On Pause

I had hoped by now I would have been able to write a clever post (already had the title in my head) about how we were moving.

But it appears this is going to be the longest, slowest, most draining process ever and I might as well just blog about it half way through. The ending will be a surprise to all of us.

Rob and I have been looking at houses for some time. We were hoping to move in the spring/early summer, but said if the right house fell into our laps, we would move on it earlier than that.

Enter "The House" two weeks ago.

It is literally just down the street, and has everything we hoped for (even the stuff that was on our "joke" wish list). We loved it instantly, despite having a background than would make a convict look good (explosion, fire, jail, foreclosure.... Don't worry, it's all been rebuilt).

We had some concerns about a few structural things, but calls to an engineer told us it could be done like that, so we moved forward, made an offer, and it was accepted!

Then we had the inspection. Structural issue was still unknown after that, and one other potentially major issue popped up. Otherwise the house looked good. We were afraid the sellers wouldn't play ball about this stuff. We asked- and got radio silence for about 18 hours. We figured they were trying to get to the end of the option period and push us to either accept it or walk away. We almost walked away.

Then we get a call from the seller that he agrees there is a problem and will bring someone out to look at it and repair/replace any problems that have arisen, and will make the engineer he used available to talk about some of this stuff. He also voluntarily pushed back the option period. Sounds good, yes?

So right now, things are looking up, and maybe we will be moving. Or maybe we won't be.

In the mean time, I have no idea what to do about Drew's birthday party. We were going to do it on a Sunday afternoon, but you know when is a bad time to have a ton of people over when you are hoping for showings on your house? Sunday afternoon.

I feel like I need to keep my house relatively picked up all the time (we have a "coming soon" sign in our yard, so people are calling about our house), which is nearly impossible with 2 kiddos.

Between meetings and calls and inspections and paperwork that comes with buying and selling a house (particularly this week when we are trying to get everything in order before our option period is up) I feel like I can't commit to anything because I risk totally flaking out.

First world problem? Totally. But I am a planner and want to know if I need to plan a party here or at a park, if I should be worried about having a play date and making a mess, and if I should be mentally decorating a new house. :)

I will keep everyone informed about what happens next!

Bed head is real

Please forgive the banana.

Confessions

1. We finally had a maid come today. Rob was so excited he said it was going to "save our marriage." I hope that was more than a little dramatic. He makes it sound like he lives in a future episode of "Horders."

2. Ellie has been out of whack lately, but nothing I could really put my finger on. I chalked it up to one of those colds where they say to elevate her head and use a humidifier (I bet I have paid $140 in $20 co-pays for that medical advice), so I didn't take her to the doc until today. Where she had a 101 fever and they had to draw blood. Excellent mothering. I take my son in for every snotty nose, and when my daughter is sick, not so much.

3. Drew started school yesterday. It needs a post of its own, but the gist is he didn't miss us AT ALL and has been asking to go back all today. I am sort of insulted. And sort of relieved.

Four Months!

Dear Ellie,

Once you were four months old.  You were darling and precious and I loved you to pieces.... and that's about all I can remember since I am writing this post 3 days before you were 5 months old.  I feel like everything I could say now applies to 5 months, and not to 4.  So here are some pictures of you at 4 months.

You swung...

And played with trains...

 

 

And hung out in your high chair with an awesome case with bed head.

 



We love you Elle belle!

New Rule

I have felt convicted about my iPhone for some time. I, like so many with smart phones, have become addicted to information. At the drop of a hat I can check up on friends, read about foreign policy, and pin that nights dinner.

I look at my phone at night to wind down. I need it when I am feeding Ellie. Drew squeals with delight when he gets his hands on mine, and regularly calls the sound machine iPod "Drews phone." So. Not. Good.

I justified having it with me by saying that I would miss so many great pictures if I didn't have it, and that's true. But I am missing out on playing and interacting with my kids.

So, starting right now, the iPhone is going to stay on the kitchen counter when I am in the house. Every hour I will check for text messages and voicemails (let's be honest- I do nothing that is time sensitive- I could probably check at the end of each day and be fine, but this is a weaning process). But it will remain on the counter the other 59 minutes in that hour.

So I won't answer your phone call- but I will call you back. Non-urgent emails will be returned at the end of the day or at nap time (which is happening right now, if you are wondering). Texts might get returned every hour.

I wouldn't get to play on my phone 8 hours a day if I worked at a desk job. My job right now is to raise two little people to be kind, compassionate and contributing members of society... Probably well worth giving my full attention! ;)