Family Pictures

Family Picture 9-06

and now....

Family Picture 5-08

BTW: The dogs are still part of our family, but you try wrangling 3 dogs and a baby for a family pic : )

After The Townhouse

Ever since we moved to our new home, it felt like we had put our life on hold because we had a lot of our money tied up with our previous home. Anytime we wanted to do something financially, we always would say "After the Townhouse", which meant when we sell the townhouse, we will have some money to get the things we want and/or need. Although there were a couple things like a fridge we just couldn't wait for. Unfortunately, the fridge from our townhouse would not be easy to move since there was not a pathway large enough to wheel it out. In order to move it, it would have to be lifted over the counter, and we just did not want to take that risk. We had an old fridge that we put in our garage at the new home, and for many months we went out to the garage to get our food. After the baby was born, and winter set in, the food kept freezing, and spoiling, so we ended up disregarding our "After the Townhouse" mantra and got ourselves a new fridge. It really ended up good timing because they stopped making the Maytag's wide-by-side style fridge and we were fortunate enough to get one of the last ones available.

Anyway, after 9 months of our life on hold, it is now "After the Townhouse". We feel a huge weight has been lifted from our backs, and we can finally get on with our lives.

Last picture of us at the townhouse.

Closing Day

So this last year has been a whirlwind of changes, and I'm happy to say that a chapter has finally closed in our life...and that is the selling of our first home together. It is a bitter sweet moment in our lives, but one thing is for certain, we are very relieved to not have that financial burden any longer.

To give you an idea of the time line:

Feb '07-We seriously decide we want to move
>>Looking for a house
>>Somewhere around this time we decide 'hey lets have a kid'
>>Looking for a house
April 29th '07-We find out we are expecting
>>Looking for a house
>>Still looking for a house
July 14th '07-Finally find the house we want to buy
August 13th '07-Close on house, start moving (around 20 weeks pregnant-half way there)
September '07-Moved into new home, continue moving stuff
October '07-Continue moving stuff, getting townhouse ready to sell
November '07-Continue moving stuff, getting townhouse ready to sell
November 7th '07-Sign with agent (about 2 months before baby is due)
December 7th '07-Baby comes 1 month early
December '07-March '08-smitten by baby, and not paying much attention to Townhouse
March-April '08-Getting more serious about wanting to sell, drop price a few times
April '08-Finally get a serious bid, accept offer
May 19th 2008-FINALLY CLOSE ON TOWNHOUSE!!! (Baby is 5-1/2 months!)

Time to celebrate!!

6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon

So the Internet is kinda like that game of 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon...I was watching a news snippet on a blog (dooce.com) that I've been reading for about a year and some other mommy bloggers were included in the piece, and I happened to remember one of the websites (wouldashoulda.com). So I was reading her blog the other day and she had a list of blogs that she reads, and I clicked on the top one (alittlepregnant.com), and her site was rather interesting, like a book you can't put down. She had a difficult time conceiving her son, and ended up having him 10 weeks premature, while she was 200 miles away from home visiting family. Her description says: "misadventures in infertility, pregnancy, and parenthood". I've only read a few months of her blogs so far, but the one thing that really struck me was how honest and raw her writing is. She does not try to gloss over the difficult times or emotions that she is feeling. She is straight forward and to the point! Having been a mother for 5 months now, I really appreciate her honesty in that babies are not all fun and sweet and perfect. Sometimes it is downright hard and frustrating. It allowed me to feel like I wasn't alone, and less guilty about the frustrating parts of being a mother.

So while I'm reading of her tales of motherhood, she mentioned in one of her blogs how she was marveling her sons birth certificate, and then it occurred to me that I don't ever remember seeing Liam's birth certificate. I swear pregnancy brain continues after you give birth! So, I ask DH if he remembers seeing it, and he didn't either. I remembered filling out a bunch of paperwork at the hospital, and I just figured that it would come in the mail. I did remember getting his SS card, but not his birth certificate?! So last night, I went through the pile of paperwork the hospital sent home with us, and sure enough there was a bright orange paper that says: IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR PARENTS...You are responsible for acquiring your Child's Birth Certificate. So 5 months later I finally ordered his birth certificate! Well, at least next time I will have all this stuff down pat, ha!

Our First Spring Project

So we moved into our new home last fall, and unfortunately the house had been vacant for at least a year, so the yard was not cared for at all. Our first priority when we moved in was to get a fence up for privacy, and for our dogs. Then winter came and then Liam was born so we have not worried much about the yard since we got our fence up. Everyone in our neighborhood has fairly well kept yards, and it is pretty embarrassing to pull up to our weed-full lawn! And now that spring is here, it's time for us to get started on the yard. Our first project is the front yard and the park strips since that is what is visible to passer-by's, then later we will tackle the back yard. We are not exactly sure what we plan to do, but we do know that we would like to plant lots of trees!

Here is a picture of our only tree that was there when we moved in.


BTW, sadly a cat (could be our garage cat, or another in the area) thinks this tree is it's personal scratching post. We hope that it won't die from the scratches, but if anyone out there has any advise on how to protect it from getting worse and/or dying it would be greatly appreciated.

China Earthquake

It seems there has been a lot of death and destruction around the world lately, and while it is all sad, I guess it just hits you a little more when you have actually been to the place that has been affected. Six years ago in June of 2002 my husband and I went on a tour of China. Regardless of the government there, the people of China are good, hardworking people. They loved to see tourists, and I remember sitting in our tour bus stuck in traffic, and I waved to a man passing on his bike, and he waved back and gave me a huge smile. In the cities some would come up to you and want to take a picture with you, like they couldn't believe they spotted a fair skinned person, as if finding Bigfoot in the woods. It was flattering to say the least. No matter where we went across the country the people were so friendly to us. When we were sailing down the Yangtze River, it always just blew my mind to find out that these cities sitting along the river in the middle of no where had more people than the state I lived in! While in the Forbidden City in Beijing a man was selling hats for the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008! They had just been awarded the Olympics, and we had mentioned to him that our state had just hosted the Winter Olympics of '02! It was commonality we could share with someone else from clear around the world.

To hear of this major earthquake in Chongqing and the surrounding areas just saddens me. The China trip was such a great memory for us, and it's hard to see all the suffering of their people right now. China will always have a special place in our hearts.

Saturday Walk to Dry Creek Park

Next to our house we have a 10 acre park that is somewhat a hidden gem. It is a public park that they have made into a Frisbee golf course. It has overgrown trees and brush, a stream, a few bridges, walking paths, a swing set and a pavilion. It doesn't appear that they keep the park "groomed". It just pretty much grows wild, which I love because it reminds me of growing up in New Hampshire where nature was left to its own. It is a rare thing to find in the middle of a desert and we LOVE it! We actually discovered this park last year when we were house shopping. There was one house we were interested in that backed this park, but it wasn't the right house for us. Although shortly after we saw that house, we found the house that we ended up buying, and it is located on the other side of the park. It does not back to it, but it's across the street from our neighborhood. On Saturday the weather was beautiful, so we packed Liam in the Bjorn and took a little walk down there. He absolutely loved being out and seeing nature.

Stream

Cool Old Tree

Liam enjoying the outdoors

Video of Liam in Jumparoo...

Check out new video of LT...




Liam in Jumparoo from Mike and April on Vimeo.

Liam is 5 Months Today!

Five months ago Liam came into this world, and changed our lives FOREVER! The time just seems like it flew by, but at the same time it's hard to remember life without him. He has made our lives so much brighter and more fulfilled in ways we never imagined he could. Just yesterday he rolled over from his belly to his back for the first time! Every week he just changes and grows and we are just loving every minute with him! Happy 5 months Liam, we LOVE YOU!

Sequoia-Part 2

Sequoia is our first 'baby'. She is a Malamute/Chow mix. You can read how she came into our lives in 'Sequoia-Part 1' (Posted May 24th '07). If we are lucky, she is going be turning 12 years old this September. The average age for a dog her size is around 10 years old, so we already are very lucky to still have her around. Last year we had her groomed, and she could not walk for several days. We ended up putting her on a pain medication for aging dogs called Zubrin. She thankfully started to walk again, but she still had a hard time getting around. Especially after we moved to our new home, she slipped a lot on the wood floors. After she got used to walking on the wood floors she started to get a lot of energy back. She started to run around in the back yard, and jump up when she got excited. We then started to give her the pain medication only when needed, which wasn't often. She just had a new lease on life, and it seemed like she was aging backwards! We think part of it might be the new food we have her on which is supposed to be a really great brand, but we also think she too has been changed with our new addition to our home, our wonderful baby Liam. She has been so sweet with him, and we think she really loves him.

I am embarrassed to admit this, but I have not taken her to get groomed for a whole year! She absolutely hates going to get groomed ever since she was a puppy and she ended up having hip dysplasia, and having her hips blown out of her socket. She fights going there, and she fights getting groomed, and it is so hard on her body. With her being 11 years old, and pretty frail now, I have dreaded taking her because of how she could not walk the last time I took her. I fear that she may not be able to walk again, and the medicine just might not help this time. But, alas she just could not go another day without a bath, she just stinks too much! (Sorry girl, but you do.) Anyway, she is scheduled for a grooming this week, and I have given her the pain meds all this week, so I am hoping she makes it through this time!

We know she does not have much time left on this earth, but we sure would love her to have a little more time with our little guy.



Update On Sequoia-(5-7-08)

She did very well with her groom. The meds really helped. She looks and smells beautiful, and she has a clean bill of health. She is an amazing dog!

Update on Life

Last week I got an e-mail from my HR department saying that I'm approaching my vacation accrual limit, “So please, take some vacation-go spend some time with that beautiful baby of yours! : )” OK, don't have to twist my arm!...so I took my normal Friday off, and Monday too, so I had a 4-day weekend with Liam. It was GREAT! Although, I do have to admit he keeps me on my toes ALL day long, and I end up more tired than going to work. But the extra time with him is soo worth it. On Friday it was pretty nice out, so I took him for a walk in the Bjorn. I figure we both get some fresh air, and I could stand to lose some more baby fat!

We ended up signing ANOTHER addendum for the offer we have on the table for our Townhouse. The new deadline for closing is set for May 19th. We are crossing our fingers that nothing gets in the way this time. As much of a pain it is to wait for the closing, we are grateful that we are not losing our shirts on this deal, especially with the current housing market situation. And I am reminded of when my parents bought their first home in New Hampshire. I was only 3 years old, but my dad told me the story. The people processing their loan mailed the paperwork to their previous residence in Utah, instead of their current address in New Hampshire. And instead of realizing their mistake and putting it at the top of the pile of loans, it went back to the bottom of the pile, which extended their closing for at least an extra month. The sellers in their situation were extra patient with my family, and looking back as an adult, I am grateful to them for that.

The house I grew up in on Clifton Road in New Hampshire.

The front yard I played in.

The Swingset in the backyard.

The shed my dad built.

The Bridge we played at on Stowell Road

More Townhouse Drama

So as you all know from a previous post, we had accepted an offer on our townhouse. This offer was lower than we were originally hoping for, but the reason it appealed to us was they said they could close by the end of April (about 2 weeks from their offer). This would mean we would not have to fork out any more money to keep this place anymore! Last week they asked for a 2 day extension, which we were fine with since we were still trying to get everything out. The new close date deadline was supposed to be for this Friday, May 2nd. I spent all this week stopping there on the way home from work to move the last of the remaining stuff out. I can only fit so much in my car since Liam is in the back seat. Every day I stopped there no matter how full or rested he was, he would scream the WHOLE time! The second we left he would be fine. I just think he does not like it there. Anyway, one of the last things I grabbed was a couple of for sale signs in the windows, that had our number on it. We did not take them down after we hired our agent because there was not any great place to put his for sale sign outside to indicate which unit was for sale. We had asked him to put his own signs in the window, but he never did. After I got home, I was unloading the signs, and said to my DH; "I got the signs down....Oh, great I just jinxed it!" And sure enough, the next day we get a call from our agent saying; "There is a glitch in their loan". Apparently, there was a new thing issued that devalued all the homes in our county, and the buyers could not get their financing with their conventional loan, and now have to go with an FHA loan. They say they can close in 7-10 days, but now we are really uncertain if this is really going to happen?! We are thinking that if we allow the extension that we'd like to put it back on the market to allow for back up offers.

I don't know if we just have bad luck with real estate deals, but every real estate transaction we have had, something crazy happens at the last minute. We are just glad that we are in a home that we never want to move from! EVER!