The "new house" and a "thank you"

I just wanted to thank those of you who have sent me little e-mails saying that you read my blog. It means a lot to me and I really appreciate those messages, even if I don't get a chance to respond to your e-mails. It makes me happy to know that even though I don't have time to call or write to you family members "back home", I can still keep you involved in our lives.

Ok, now on to the new house... We are waiting on the bank to do their thing, the repairs to be made by the insurance company's contractors and our inspection after those repairs are made. Once all that happens and if we get bank approval, then hopefully this place will be ours. Here are some pictures:
Entryway
Kitchen

Family room (in basement)
Mid-century details

Living/Greatroom/Dining


The future "play room"


Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we really want this house!!!

Better every day

Cutest baby ever...

Pretending to be a superhero...
Playing in the crib...

This parenting stuff has its challenges but for the most part it just gets better every day.

House

N's recent e-mail to Nonna describes our recent progress... "There have been some interesting developments on our end recently. I'm not sure if Goldie has put anything on the blog yet but, we have found the house. It is right behind the Franklin Fairway house and was built in 1960. There are 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a huge greatroom, 3,666 sq/ft., and an indoor grill :). The square footage is a little misleading because it's a tri-level. There is, however, a lot of storage space which makes up for the lack of a basement under the main part of the house.

Long story short, we put in an offer that was pretty low and 2 other people also put in offers on the same day. Amazingly, they countered ours. We recountered at $175,000 (that's $47.75 sq/ft.) and the seller's and their attorney accepted. This is a short sale so we are currently waiting for their bank to sign off. In the meantime we have started the loan process and met with our loan officer yesterday evening."

This last weekend we worked on this house...

4 month check up

Saff had her 4 month appointment today. She now weighs 12 lbs and 14 oz, which is near 50th percentile. She’s 24.75” long, which is near 75th percentile for length. She’s doing great and the doctor confirmed it.

R was 25.8 lbs. Another up for him (if only a couple of ounces).

Houses, R's new furniture, and pictures!

We are house hunting crazy. We've put in two offers and almost two others. The first one we missed by about 3 hours. The second one we had the higher bid, but they used our offer to leverage a better offer from someone else. The one N was really interested in (can you say 4 car garage?) was being inspected as we did our drive-by. Needless to say, I'm getting a little overwhelmed and a bit discouraged. Our budget is tight as we are trying not to have to sell this house until we are moved into something else. So we qualify for only so much with an existing house payment. So... N's been trying to talk me into the renting thing. I’m not sure anyone would have us with all the pets… (more on that later) . That sounds miserable to me. Besides, I like my little house, it's just too small for us now that we are a family of four and not 2.

On top off all that, the kids and I came down with colds. The kids got better, but I got another darn sinus infection. My doctor is starting to get a little worried because I'm getting them every couple of months. My step-mom wonders if there is something in my house/yard/life that might be causing them. Allergies? I don't have a clue, but they make me miserable.

We’ve been trying to find Ginsberg a new home (again). He seems really miserable with the kids and he really deserves a better situation. Bella loves the kids and is very tolerant of R’s antics, but Ginsberg has given us a few incidents leading to us feeling like we don’t quite trust him. It’s an emotional rollercoaster, but I’m committed to finding him a new home.

R’s new furniture arrived on Thursday. We’ve been busy putting his room together.




Here's R up in the top bunk...


So now I'm in the process of turning our guest bedroom into Saff's room. I'll post picture's once I get it complete.

Missed the house...

Well we were a little late on the Franklin Fairway house. Apparently someone beat us to the offer by mere hours. After no one looking at the house for 6 months, the showing before us put in an offer for near full price. It's not worth that in its current condition, so we think they might tear down the house and build on the site. We are disappointed, but okay with it. And our realtor is going to follow up with it for a little while to make sure that deal doesn't fall through. We are “bummed” to say the least.

We looked at a few more houses this week. Mostly “drive bys” and a couple showings today. After quite a bit of cogitation, we have decided to change directions. Our realtor and several others have told us that the RO market is hot right now and a good time to sell. For now we are going to keep casually looking. We are considering putting our house on the market first and renting something small (and close to GM). This would give us an opportunity to finalize our kitchen remodel and put some fresh paint on the walls (especially in the 36” and under zone). I'm convinced that I can not show our house while we live in it. We have two kids and two dogs (and a cat) and I can not keep it "show worthy" with all this. Nor can I get everyone packed up in the car for a showing. So, we will have to be living elsewhere to sell this house. Thus the rental.

Your thoughts and opinions are welcomed!