorator that I am knows how!) It turns out that it is SUPER cheap, because I hit up the Dollar Tree and the after Easter sales for party favors and decorations and have hardly spent anything. AND, our church said we could have the party there for FREE, which is great and it's a perfect space for a bunch of toddlers to run around and play. I can't wait!
*The housing search is continuing. We took a break for a few days during Easter week, because we were really busy and I didn't want to ask our realtor to work Easter weekend. (though it turns out she did anyway) We went out the Tuesday after Easter and found a couple that we were interested in and actually ended up making 3 offers. Sounds totally crazy, I know, but it makes sense in our market. One of the properties was bank owned, but the other 2 are short sale. Basically, (this is all new to me) that means that it could take 2-3 months to hear back from the short sales, but we'd hear back from the bank owned within a few days. (short sales are still owned by the owners, but are being sold for less than the people owe on the house, likely because they are no longer able to make payments)
We heard back quickly from the bank owned house. We knew it was a long shot. We made an offer under asking price the afternoon that it had dropped almost $20k. Someone else had offered more and it was accepted. That was okay, the location was actually our third choice. However, the house needed next to no work and was a really nice property and house, so we decided to try. So, that one is out.
The next house is in an okay location, but will need some work. However, the lot size (especially for Oregon) is HUGE. It is seriously like 2 full back yards. It is a corner lot and they had turned half of the back yard into an RV space. We would remove the gravel and put in turf. It's 4 bedrooms and priced really low. (it's been on the market a long time) It's short sale, so we won't hear back for quite awhile, but we couldn't pass it up.
The house that we are trying not to get our hopes up on too much, but REALLY hope is in God's plan is a 3 bedroom 2 bath house in Tualatin. We lived there while I was pregnant with Kalaya and really liked the area. We hadn't even looked, because almost all of the houses are WAY out of our price range and it's more than we ever dreamed for. It has a formal living and dining room, family room, and eating area. The school district is FANTASTIC and it's a really good location for us. There is a bus stop Nelson could get to work from a block from the house, which means I could actually have a car during the day and we could put off trying to buy a car for a few more years. And, get this, it has a hot tub and a POOL. In Oregon it is almost unheard of. It's an above ground pool, but the previous owners (before the current) built a really nice deck up around it. It is fenced around the deck too and off to the side, so there is still plenty of yard left. The current owners haven't kept it up, but we sure would!!!! I am focusing on praying that I trust in God's plan... This is a short sale too, but something has happened that should let us know in the next couple of weeks!!!
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