Born October 30th, at 9:43pm.
9 pounds, 13 ounces.
21 inches long.
Perfect in every way.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Overdue
Due dates suck.
It's like waiting all year for Christmas, only for the day to arrive and Santa is all, "Raincheck?"
Saturday, October 22, 2011
October
I love the month of October.
I love the sights, sounds, smells, tastes. It is such a fun, comforting time of year. Sweaters come out, warm drinks fill the days, fireplaces come alight, and pumpkins can be seen around every corner. We've been filling our days with lots of fun autumn activities, since we know that new baby will be here any time. A couple weekends ago we visited the pumpkin patch, which was lots of fun. We picked out pumpkins, rode the train and went on a hay ride. The boys had a blast! These were two of my favorite shots from that day.
This week we had some fun carving our pumpkins! Well, actually, I was the only one who did the carving. I don't think our boys are quite ready to be carving anything just yet, and I considered letting them paint their pumpkins, but in the end decided that was a mess I just wasn't up to cleaning! I carved my pumpkin to look like a witch stirring a cauldron, Jacob's pumpkin is a ghost carved within the word "BOO", that goes around the entire pumpkin, and Ryan's is the classic Jack-o-lantern face. Richard hasn't carved his pumpkin yet, but it is monster of a pumpkin, so it is going to take some serious work. And the teeny pumpkin in the photos is Baby's pumpkin!
So that's what we've been up to lately, passing the time with fun fall activities!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
The Waiting Game
A week ago I was certain I was just moments away from going into labor.
Yet here I sit. Another week bigger. More uncomfortable than ever. Sleep? What's that?
Five days ago I was 3cm dilated and 80% effaced, (if you don't know what any of that means I will just let you Google it). Since then, I have walked every day, sometimes twice a day, and cleaned my house obsessively, expecting my water to break or contractions to come on with every passing hour. I just don't even understand how I am still pregnant with as much as I have been on my feet. Apparently baby is really comfortable I guess, so I have resigned myself to the fact that he will come when he is good and ready, and until then, we will all just have to wait.
If one more person asks me when I am going to have this baby though, I might lose it.
Husband is the worst offender of all. When he is at work, he calls every hour, asking if my water has broken yet. As if I wouldn't let him know. Like I'm gonna call him up a few hours later and be all, "Surprise! I had a baby! Didn't want to bother you at work though, so I just thought I'd keep it to myself."
I know that baby will eventually arrive though, even though these last few days (weeks?) may feel like an eternity. I am just so excited to meet him, and hold him, and see his sweet little face for the first time. I can only hope that my next post will include a photo of our newest family member.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Home Sweet Home
This past Monday, our sale officially closed, and this house, became ours.
Our very first home. All our own. No more rent checks, no more landlords.
Of course, that means that when the plumbing decides to act up, or there's a rat in the attic at 3am (heaven forbid), there is also no landlord to call to come deal with it. But, there is such a sense of pride and satisfaction in owning our own house.
The week before we found this house, there was another one we thought we wanted. We had been working with a Realtor at the time, and it was the nicest home we'd seen up to that point (read: no appliances had been ripped out and there were no domestic violence-esque holes in doors). Also, it appeared to be in a really nice neighborhood, something else we had not found. We decided it was as good as we were going to be able to find, even though it was a bit more than we originally wanted to pay. We told our Realtor on Saturday that we wanted to make an offer. He told us he would draw up the papers, and we could officially make an offer that Thursday - oh, and to bring a $5,000 check with us as earnest money deposit. Now, I'm not going to get into specifics of our finances and whatnot, but we are a single-income family, with two kids, one on the way. We don't have very much in the way of disposable income, so when the Realtor said "Five thousand dollars", I literally almost started laughing. I thought for sure he had to be kidding. He knew we were looking to go with a VA loan - no money down, and $5,000 sounded as good as a down payment in my mind.
Richard and I exchanged awkward glances, telepathically asking each other, Is this guy serious?
The guy shifted, and said, "Okay, at least a thousand then."
Another awkward exchange of glances.
The realtor raised his eyebrows, "You have to show them that you're serious about buying, you have to give them something."
We promised to arrive on Thursday with a $1,000 check, although neither one of us knew where we were going to find that money over the next five days.
During the drive home, our excitement over having just made our first offer on a house faded into uncertainty and frustration. We began to feel that maybe we just weren't able to buy a home; maybe this was something that was still very much out of reach for our young family at this time. By the time we got home, 45 minutes later, I wrote an email to our realtor telling him we had changed our mind on the offer, and that we just didn't think we could buy a home now. Essentially, we broke up with him.
The following weekend my parents had been driving around, when they came across a house that was for sale by owner. They got a flier, spoke briefly to the sellers, whom they said were super friendly, and then they passed the information along to us. We thought the flier looked great, although we were still feeling very skeptical from the brief house hunting experience we'd had. The next day we went to check it out, and, as they say, the rest is history.
Looking back now, I am so glad we didn't stick with that first house. Aside from the financial issues we were faced with up front, I realize now that we were going to sacrifice a lot. The house was a good 35 minutes from the school Jacob now goes to. So either I would have had to change and dress three little kids four mornings a week, to get Jacob to school on time, or he would have had to change districts, which we really did not want to do, since the one he is in has such a fantastic reputation. Also, the backyard of that house, while gated, left much to be desired. It was quite small, without much of a yard to speak of at all. The inside of the house was nice enough, but there wasn't any sort of designated playroom, and the family room wouldn't have accommodated all of their toys, plus our furniture. And, to top it off, we were going to pay way over our budget for the house, that, in hindsight, was just so-so.
The house we ended up purchasing? It's perfect, if I may say so. I have so many visions for this house. The backyard, in particular. I think our boys will love spending long summer days out in the fenced yard running, playing, chasing, rough housing, imagining. It is the perfect yard for kids. There is already a swingset, and I would like to add a slide onto it. There is also a seriously awesome tree, that is pretty wide with a low center - the perfect kind of tree for a tree house of some sort, so we are going to get to work building something like that next summer. There is a large deck, which I envision us having barbecues and drinks on while we watch the kids run around in the grass. I am so beyond thrilled about our new home, it really has all of the things that we wanted when we first set out on the house hunt a few months ago. And it was just too ironic that within days of us becoming discouraged, and believing there was no way we could afford a home, we found the one that met all of our needs, and was within our budget. I firmly believe God had his hand on us, guiding us to that house, knowing it was the perfect one for us and our three boys.
Now all that's left to do is pack up our things and prepare for the big move!
Our very first home. All our own. No more rent checks, no more landlords.
Of course, that means that when the plumbing decides to act up, or there's a rat in the attic at 3am (heaven forbid), there is also no landlord to call to come deal with it. But, there is such a sense of pride and satisfaction in owning our own house.
The week before we found this house, there was another one we thought we wanted. We had been working with a Realtor at the time, and it was the nicest home we'd seen up to that point (read: no appliances had been ripped out and there were no domestic violence-esque holes in doors). Also, it appeared to be in a really nice neighborhood, something else we had not found. We decided it was as good as we were going to be able to find, even though it was a bit more than we originally wanted to pay. We told our Realtor on Saturday that we wanted to make an offer. He told us he would draw up the papers, and we could officially make an offer that Thursday - oh, and to bring a $5,000 check with us as earnest money deposit. Now, I'm not going to get into specifics of our finances and whatnot, but we are a single-income family, with two kids, one on the way. We don't have very much in the way of disposable income, so when the Realtor said "Five thousand dollars", I literally almost started laughing. I thought for sure he had to be kidding. He knew we were looking to go with a VA loan - no money down, and $5,000 sounded as good as a down payment in my mind.
Richard and I exchanged awkward glances, telepathically asking each other, Is this guy serious?
The guy shifted, and said, "Okay, at least a thousand then."
Another awkward exchange of glances.
The realtor raised his eyebrows, "You have to show them that you're serious about buying, you have to give them something."
We promised to arrive on Thursday with a $1,000 check, although neither one of us knew where we were going to find that money over the next five days.
During the drive home, our excitement over having just made our first offer on a house faded into uncertainty and frustration. We began to feel that maybe we just weren't able to buy a home; maybe this was something that was still very much out of reach for our young family at this time. By the time we got home, 45 minutes later, I wrote an email to our realtor telling him we had changed our mind on the offer, and that we just didn't think we could buy a home now. Essentially, we broke up with him.
The following weekend my parents had been driving around, when they came across a house that was for sale by owner. They got a flier, spoke briefly to the sellers, whom they said were super friendly, and then they passed the information along to us. We thought the flier looked great, although we were still feeling very skeptical from the brief house hunting experience we'd had. The next day we went to check it out, and, as they say, the rest is history.
Looking back now, I am so glad we didn't stick with that first house. Aside from the financial issues we were faced with up front, I realize now that we were going to sacrifice a lot. The house was a good 35 minutes from the school Jacob now goes to. So either I would have had to change and dress three little kids four mornings a week, to get Jacob to school on time, or he would have had to change districts, which we really did not want to do, since the one he is in has such a fantastic reputation. Also, the backyard of that house, while gated, left much to be desired. It was quite small, without much of a yard to speak of at all. The inside of the house was nice enough, but there wasn't any sort of designated playroom, and the family room wouldn't have accommodated all of their toys, plus our furniture. And, to top it off, we were going to pay way over our budget for the house, that, in hindsight, was just so-so.
The house we ended up purchasing? It's perfect, if I may say so. I have so many visions for this house. The backyard, in particular. I think our boys will love spending long summer days out in the fenced yard running, playing, chasing, rough housing, imagining. It is the perfect yard for kids. There is already a swingset, and I would like to add a slide onto it. There is also a seriously awesome tree, that is pretty wide with a low center - the perfect kind of tree for a tree house of some sort, so we are going to get to work building something like that next summer. There is a large deck, which I envision us having barbecues and drinks on while we watch the kids run around in the grass. I am so beyond thrilled about our new home, it really has all of the things that we wanted when we first set out on the house hunt a few months ago. And it was just too ironic that within days of us becoming discouraged, and believing there was no way we could afford a home, we found the one that met all of our needs, and was within our budget. I firmly believe God had his hand on us, guiding us to that house, knowing it was the perfect one for us and our three boys.
Now all that's left to do is pack up our things and prepare for the big move!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Being an adult sucks.
I had a realization today: It kind of sucks being an adult.
There is so much responsibility, and bills to pay, and little people who rely on you for every need from feeding them to wiping their butts. I think back to when I was in college, my parents paid my tuition, dorm/apartment fees, cafeteria/grocery bills, and even the gas for my car. Whatever money I made working I got to spend on clothes or late night trips to Wal Mart.
I thought I was suuuuch an adult. And I thought it was awesome. Wow, I had no clue what being an adult was really about.
It just seems like lately we can't catch a break. For a couple months leading up to the financing of the house we just bought (Yay! Exciting!), we were literally scraping by. It seemed like every two weeks, right before pay day we would be down to $55 in our checking account, meticulously planning who really needed to put gas in their car, and how important diapers are.
Then we closed on the house, and things shifted in our favor. For a change we had extra money in our account. We were planning to pay off the credit card, and put some in savings. It felt so good to be on the other side of things financially for a change.
For a whole five days.
Then this morning we found out that my car, our "good" car, and the only one with enough seats for our all of our family members (read: kind of an important vehicle), needed new front brakes, rotors, and dry belt.
It was currently being serviced for the 60,000 mile check, so I asked the Toyota service rep how much he thought the final cost would be for the servicing, plus replacement of the above mentioned parts.
$1,200 American dollars.
My heart sunk. Are you kidding me?? Couldn't we enjoy our financial stability just a little bit longer? Not to mention, that I could go into labor any day, so we don't really have the time to be without our car that holds all of the car seats. Sigh.
The fact is though, we need to keep that car in good shape, it is vital that that car does not totally die on us, or decide to lose its breaks on the freeway. Thankfully, there is a bright side to this story. We were able to find a local automotive repair place who gave us a quote much below Toyota's, so thank goodness for that. This is just life though; it's all part of being an adult and dealing with the issues that come along with having a family and owning cars and homes.
But can everything else please stay in good working order for at least another six months?!
There is so much responsibility, and bills to pay, and little people who rely on you for every need from feeding them to wiping their butts. I think back to when I was in college, my parents paid my tuition, dorm/apartment fees, cafeteria/grocery bills, and even the gas for my car. Whatever money I made working I got to spend on clothes or late night trips to Wal Mart.
I thought I was suuuuch an adult. And I thought it was awesome. Wow, I had no clue what being an adult was really about.
It just seems like lately we can't catch a break. For a couple months leading up to the financing of the house we just bought (Yay! Exciting!), we were literally scraping by. It seemed like every two weeks, right before pay day we would be down to $55 in our checking account, meticulously planning who really needed to put gas in their car, and how important diapers are.
Then we closed on the house, and things shifted in our favor. For a change we had extra money in our account. We were planning to pay off the credit card, and put some in savings. It felt so good to be on the other side of things financially for a change.
For a whole five days.
Then this morning we found out that my car, our "good" car, and the only one with enough seats for our all of our family members (read: kind of an important vehicle), needed new front brakes, rotors, and dry belt.
It was currently being serviced for the 60,000 mile check, so I asked the Toyota service rep how much he thought the final cost would be for the servicing, plus replacement of the above mentioned parts.
$1,200 American dollars.
My heart sunk. Are you kidding me?? Couldn't we enjoy our financial stability just a little bit longer? Not to mention, that I could go into labor any day, so we don't really have the time to be without our car that holds all of the car seats. Sigh.
The fact is though, we need to keep that car in good shape, it is vital that that car does not totally die on us, or decide to lose its breaks on the freeway. Thankfully, there is a bright side to this story. We were able to find a local automotive repair place who gave us a quote much below Toyota's, so thank goodness for that. This is just life though; it's all part of being an adult and dealing with the issues that come along with having a family and owning cars and homes.
But can everything else please stay in good working order for at least another six months?!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast
I've never posted a recipe to my blog before, that's not what I am known for, (seriously, ask anyone). I despise making meals, mainly because I am so not creative, and have trouble thinking up fun and tasty things to eat. Also, I am 98% sure my brother inherited any and all culinary skills in the family, since he is able to magically whip up the most awesome dishes with absolutely no recipe to follow, whatsoever. By the time I was born, I was pretty much left to fend for myself, which has meant as an adult relying on prepackaged foods, pizza delivery, and the occasional drive-through.
However.
This morning I was in the mood for a delicious, comfort food kind of breakfast, and so I made my most favorite french toast recipe, and it did not disappoint. As I sat at my table enjoying every delicious bite, I thought, what the heck? I shouldn't keep this delicacy all to myself, I want to share it with my friends! So, friends, here you go. A delicious, and, most of all, easy, french toast recipe, (scroll to the bottom for a healthier alternative!):
Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast
2 slices bread (I prefer white or wheat)
1 tbsp. butter
2 tsp. cinnamon/sugar mix (optional)
2 eggs
1 tbsp. cream cheese
1-2 tbsp. maple syrup
Mix eggs and cinnamon/sugar mixture in a bowl. Dip one slice of bread in bowl and cover both sides with the mixture. Melt half of the butter on frying pan, throw dipped bread on frying pan. Flip occasionally until it is fully cooked. Repeat with second slice of bread. Place cream cheese and syrup on bottom piece of french toast, then place second piece on top, making a sort of french toast "sandwich". Enjoy!
 | ||
| I took this picture mid-meal, that's why it isn't exactly "pretty", but wanted to give an idea of what it looks like. Really though, who cares how it looks when it tastes AH-MAZ-ING?! |
Healthy Alternative:
*Substitute diet bread (45 calories or less per slice)
*Cut out cinnamon/sugar mix, or replace sugar with a sugar substitute of your choice
*Substitute nonfat cream cheese
*Substitute sugar-free maple syrup
*Substitute no-calorie cooking spray instead of butter
I have made this recipe both ways, and it is delicious no matter which recipe you go with! A wonderfully satisfying breakfast for a fall or winter morning. Pair with hot chocolate or coffee. Yum!
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